- Sep 1 Timberlake Westenbaker's "Our Country's Good" premieres in London
Human Rights Now!
Sep 2 Amnesty International's "Human Rights Now!" tour begins in Wembley Stadium, London; performers include: Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N'Dour
- Sep 3 Estimated by this date 50,000 Kurdish civilians and soldiers killed by Iraq, many using chemical weapons, in aftermath of Iran-Iraq War
Sports History
Sep 4 Mike Tyson crashes a silver BMW into a tree near Catskills NY
- Sep 4 The relocated Phoenix Cardinals play first regular-season NFL game; lose 21-14 v Bengals at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati
- Sep 5 CFL's Earl Winfield (Ham) scores TDs on 101-yd punt return, 100-yd kickoff return & 58-yd pass reception
Telethon
Sep 5 Jerry Lewis' 23rd Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $41,132,113
Hockey Hall of Fame
Sep 7 Guy Lafleur, Tony Esposito & Brad Park inducted in NHL Hall of Fame
- Sep 7 NY Daily News reports boxer Mike Tyson is seeing a psychiatrist
- Sep 7 Security & Exchange Commission accuses Drexel of violating security laws
- Sep 8 Javier Sotomayer of Cuba high jumps world record 2.43m
- Sep 8 NL president A. Bartlett Giamatti is unanimously elected Major League Baseball's 7th Commissioner
- Sep 9 "Look Away" single released by Chicago (Billboard Song of the Year 1989)
- Sep 9 MLB Atlanta Braves Bruce Sutter joins Rollie Fingers & Gooses Gossage with 300 MLB career saves
- Sep 9 US Stars & Stripes H3 defeats NZ's KZ-1 at the 27th America's Cup: NZ appeal in court but eventually lose
- Sep 10 -18] Hurricane Gilbert, kills 300 in Jamaica, Texas & Yucatan
- Sep 10 Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (Minnesota), 22, crowned 62nd Miss America 1989
US Open Women's Tennis
Sep 10 US Open Women's Tennis: Steffi Graf of Germany wins her first US title and completes the Grand Slam; beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
US Men's Tennis Open
Sep 11 US Open Men's Tennis: Mats Wilander of Sweden wins his only US title and 7th & final Grand Slam event; beats Ivan Lendl 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the longest final in event's history
- Sep 12 1st NFL regular-season game played in Phoenix; Cowboys beat Card
- Sep 12 Gilbert, strongest hurricane ever (160 mph), devastates Jamaica
- Sep 13 10th time, 4 players hit baseball major-league record grand slams
- Sep 13 9 hard/software manufacturers announce EISA computer bus in NY
- Sep 13 Gilbert is measured the strongest (26.13 barometer) hurricane ever in the Western Hemisphere
- Sep 14 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Sep 15 Lillehammer, Norway, upsets Anchorage to host 1994 Winter olympics
- Sep 15 Museum of Moving Image in London opens
- Sep 15 Musical "Les Miserables" opens at Raimund Theatre, Vienna
- Sep 15 Test Cricket debut of Ian Healy, vs Pakistan at Karachi
- Sep 16 Cincinnati Reds Tom Browning pitches a perfect game, beats LA Dodgers, 1-0
- Sep 16 Fish leaves rock group Marillion
- Sep 16 Javed Miandad completes 211, his 5th Test Cricket double, v Australia
- Sep 16 Jury awards Valerie Harper $1.6 M in dispute over TV series
- Sep 17 13th Toronto International Film Festival: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" directed by Pedro Almodovar wins the People's Choice Award
- Sep 17 24th Olympic games open at Seoul, Korea
- Sep 17 Jeff Reardon becomes 1st to record 40 or more saves in both AL & NL
- Sep 18 Burma suspends its constitution
- Sep 18 Coup in Haiti: General Prosper Avril takes control, Henri Namphy flees
- Sep 18 Magna Charta Universitatum signed to celebrate university traditions and mark 900th anniversary of the founding of Bologna University, the oldest in the world
Olympic Games
Sep 19 American diver Greg Louganis smashes his head on diving board during the 3m springboard preliminaries at the Seoul Olympics; recovers to qualify for the final which he wins the following day
- Sep 19 Australian swimmer Duncan Armstrong sets world record 1:47.25 to win the 200m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; beats Anders Holmertz of Sweden by 0.64
- Sep 19 British swimmer Adrian Moorehouse wins 100m breaststroke gold medal in 1:02.04 at the Seoul Olympics; edges Károly Güttler of Hungary by 0.01
- Sep 19 Israel launches 1st satellite, for secret military reconnaissance
- Sep 19 US women's all-round gymnastics team is controversially penalised 0.5 after compulsory round at the Seoul Olympics; substitute an alternate athlete on uneven bars medal podium; Americans finish 4th just 0.3 behind East Germany
