References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1989 January 3 Death of Robert Banks, American chemist (born 1921). [43] January 7 In Japan, the Showa period ends with the death of Emperor Hirohito (aka Emperor Showa) after 62 years and 14 days of his reign. Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan, beginning the Heisei period the following day. [1] [43] Death of Frank Adams, British mathematician (born 1930). [43] January 8 Johnny Jordaan [Jan van Musscher], Dutch folk singer, dies at age 64. [1] Kenneth McMillan, actor (Our Family Honor, Malone, Concrete Beat), dies of heart attack at age 67. [1] January 10 Death of Hai Teng, abbott of Shaolin Temple (born 1902?). [43] Death of Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter (born 1905). [43] January 11 Death of August Koern, Estonian statesman and diplomat (born 1900). [43] January 13 Joe Spinell, actor (Maniac, Star Crash, Strike Force), dies at age 51. [1] January 15 Wilf Slack, cricketer (whilst bat in Gambia England player 1986), dies. [1] January 16 Pierre Boileau, screenwriter (Vertigo), dies at age 82. [1] Romo Vincent, actor (Naked Jungle), dies. [1] Trey Wilson, actor (Bull Durham, Twins, Raising Arizona), dies. [1] January 17 Patrick Edward Purdy kills five children, wounds 30 and then shoots himself in Stockton, California. [1] [43] Sterling A Brown, US poet/critic (Southern Road), dies at age 87. [1] January 18 Bruce Chatwin, British writer, dies at age 49. [1] January 19 Norma Varden, actress (Loose in London), dies. [1] January 20 Beatrice Lillie, actress (Thoroughly Modern Millie), dies at age 94. [1] January 21 Death of Billy Tipton, American musician (born 1914). [43] January 23 Salvador Dalí, Spanish Surrealist painter, dies in Spain at age 84 (born 1904). [1] [43] January 24 Serial killer (100 women) Theodore Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair. [1] [43] January 26 Paul Daels, Flemish chairman (IJzerbedevaart committee), dies. [1] Stéphane Steinier, Belgian journalist, kidnapped and murdered. [1] January 31 Jack Douglas, humorist (My Brother Was an Only Child), dies at age 80. [1] Yasushi Akutagawa, composer, dies at age 63. [1] February 1 Death of Elaine de Kooning, American artist (born 1919). [43] February 3 John Cassavetes, American actor/director (Husbands, Dirty Dozen), dies at age 59 (born 1929). [1] [43] February 4 Kenneth "Jethro" Burns, country singer (Homer and Jethro), dies at age 69. [1] February 5 Joe Raposa, composer/songwriter (Sesame Street), dies at age 51. [1] February 6 Andre Cayatte dies. [1] Barbara Tuchman, American historian (Guns of August - Pulitzer Prize), dies at age 77 (born 1912). [1] [43] February 8 Maurits Kok, Dutch writer/poet (Railroad Strike), dies at age 81. [1] February 9 Death of Osamu Tezuka, Japanese Manga artist (Astroboy) (born 1928). [43] February 10 Dan Kelly, NHL sportscaster, dies at age 52, "He shoots, he scores!". [1] February 11 George O'Hanlon, actor/director (Bop Girl, Zamba), dies at age 71 (born 1912). [1] [43] February 12 Mauritius Balfoort, French/Flemish director, dies at age 83. [1] Thomas Bernhard, Dutch/Austrian writer (Heldenplatz), dies at age 58. [1] February 14 Death of Vincent Crane, British musician (Atomic Rooster). [43] February 17 Lefty Gomez, New York Yankees pitching great, dies at age 80. [1] February 19 Jaap van de Merwe, Dutch journalist/cabareter (Hadjememaar), dies. [1] February 22 Joan Woodbury, actress (Super Sleuth, Northwest Trail), dies. [1] February 24 Death of Sparky Adams, American baseball player (born 1894). [43] February 26 Death of Roy Eldridge, American musician (born 1911). [43] February 27 