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January
3rd |
Aretha Franklin became the first woman to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. |
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February
22nd |
American artist, Andy Warhol, died at the age of 58. Warhol was one of the founders of the Pop Art movement during the 1950s. He died in his sleep from a sudden heart attack after a routine gallbladder surgery at New York Hospital. |
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March
9th |
The rock band U2 released their Joshua Tree album. |
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March
12th |
The musical, Les Miserables, premiered on Broadway. |
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March
20th |
The anti-AIDS drug AZT becomes publicly available. |
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April
13th |
China and Portugal sign an agreement by which Macao would be returned to China in 1999. |
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May
11th |
The first heart and lung transplant took place. |
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May
14th |
American actress, Rita Hayworth, died at the age of 69. She was considered to be the sex symbol of the 1940's. |
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May
28th |
Then 19 year old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, managed to fly his private plane all the way to Red Square in Moscow where he landed safely. He managed to evade all detection and was arrested by the KGB upon landing in Moscow. He was released a bit over a year after his arrest. |
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June
8th |
New Zealand became the first country to ban nuclear weapons and nuclear powered vessels from its territory. It is, as of 2006, the only nation to have officially done so. |
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June
12th |
US president Ronald Reagan made his famous "tear down that wall" comment during a speech. |
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June
13th |
American actress, Geraldine Page, died at the age of 62. She was one of the most popular stage actresses of modern American theatre. |
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June
17th |
The Dusky Seaside Sparrow became extinct. The extinction was brought about when their natural habitat was flooded in an effort to reduce the mosquito population around Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. |
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June
22nd |
American dancer and actor, Fred Astaire, died at the age of 87. Along with Gene Kelly, he was one of the most celebrated musical actors of the 20th century. |
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July
11th |
The United Nations announced the world population surpassed five billion people. |
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July
31st |
A severe tornado struck the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, leaving 27 people dead in its path as well as property destruction of several hundred million dollars. |
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August
11th |
American economist, Alan Greenspan, became Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. He served in that position for an amazing 19 years. |
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August
16th |
A Northwest Airlines passenger flight crashed right after take-off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. 155 of 156 people on board died in the crash. The sole survivor was a four year old girl. |
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August
17th |
Nazi official, Rudolf Hess, died at the age of 92. He was second in command of Nazi Germany and is most of all known for flying to Mayhill army barracks in Glasgow, Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with England. He was arrested and then tried at Nuremberg, where he received a life sentence. He spent the remaining days of his life in Spandau Prison. |
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August
19th |
In Hungerford, England, an unemployed labourer, Michael Ryan, went on a killing spree using an assault rifle. He killed 16 people and severely injured 12 more before committing suicide. |
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August
23th |
Heavy rain caused severe floods in Bangladesh, resulting in the death of many hundreds of people. |
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September
16th |
In Montreal, Canada, an international treaty was signed in an effort to protect the ozone layer from depletion. |
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October
20th |
In what is known in the financial world as "Black Monday" the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 22.6% in one day. |
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November
18th |
A fire in London's Kings Cross station killed 31 people. |
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November
28th |
A South African Airways passenger flight crashed into the Indian Ocean, resulting in the death of all 159 people on-board. |
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November
29th |
A Korean Air passenger jet exploded in mid air over Thailand, resulting in the death of all 155 onboard. |
