Explore 6636 historical events from 1980–1989.
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana t…
The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President
Daniel Campbell Smith is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known as the founder, lead singer and primary songwriter of the English pop rock band Bastille. The…
Dan Smith, British singer, songwriter and record producer
The Israeli Air Force operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of I…
The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado was an intense tornado that occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. While it was destructive and extremely deadly, there is grea…
A tornado struck the Manikganj District of Bangladesh and killed an estimated 1,300 people, making it the deadliest torn
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who led Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He served as the first Prime Minister of Zimb…
Robert Mugabe became the first prime minister of Zimbabwe, beginning a 37-year period in power
Widerøe Flight 710, known as the Torghatten Accident, was a controlled flight into terrain into the mountain of Torghatten in Brønnøy Municipality, Norway. The Widerøe-operated de …
Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into the fog-covered mountain of Torghatten in Brønnøy, Norway, killing all 36 people on boar
The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands a…
Falklands War: The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cardiff engaged and destroyed a British Army helicopter in a friendly-fire i
Peter Brian Hegseth is an American government official and former television personality who is serving as the United States secretary of defense since 2025.
Pete Hegseth, American author, political commentator and 29th United States Secretary of Defense
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado was an intense tornado that occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. While it was destructive and extremely deadly, there is grea…
The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many a
Jordana Brewster is an American actress. She made her acting debut, three weeks after turning 15, in an episode of All My Children in 1995 and next took on the recurring role as Ni…
Jordana Brewster, Panamanian-American actress
A gun turret is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable we…
A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors
The Monkseaton shootings occurred on 30 April 1989 in Monkseaton, Tyne & Wear, England, when Robert Sartin killed one man and left 16 other people injured during a 20-minute shooti…
The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England
An election for the second supreme leader of Iran was held on 4 June and 6 August 1989 following the death of the first supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini.
In the 1989 Iranian supreme leader election, Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of Iran after the death a
Interflug Flight 102 ended in a crash involving an Ilyushin Il-62M on 17 June 1989. The aircraft, while attempting to take off from Berlin Schönefeld Airport, East Germany, crashed…
Interflug Flight 102 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Berlin Schönefeld Airport, killing 21 people
George Thomas "Mickey" Leland III was an American politician and anti-poverty activist. He served as a congressman from the Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black…
U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
The National Cold Fusion Institute (NCFI) was a nonprofit research institute affiliated with the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 19…
The National Cold Fusion Institute opened in Salt Lake City.
Tadeusz Mazowiecki was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime …
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe.
Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046 was a chartered Ilyushin Il-62M airliner operated by Cubana, which crashed on 3 September 1989, shortly after takeoff from José Martí International A…
Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046 crashes into a residential area of Havana shortly after takeoff from José Martí…
The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were two groups of people, mostly from Northern Ireland, who were wrongly convicted in English courts in 1975 and 1976 of the Guildford pub bo…
The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15…
Wärtsilä Marine was a Finnish shipbuilding company.
Bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, the biggest bankruptcy in the Nordic countries up until then.
China Airlines Flight 204 (CI204/CAL204) was a Boeing 737-200 that crashed into a mountain after takeoff from Hualien Airport, Taiwan, on 26 October 1989. The crash killed all 54 p…
China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board.
Protests led by students and workers, known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsu…
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese
Paraskevi "Voula" Papachristou is a Greek triple jumper and long jumper. She won two gold medals at the European Athletics U23 Championships and took the third place at the 2016 Wo…
Paraskevi Papachristou, Greek triple jumper
Avriel Benjamin Kaplan is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for being the former vocal bass of the a cappella group Pentatonix from 2011 to 2017. As a part of the group, h…
Avi Kaplan, singer and songwriter
Alia Martine Shawkat is an American actress. She is known for her performances as Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom Arrested Development, Dory Sief in the TBS and HB…
Alia Shawkat, American actress
Simu Liu is a Canadian actor. He rose to prominence by starring as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), a role which he…
Simu Liu, Canadian actor
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado was an intense tornado that occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. While it was destructive and extremely deadly, there is grea…
The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many a
The People's Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Published by the People's Daily Press, it provides direct information on…
People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests
The April 27 demonstrations were massive student protest marches throughout major cities in China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The students were protesting in respons…
The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square prot
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc …
Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect
The Iran–Contra affair, also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Contragate, Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that cente…
Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charge
Vannesa Rosales-Gautier is a Venezuelan activist and teacher from Mérida state.
Vannesa Rosales, Venezuelan activist and teacher
Nicola Glencross is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Nikki Cross, and is a member of The Wyatt …
Nikki Cross, Scottish wrestler
Nicole Vaidišová Štěpánková is a Czech former professional tennis player.
Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player