At A Glance

19 August 1989 at a glance

Day of the week
19 August 1989 was a Saturday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx.
Top Film of 1989
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1989 was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Bestselling Novel of 1989
“Clear and Present Danger” by Tom Clancy was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1989.
Top-Rated TV Show
“The Cosby Show” (NBC) and “Roseanne” (ABC) were joint No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1989–90 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 19 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 19 August 1989 fell in the Year of the Snake.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 19 August 1989 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 19 August

  • 1981 Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
  • 1981 Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.
  • 1989 Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.
  • 1989 Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.

Famous people born on August 19

  • Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States (born 1946)
  • Kirk Cousins, American football player (born 1988)
  • Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (1969–2023)
  • Kyra Sedgwick, American actress and producer (born 1965)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1989 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '1989 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • March 24 – Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of oil after running aground.
  • March 29 – The 61st Academy Awards, the first since 1971 with no official host are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, with Barry Levinson's Rain Man winning four awards out of eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
  • April 19 – Trisha Meili is attacked while jogging in New York City's Central Park; as her identity remains secret for years, she becomes known as the "Central Park Jogger."

Life in the US in 1989

President

George H. W. Bush

Gas (per gallon)

$1.00

Loaf of Bread

$0.73

Average House

$107,600

Weekly Wage

$390

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →