WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO OCTOBER 1989
Find out what all happened April to October 1989

Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events which began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. (19. August 1989)

A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market. (16. August 1989)

The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15 years in prison. (19. October 1989)

In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place. (4. September 1989)

Ron Hextall becomes the first goaltender in NHL history to score a goal in the playoffs. (11. April 1989)

Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States. (1. May 1989)

Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline. (4. June 1989)

Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland. (1. April 1989)

Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the second to last planet in the Solar System at the time. (25. August 1989)

The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation. (3. June 1989)

1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco Bay Area and causes 57 deaths directly (and 6 indirectly). (17. October 1989)

First flight of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. (17. July 1989)

Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China. (15. April 1989)

A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors. (19. April 1989)

The pleasure boat Marchioness sinks on the River Thames following a collision. 51 people are killed. (20. August 1989)

A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing the Morris worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (26. July 1989)

Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL. (15. October 1989)

U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia. (7. August 1989)

Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years. (19. August 1989)

A group of six members of the guerrilla group Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) of Peru, shoot dead eight transsexuals, in the city of Tarapoto. (31. May 1989)