1989
HISTORY & POLITICS

The Stockton massacre: Patrick Edward Purdy kills 5 children, wounds 30 and then shoots himself in Stockton, California.

American Olympic medalist Bruce Kimball is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident.

The first of 24 Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites is placed into orbit.

Time, Inc. and Warner Communications merge, forming Time Warner.

Gun control: U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.

A 1,000 ft diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by only 400,000 miles.

Nintendo begins selling the Game Boy.

Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World opens to the public for the first time.

United Airlines Flight 232 (Douglas DC-10) crashes in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 112; due to extraordinary efforts by the pilot and crew, 184 on board survive.

A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. for releasing a computer virus, making him the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in South Carolina, causing $7 billion in damage.

Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.

Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.

France celebrates the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.

MUSIC

Look Away - Chicago
My Perogative - Bobby Brown
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
Straight Up - Paula Abdul
Miss You Much - Janet Jackson
When I See You Smile - Bad English
Eternal Flame - The Bangles
Sowing the Seeds of Love - Tears for Fears
Toy Soldiers - Martika
Heaven - Warrant
Don't Wanna Lose You - Gloria Estefan
Soldier of Love - Donny Osmond
Hangin' Tough - New Kids on the Block
Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx
Lost in Your Eyes - Debbie Gibson
Iko Iko - Belle Stars
Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals

TELEVISION

The Simpsons [cartoon]: The Simpsons are very politically incorrect family who live in Springfield. Homer works with pride in a nuclear power plant run with more regard for profit that safety. His wife, Marge, is a kind of supermom. Bart, the oldest of the Simpson kids, is an underachiever and prancster "and proud of it." Lisa, the middle child, is serious, responsible and the genius of the bunch. Maggie, the baby, can't talk yet. Together the Simpsons (and other members of the town) get themselves into some crazy adventures.
 
American Gladiators: Two teams (one male, one female) compete in games of physical strength against the "Gladiators" - very athletic body builders who attempt to halt the contestants from scoring points in any of the competitions. Events include, The Assault, Joust, The Wall, Breakthrough and Conquer, Hang Tough, Powerball, and many others, all culminating in the final event, "The Eliminator", a difficult obstacle course race.
   
MTV Unplugged: In this concert series, major pop music talents play their biggest hits without the benefit of electronic instruments and use only basic acoustic ones. This often produces a dramatically different sound for their songs as they are performed.
   
Tales from the Crypt: Tales of horror based on the gloriously gruesome EC horror comics of the 1950's, hosted by an animatronic skeleton called The Crypt Keeper.
 
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! [cartoon]:Mario, his brother Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and her advisor Toad go from land to land try to save it from the sinister Bowser Koopa and his band of goombas, troopas, and other villians from the video game.

MOVIES

Batman: Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, & Kim Basinger
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker.
   
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Starring: Harrison Ford & Sean Connery
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis.
   
Lethal Weapon 2: Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, & Joe Pesci
Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.
 
Back to the Future Part II: Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Tea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Elisabeth Shue, & Jeffrey Weissman
Doc, Marty and Jennifer take the time-traveling DeLorean into the year 2015 to straighten out the future of the McFly family. Unfortunately, Biff Tannen steals the time machine and gives his younger self a book containing 50 years of sports statistics, which the young Biff uses to amass an enormous gambling fortune and transform idyllic Hill Valley into a living hell. To restore the present, Doc and Marty must return to the events of their previous adventure in 1955 and retrieve the book.

Harlem Nights: Starring: Eddie Murphy & Richard Pryor
"Sugar" Ray is the owner of an illegal casino, who contend with the pressures of vicious gangster and corrupt policemen who want to see him go out of business. In the world of organized crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair!

The Abyss: Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, & Michael Biehn
A civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.
   
License to Kill: Starring: Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Talisa Soto
James Bond leaves Her Majesty's Secret Service to stop an evil drug lord and avenge his best friend, Felix Leiter.

The Karate Kid Part III: Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Martin Kove, Thomas Ian Griffith, & Robyn Lively
Kreese, his life in tatters after his karate schools was defeated by Daniel and Mr Miyagi, visits Terry, a friend from Vietnam. Terry is a ruthless business man and a martial arts expert, and he vows to help Kresse take revenge on Daniel and Mr Miyagi.

SPORTS

San Francisco 49ers defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 at Super Bowl XXIII.

Record-setting baseball player Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport following allegations of illegal gambling, thereby preventing his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In WrestleMania V, Hulk Hogan defeats Randy Savage to become the WWF Champion.

Sunday Silence wins the Kentucky Derby with a time of 2:05.00.

Greg LeMond (United States) wins the Tour de France.

PEOPLE WHO DIED

Salvador Dali (b. 1904) - Surrealist painter - known for his melting clocks & animals with long, multi-jointed, spindly legs; some of his works include: The Persistence of Memory, The Temptation of St. Anthony, The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, Soft Construction with Boild Beans, & A Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening
John Cassavetes (b. 1929) - Actor / Director / Writer - as Victor P. Franko in The Dirty Dozen, Guy Woodhouse in Rosemary's Baby, & Johnny North in The Killers
Maurice Evans (b. 1901) - Actor - as Maurice, Samantha's father on Bewitched; The Puzzler on Batman; Dr. Zaius in Planet of the apes, & Rosemary's friend Hutch in Rosemary's Baby
Jack Starrett (b. 1936) - Actor / Director - as Gabby Johnson in Blazing Saddles, Deputy Galt in First Blood, & Swick in The River
Graham Chapman (b. 1941) - Comedian / Actor - on of the six Monty Python members - as King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail & Brian in Monty Python's Life of Brian

PEOPLE WHO WERE BORN

Daniel Radcliffe - Actor - as Harry Potter in the Harry Potter films
Chris Brown - R&B and pop singer
Lil' Romeo - Rapper / Actor
Michelle Wie - Teen golf phenom who turned professional at 16