1990

April 1

• The Comedy Channel on cable TV begins transmitting. [1]
• CBS fires sportscaster Brent Mussburger. [1]
• Wrestlemania VI (67,678 in Toronto); Ultimate Warrior beats Hulk Hogan for championship. [1]
• The largest prison riot in Britain's history begins at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, continuing for three weeks and three days. [42]

April 2

• Aldo Fabrizi, actor (Postman Goes to War, Open City), dies at age 85. [1]

April 3

• Katharine Balfour, actress (Love Story), dies of ALS at age 69. [1]
• Sarah Vaughan, American jazz singer, dies of lung cancer at age 66 (born 1924). [1] [5] [42]

April 5

• Nico Scheepmaker, Dutch columnist/poet, dies at age 59. [1]

April 6

• Buena Vista releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Ernest Goes to Jail to theaters in the US. [6]
• Lady Nancy Hawkes (1946 best-dressed woman) dies at age 73. [1]
• Ronald E Evans, astronaut (Apollo 17), dies of a heart attack at age 57. [1]

April 7

• Thirty die in a ferry flip-over in Burma. [1]
• John Poindexter (US National Security Advisor) is found guilty of five charges for his part in the Iran Contra scandal; the convictions are later reversed on appeal. [1] [42]

April 8

• Twin Peaks with Peggy Lipton premieres on ABC-TV. [1]
• King Birendra of Nepal lifts 30-year ban on political parties. [1]
• Scandinavian Star, a Bahamas-registered ferry, catches fire en route from Norway to Denmark, leaving 158 dead. [1] [42]

April 9

• World's largest bunny hop at Radio City Music Hall (New York City). [1]

April 10

• CUNY/Lehman College, Bronx, opens a branch campus in Hiroshma, Japan. [1]

April 11

• New York Lotto pays US$35 million to two winners (numbers are 6-14-24-32-34-51). [1]

April 12

• First meeting of East German democratically elected parliament, acknowledges responsibility for Nazi holocaust and asks for forgiveness. [1]
• Greyhound Bus hires new drivers to replace strikers. [1]
• Lothar de Maziere becomes East German Prime Minister. [37]
• The director of the Gewandhaus orchestra of Leipzig, Kurt Masur, becomes the first German music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. [37]

April 13

• The Soviet Union apologizes for the Katyn Massacre of Polish officers during World War II. [42]

April 14

• Peter Dunn, actor (Invaders from Mars) dies. [1]

April 15

• In Living Color premieres on FOX-TV. [1]
• Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (Anna Karenina, Camille), dies at age 84 (born 1905). [1] [5] [42]
• Food poisoning kills 450 guests at an engagement party in Uttar Pradesh. [42]

April 16

• Maximum New York State unemployment benefits raised to $260 per week. [1]
• US Supreme Court rejects appeal from retarded man, Dalton Prejean, condemned to death for murdering a Louisiana state trooper in 1977. [1]

April 17

• Gas explodes on passenger train in Kumrahar, India, 80 die. [1]
• Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, American civil rights activist, dies at 64 (born 1926). [1] [42]

April 18

• Bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines. [1]
• Robert D Webb, director/actor (Love Me Tender, Jackals), dies at age 87. [1]
• In Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurs. [53]

April 19

• Contra guerrillas, leftist Sandinistas and incoming government agree to truce in Nicaragua's civil war. [1]
• Vladislav Ivanovich Gulyayev, Russia, cosmonaut, dies at age 52. [1]

April 20

• Horst Sinderman, RDA first minister (1973-76), dies. [1]
• STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. [42] (April 24 [1])

April 21

• Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue shown on all four TV networks. [1]
• Death of Romain de Tirtoff (pseudonym Erté), French Art Deco artist (born 1892). [1] [42]

April 22

• Bertil Unger, actor (Devil and Max Devlin), dies. [1]
• Lebanon releases US hostage Robert Polhill after 39 months. [1]

April 23

• Albert Salmi (Caddyshack), kills terminally ill wife and self at age 62. [1]
• Palmer Deane, actor (Still of the Night), dies. [1]
• Paulette Goddard, actress (Hazard), dies of heart failure in Ronco, Switzerland at age 78 (born 1910). [1] [42]
• In an election in Karl-Marx-Stadt over 75 percent of the voters vote to change the name of the city back to Chemnitz. The name had been changed on May 5, 1953 in honor of the 135th birthday of Karl Marx. [37]

April 24

• Joseph Leberman, entertainer, dies. [1]
• Security law violator Michael Milken pleads guilty to six felonies. [1]
• Tom Rolfing, actor (He Knows You're Alone, Cliff-Another World), dies. [1]
• West and East Germany agree to merge currency and economies on July 1. [1] [42]

April 25

• Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by shuttle Discovery. [1] [5] (April 24 [42])
• 25th Academy of Country Music Awards: Clint Black and Kathy Mattea win. [1]
• Dexter Gordon, jazz saxophonist, dies in Philadelphia of kidney failure at age 67. [1]
• Violeta Barrios de Chamorro is elected President of Nicaragua, making her the first woman President in Latin America. [1] [42]

