1989: Information and Much More from Answers.com
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Soviet citizens gain rights and other eastern Europeans overthrow despots in spontaneous uprisings after Beijing cracks down on dissidents with a bloody massacre.
Cuban troops begin pulling out of Angola January 10 pursuant to a December 1988 agreement.
World War II spymaster Sir William S. Stephenson dies at his Hamilton, Bermuda, home January 31 at age 93, having earned the code name Intrepid. Stalingrad-born microbiologist Vladimir Pasechnik, 51, defects to Britain and discloses information showing that the Soviet biological weapons development program is 10 times larger than what Western analysts had feared (see anthrax release, 1979). The Biopreparat's network of 18 research laboratories, Pasechnik reveals, employ more than 25,000 people to develop not only deadly forms of anthrax but also Ebola, Marburg virus, plague, Q fever, and smallpox. Another defector will confirm Pasechnik's story in 1992 (see Chemical Weapons Convention, 1993).
Soviet troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan in February.
Soviet voters elect opposition candidates in March to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a newly reconstituted parliament. Boris Yeltsin wins a landslide victory and warns that Mikhail Gorbachev is gaining too much power (see 1987). The hard-drinking Yeltsin visits America in September and says that if Gorbachev does not show more progress within a year he will face revolt, as demonstrated by widespread strikes that have already crippled production in some areas.
Yugoslavia's collective presidency sends troops into the Serbian province of Kosovo February 27 to end more than 3 weeks of strikes and protest demonstrations by ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the province's population and profit from the Trepca Mining Co., whose British-built silver, lead, cadmium, gold, and zinc mine is worth an estimated $5 billion, making it the most valuable piece of property in the Balkans (see 1941). The new Yugoslavia's president Slobodan Milosevic, 47, strips the Kosovars March 28 of the autonomy they were given in 1974 and delivers a speech at Pristina, the Kosovar capital, that stirs nationalist Serbian sentiment against Albanians. Milosevic says Serbs are the largest of Yugoslavia's ethnic groups but are being cheated of their fair share of jobs and economic benefits. Serbs observe the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo that ended the first Serbian Empire June 15. The Serb-controlled press in Kosovo runs inflammatory articles about alleged atrocities against Serbs, who accounted for half the province's population in 1945 but have been leaving in droves ever since. The Serbian assembly ousts Milosevic's former mentor Ivan Stambolic, who headed the League of Communists of Serbia (LCS) before Milosevic took over as head of the organization 5 years ago, and replaces him with Milosevic, who will rule with dictatorial powers until 2000 (see 1990).
Poland ends 40 years of strict Communist Party rule August 18. Party candidates have been roundly defeated in June parliamentary elections; a new cabinet headed by Tygodnik Solidarnosc editor Tadeusz Mazowiecki, 62, takes over with support from Lech Walesa and Roman Catholic Primate Jozef Cardinal Glemp, but communists retain the interior and defense ministries. Walesa visits the United States in November and receives a hero's welcome.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia demand autonomy; Moscow admits to secret protocols in the 1939 Ribbentrop-Molotov pact under which the USSR was to annex the then-independent Baltic republics. Hundreds of thousands of Latvians, Lithuanians, and Estonians join hands August 23 in a human chain stretching across the three republics; Lithuania acts December 7 to change her constitution, ending the guarantee of Communist Party domination (see 1990).
Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Moldovans, and Ukrainians agitate for autonomy as ethnic divisions threaten to dismember the Soviet Union. The Supreme Council of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic declares August 31 that Romanian is the state language and returns to the Latin alphabet used prior to 1940, but local officials in the south and east refuse to implement the language law and retain the Cyrillic alphabet (see 1990).
Former Hungarian premier János Kádár is removed from his position as president of the Communist Party in May and dies at Budapest July 6 at age 77. Hungary permits thousands of East German "holiday visitors" to cross her frontier into Austria (and thence to West Germany) in September despite a 1969 treaty in which she agreed to prevent any such exodus. The German Democratic Republic allows East German visitors in Czechoslovakia to leave for West Germany in October.
East Germany ( GDR) celebrates her 40th anniversary in October with a 2-day visit by Mikhail Gorbachev but arrests demonstrators after Gorbachev leaves October 7. More than 170,000 East Germans emigrate to the West. President Erich Honecker issues live ammunition to his forces at Leipzig but resigns under pressure October 18, reportedly after his former security chief Erich Mielke presents an old Stasi dossier alleging that Honecker collaborated with the Gestapo when he was held as a political prisoner by the Nazis during World War II; now 77, Honecker is succeeded by his new security chief and protégé Egon Krenz, 52, a hardline Stalinist like Honecker who makes some conciliatory moves but says there will be no sharing of power with pro-democracy groups. GDR authorities permit citizens to exit without visas November 9, joyful East Germans by the millions seize the opportunity to visit the West, and demolition begins of the Berlin Wall erected in 1961. Revelations of corruption force Krenz to resign in early December (Honecker has lived lavishly and his labor minister has kept a 5,000-acre estate on the Baltic with a large staff of servants and groundskeepers). Berlin's Brandenburg Gate is opened December 22 and the city reunites (see 1990).
Hungary's ruling Communist Party renames itself the Socialist Party and the country's parliament adopts a quasi-democratic constitution October 18. The country proclaims itself a democratic republic October 23 and plans multiparty elections.
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard (Ambrosievich) Shevardnadze, 61, tells the legislature October 23 that his country's invasion of Afghanistan was illegal and that a radar station near Krasnoyarsk in Siberia was a violation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Agreement with the United States. Moscow agreed in September to dismantle the Bacility. President Bush meets with President Gorbachev off Malta in early December (see Shevardnadze, 1991).
West Germany's ultra-leftist Red Army Faction kills Deutsche Bank chief executive Alfred Herrhausen, 59, at Bad Homburg December 1. A bomb blows up his armored, chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz 500SE.
Bulgaria's president and party leader Todor I. Zhivkov resigns November 10 at age 78 after 35 years in power. Having boasted that his country and the Soviet Union "breathe with the same lungs, and the same blood flows in our veins," he is replaced as party secretary by his foreign minister Petar T. Mladenov, 53, who says "there is no alternative to restructuring" the nation's economy and tightly-controlled political apparatus. A pro-democracy rally at Sofia December 10 brings out 50,000 people demanding that the constitution be changed to eliminate the communist monopoly on power.
Czech authorities crush a demonstration October 28 and arrest leading dissidents, including playwright and Charter 77 founder Vaclav Havel, who have led chants of "Freedom!" and "We want democracy!" Mikhail Gorbachev urges the Czech government to respond to the need for change, officials announce November 14 that Czechs will be permitted free travel to the West, but Prague police beat student demonstrators November 17. Huge demonstrations follow in Prague's Wenceslas Square and in other major cities demanding the resignation of Communist Party general secretary Milos Jakes, now 67. Former party leader Alexander Dubcek, now nearly 68, speaks out for the first time since the suppression of the "Prague Spring" in 1968. Jakes is replaced November 24, but Czechs, unappeased, demand more rights. President Gustav Husak resigns December 10, a new cabinet with a Communist Party minority is installed in what some call a "velvet revolution," the parliament votes December 19 to move toward Western-style democracy, communist rule ends after 41 years, and parliament votes December 29 to elect playwright and longtime dissident Vaclav Havel, now 53, president, making Dubcek parliamentary chairman.
Liechtenstein's prince Franz Josef II turns over his executive powers November 13 to his son Hans Adam and dies at his capital, Vaduz, November 13 at age 83 after a 51-year reign in which he has overseen the principality's development from a poor rural region into a rich banking center and tax haven with one of the world's highest per-capita incomes.
Romania's president Nicolae Ceausescu continues to suppress dissent, maintaining a Stalinist hard line even though his country suffers the worst food and fuel shortages in Eastern Europe. Demonstrators in Timisoara surround a church to prevent Ceausescu's Securitate (secret police) from arresting a clergyman who has supported rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania, the Securitate shoots down protestors by the thousands beginning the night of December 16, and more are shot in Bucharest demonstrations December 21. Army personnel quickly go over to the side of the demonstrators and Ceausescu is ousted at age 71 after 24 years in power. His Securitate outnumbers the military two to one and battles with army units, but Ceasuscu and his wife, Elena, are captured December 22 and executed by a firing squad December 25 after a military court has convicted them of "genocide" and plundering more than $1 billion from the state. Onetime official Ion Iliescu, 59, heads a new, provisional government (see 1990).
Spanish Civil War heroine Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria) dies at Madrid November 12 at age 95; former Spanish premier Carlos Arias Navarro at his native Madrid November 27 at age 80.
Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini undergoes surgery for internal bleeding from stomach cancer at Teheran May 23 and dies of a heart attack just after midnight June 3 at age 86 (89 by some accounts) after a 10-year theocratic regime. The nation's senior Shiite clergymen promptly vote June 4 to make President Ali Khamenei, 50, the ayatollah's successor, eight people are crushed to death and hundreds injured as hysterical crowds turn out June 5 to view the ayatollah's body in its refrigerated glass coffin, Khomeini's last will and testament attacking the United States and calling moderate Arab leaders "terrorists" and "pirates" is read over Teheran radio, Majlis (parliament) speaker (Hojatolislam ali Akbar) Hashemi Rafsanjani, 54, has called on Palestinians May 5 to hijack airplanes, blow up Western factories, and kill five Westerners for every Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in occupied territories. Washington has warned that it would retaliate for any acts of terrorism, London and Paris have called Rafsanjani's statement "totally unacceptable," PLO leader Yasir Arafat has denounced the statement, Rafsanjani has withdrawn it May 10, saying that it had been distorted, and he wins a landslide victory in the presidential elections July 28. A member of a rich pistachio-growing family, Rafsanjani has been Iran's preeminent politician for the past few years and receives 94.5 percent of the votes cast, having outlined programs to improve the nation's lagging agricultural economy, rebuild its war-shattered petrochemical infrastructure, harness natural gas and hydroelectric power for domestic use, free up more oil for export, improve health services and education for young people and women, and fight corruption by abolishing price controls and food subsidies.
Soviet scientist, congressman, and civil rights champion Andrei D. Sakharov dies at Moscow December 14 at age 68 just hours after warning fellow deputies that the USSR is headed for catastrophe.
Radicalized Muslim army officers seize control of Sudan after 4 years of ineffective democracy. A junta headed by Lieut. Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, 45, takes power as the Revolutionary Command Council but quietly hands over sovereignty to the National Islamic Front, an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood, headed by Hassan al-Turabi, 56.
Lebanon's Muslim and Christian factions reach an accord in October at Taif, Saudi Arabia (see 1988). They agree to a plan drawn up in August that will give the country's Muslim majority greater political power; Maronite Christian René Moawad, 64, is elected president November 5 at a special session of Parliament, but President Moawad is assassinated with 23 others in a Beirut bombing November 22. Moawad is succeeded by fellow Maronite Elias Hrawi, 64, but Christian army commander Gen. Michel Aoun considers himself the legitimate president and begins an 11-month rebellion (see 1990).
Japan's Showa emperor Hirohito dies of cancer at Tokyo January 7 at age 87 after a 62-year reign; he is succeeded on the "Chrysanthemum Throne" by his son Akihito, 55, who will reign as the Heisei emperor. Japan's dominant political party loses at the polls in July following the resignation of a prime minister in one scandal and the tainting of his successor in a scandal involving a geisha.
Burma's military government agrees in February to hold the nation's first democratic elections in nearly 30 years and changes Burma's name to Myanmar (see 1988), but when the election returns in May produce overwhelming support for the opposition National League for Democracy party, the State Law and Order Restoration Council refuses to yield power to the duly elected civilian government. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest in July (see 1991).
Vietnamese troops leave Cambodia (the last ones exit September 26) after nearly 11 years of occupation. Civil war ensues as the Khmer Rouge tries to regain control.
Former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos dies of cardiac arrest at Honolulu September 28 at age 72, leaving his wife, Imelda, a very rich widow.
India's Congress (I) Party loses power in December elections. Rajiv Gandhi is replaced as prime minister by his former minister of finance and defense Vishwanath Pratap Singh, 58, who has launched a crusade against corruption (see 1984). A Kashmir insurgency begins following revelations of election improprieties, with Muslims from Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and other countries joining the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in a terrorist campaign that will include abductions of officials, tourists, and others; car bombings; indiscriminate shooting of civilians; killing of villagers; and torture. The rebels' intent is not union with Pakistan but rather the establishment of an independent state; Indian authorities will crush the rebellion by 1995, using imprisonment, torture, and execution to end resistance.
Chinese Politburo member Hu Yaobang dies April 15 at age 73. University students gather in Beijing's Tiananmen Square ostensibly to mourn Hu's death (he was forced to resign as general secretary in January 1987 by hard-liners for not cracking down on student unrest) but actually to demand more democracy and demonstrate against the abuses of corrupt government officials. They remain in the square night and day for weeks. Students in at least six other cities demand political reform and the resignation of Premier Li Peng. Troops sent to clear Tiananmen Square are won over by the students until June 6, when Deng Xiaoping sends in young Mongolian soldiers who fire into the crowd with AK-47 assault rifles, killing hundreds if not thousands. Leaders of the democracy movement are executed despite appeals from Western powers for leniency. Former premier Zhao Ziyang, now 69, sides with the protesters, the Central Committee dismisses him as its general secretary June 24, and he will remain under house arrest until his death in early 2005. Congress imposes sanctions against Beijing, but President Bush secretly sends an emissary in July to meet with China's political leaders; he acts in December to veto a bill that would extend the visas of some 40,000 Chinese students in the United States and waives some congressional sanctions. China's Deng Xiaoping, now 85, resigns his last political post November 9 and pledges not to meddle in politics; he has been succeeded as chairman of the party's military commission in June by Jiang Zemin, 63.
President Bush appoints Houston-born former senator John G. (Goodwin) Tower, 63, secretary of defense, but Tower has been seen drunk in public on various occasions, the far right in his party has condemned him for womanizing, and the full Senate rejects the appointment March 9. Bush appoints former White House chief of staff Richard B. Cheney to the position March 10, and the Senate confirms him unanimously; now 48, Cheney has served five terms in Congress, defining himself as a "compassionate conservative."
Lawyer and presidential adviser John J. McCloy dies at Stamford, Conn., March 11 at age 93; Far Eastern scholar Owen Lattimore at Providence, R.I., May 31 at age 88. He suffered a stroke last year and has never recovered.
House Speaker James C. "Jim" Wright, 66, (D. Tex.) resigns June 30 following accusations of ethics violations presented in April by Pennsylvania-born Rep. Newt Gingrich (originally Newton LeRoy McPherson), 34, (R. Ga.), who says Wright has broken congressional rules that limit speaking fees. Gingrich has charged that Wright persuaded companies and associations to place bulk orders for his 1984 book Reflections of a Public Man as covert payment for speeches, and evidence has come to light that he also accepted illegal gifts from a San Antonio businessman. The first speaker ever to step down in midterm, Wright is succeeded by Spokane-born Rep. Tom Foley, 60 (D. Wash.).
Paraguay's dictator Alfredo Stroessner is overthrown in a bloody coup February 2 to 3 at age 76 after a brutal 35-year "presidency." Gen. Andrés Rodríguez Pedotti, 64, makes himself president and wins office May 1 with a 74 percent plurality in the first multicandidate election since 1958. Rodríguez has made himself one of the richest men in Latin America on a $400-per-month salary but denies that he has trafficked in drugs. He retains his active-duty status, installs a cabinet that includes a number of other military men, but promises to step down at the end of his term in 1993 and permit free elections (see 1992).
Uruguayan Tupamaro founder Raul Sendic dies at Paris April 27 at age 64, reportedly of a neurological ailment related to the more than 13 years that he spent in prison.
Argentine voters elect Perónist leader Carlos Saul Menem, 58, president May 14, the first peaceful transfer of power in the country since 1927. Succeeding Raul Alfonsín, Menem vows to privatize about 25 industries nationalized in the Perón years, reform the tax system, and stop Argentina's hyperinflation.
Surinam's president Ramsewak Shankar signs an agreement with rebel leader Ronny Brunswijk July 21 calling for a cease-fire, amnesty, and special panel to consider the grievances of the maroons, or bush negroes, thousands of whom have fled to neighboring French Guiana to escape the forces of Surinamese army commander Desi Bouterse (see 1988; Brunswijk, 1986). The maroons are allowed under the agreement to keep their arms and police the jungle interior, but army commander Desi Bouterse rejects the peace accord July 25, calling it a violation of the constitution approved in 1987; his National Democratic Party calls the pact a "declaration of war on the Surinamese people . . . aimed at the division of Surinam and legalizing an independent military force" (see 1990).
El Salvador's 10-year-old civil war sees its most severe rebel attack since 1981 as the Farabundo Martin National Liberation Front mounts a "final offensive" November 11 but fails in its attempt to kill President Alfredo Cristiani or Vice President Francisco Merino. More than 70,000 have died and thousands have been maimed since 1979, and the murder November 16 by government forces of six Jesuit priests brings demands in Washington that Congress stop supporting the Cristiani regime at a cost of nearly $1 million per day.
Panama's voters oust strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega in free elections May 7 (see 1988), Noriega ignores the election results, retains power, and quells an attempted military coup October 3. The Bush administration comes under fire for not giving the rebels more support. Noriega's National Assembly declares war December 15 and formalizes Noriega's position as head of state, an unarmed U.S. Army officer is killed December 16, a U.S. Navy officer and his wife are harassed, and airborne U.S. troops invade Panama with night-flying Apache attack helicopters December 20, offering $1 million reward for information leading to Noriega's arrest. As many as 4,000 Panamanian civilians are killed (Washington says 202), 23 U.S. servicemen. Other Latin countries express outrage at the U.S. invasion; the UN General Assembly denounces it as a "flagrant violation of international law." Noriega eludes capture, turns himself in to Vatican authorities in Panama City December 24, and receives political asylum for 10 days before surrendering to U.S. authorities for trial at Miami on drug charges.
