January 10 –
Harris Trust and Savings Bank of
Chicago settles a government enforcement action by agreeing to pay $14 million in backpay to women and minorities, the largest such settlement ever obtained from a single employer.
The
National Collegiate Athletic Association adopts Proposition 42, which withdraws athletic scholarships from athletes who fail to meet minimal academic standards.
January 13 –
Bernhard Goetz is sentenced to one year in prison and fined $5,000 for shooting four young men on the New York subway in 1984.
January 16 – A Hispanic
Miami police officer shoots and kills a speeding black motorcyclist in the
Overtown section of Miami, Florida, starting three days of rioting.
January 31 –
Northway,
Alaska records the highest mean sea level pressure on record in the United States with a reading of 31.85
inHg (1078.6
millibars)[1]
February
February 7
The
Los Angeles, California City Council bans the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons.
The
101st United States Congress rejects a proposed 51 percent pay raise for its members, federal judges, and certain other high-ranking government officials.
February 23 – After protracted testimony, the U.S.
Senate Armed Services Committee rejects, 11–9, President Bush's nomination of
John Tower for Secretary of Defense.
February 26 – 60 Minutes in the United States airs a report claiming that
apples sprayed with
Alar may cause cancer in children, leading many schools to remove apples from their cafeterias.
Eastern Air Lines machinists and baggage workers walk off the job to protest pay cuts. The airline subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection five days later, on March 9.
March 9 – By a vote of 53 to 47, the
Senate votes to reject the nomination of
John Tower as
United States Secretary of Defense. President Bush subsequently nominated
Dick Cheney the next day, and Cheney was confirmed and sworn in as defense secretary on March 17.
March 13 – A
geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. 6 million people are
left without power for 9 hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and
aurorae are seen as far as
Texas.
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."
A gun turret explodes on the U.S. battleship
Iowa, killing 47 crew members.
April 20 –
NATO debates modernizing short range missiles; although the U.S. and
U.K. are in favor,
West German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl obtains a concession deferring a decision.
In the trial of
Oliver North on charges related to the
Iran–Contra affair, the jury finds North guilty of three criminal charges and not guilty of nine.
May 25 – Thirteen days after the Southern Pacific train derailment, the
Calnev Pipeline explodes at the same section of Duffy Street in San Bernardino, California.
May 26 – United States House of Representatives Majority Whip
Tony Coelho resigns from the
United States House of Representatives, saying he wants to spare his family from an investigation into his finances.
May 31 –
Jim Wright announces his resignation as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Oliver North is fined $150,000, and given a two-year suspended sentence and three years probation and ordered to perform 1,200 hours of community service for his crimes in the Iran-contra affair.
July 9–12 – U.S. President
George H. W. Bush travels to Poland and Hungary, pushing for U.S. economic aid and investment.
Record-setting
baseball player
Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport following allegations of illegal gambling, thereby preventing his induction into the
Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ends the day at 2,734.64, its highest closing since
Black Monday (1987).
August 29 – Harry Zych, a diver and salvager, files a lawsuit to gain ownership of the wreck of the
Lady Elgin which he has recently discovered in Lake Michigan in
Highland Park, Illinois.[11]
September 2–3 –
Fraternity members attending the Greekfest fraternity festival in
Virginia Beach, Virginia spend two days rioting and looting.
September 5 – U.S. President
George H. W. Bush holds up a bag of
cocaine purchased across the street at
Lafayette Park, and proposes to spend $7.9 billion in the
War on Drugs, in his first televised speech to the nation.
September 8 – Former president
Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove fluid on his brain. He recovers quickly.
Former Philippines President
Ferdinand Marcos dies in an inter-organ failure at his hospital in
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.[12]
September 29 – In the biggest narcotics seizure on record, drug agents confiscate 21.4 short tons of
cocaine and more than $12 million in cash from a
Los Angeles warehouse.
The House of Representatives passes amendments to strengthen the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978; the Senate passes its own amendments the next day.
November 17 –
Walt Disney Feature Animation's 28th feature film, The Little Mermaid, is released to critical acclaim and is one of Disney's biggest financial successes at the time. After the success of 1986's The Great Mouse Detective and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the film is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some prior films produced by Disney were struggling. It also marks the start of the era known as the
Disney Renaissance.
