United States in 1989
You were born in 1989 — the Game Boy launched, the Berlin Wall fell, Batman Tim Burton style, and the Turtles were in a half-shell.
💰 How much things cost in 1989
| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 1.00 USD/gallon | verified (U.S. EIA) |
| Cinema ticket | ~4.11 USD | estimate |
| Coffee | ~0.65 USD | estimate |
| Ice cream | ~0.80 USD (scoop) | estimate |
Currency: USD
🎵 The music of 1989
The song of the year: Chicago – Look Away (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 #1)
Other songs people listened to in 1989:
- Chicago – Look Away
- Janet Jackson – Miss You Much
- Phil Collins – Another Day in Paradise
- Richard Marx – Right Here Waiting
- Madonna – Like a Prayer
- New Kids on the Block – Hangin' Tough
- Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl
- Bon Jovi – Living on a Prayer
- Roxette – The Look
📺 TV, cinema and pop culture
Cartoons: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (cartoon 1987, phenomenon 1989) / The Little Mermaid (on Syndicated). TMNT were everywhere in 1989. Pizza, pizza, pizza. The movie comes in 1990 but the cartoon had already taken over.
TV series: Seinfeld (NBC, July 5, 1989 pilot) + The Simpsons premiere Dec 17, 1989.
At the cinema: Batman (Tim Burton) — Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Superhero movies grew up.
Person of the moment: The Joker (Jack Nicholson) — 'Why so serious?' before it was famous
The cult toy: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures / Nintendo Game Boy. The Game Boy launched in Japan in April 1989 and arrived in the US in August. Tetris was included. Nothing was ever the same.
👗 Fashion and snacks
Fashion: Hammer pants, high-top Reeboks, Cross Colours, neon bike shorts. The most chaotic fashion era.
Snacks: Dunkaroos (1990 — almost), Ring Pops, Fun Dip, Nerds, Capri Sun, Gushers coming
📰 What happened in 1989
Event of the year: Berlin Wall falls — Cold War ends. Tiananmen Square massacre in China. Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
Sport: Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 49ers beat Cincinnati Bengals 20-16. Montana's last-minute drive — the greatest in Super Bowl history.
💻 Technology and everyday life
Tech news: Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web at CERN. Nintendo Game Boy launched. GPS nearly complete.
The gadget to have: Nintendo Game Boy (US launch August 1989) / Sega Genesis (US launch August 1989)
How people communicated: The Berlin Wall fell November 9, 1989. Watched live on TV worldwide.
How people listened to music: New Kids on the Block were inescapable. Also the year Taylor Swift's future heroes were born.
The weekend: Batman (Tim Burton) came out and proved superhero movies could be great. Also: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
📵 What didn't exist yet in 1989
- World Wide Web (1991)
- cell phones for teens
- Game Boy (just launched)
- DVD
- internet for all
🎯 Guess the year — Every day a new mystery year from United States. You have 5 guesses: every miss reveals another clue.
More years from the 1980s
Main sources: EIA, Billboard, NATO