Belize holds her second democratic elections in September (see 1984); voters return the People's United Party to power after criticisms about the ruling United Democratic Party's free-market economic policies and the country's growing dependence on foreign interests; now 70, former prime minister George Price will hold office until replaced by Manuel Esquivel once again in 1993.
Chile's brutal 16-year Pinochet regime nears its end December 14 as voters elect 71-year-old coalition candidate Patricio Aylwin president in a return to democratic tradition. Gen. Pinochet remains military chief of staff (see human rights, 1998).
Brazil holds her first democratic elections in 29 years (see constitution, 1988). Fernando Collor de Mello, 40, wins the presidency December 17; an obscure state governor and former model, he has inveighed against the nation's maharadjahs—overpaid, underworked civil servants.
Uganda's Museveni government comes under renewed attack from a 25-year-old cousin (or nephew) of Holy Spirit Army leader Alice Lakwena (see 1987). Once a choir boy, the illiterate Joseph Kony heads what he calls a Lord's Resistance Army, but while his followers curb the atrocities committed by President Museveni's troops they soon begin a campaign of ruthless kidnappings as they forcibly conscript thousands of young boys, give the recruits bottles of "magic" water that will "drown" any bullets fired in their direction, and fill their heads with apocalyptic promises that a time is coming when all the world's guns will fall silent and only those skilled in the use of machetes, spears, and stones will prevail. The civil war (and Museveni's presidency) will continue into the 21st century.
South Africa's president Pieter W. Botha, 73, suffers a mild stroke January 18 and resigns August 15. He is succeeded in September by F. (Frederick) W. de Klerk, 53, who permits anti-apartheid marches and pledges to make the government more representative. President de Klerk releases some leading political prisoners in mid-October and meets with members of the outlawed African National Congress (see Mandela, 1990).
The Center for Public Integrity founded late in the year at Alexandria, Va., will work to expose corruption in U.S. politics. Former 60 Minutes TV producer Charles "Chuck" Lewis, 45, has started the nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization that will grow by the end of the century to have a full-time staff of about 40 engaged in what used to be called muckraking.
A 6-to-3 U.S. Supreme Court ruling January 23 invalidates a Richmond, Va., program requiring that 30 percent of the city's public works funds be set aside for minority-owned construction firms. The court calls it reverse discrimination and says such programs can be justified only if they serve the "compelling state interests" of redressing "identified discrimination" (City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson).
Rep. Claude D. Pepper (D. Fla.) is hospitalized with stomach cancer in early May at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a long career in which he has championed the rights of older people. President Bush awards him the Medal of Honor in a hospital ceremony May 25, and he dies May 30 at age 88.
The first elected black governor wins office in Virginia November 7 and New York City elects its first black mayor: former lieutenant governor L. Douglas Wilder, 58, is elected governor, former Manhattan borough president David N. Dinkins, 63, mayor.
The Internment Compensation Act approved by the Senate April 20 and signed by President Bush in November awards $20,000 to each Japanese-American surviving victim of President Roosevelt's infamous February 1942 Executive Order 9066 (see 1959). The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 69 to 27, rejecting by a 91-to-4 margin a proposal by Sen. Jesse Helms (R. N.C.) that no money be paid unless Japan paid reparations to the families of Americans killed at Pearl Harbor.
Cairo police arrest lawyer Hisham Mubarak, 26, in August for taking part in a demonstration by Egyptian iron and steel workers demanding higher wages. Left partially deaf in one ear after being beaten and tortured in prison, Mubarak will use the law after his release to defend human rights, working with groups that will expose torture in prisons and police stations, helping to secure a revision of laws that limit criticism of political leaders by the media, and fighting Islamic militants.
An April referendum held in Uruguay upholds the country's 1986 amnesty law for soldiers accused of human-rights abuses during the military dictatorship of 1973 to 1985 (see politics, 1990).
Astronauts aboard the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis send the radar mapping probe Magellan toward Venus May 4 in the first launch of a spacecraft from the shuttle; the unmanned space vehicle Voyager 2 reaches the planet Neptune August 25; the Kvant II expansion module docks with the Soviet Mir space station December 6, bringing with it biological research equipment, solar arrays, and an airlock to permit space walks (see 1987; 1990).
Astronautics pioneer Hermann Oberth dies at Nuremberg, December 29 at age 93.
Ronald Reagan leaves office January 20 with a U.S. budget deficit of $155 billion, up from $73.8 billion in March 1981. The U.S. inflation rate has fallen to 4.5 percent in January, down from 12 percent when Reagan became president 8 years ago, but unemployment in those 8 years has averaged 7.5 percent.
Argentina's inflation reaches its peak of 4,924 percent, with prices doubling and even tripling from month to month (see 1985). The nation has less than $100 million in foreign reserves by April and cannot service her debt; her nationalized oil, telephone, and transportation companies are losing millions; only 31,000 people pay any taxes; and the value of the austral established to replace the devalued peso 4 years ago plunges daily. President Menem brings businessmen and free-market economists into his government and will drastically lower the inflation rate, cracking down on tax evaders as he builds up foreign reserves to $2 billion (see 1991).
U.S. banks write off billions of dollars in uncollectible Latin loans.
Poland suffers hyperinflation as prices escalate by 600 percent. The zloty is devalued at least 12 times, Parliament acts October 16 to compensate workers and farmers for rising prices but critics contend that this will only put more pressure on prices. East Germany has the Eastern bloc's strongest economy, but corruption is rife and her gross national product is less than one-fourth that of West Germany.
Yugoslavia suffers hyperinflation as prices rise to an annual rate of 10,000 percent.
Soviet coal miners strike in the Ukraine's Donets Basin and other Soviet coalfields in the biggest Soviet industrial walkout since the 1920s. Moscow quickly accedes to worker demands, and while independent miners take steps in September to seize control of the official coal workers' union, ousting some officials, the All-Union Council of Trade Unions, dominated by the Communist Party, retains control. Laws are passed forbidding strikes in key industries, but some coal workers strike again in late October, saying Moscow has failed to make good on its promises.
The Japanese Trade Union Confederation Rengo (Rodo Kumiai Sorengokai) is created by a merger of Sohyo, Domei, Churitsu Roren, and other trade unions. Union membership has been declining in Japan as in America, and Rengo will try to reverse the decline; it will grow to have 8 million members, but most Japanese workers remain unorganized. Unemployment in this decade has been less than 3 percent, economic growth has averaged 4 percent as the cartel-like Keiretsu pushed production to new heights, gross national product per capita has exceeded that of the United States by 17 percent, trade surpluses have reached $400 billion, and inflation has fallen from 8 percent to almost zero, but wild speculation in equities and real estate have pushed prices to unrealistic levels, and the bursting of the bubble will bring widespread problems, including a sharp rise in unemployment (see 1990).
The top 1 percent of Americans owns 31 percent of the nation's wealth, up from 26 percent in 1983, and within a few years the top 1 percent will own more than 40 percent of the wealth, twice the percentage it owned in the mid-1970s and close to what it owned before 1929.
More than 56 million U.S. women are in the civilian workforce and represent 45 percent of that workforce, up from 38 percent in 1970. Nearly half of all accountants and bus drivers are women, up from 23.3 percent and 29.7 percent, respectively, in 1970. One out of five doctors and lawyers is a woman (in 1970, only 7 percent of doctors and 3 percent of lawyers were women). A New York Times poll shows in late June that 83 percent of working mothers and 72 percent of working fathers are torn by the conflicting demands of job and family; 48 percent of women interviewed say they have had to sacrifice too much for their gains: both sexes say their children and family life have been the chief casualties, and 27 percent of women say the most important goal of the women's movement should be to help women balance work and family, including child care.
Former Drexel Burnham Lambert "junk" bond guru Michael Milken, now 42, is indicted March 29 along with his brother Lowell, 40, and a 31-year-old former colleague on 98 counts of conspiracy, stock manipulation, racketeering, and securities fraud (see 1988). The government estimates that Milken's salary and bonuses for 1984-1986 came to $554 million and that he was paid $550 million in 1987. Prominent business leaders rise to Milken's defense (see 1990).
The Financial Institutions Rescue, Recovery, and Enforcement Act signed by President Bush August 9 "bails out" the nation's federally-insured savings & loan associations at taxpayers' expense (see 1988), but it does not address crucial issues of deposit insurance, will fail in its purpose, and will inadvertently jeopardize commercial banks. The government sells many S&Ls to private investors and banks at bargain prices.
Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 190.58 points Friday, October 13, as confidence weakens in "junk" bond financing of mergers and acquisitions, but prices rebound the following week. Tokyo's 225-stock Nikkei index touches 38,915.0 December 29, up from 10,000 in January 1984, and begins a descent that will carry it to less than half that level as loans stop performing and Japan's "economic miracle" begins to fade. Wall Street's Dow average closes the year at 2753.20, up from 2168.60 at the end of 1988.
A chartered Boeing 707 crashes February 8 in the Azores, killing 137 Italian tourists and seven U.S. crew members en route from Bergamo, Italy, to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica; a cargo door rips away from a United Airlines Boeing 747 out of Honolulu February 24 and 9 people aboard are sucked out; a United Airlines DC-10 crashes into a cornfield near Sioux City, Iowa, July 19, killing 112 of the 296 aboard; a terrorist bomb blows up a French DC-10 en route from Chad to Paris September 19 and it crashes in Niger, killing all 171 aboard.
The Baikal-Amur Mainline opens in September (5 years behind schedule) 200 miles north of the original railway that opened in 1904. Crossing five mountain ranges and 17 rivers with 3,000 bridges and four major tunnels (the long Svero-Muisky tunnel at the western end remains unfinished and is bypassed), the costly new trans-Siberia rail link was intended to serve industries to be established on its route, but development of the mineral-rich region has been delayed.
France's state-owned railway begins service September 20 on the Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) Atlantique, carrying passengers from Paris to Le Mans at speeds up to 186 miles per hour (TGV trains between Paris and Lyons have run at 168 m.p.h. since 1983). Service to Tours in the Loire Valley and points south will begin next year.
Canada announces October 4 that passenger rail service will be cut in mid-January from 405 trains per week to 191 as the nation tries to reduce a national deficit that is 50 percent higher per capita than its southern neighbor's. Prime Minister Mulroney says the heavily subsidized service in some cases costs the government more than $400 every time a passenger boards a Via Rail train (see 1977).
Ford Motor Company acquires Jaguar Motors for $2.5 billion. General Motors acquires half of Sweden's Saab.
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. challenges German, U.S., and other Japanese luxury cars with its new Lexus line.
The Mazda Miata convertible sports roadster introduced in U.S. markets has a four-cylinder 1.8-liter engine that produces 133 horsepower; some 450,000 of the Japanese-made vehicles will have been sold worldwide by 1998, mostly in North America.
The 80486 microprocessor introduced by Intel in April is a 32-bit chip with 1.2 million transistors, 20 mips, and onboard math coprocessor and memory management units; the first 486 chips will go on sale next year, supplanting the 386 chips introduced in 1985.
Compaq Computer Corp. introduces a PC server that will be at the center of computer networks; the server leads nine other PC makers in rejecting a proprietary IBM design for moving data inside a personal computer.
Stanford University scientists announce April 12 that their $120 million linear accelerator has produced the elusive Z particle in its first successful test. It is hoped that the massive elementary particle, first discovered in 1983, may yield answers to many questions about the fundamental nature of matter. The $1 billion Large Electron-Positron Collider begins operations in July at Geneva's 35-year-old European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), and scientists from both institutions announce October 12 and 13 that they have isolated the three families of particles which make up matter and have established beyond reasonable doubt that the universe contains no more than three fundamental families of matter—first, the so-called "up" and "down" quarks (the building blocks of protons and neutrons), electrons, and the electron neutrino; second, "charmed" and "strange" quarks—the muon and the muon neutrino; third, "top" and "bottom" quarks—the tau particle and the tau neutrino. Some 6,500 physicists from 57 countries have worked at the CERN labs, and the project has cost $658 million per year.
Nobel ethologist Konrad Lorenz dies of kidney failure at Altenburg, Austria, February 27 at age 85; Nobel nuclear physicist Emilio Segrè of a heart attack at Lafayette, Calif., April 22 at age 84; Nobel geneticist George W. Beadle of Alzheimer's disease at Pomona, Calif., June 9 at age 85; Nobel physicist and transistor co-inventor William B. Shockley of prostate cancer at Stanford, Calif., August 12 at age 79.
Boston-born Yale immunologist Charles Janeway Jr., 46, addresses the annual Cold Spring Harbor symposium on quantitative biology and accurately predicts the existence of special receptors on immune cells that trigger the body's response to infection by pathogens (disease-causing organisms). Explaining that T cells form an adaptive immune response, he helps establish the field of innate immunity and within 10 years will (with his colleague Ruslan Medzhitov) identify a receptor as the crucial component of such immunity that orchestrates the series of responses that fight infection.
Physicians from the Ochsner Medical Institutions at New Orleans report in June that mammograms of six women who have received breast implants failed to reveal incipient breast cancers (see 1988). The implants made the small tumors look benign when they should have appeared suspicious. Radiologists from the Emory Clinic at Atlanta say they now take three X-rays rather than two of a breast containing an implant, pushing the implant aside manually as much as possible before taking the third X-ray, and that this technique permits detection of cancers in 10 of 11 women with augmented breasts (see 1991).
New Mexico physicians report three cases in women aged 37 to 43 of an unusual blood disorder—eosinophilia myalgia syndrome—marked by high white-cell count, body rash, muscle and joint pain, extreme weakness, and trouble chewing. It is thought to be caused by a mystery virus. A journalist discovers that the women diagnosed with having the disorder all took L-tryptophan for insomnia and premenstrual syndrome. L-tryptophan is an amino acid commonly used as a food supplement; it has not required Food and Drug Administration approval, and manufacturers scoff at suggestions that their product may be linked to the blood disorder. When the Albuquerque Journal runs a front-page story suggesting that such a link does exist, physicians all over the state begin to report cases of eosinophilia. The FDA issues a recall of all products containing L-tryptophan as a major component. Eosinophilia cases soon total 287 in 37 states and the District of Columbia, and an Oregon woman has died. Within 5 months the cases will total 1,500, and 63 will prove fatal; most victims are women who have taken the dietary supplement, but there will be protests that the FDA has been overzealous.
Congress votes to repeal the "Catastrophic Care" Act that it passed last year as part of Medicare after many elderly Americans register strong protests against having to pay for coverage that in many cases duplicates coverage they receive through private pension plans. The House of Representatives votes 352 to 63 November 21 to insist on total repeal, the Senate follows suit with a voice vote November 22 in the closing hours of its session with only a handful of senators present in the chamber. Many insurance companies offer nursing-home insurance at relatively modest premiums, knowing that most policy holders will die before reaching a nursing home or in a relatively short time after arriving at such a facility.
Two bombs explode at Mecca July 9, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 (see 1987). Saudi authorities blame Iranian-inspired terrorists.
The Christian Coalition of America founded at Virginia Beach, Va., by television evangelist Pat Robertson with help from Portsmouth, Va.-born political operative Ralph Reed, 28, is an outgrowth of Robertson's presidential bid last year. It will rally millions of religious right-wingers in support of prayer in schools, teaching of "intelligent design" rather than Darwinian evolution, and opposition to abortion, sex education (other than abstinence), and homosexuality. Reed will head the Coalition until September 1997.
A federal court at Charlotte, N.C., finds former PTL minister Jim Bakker guilty October 5 on 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy, sentences him to 45 years in prison, and levies a $500,000 fine (see 1987). Witnesses have testified that Bakker bilked followers out of $158 million and diverted nearly $4 million to provide himself and his wife, Tammy Faye, with mansions, an air-conditioned dog house, and fleets of expensive automobiles, including his and her Rolls-Royces. A federal appeals court will reduce the sentence early in 1991 to 8 years and cancel the fine; Tammy Faye will divorce Bakker in 1992, he will be released in 1995, and he will receive a house and car as gifts from Billy Graham.
Ivory Coast's air-conditioned Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is completed at Yamoussoukro, 135 miles from Abidjan on the coast, to designs by architect Pierre Fakhoury. Modeled after St. Peter's in Rome and built for President Houphouët-Boigny, now 83, it is the tallest church in Christendom (its dome rises 525 feet), and its 7.4-acre granite and marble plaza can accommodate 300,000 pilgrims. The nation of 10 million has about 1 million Christians.
A defector from the Church of Scientology reveals late in the year that she helped create the National Coalition of IRS Whistle-blowers to undermine the credibility of the Internal Revenue Service (see 1977). Scientology's president Paul J. DesFosses denies Stacy B. Young's claim that his organization ran the group but concedes that it provided substantial financing for the IRS Whistle-blowers, whose work contributed to the opening of congressional hearings into accusations of corruption in the IRS. Los Angeles lawyer Kendrick L. Moxon has represented the Church of Scientology for years and acknowledges that his client's Freedom magazine founded the anti-IRS coalition (see 1993).
A report entitled "Goals 2000" issued March 21 by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future urges the United States to improve public school instruction, establish guidelines for changing the way math is taught, and provide the world's best math and science education by the year 2000 (see 1983). The new approach to mathematics teaching, sometimes called "whole math," emphasizes creative problem solving and downplays memorization (see 1996).
