✦ History

Explore January 18, 1989

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Events

Cold War 1947-03-12 - 1991-12-26
Apartheid 1948-05-26 - 1994-04-27
Guatemalan Civil War 1960-11-13 - 1996-12-29
The Troubles 1968-10-05 - 1998-04-10
Lebanese Civil War 1975-04-13 - 1990-10-13
Cambodian–Vietnamese War 1978-12-21 - 1989-09-26
Soviet–Afghan War 1979-12-24 - 1989-02-15
Perestroika 1985 - 1991-12-26

People

Ronald Reagan age 78
President - United States
Elizabeth II age 62
Queen - United Kingdom
Fidel Castro age 62
President - Cuba
Mikhail Gorbachev age 57
General Secretary of the Communist Party - Soviet Union
Saddam Hussein age 51
President - Iraq
Ali Khamenei age 49
President - Iran
Hosni Mubarak age 60
President - Egypt
François Mitterrand age 72
President - France
Ruhollah Khomeini age 86
Supreme Leader - Iran
Akihito age 55
Emperor - Japan
Erich Honecker age 76
General Secretary - East Germany
Hafez al-Assad age 58
President - Syria
Richard von Weizsäcker age 68
President - Germany
Baudouin of Belgium age 58
Monarch - Belgium
Zhao Ziyang age 69
General Secretary - Communist Party of China
Lee Teng-hui age 66
President - Republic of China
José Sarney age 58
President - Brazil
Yang Shangkun age 81
President - People's Republic of China
Vo Chi Cong age 76
President - Vietnam
Vinicio Cerezo age 46
President - Guatemala
Kim Il-sung age 76
General Secretary Of The Workers' Party Of Korea - North Korea
Carlos Salinas de Gortari age 40
President - Mexico
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar age 69
Secretary-General - United Nations
Margaret Thatcher age 63
Prime Minister - United Kingdom
Deng Xiaoping age 84
Chairman Of The Central Military Commission - People's Republic of China
Helmut Kohl age 58
Chancellor - Germany
Rajiv Gandhi age 44
Prime Minister - India
Isaac Shamir age 73
Prime Minister - Israel
Juan Antonio Samaranch age 68
President - International Olympic Committee
Jacques Delors age 63
President - European Commission
Li Peng age 60
Premier - People's Republic of China
Michel Rocard age 58
Prime Minister - France
Noboru Takeshita age 64
Prime Minister - Japan
Nikolai Ryzhkov age 59
Chairman - Soviet Union
Ciriaco De Mita age 61
Prime Minister - Italy
Kaysone Phomvihane age 68
Prime Minister - Laos
Manfred Wörner age 54
Secretary General - NATO
Charles Haughey age 63
Taoiseach - Ireland
Do Muoi age 72
Prime Minister - Vietnam
Mieczysław Rakowski age 62
Prime Minister - Poland
Atef Sedki age 58
Prime Minister - Egypt
Hiroshi Nakajima age 60
Director-General - World Health Organization
Yon Hyong-muk age 57
Premier - North Korea
Mahmoud Zuabi age 54
Prime Minister - Syria
Barber Conable age 66
President - World Bank
Yu Kuo-hwa age 75
Premier - Republic of China
William Rehnquist age 64
Chief Justice - US Judiciary
George H. W. Bush age 64
Vice President - United States
Wang Zhen (general) age 80
Vice President - People's Republic of China
William J. Crowe age 64
Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff - United States
George Shultz age 68
Secretary Of State - United States
Nigel Lawson age 56
Chancellor of the Exchequer - United Kingdom
Frank Carlucci age 58
Secretary Of Defense - United States
Douglas Hurd age 58
Home Secretary - United Kingdom
Nicholas F. Brady age 58
Secretary Of The Treasury - United States
Dick Thornburgh age 56
Attorney General - United States
Carl E. Vuono age 54
Chief of Staff of the Army - United States
William S. Sessions age 58
Director of the FBI - Department of Justice
Antonin Scalia age 52
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
Thurgood Marshall age 80
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
Anthony Kennedy age 52
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
John Paul Stevens age 68
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
William J. Brennan Jr. age 82
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
Byron White age 71
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
Sandra Day O'Connor age 58
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court - US Judiciary
Neil Kinnock age 46
Leader - Labour Party (UK)
Oliver Tambo age 71
President - African National Congress
Gerry Adams age 40
President - Sinn Féin
Ruth Bader Ginsburg age 55
US Court Of Appeals - US Judiciary
Stephen Breyer age 50
US Court Of Appeals - US Judiciary
Joe Biden age 46
Senate - United States
Al Gore age 40
Senate - United States
John Kerry age 45
Senate - United States
Daniel Inouye age 64
Senate - United States
Dick Cheney age 48
House of Representatives - United States
John Lewis age 48
House of Representatives - United States
Bill Clinton age 42
Governor of Arkansas - United States
John Paul II age 68
Pope - Vatican City
Bhumibol Adulyadej age 61
King - Thailand
Robert Mugabe age 64
President - Zimbabwe
Juan Carlos I of Spain age 51
Monarch - Spain
Augusto Pinochet age 73
President - Chile
Suharto age 67
President - Indonesia
Nicolae Ceaușescu age 71
President - Romania
Margrethe II of Denmark age 48
Monarch - Denmark
Corazon Aquino age 56
President - Philippines
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden age 42
Monarch - Sweden
Beatrix of the Netherlands age 51
King - Netherlands
Daniel Ortega age 43
President - Nicaragua
Qaboos bin Said Al Said age 48
Sultan - Oman
Kurt Waldheim age 70
President - Austria
Mobutu Sese Seko age 58
President - Democratic Republic of the Congo
