Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Q Who" wins 2 Primetime Emmys

Star Trek: The Next Generation was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy awards, with the episode Q Who receiving three of the nominations.  Q Who won two of the awards at the 41st annual ceremony held September 17, 1989.  Q Who was the first appearance of the Borg.

It won Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series. The episode was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

Episode Elementary Dear Data was nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Art Direction for a Series.  

Unnatural Selection was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series.

Episode For the Child was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore).

Episode For a Matter of Honor was nominated for Outstanding Achievement for Makeup for a Series.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Michael Chang, first Asian American to win the French Open

Michael Chang, born February 22, 1972 in Hoboken, New Jersey, is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the French Open in 1989.  He became the first Asian American to win a Grand Slam tennis tournament in men's singles.  He won many "youngest-ever" records in his career.

He defeated Ivan Lendl, who was the #1 ranked player in the world, the current Australian Open champion and three-time French Open winner.

Chang won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles, seven of them being Masters titles.  In 1996, he was ranked No. 2 in the world.

Happy birthday, Avengers and Godzilla actress, Elizabeth Olsen!

Elizabeth Olsen, born February 16, 1989 in Los Angeles, California, is noted for her roles as Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the 2014 reboot of the Godzilla franchise.  She has twin older sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen who were child stars, but even though no longer acting are still busy with many projects such as fashion design. 

In 2021, Elizabeth was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance in WandaVision.

Janet Jackson releases her single "Rhythm Nation" 1989

Janet Jackson released the second single Rhythm Nation from her monumental, iconic, and historic album Rhythm Nation 1814 October 23, 1989. Jackson wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. 

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 but went to #1 on the Dance Club Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and the US Urban lists.

It won a Billboard Award for "Top Dance/Club Play Single of the Year".  Jackson won MTV Music Video Awards for Best Female Artist, Dance" "Best Female Video Artist" "Directors Award" and the "Music Video Award for Artistic Achievement"

Janet Jackson releases "Miss You Much" 1989

Miss Janet released Miss You Much, the first single from her iconic and legendary album Rhythm Nation 1814 August 21, 1989.  It became her second top #1 in her career and spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, being the longest running #1 in 1989. 

It was nominated for two Grammy Awards and won the Billboard Award for Top Hot 100 Single of the Year.  It also won American Music Awards for Favorite Dance Single and Favorite R&B Single.  It has been certified platinum. 

Steve Clark's last appearance with Def Leppard MTV Video Music Awards 1989

Def Leppard performed Tear It Down at the MTV Video Music Award ceremony on September 6, 1989.  It was the last performance of guitarist Steve Clark, who died in January 1991 at age 30 from alcohol poisoning.  

Def Leppard was nominated for a new video music category, Best Heavy Metal Video, for Pour Some Sugar on Me.  The video was also nominated for Best Stage Performance in a Video.  

Vivian Campbell replaced Clark in 1992. 

Celebrating Asian-American Heritage Month: Jubilee, Chinese-American superhero

Jubilation Lee, or Jubilee, is a superhero and a member of the X-Men.  She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and born in Beverly Hills, California.  After her parents were murdered, she was sent to an orphanage.  However, she ran away and hid in the Hollywood Mall, stealing food to survive.  That is when her mutant powers begin to manifest themselves.

Her first appearance was in The Uncanny X-Men #244 in May 1989.  She has been a member of Generation X and the X-Corps.  

Shiro Yoshida, or Sunfire, made his first appearance in X-Men #64 in January 1970, but although an earlier member of the X-Men than Jubilee, he maintains his distance from the team and from the West.

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Time Squared" airs 1989

The thirteenth episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Time Squared (one of my favorites), aired April 1, 1989.  The crew of the Enterprise encounters a shuttlecraft, drifting in space with a duplicate of Captain Picard inside.  They soon find out that he is from a few hours in the future, when the USS Enterprise is destroyed.  

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Contagion" airs 1994

Contagion, the 11th episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation and one of my favorites, aired March 18, 1989.  The crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounters an ancient device with superior technology, which is responsible for the destruction of the USS Yamato.  The probe almost causes the destruction of the Enterprise and a Romulan warbird.  

Spoiler alert!

(They reboot the Enterprise.)