April 26

• In Qinghai Province, China, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurs. At least 126 people killed. [1] [53]
• Carlos Pizarro Leongomez, Colombian presidential candidate, assassinated. [1]

April 27

• 50th annual barbershop quartet singing convention held (Michigan). [1]
• Buena Vista releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Spaced Invaders to theaters in the USA. [6]

April 28

• Chorus Line closes at Shubert Theater in New York City after 6,137 performances (15 years). [1]
• Jean Blazer Baney, entertainer, dies. [1]
• Last issue of Dutch communist daily De Waarheid (The Truth). [1]

April 29

• Wrecking cranes began tearing down Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate. [1] [37]

April 30

• US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) returns from space. [1]
• US hostage Frank Reed freed after four years in hands of pro-Iranians. [1]

May 1

• Sunset Carson, cowboy actor (El Paso Kid, Oregon Trail), dies at age 62. [1]

May 2

• Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, dies at age 49. [1]
• South African government and African National Congress open talks to end apartheid. [1]
• William Levi Dawson, composer, dies at age 90. [1]
• In London, England, a man brandishing a knife robs courier Nicholas Lane of bearer bonds worth £292 million (the largest mugging to date). [42]
• Agreement is reached between East and West Germany on the exchange of currency as the East takes on the Deutsches-mark as its currency. The currencies are to be exchanged 1:1 with some variations for given categories of exchange. At a maximum 6,000 east marks may be exchanged at the 1:1 rate. [37]

May 3

• Pimen [Sergei Irzyekov], patriarch of Russian-orthodox church, dies at age 79. [1]

May 4

• Latvia's parliament votes 138-0 (one abstention) for independence. [1] [42]

May 5

• The 35th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. [42]

May 6

• Charles Farrell, actor (Vern-My Little Margie), dies at age 89. [1]
• Former President PW Botha quits South Africa's ruling National Party. [1]

May 7

• Jessica James, actress (Spring Break), dies of breast cancer at age 60. [1]

May 8

• Cuyahoga County voters approve sin tax to build Cleveland Gateway. [1]
• Tomas O'Fiach [Tomas Seamus Fee], Irish cardinal-archbishop, dies (born 1923). [1] [42]

May 9

• Luigi Nono, Italian composer (Intolleranza), dies at age 66. [1]
• Pauline Frederick, first woman to moderate Presidential debate, dies at age 84. [1]

May 10

• French TGV-train hits record speed of 510.6 kph. [1]
• Susan Oliver, actress (Disorderly Orderly), dies of cancer at age 61. [1]
• Walker Percy, physician/novelist (Lancelot), dies of cancer at age 73. [1]

May 12

• Comic Relief '90 (4th one) raises $4.7 million. [1]

May 13

• Venedikt Jerofejev, Russian writer, dies. [1]

May 14

• Andre Ameller, composer, dies at age 78. [1]

May 15

• Portrait of Doctor Gachet painting by Vincent Van Gogh sells for record US$82.5 million. [1] [42]
• Mona Grudt, 19, of Norway, crowned 39th Miss Universe. [1]

May 16

• Dominican Republic President Joaquín Ricardo Balaguer re-elected. [1]
• Jim Henson, muppeteer (Sesame Street, Muppet Show), dies of pneumonia at age 53 (born 1936). [1] [42]
• Sammy Davis Jr, American entertainer (Golden Boy), dies from throat cancer at age 64 (born 1925). [1] [42]

May 17

• European court rules pension rights for both men and women. [1]
• The World Health Organization removes homosexuality from its list of diseases. [42]

May 18

• East and West Germany sign a monetary union treaty. [1]
• Jill Ireland, English actress (Carry on Nurse, Family), dies of cancer at age 54 (born 1936). [1] [42]
• Universal Pictures releases the film Bird on a Wire to theaters in the USA. [4]

May 20

• Hubble Space Telescope sends first photographs from space. [1]
• The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania. [42]
• In Sudan, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurs, believed to be the largest earthquake ever recorded in Sudan. [53]

May 21

• Franklyn Seales, actor (Silver Spoon, Onion Field), dies of AIDS at age 37. [1]
• Last episode of Newhart airs on CBS-TV; it was all a dream. [1]
• Mary Victor Bruce, who flew around the Empire State Building in 1930, dies. [1]
• Moelvi Mohammed Farouk, Indian spiritual leader, murdered. [1]

May 22

• Max Wall, actor (Jabberwocky), dies. [1]
• At the Center City at Columbus Circle in New York, Microsoft introduces and ships Microsoft Windows 3.0. This version allows addressing memory above 640 kB. Microsoft spends US$3 million for opening-day marketing, as part of a US$10 million promotional campaign. [1] [4] [5] [42]
• The leaders of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen announce the unification of their countries as the Republic of Yemen. [1] [42]

May 25

• Buena Vista releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Fire Birds to theaters in the USA. [6]
• Vic Tayback, actor (Mel-Alice), dies of a heart attack at age 60. [1] [42]

May 26

• People's Republic of China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor. [1]

