1990

"MCMXC" redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a.D..

1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

• January 3 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
• January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
• January 9 - Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello, the man who led the coup against Dr Apolo Milton Obote's government, dies in Ormduruman Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.
• January 10 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
• January 11 - Massive (200,000) demonstration in favor of Lithuanian independence.
• January 13 - Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
• January 15 - Thousands storm the Stasi HQ in Berlin in an attempt to view their records.
• January 18:
  • Former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey are acquitted in a Los Angeles, California court of 52 child molestation charges.
  • Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
• January 22 - Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet worm.
• January 25
  • Avianca Flight 52 crashed into Cove Neck, Long Island, after a miscommunication between the flight crew and JFK airport officials.
  • The Berlin Wall starts to come down.
• January 29 - The trial of the former skipper of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, begins in Anchorage, Alaska. He is accused of negligence that resulted in America's worst oil spill.
• January 31 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.

February

Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, is set free from prison by the South African government, signalling the end of Apartheid in South Africa

• February 2 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
• February 7 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power
• February 10 - South African President F.W. de Klerk announces that Nelson Mandela would be released the next day.
• February 11
  • James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win world heavyweight boxing crown.
  • Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, South Africa
• February 13 - German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany
• February 15 - The United Kingdom and Argentina restore diplomatic links after 8 years. The UK had broken off links in response to Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands, a British Dependent Territory
• February 26
  • The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
  • The USSR agrees to withdraw all 73500 troops from Czech by July, 1991.
• February 27 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: Exxon and its shipping company are indicted on five criminal counts.

March

• March 1
  • A fire at the Sheraton Hotel in Cairo kills 16.
  • Steve Jackson Games is raided by the U.S. Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the EFF.
  • Royal New Zealand Navy discontinues the daily rum ration
• March 6 - An SR-71 sets a US transcontinental speed record of 1 hour 8 minutes 17 seconds, on what is publicized as its last official flight.
• March 9
  • Police seals off Brixton South London after another night of protests against the poll tax
  • Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic to serve in that position
• March 9 - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord, effectively killing the Accord
• March 10 - 18 months after seizing power in a coup, Prosper Avril is ousted in Haiti
• March 11
  • Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union
  • Patricio Aylwin is sworn-in as the first democratically-elected Chilean president since 1973
• March 15
  • Gulf War: Iraqis hang British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying. Daphne Parish, a British nurse, is sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment as an accomplice
  • Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union
  • The Soviet Union announces that Lithuania's declaration of independence is invalid
• March 18
  • 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen by two thieves posing as police officers from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history and the paintings (as of 2005) have not been recovered
  • East Germany holds first free elections since 1932
• March 20 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering
• March 21
  • After 75 years of South African rule Namibia becomes independent
  • A massive poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London turns into a riot. 417 people injured, 341 arrested
• March 24- The government of Australian prime minister Bob Hawke is re-elected for a 4th term.
• March 25 - In New York City, a fire at an illegal social club called "Happy Land" kills 87
• March 27 - Propaganda: The United States begins broadcasting TV Martí to Cuba
• March 27 - Namibia becomes a state independent of South Africa
• March 28 - President George H. W. Bush presents Jesse Owens with the Congressional Gold Medal.
• March 31 - London anti-Poll Tax Riots in Trafalgar Square. Incident subsequently known as "The Second Battle of Trafalgar"

April-July

• April 7
  • Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal but the convictions were later reversed after an appeal
  • Scandinavian Star, a Bahamas-registered ferry, catches fire enroute from Norway to Denmark - 158 dead
• April 13 - Soviet Union apologizes for the Katyn Massacre
• April 24
  • The Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.It becomes operational May 20
  • West and East Germany agree to merge currency and economies on July 1

• May 15
  • Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million.
• May 19 - British agriculture Minister John Gummer feeds a hamburger to his 5-year-old daughter to counter rumours about the spread of Mad cow disease and its transmission to humans
• May 20 - The first post- Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania
• May 22
  • The leaders of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen announce the unification of their countries as the Republic of Yemen.
• May 29 - Rhode Island celebrates its bicentennial statehood.

