1989 Trivia, Fun Facts, and  History

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, the Cold War effectively ended, and the world reorganized itself around new possibilities. Batman broke box office records. The Simpsons premiered. The Game Boy launched. Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. Boris Yeltsin visited an American supermarket and was so astonished by the abundance that it contributed, in some measure, to the collapse of communism. Phil Collins spent the last weeks of the year at number one. If 1989 was not the most consequential year of the late 20th century, it made a very strong case.

Quick Facts from 1989

• World-Changing Events: The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, beginning the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Europe; China’s government used military force against pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square on June 4, killing hundreds and possibly thousands
• Top Song: Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins, the best-performing single of the year on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100
• Must-See Movies: Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Driving Miss Daisy, Field of Dreams, The Little Mermaid, Dead Poets Society, Steel Magnolias, and When Harry Met Sally
• Most Famous Fictional Person in America: Batman, whose Tim Burton film dominated the summer and generated merchandise sales that established the modern blockbuster licensing model
• Notable Books: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
• Price of Pepsi 12-Pack: $2.99
• Sony Walkman: $79.00
• The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
• The Funny Lady: Roseanne Barr
• The Man-Made Disaster: The Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, spilling approximately 10.8 million gallons of crude oil in one of the worst environmental disasters in American history
• Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Snake, associated with wisdom, intelligence, and grace — qualities that were distributed unevenly across 1989’s major events
• The Habit: Game Boy
• The Conversation: Did you see the Wall come down? And have you seen Batman yet?

Top Ten Baby Names of 1989

Girls: Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda, Sarah Boys: Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua, David

Jessica held the top spot for girls for the fourth consecutive year. Michael remained dominant for boys. David had climbed back into the top five, a name with staying power across generations that showed no signs of fading.

Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols of 1989

Elle Macpherson

Leading Men and Hollywood Hunks of 1989

Johnny Depp, John Travolta

Johnny Depp had appeared in 21 Jump Street since 1987 and was in the process of becoming one of the most recognizable young faces on American television. John Travolta had experienced a significant career revival and remained a recognizable presence.

The Quotes

“If you build it, he will come.” — the whispered voice heard by Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams, one of the most quoted lines in baseball cinema, though the voice’s source is never definitively established in the film

“I’m Batman.” — Michael Keaton in Batman, a line delivered with such quiet authority that it settled immediately into the cultural lexicon

“Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” — Robin Williams as John Keating in Dead Poets Society, a film about an unconventional English teacher who produced both this frequently quoted line and a generation of people who stood on desks

“I’ll have what she’s having.” — Estelle Reiner, at the table next to Meg Ryan’s famous deli scene in When Harry Met Sally, a line improvised by director Rob Reiner’s mother and widely considered one of the best punchlines in romantic comedy history

“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” — Partnership for a Drug-Free America, in an anti-drug campaign so memorable that the frying egg became a permanent cultural reference

“Eat my shorts.” — Bart Simpson, The Simpsons, which premiered December 17, 1989, on Fox

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year

Mikhail Gorbachev was named Man of the Year for the second time in 1987. The 1989 selection recognized his role in the transformation of Eastern Europe: the peaceful revolutions in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Romania that swept communist governments from power, almost entirely without Soviet military intervention. The contrast with 1956 and 1968, when Soviet tanks had crushed similar movements, was not lost on anyone.

Miss America and Miss USA

Miss America: Gretchen Carlson, Anoka, Minnesota — she went on to become a Fox News anchor and later a prominent advocate for victims of workplace sexual harassment
Miss USA: Gretchen Polhemus, Texas

We Lost in 1989

Lucille Ball, the comedian and actress whose I Love Lucy had been the most-watched show in America in the early 1950s and who had become one of the most influential figures in television history both as a performer and as a studio executive, died April 26, 1989, at age 77, of an acute aortic aneurysm. She had undergone open-heart surgery six days earlier. Desilu Productions, which she and Desi Arnaz had co-founded, had produced Star Trek and Mission: Impossible in addition to their own shows. Ball was the first woman to run a major Hollywood studio.

Mel Blanc, the voice actor who had provided the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzales, the Road Runner, and virtually every other major Looney Tunes character, died July 10, 1989, at age 81. The epitaph on his headstone reads “That’s All Folks.” His credit on each Looney Tunes production was “Mel Blanc, Man of a Thousand Voices.”