The Boston School Committee implements a new controlled-choice plan that retains racial guidelines to prevent resegregation of the city's public schools but allows parents to request specific schools for their children (see 1985). The city is divided into three large zones, and students are allowed to choose from among the 27 schools in their zone on condition that the schools remain sufficiently integrated. By 1999 49 percent of the city's public-school population will be black, up from 37 percent in 1974, 26 percent will be Hispanic, up from 8 percent, 9 percent will be Asian, up from 3 percent, and 16 percent will be white, down from 52 percent.
President Bush convenes the National Education Summit at Charlottesville, Va., September 27 and calls for national curriculum standards in public schools.
The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza (Election Gazette) begins publication May 8 as an eight-page daily edited by intellectual and political activist Adam Michnik, now 42, with a staff of 20. Its content comprises chiefly descriptions of parliamentary candidates supported by Lech Walesa's Citizens Committee, its initial circulation of 150,000 will reach close to 500,000 by the end of next year, and it will grow to be the nation's largest paper.
A new Official Secrets Act adopted by Parliament May 11 amends the 1911 law but still bars members of Britain's intelligence services from talking about any aspect of their work. The maximum penalty is a 2-year prison sentence.
Burning the American flag in public to protest government policies is a right protected by the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a 5-to-4 decision handed down June 21. President Bush asks for a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning. Some patriots support the court's decision, others favor a law or amendment to countermand it. Congress passes a law in October but the Senate rejects a constitutional amendment.
Time Warner is created July 24 through a $14 billion takeover of Warner Communications by Time, Inc. Warner Communications CEO Steven J. Ross becomes head of Time Warner, which will be a powerful force in broadcasting and publishing (see AOL, 2000).
The comic strip "Dilbert" debuts in U.S. newspapers, exploiting the horrors of what California cartoonist Scott Adams, 31, calls "cubicle culture." A onetime computer programmer who has joined Pacific Bell as an applications engineer, Adams will have little success until 1993, when he puts his America Online (AOL) e-mail address on his strips, 800 papers will be carrying his strip by the end of 1995, his Web site will get thousands of hits per day from people wanting to see week-old "Dilbert" strips and 2-week-old archived cartoons, Adams will retire from Pacific Bell in 1995, and by 1997 his strip will be running in 1,700 newspapers in 51 countries, its creator will be getting $20,000 to $30,000 per speaking engagement, and Hallmark will be selling Dilbert cards and coffee mugs.
Journalist-author I. F. Stone suffers a heart attack and dies at a Boston hotel June 18 at age 81, having said, "You may think I am just a red Jew son of a bitch, but I'm keeping Thomas Jefferson alive"; Las Vegas Sun founder and publisher Herman M. "Hank" Greenspun dies of cancer at his Las Vegas home July 22 at age 79; former Harper's Bazaar (1939-1962) and Vogue (1961-1971) editor Diana Vreeland of a heart attack at New York August 22 at age 88 (approximate); former New York Post publisher Dorothy Schiff at her native New York August 30 at age 86.
The Los Angeles Herald Examiner ceases publication November 2 after 86 years.
A 20-volume second edition of The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is published by the Oxford University Press (see 1928). A CD-ROM version will go on sale in 1992 and cost far less than the ink-on-paper version.
Nonfiction: From Beirut to Jerusalem by Minneapolis-born New York Times reporter Thomas L. (Loren) Friedman, 36; From Hiroshima to Glasnost: At the Center of Decision: A Memoir by former arms negotiator Paul H. Nitze, now 82; The Master of the Game: Paul Nitze and the Nuclear Peace by Strobe Talbott; The Grand Failure: the Birth and Death of Communism in the Twentieth Century by Zbigniew Brzezinski; Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf by Oliver Sacks; Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer; Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Harvard history professor Simon Schama, 44; This Boy's Life: A Memoir by short-story writer Tobias Wolff.
Travel writer-novelist Bruce Chatwin dies of AIDS at Nice January 18 at age 48; economist-author Sir John R. Hicks at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, May 20 at age 85; philosopher Sidney Hook of congestive heart failure at Stamford, Conn., July 12 at age 86; socialist reformer Michael Harrington of cancer at Larchmont, N.Y. July 31 at age 61.
Fiction: The Joy Luck Club by Oakland, Calif.-born novelist Amy (Ruth) Tan, 37; The Remains of the Day by Japanese-born English novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, 34; Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori) by Haruki Murakami; The History of the Siege of Lisbon (A História do Cerco de Lisboa) by José Saramago; The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos; Spartina by Worcester-Mass.-born novelist John Casey, 50; Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee; Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Rocky Mount, N.C.-born novelist Allan Gurganus, 42; Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow; In the Eyes of My Fury by English novelist Philip Ridley, 25; Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood; You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates; Tales from Margaritaville by songwriter Jimmy Buffet; Restoration: A Novel of Seventeenth-Century England by Rose Tremain; John Dollar by Marianne Wiggins, who last year married Salman Rushdie; Killshot by Elmore Leonard; A Time to Kill by Arkansas-born novelist John Grisham, 34.
Iran's Ayatollah Khomeni offers a $3 million reward for the death of author Salman Rushdie in a fatwa issued February 14 (see Fiction, 1988). "The author of the Satanic Verses book, which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, and all those involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death," he has said. "I ask all Muslims to execute them wherever they find them." British authorities protect Rushdie; London breaks relations with Iran.
Dame Daphne Du Maurier dies in Cornwall April 17 at age 81; Frederic Prokosch at Pland-de Grasse, France, June 6 at age 81; Nigel Dennis in Hertfordshire July 19 at age 77; Donald Barthelme of cancer at Houston July 23 at age 58; novelist-poet Robert Penn Warren at Stratford, Vt., September 15 at age 84; Mary McCarthy of cancer at New York October 25 at age 77, having written, "The mark of the historic is the nonchalance with which it picks up an individual and deposits him in a trend, like a house playfully moved in a tornado"; Stella Gibbons dies at London December 19 at age 87.
Poetry: Pyramid of Bone by Cleveland-born poet Thylias Moss, 35, who has taught at Philips Academy, Andover, since 1984; The Cinnamon Peeler by Michael Ondaatje.
Juvenile: The Floating World by Chicago-born author Cynthia Kadohata, 33; My Name Is Not Angela by Scott O'Dell; There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar; The Island of Ghosts by Eilis Dillon; Pyramids (The Book of Going Forth) and Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett; The Tiger in the Well, The Broken Bridge, and Spring-Heeled Jack by Philip Pullman; illustrations for Spring-Heeled Jack by David Mostyn.
Author Scott O'Dell dies of prostate cancer at Mount Kisco, N.Y., October 15 at age 91.
Painting: Montez Singing by Jasper Johns is based on a memory of his stepgrandmother, Montez Johns, singing "Red Sails in the Sunset"; Space Dust by James Rosenquist; Monica with Tulips by Tom Wesselman; Historical Portraits by Cindy Sherman is a photographic series. Salvador Dali dies in Spain January 23 at age 84, having opportunistically renounced anarchism for monarchism, monarchism for Marxism, Marxism for fascism, and anti-clericalism for devout Catholicism in his shameless quest for fame and money; Elaine de Kooning dies of lung cancer at Southampton, N.Y., February 1 at age 68; Hans Hartung at Antibes, France, December 7 at age 85.
Sculpture: Lunch Break by Duane Hanson. Sculptor Richard Serra's 1981 work Tilted Arc is removed from New York's Federal Plaza March 17 amidst much controversy (Serra has argued in court that the stark, site-specific work would almost cease to exist if moved).
The Louvre Museum at Paris opens a new metal-and-glass pyramid-shaped entrance March 30; architect I. M. Pei has designed it.
Industrial designer Donald Deskey dies at Vero Beach, Fla., April 29 at age 94.
Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art announces June 12 that it has canceled an exhibition of work by the late U.S. photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who has died of AIDS at Boston March 9 at age 42. A few homoerotic pictures are included in the show, which has appeared at Philadelphia and Chicago and was scheduled to open at the Corcoran July 1, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (see 1990); Sen. Jesse Helms (R. N.C.) introduces legislation that would bar the National Endowment from funding "obscene" work (pieces by Brooklyn, N.Y.-born artist Andres Serrano, 39, have also aroused his ire, notably his photograph Piss Christ—a crucifix submerged in the artist's urine). Congress votes in September to establish a panel that will evaluate standards for judging if art is obscene.
Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates establishes Corbis (Latin for woven basket) with a view to buying up digital rights to photographs and fine art in order to establish a vast archive or library of electronic images that can be licensed to users. Corbis will purchase (or cut licensing deals with) the Bettmann Archive with its 16 million historical photographs, the work of Ansel Adams, the paintings of the Hermitage Museum at Leningrad, and hundreds of other suppliers.
