Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s
Years: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 - 1990 - 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
Events
- January 3 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
- January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- January 10 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
- January 11 - Massive (200,000) demonstration in favor of Lithuanian independece.
- January 13 - Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
- January 18 - Former preschool[?] operators Raymond Buckey[?] and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey[?] are acquitted in a Los Angeles, California court of 52 child molestation charges.
- January 18 - Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
- January 22 - Robert Tappan Morris is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet worm.
- January 29 - The trial of the former skipper of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood[?], begins in Anchorage, Alaska. He is accused of negligence that resulted in America's worst oil spill.
- January 31 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.
- February 2 - Apartheid: In South Africa President[?] F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
- February 7 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party[?] agrees to give up its monopoly of power
- February 10 - South African President F.W. de Klerk announces that Nelson Mandela would be released the next day.
- February 11 - James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win world heavyweight boxing crown.
- February 11 - Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, South Africa
- February 13 - German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.
- February 26 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections
- February 27 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: Exxon and its shipping company are indicted on five criminal counts.
- March 1 - A fire at the Sheraton Hotel in Cairo kills 16.
- March 1 - Steve Jackson Games is raided by the U.S. Secret Service[?], prompting the later formation of the EFF.
- March 9 - Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States[?], becoming the first female and Hispanic to serve in that position.
- March 9 -Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells[?] confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord[?], effectively killing the Accord.
- March 10 - 18 months after seizing power in a coup, Prosper Avril[?] is ousted in Haiti.
- March 11 - Lithuania becomes independent from the Soviet Union.
- March 11 - Patricio Aylwin[?] is sworn-in as the first democratically-elected Chilean president since 1973.
- March 15 - Gulf War: Iraqis hang British journalist Farzad Bazoft[?] for spying.
- March 15 - Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union.
- March 15 - The Soviet Union announces that Lithuania's declaration of independence is invalid.
- March 18 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen by two thieves posing as police officers from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum[?] in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history and the paintings (as of 2003) have not been recovered.
- March 20 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos[?], goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering[?].
- March 21 - After 75 years of South African rule Namibia becomes independent.
- March 25 - In New York City, a fire at an illegal social club[?] called "Happy Land[?]" kills 87.
- March 27 - Propoganda: The United States begins broadcasting TV Marti[?] to Cuba
- March 28 - President George H. W. Bush presents Jesse Owens with the Congressional Gold Medal.
- April 7 - Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal but the convictions were later reversed after an appeal.
- April 24 - The Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
- May 15 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million.
- May 20 - The first post- Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
- May 22 - Yemen is unified.
- May 22 - Windows 3.0 is released by MicroSoft
- August 2 - Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War
- August 6 - The U.N. Security Council passes resolution 661, which places sanctions on Iraq.
- October 3 - German reunification, East Germany became part of Germany
- October 5 - After one hundred and fifty years, ten months and two days, The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. Founded in 1840 as The Port Phillip Herald, it is merged with its morning tabloid sister paper The Sun News Pictorial and the first issue of the new Herald-Sun, described by owner Rupert Murdoch as "The world's first 24-hour newspaper" with morning and afternoon editions is published on the 8th.
- November 1 Mary Robinson defeats odds-on favourite Brian Lenihan[?] to become the first woman President of Ireland
- November 11 - The U.N. Security Council passes resolution 678, giving Iraq until January 15, 1991 to withdrawal its forces from Kuwait.
- November 22 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected president of Haiti, ending three decades of military rule
- December 31 - Russian Gary Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.
Art, Culture & Fashion
Births
Deaths
- January 7 - Bronko Nagurski, American football star
- January 8 - Terry-Thomas, actor, comedian
- January 19 - Herbert Wehner[?], German politician
- January 20 - Barbara Stanwyck, actress
- January 25 - Ava Gardner, actress
- February 8 - Del Shannon, entertainer (suicide)
- February 23 - Jose Napoleon Duarte[?], President of El Salvador
- February 24 - Malcolm Forbes[?], publisher
- March 13 - Bruno Bettelheim[?], child psychologist, psychiatrist
- March 15 - Tom Harmon[?], American football star, broadcaster
- March 17 - Capucine, actress
- March 20 - Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper
- March 24 - An Wang, computer pioneer
- March 26 - Halston[?], fashion designer
- April 3 - Sarah Vaughn[?], singer
- April 15 - Greta Garbo, Swedish film star.
- April 25 - Dexter Gordon, jazz musician
- May 10 - Walker Percy, author
- May 16 - Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets
- May 16 - Sammy Davis, Jr., singer, actor, comedian
- May 22 - Rocky Graziano[?], boxer
- June 2 - Rex Harrison, actor
- August 25 - Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer
- October 13 - Le Duc Tho, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (born 1911)
- October 14 - Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor
- October 16 - Art Blakey, jazz drummer
- October 23 - Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher
- December 2 -- Aaron Copland, American composer
- December 14 - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, writer
Nobel Prizes