Rebecca Schaeffer, the 21-year-old actress known for the CBS sitcom My Sister Sam, was shot and killed at her Los Angeles apartment on July 18, 1989, by Robert John Bardo, a stalker who had obtained her home address from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Her murder directly prompted the passage of California’s anti-stalking law in 1990, the first such law in the United States, and the removal of personal address information from DMV public records. Most states subsequently enacted similar legislation.

Emperor Hirohito of Japan, the longest-reigning emperor in Japanese history and the only major Axis leader to survive the Second World War, died January 7, 1989, at age 87. He had reigned since 1926 and had been emperor during Japan’s imperial expansion, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His role in the decisions that led to war has been debated by historians ever since. His son Akihito succeeded him.

George Adamson, the conservationist and co-author of Born Free, whose decades of work with lions in Kenya had made him one of the most recognized wildlife figures in the world, was murdered by Somali poachers on August 20, 1989, at age 83, at his camp in Kora National Reserve in Kenya. His wife Joy Adamson, the author and artist who had raised Elsa the Lioness and whose subsequent books and documentary had introduced the story to the world, had been killed by a former employee in 1980.

America in 1989 — The Context

George H.W. Bush was inaugurated as the 41st President of the United States on January 20, 1989, succeeding Ronald Reagan after a campaign in which he had notably promised: “Read my lips: no new taxes.” The promise would prove consequential.

The Cold War, which had defined American foreign policy, defense spending, and cultural anxiety since the late 1940s, was effectively ending before Bush had been in office a year. The revolutions of 1989 swept communist governments from power across Eastern Europe with a speed that astonished observers who had followed the Cold War for decades. By the time the Berlin Wall fell in November, the strategic reality of the world had been fundamentally altered.

The United States invaded Panama on December 20, 1989, in Operation Just Cause, to apprehend General Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in US courts on drug trafficking charges. The operation involved 27,000 US troops and lasted several weeks. Noriega surrendered to US authorities on January 3, 1990, and was subsequently convicted and imprisoned.

The savings and loan crisis, which had been building through the 1980s as a result of deregulation and fraud in the savings and loan industry, was in full development in 1989. The Resolution Trust Corporation was created to manage the bailout, which eventually cost approximately $132 billion in public funds. The crisis produced both the framework for the financial regulatory debates of the following decades and a roster of political scandals, including the Keating Five, five US senators who had received campaign contributions from a failed savings-and-loan operator.

The Berlin Wall Falls

On the evening of November 9, 1989, an East German government spokesman named Günter Schabowski held a press conference and, in response to a question, announced that new regulations allowing East Germans to travel freely to the West would take effect “immediately, without delay.” Schabowski had been given the briefing note shortly before the press conference and had not been informed that the regulations were not yet finalized. He had no idea he had just opened the border.

East Germans watching the press conference on television went immediately to the crossing points. Border guards, who had received no orders, eventually stood aside. People began crossing freely into West Berlin for the first time since 1961. Others began dismantling the Wall with hammers and picks. By morning, the most visible symbol of the Cold War was coming apart.

The fall of the Wall was followed by the reunification of Germany, completed on October 3, 1990. It marked the practical end of the Cold War, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and the beginning of the political transformation of Eastern Europe that occupied the following decade.

Tiananmen Square

From April through June 1989, pro-democracy protesters — primarily students — gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and in cities across China in what became the largest protests against the Chinese government since the founding of the People’s Republic. On June 3-4, the Chinese government declared martial law and deployed military forces with tanks and live ammunition. The official Chinese government death toll was declared to be 200-300; internal documents leaked decades later suggest the military itself estimated approximately 10,000 civilian deaths, though Western estimates generally range from hundreds to several thousand. The true number has never been established.

The image of a single unidentified man standing in front of a column of tanks on June 5, 1989, became one of the most widely reproduced photographs of the 20th century. His identity has never been confirmed. His fate is unknown.

Pop Culture Facts and History

Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, was released on June 23, 1989, and was the highest-grossing film of the year with $411 million worldwide. The marketing campaign, which plastered the bat symbol on merchandise months before release, established the modern blockbuster pre-marketing template. Jack Nicholson’s Joker was considered the definitive film version of the character for nearly two decades. The film’s theatrical trailer consisted almost entirely of the bat symbol and music with almost no footage, which may be the most successful restraint exercise in trailer history.