Theater: Some Americans Abroad by Chicago-born playwright Richard Nelson, 38, 7/19 at London's 240-seat Pit Theatre with Anton Lesser, Simon Russell Beale; Another Time by Ronald Harwood 9/25 at Wyndham's Theatre, London, with Albert Finney; Love Letters by A. R. Gurney 10/31 at New York's Edison Theater with a rotating cast of two (Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Thomas and Swoosie Kurtz); Shadowlands by English playwright William Nicholson 10/23 at the Queen's Theatre, London, with Nigel Hawthorne as C. S. Lewis, Jane Lapotaire as U.S. poet Joyce Davidman Gresham; A Few Good Men by New York actor-turned-playwright Aaron Sorkin, 28, 11/15 at New York's Music Box Theater, with Tom Hulce, Trenton, N.J.-born actress Roxanne Hart, 37, 497 perfs.; My Children, My Africa by Athol Fugard 12/18 at New York's off-off-Broadway Perry Street Theater, with John Kani, Lisa Fugard, Detroit-born actor Courtney B. Vance, 28.
Beatrice Lillie (Lady Peel) dies at Henley-on-Thames January 20 at age 94; actor Maurice Evans at Rottingdean, East Sussex, March 12 at age 87; actor-director Anthony Quayle of cancer at London October 20 at age 76; actress Constance Binney at Queens, N.Y., in November at age 92; playwright William Wister Haines of a stroke on a cruise ship off Acapulco November 18 at age 81; playwright Samuel Beckett of a respiratory ailment at Paris December 22 at age 83.
Television: Cops 1/7 on Fox with documentary-style treatments of "real people, real crimes"; Agatha Christie's Poirot on London Weekend Television with David Suchet as the Belgian-born detective Hercule Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings, Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard; Rescue 911 9/15 on CBS with host William Shatner in a series based on reenactments of true, harrowing emergencies (to 8/27/1996); Doogie Howzer, M.D. 9/19 on ABC with Albuquerque-born actor Neil Patrick Harris, 16, starring in a Steve Bochco show as the 16-year-old boy-wonder title character who finished high school in 9 weeks and completed college and medical school in record time (to 7/2/1993); Major Dad 9/18 on CBS with Minnesota-born actor Gerald McRaney, 41, as U.S. Marine Major Mac MacGillis, Shanna Reed as the widowed mother of three daughters (to 9/13/1993); Family Matters 9/22 on ABC with Jaleel White, 12, as Steve Urkel; Kelly Williams, 13, as Laura Winslow; Queens, N.Y.-born actor Reginald VelJohnson, 36, as her father, Carl Winslow; Jaimee Foxworth, 9, as her baby sister Judy; JoMarie Payton, 40, as Harriette Winslow (to 7/17/1998 after moving to CBS); Baywatch 9/22 on NBC with David Hasselhoff as career lifeguard Mitch Buchannon, Glendale, Calif.-born actress Erika Eleniak, 19, as a beach beauty, Philadelphia-born actor Parker Stevenson, 36, as lawyer Craig Pomeroy (to 5/17/1999).
Former Saturday Night Live comedienne Gilda Radner dies of breast cancer at Los Angeles May 20 at age 42; singer-entertainer Fran Allison of bone marrow cancer at Van Nuys, Calif., June 13 at age 81.
Films: Edward Zwick's Glory with Mt. Vernon, N.Y.-born actor Denzel Washington, 34, Memphis-born actor Morgan Freeman, 51, Matthew Broderick as Civil War colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Also: Lawrence Kasdan's The Accidental Tourist with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner; Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen with John Neville, Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Welsh-born actor Jonathan Pryce, 42; Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July with Tom Cruise as Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovik; Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso with Philippe Noiret; Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors with Allen, Martin Landau, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Huston; Bruce Beresford's Driving Miss Daisy with Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman; Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy with Matt Dillon, Minneapolis-born actress Kelly Lynch, 30; Paul Mazursky's Enemies, A Love Story with Anjelica Huston, Ron Silver; Kenneth Branagh's Henry V with Branagh; Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montreal with Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening; Patrice Leconte's Monsieur Hire with Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire; Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot with Daniel Day-Lewis; Ron Howard's Parenthood with Waco, Tex.-born actor-comedian Steve Martin, 44, Mary Steenburgen; Jon Amiel's Queen of Hearts with Anita Zagaria, Joseph Long; Hiroshi Teshigahara's Rikyu with Rentaro Mikuni, Tsutomu Yamazaki; Michael Moore's Roger and Me with Moore; Harold Becker's Sea of Love with Al Pacino, New York-born actress Ellen Barkin, 33; Nancy Savoca's True Love with Annabella Sciorra, Ron Eldard.
George Coulouris dies of heart failure at London April 25 at age 85; John Cassavetes of cirrhosis of the liver at Los Angeles April 25 at age 59; Lucille Ball undergoes heart surgery at Los Angeles and dies a week later (April 26) at age 77; director Sergio Leone dies of a heart attack at Rome April 30 at age 60; director Franklin S. Schaffner of cancer at Santa Monica July 2 at age 69; Jim Backus (the voice of cartoon character Mr. Magoo) of pneumonia at Santa Monica July 3 at age 76; Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny and other cartoon chracters) of heart disease at Los Angeles July 10 at age 81; Laurence Olivier in his sleep at home in Steyning, England, July 11 at age 82; Bette Davis of breast cancer at Neuilly-sur-Seine outside Paris October 7 at age 81; Cornel Wilde of leukemia at Los Angeles October 16 at age 74; John Payne of a heart attack at Malibu December 6 at age 77; Sylvana Mangano of lung cancer at Madrid December 16 at age 59.
Film musicals: Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid with music and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken; Terence Davies's Distant Voices, Still Lives with Dean Williams, Pete Postelthwaite, songs from the 1940s and '50s.
Stage musicals: Jerome Robbins' Broadway 2/26 at New York's Imperial Theater, with Jason Alexander, choreography by Robbins, songs from bygone musicals, 633 perfs.; Miss Saigon 9/20 at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, with Jonathan Pryce, Lea Salonga, book and music by Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr.; Buddy 10/12 at London's Victoria Palace Theatre, with Paul Hipp as Buddy Holly, songs by the late rock 'n' roll pioneer; Meet Me in St. Louis 11/2 at New York's George Gershwin Theater, with Betty Garrett, George Hearn, Milo O'Shea, music and lyrics by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, 252 perfs.; Grand Hotel 11/12 at New York's Martin Beck Theater, with Karen Akers, Tennessee-born actor Michael Jeter, 34, David Carroll, Austin Pendleton, music and lyrics by Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Mary Yeston, 1,017 perfs.; City of Angels 12/7 at New York's Virginia Theater, with James Naughton, now 42, Gregg Edelman, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel, 35, 879 perfs.
Former Broadway musical star Claire Boothe Luce dies at New York August 31 at age 85.
Dallas's $110 million Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Hall opens September 8 with a concert featuring pianist Van Cliburn. Contributor H. Ross Perot has stipulated that the hall, designed by I. M. Pei, be named for the former president of Electronic Data Systems.
Composer-critic Virgil Thomson dies at his New York home September 30 at age 92; piano virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz of an apparent heart attack at his New York home November 5 at age 86; dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey of a blood disorder at New York December 1 at age 58.
Popular songs: "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Hollywood songwriters Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar; Tender Love (album) by Indianapolis-born rhythm & blues songwriter-crooner Babyface (Kenneth Edmonds), 30, includes the singles "It's No Crime" and "Whip Appeal" Don't Be Cruel (album) and "My Prerogative" by Bobby Brown; "Oh Mercy" by Bob Dylan; Hangin' Tough (album) by New Kids on the Block (a quintet from Boston); Forever Your Girl (album) by former Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader Paula Abdul, 26, whose well-choreographed music video singles "Straight Up" and "Cold Hearted" help her debut album sell more than 11 million copies worldwide (her 1990 income, mostly from endorsements for Reebok and Diet Coke, will be $23 million); The Raw and the Cooked (album) by Fine Young Cannibals; The Traveling Wilburys (album) by The Traveling Wilburys; Let Me Tell You about Love (album) by Carl Perkins, now 57; Girl You Know It's True (album) by Milli Vanilli; "Look Away" by the rock band Chicago; Nick of Time (album) by Bonnie Raitt includes her own song "The Road's My Middle Name" as well as John Hiatt's "Thing Called Love" and Bonnie Hayes's "Have a Heart" (Raitt has quit drinking and calls it her "first sober album"); Flowers in the Dirt (album) by Paul McCartney includes "Figure of Eight" and "We Got Married"; State of the Heart (album) by Mary-Chapin Carpenter includes "How Do," "Never Had It So Good," "Something of a Dream," and the video favorite "This Shirt;" Fear of a Black Planet (album) by the 7-year-old Long Island rap group Public Enemy (Chuck D [originally Carlton Ridehour], 29; Flavor Flav [originally William Jonathan Drayton, Jr.,], 30; Professor Griff [Richard Griffin], 29; Terminator X [Norman Rogers], 23) includes the single "Fight the Power;" All Hail the Queen (album) by Newark, N.J.-born rap artist Queen Latifah (Dana Elaine Owens), 18.
