January 4

• Two Libyan fighters are shot down by two U.S. fighters over the Gulf of Sidra.

July 5

• Madonna files for divorce from her husband, Sean Penn.

January 7

• Japan's Emperor Hirohito dies at the age of 87.

January 14

• "My Perogative" by Bobby Brown begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

January 19

• Ante Markovic becomes prime minister of Yugoslavia.

January 20

• George Bush becomes president of the United States.

January 21

• "Two Hearts" by Phil Collins begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

January 23

• Painter Salvador Dali dies at the age of 84.

February 3

• A military coup in Paraguay overthrows president Alfredo Stroessner. Andres Rodriguez assumes power.

February 4

• "When I'm With You" by Sheriff begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

February 9

• Michael Manley becomes prime minister of Jamaica.

February 11

• Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" begins a 3-week reign as the number 1 song.

February 15

• The last remaining Soviet troops in Afghanistan return home.

March 4

• Debbie Gibson's "Lost In Your Eyes" begins a 3-week reign as the number 1 song.

March 19

• Alfredo Cristiani is elected president of El Salvador.

March 24

• The oil tanger Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound in Alaksa, spilling 11,000,000 gallons of oil. The largest spill in North American history, with a slick covering 2,600 square miles, was blamed on the ships captain, Joseph Hazelwood, who had become drunk and left an inexperience crew in charge while he napped.

March 25

• "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

March 26

• The U.S.S.R holds is first multi-party congressional election, leading to the defeat of many communist candidates.

April

• Thousands of students move into Tiananman Square in Beijing, China. The students are holding demonstrations in favor of democracy.

April 1

• "Eternal Flame" by Bangles begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

April 8

• "The Look" by Roxette begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

April 12

• Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson dies at the age of 67.

April 15

• "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

April 19

• A gun tuttet explodes on the U.S.S. Iowa, killing 47 sailors.

April 22

• Madonna's "Like a Prayer" begins a 3-week reign as the number 1 song.

April 25

• Japan's prime minister, Noboru Takeshita, announces his resignation.

April 26

• Actress and comedienne Lucille Ball dies at the age of 77.

April 27

• Sharif Zeid ibn Shaker becomes prime minister of Jordan.

May 4

• Oliver North is found guilty of three charges relating to the Iran-Contra scandal. His convictions were: accepting an illegal gift, obstructing a Congressional investigation, and destroying government documents.

May 8

• The space shuttle Discovery launches the spacecraft Magellan, which will travel to Venus and map that planet's surface.

May 13

• "I'll Be There for You" begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

May 14

• Carloe Saul Menem is elected president of Argentina.

May 15

• Janez Drnovsek becomes president of Yugoslavia.

May 20

• "Forver Your Girl" by Paula Abdul begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

June 3

• Michael Damian's "Rock On" begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.
• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran, dies at the age of 89.

June 4

• The Chinese army moves into Tiananmen Square and begins shooting the student demonstraters. When the massacre ends, thousands (the number will likely never be known) are dead and thousands more injured. Over the next several days, numerous dissidents will be arrested or executed.

June 10

• Bette Midler's remake "Wind Beneath My Wings" begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

June 14

• "Satisfied" by Richard Marx begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

June 17

• "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" by New Kids On The Block begins a 1-weel reign as the number 1 song.

June 19

• Burma changes its name to Myanmar, and the capital is renamed from Rangoon and Yangon.

June 30

• A military coup in the Sudan overthrouws prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. Omar Hassam Ahmed al-Bashir assumes power.

July 1

• "Baby Don't Forget My Number" by Milli Vanilli begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.
• Tzannis Tzannetakis becomes prime minister of Greece.

July 8

• "Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

July 11

• Actor Sir Laurence Olivier dies at the age of 82.

July 15

• "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Simply Red begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

July 19

• Wojciech Jaruzelski becomes president of Poland.

July 22

• "Toy Soldiers" by Martika begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

July 23

• Giulio Andreotti becomes prime minister of Italy.

August 5

• "Batdance" by Prince begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

August 6

• Jaime Paz Zamora becomes president of Bolivia.

August 8

• Geoffrey Palmer becomes prime minister of New Zealand.

August 9

• Toshiki Kaifu becomes prime minister of Japan.

August 12

• "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

August 19

• F. W. de Klerk becomes president of South Africa.

August 19

• Tadeusz Mazowiecki becomes prime minister of Poland.

August 31

• Francisco Rodriguez becomes president of Panama.

September 1

• The 50th anniversary of the beginning of World War II is observed by Poland and the two Germanies.

September 2

• Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

September 9

• "Hangin' Tough" by New Kids On The Block begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

September 15

• Author and the U.S.'s first poet laureate Robert Penn Warren dies at the age of 84.