Yoweri Museveni age 44
President - Uganda
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali age 52
President - Tunisia
Francesco Cossiga age 60
President - Italy
José Eduardo dos Santos age 46
President - Angola
Mswati III age 20
King - Eswatini
Paul Biya age 55
President - Cameroon
Hussein I of Jordan age 53
King - Jordan
Teodoro Obiang age 46
President - Equatorial Guinea
Hastings Banda age 99
President - Malawi
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir age 58
President - Iceland
Óscar Arias Sánchez age 47
President - Costa Rica
Hassan II age 59
King - Morocco
Kenneth Kaunda age 64
President - Zambia
Alan García age 39
President - Peru
Kenan Evren age 71
President - Turkey
Michel Aoun age 55
President - Lebanon
Mengistu Haile Mariam age 51
President - Ethiopia
Olav V of Norway age 85
Monarch - Norway
Alfredo Stroessner age 76
President - Paraguay
Mauno Koivisto age 65
President - Finland
Blaise Compaoré age 37
President - Burkina Faso
Raúl Alfonsín age 61
President - Argentina
Mohammad Najibullah age 41
President - Afghanistan
Félix Houphouët-Boigny age 83
President - Ivory Coast
Daniel arap Moi age 64
President - Kenya
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco age 65
Prince - Monaco
Mário Soares age 64
President - Portugal
Mathieu Kérékou age 55
President - Benin
Jigme Singye Wangchuck age 33
King - Bhutan
R. Venkataraman age 78
President - India
Siad Barre age 69
President - Somalia
Joaquim Chissano age 49
President - Mozambique
Juvénal Habyarimana age 51
President - Rwanda
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan age 70
President - United Arab Emirates
P. W. Botha age 73
State President - South Africa
Jerry Rawlings age 41
President - Ghana
João Bernardo Vieira age 49
President - Guinea-Bissau
Chaim Herzog age 70
President - Israel
Roh Tae-woo age 56
President - South Korea
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom age 51
President - Maldives
Étienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma age 53
President - Togo
Lansana Conté age 54
President - Guinea
Abdou Diouf age 53
President - Senegal
Hissène Habré age 46
President - Chad
Samuel Doe age 37
President - Liberia
Quett Masire age 63
President - Botswana
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg age 68
Monarch - Luxembourg
Ghulam Ishaq Khan age 74
President - Pakistan
Hassan Gouled Aptidon age 72
President - Djibouti
Chadli Bendjedid age 59
President - Algeria
Aristides Pereira age 65
President - Cape Verde
Moussa Traoré age 52
President - Mali
Ibrahim Babangida age 47
President - Nigeria
Dawda Kairaba Jawara age 64
President - The Gambia
Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah age 62
Emir - Kuwait
Ali Hassan Mwinyi age 63
President - Tanzania
Souphanouvong age 79
President - Laos
Julio María Sanguinetti age 53
President - Uruguay
Víctor Paz Estenssoro age 81
President - Bolivia
Didier Ratsiraka age 52
President - Madagascar
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonga age 70
Monarch - Tonga
Joaquín Balaguer age 82
President - Dominican Republic
France-Albert René age 53
President - Seychelles
Manuel Pinto da Costa age 51
President - São Tomé and Príncipe
Hussain Muhammad Ershad age 59
President - Bangladesh
Pierre Buyoya age 39
President - Burundi
Patrick Hillery age 65
President - Ireland
Isa II of Bahrain age 55
Monarch - Bahrain
Giorgos Vasiliou age 57
President - Cyprus
Wee Kim Wee age 73
President - Singapore
Virgilio Barco Vargas age 67
President - Colombia
Christos Sartzetakis age 59
President - Greece
Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani age 56
Emir - Qatar
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya age 47
President - Mauritania
André Kolingba age 52
President - Central African Republic
Ahmed Abdallah age 69
President - Comoros
Jaime Lusinchi age 64
President - Venezuela
Rodrigo Borja Cevallos age 53
President - Ecuador
Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho age 50
King - Lesotho
Raif Dizdarević age 62
President - Bosnia and Herzegovina
José Napoleón Duarte age 63
President - El Salvador
Hammer DeRoburt age 66
President - Nauru
Ranasinghe Premadasa age 64
President - Sri Lanka
Ali Saibou age 48
President - Niger
Joseph Saidu Momoh age 52
President - Sierra Leone
Ahmed al-Mirghani age 47
President - Sudan
Desmond Hoyte age 59
President - Guyana
José Azcona del Hoyo age 62
President - Honduras
Paul Xuereb age 65
President - Malta
Kazimierz Sabbat age 75
President - Poland
John Haglelgam age 39
President - Federated States of Micronesia
Ramsewak Shankar age 51
President - Suriname
Penaia Ganilau age 70
President - Fiji
Phoumi Vongvichit age 79
President - Laos
Ieremia Tabai age 39
President - Kiribati
Ngiratkel Etpison age 63
President - Palau
Noor Hassanali age 70
President - Trinidad and Tobago
Prosper Avril age 51
President - Haiti
Jean-Pascal Delamuraz age 52
President - Switzerland
Sebastiano Baggio age 75
President - Vatican City
Janez Stanovnik age 66
President - Slovenia
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud age 67
King - Saudi Arabia
Mahathir Mohamad age 63
Prime Minister - Malaysia
Benazir Bhutto age 35
Prime Minister - Pakistan
Kuan Yew Lee age 65
Prime Minister - Singapore
Gro Harlem Brundtland age 49
Prime Minister - Norway
Hassanal Bolkiah I of Brunei age 42
Prime Minister - Brunei
Turgut Özal age 61
Prime Minister - Turkey