At A Glance

20 January 1989 at a glance

Day of the week
20 January 1989 was a Friday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown.
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 20 January is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 January 1989 fell in the Year of the Dragon.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 January 1989 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 20 January

  • 1986 In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
  • 1986 Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya.
  • 1990 Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
  • 1991 Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
  • 2001 President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent four-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Famous people born on January 20

  • J. J. McCarthy, American football player (born 2003)
  • David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter (1946–2025)
  • Evan Peters, American actor (born 1987)
  • Sid Wilson, American musician (born 1977)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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

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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)

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