May 27

• César Gaviria Trujillo chosen President of Colombia. [1]
• Radical Democratic Party holds first political meetings in Moscow. [1]

May 28

• César Gaviria Trujillo installed as President of Colombia. [1]
• Eugenia Charles' Dominican Freedom Party wins election in Dominica. [1]
• Giorgio Manganelli, writer, dies at age 67. [1]
• Hussein Bin Onn, first minister of Malasia (1976-81), dies. [1]
• Joseph Hardy, actor/director (Tree Grows in Brooklyn), dies at age 71. [1]
• Longest wheelie (David Robilliard with 5 hours 12 minutes 33 seconds (Channel Islands). [1]

May 29

• An earthquake hits Peru, killing 56. [1]
• Boris Yeltsin is elected President of the Russian Republic. [1]

May 30

• In northern Peru, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurs. Three events about 1.5 and 4.8 seconds apart. At least 135 people killed, more than 800 injured and severe damage. [1] [53]
• In Romania, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurs. Felt in Bulgaria, USSR, Hungary, Greece, Poland, Turkey and Yugoslavia. [53]

May 31

• 63rd National Spelling Bee: Amy Marie Dimak wins spelling "fibranne". [1]
• New York City's Zodiac killer shoots third victim, Joseph Ponce. [1]

June 1

• Dow Jones Industrial Average hits a record high of 2,900.97. [1]
• The Cowboy Channel on cable TV begins transmitting. [1]
• U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production and begin destroying their respective stocks. [42]
• Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army shoot and kill Major Michael Dillon-Lee and Private William Robert Davies of the British Army. Dillon-Lee is killed outside his home in Dortmund, Germany and Davies is killed at a railway station in Lichfield, England. [42]

June 2

• Frederick Mellinger, founder of Fredericks of Hollywood, dies at age 76. [1]
• Rex Harrison, English actor (My Fair Lady), dies at age 82 of cancer (born 1908). [1] [42]

June 3

• Robert Noyce, co-inventor (semi-conductor)/founded Intel, dies (born 1927). [42] (June 2 [1])
• Death of Stiv Bators, American singer (The Dead Boys) (born 1949). [42]

June 4

• The Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel opens at Walt Disney World. [6]
• Jack Gilford, comedic actor, dies at age 82 of stomach cancer. [1]

June 7

• Barbara Baxley, actress (Norma Rae), dies at age 63 of a heart attack. [1]
• Universal Studios Florida opens to the public. [42]

June 12

• The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty. [42]
• An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale kills thousands in the Iranian city of Manjil. [42]

June 13

• Boeing 767 sets nonstop commercial flight: Seattle, Washington to Narobi, Kenya. [1]
• Washington DC mayor Marion Barry announces he will not seek a fourth term. [1]

June 14

• In the Kazakh-Xinjiang border region, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurs. One person killed, 3,000 houses destroyed and 20,000 people left homeless. [53]
• In Panay, Philippine Islands, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurs. At least four people killed, 15 injured. [53]

June 15

• Buena Vista releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Dick Tracy to theaters. (North American theater gross receipts: US$103.7 million.) [1] [6]

June 16

• Death of Dame Eva Turner, British soprano (born 1892). [42]

June 17

• Palmira Henry, fashion designer, dies at age 44 of cerebral hemorrhage. [1]

June 20

• In Iran, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurs. One of the world's most destructive earthquakes. Estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people killed, more than 60,000 injured, 400,000 or more homeless and extensive damage and landslides. [1] [53]
• Ina Balin, actress, dies at age 52 of pulmonary hypertension in Connecticut. [1]
• The asteroid Eureka is discovered. [5]

June 21

• 25,000 die in Iranian earthquake. [1]
• Little Richard gets a star on Hollywood's walk of fame. [1]
• New York City's Zodiac killer shoots fourth victim, Larry Parham. [1]
• US House of Representatives vote 254-177 to stop US flag burning, doesn't pass. [1]

June 22

• Buena Vista Pictures releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Betsy's Wedding to theaters. [6]
• Florida passes a law prohibits wearing a throng bathing suit. [1]
• Underwater volcano Mount Didicas erupts in the Philippines. [42]
• Death of Ilya Frank, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908). [42]

June 23

• A rally to save TV show Alien Nation from cancellation is held at the Statue of Liberty. [1]
• TV Guide selects Arsenio Hall as TV personality of the year. [1]

June 24

• Kathleen Young and Irene Templeton are ordained as priests in Saint Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, becoming the first Anglican women priests in the United Kingdom. [42]

June 26

• 122 degrees F in Phoenix, Arizona. [1]
• U.S. President George Bush breaks his 1988 'no new taxes' campaign pledge, accepting tax revenue increases as a necessity to reduce the budget deficit. [42]

June 27

• Merrill Lynch begins selling up to US$2.25 billion convertible bonds for the Walt Disney Company, the largest such issue in US history. The bond issue is to raise funds for building Euro Disneyland in France. [6]

June 29

• Irving Wallace, author (Book of Lists, Peoples Almanac), dies at age 74. [1]