1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday. It was also the 1989th year of Anno Domini/Common Era, the 989th year of the 2nd millennium, the 89th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1980s.
It was a historical turning point for the wave of revolutions that swept the Eastern Bloc, starting in Poland. Collectively known as the Revolutions of 1989, they heralded the death of the Soviet Union two years later and the beginning of the post-Cold War era of United States dominance in world affairs.
January
- January 3 – Robert Banks, American chemist (b. 1921)
- January 4 – Dvora Netzer, Israeli politician (b. 1897)
- January 7 – Frank Adams, British mathematician (b. 1930)
- January 7 – Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
- January 8 – Kenneth McMillan, American actor (b. 1932)
- January 10 – Hai Teng, abbott of Shaolin Temple (b. 1902?)
- January 10 – Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter (b. 1905)
- January 10 – Donald Voorhees, American composer and musician (b. 1903)
- January 11 – August Koern, Estonian statesman and diplomat (b. 1900)
- January 11 – José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, Peruvian politician, diplomat and jurist, former President (b. 1894)
- January 13 – Joe Spinell, American actor (b. 1936)
- January 14 – Robert B. Anderson, American administrator and businessman (b. 1910)
- January 16 – Trey Wilson, American actor (b. 1948)
- January 19 – Norma Varden, English actress (b. 1898)
- January 20 – Beatrice Lillie, Canadian actress (b. 1894)
- January 21 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- January 21 – Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- January 23 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (b. 1904)
- January 24 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1946)
- January 27 – Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor (b. 1918)
February
- February 1 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1919)
- February 2 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovakian figure skater (b. 1951)
- February 3 – John Cassavetes, American actor and author (b. 1929)
- February 3 – Glenna Collett-Vare, American golfer (b. 1903)
- February 5 – Joe Morrison, University of South Carolina Head Football Coach ( b. 1937)
- February 6 – Ron Field, American choreographer (b. 1934)
- February 6 – Barbara Tuchman, American historian (b. 1912)
- February 9 – Osamu Tezuka, Japanese Manga artist, e.g. Astroboy (b. 1928)
- February 11 – T.E.B. Clarke, English screenwriter (b. 1907)
- February 11 – George O'Hanlon, American actor and director (b. 1912)
- February 17 – Lefty Gomez, Mexican-American baseball player (b. 1908)
- February 17 – Joe Raposo, musician, composer for Sesame Street and The Electric Company (b. 1937)
- February 21 – Moshe Unna, Israeli politician (b. 1902)
- February 24 – Sparky Adams, American baseball player (b. 1894)
- February 26 – Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
- February 27 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (b. 1897)
- February 27 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
March
- March 6 – Harry Andrews, British actor (b. 1911)
- March 8 – Carl Stuart Hamblen, American musician (b. 1908)
- March 9 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (b. 1946)
- March 11 – James Kee, American politician (b. 1917)
- March 12 – Maurice Evans, English actor (b. 1901)
- March 14 – Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist (b. 1927)
- March 14 – Stephen D. Bechtel, Sr., American businessman (b. 1900)
- March 14 – Empress Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Wife of Emperor Charles I, last Empress of Austria (b. 1892)
- March 16 – Jesús María de Leizaola, Basque Spanish politician (b. 1896)
- March 17 – Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
- March 19 – Alan Civil, English French horn player (b. 1929)
- March 21 – Milton Frome, American actor (b. 1909)
- March 27 – May Allison, American actress (b. 1890)
- March 27 – Malcolm Cowley, American author (b. 1898)
- March 27 – Jack Starrett, American actor and director (b. 1936)
- March 27 – Scott Safran, Arcade game world record holder (b. 1967
- March 29 – Bernard Blier, French actor (b. 1916)
