WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO JUNE 1989
Find out what all happened May to June 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)

Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike. (13. May 1989)

Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashed on approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname because of pilot error, killing 176 of 187 aboard. (7. June 1989)

Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal. (4. May 1989)

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators. (30. May 1989)

Signing of an agreement between Egypt and the United States, allowing the manufacture of parts of the F-16 jet fighter plane in Egypt. (29. May 1989)

Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect. (2. May 1989)

Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death and funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. (4. June 1989)

The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre. (20. May 1989)

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

The San Bernardino train disaster kills 4 people. A week later an underground gasoline pipeline explodes killing 2 more people. (12. May 1989)

Cedar Point opens Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200 ft height barrier, therefore spawning what is known as the "coaster wars". (6. May 1989)

Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations. (4. June 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)

The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army. (4. June 1989)

Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian Prime Minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary. (16. June 1989)

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

On the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević delivers the Gazimestan speech at the site of the historic battle. (28. June 1989)

The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. (5. June 1989)