1990

World Events

• General Manuel Noriega surrenders in Panama(Jan. 3).
• Yugoslav Communists end 45-year monopoly of power (Jan. 22).
• Communist Party relinquish sole power in Soviet government (Feb. 7). Background: Dissolution of the USSR
• South Africa frees Nelson Mandela, imprisoned 27½ years (Feb. 11).
• US-Soviet summit reaches accord on armaments (June 1).
• Western Alliance ends Cold War and proposes joint action with Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (July 6).
• Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, setting off the Persian Gulf War (Aug. 2 et seq.). Background: The Persian Gulf War
• East and West Germany reunited (Aug. 31 et seq.).
• Margaret Thatcher resigns as British Prime Minister (Nov. 22); John Major succeeds her (Nov. 28).
• Lech Walesa wins Poland's runoff Presidential election (Dec. 9).

U.S. Events

• ​US Supreme Court upsets law banning flag burning (June 11).
• US Appeals Court overturns Oliver North's Iran-Contra conviction (July 20).
• Republicans set back in midterm elections (Nov. 8).

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars): $5,743.80 billion
Federal spending: $1252.52 billion
Federal debt $3206.6 billion
Median Household Income(current dollars): $29,943 billion
Consumer Price Index: $130.7
Unemployment: 5.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.25

Sports

Super Bowl
San Francisco d. Denver
World Series
Cincinnati d. Oakland A's (4-0)
NBA Championship
Detroit d. Portland
Stanley Cup
Edmonton d. Boston
Wimbledon
Women: Martina Navratilova d. Z. Garrison (6-4 6-1) 
Men: Stefan Edberg d. B. Becker (6-2 6-2 3-6 3-6 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Unbridled
NCAA Basketball Championship
UNLV d. Duke
NCAA Football Champions
Colorado (AP, FW, NFF) (11-1-1) & Georgia Tech (UPI) (11-0-1)
World Cup
W. Germany d. Argentina

Entertainment

Events

• The X rating is replaced by NC-17 (no children under 17).
• Ninety-nine percent of U.S. households have at least one radio, with the average owning five.
• The Simpsons debuts on Fox and becomes an instant hit.
• Euro dance band Milli Vanilli admits to lip-synching hits such as "Girl You Know Its True," and has its Grammy award revoked.
• Seinfeld debuts on NBC.
• Entertainment Weekly hits newsstands.

Movies

• Dances with Wolves, GoodFellas, Henry and June, Reversal of Fortune

Books

• Robert Bly, Iron John
• A.S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
• Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• John Updike, Rabbit at Rest

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Oscar Hijeulos
Music: Duplicates: A Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Mel Powell
Drama: The Piano Lesson, August Wilson
Academy Award, Best Picture: Driving Miss Daisy, Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck, producers (Warner Bros.)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Octavio Paz (Mexico)
Record of the Year: "Wind Beneath My Wings," Bette Midler
Album of the Year: Nick of Time, Bonnie Raitt (Capitol)
Song of the Year: "Wind Beneath My Wings," Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar, songwriters
Miss America: Debbye Turner (MO)

Science & Technology

• The Hubble Space Telescope is launched (Apr. 25).
• President Bush signs the Clean Air Act, mandating a variety of pollution-reducing changes in the automobile and fuel industries. 
• The FDA approves use of the surgically-implanted contraceptive Norplant. Background: Birth & Contraception