Joe Silver, actor (Rage, Rapid, Deathtrap, Shivers), dies at age 66. [1] Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973), dies at age 85 (born 1903). [1] [37] [43] Death of Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (born 1897). [43] February 28 Hermann Burger, writer, dies at age 46. [1] March 1 Henk van Stipriaan, Dutch radio host, dies at age 64. [1] Josephine van Gasteren, Dutch actress/director (Bluejackets), dies at age 72. [1] March 6 Harry Andrews, actor (Equus, Helen of Troy, Hill), dies at age 77 (born 1911). [1] [43] March 8 Death of Carl Stuart Hamblen, American musician (born 1908). [43] March 9 Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer, dies at age 42 (born 1946). [1] [43] March 11 Johan Fleerackers, Flemish linguist, dies at age 57. [1] Death of James Kee, American politician (born 1917). [43] March 12 Maurice Evans, English actor (Bewitched, MacBeth), dies at age 87 (born 1901). [1] [43] March 14 Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist, dies after surgery at age 62 (born 1927). [1] [43] Zita, Empress of Austria/Queen of Hungary, dies at age 96. [1] Death of Stephen D. Bechtel, Sr., American businessman (born 1900). [43] March 17 Merritt Butrick, actor (Shy People, Wired to Kill), dies of AIDS at age 29 (born 1959). [1] [43] March 18 Piet Kruiver, Dutch soccer player, dies at age 51. [1] William Challee, actor (Desperate, Moonchild), dies. [1] March 19 Death of Alan Civil, English French horn player (born 1929). [43] March 21 Milton Frome, actor (Family Jewels), dies. [1] March 27 May Allison, actress (Youth for Salem Men of Steel), dies. [1] Death of Malcolm Cowley, American author (born 1898). [43] Death of Jack Starrett, American actor and director (born 1936). [43] March 29 Bernard Blier, actor (Les Miserables, Women and War), dies at age 73. [1] March 30 Dort Clark, actor (In Harm's Way), dies. [1] April 1 Henk Gortzak, Dutch Member of Parliament (CPN/PSP), dies at age 57. [1] April 3 Norman Woolard, actor (Guilty, Saul and David, Medeleine), dies at age 79. [1] April 10 Joan Barry dies at age 85. [1] April 11 Henk van Galen Last, Dutch journalist, dies at age 68. [1] April 12 Abbie Hoffman, yippie peace activist of the 1960s, dies at age 52. [1] Sugar Ray Robinson [Walker Smith Jr], world welterweight champion (1946-51)/5-time middleweight champion, dies of Alzheimers at age 67. [1] Death of Gerald Flood, British actor (born 1927). [43] April 14 Lance Pierre, cricketer (Test West Indies vs England 1948, DNB, 7 overs 0-28), dies. [1] April 15 Charles Vanel dies at age 96. [1] Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of Chinese Commnist Party, dies (born 1915). [1] [43] April 16 Tawfieq Yusuf Awwaad, Lebanese writer, dies. [1] Death of Jocko Conlan, baseball player and umpire (born 1899). [43] April 17 Charles Lampkin dies. [1] April 18 The Hillsborough disaster claims its 95th victim when 14-year-old Lee Nichol dies in hospital from his injuries. [43] April 19 Daphne Du Maurier, English writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), dies at age 82. [1] April 21 James Kirkwood, actor/writer (Devil's Holiday), dies at age 64. [1] Death of Princess Dukhye of Korea (born 1912). [43] April 22 Huey Newton, American Black Panther leader, shot dead at age 47. [1] Death of Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905). [43] April 25 George Coulouris, actor (Papillon, Runaway Bus), dies at age 85. [1] April 26 Lucille Ball, American comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy), dies of a massive heart attack at age 78 (born 1911). [1] [43] April 28 Olaff J de Landell [JB van Sparwoude], Dutch