✦ History

Explore May 1, 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
South African Border War 1966-08-26 - 1990-03-21
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
Sri Lankan Civil War 1983-07-23 - 2009-05-18
Perestroika 1985 - 1991-12-26
First Intifada 1987-12-09 - 1993-09-13
First Nagorno-Karabakh War 1988-02-20 - 1994-05-12
Invention of the World Wide Web 1989-03-12 - 1991-08-06
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre 1989-04-15 - 1989-06-04

People

Elizabeth II age 63
Queen - United Kingdom
Fidel Castro age 62
President - Cuba
Mikhail Gorbachev age 58
General Secretary of the Communist Party - Soviet Union
George H. W. Bush age 64
President - United States
Saddam Hussein age 52
President - Iraq
Ali Khamenei age 50
President - Iran
Hosni Mubarak age 61
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 69
President - Germany
Baudouin of Belgium age 58
King - Belgium
Zhao Ziyang age 69
General Secretary - Communist Party of China
Lee Teng-hui age 66
President - Republic of China
José Sarney age 59
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 77
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea - North Korea
Carlos Salinas de Gortari age 41
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 59
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 65
Prime Minister - Japan
Nikolai Ryzhkov age 59
Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Soviet Union
Ciriaco De Mita age 61
Prime Minister - Italy
Ante Marković age 64
Prime Minister - Yugoslavia
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 61
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
Dan Quayle age 42
Vice President - United States
Wang Zhen (general) age 81
Vice President - People's Republic of China
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri age 46
Vice President - Iraq
Nie Rongzhen age 89
Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China - People's Republic of China
William J. Crowe age 64
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - United States
Dick Cheney age 48
Secretary of Defense - United States
James Baker age 59
Secretary of State - United States
Nigel Lawson age 57
Chancellor of the Exchequer - United Kingdom
Douglas Hurd age 59
Home Secretary - United Kingdom
Nicholas F. Brady age 59
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 53
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 69
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court - US Judiciary
William J. Brennan Jr. age 83
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 59
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court - US Judiciary
Neil Kinnock age 47
Leader - Labour Party (UK)
Oliver Tambo age 71
President - African National Congress
Gerry Adams age 40
President - Sinn Féin
Ruth Bader Ginsburg age 56
US Court of Appeals - US Judiciary
Stephen Breyer age 50
US Court of Appeals - US Judiciary
Jeff Sessions age 42
United States Attorney - Department of Justice
Joe Biden age 46
Senate - United States
Al Gore age 41
Senate - United States
John Kerry age 45
Senate - United States
Daniel Inouye age 64
Senate - United States
William Cohen age 48
Senate - United States
Lloyd Bentsen age 68
Senate - United States
John McCain age 52
Senate - United States
Tony Blair age 36
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Gordon Brown age 38
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
John Major age 46
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Edward Heath age 72
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
John Lewis age 49
House of Representatives - United States
Leon Panetta age 50
House of Representatives - United States
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen age 43
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Jack Straw age 42
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Michael Howard age 47
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Geoffrey Howe age 62
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Alistair Darling age 35
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Kenneth Clarke age 48
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Denis Healey age 71
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
David Blunkett age 41
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Les Aspin age 50
House of Representatives - United States
Norman Lamont age 47
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan age 42
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
David Waddington age 59
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Joseph W. Barr age 71
House of Representatives - United States
Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking age 54
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Merlyn Rees age 68
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
William Hague age 28
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Michael Foot age 75
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
John Smith age 50
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Margaret Beckett age 46
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Harriet Harman age 38
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Jeremy Corbyn age 39
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
David Steel age 51
Member of Parliament - United Kingdom
Bill Clinton age 42
Governor of Arkansas - United States
John Paul II age 69
Pope - Vatican City
Bhumibol Adulyadej age 61
King - Thailand
Robert Mugabe age 65
President - Zimbabwe
Juan Carlos I of Spain age 51
King - Spain
Augusto Pinochet age 73
President - Chile
Suharto age 67
President - Indonesia
Nicolae Ceaușescu age 71
President - Romania
Margrethe II of Denmark age 49
Queen - Denmark
Corazon Aquino age 56
President - Philippines
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden age 43
King - Sweden
Beatrix of the Netherlands age 51
Queen - 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 21
King - Eswatini
Paul Biya age 56
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 59
President - Iceland
Óscar Arias Sánchez age 47
President - Costa Rica
Omar Bongo age 53
President - Gabon
Hassan II age 59
King - Morocco
Kenneth Kaunda age 65
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
King - Norway
Mauno Koivisto age 65
President - Finland
Blaise Compaoré age 38
President - Burkina Faso
Raúl Alfonsín age 62
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 52
President - Rwanda
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan age 71
President - United Arab Emirates
P. W. Botha age 73
State President - South Africa
Jerry Rawlings age 41
President - Ghana
João Bernardo Vieira age 50
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 38
President - Liberia
Quett Masire age 63
President - Botswana
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg age 68
Grand Duke - Luxembourg
Ghulam Ishaq Khan age 74
President - Pakistan
Hassan Gouled Aptidon age 72
President - Djibouti
Chadli Bendjedid age 60
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 65
President - The Gambia
Carlos Andrés Pérez age 66
President - Venezuela
Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah age 62
Emir - Kuwait
Ali Hassan Mwinyi age 64
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
King - 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 66
President - Ireland
Isa II of Bahrain age 55
Emir - Bahrain
Giorgos Vasiliou age 57
President - Cyprus
Wee Kim Wee age 73
President - Singapore
Virgilio Barco Vargas age 67
President - Colombia
Christos Sartzetakis age 60
President - Greece
Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani age 56
Emir - Qatar
Amata Kabua age 60
President - Marshall Islands