WORLD EVENTS AND THE YEAR 1989

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World Events of 1989

Salman Rushdie publishes "The Satanic Verses". Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issues fatwa against him, declaring that his book is offensive to Islam.

Salman Rushdie
The Tiananmen Square protests occur. Tens of thousands of people protest the political situation in China. The protest end a massacre where an undisclosed number of protesters are killed. (Estimates run from the official Chinese declaration of 200-300 up to 2,000-3,000 by various student organisations).

Tiananmen Square protests
US planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over in Mediterranean over international waters.
Mikhail Gorbachev is named leader of the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev
P. W. Botha quits as South Africa's President.
Deng Xiaoping resigns from China's leadership.
The Czech Parliament ends Communists' dominant role
Romanian uprising overthrows Communist government. President Ceausescu and wife executed.
US troops invade Panama to capture General Manuel Noriega.
George H. W. Bush (a.k.a. "Bush Senior") becomes the 41st president of the US.

George H.W. Bush
Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.
Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan is complete.
The Ayatollah Khomeini dies.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Berlin Wall comes down.

Berlin Wall comes down
The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit.

** Master Index for Years ** Index for This Year ** World Events ** South Asian Events ** Film World Events ** Film Song Videos **
Last Year's World Events ** 1989 ** Next Year's World Events

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