World History Timeline
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Year 1989

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Events this year

March 12, 1989★★★★★

World Wide Web proposed

Tim Berners-Lee submits "Information Management: A Proposal" at CERN, the origin of the World Wide Web.

Technology· Switzerland
April 15, 1989 – June 4, 1989★★★★★

Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown

Weeks of student-led protests in Beijing end when troops suppress them on the night of 3–4 June.

Politics· China
September 1989★★★★★

Vietnam withdraws from Cambodia

Vietnam completes the withdrawal of its troops from Cambodia, opening the way to the Cambodian peace process.

WarPolitics· Vietnam, Cambodia
November 9, 1989★★★★★

Fall of the Berlin Wall

East Germany opens its border and crowds cross the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Cold War's end.

Politics· Germany
November 17, 1989 – December 29, 1989★★★★★

Velvet Revolution

Peaceful protests in Czechoslovakia bring an end to Communist rule; Václav Havel is elected president.

Revolution· Czechia, Slovakia

Ongoing

c. 1975 – c. 1995★★★★★

Vietnamese boat people

Hundreds of thousands of people flee Vietnam by sea after 1975; many die at sea and others are resettled, mostly in Western countries.

Politics· Vietnam, United States, Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
April 13, 1975 – 1990★★★★★

Lebanese Civil War

A multi-sided civil war devastates Lebanon for fifteen years, with intervention by Syria, Israel and other foreign forces.

War· Lebanon
December 25, 1978 – 1989★★★★★

Cambodian–Vietnamese War

Following Khmer Rouge border attacks, Vietnam invades Cambodia, takes Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979 and overthrows the Khmer Rouge; Vietnamese troops remain until 1989.

War· Vietnam, Cambodia
July 23, 1983 – May 18, 2009★★★★★

Sri Lankan Civil War

A 26-year armed conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ends in the LTTE's defeat.

War· Sri Lanka
December 1987 – 1993★★★★★

First Intifada

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip rise up against Israeli occupation, in an uprising lasting until the Oslo Accords.

RevolutionPolitics· Palestine, Israel