Explore 3174 historical events from 1980–1989.
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
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumon…
Daphne du Maurier, English novelist and playwright (born 1907)
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
Richard Berens is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he…
Ricky Berens, American swimmer
Elmore City is a town in Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. This town is 58 miles south of Oklahoma City. The population was 738 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 697 at…
The town of Elmore City, Oklahoma holds its first dance in the town's history
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 exploded on board the United States Navy battleship Iowa, killing 47 sailors
Vanessa Nuala Kirby is an English actress. She rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series The Crown (2016–2017), for which…
Vanessa Kirby, English actress
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
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
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. The Spectrum played a pivotal role in the history of personal computers and video games, espe…
The ZX Spectrum (pictured), Britain's best-selling microcomputer, was released
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
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
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
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 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
Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufacture…
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the Venus-bound Magellan space probe
The San Bernardino train disaster was a combination of two separate but related incidents that occurred in San Bernardino, California, United States: a runaway train derailment on …
The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people, only to be followed a week later by an underground gasoline pipelin
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
Elīna Babkina is a Latvian former basketball player.
Elīna Babkina, Latvian basketball player
David Alasdair Boudia is an American diver. He won the gold medal in the 10 metre platform diving competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the same event at …
David Boudia, American diver
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…
Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike
Democracy is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected thro…
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiana
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit…
Signing of an agreement between Egypt and the United States that allows for the manufacture of F-16 Falcon parts in Egyp