1990 World Events

January 3: Manual Noriega, the deposed leader of Panama, surrenders to US forces.

January 22: Robert Morris Jr. is convicted for releasing the Morris worm.

January 27: The San Francisco 49rs defeat the Denver Broncos 55 to 10 in Super Bowl XXIV.

January 31: The first McDonalds restaurant opens in the Soviet Union.

February 7: The Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on political power.

February 13: The governments of West and East Germany agree on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

February 18: Nascar racing driver Derricke Cope wins the Daytona 500.

February 26: The Soviet Union announces that it will withdrawl all troops from Czechoslovakia by July of 1991.

March 6: The last official flight of the SR-71 Blackbird occurs. It sets a United States transcontinental speed record of 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 17 seconds.

March 11: Lithuania declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

March 15: Mikail Gorbachev is elected president of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union declares that Lithuania's declaration of independence is invalid.

March 26: The movie "Driving Miss Daisy" wins the oscar for best picture at the Academy Awards.

March 29: The Challenger Center hosts a Gala in Houston, Texas. I attended the gala. For my account of this event follow the Challenger link.

March 30: I had an opportunity to meet Dick Covey at the Johson Space Center. This is an example of an astronaut encounter that did not go well. For my account of this meeting follow the Dick Covey Link.

April 20: NASA launches the Hubble Space Telescope on board space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-30.

April 24: West and East Germany agree to merge economies and currency on July 1, 1990.

May 4: Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

May 24: The Edmonton Oilers defeat the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1 to win the Stanley Cup.

May 26: Racing driver Arie Luyendyk wins the 74th running of the Indianapolis 500.

June 14: The Detroit Pistons defeat the Portland Trailblazers 4 games to 1 to capture the NBA championship.

July 8: The Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas hosts a program featuring moonwalkers Charlie Duke and Jim Irwin. I attended this program. For my account of the event follow the 2nd Baptist link.

July 16: The Spaceweek National Banquet is held in Houston, Texas. For my personal account of this banquet, follow the Spaceweek 90 link.

July 16: The Fifteenth Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz was celebrated in Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma Air and Space Museum. I attended this event. For my account of the celebration, follow the Apollo-Soyuz link.

August 2: Iraq invades Kuwait, setting the stage for the first Gulf War.

August 27: A helicopter crash takes the life of blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan.

October 3: East and West Germany are reunited into a single Germany.

October 15: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Noble Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce tensions from the Cold War.

October 20: The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Oakland Atheletics 4 games to 0 to win the 1991 World Series.

November 12: Akihito becomes Emporer of Japan.

November 15: NASA launches space shuttle Altantis on STS-38. This is a classified DOD mission.

December 31: Slobodan Milošević becomes President of Serbia.

December 31: Russian Garry Kasparov defeats Anatoly Karpov in the World Chess Championship.