The Simpsons premiered on Fox on December 17, 1989, as a full series following shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. The first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, was originally intended for broadcast on Thanksgiving but was delayed. It drew 26.7 million viewers. The series, which was expected to run a few seasons, was still in production 35 years later, making it the longest-running American animated series and the longest-running American prime-time scripted television series in history.

The Nintendo Game Boy launched in Japan on April 21, 1989, and in North America on July 31, becoming the dominant handheld gaming device of the era and establishing the framework for portable gaming that continues to this day. Its bundled game was Tetris, whose compulsive simplicity proved to be exactly the right match for a portable device. The combination sold 118 million units.

The Little Mermaid, Disney’s animated film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, opened on November 17, 1989, and is widely credited with beginning the Disney Renaissance — a period of commercial and critical recovery for the animation studio that had been struggling since Walt Disney’s death in 1966. The film’s combination of Broadway-style songs, strong character animation, and a heroine with clear agency revived the studio’s formula and set the template for Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King to follow.

Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, published in 1988 and widely distributed in 1989, prompted Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa on February 14, 1989 — a religious decree calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie for what Khomeini declared was blasphemy against Islam. Rushdie immediately went into hiding under British police protection, where he remained for years. The book’s translators and publishers were attacked in several countries. Japan’s translator was killed. The fatwa was not formally lifted by Iran until 1998, though Iranian authorities subsequently reasserted it. Rushdie was stabbed on stage in New York in 2022.

The Exxon Valdez, a supertanker operated by Exxon Shipping Company, ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989, spilling approximately 10.8 million gallons of crude oil over approximately 1,300 miles of coastline. The captain, Joseph Hazelwood, was not at the helm at the time of the grounding, having left an unlicensed officer in charge. Hazelwood had been drinking. The spill killed an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and up to 22 killer whales. Cleanup operations employed approximately 10,000 workers. Exxon paid $900 million in civil damages.

Boris Yeltsin, newly elected to the Soviet parliament, visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston on September 16, 1989, and, on his own initiative, walked into a nearby Randall’s supermarket. He later described his reaction to the abundance of food on American shelves — the variety, the quantity, the lack of lines — as a formative experience in his growing conviction that the Soviet economic system had failed its people. A Yeltsin biographer reported that he was subdued on the flight afterward, unable to stop thinking about what Soviet citizens were denied. The visit has been cited by historians as one of the small personal moments that accelerated large political change.

Arturo Di Modica, an Italian-American sculptor, installed his Charging Bull statue — a 3.5-ton bronze charging bull — outside the New York Stock Exchange on December 15, 1989, without permission, as a symbol of resilience following the 1987 stock market crash. The NYPD seized the sculpture. After public outcry, the city reinstalled it two blocks south of the Exchange in Bowling Green, where it has remained as one of the most photographed public sculptures in America.

Billy Ripken’s 1989 Fleer baseball card depicted Ripken holding a bat with an obscenity written on its knob, clearly visible in the photograph. Fleer attempted to issue corrected versions with the text obscured in several different ways, each of which became a separate collectible variation. The original unobscured version remains one of the most sought-after error cards in the history of baseball card collecting.

Beer was legalized in Iceland on March 1, 1989, ending a prohibition on beer that had been in effect since 1915. Iceland had gradually lifted bans on other alcoholic beverages through the mid-20th century while maintaining the beer ban, on the theory that beer was the most associated with excessive drinking. March 1 is now celebrated annually in Iceland as Beer Day.

Nobel Prize Winners in 1989

Physics was awarded to Norman Ramsey for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks, and to Hans Dehmelt and Wolfgang Paul for the development of the ion trap technique. Ramsey’s atomic clock work provides the precision underlying GPS navigation, internet time synchronization, and modern telecommunications.

Chemistry went to Sidney Altman and Thomas Cech for their discovery that RNA molecules could act as catalysts — catalytic RNA, or ribozymes. The finding overturned the existing understanding that proteins were the only biological catalysts and supported the RNA World hypothesis for the origin of life.

Physiology or Medicine was awarded to J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes — the finding that cancer-causing genes are not foreign invaders but modified versions of normal genes present in healthy cells, fundamentally reshaping cancer research.

Literature went to Camilo José Cela of Spain, for a rich and intensive prose, which, with restrained compassion, forms a challenging vision of man’s vulnerability. His 1942 novel The Family of Pascual Duarte is his best-known work.

Peace was awarded to the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, for his consistent opposition to the use of violence in his people’s struggle to regain their freedom and for his tireless promotion of reconciliation and a peaceful solution to the conflict between Tibet and China. China protested the award.