• June 1 - U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production and start destroying each of their nation's stockpiles
• June 12 - The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty (see Russia Day)
• June 20 - British Chancellor John Major proposes a new European currency which would circulate alongside existing national currencies.
• June 22 - Underwater volcano Mount Didicas erupts in the Philippines

• July 2 - Stampede in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the Mecca - 1426 pilgrims dead
• July 8
  • At 12:34:56 PM the time and date by US reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90.
  • West Germany defeats Argentina 1-0 to win the Football World Cup 1990
• July 15 - Tamil Tigers kill 168 Muslims in Colombo, Sri Lanka
• July 16 - In the Philippines, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale kills over 1600
• July 27
  • The parliament building and a government tevelision house in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago were stormed by the Jamaat al Muslimeen in a Coup d'état attempt which lasted five days. Approximately 26 to 30 people where killed and several wounded (including then Prime Minister, A.N.R. Robinson, who was shot in the leg).
  • Belarus declares independence from the Soviet Union
• July 28 - Alberto Fujimori becomes president of Peru
• July 30 - IRA car bomb kills British MP Ian Gow, a staunch unionist.

August-September

• August 2 - Gulf War: Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
• August 3 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK - 37.1°C (98.8°F) at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire
• August 6 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
• August 7 - John Cain Resigns as VIC premier over a series of financial scandals and is replaced by Joan Kirner (10th)
• August 19 - Leonard Bernstein conducts his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
• August 27- Blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash along with 4 others following a concert near East Troy, Wisconsin.

• September 11 - President George H. W. Bush delivers a nationally televised speech in which he threatens the use of force to remove Iraqi soldiers from Kuwait, which Iraq had recently invaded.
• September 12 - The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German re-unification.

October

• October 3 - German re-unification, East Germany became part of Germany
• October 5 - After one hundred and fifty years, ten months and two days (Friday, January 3, 1840 - Friday, October 5, 1990), The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. Founded in 1840 as The Port Phillip Herald, it is merged with its morning tabloid sister paper The Sun News-Pictorial and the first issue of the new Herald Sun, described by owner Rupert Murdoch as "The world's first 24-hour newspaper", with morning and afternoon editions, is published on the 8th
• October 8 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount
• October 13 - Lebanese Civil War: Syrian military forces invade and occupy Mount Lebanon, ousting General Michel Aoun's government. This effectively consolidates Syria's 14 year occupation of Lebanese soil.
• October 15 - Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation
• October 27 - Supreme Soviet of Kyrgyzstan choses Askar Akayev as republic's first president
• October 27 - New Zealand general election returns National with record number of seats - 67; Labour 29, NewLabour 1

November

• November 1 - Mary Robinson defeats odds-on favourite Brian Lenihan to become the first woman President of Ireland.
• November 1 - The Australian domestic avation market is de-regulated
• November 5 - Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel.
• November 11 - Gulf War: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 678, giving Iraq until Tuesday, January 15, 1991 to withdraw its forces from Kuwait
• November 12
  • Crown Prince Akihito becomes the 125th Japanese monarch and takes the title Emperor Akihito of Japan
  • Tim Berners-Lee publishes a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web. [1]
• November 13 - The first known web page is written.
• November 14 - Germany and Poland sign a treaty confirming the border at the Oder-Neisse line.
• November 15 - Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis launches with flight STS-38.
• November 18 - Andrei Tjikatilo is arrested on suspicion of serial murder and rape
• November 21 - The Super Famicom (aka Super Nintendo) is released in Japan
• November 22 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• November 23 - Punk rock band Bad Religion releases their seventh album, Against the Grain in the United States.
• November 25 - Lech Wałęsa and Stanisław Tymiński win the 1st round of first presidential elections in Poland, see: December 9
• November 27 - The UK Conservative Party chooses John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• November 29 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes UN Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by Tuesday, January 15, 1991.
• November 29 - Treasurer Paul Keating announces Australia is experiencing a economic recession

December

• December 1
  • Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the English Channel seabed, establishing the first ground connection between the United Kingdom and the mainland of Europe since the last ice age
  • The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ opens their first annual Acoustic Christmas live concert.
• December 2 - A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932
• December 3
  • At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with a Boeing 727 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 8 passengers and 4 crewmembers aboard flight 1482
  • Mary Robinson is elected the first female President of Ireland.
• December 6 - Saddam Hussein releases the Western hostages
• December 9
  • Slobodan Milošević becomes President of Serbia
  • Lech Wałęsa wins the 2nd round of Poland's first presidential election
• December 16 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected president of Haiti, ending three decades of military rule.
• December 31 - Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.

