1989-1990 Facts & History

[NerdiestKen]

All facts and history from the 1991 World Almanac can be read here.

[NerdiestKen]

Severe Quake Hits Northern California - October 1989
One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in California struck along the San Andreas Fault in the northern part of the state, October 17. More than 60 people were killed and several thousands injured. Some 100,000 houses were reported damaged. The worst damage was San Francisco and Oakland, 75 miles north of the epicenter of the quake. Most of the deaths, more than 40, occured when the upper level of the double-decker Nimitz Freeway (Interstate Highway 880) in Oakland collapsed. The freeway was packed with rush-hour traffic at 5:04p, when the 15-second quake hit. In San Francisco, several fires broke out with the worst being in the Marina district, where a number of buildings were destroyed. Other cities that suffered heavily included Santa Cruz, where much of the downtown shopping district was leveled; San Jose; and Los Gatos. The tragedy struck just minutes before the start of the 3rd game of baseball's World Series between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. The game was cancelled and the crowd of 58,000 evacuated safely. The last survivor to be found, Buck Helm, a longshoreman, was pulled from the wreckage of the Nimitz Freeway, October 21. The U.S. Geological Survey said, October 24, that its estimate of the quake's intensity had been put at 7.1 on the Richter Scale, the 5th strongest of the century, though well below the impact of San Francisco's great earthquake of 1906. Congress, October 25, approved an aid package totalling $4.15B. The World Series resumed, October 27, and Oakland completed a 4-game sweep of the Giants, October 28.

[NerdiestKen]

Jet Crash on Long Island Kills 73 - January 1990
A Colombian jetliner apparently ran out of fuel over Long Island in New York, January 25, and crashed into a wooden area in the community of Cove Neck. Of the 161 persons aboard, 73 were killed and dozens of the rest were injured. The plane, en route from Bogotá via Medellin. Colombia, was to have landed at Kennedy International Airport. The landing was delayed more than an hour because of bad weather. The pilot had told controllers about 50 minutes before the crash that he needed a priority landing because of low fuel.

[NerdiestKen]

Communists Lose Grip on Czechoslovakia - December 1989
Communist domination of Czechoslovakia ended in December. In the wake of November's massive demonstrations, Premier Ladislav Adamec unveiled a new cabinet, December 3, but the opposition Civic Forum rejected it because 16 of the 21 positions were still to be filled by Communists. Adamec resigned, December 7, and Pres. Gustav Husak named Marian Calfa to replace him. The new cabinet, announced December 7, had only 10 (of 21) Communists. In conversations with the Civic Forum, December 8, the Communists agree to relinquish power. Husak, who had run the country for more than 20 years as Communist leader and president, resigned as president, December 10. A hard-liner, he had come to power after Russian tanks crushed a reform movement in 1968. Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright, and Alexander Dubcek, who had headed the 1968 reform movement, both declared their candidacies for president. The Communist Party, December 20, replaced Karel Urbanek as its leader with Adamec. Parliament, December 28, elected Dubcek as its speaker and on December 29, it elected Havel president without opposition.

[NerdiestKen]

Quake Damage Put at $5.6B - November 1989
As Californians continued to repair the damage from the October earthquake, Gov. George Deukmejian, November 7, signed a bill raising a sales tax temporarily by one-quarter percent as a means of obtaining money for earthquake relief. State officials estimated property damage, November 11, at $5.6B. The insurance industry estimated that only $2B was covered by insurance. Repair work was completed, November 16, on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Buck Helm, a longshoreman who had been trapped in the wreckage of a freeway for 89 hours before being rescued, died, November 19, California placed the death toll at 62 on November 19.

[NerdiestKen]

East Germany Opens Berlin Wall - November 1989
A year of dramatic upheaval in Eastern Europe reached a climax in November when the East German Communist regime lifted its restrictions on travel and emigration to the west. On November 1, East Germany opened its border with Czechoslovakia, prompting a sharp increase in East German emigration to West Germany through Czech territory. In 9 days, some 50,000 joined 150,000 who had previously gone west in 1989. On November 3, 5 Politburo members resigned, and East German leader Egon Krenz promised economic and political reforms. More than 500,000 joined a peaceful pro-democracy rally in East Berlin, November 4. Premier Willi Stoph and the entire Council of Ministers resigned, November 7, and were joined by more Politburo members, November 8, nominated Hans Modrow, a reformist, for premier. A spokesman for the Soviet foreign ministry said, November 9, that the changes were welcome. The government lifted travel and emigration restrictions, November 9, and exit visas were issued to those who asked for them. Within hours, thousands of Germans from East and West massed at the Berlin Wall, many of them sitting atop the barrier that had separated the 2 Germanys since 1961. On November 10, East Germany opened more crossing points and East Germans by the hundreds of thousands poured into the West to shop, look around, and be reunited with family and friends. The migration was repeated in subsequent days. Although some East Germans remained in the West, most returned home. By November 15, the East German government had issued 7.7M travel visas. On November 28, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl proposed a plan for the confederation of the 2 Germanys.

