1989
ranuary 1989 — In an aerial fl i g h t U.S. Vavy F- 14s shoot down two L ibyan M ig >30f loggers. P a trick Purdy, a 26 year old Irifter w alks onto S o ckto n C a lifo rn ia elenentary school playground and opens fir e n th an A K -4 7 style assault rifle . Five stu\ents are k ile ld and th irty wounded before ie turns a gun on h im s e lf February 1989 - The last So viet troops leave A fg h a n itan. The A y a tu lla h K h o m ein i issues a leath sentence fo r S a lm a n R ushdie, the \uthor o f the controversial book, The Sa~ anic Verses. M arch 1989 — The U S . S e n te rejects fo rm e r Senator John Tower fo r Secretary o f Defense. A p r il 1989 — The Ixxon Valdez super tanker runs aground in
the m id d le o f A la sk a 's Scenic Prince W il liam Sound. A blast aboard the U .S.S. Iowa k ills 47 sailors in a gun turret. M a y 1989 — A ju r y convicts retired M a rin e, O liver N o rth on three charges in connec tio n w ith the Ir a n - C ontra affair. June 2989 — S p ea ker o f the H ouse, J im W right resigns a m id a lleg ed eth ics vio la tio n s. Thousands o f C hinese students are k ille d when the C hinese R ed A rm y attacks u n a rm e d d em o cra cy d e m o n stra to rs. P e te Rose is accused o f gam bling on his own team and therefore banned fro m baseball. The U.S. Suprem e Court upholds the right to burn the A m erican fla g as freed o m o f speech. J u ly 1989 — The Suprem e Court
d elights p ro -life advocates by upholding a restrictive M isso u ri abortion law. The con troversial B -2 bomber m aks a successful m aiden voyage. U nited A rilin e s captain A lfre d H aynes crash lands a crippled D C 10 in S io u x C ity Iowa; 186 people survived the fie r y crash. A ugust 1989 — S h iite M oslem terrorists k ill M a rin e L t. Col. W illia m H ig g in s in retaliation fo r Israel capturing their leader, S h e ik Obeid. A fte r a nine year struggle, S o lid a rity heads the fir s t non- com m unist regim e in Poland. Septem ber 1989 — A hole is opened up in the Iron C urtain, as thousands o f E ast Ger mans fle e to W est Germany through H u n gary-