Editing 1989 (section)

=== April ===
[[File:Okrągły Stół Pałac Prezydencki 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Polish Round Table Agreement]]]]

* [[April 1]] – [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s new [[local government]] tax (the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]]) is introduced in [[Scotland]]. It will be introduced in [[England and Wales]] the following year.
* [[April 2]] – In [[South-West Africa]], fighting erupts between [[SWAPO]] insurgents and the [[South West African Police]] on the day that a ceasefire was supposed to end the [[South African Border War]] according to [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 435]]. By [[April 6]], nearly 300 people have been killed.
* [[April 4]] – A failed coup attempt against [[Prosper Avril]], [[President of Haiti]], leads to a standoff between mutinous troops and the government which ends on [[April 10]], with the government regaining control of the country.
* [[April 5]] – The Polish Government and the [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] [[trade union]] sign an agreement restoring Solidarity to legal status, and agreeing to hold [[1989 Polish legislative election|democratic elections]] on June 4 ([[Polish Round Table Agreement]]), which initiates the [[Revolutions of 1989|1989 revolution]] and the overthrow of communism in [[Central Europe]].
* [[April 6]] – National Safety Council of Australia chief executive [[John Friedrich (fraudster)|John Friedrich]] is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235,000,000.
* [[April 7]] – The [[Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets|Soviet submarine K-278 ''Komsomolets'']] sinks in the [[Barents Sea]], killing 41.
* [[April 9]]
** [[April 9 tragedy|Tbilisi massacre]]: [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] demonstrators are massacred by [[Soviet Army]] soldiers in [[Tbilisi]]'s central square during a peaceful rally; 20 citizens are killed, many injured. This causes further protests.
** A dispute over grazing rights leads to the beginning of the [[Mauritania–Senegal Border War]].
* [[April 14]] – The U.S. government seizes the Irvine, California, [[Lincoln Savings and Loan Association]]; [[Charles Keating]] (for whom the [[Keating Five]] are named) eventually goes to jail, as part of the massive 1980s [[savings and loan crisis]] which costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $200,000,000 in bailouts, and many people their life savings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DF153BF937A1575BC0A966958260|title=Judge Rejects Keating Suit – Sees 'Looting' of Lincoln|work=The New York Times|date=1990-08-24|access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-date=December 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207100809/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/24/business/judge-rejects-keating-suit-sees-looting-of-lincoln.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 15]]
**The [[Hillsborough disaster]], one of the biggest tragedies in European [[association football|football]], claims the lives of 94 [[Liverpool F.C.]] supporters in Sheffield, England, a further three dying later.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/28/liverpool-fans-death-ruled-as-97th-victim-of-hillsborough-disaster|title=Liverpool fan's death ruled as 97th victim of Hillsborough disaster|first1=David|last1=Conn|first2=Robyn|last2=Vinter|date=2021-07-28|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=2021-07-29|archive-date=June 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607000432/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/28/liverpool-fans-death-ruled-as-97th-victim-of-hillsborough-disaster|url-status=live}}</ref>
**[[Hu Yaobang]], the former [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]], dies. The public reaction to his death spawned a chain of events which led to the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]].
* [[April 17]] – [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)]] is once again legalised and allowed to participate in semi-free elections on June 4.
* [[April 19]]
** [[Central Park jogger case]]: Trisha Meili is seriously assaulted and raped whilst jogging in [[New York City]]'s [[Central Park]]; the convictions of five teenagers for the crime are [[Vacated judgment|vacated]] in 2002 (the jogger's identity remains secret for years, hence she is referred to as the "Central Park Jogger").
** The [[USS Iowa turret explosion|USS ''Iowa'' turret explodes]] on the U.S. battleship ''[[USS Iowa (BB-61)|Iowa]]'', killing 47 crew members.
* [[April 20]] – [[NATO]] debates modernising short range missiles; although the US and UK are in favour, West German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] obtains a concession deferring a decision.
* [[April 21]] – Students from [[Beijing]], [[Shanghai]], [[Xi'an]] and [[Nanjing]] begin protesting in [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests|Tiananmen Square]] in Beijing.
* [[April 23]] – [[Zaid al-Rifai]] resigns as [[Prime Minister of Jordan]] in the wake of riots over government-imposed price hikes that began on April 18.
* [[April 25]]
** [[Noboru Takeshita]] resigns as [[Prime Minister of Japan]] in the wake of a stock-trading scandal.
** [[Motorola]] introduces the [[Motorola MicroTAC]] personal cellular telephone, the world's smallest mobile phone at this time.
* [[April 26]]
** [[Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu]], [[Sultan]] of [[Perak]], becomes the 9th [[Yang di-Pertuan Agong]] of [[Malaysia]], succeeding [[Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail]].
** [[Zaid ibn Shaker]] succeeds Zaid al-Rifai as Prime Minister of Jordan.
** The [[Daulatpur–Saturia tornado]], the deadliest tornado ever recorded, kills an estimated 1,300 people in the [[Dhaka Division]] of [[Bangladesh]].
* [[April 27]] – A major demonstration occurs in Beijing as part of the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]].<ref name="Revolutionary Year">{{cite book|editor=Crystal, David|title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|page=RR69}}</ref>