Economics turned to Trygve Haavelmo for his clarification of the probability-theoretic foundations of econometrics and his analyses of simultaneous economic structures — work that made modern quantitative economics possible by establishing rigorous statistical methods for testing economic theories.

1989 Toys and Christmas Gifts

The Nintendo Game Boy was the dominant gift of the 1989 holiday season. Tetris, bundled with the Game Boy, had arrived at the same time. Sega Genesis launched in North America in August 1989 at $189. Polly Pocket, the miniature compact case toy, debuted. Troll dolls — originally introduced in Europe in 1956 and first popular in the US in 1963 — experienced a renewed wave of popularity.

Broadway in 1989

Grand Hotel, based on Vicki Baum’s 1929 novel and the 1932 MGM film, opened November 12, 1989, at the Martin Beck Theatre and ran until April 25, 1992. The show won five Tony Awards, including Best Direction and Best Choreography for Tommy Tune. The production used a unit set representing the lobby of a Berlin grand hotel, with all action occurring in a single continuous flow without scene changes.

Miss Saigon opened in London’s West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on September 20, 1989, and ran until October 30, 1999. The London production launched the careers of Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga and established the show as one of the major West End productions of the era before its Broadway transfer in 1991.

The Woman in Black, Patrick Hamilton’s ghost story adapted by Stephen Mallatratt, opened June 7, 1989, at the Fortune Theatre in London’s West End. It is still running, making it one of the longest-running plays in theatrical history.

Best Film Oscar Winner

Rain Man, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, won Best Picture at the 61st Academy Awards on March 29, 1989, for the 1988 film year. Hoffman won Best Actor for his portrayal of Raymond Babbitt, an autistic savant. Levinson won Best Director. The film had been in development for years with various directors and stars attached before reaching the screen. It grossed $354 million on a $25 million budget.

1989 Entries to the National Film Registry

The Library of Congress established the National Film Registry in 1989 with its inaugural class, selecting 25 films deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The inaugural class included:
Casablanca (1942)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
High Noon (1952)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Modern Times (1936)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
On the Waterfront (1954),
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Star Wars (1977)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Vertigo (1958)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Top Movies of 1989

1. Batman
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
3. Lethal Weapon 2
4. Look Who’s Talking
5. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
6. Back to the Future Part II
7. Ghostbusters II
8. Driving Miss Daisy
9. Parenthood
10. Dead Poets Society

Batman was not merely a successful film; it was a cultural event. The marketing campaign had put the bat symbol everywhere for months before opening. Michael Keaton’s casting had been protested by fans who considered him wrong for the role, a controversy that dissipated quickly after the film opened. Jack Nicholson’s Joker was paid a percentage of merchandise revenue, resulting in a payment variously reported at between $50 million and $90 million — one of the most lucrative actor deals in Hollywood history. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade paired Harrison Ford with Sean Connery as his father, creating the warmest critical response among the trilogy’s three installments.

Most Popular TV Shows of 1989

1. The Cosby Show (NBC)
2. Roseanne (ABC)
3. Cheers (NBC)
4. A Different World (NBC)
5. America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
6. The Golden Girls (NBC)
7. 60 Minutes (CBS)
8. The Wonder Years (ABC)
9. Empty Nest (NBC)
10. Monday Night Football (ABC)

The Cosby Show was in its sixth season and remained the most-watched show on American television, a position it had held for most of the decade. America’s Funniest Home Videos premiered in November 1989, establishing a format based on viewer-submitted camcorder footage that predated the internet video era by 15 years and thoroughly proved the concept. The Simpsons debuted on December 17, immediately drawing 26 million viewers and beginning a run that was still ongoing 35 years later. Seinfeld had yet to premiere; it would debut in July 1989 as The Seinfeld Chronicles with four episodes before being retitled and renewed.

