/born

Born in 1989

People born in 1989 turn 37 in 2026. A dollar in 1989 buys what $2.72 buys in September 2026, and about 5.23 billion people were alive. Every figure below links to the source it came from.

Your birthday in 1989

1989

What things cost in 1989

U.S. average1989in today’s dollarslatest
One dollar$1.00$2.72CPI-U
Gallon of regular gasoline APU000074714$1.02$2.78$4.48
Dozen large eggs APU0000708111$1.00$2.71$2.27
Pound of white bread APU0000702111$0.67$1.81$1.83
Pound of ground beef APU0000703112$1.44$3.91$6.79
Pound of ground coffee APU0000717311$3.07$8.35$9.33
Pound of bananas APU0000711211$0.45$1.22$0.66
Kilowatt-hour of electricity APU000072610$0.08$0.22$0.20
Median price of a new house sold MSPUS$120,425$327,314$410,700
Median household income MEHOINUSA646N$28,910$78,577$87,460
Federal minimum wage STTMINWGFG$3.35$9.11$7.25

1989 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED.

Who was in charge in 1989

United States
Ronald Reagan, then George H. W. Bush (President)
United Kingdom
Elizabeth II (Queen); Margaret Thatcher (Prime minister)
Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary); Mikhail Gorbachev (Chairman of the Supreme Soviet); Nikolai Ryzhkov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers)
People's Republic of China
Deng Xiaoping (Paramount Leader); Zhao Ziyang (General Secretary); Jiang Zemin (General Secretary; Paramount Leader); Yang Shangkun (President); Li Peng (Premier)
France
François Mitterrand (President); Michel Rocard (Prime minister)
East Germany
Erich Honecker, then Egon Krenz, then Manfred Gerlach (Chairmen of the State Council); Willi Stoph, then Hans Modrow (Chairman)
West Germany
Richard von Weizsäcker (President of West Germany); Helmut Kohl (Chancellor of West Germany)
Japan
Hirohito, then Akihito (Emperor); Noboru Takeshita, then Sōsuke Uno, then Toshiki Kaifu (Prime minister)
Republic of India
R. Venkataraman (President); Rajiv Gandhi, then V. P. Singh (Prime minister)

From Wikipedia’s List of state leaders in the 20th century (1951–2000) (revision 1371751893), each name checked against Wikidata. Every country in 1989 →

No. 1 songs of 1989

  1. “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” — Poison (1 week)
  2. “My Prerogative” — Bobby Brown (1 week)
  3. “Two Hearts” — Phil Collins (2 weeks)
  4. “When I'm with You” — Sheriff (1 week)
  5. “Straight Up” — Paula Abdul (3 weeks)
  6. “Lost in Your Eyes” — Debbie Gibson (3 weeks)
  7. “The Living Years” — Mike + the Mechanics (1 week)
  8. “Eternal Flame” — The Bangles (1 week)
  9. “The Look” — Roxette (1 week)
  10. “She Drives Me Crazy” — Fine Young Cannibals (1 week)
  11. “Like a Prayer” — Madonna (3 weeks)
  12. “I'll Be There for You” — Bon Jovi (1 week)
  13. “Forever Your Girl” — Paula Abdul (2 weeks)
  14. “Rock On” — Michael Damian (1 week)
  15. “Wind Beneath My Wings” — Bette Midler (1 week)
  16. “I'll Be Loving You (Forever)” — New Kids on the Block (1 week)
  17. “Satisfied” — Richard Marx (1 week)
  18. “Baby Don't Forget My Number” — Milli Vanilli (1 week)
  19. “Good Thing” — Fine Young Cannibals (1 week)
  20. “If You Don't Know Me by Now” — Simply Red (1 week)
  21. “Toy Soldiers” — Martika (2 weeks)
  22. “Batdance” — Prince (1 week)
  23. “Right Here Waiting” — Richard Marx (3 weeks)
  24. “Cold Hearted” — Paula Abdul (1 week)
  25. “Hangin' Tough” — New Kids on the Block (1 week)
  26. “Don't Wanna Lose You” — Gloria Estefan (1 week)
  27. “Girl I'm Gonna Miss You” — Milli Vanilli (2 weeks)
  28. “Miss You Much” — Janet Jackson (4 weeks)
  29. “Listen to Your Heart” — Roxette (1 week)
  30. “When I See You Smile” — Bad English (2 weeks)
  31. “Blame It on the Rain” — Milli Vanilli (2 weeks)
  32. “We Didn't Start the Fire” — Billy Joel (2 weeks)
  33. “Another Day in Paradise” — Phil Collins (2 weeks)

Weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with issue dates in 1989, from List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1989 (Wikipedia revision 1362809491).

Famous people born in 1989

  • December 13 – Taylor Swift, country and pop singer/songwriter source
  • 24 October – Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, a.k.a. PewDiePie, YouTube personality source
  • 1 July – Daniel Ricciardo, racecar driver source
  • 2 June – Steve Smith, cricketer source
  • May 5 – Chris Brown, singer and actor source
  • September 13 - Thomas Müller, German football player source
  • 20 August – Judd Trump, snooker player source
  • April 29 – Candace Owens, conservative author, talk show host, political commentator, and activist source
  • 16 July – Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer source
  • July 28 – Nick Jackson, pro wrestler source
  • April 5 - Rachel Homan, curler source
  • 1 January – Alan Martin, footballer source
  • 26 March – Simon Kjær, football player source
  • December 27 – Maaya Uchida, actress, voice actress and singer source
  • 8 April – Matty Healy, singer-songwriter source

What happened in 1989

  • February 3 – After a stroke, State President of South Africa P. W. Botha resigns as Leader of the National Party. source
  • January 13 – Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is expelled to Senegal from Zaire after using a fake Zairean passport in an attempt to return to Uganda. Amin is eventually expelled from Senegal and subsequently returns to Zaire after the Saudi government refuses to allow him in Saudi Arabia. source
  • 19 January – Planetarium Sultan Iskandar in Kuching, Sarawak, the first planetarium in Malaysia was officially opened. source
  • January 1 – The New York Times discloses involvement of West German company Imhausen and Salzgitter AG in building a chemical weapon plant in Rabta, Libya. source
  • 21 February – Tradewinds starts its first flight, which is formed in 1975 as a hotelier. source
  • January 4 – Gulf of Sidra incident (1989): Two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are engaged and shot down by two US Navy F-14 Tomcats. source
  • 14 January – Estonian Olympic Committee is re-established. Now Estonian athletes can compete under Estonian flag. source
  • January 15: Minister of Finance Maílson da Nóbrega launches Plano Verão and a new currency in the country, the Cruzado Novo (NCz$), which is equivalent to 1,000 Cruzados. source
Everything that happened in 1989 →