January 10 –
Harris Trust and Savings Bank of
Chicago settles a government enforcement action by agreeing to pay $14 million in backpay to women and minorities, the largest such settlement ever obtained from a single employer.
The
National Collegiate Athletic Association adopts Proposition 42, which withdraws athletic scholarships from athletes who fail to meet minimal academic standards.
January 13 –
Bernhard Goetz is sentenced to one year in prison and fined $5,000 for shooting four young men on the New York subway in 1984.
January 16 – A Hispanic
Miami police officer shoots and kills a speeding black motorcyclist in the
Overtown section of Miami, Florida, starting three days of rioting.
January 31 –
Northway,
Alaska records the highest mean sea level pressure on record in the United States with a reading of 31.85
inHg (1078.6
millibars)[1]
February
February 7
The
Los Angeles, California City Council bans the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons.
The
101st United States Congress rejects a proposed 51 percent pay raise for its members, federal judges, and certain other high-ranking government officials.
February 23 – After protracted testimony, the U.S.
Senate Armed Services Committee rejects, 11–9, President Bush's nomination of
John Tower for Secretary of Defense.
February 26 – 60 Minutes in the United States airs a report claiming that
apples sprayed with
Alar may cause cancer in children, leading many schools to remove apples from their cafeterias.
Eastern Air Lines machinists and baggage workers walk off the job to protest pay cuts. The airline subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection five days later, on March 9.
March 9 – By a vote of 53 to 47, the
Senate votes to reject the nomination of
John Tower as
United States Secretary of Defense. President Bush subsequently nominated
Dick Cheney the next day, and Cheney was confirmed and sworn in as defense secretary on March 17.
March 13 – A
geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. 6 million people are
left without power for 9 hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and
aurorae are seen as far as
Texas.
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."
A gun turret explodes on the U.S. battleship
Iowa, killing 47 crew members.
April 20 –
NATO debates modernizing short range missiles; although the U.S. and
U.K. are in favor,
West German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl obtains a concession deferring a decision.
In the trial of
Oliver North on charges related to the
Iran–Contra affair, the jury finds North guilty of three criminal charges and not guilty of nine.
May 25 – Thirteen days after the Southern Pacific train derailment, the
Calnev Pipeline explodes at the same section of Duffy Street in San Bernardino, California.
May 26 – United States House of Representatives Majority Whip
Tony Coelho resigns from the
United States House of Representatives, saying he wants to spare his family from an investigation into his finances.
May 31 –
Jim Wright announces his resignation as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Oliver North is fined $150,000, and given a two-year suspended sentence and three years probation and ordered to perform 1,200 hours of community service for his crimes in the Iran-contra affair.
July 9–12 – U.S. President
George H. W. Bush travels to Poland and Hungary, pushing for U.S. economic aid and investment.
Record-setting
baseball player
Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport following allegations of illegal gambling, thereby preventing his induction into the
Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ends the day at 2,734.64, its highest closing since
Black Monday (1987).
August 29 – Harry Zych, a diver and salvager, files a lawsuit to gain ownership of the wreck of the
Lady Elgin which he has recently discovered in Lake Michigan in
Highland Park, Illinois.[11]
September 2–3 –
Fraternity members attending the Greekfest fraternity festival in
Virginia Beach, Virginia spend two days rioting and looting.
September 5 – U.S. President
George H. W. Bush holds up a bag of
cocaine purchased across the street at
Lafayette Park, and proposes to spend $7.9 billion in the
War on Drugs, in his first televised speech to the nation.
September 8 – Former president
Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove fluid on his brain. He recovers quickly.
Former Philippines President
Ferdinand Marcos dies in an inter-organ failure at his hospital in
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.[12]
September 29 – In the biggest narcotics seizure on record, drug agents confiscate 21.4 short tons of
cocaine and more than $12 million in cash from a
Los Angeles warehouse.
The House of Representatives passes amendments to strengthen the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978; the Senate passes its own amendments the next day.
November 17 –
Walt Disney Feature Animation's 28th feature film, The Little Mermaid, is released to critical acclaim and is one of Disney's biggest financial successes at the time. After the success of 1986's The Great Mouse Detective and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the film is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some prior films produced by Disney were struggling. It also marks the start of the era known as the
Disney Renaissance.