Shadowfax's "Folksong for a Nuclear Village" wins Grammy for Best New Age Album 1989

I definitely need to listen to this album again.  Shadowfax, a new age music group, won a Grammy for Best New Age Album for Folksongs for a Nuclear Village at the 31st ceremony February 22, 1989.   Another album Esperanto was also nominated for Best New Age album in 1993 but lost to Enya.

Def Leppard wins two American Music Awards 1989

Def Leppard won two American Music Awards at the 16th annual ceremony January 30, 1989.  They won for Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist.  Their album Hysteria won Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album.

They were nominated for two more AMAs.  One for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group and Hysteria was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Album.

Billy Joel releases "We Didn't Start the Fire"

Billy Joel released We Didn't Start the Fire, a single from his album Storm Front, September 27, 1989.  It is a list of world events that took place from 1949, when Billy was born, to 1989.  It reached #1 in the United States in December for two weeks.  It was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year.

"The Abyss" released 1989

The Abyss, James Cameron's underwater sci-fi flick, was released August 9, 1989.  It starred Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn.  The story is about a group of diving experts who are called upon to help recover a sunken nuclear submarine.  In the process, they discover underwater aliens.  It was kind of an underwater Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

It was a box office success and received good reviews.  It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Columbia (STS-28) launched 1989

STS-28 crew

Front row (L-R): Richard Richards, Brewster Shaw, David Leestma

Back row (L-R): Mark Brown, James Adamson

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-28), launched August 8, 1989, was the fourth mission dedicated to the Department of Defense.  Its crew consisted of Commander Brewster Shaw, Pilot Richard Richards, James Adamson, David Leestma and Mark Brown.

The crew deployed two reconnaissance satellites during the mission.  They returned to Earth August 13.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" released 1989

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the third installment of Steven Spielberg's and George Lucas' Indiana Jones franchise, was released May 24, 1989.  Harrison Ford starred in the title role and Sean Connery played his father. 

It became the highest grossing movie world-wide in 1989.  It won an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing.  It was nominated for Best Sound and John Williams was nominated for his original score.

Sean Connery was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Professor Henry Jones.

"DeepStar Six" released 1989

Although it received the dubious distinction of receiving a 0% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, DeepStar Six, released January 13, 1989, is a fun movie to watch.  Granted, it isn't a milestone in movie-making and it strongly resembles Aliens, but how can you completely dismiss a movie with Greg Evigan, Miguel Ferrer and Cindy Pickett (she's an Okie!).

It was the first of several movies with an underwater horror theme released in 1989, but only The Abyss was a box office success.  Oh, well.

"Godzilla vs Biollante" released 1989

Godzilla vs Biollante, the seventeenth movie in the G-Man's franchise, was released in Japan December 16, 1989.  In this entry, Godzilla has to battle a mutated rosebush, which has been modified by an infusion of Godzilla's cells. 

In 2014, Godzilla vs Biollante was voted the best Godzilla film by a panel of fans and judges, although it did poorly at the box office.  Megumi Odaka reprises her role as telepath Miki Saegusa. 

Discovery (STS-33) launched 1989

STS-33 crew

Front row (L-R): Kathryn Thornton, Frederick Gregory, Story Musgrave

Back row (L-R): Manley Carter, John Blaha

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-33), launched November 22, 1989, carried a payload for the Department of Defense into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Frederick Gregory, Pilot John Blaha, Manley Carter, Story Musgrave and Kathryn Thornton.

David Griggs was training to be pilot on this mission but was killed while flying a vintage WWII aircraft.

They deployed a single satellite, suspected to eavesdrop on communist countries.  They returned to Earth November 28.

Soyuz TM-8 launched 1989

Soyuz TM-8 crew (L-R): Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Serebrov

Soyuz TM-8, launched September 5, 1989, carried the fifth crew (Mir EO-5) to the Mir space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Viktorenko and Aleksandr Serebrov.  They spent over 166 days in space, returning to Earth February 1990.

"Batman" released 1989

Tim Burton's Batman was released June 23, 1989. Although Michael Keaton starred in the lead role, Jack Nicholson, playing the Joker, got top billing.  The movie also starred Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale and Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent.  Jack Nicholson's take from the movie is rumored to be about $60 million, to date the highest single-movie take for an actor.

Batman won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration. It grossed over $400 million world-wide and broke numerous box office records.