What Happened in October 1989

Historical Events

  • Oct 1 Dallas Cowboy defensive end, Ed "Too Tall" Jones records his 1,000th NFL tackle in a 30-13 defeat to the New York Giants at Texas Stadium

Daddy

Oct 1 Danielle Steel’s novel “Daddy” is published

Sports History

Oct 1 MLB batting titles are decided on final day of regular season: AL, Kirby Puckett goes 2-for-5 edges Carney Lansford .339 to .336; NL, Tony Gwynn's 3-for-4 beats Will Clark .336 to .333

  • Oct 1 Thousands of East Germans flee to West Germany

Event of Interest

Oct 1 US Army General Colin Powell becomes youngest Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest military position, at 52

  • Oct 1 US Post Office issues a stamp labeling an apatosaurus as a brontosaurus
  • Oct 2 TV true life drama "A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story" premieres on NBC in the US

Hockey Hall of Fame

Oct 3 Darryl Sittler, Vladislav Tretiak, and Herbie Lewis are inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as players, along with builders Alan Eagleson and Father David Bauer

Sports History

Oct 3 Oakland Raiders promote 42-year-old Art Shell as the first African-American to be an NFL head coach in modern times; takes over from Mike Shanahan

Coup d'état

Oct 3 Panamanian Defense Force attempted coup of Manuel Noriega fails

  • Oct 4 MLB San Francisco Giants 1st baseman Will Clark hits first NLCS grand slam since 1977 in 11-3 win v Chicago Cubs; Clark goes 4-for-4 with 2 HRs to tie NLCS RBI record (6) for an entire series in less than 4 innings
  • Oct 4 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

Sports History

Oct 7 Howard Stern's "US Open Sores" tennis match against his producer Gary Dell'Abate. at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York

Baseball Record

Oct 7 Oakland A's Rickey Henderson steals a record 8 bases in a playoff series (5 games) against Toronto Blue Jays

  • Oct 8 MLB American League Championship: Oakland Athletics beat Toronto Blue Jays, 4 games to 1
  • Oct 8 Oakland beats Toronto, 4-3 in Game 5, to advance to the World Series

Country Music Association Awards

Oct 9 23rd Country Music Association Awards: George Strait & Kathy Mattea win

  • Oct 9 27th Tennis Fed Cup: USA beats Spain in Tokyo Japan (3-0)
  • Oct 9 First NFL game coached by an African American (Art Shell), his LA Raiders beat NY Jets 14-7 on Monday Night Football
  • Oct 9 MLB National League Championship: San Francisco Giants beat Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 1
  • Oct 9 Penthouse Magazine's Hebrew edition hits newsstands

Sports History

Oct 12 Dallas running back Herschel Walker is traded from Cowboys to Minnesota Vikings for 5 players and 6 future draft picks including future stars Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith and Darren Woodson

  • Oct 12 Musical "Buddy" with Paul Hipp premieres in London
  • Oct 13 Bob Quinn resigns as NY Yankee VP/GM & replaced by Harding Peterson
  • Oct 13 Dow Jones down 190.58 points
  • Oct 14 MLB Oakland A's Dave Stewart is 1st MLB pitcher to start consecutive World Series openers since Cincinnati Reds Don Gullett in 1976
  • Oct 14 Texas A&I University running back Johnny Bailey sets NCAA season rush record at 6,085 yards

Radio Premiere

Oct 15 American radio and television evangelist Billy Graham is given the 1,900th star on Hollywood Boulevard, the first clergyman to be granted a star

Event of Interest

Oct 15 South African President F. W. de Klerk frees ANC Founder Walter Sisulu and four other political prisoners

Sports History

Oct 15 Wayne Gretzky passes Gordie Howe as NHL's all time top scorer

  • Oct 16 Bikenibau Paeniu installed as premier of Tuvalu
  • Oct 16 Jan Syse becomes premier of Norway

Storm Front

Oct 17 Columbia Records releases "Storm Front", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's eleventh studio album

  • Oct 17 Earthquake in San Francisco (6.9) cancels 3rd game of World Series, kills 67
  • Oct 18 East German state/party leader Erich Honecker resigns
  • Oct 18 Hungary revises its constitution after the fall of its Communist regime
  • Oct 18 US 62nd manned space mission STS 34 (Atlantis 5) launches into orbit
  • Oct 19 Astor Piazzolla and William Finn's musical "Dangerous Games" premieres at Nederlander Theater NYC
  • Oct 19 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • Oct 20 Pakistan win Sharjah Trophy over India & WI on round-robin
  • Oct 20 US Senate impeaches US District Judge Alcee L Hastings
  • Oct 21 "Dangerous Games" closes at Nederlander Theater NYC after 4 performances
  • Oct 21 Betram Lee & Peter Bynoe purchase the Denver Nuggets for $65m - 1st African American owners of a major sports team,
  • Oct 21 Buck Helm found alive after being buried 4 days, in San Francisco earthquake
  • Oct 21 Houston becomes 1st major college team to gain 1000 yards in a game
  • Oct 22 Denver Nuggets beat Jugoplastika Split 135-129 in 3rd McDonald Open

F1 World Champion

Oct 22 Over-competitive McLaren teammates Alain Prost & Ayrton Senna famously collide and skid into an escape road during Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka; Prost retires from race and claims 3rd Formula 1 World Drivers Championship

  • Oct 22 Red Khmer occupies Pailin in Cambodia
  • Oct 23 Browns' Bernie Kosar sets club record with a 97-yard TD pass

Best of Dark Horse 1976-89

Oct 23 George Harrison releases "Best of Dark Horse 1976-89" album

  • Oct 23 Hungary proclaims itself a republic & declares communist rule ended
  • Oct 23 US 62nd manned space mission STS 34 (Atlantis 5) returns from space
  • Oct 23 William Nicholson's "Shadowlands" premieres in London
  • Oct 24 After a weeks delay due to earthquake, World Series game 3 is played

Event of Interest

Oct 24 American televangelist Jim Bakker is sentenced to 45 years in prison for fraud but the sentence is later reduced to eight years on appeal

  • Oct 24 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
  • Oct 28 Baseball World Series: Oakland A's beat San Francisco, 9-6 at Candlestick Park to sweep Giants in earthquake affected "Bay Bridge Series"; MVP: A's pitcher Dave Stewart
  • Oct 29 NYC MTA opens 63rd street extension to subway
  • Oct 29 Ozzie Newsome ends NFL streak of 150 consecutive game receptions
  • Oct 30 August A. Busch III becomes CEO of St Louis Cards
  • Oct 30 Smith Dairy at Orrville Ohio, makes largest milk shake (1,575.2 gal)
  • Oct 31 AR Gurney's play "Love Letters" premieres in NYC
  • Oct 31 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
  • Oct 31 Turgat Ozal elected president of Turkey
  • Oct 31 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 History

Famous Birthdays

Brie Larson (34 years old)

Oct 1 American actress (Room; Captain Marvel), singer and director, born in Sacramento, California

  • Oct 2 Roman Ibramkhalilov, Ukrainian heavy metal guitarist (Jinjer -"Pisces"), born in Ukraine

Dakota Johnson (34 years old)

Oct 4 American actress (Fifty Shades film series), and daughter of Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson, born in Austin, Texas

  • Oct 4 Kimmie Meissner, American figure skater (World Championship gold, 2006 (singles)), born in Bel Air, Maryland
  • Oct 4 Lil Mama [Niatia Jessica Kirkland], American rapper (VYP: Voice of the Young People), born in New York City
  • Oct 4 Tei Shi [Valerie Teicher Barbosa], Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Oct 5 Travis Kelce, American football tight end (Super Bowl LIV, LVII; 4 × First-team All-Pro; 8 × Pro Bowl; Kansas City Chiefs), born in Westlake, Ohio
  • Oct 11 Henry Lau, Hong Kong-Canadian singer (Super Junior-M), born in Toronto, Ontario

Michelle Wie (34 years old)

Oct 11 American golfer (US Open 2014), born in Honolulu, Hawaii

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (34 years old)

Oct 13 American politician (Rep-D-New York 2018-), born in New York City

  • Oct 17 Phoebe Tonkin, Australian actress
  • Oct 22 JPEGMafia [Barrington Hendricks], American hip-hop singer, rapper, and record producer ("Does This Ski Mask Make Me Look Fat?"), born in Brooklyn, NYC
  • Oct 24 Eliza Taylor-Cotter, Australian actress (Neighbours), born in Melbourne, Australia

PewDiePie (34 years old)

Oct 24 Swedish YouTube star, born in Gothenburg, Sweden

  • Oct 24 Shenae Grimes (also Grimes-Beech), Canadian-American (90210 - "Annie"), born in Toronto, Ontario

Mia Wasikowska (34 years old)

Oct 25 Australian actress (Alice in Wonderland), born in Canberra, Australia

  • Oct 25 Seth Mumy, American actor (3 Wishes), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Oct 29 Primož Roglič, Slovenian road cyclist (winner Vuelta a España), born in Trbovlje, Yugoslavia
  • Oct 30 Nastia Liukin, Russian born American gymnast (2008 Olympic Champion), born in Moscow, Soviet Union
  • Oct 30 Vanessa White, British pop singer (The Saturdays - "Living For The Weekend"), born in Yeovil, England
Born in 1989

Famous Weddings

Larry King

Oct 7 American radio and television talk show host Larry King (55) weds (for the 6th time) American businesswoman Julie Alexander; divorced in 1992

Sidney Sheldon

Oct 14 American novelist Sidney Sheldon (72) weds third wife, former American child actress Alexandra Kostoff (46) in Las Vegas, Nevada, until his death in 2007

John Goodman

Oct 27 Actor John Goodman (37) weds Annabeth Hartzog (21) in New Orleans


Famous Deaths

  • Oct 2 Liesbeth Ribbius Peletier, Dutch politician, feminist and the 1st female member of the Council of State (1958-66), dies at 98
  • Oct 3 Del Wool [Adelaide Hazelwood], American country musician, dies at 69
  • Oct 3 Hans Deutgen, Swedish archer (World C'ship gold individual 1947, 48, 49, 50; team 1948), dies at 72
  • Oct 3 Joseph Wybran, Belgian physician and Jewish leader, murdered in mysterious circumstances at 49
  • Oct 3 Norman Yardley, English cricket batsman and captain (20 Tests; Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1948), dies of a stroke at 74
  • Oct 4 Graham Chapman, British comedian and screenwriter (Monty Python; Life of Brian), dies of cancer at 48

Secretariat (1970-1989)

Oct 4 American thoroughbred race horse (Triple Crown, 1973), euthanized while suffering from laminitis at 19

Bette Davis (1908-1989)

Oct 6 American actress (Of Human Bondage; Jezebel; All About Eve), dies of breast cancer at 81

  • Oct 9 Penny Lernoux, American journalist and author (b. 1940)
  • Oct 10 Joe Techner, American jazz trumpeter (Elliot Lawrence Band - "Elevation"), dies at 63
  • Oct 11 M. King Hubbert, American geologist and geophysicist, dies at 86
  • Oct 11 Paul Shenar, actor (Deadly Force, Dream Lover), dies at 53
  • Oct 12 Carmen Cavallaro, American actor and pianist (Hollywood Canteen, Diamond Horseshoe), dies from prostate cancer at 76
  • Oct 12 Franco Luambo [Makiadi], Congolese jazz and rumba guitarist, composer, and bandleader (TPOK Jazz), dies from AIDS at 51
  • Oct 12 Jay Ward, American cartoonist (Rocky & His Friends, Bullwinkle), dies of kidney cancer at 69
  • Oct 13 Cesare Zavattini, Italian screenwriter (Ladri di Biciclette), dies at 87
  • Oct 14 Michael Carmine, American actor (Batteries Not Included; Leviathan; Long Time Companion), dies of AIDS at 30
  • Oct 16 Cornel Wilde [Kornel Lajos Weisz], Hungarian-American actor (Sword of Lancelot, High Sierra, 5th Musketeer), dies at 74
  • Oct 19 Alan Murphy, British rock session guitarist (Kate Bush), dies of pneumonia at 36
  • Oct 20 Anthony Quayle, British actor (Anne of 1000 Days, Lawrence of Arabia), dies from liver cancer at 76
  • Oct 21 Jean Image, Hungarian-born French animator (b. 1910)
  • Oct 22 Ewan MacColl [James Miller], Scottish folk singer-songwriter ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"), dies of complications following heart surgery at 74 [1]
  • Oct 22 Jacob Wetterling, American kidnapping victim, is kidnapped, assaulted and murdered at 11 by Danny Heinrich. His abduction and murder would remain a mystery for 30 years.
  • Oct 22 Roland Winters [Winternitz], American actor (Mama; The Smothers Brothers; Jet Pilot; Meet Millie), dies at 84
  • Oct 22 Tony Manero, American golfer (US Open 1936), dies at 84
  • Oct 23 Armida, Mexican-American stage, vaudeville and film actress (b. 1911)
  • Oct 25 Gerard Walschap, Flemish writer (Men of Goods), dies at 91
  • Oct 25 Mary McCarthy, American novelist (Group), dies, at 77
  • Oct 26 Andy Roberts, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (7 Tests, 1 x 50, 4 wickets; Northern Districts, Waikato, Hamilton & Bay of Plenty), dies at 42
  • Oct 26 Charles J. Pedersen, American organic biochemist (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1987), dies at 85
  • Oct 28 Darel Dieringer, American auto racer (181 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races for 7 wins and 79 top 10 finishes), dies at 63
  • Oct 28 Henry Hall, British bandleader (BBC Dance Orchestra), dies at 91
  • Oct 30 Ingeborg Refling-Hagen, Norwegian author and poet (Loke Saar Havre), dies at 95
  • Oct 30 Max Tishler, American organic chemist at Merck who synthesized Vitamin B2 and developed antibiotic for poultry, dies at 82 [1]
  • Oct 31 Conrad Beck, Swiss composer, dies at 88