- Sep 20 "Loving Proof" second studio album by Ricky Van Shelton is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1989)
- Sep 20 American diver Greg Louganis wins the 3m springboard gold medal at the Seoul Olympics after famously hitting his head on the board the previous day
Sports History
Sep 20 Boston Red Sox Wade Boggs is 1st player to get 200 hits for 6 consecutive seasons
- Sep 20 Detroit first baseman Darrell Evans hits home run #18 in Tigers' 4-3 loss to Cleveland Indians; Evans' 400th MLB career HR
- Sep 21 East German swimmer Silke Hörner sets world record 2:26.71 to win the 200m breaststroke gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; first of 2 gold (4 x 100m medley relay)
- Sep 21 Hungarian swimmer Tamás Darnyi sets world record 4:14.75 to win the 400m individual medley at the Seoul Olympics; also wins 200m I/M gold for the medley double
- Sep 21 Mike Tyson smashes TV camera outside his Bernardsville, New Jersey home
Olympic Gold
Sep 21 Suriname swimmer Anthony Nesty wins 100m butterfly at the Seoul Olympics; Suriname's first gold; first black to win individual Olympic swim gold medal; thwarts Matt Biondi's attempt at 7 gold medals
- Sep 22 American swimmer Janet Evans sets a world record 4:03.85 to win the 400m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; 3rd gold medal of the Games (400m I/M, 800m)
- Sep 22 American swimmer Matt Biondi wins the blue ribband 100m freestyle gold medal in Olympic record 48.63 at the Seoul Games; beats countryman Chris Jacobs & Stéphan Caron of France
- Sep 22 Canada begins production of a $5 silver Maple Leaf bullion coin
- Sep 22 South Korean coaches attack NZ referee after disputing his decision, Olympic Korean boxer stages a 67 minute sit-in
- Sep 22 Soviet gymnast Vladimir Artemov wins individual all-round gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; follows his teams all-round victory; wins 4 gold for the Games
- Sep 23 Americans Christopher Jacobs, Troy Dalbey, Tom Hunter & Matt Biondi swim world record 3:16.53 to win 4 x 100m freestyle relay at the Seoul Olympics
- Sep 23 East German swimmer Uwe Dassler sets world record 3:46.95 to win 400m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; edges Australian Duncan Armstrong by 0.2s
- Sep 23 Fiji's new constitution is proposed
- Sep 23 Premiere of director Paul Schrader's crime biopic "Patty Hearst"
World Record
Sep 24 American heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets new world record 7,291 points to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; East Germans Sabine John & Anke Behmer take the minor medals
- Sep 24 American swimmer Matt Biondi sets world record 22.14 to win the 50m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; his 4th of 5 gold medals for the Games
- Sep 24 Barbara C. Harris of Mass, elected 1st woman Episcopal bishop
- Sep 24 Canada's Ben Johnson runs drug-assisted 100m in 9.79 sec
World Record
Sep 24 Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson breaks his own 100m world record with a time of 9.79 at the Seoul Olympics; disqualified 3 days later for use of drug stanozolol; Carl Lewis awarded gold and world record 9.92
- Sep 24 Carl Lewis runs world record 100m (9.92 sec)
- Sep 24 Dave Stieb has no-hitter broken up with 2 outs in the 9th
- Sep 24 East German cyclist Christa Luding-Rothenburger wins silver medal in the women's track sprint at the Seoul Olympics; first athlete to win medals at Summer & Winter Games in same year; won speed skating gold in Calgary
- Sep 24 Soviet gymnast Vladimir Artemov shares horizontal bar gold medal with teammate Valeri Liukin at the Seoul Olympics; also wins the parallel bars event to take his gold medal haul to 4 for the Games
- Sep 24 Swimmer Silke Hörner wins her second gold medal of the Seoul Olympics as part of the victorious East German 4 x 100m medley relay team
- Sep 24 West German swimmer Michael Gross wins 200m butterfly in Olympic record 1:56.94 at the Seoul Games; third career gold medal
- Sep 25 American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner wins women's 100m in Olympic record 10.54; beats teammate Evelyn Ashford by 0.29; 1st leg of sprint double at Seoul Games
- Sep 25 Americans sweep the medals in the long jump at the Seoul Olympics; Carl Lewis wins his second gold of the Games with leap of 8.72m ahead of teammates Mike Powell & Larry Myricks
- Sep 25 East German swimmer Kristin Otto swims Olympic record 25.49 to win the 50m freestyle gold at the Seoul Olympics; her 6th gold medal of the Games
- Sep 25 Hungarian swimmer Tamás Darnyi wins the 200m individual medley gold medal at the Seoul Olympics in world record 2:00.17; wraps up medley double at the Games
