1990

Facts and Events That Happened in This Year

Dec 8

NASA's Galileo spacecraft made its first flyby of Earth.

Nov 28

Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, handed in her resignation to the Queen and stepped down after being prime minister for 11 years.

Nov 10

American Christmas comedy 'Home Alone' with Macaulay Culkin premiered in Chicago, US.

Nov 6

Whitney Houston released her third album, 'I'm Your Baby Tonight.'

Oct 21

Apple Day started in Covent Garden, London.

Oct 19

The 1991 Best Picture, 'Dances With Wolves,' premiered in Washington, D.C.

Oct 17

IMDB (Internet Movie Database) was founded. It was incorporated as a website in January 1996.

Oct 9

One thousand radio stations from over 100 countries around the world simultaneously broadcast John Lennon's 'Imagine' in honor of what would have been his 50th birthday.

Oct 1

A large explosion above the Pacific Ocean turned out to be a meteorite.

Sep 28

Marvin Gaye was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Sep 20

South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia.

Sep 19

The biographical crime film 'Goodfellas' was released in the United States.

Sep 18

Liechtenstein became the 160th member of the United Nations.

Sep 13

The legal drama TV series 'Law & Order' aired for the first time on NBC.

Sep 11

A Faucett Perú 727 airliner disappeared without a trace off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Aug 28

An F5 max rating tornado smashed through Plainfield, Illinois, killing 29 people, injuring 353, and causing $165 million in damages.

Aug 23

Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

Aug 10

After a 15-month-long journey from earth, NASA's Magellan went into orbit around Venus and began to map the planet.

Aug 7

The first American soldiers arrived in Saudi Arabia as part of the Gulf War.

Aug 2

Iraq invaded the Gulf state of Kuwait.

Jul 21

Pink Floyd performed their hit 'The Wall' at the previous Berlin Wall location.

Jul 16

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's Parliament declared sovereignty over Ukrainian territories.

Jun 14

Police checks on drunk drivers was declared constitutional by the US Supreme Court.

May 26

Philadelphia Phillies retired the future Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt's uniform #20.

May 15

The 'Portrait of Dr. Gachet' by Vincent van Gogh was sold for $82.5 million in three minutes.

May 4

Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

Apr 29

The first pieces of the Berlin Wall were dismantled, starting at Brandenburg Gate.

Apr 25

Nicaragua elected its first-ever female President, Violeta Chamorro.

Apr 25

The Discovery Space Shuttle deployed the Hubble Space Telescope into low-Earth orbit.

Apr 24

NASA's Discovery Space Shuttle carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.

Apr 12

The 'Twentieth Century Dinosaurs' exhibit opened at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History.

Mar 21

After seventy-five years of South African rule, Namibia finally gained its independence.

Mar 19

The first Women's World Championship Ice Hockey Tournament took place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Mar 18

$500 million worth of art was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, US.

Mar 15

Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the Soviet Union's first President.

Mar 8

The Zodiac Killer shot his first victim Mario Orosco.

Feb 28

The New Zealand Navy ended its daily allowance of rum to their sailors.

Feb 14

Pale Blue Dot, an iconic photo of our Earth, was taken by Voyager 1 space probe.

Feb 11

Nelson Mandela was released from prison after being incarcerated for 27 years in South Africa.

Jan 24

Japan launched its first lunar probe, Hiten, from the Uchinoura Space Center.

Jan 21

American tennis player John McEnroe became the first player to be expelled from the Australian Open.

Jan 10

China lifted martial law.

Jan 9

NASA's Columbia Space Shuttle launched from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-32.

Jan 7

The iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa leaned 'too far,' which resulted in its closure.