September 16

• "Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

September 16-22

• Hurricane Hugo batters the Carribean and the Eastern U.S., killing 48 people.

September 22

• Songwriter Irving Berlin dies at the age of 101.

September 23

• "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" by Milli Vanilli begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

October 6

• Actress Bette Davis dies at the age of 81.

October 7

• "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson begins a 4-week reign as the number 1 song.
• The Communist Party in Hungary votes to renounce communism and become a socialist party.

October 16

• The African elephant officially becomes an endangered species.
• Jan Syse becomes prime minister of Norway.

October 18

• Matyas Szuros becomes president of Hungary.

October 17

• An earthquake in northern California, centered 75 miles from San Francisco and measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, kills 67 people. Most of those killed were double-decker section of the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland. The upper-half collapsed onto the lower-half, flattening the cars on that section.

October 18

• Erich Honecker, leader of East germany's communist party, is removed from office.

October 23

• Hungary declares itself a democracy and relinquishes its ties with the Soviet Bloc.
• The space shuttle Atlantis launches Galileo, a spacecraft which will travel to Jupiter to study that planet's atmosphere, and coincidentaly arrive just in time to see a comet collide with Jupiter.

October 31

• Turgut Ozal becomes president of Turkey.

November 3

• "The 80s Server" co-creator Scott Murdock celebrates his 20th birthday.

November 4

• Roxette's "Listed To Your Heart" begins a 1-week reign as the number 1 song.

November 5

• Rene Moawad becomes president of Lebanon.
• Pianist Vladimir Horowitz dies at the age of 86.

November 9

• Unable to cope with floods of people attempting to cross into the West after other Soviet Bloc countries begin decocratic changes, the government of East germany gives up and opens its borders. massive celebrations took place atop the suddenly-defuct Berlin Wall, as thousands of people poured over the wall into West Berlin.

November 11

• Namibia, though still controlled by South Africa, holds its first open election to select the members of its constitutional assembly.
• "When I See You Smile" by Bad English begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

November 13

• Prince Francis Joseph II of Liechtenstein dies at the age of 83.
• Selim al-Hoss becomes prime minister of Lebanon.

November 22

• President Rene Moawad of Lebanon is assassinated. He is replaced by Elias Hrawi.

November 23

• Xenophon Zolotas becomes prime minister of Greece.

November 24

• After numerous pro-democracy demonstrations in Czechoslovakia, the leader of that country's communist party, Milos Jakes, resigns.

November 25

• "Blame It On The Rain" by Milli Vanilli begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

November 26

• President Ahmed Abdallah of Comoros is assassinated. he is replaced by Mohammed Djohar.
• Luis Alberto Lacalle is elected president of Uruguay.
• Rafael Leonardo Callejas is elected president of Honduras.

December 1

• Vishwanath Singh becomes prime minister of India.
• Mikhail Gorbachev meets with Pope John Paul II, the first time a Soviet leader has had a meeting with a pope.

December 4

• Mudar Badran becomes prime minister of Jordan.

December 9

• "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel begins a 2-week reign as the number 1 song.

December 10

• Marian Calfa becomes prime minister of Czechoslovakia.

December 14

• Soviet physicist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharaov dies at the age of 68.
• Patricio Aylwin is elected president of Chile.

December 17

• Fernando Collor de Mello is elected president of Brazil.

December 20

• After Panama declares war on the United States, 26,000 U.S. troops invade Panama and seize control of the government. They are seeking General Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted on drug charges. While Noriega takes refuge in The Vatican's embassy, Guillermo Endara (who had won the previous election but was refused his post by Noriega) is placed in control of the country.

December 23

• "Another Day In Paradise" by Phil Collins, the last number 1 hit of the eighties, begins a 4-week reign as the number 1 song. This is good news for us, because if this song has stayed number 1 for only 1 week, we might have had to include Michael Bolton.

December 25

• After Nicolae Ceausescu, leader of Romania's communist party, attempts to flee during pro-democracy demonstrations, he and his wife are tried on charges of genocide and executed.

December 26

• Ion Iliescu becomes president of Romania, and Petre Roman becomes prime minister.

December 31

• And so, the greatest decade of human history came to a close at midnight. As everyone turned their eyes toward the hopes of a brighter future in the next decade, little did they realize what they were in for as the 1990s began. Music would decline, television would grow routine and the blockbuster movies would dwindle as Vanilli Ice, Jerry Seinfeld, and a whole rash of Sinbad movies encirled the globe. It wouldn't be long before the masses realized how unfortunate the concept of time is and longed to turn up their collar, feather their hair, splash on some Polo, and return to the time when Reagan was king...