Timeline December 1989

Events in December 1989 15

• 1906 – 1989 Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) Died 22 December 1989, aged 83 Samuel Beckett was an Irish playwright and novelist best known for Waiting for Godot, a landmark of absurdist theatre. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. His minimalist style profoundly influenced twentieth-century drama.
• 1921 – 1989 Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989) Died 14 December 1989, aged 68 Andrei Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist who became a leading human rights dissident and advocate for disarmament. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 despite being barred from traveling to accept it. He returned to public life as a reformist deputy shortly before his death.
• 1987 – 1989 Partnership with Mishkutionok Paired with Natalia Mishkutionok under Moskvina's coaching. Together they quickly rose through the ranks of Soviet pair skating.
• 1987 – 1989 The Dame Edna Experience Hosted The Dame Edna Experience on ITV, a satirical talk show that brought Dame Edna to peak television fame in the UK.
• 1989 1989: Alain Prost McLaren Prost won his third title amid one of F1's most controversial moments — he and Senna collided at Suzuka, handing the championship to Prost. Their feud reached its peak.
• 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Played the ruthless Nazi Colonel Ernst Vogel in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, memorably meeting his end in a confrontation with a tank.
• 1989 Steel Magnolias and White Limozeen Starred as Truvy Jones in Steel Magnolias alongside Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts. Also released White Limozeen, which returned her to the top of the country charts.
• 1989 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover Played the terrifying gangster Albert Spica in Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
• 1989 Touba and the Meaning of Night Published Touba and the Meaning of Night, a sweeping novel written after her years in prison that explored a century of Iranian history through a woman's life. The book established her as a major voice in Persian literature.
• 1989 World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee at CERN The first proposal for the Web was written at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee.
• 1989 Velvet Revolution Peaceful collapse of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia A student demonstration in Prague on 17 November triggered a wave of mass protests against one-party rule. The Communist Party relinquished power within weeks, and playwright Václav Havel was elected president on 29 December. The transition was achieved without a single fatality.
• 1989 Malta Summit Bush and Gorbachev declare the Cold War over US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met aboard ships off Malta for their first summit. Afterward both leaders signaled that the decades-long Cold War confrontation was ending. It was the first superpower summit not focused on arms control alone.
• 1989 Romanian Revolution and execution of the Ceaușescus Violent overthrow of Communist rule in Romania Anti-government protests in Timișoara spread nationwide and toppled the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. He and his wife Elena were captured, given a summary trial, and executed by firing squad on 25 December. It was the only violent overthrow of a Communist government during the 1989 revolutions.
• 1989 United States invades Panama Operation Just Cause topples Manuel Noriega US forces invaded Panama to remove military leader Manuel Noriega, who was wanted on drug trafficking charges. Noriega took refuge in the Vatican embassy before surrendering in January 1990. The operation involved over 25,000 US troops and caused hundreds of Panamanian civilian and military casualties.
• 1989 – present Salvador Sobral Amar Pelos Dois The singer who gave Portugal its first-ever Eurovision Song Contest win in 2017.