1989 Billboard Number One Hits

December 24, 1988 – January 13, 1989: Every Rose Has Its Thorn — Poison (carryover from late 1988)
January 14 – January 20: My Prerogative — Bobby Brown
January 21 – February 3: Two Hearts — Phil Collins
February 4 – February 10: When I’m with You — Sheriff
February 11 – March 3: Straight Up — Paula Abdul (3 weeks)
March 4 – March 24: Lost in Your Eyes — Debbie Gibson
March 25 – March 31: The Living Years — Mike and the Mechanics
April 1 – April 7: Eternal Flame — The Bangles
April 8 – April 14: The Look — Roxette
April 15 – April 21: She Drives Me Crazy — Fine Young Cannibals
April 22 – May 12: Like a Prayer — Madonna (3 weeks)
May 13 – May 19: I’ll Be There for You — Bon Jovi
May 20 – June 2: Forever Your Girl — Paula Abdul
June 3 – June 9: Rock On — Michael Damian
June 10 – June 16: Wind Beneath My Wings — Bette Midler
June 17 – June 23: I’ll Be Loving You (Forever) — New Kids on the Block
June 24 – June 30: Satisfied — Richard Marx
July 1 – July 7: Baby Don’t Forget My Number — Milli Vanilli July
8 – July 14: Good Thing — Fine Young Cannibals
July 15 – July 21: If You Don’t Know Me by Now — Simply Red
July 22 – August 4: Toy Soldiers — Martika
August 5 – August 11: Batdance — Prince
August 12 – September 1: Right Here Waiting — Richard Marx (3 weeks)
September 2 – September 8: Cold Hearted — Paula Abdul
September 9 – September 15: Hangin’ Tough — New Kids on the Block
September 16 – September 22: Don’t Wanna Lose You — Gloria Estefan
September 23 – October 6: Girl I’m Gonna Miss You — Milli Vanilli
October 7 – November 3: Miss You Much — Janet Jackson (4 weeks)
November 4 – November 10: Listen to Your Heart — Roxette
November 11 – November 24: When I See You Smile — Bad English
November 25 – December 8: Blame It on the Rain — Milli Vanilli
December 9 – December 22: We Didn’t Start the Fire — Billy Joel
December 23, 1989 – January 13, 1990: Another Day in Paradise — Phil Collins (carrying into 1990)

Paula Abdul had three separate number ones in 1989 — Straight Up, Forever Your Girl, and Cold Hearted — establishing her as one of the year’s dominant commercial forces. Milli Vanilli similarly had three number ones: Baby Don’t Forget My Number, Girl I’m Gonna Miss You, and Blame It on the Rain. The following year it would emerge that neither member of Milli Vanilli had sung a single note on any of their recordings, which prompted the Grammy Academy to revoke their Best New Artist award — the only time in Grammy history that has occurred. New Kids on the Block had two separate number ones, “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” and “Hangin’ Tough,” and were the dominant teen phenomenon of the year. We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel, a rapid-fire litany of headlines from 1949 to 1989, arrived in December and proved to be an accidental time capsule of the Cold War era that had just ended.

Sports Champions of 1989

World Series: The Oakland Athletics defeated the San Francisco Giants four games to none, in the first Bay Area World Series. The series was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck at 5:04 p.m. on October 17, just as Game 3 was about to begin at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion in damage. The series resumed ten days later. The earthquake killed 63 people, including 42 who died when the upper deck of the Cypress Street viaduct collapsed. Dave Stewart and Mike Moore pitched complete-game victories for Oakland. Rickey Henderson was named Series MVP.

Super Bowl XXIII: The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 on January 22, 1989, in Miami. Joe Montana drove 92 yards in the final 3:10, completing a touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining to win the game. Montana was 11-for-11 in the final drive and was named MVP. The drive is widely considered the finest in Super Bowl history. Montana reportedly calmed his huddle before the drive by pointing toward the stands and noting John Candy in the crowd.

NBA Champions: The Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to none, winning their first championship. The Pistons, known as the “Bad Boys” for their physical, defensive style of play, had been defeated by the Lakers in the previous year’s Finals. Isiah Thomas was named Finals MVP. The championship ended the Lakers’ dynasty of the 1980s.

Stanley Cup: The Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to two, the first time a visiting team had won the Cup at the Montreal Forum. Al MacInnis was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. The Flames won in six games, ending Montreal’s run at what would have been back-to-back championships.

U.S. Open Golf: Curtis Strange became the first player since Ben Hogan in 1950-51 to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles, defeating Ian Woosnam, Chip Beck, and Mark McCumber by one stroke at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.

U.S. Open Tennis: Boris Becker won the men’s title and Steffi Graf won the women’s. Graf had won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon earlier in the year, completing three of the four legs of a potential Grand Slam. She won the U.S. Open to complete a calendar Grand Slam — only the third woman in history to win all four major titles in a single year.

