The oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in the Gulf of Alaska, causing the largest oil spill in U.S. history, killing thousands of fish, birds and other wildlife. Exxon, Alaska and the U.S. government spend billions of dollars on the cleanup, but the coastal ecological system is devastated and the Alaskan fishing industry suffers heavy losses.

Elsewhere that year:

• The Berlin Wall separating East and West Germany is breached; hundreds of thousands of East Germans migrate west.

• Thousands of Chinese troops move into downtown Beijing to rout pro-democracy demonstrators. An estimated 300-400 students and workers are killed in what becomes known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In response, President Bush suspends U.S. military sales to China.

• Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds manager, is banned from baseball for life for betting on games.

• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Dali Lama, Tibet’s exiled religious and secular leader.