(The Crypt Keeper from Tales From The Crypt)

And here we are sadly, at the last glorious year of the 1980's. 😭 Just because the this marvelous decade is coming to a close, that doesn't mean that the fun is over though - far from it! We still have a lot to learn and more great music to listen to!

A 1,000 ft diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by only 400,000 miles, and the Galileo Spacecraft is launched by NASA. On its way to Jupiter, Galileo spent time studying Earth, Venus, the Moon, and two asteroids. It orbited Jupiter for two years and observed the surrounding satellites, collecting amazing photos of the planet and identifying evidence that there was possibly liquid water under the surface of Europa, a moon of Jupiter. It was hugely successful in its missions and made several new and exciting discoveries before it was purposely plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere on September 21st, 2003, finally destroyed.

The first of 24 Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites is placed into orbit.

The 486 series of microprocessor is released by Intel, opening the way for the next generation of much more powerful PC's, and Microsoft releases it's Office Suite, including Spreadsheet, Word Processor, Database, and Presentation Software, which today still dominates in office applications.

George H. Bush succeeds Ronald Reagan as the 41st President of the United States of America.

In the name of gun control, U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.

Race riots occur in Overtown, Miami.

Patrick Edward Purdy kills 5 children, wounds 30, and then shoots himself in Stockton, California, known as The Stockton Massacre, and Marc Lépine shoots and kills 14 students at École Polytechnique in Montreal, Canada.

Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini encourages Muslims to kill The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie (a British-Indian writer), placing a $3 million bounty on his head, and breaks off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom.

Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce that they have achieved cold fusion at the University of Utah.

In Alaska's Prince William Sound, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground. The oil spill turned into a huge ecological disaster and thousands of wildlife were harmed or died as a result. About 10,000 people were involved in the clean-up and there was millions of dollars of damage done to the environment. The local economies that relied on fishing and tourism also suffered as a result of the oil spill, losing millions of dollars in the following years. Over 1,000 miles of coastline was damaged by the spill...and 29 years later, some areas and wildlife are still being negatively impacted.

Nintendo begins selling the Game Boy.

The Tiananmen Square massacre takes place in Beijing, on the army's approach to the square, and the final stand-off in the square is covered live on television.

A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert Tappan Morris, Jr., for releasing a computer virus, making him the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in South Carolina, causing $7 billion in damage, and one of the deadliest tornadoes in modern times strikes Saturia, Bangladesh, killing as many as 1,300.

The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, strikes the San Francisco-Oakland region of Northern California, killing 63. Occurring during the warm up for the third game of the 1989 World Series (Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants), this was the first major earthquake in the U.S. to be broadcast on live television as it happened. The highest concentration of fatalities, 40, occurred in the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct on the Nimitz Freeway (Interstate 880), where a double-decker portion of the freeway collapsed, crushing the cars on the lower deck.

Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.

Massive protests on both sides of the Berlin Wall bring about the collapse of the East German Government, and the Berlin Wall is breached and eventually dismantled. The Brandenburg Gate was opened and East Germany opened checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to freely travel to West Germany for the first time in decades. After 30 years, the Cold War between East and West ends following the Malta conference and the Berlin Wall comes down as the world watches.

200,000 protesters in Prague, Czechoslovakia call for the resignation of the country's communist government in the "Velvet Revolution".

Infamous serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.

12 European nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) by the end century.

The United States provides assistance to the Colombian government to battle drug lords.

In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, turned to tragedy when 96 people were crushed to death, many of them teenagers and children. Estimates stated over 700 people were injured in the event.

The Phillips 66 Chemical Complex in Houston, Texas has a series of explosions and fires, killing 23 employees.

This was a great year for TV shows such as The Simpson's, Baywatch, Saved by the Bell, and Tales From the Crypt while awesome movies such as Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Back to the Future Part II, Ghostbusters II, Say Anything, Driving Miss Daisy, Steel Magnolias, Uncle Buck, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Lean on Me, and The Karate Kid III hit theaters.

Here are some of the songs from this final year, in no particular order, from Billboard's Hot 100:

1.) Poison - Every Rose Has It's Thorn

2.) Simply Red - If You Don't Know Me By Now

3.) The Bangles - Eternal Flame

4.) Tone Lōc - Wild Thing

5.) Debbie Gibson - Lost In Your Eyes

6.) Young MC - Bust A Move

7.) B-52's - Love Shack

8.) Skid Row - 18 & Life

9.) Guns N' Roses - Patience

10.) Bobby Brown - Roni

11.) Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle

12.) Def Leppard - Armageddon It

13.) Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings

14.) Great White - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

15.) R.E.M. - Stand

16.) Warrant - Heaven

17.) Paula Abdul - Straight Up

18.) Bon Jovi - I'll Be There For You

19.) Close My Eyes Forever - Lita Ford & Ozzy Osbourne

20.) Guns N' Roses - Paradise City

21.) Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator

22.) Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal

https://youtu.be/j2r2nDhTzO4

https://youtu.be/zTcu7MCtuTs

https://youtu.be/PSoOFn3wQV4

https://youtu.be/387ZDGSKVSg

https://youtu.be/8Ms3mJFkSeg

https://youtu.be/tZQQGX24Teg

https://youtu.be/9SOryJvTAGs

https://youtu.be/8O317T6Zlno

https://youtu.be/ErvgV4P6Fzc

https://youtu.be/pvYOSuz8yG4

https://youtu.be/o1tj2zJ2Wvg

https://youtu.be/hHL2Fc0XD50

https://youtu.be/0iAzMRKFX3c

https://youtu.be/Bz61YQWZuYU

https://youtu.be/AKKqLl_ZEEY

https://youtu.be/rrSdXtFJG20

https://youtu.be/El1kgCqD7Xk

https://youtu.be/mh8MIp2FOhc

https://youtu.be/foGkU6x3eSE

https://youtu.be/Rbm6GXllBiw

https://youtu.be/h3Yrhv33Zb8

https://youtu.be/h_D3VFfhvs4

A/N : Was 1989 the most gnarly year, dudes and dudettes? 😂 Let me know what you think!

💋PLEASE COMMENT AND VOTE!!!💋

Info on 1989 events, movies, and songs credited to :

http://www.liketotally80s.com/2007/08/80s-capsules-1989/

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1989.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1989

And now on to more fun in the future...stay tuned!