“The Simpsons” debuts
Since its debut, 640 episodes of The Simpsons have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series in terms of seasons and number of episodes.
1980s C.E.
Activists bring down the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989.
The Third Polish Republic is founded, transitioning the country to democracy
With the advent of perestroika in the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, the opportunity arose to finally change the system of government, after the harsh period of martial law (1981-83) imposed by General Jaruzelski.
Stephen Hawking publishes A Brief History of Time
In A Brief History of Time, Hawking writes in non-technical terms about the structure, origin, development and eventual fate of the universe, which is the object of study of astronomy and modern physics.
The June Democracy Movement emerges in South Korea
The June Democracy Movement was a nationwide democracy movement in South Korea that forced the ruling government to hold elections and institute other democratic reforms.
The Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen in Germany begins research leading to invention of the MP3
By using MPEG audio coding, MP3s shrink down the original sound data from a CD by a factor of 12, without losing sound quality.
Micronesia signs a Compact of Free Association with the U.S. marking its emergence from trusteeship to independence
The Compact of Free Association is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island nations.
Eduardo Galeano completes Memoria Del Fuego trilogy
The Uruguayan author’s famous work has been described as “the most powerful literary indictment of colonialism in the Americas.”
USSR launches Mir Space Station
Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. It had a greater mass than any previous spacecraft.
The Sixth Brazilian Republic begins after a 21-year military regime
The negotiated transition to democracy reached its climax with the indirect election of Tancredo Neves PMDB by Congress. He was the first civilian president to be elected since 1964.