Jazz trumpeter Roy Eldridge dies of heart failure at Valley Stream, N.Y., February 26 at age 78; Village Vanguard jazz club founder Max Gordon at New York May 11 at age 86, having helped to promote many jazz greats, entertainer Lenny Bruce, and singers Woody Guthrie, "Leadbelly," and Barbra Streisand; (Gordon's 54-year-old, 123-seat nightclub continues under the direction of his widow, Lorraine, now 67, whose first husband was Blue Notes record founder Alfred Lion); songwriter Johnny Green dies at Beverly Hills, Calif., May 15 at age 80; Atlantic Records cofounder Nesuhi Ertegun following cancer surgery at New York July 15 at age 71; legendary songwriter Irving Berlin at his New York town house September 22 at age 101 (his wife, Ellin, died of a stroke last year at age 85); British folk singer Ewan MacColl dies following heart surgery at London October 22 at age 74; singer-songwriter Barry Sadler of "Ballad of the Green Berets" fame at Murfreesboro, Tenn., November 5 at age 49 (he was shot in the head last year while training contra rebels in Nicaragua and left with brain damage and partial paralysis).
San Francisco beats Cincinnati 20 to 16 at Miami January 22 in Super Bowl XXIII.
Golfer Glenna Collett Vare dies at Gulfstream, Fla., February 3 at age 85, having given the Vare Trophy that is awarded each year to the female professional with the best scoring average.
Five-time world middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson dies at Culver City, Calif., April 12 at age 67 (he has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and diabetes).
A semi-final football cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest ends in tragedy April 15 when 95 people are crushed to death at Hillsborough Stadium. A government investigation blames alcohol, hooliganism, antiquated facilities, and poor leadership.
Boris Becker and Steffi Graff win the British and U.S. Open singles titles in tennis.
Former Yale president A. Bartlett Giamatti succeeds Peter Ueberroth as major league baseball commissioner April 1, he declares Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose ineligible for life August 24 after a 6-month case in which evidence has been produced showing that Rose wagered on baseball games, but Giamatti dies of a heart attack at his summer home on Martha's Vineyard September 1 at age 51. Rose denies the charges against him but in an effort to boost sales of a book will admit early in 2003 that he did indeed bet on Cincinnati to win while he was managing the team.
The Oakland Athletics win the World Series, defeating the San Francisco Giants 4 games to 0 after an earthquake causes an 11-day postponement of Game 3.
Former New York Yankees manager Billy Martin dies December 25 at age 61 of injuries suffered in a traffic accident near his Binghamton, N.Y., home.
The 1973 Triple Crown thoroughbred Secretariat is found to be suffering from a degenerative hoof disease (laminitis) and is put down by lethal injection at Claiborne Farms in Paris, Ky., October 4 at age 19, having won 16 races in 23 career starts, earned $1,316,808, and sired more than 40 stakes winners after being retired to stud.
Canadian Olympic swimmer Victor Davis dies at Ste.-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, November 11 at age 25 after being struck by a car.
The hand-held Game Boy video game introduced by Nintendo helps to transform that company from playing-card manufacturer to a worldwide video-game colossus (see 1986). Since joining Nintendo in 1965, electronics genius Gunpei Yokoi, 48, has devised a number of toys, including the Ultra Hand (which sold 1.2 million units), the laser clay range (which allowed abandoned bowling alleys to be converted to shooting galleries in which patrons fired at clay pigeons with light-beam guns), and, in 1980, his first hand-held game, called Game & Watch. Launched in October, Game Boy has cartridges which permit playing several different games, and in the next 8 years it will have worldwide sales of about 55 million units as it gains a 90 percent share of the U.S. market for video games (see Pokémon, 1996).
The 20-acre Park Astérix opens at Paris; the new amusement park is based on the Gallic comic strip created in 1959 by French writer Albert Goscinny and cartoonist René Uderzo.
New York designer Tommy Hilfiger, 35, leaves the financially troubled Murjani International fashion firm, terminates its license to use his name, and obtains financial backing from Hong Kong to produce lower-priced versions of classic styles.
Couturier Guy Laroche dies at Paris February 17 at age 67; hat designer Lilly Daché at Louvecienne December 31 at age 97.
Serial killer Theodore "Ted" Bundy dies in a Florida electric chair January 23, nearly 15 years after embarking on a career that killed at least 30 young women in various parts of the United States.
The U.S. Senate votes 97 to 2 March 9 to confirm former education secretary William J. Bennett as first director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bennett has quit his two-pack-per-day cigarette habit; he will serve in his new job for just 18 months, placing his emphasis on law enforcement and preventive education at the expense of drug-treatment programs.
An indictment unsealed at Boston March 29 charges that local organized crime figure Salvatore M. Carunana has conspired with Bahamian member of Parliament and former cabinet minister Kendal Nottage in a money-laundering scheme that has involved also Nottage's wife, Ruby, and five others (see 1988). Some $5 million in drug-trafficking profits have allegedly been laundered. The federal grand jury at Jacksonville, Fla., indicts fugitive financier Robert L. Vesco April 17 on charges of having conspired to smuggle cocaine into the United States (Vesco is believed to be living in Cuba, and his name is added to an earlier indictment of suspected Medellín Cartel leaders who include Pablo Escobar Gavira, now 39, Jorge Ochoa Vasquez, and Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, 42).
Fidel Castro conducts a show trial of Cuban military hero Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa and others on charges of corruption and drug trafficking. Ochoa is executed July 13. The Castro government has reportedly been involved for years in the drug trade.
Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan is assassinated August 18, President Virgilio Barco Vargas declares war on the Medellín and Cali drug cartels that have been responsible for murdering scores of judges, government officials, and newspaper editors. Washington sends military hardware, much of it inappropriate. Colombian police make nearly 500 arrests, nine suspects are extradited to the United States, and $250 million worth of property is confiscated, along with drugs and weapons. Drug "kingpins" strike back with 265 bombings that kill 187 civilians and officials, causing more than $500 million in property damage.
President Bush signs a secret national security directive in August authorizing an expanded U.S. military role in the war against Latin American drug sources and uses his first presidential TV address September 5 to announce a war on drugs; he spends the next 8 days making speeches around the country to push his $7.9 billion comprehensive spending plan, but congressional Democrats headed by Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia present a plan September 12 that calls for about $10.1 billion in spending, with a greater emphasis on prevention and treatment. Critics of drug policies note that the Drug Enforcement Agency and other agencies have interdicted staggering quantities of narcotics, but the supply is inexhaustible, street prices of drugs have come down, the purity of street drugs has increased, and so long as nothing is done to reduce demand by hard-core addicts there will be no way to stop drug traffickers from finding ways to bring narcotics into the country, they will continue to make huge profits, and low-level dealers will continue to kill each other in shoot-outs over territory or in failed deals.
Colombian police gun down billionaire drug trafficker José Gonazalo Rodriguez Gacha December 15 along with his 17-year-old son and 15 bodyguards in a rural area near Cartagena. Drug trafficker Pablo Escobar Gavira remains at large, as do three brothers of Medellín's Ochoa family (see 1990). Escobar and Rodriguez Gacha have been suspected of ordering the November bombing of an Avianca plane that exploded in mid-air, killing all 107 aboard.
A 29-year-old investment banker jogging in New York's Central Park is raped and left for dead April 19 by a band of black and Hispanic youths. Her attackers are caught and indicted.
Beverly Hills, Calif., police receive an hysterical 911 phone call August 20 and rush to the home of LIVE Entertainment CEO José E. Menendez, 45, who is found dead alongside his wife Maria "Kitty," 44. Their sons Lyle, 21, and Eric, 18, will eventually be convicted of having murdered their millionaire parents in cold blood.
Four black New York youths visiting a Bensonhurst (Brooklyn) neighborhood August 23 to look at a used car are attacked by seven white youths; Yusef K. Hawkins, 16, is shot dead in a racial incident that plays a role in the city's mayoral election contest.
A federal court convicts New York hotel operator Leona Helmsley August 30 on 33 counts of income tax evasion and massive tax fraud; now 69, she is sentenced to 4 years in prison and fined $7.1 million. A former housekeeper has testified that Mrs. Helmsley told her, "Only the little people pay taxes."
Former Louisville, Ky., pressman Joseph T. Wesbecker, 47, walks into the Standard Gravure printing plant September 14 carrying an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle, two MAC-11 semiautomatic pistols, a .38 caliber handgun, a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, and a bayonet. Wesbecker worked at the plant until last year, when he was placed on permanent disability leave and given the new Eli Lily anti-depressant drug Prozac for his manic depression (see medicine, 1988). He kills seven people and wounds 15 others, some of them critically, before shooting himself to death. Louisville's mayor Jerry Abramson calls for a total ban on all assault weapons and takes President Bush to task, calling his recent ban on imported assault weapons a "half-hearted measure"; Bush says, "The loss of human life is horrible," but he says the killings have not altered his opposition to further federal curbs on semiautomatic weapons. Families of Wesbecker's victims file suit against Eli Lily, whose lawyers will reach a secret settlement with the plaintiffs while the trial is going on in 1994, and the company will avoid having to affix a warning label about Prozac's potential for causing violent or suicidal behavior.
