On this day

August 23, 1989

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

Historical Context for August 23, 1989

In 1989, the world population was approximately 5,234,431,732 people[†]

Notable Births

Lianne La Havas

1989Lianne La Havas, British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist[†]

Lianne Charlotte Vlahavas, known professionally as Lianne La Havas, is a British singer-songwriter. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for whom she sang backing vocals. In 2010, La Havas signed to Warner Bros. Records, spending two years developing her songwriting, before releasing any music. La Havas' debut studio album, Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), was released to positive reviews from critics and earned her a nomination for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll and awards for the iTunes Album of The Year 2012. She has released two other studio albums since, Blood in 2015 and Lianne La Havas in 2020. She was nominated once for a Grammy award in 2016 and twice for the Brit Awards, in 2017 and 2021. She currently lives in London.

Trixie Mattel

1989Trixie Mattel, American drag queen, actor, and country singer[†]

Brian Michael Firkus, better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, makeup entrepreneur, DJ and singer-songwriter originally from Silver Cliff, Marinette County, Wisconsin. She is known for her exaggerated, 1960s-influenced style, distinctive eye makeup, and musical repertoire that blends comedy with acoustic pop and folk-country music. Mattel sings and plays guitar and the autoharp. In 2015, she competed in the seventh season of the drag reality television competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, finishing in sixth place. In 2018, she won the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Mattel has also made guest appearances in various iterations of the Drag Race franchise.

1989Heiko Schwarz, German footballer[†]

Heiko Schwarz is a German footballer who plays for ASCK Simbach/Inn.

1989TeddyLoid, Japanese musician[†]

Teddy Sakakibara , known professionally as TeddyLoid, is a Japanese DJ and music producer. He is known for producing many songs in the soundtrack of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, which charted on Oricon Albums Chart. He is also known for partnering with Daoko in "ME!ME!ME!", an anime music video submitted to the 2014 Japan Animator Expo.

Notable Deaths

1989Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese poet and academic (born 1944)[†]

Mohammed Abdul-Hayy or Muhammad Abd al-Hayy was a member of the first generation of post-colonial Sudanese writers and academics. Together with Ali El-Mak and Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, he is regarded as a pioneer of modern poetry in Sudan.

R. D. Laing

1989R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and author (born 1927)[†]

Ronald David Laing, usually cited as R. D. Laing, was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illness—in particular, psychosis and schizophrenia.

Historical Events

Singing Revolution

1989Singing Revolution: Two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius–Tallinn road, holding hands.[†]

The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June 1988 spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.

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Headlines from August 23, 1989

Dinkins Is Customizing His Stock Message

By Sam Roberts

LEAD: As David N. Dinkins left a mayoral forum at Co-op City in the Bronx Monday night to generally cordial applause, an elderly white woman stopped him to pay what, for her if not the gray-haired but vigorous candidate, might have been the ultimate compliment. ''You look great for 62,'' she shouted. But of the several dozen supporters who enthusiastically followed Mr.

Metropolitan Desk1466 words

ORDERS FOR DURABLES DOWN 1.9% IN JULY

By AP

LEAD: Orders to American factories for durable goods tumbled 1.9 percent in July to the lowest level in nine months, the Government said today. The report provides further evidence that the economy is weakening.

Financial Desk632 words

How Couriers Stitch The Rural Fabric

By Marialisa Calta

LEAD: As a freelance writer and editor Allen Gilbert spends long hours alone, facing his word processor and his deadlines in a small, book-lined office in his house at the top of a steep, winding dirt road here, about 10 miles north of Montpelier. His wife is at work, his small son in child care.

Living Desk1604 words

WITH INVESTIGATION DROPPED, TRADER OFFERS CANDID VIEW

By Sarah Bartlett

LEAD: After the Government announced last week that it was dropping its two-and-a-half-year investigation of two Wall Street traders, Richard B. Wigton and Timothy L. Tabor, with nary an apology, many securities lawyers and deal makers expressed outrage over the high-handed way that the United States Attorney's office in

Financial Desk923 words

GORBACHEV CALLS, THEN POLISH PARTY DROPS ITS DEMANDS

By Francis X. Clines, Special To the New York Times

LEAD: Polish Communist Party leaders retreated today from threats not to share responsibility in the new coalition Government after the Soviet President, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, held a 40-minute telephone conversation with the Polish party leader.

Foreign Desk925 words

U.S. SHIFT SEEN ON PAY FOR MILKEN

By Kurt Eichenwald

LEAD: In a reversal of strategy, Federal prosecutors have decided to allow Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. to pay Michael R. Milken compensation for 1988, which could amount to $100 million, people involved in the case said yesterday.

Financial Desk821 words

About New York; Varied Scenes From World In Five Boroughs

By Douglas Martin

LEAD: Everything happens all the time. Unfathomable light years away, a star just died. A baby was conceived in Katmandu, another born in Queens. In the pre-dawn netherworld of Times Square, a man said to a companion yesterday, ''I'm gonna cut him good.'' .

Metropolitan Desk868 words

ANNEXATION VOID, LITHUANIANS SAY

By Bill Keller, Special To the New York Times

LEAD: In a move that could lay the legal foundation for eventual secession from the Soviet Union, a commission of the Lithuanian Parliament declared today that Moscow's annexation of the republic in 1940 was invalid.

Foreign Desk787 words

Cuomo Advice On Tax Cut: 'Put It Off'

By Elizabeth Kolbert

LEAD: Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, who for several months has been flirting with a proposal to defer the final phase of New York State's income tax cut, finally suggested Monday night that the state do just that.

Metropolitan Desk728 words