[NerdiestKen]

Germany United After 45 Years - October 1990
The reunification of Germany was completed at midnight, October 2-3. Since the end of World War II in 1945 there had been 2 Germanys, but the rush to unification had been swift since the collapse of the hard-line Communist regime in East Germany late in 1989. The new nation, having a population of 78M, would be known formally as the Federal Republic of Germany, previously the official designation of West Germany.

[NerdiestKen]

Milken Fined $600M in Fraud Case - April 1990
Michael Milken, the former "junk bond king" at the securities form of Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., pleaded guilty, April 24, to 6 counts relating to securities fraud, and agreed to pay a record total of $600M in fines and restitution. Under the agreement, in U.S. District Court in New York, more serious charges against Milken were dropped, and a new case against his brother, Lowell Milken, was also dropped. Michael Milken had helped spur the corporate takeover boom of the 1980s through the use of high-yield, high-risk junk bonds. Counts to which Milken pleaded guilty included conspiracy, aiding and abetting the filing of a false statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and assisting the filing of a false tax return. Milken still faced the possibility of being sentenced to prison.

[NerdiestKen]

Pete Rose Pleads Guilty on Taxes - April 1990
Pete Rose, one of baseball's greatest players, pleaded guilty, April 20, to 2 counts of filing false tax returns. The admission, in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, followed a long investigation into his gambling habit. Rose had been banned from baseball for life in 1989. In the court settlement, Rose agreed to pay $366,000 in back taxes, penalties, and interest. On July 19, he was sentenced to 5 months in jail, fined $50,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service.

[NerdiestKen]

Driver Who Caused 27 Deaths Convicted - December 1989
Larry Mahoney, the driver of a pickup truck that collided with a church bus near Carrolton, Kentucky in May 1988 was convicted of 27 counts of manslaughter, December 21. Mahoney's lawyers acknowledged that he had been drunk and driving in the wrong direction on an interstate highway at the time of the crash, but blamed a faulty gas tank on the bus for the fire that took the heavy toll of life, including 24 children and 4 adults. Twelve other persons were burned in the crash. The defendant was found not guilty of 27 counts of murder. On February 23, Mahoney was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

[NerdiestKen]

Soldiers Held in Killing of Priests - January 1990
Pres. Alfredo Cristiani of El Salvador said, January 7, that the military had been involved in the murder of 6 Jesuit priests and 2 other people in San Salvador in November. The Jesuits had criticized human rights abuses by the government and had supported a negotiated settlement of the civil war with leftist guerrillas. Cristiani announced, January 13, that a colonel, 2 lieutenants, and 5 other soldiers had been arrested in the killings. The 8 soldiers plus a 9th still being sought were indicted, January 19. The soldiers in custody pleaded not guilty.

[NerdiestKen]

87 Die in Fire at Bronx Club - March 1990
Eighty-seven people died in a fire at a social club in the Bronx borough of New York City, March 25. The fire, which police said was deliberately set, spread rapidly through the 2-story structure, and the victims died within minutes from burning or asphyxiation. Only a few persons escaped. The club had been ordered closed in 1988. Officials said it had no sprinklers, fire exits, emergency lights, or exit signs at the time of the tragedy. The club was popular with immigrants from Central America, and the majority of those who died were from Honduras. The police, March 25, arrested Julio Gonzalez and charged him with arson and murder. They said he had an argument with a former girlfriend who worked at the club.

[NerdiestKen]

Stampede Kills 1,426 in Mecca Tunnel - July 1990
The government of Saudi Arabia said, July 3, that 1,426 Moslem pilgrims had been killed when a stampede occured in a tunnel leading from a nearby tent city to the holy sites in Mecca. Some 50,000 people were crowded into the tunnel, which was 500 yards long and 20 yards wide. The crowd panicked after 7 people fell from a bridge at the entrance to the tunnel. The victims, including many from Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Malaysia, were suffocated or trampled to death.

[NerdiestKen]

Adviser to Thatcher Killed by Bomb - July 1990
Violence attributed to the Provisional Irish Republican Army flared anew in Great Britain when the explosion of a land mine, July 24, apparently detonated from a nearby home, killed three Northern Ireland policement in a car near Armagh in Ulster. A Roman Catholic nun, traveling in another car, was also killed by the blast. On July 30, Ian Gow, a member of the parliament and a close friend and adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who had been a frequent critic of the IRA, was killed at his home in Hankham, East Sussex, when a bomb blew up his car.

[NerdiestKen]

1989 Trade Gap Lowest in 5 Years - February 1990
The Labor Dept. reported, February 2, that the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent in January. the department reported, February 9, that producer prices for finished goods had risen 1.8 percent in January, the largest monthly increase since November 1974. The sharp rise was primarily the result of a jump in heating oil prices during very cold weather. The Commerce Dept. said, February 16, that the merchandise trade deficit, which stood at $108.58B for all of 1989, was the lowest since 1984. Exports rose 13 percent in 1989, imports only 7.3 percent.