writer, dies at age 77. [1] April 30 Death of Yi, Bang-ja, Crown Princess of Korea (born 1901). [43] Sergio Leone, Italian director (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), dies at age 60 (born 1929). [1] [43] May 1 David Webster, South African white anti-apartheids activist, murdered. [1] Douglass Watson, actor (Mac Cory - Another World), dies at age 68. [1] Marion Mack, actress (General), dies. [1] Death of Sally Kirkland, fashion editor at Life magazine (born 1912). [43] May 3 Christine Jorgensen, first transsexual, dies at age 62. [1] Muriel Ostriche dies. [1] May 5 Frank Easton, cricket wicketkeeper (New South Wales 1933-39), dies. [1] May 7 Guy Williams, actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies in Argentina at age 65. [1] May 9 Keith Whitley, country singer ("Don't Close Your Eyes"), dies at age 33 (born 1955). [1] [43] Paul J Steenbergen, actor (Ciske de Rat), dies at age 82. [1] May 12 Joe Valdez Caballero, creator of hard taco shell, dies at age 81. [1] Marcelle de Manziarly, composer, dies at age 89. [1] May 14 Death of E.P. Taylor, Canadian business tycoon (born 1901). [43] May 15 John Waldo, Green composer, dies at age 80. [1] May 16 Hassan Khaled, sheik of Lebanon, is murdered. [1] May 19 Able J Herzberg, Russian/Netherlands lawyer (Eichmann in Jerusalem), dies. [1] E Galgóczi, writer, dies. [1] Robert Webber, American actor (Alex - Moonlighting), dies of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Lou Gehrig's disease) at age 64. [1] [43] Death of C.L.R. James, Trinidadian writer and journalist (born 1901). [43] May 20 Anton Diffring, actor (Zeppelin, Fahrenheit 451), dies at age 70. [1] Gilda Radner, comedienne (Saturday Night Live, Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at age 42. [1] [5] [43] John R Hicks, English economist (Nobel Prize 1972), dies (born 1904). [1] [43] May 24 Herwig Hensen [Flor Mielants], Flemish dramatist/poet, dies at age 72. [1] May 27 Jack Starrett, director/actor (Chase, Nightwish, First Blood), dies. [1] May 29 Death of John Cipollina, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (born 1943). [43] May 30 Zinka Milanov, Metropolitan Opera Diva, dies of a stroke at age 83. [1] Death of James Harry Lacey, British World War II RAF Fighter pilot (born 1917). [43] May 31 C L R James, cricket writer (distinguished Trinidadian), dies. [1] Dr Charles A Hufnagel, artificial heart valve pioneer, dies at age 72. [1] Terry Drinkwater, CBS news correspondent, dies at age 53 of cancer. [1] June 3 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran, dies at age 86 of internal bleeding (born 1900). [43] (June 4 [1]) Death of John McCauley, NHL official. [43] June 4 Death of Dik Browne, American cartoonist (born 1917). [43] June 7 Death of Don the Beachcomber, American restaurateur (born 1907). [43] June 9 Death of George Wells Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1903). [43] June 15 Ray McAlly, actor, dies in Dublin, Ireland at age 63. [1] Victor French, American actor and director (Highway to Heaven), dies at age 54 of cancer (born 1934). [1] [43] June 17 John Matusek, Oakland Raiders player/actor, dies at age 38 of a heart attack. [1] David S Griggs, astronaut, dies in crash of WW II vintage plane. [1] June 19 Hy Gardner, newspaper columnist, dies at age 80. [1] I.F. Stone author, dies at age 81 of heart failure. [1] June 20 Death of Hilmar Baunsgaard, Danish politician (born 1920). [43] June 24 Death of Hibari Misora, Japanese singer (born 1937). [43] June 27 Death of Alfred Ayer, British philosopher (born 1910). [43] June 28 Death of Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (born 1898). [43]