Year in topic

• 1990 in film
• 1990 in literature
• 1990 in music
• 1990 in sports
• 1990 in television
• 1990 in video gaming and computing
  • February 12 - Super Mario Bros. 3 is released on the Nintendo Entertainment System console and sold over 6 million copies worldwide. It is known as the best selling video game in history.
  • May 22 - Windows 3.0 is released by Microsoft

Births

• January 7 - Liam Aiken, child actor
• January 30 - Jake Thomas, actor (Lizzie McGuire)
• February 11 - Q'Orianka Kilcher, actress
• February 13 - Erdini Qoigyijabu, eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, according to the Chinese government
• February 28 - Anna Muzychuk, Ukrainian chess player
• March 8 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, conjoined twins
• March 16 - James Bulger, toddler murdered in Merseyside, United Kingdom (d. 1993)
• March 23 - Princess Eugenie of York, British royal, 6th in line to the throne
• March 24 - Keisha Castle-Hughes, actress
• April 15 - Emma Watson, actress (Harry Potter series)
• May 16 - Thomas Sangster, actor
• July 17 - Mattie Stepanek, young poet (d. 2004)
• July 24 - Daveigh Chase, actress
• August 6 - JonBenét Ramsey, murder victim
• October 22 - Jonathan Lipnicki, child actor
• November 7 - Marisa Siketa, actress (Neighbours)
• November 30 - Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player
• December 24 - Joshua Bryant, went missing in 2001 Body found July, 4 2004.

Deaths

• January 2 - Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
• January 4 - Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineering (b. 1903)
• January 6 - Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
• January 9 - Spud Chandler, baseball player (b. 1907)
• March 5 - Gloria Carter Spann, sister of Jimmy Carter (b. 1926)
• March 13 - Karl Münchinger, German conductor (b. 1915)
• March 20 - Lev Yashin, Soviet goalkeeper (b.1929)
• April 15 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b.1905)
• April 17 - Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights leader (b. 1926)
• May 16 - Jim Henson, American creator of the Muppets (b. 1936)
• May 16 - Sammy Davis Jr., American actor, dancer, and singer (b. 1925)
• June 3 - Stiv Bators, American singer (The Dead Boys) (b. 1949)
• June 22 - Ilya Frank, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
• July 7 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (b. 1920)
• July 18 - Yun Po Sun, former Korean president (b. 1897)
• August 27 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, guitarist (b. 1954)
• September 16 - Len Hutton, English cricketer (b. 1916)
• September 26 - Alberto Moravia, Italian novelist (b. 1907)
• October 14 - Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (b. 1918)
• November 17 - Robert Hofstadter, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
• December 2 - Aaron Copland, American composer (b. 1900)
• December 14 - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (b. 1921)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Jerome Isaac Friedman, Henry Way Kendall, and Richard Edward Taylor
• Chemistry - Elias James Corey
• Medicine - Joseph E. Murray, E. Donnall Thomas
• Literature - Octavio Paz
• Peace - Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

• Harry Markowitz, Merton Miller, William Sharpe

Fields Medalists

• Vladimir Drinfeld, Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones, Shigefumi Mori, Edward Witten

Templeton Prize

• Baba Amte (Joint Award)
  • L. Charles Birch (Joint Award)

Right Livelihood Award

• Alice Tepper Marlin, Bernard Lédéa Ouedraogo, Felicia Langer and ATCC (Asociación de Trabajadores Campesinos del Carare)

Uncertain dates

For a brief while in early 1990, Romania had a civil war in the aftermath of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the opposition was for Nicolae Ceausescu and the Communist regime, and those for the new regime.

• New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is published in the United States.
• Metropolitan Aleksy of Leningrad elected Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.
• First Anglican female priests in the United Kingdom are ordained at St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• Robert Runcie announces resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury. George Carey succeeds him.
• Channel 7 + 10 networks go into recivership (Aus)
• Homosexual Acts between Consenting adults decriminalized in Queensland
• Beginnings of Trance music