- Sep 25 Phoebe Mills finishes third in the balance beam at the Seoul Olympics to become the first American female gymnast to win a medal at a fully attended Games
Beatification
Sep 25 Pope John Paul II beatifies Friar Junípero Serra (founder of 1st Californian missions)
- Sep 25 Romanian gymnast Daniela Silivaș wins 3 gold medals in one day at the Seoul Olympics; balance beam, floor exercise & uneven bars events; records record equalling 7 perfect scores of 10
- Sep 25 Super swimmer Matt Biondi wins his 5th gold medal of the Seoul Olympics anchoring the victorious American 4 x 100m medley relay team
- Sep 26 Canada's Ben Johnson stripped of his 100-m gold failing drug test
- Sep 26 NYC's Rockefeller Center declared a national landmark
- Sep 26 Polish communist party picks propaganda chief Rakowski as new PM
- Sep 26 Soviet throwers sweep the medals in the hammer throw at the Seoul Olympics; Sergey Litvinov wins gold with an Olympic record 84.80m ahead of teammates Yuriy Sedykh & Jüri Tamm
- Sep 26 US space shuttle STS-26 launched
- Sep 27 American diver Greg Louganis wins the 10m platform gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; wraps up diving double after also taking out the 3m springboard gold
- Sep 27 Canadian Finn class sailor Lawrence Lemieux abandons race 5 to assist injured competitor after being in 2nd place; selfless act is awarded with the Pierre de Coubertin medal
- Sep 27 Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson is disqualified from the Seoul Olympics 100m after his urine sample found to contain steroid stanozolol; American Carl Lewis awarded gold medal and world record 9.92
- Sep 27 East German cyclist Olaf Ludwig wins the men's road race in 4:32:22 at the Seoul Olympics; beats West German pair Bernd Gröne & Christian Henn
- Sep 27 Grand jury evidence shows Tawana Brawley fabricated rape story
- Sep 27 Senate votes for major federal tax code changes
Event of Interest
Sep 27 The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi is founded in Burma (Myanmar)
- Sep 28 American athletes go 1-2-3 in the 400m at the Seoul Olympics with Steve Lewis taking the gold medal in 43.87 ahead of teammates Butch Reynolds & Danny Everett
- Sep 28 Australian Debbie Flintoff-King wins the 400m hurdles gold at the Seoul Olympics in 53.17, just 0.01 ahead of Tatyana Ledovskaya of the Soviet Union
- Sep 28 Bronx Museum for Arts opens
- Sep 28 Despite totally dominating his sport for 14 years, Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka wins his only Olympic gold medal with a vault of 5.90m at the Seoul Games
- Sep 28 Javed Miandad scores his 19th Test Cricket century (v Aus, Faisalabad)
Sports History
Sep 28 LA Dodger Orel Herschiser breaks former Dodger Don Drysdale's record by pitching 59 consecutive scoreless innings
- Sep 29 26th NASA Space Shuttle Mission: Discovery 7 launches
- Sep 29 American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee wins her second gold medal of the Seoul Olympics by taking the long jump with an Olympic record leap of 7.40m; previously won the heptathlon
- Sep 29 American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner sets women's 200m world record 21.34; completes sprint double at the Seoul Olympics
- Sep 29 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- Sep 29 East German athlete Christian Schenk beats countryman Torsten Voss by 89 points to win the decathlon gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; Canadian Dave Steen is another 71 points back in third place
- Sep 29 UN peacekeeping forces win Nobel Peace prize
- Sep 29 Union Station reopens in Washington, D.C.
- Sep 29 US men's basketball team beats Australia 78-49 to take the bronze medal at the Seoul Olympics; last time US represented by a team that doesn't feature NBA players
- Sep 29 US retain women's basketball title at he Seoul Olympics with a 77-70 win over Yugoslavia; star guard Teresa Edwards top scores for the Americans with 18 points
- Sep 30 Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko retires as Soviet Foreign Minister
- Sep 30 Dave Stieb loses 2nd consecutive no hitter bid with 2 outs in 9th
- Sep 30 IBM announces shipment of 3 millionth PS/2 personal computer
- Sep 30 Louise Ritter, US, jumps 6'8" to win Olympic gold medal
- Sep 30 Robin Givens and Mike Tyson appear on Barbara Walter's Show
- Sep 30 Soviet Union beats Yugoslavia 76-63 to win the men's basketball gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; US finishes 3rd; final time US field non-NBA team
Authors
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