1989 Timeline by David Miller

Economic reports on the previous year from the Labor Department indicate a growth rate of 3.8%, the largest in four years and an unemployment rate of 5.3%, a low of fourteen years.

Valentine’s Day, Ayatollah Khomeini placed a $3 million bounty on Salman Rushdie, the author of 'The Satanic Verses', which was accused of being ‘against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.'

The Exxon Valdez crashes into Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, causing the largest oil spill in American history, eleven million gallons, which extended forty-five miles.

North is convicted after the Iran- Contra Affair, on three charges: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents.

Ayatollah Khomeini dies in Iran after having been the supreme religious leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran for twenty years.

Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. The brutal Chinese government assault on the protesters shocked the West.

Tim Burton's Batman becomes the highest grossing (at the time) film based on a DC comic book.

Sega releases the all new 16-bit console, Genesis to North America inviting a new era of gaming.

Pete Rose receives his lifetime ban from baseball due to allegations of gambling.

NASA's Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe the planet Neptune, its closest approach to any planet 12 years after leaving Earth in 1977.