A Rockford, Ill., prosecutor tries to have a woman indicted on grounds that her use of cocaine in pregnancy caused the death of her new-born infant.
A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., jury finds a rape-case defendant not guilty October 4 on grounds that the victim—a 22-year-old Coconut Creek woman—was wearing a tank top, a sheer, short skirt, and no underpants (Florida v. Lloyd). "She asked for it," says the jury foreman.
University of Montreal engineering student Marc Lepine, 25, walks into a Polytechnique classroom and cafeteria with a hunting rifle December 6 and goes on a shooting rampage, killing 14 women (he calls them "a bunch of fucking feminists") and wounding 12, including two men. He then shoots himself to death, leaving a suicide note that blames women—feminists in particular—for ruining his life. One of his victims is the mayor's baby sitter. Police describe Lepine as a "loner" repeatedly frustrated in his relationships with women. News of the killing sends shock waves across Canada and among women everywhere.
New York's 47-story Morgan Building is completed at 60 Wall Street to designs by Kevin Roche, now 67.
Hong Kong's 70-story Bank of China Building is completed to house Beijing's main overseas branch; designed by I.M. Pei, it is the tallest structure in the crown colony.
Warsaw's 41-story Marriott Hotel is completed with 520 guest rooms, office space, a shopping mall, and a swimming pool.
A house for Marna and Rockwell Schnabel is completed in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles to designs by Frank Gehry, who has placed each room in a separate pavilion with its own geometric shape.
The Grotta house is completed at Harding Township, N.J., to designs by Richard Meier.
The tanker Exxon Valdez takes on 1.26 million barrels of crude oil at Valdez, southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline, and runs aground March 24 on Bligh Reef, releasing 240,000 barrels of oil into Prince William Sound, an area rich in otters, whales, porpoises, seafowl, and fish (see energy, 1969). Exxon sacks the skipper for drinking on the job after the worst U.S. tanker spill thus far (seePrestige spill, 2002).
An explosion and fire aboard the Iranian tanker Khark 5 off Morocco December 19 cause leakage of one fourth of the ship's cargo—20 million gallons of crude oil—in the Atlantic.
Africa's elephant population falls to 625,000 or less, down from 1.2 million in 1981, as illegal trade in ivory flourishes despite restrictions.
Brazil responds to world environmentalist opinion and suspends (but does not end) tax incentives that have favored land clearance in the Amazon jungle (see 1988). A low-interest World Bank loan of $8 million plus $8 million appropriated by the Brazilian congress, provides funds to hire forestry agents, rent helicopters, and buy trucks, but a helicopter sent to investigate an illegal forest fire in Pará state is fired upon, and hired gunmen kill a forestry agent. Landowners who burn trees without permits are fined some $10 million by agents of the new Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. August rains put an early end to burning but chain saws continue to fell trees, legally and illegally. Less than 88 percent of Brazil's forests remain at year's end, down from 99 percent in 1975.
Arab militants burn an estimated 250,000 trees in Israel's Carmel National Park September 20, blackening 2,000 acres in the heart of the 20,000-acre natural pine and oak forest.
Hurricane Hugo in mid-September slams into the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Carolinas, killing more than 70 all told, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, and wreaking havoc on trees and buildings. It is the worst blow to hit Puerto Rico since 1932. Property damage in the Caribbean and United States exceeds $4 billion.
San Francisco trembles October 17 in North America's most destructive earthquake since 1906. Measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale (less than 1/10th the 8.3 of 1906), the 15-second Loma Prieta tremor at 5:04 in the afternoon buckles highways and the Bay Bridge, kills 63 people (most of them crushed in cars when the upper level of the Nimitz Highway collapses), and causes at least $6 billion in property damage.
The End of Nature by Palo Alto, Calif.-born Adirondack Mountains writer William (Ernest) "Bill" McKibben, 28, warns of the ecological disaster that will come if the industrialized world does not stop using fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases.
New York, New Jersey, and the eight New England states adopt air pollution standards matching those in California (see 1977). California announces a phasing in of draconian measures that will outlaw gas-powered lawnmowers and outdoor barbecues and require many vehicles to run on alternate fuels (see 1990). Some European countries begin to follow this example.
President Bush announces November 7 that the United States "has agreed with other industrialized nations that stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions should be achieved as soon as possible . . . [and] that it is timely to investigate quantitative targets to limit or reduce carbon dioxide emissions" (but see 2002).
StarKist responds to environmentalist concerns by announcing that it will buy only tuna caught by means other than nets which kill dolphins (see 1972). Taking its cue from the world's largest tuna canner, the Bush administration bars tuna imports from Mexico and other Latin American countries that fail to protect their dolphins; European nations follow suit, extending the embargo to an estimated 80 percent of the canned-tuna market. By 1995 tuna fishermen will be killing fewer than 5,000 dolphins per year.
Moscow offers Soviet wheat growers hard currency incentives if they exceed certain production goals but continues to buy millions of tons of U.S. and other foreign grain.
World grain reserves at the start of the year's harvest are equal to only 54 days of consumption, down from 101 days at the start of the 1987 season (see U.S. harvest, 1988).
Malaysia and the Philippines run advertisements in U.S. newspapers with claims that coconut and palm oils, used by food processors for flavor and to extend the shelf life of many products, have no effect on serum cholesterol levels and may sometimes actually lower cholesterol levels. Exports of palm oil account for 11 percent of Malaysia's gross domestic product, copra (dried coconut meat) and coconut oil represent a major industry in the Philippines, and the American Soybean Association has organized a letter-writing campaign to urge food processors to remove tropical oils from their products. Given the great preponderance of evidence that saturated fats such as these do raise cholesterol levels, major processors have announced programs to reduce their use of tropical oils in baked goods such as bread, cookies, and crackers, but Nabisco's Triscuits continue to be made with palm oil and its Oreo cookies are still made with lard. Food technicians "hydrogenate" unsaturated oils to make them shelf-stable but not to the levels of saturation found in tropical oils.
An estimated 60 million Americans of all ages take dietary supplements on a daily basis, most of them "just to be on the safe side" but some in the hope that vitamins or minerals will somehow give them more energy, compensate for smoking or poor eating habits, alleviate arthritis pains, help some other condition, or extend their lives.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports in February that the chemical Alar (daninozide) poses a significant risk of cancer for humans but will not be banned for at least 18 months because tests thus far have not proved any imminent health hazard. Made by Uniroyal, the chemical has been used for 20 years to redden about 5 percent of the nation's apple crop, but several food chains stopped accepting Alar-treated apples in 1986. The Alar scare gives a boost to organically-grown apples and other fruit, which are in some cases wormy or otherwise blemished, and some apple varieties are hard to find.
Canadian, Japanese, and U.S. fruit consumption plummets in March following an alert by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. embassy at Santiago has received an anonymous telephone call March 2, warning that Red Flame grapes en route from Chile have been injected with cyanide. The call is repeated March 9, the S.S. Almeria Star out of Valparaiso arrives at Philadelphia March 11 and discharges its cargo of fruit at the Tioga Marine Terminal, Customs inspectors impound the cargo, and they proceed to impound 2 million crates of Chilean fruit—blackberries, blueberries, green apples, melons, peaches, pears, and plums as well as grapes—at airports and docks. The embargo continues for 11 days, but only three suspicious-looking grapes are found, and it will turn out that they were probably contaminated with cyanide in a Philadelphia testing laboratory. Some 20,000 Chilean food workers lose their jobs, hundreds of thousands feel the economic impact, Chilean growers will file a lawsuit against the U.S. government to recover more than $330 million in damages, and domestic grape producers also suffer severe financial losses as Americans, Canadians, and Japanese stop eating grapes of any kind for several weeks and also avoid almost any fruit at a time of year when most fruit other than bananas and citrus fruit is imported from Chile.
The United States bans imports of British beef. So-called "mad-cow disease" (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) has been killing British cattle since 1985 (see medicine, 1982), and some scientists fear that BSE may cause Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, a devastating brain disorder that affects humans (mostly older people), producing symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease (see 1996).
The U.S. Supreme Court returns the issue of abortion to the political arena, ruling July 3 in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services that states can limit access to abortion. Right-to-life groups hail the 5-to-4 decision, pro-choice groups anticipate further erosion of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Florida legislature votes October 12 to reject measures proposed by the governor to restrict abortion, but Pennsylvania adopts strict new laws on abortion. Congress votes in October to weaken the Hyde Amendment of 1976 by authorizing Medicare payment for abortions in victims of rape and incest; President Bush vetoes the measure and Congress fails to override, but political candidates supported by right-to-life advocates all lose in the November elections.
A study of Puerto Rican women shows that 45 percent of them aged 15 to 49 have had their tubes tied (see 1937).
Romania permits abortion for the first time in 24 years following the death of Nicolae Ceausescu.
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