What Was the World Like When You Were Born?

It's always been interesting to me to learn about the childhood experiences of some of the older members among us.  I asked my grandmother what it was like to grow up during WWII and I was fascinated by the fact that she was alive while the Nazis committed such horrible atrocities and when the atomic bomb was developed.  I get so caught up in other people's history that I haven't stopped to really think about what I have lived through.  The earth has experienced many harrowing experiences and lots of change since my birth in 1989.  Since I didn't really become aware of what was going on in the world around me until I was in fifth or sixth grade, I decided to do a little study of what the world was like the year that I was born.  Here are the results:

Top 10 Singles of 1989: (see the top 100 here)

• Look Away - Chicago
• My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
• Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
• Straight Up - Paula Abdul
• Miss You Much - Janet Jackson
• Cold Hearted - Paula Abdul
• Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
• Girl You Know Its True - Milli Vanilli
• Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley - Will to Power
• Giving You the Best That I Got - Anita Baker

Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies of 1989

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Batman
• Back to the Future Part II
• Look Who's Talking
• Dead Poets Society
• Lethal Weapon 2
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• Ghostbusters II
• The Little Mermaid
• Born on the Fourth of July 
• Other Notable Movie Releases of 1989 (the ones that I've seen or heard of): The Abyss, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Glory, Lean On Me, Milo and Otis, Say Anything, Steel Magnolias, When Harry Met Sally
  

Popular Toys and Games Introduced in 1989

• Tetris
• Sega Genesis
• Polly Pockets
• Nintendo Game Boy
• Trolls

Most Popular TV Shows of 1989:

• The Cosby Show
• Roseanne
• Cheers
• A Different World
• America's Funniest Home Videos
• The Golden Girls
• 60 Minutes
• The Wonder Years
• Empty Nest
• Monday Night Football 

Historical Background of the Year 1989:

• George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan as the 41st president of the United States of America.
• The TV show Thomas & Friends aired for the first time in the United States.
• The Soviet Union ended their 9-year long occupation of Afghanistan.
• Motorola introduced MicroTAC Personal Cellular Phone, which was the world's smallest cell phone at the time.
  
• The Tiananmen Square Protests in China, also known as the '89 Democracy Movement, led to clashes between government officials and Chinese student protesters calling for government accountability and freedom of speech.
• The first McDonald's in the USSR is constructed in Moscow.
• The Government of Argentina declared a nationwide state of siege due to looting and food riots caused by inflation.
• The success of Central and Eastern Europe's anti-Communist revolutions began in Poland.
• Israel experienced its first Palestinian suicide attack.
• Nintendo released the Game Boy portable video game system in North America.  The Sega Genesis was also released.
• The people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania called for freedom and independence from Soviet rule.
• Hungary opened its borders to refugees from the German Democratic Republic.
• Vietnam removed the last of its troops from Cambodia, ending an 11-year occupation.
• The world's first same-sex unions became legal in Denmark.
• The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, struck the San Francisco Bay Area.  It killed 67 people, delayed the World Series for 10 days, and caused part of the Bay Bridge to collapse.
• The first commercial internet dial-up connection in North America was made.
• The first Wal-Mart store (a Sam's Club) was opened in New Jersey.
• East German refugees were allowed into Czechoslovakia.
• The Berlin Wall fell.
  
• President George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev released statements indicating that the Cold War was coming to an end.
• Chile held its first free election in 16 years.
• The first full-length episode of The Simpsons is shown on Fox.
• The first Al-Qaeda related cell began operation in New York City.
• The Energizer Bunny was introduced.
• The Oakland Athletics won the World Series and the San Francisco 49ers won the Superbowl.

What kinds of crazy things have you lived through?