TV actress Mariana Van Rankin

Events in 1989 and 12-8

Events in the world in the birth year of Mariana Van Rankin

• US planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean (Jan. 4).
• Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him to death (Feb. 14).
• Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing's Tiananmen Square in rally for democracy (April 19 et seq.). More than one million in Beijing demonstrate for democracy; chaos spreads across nation (mid-May et seq.). Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators (June 4 et seq.).
• Mikhail S. Gorbachev named Soviet President (May 25).
• P. W. Botha quits as South Africa's President (Aug. 14).
• Deng Xiaoping resigns from China's leadership (Nov. 9).
• After 28 years, Berlin Wall is open to West (Nov. 11).
• Czech Parliament ends Communists' dominant role (Nov. 30).
• Romanian uprising overthrows Communist government (Dec. 15 et seq.); President Ceausescu and wife executed (Dec. 25).
• US troops invade Panama, seeking capture of General Manuel Noriega (Dec. 20).

Birthday Mariana Van Rankin (12-8) in history

• Day 12-8 year 1624: Cardinal Richelieu was named head of state of France by King Louis XIII.
• Day 12-8 year 1851: Issac Singer patented the sewing machine.
• Day 12-8 year 1865: British surgeon Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use an antiseptic during surgery.
• Day 12-8 year 1898: Hawaii was formally annexed to the United States.
• Day 12-8 year 1972: The last American combat troops left Vietnam.
• Day 12-8 year 1985: In the world's worst single-aircraft disaster, a Japan Air Lines 747 crashed into Mount Osutaka, killing 520 of the 524 aboard.
• Day 12-8 year 1998: Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle lawsuits brought by Holocaust survivors and their heirs. The banks had kept millions of dollars deposited by Holocaust victims before and during World War II.
• Day 12-8 year 2000: The Russian military submarine, Kursk, and its crew were lost in the Barents Sea.
• Day 12-8 year 2004: N.J. governor James McGreevey announced his resignation.
• Day 12-8 year 2013: Notorious Boston gangster James (Whitey) Bulger was found guilty of 31 of the 32 charges he faced, including murder, extortion, money laundering, drug dealing and possession of weapons.