Hillsborough disaster
April 15, 1989
At an FA Cup semifinal in Sheffield, English police directed Liverpool fans into overcrowded pens behind the goal, then failed to open the gates as the crush became lethal. Ninety-seven people were crushed to death against the fences. For twenty-seven years authorities blamed the fans. A 2016 inquiry finally established the truth: a catastrophic failure of policing. British football changed forever, with all-seater stadiums.
In context
Also in 1989 (8 other events on record)
- Berners-Lee proposes the Web · Europe · Technology
- Berlin Wall falls · Europe · Politics
- Tiananmen Square massacre · East Asia · Politics
- Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan · Central Asia · War
- Beginning of Tiananmen protests · East Asia · Politics
- Velvet Revolution begins in Prague · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Disaster
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.