Wimbledon: Boris Becker won the men’s title and Steffi Graf won the women’s, her third consecutive Wimbledon championship.

NCAA Football: Miami won the national championship for the 1989 season, defeating Alabama 33-25 in the Sugar Bowl. Miami had been one of the dominant college football programs of the decade, winning four national titles in eight years.

NCAA Basketball: Michigan defeated Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime in the national championship game in Seattle. Rumeal Robinson made two free throws with three seconds remaining in overtime to win the game. Seton Hall had the ball at the opposite end of the court when the game ended. It was one of the closest and most dramatic championship game finishes in tournament history.

Kentucky Derby: Sunday Silence defeated Easy Goer by 2½ lengths, beginning a rivalry with Easy Goer that defined the season’s Triple Crown races. Sunday Silence won the Preakness as well; Easy Goer won the Belmont, denying the Triple Crown. The two horses met four times during the season; Sunday Silence won three of the four.

Frequently Asked Questions About 1989

Q: What caused the Berlin Wall to fall?
A: On November 9, 1989, East German government spokesman Günter Schabowski announced at a press conference that new travel regulations allowing free movement to the West would take effect “immediately, without delay.” Schabowski had been briefed on the regulations minutes before the press conference and did not know the change was not yet finalized. East Germans watching the broadcast went immediately to the crossing points. Border guards, receiving no orders to the contrary, stood aside. The Wall effectively ceased to function as a barrier that evening. Physical dismantling began immediately and continued for months.

Q: What happened at Tiananmen Square in 1989?
A: Pro-democracy protesters, primarily students, gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing from April through June 1989. On June 3-4, the Chinese government deployed military forces with tanks and live ammunition. The death toll has never been officially confirmed; the Chinese government stated 200-300, while estimates from other sources range into the thousands. The image of a single unidentified man blocking a column of tanks on June 5 became one of the most recognized photographs of the 20th century. His identity and fate remain unknown.

Q: What was the Exxon Valdez spill?
A: On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling approximately 10.8 million gallons of crude oil. The captain was not at the helm at the time and had been drinking. The spill covered approximately 1,300 miles of coastline, killed hundreds of thousands of birds and marine animals, and cost billions in cleanup. Exxon paid $900 million in civil damages. The spill prompted major changes in US maritime law and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Q: When did The Simpsons premiere?
A: The Simpsons premiered as a full series on Fox on December 17, 1989, with the episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. It drew 26.7 million viewers. The show had aired as animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show since 1987. As of this writing, it remains the longest-running American animated series and the longest-running American prime-time scripted television series in history.

Q: Why was Milli Vanilli’s 1989 success later controversial?
A: Milli Vanilli had three number one singles in 1989 and won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1990. In November 1990, it was revealed that neither member — Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus — had sung on any of their recordings; session singers had performed all vocals. The Grammy Academy revoked the award, the only time in Grammy history that a Best New Artist award has been rescinded. The duo’s label and producer had created the act specifically as a performance and marketing vehicle.

Q: How did the Game Boy change gaming?
A: The Nintendo Game Boy, launched in North America on July 31, 1989, established the template for portable gaming that has defined the category ever since. Bundled with Tetris, it was immediately dominant. Its monochrome screen, limited processor, and long battery life proved to be the right combination for a device used on commutes and in waiting rooms. It sold 118 million units over its lifetime and was not seriously challenged as the dominant handheld platform until the Game Boy Advance’s 2001 release.

In a year when the Berlin Wall fell, the World Wide Web became publicly accessible, The Simpsons debuted, and a man stood in front of a tank in Beijing in a moment the Chinese government has been trying to erase from history ever since, 1989 had the quality of a hinge — a year when the door swung from one era to another and the view on the other side was genuinely different. Billy Joel catalogued everything that had happened in the 40 years before it. Phil Collins closed out the year at number one. The Wall came down. The Game Boy launched. The world that followed was not the same one that preceded it.

More 1989 Facts and History Resources:

Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com)
Popular and Notable Books (popculture.us)
Broadway Shows that Opened in 1989X
1989 Calendar, courtesy of Time and Date.com
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Fact Monster
1980s, Infoplease.com World History
1989 in Movies (according to IMDB)
1989 Top Movies (according to BoxOfficeMojo)
Retrowaste Vintage Culture
The 80s(History.com)
|80s and 90s Classic NES Games (1985-1994)
1980s Slang
1980s Timeline (Security and Exchange Commission)
Wikipedia 1989