Gorba- chev

Last Soviet Leader (March 11): Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is elevated to the Soviet Union's highest post. Gorbachev promises to revitalize the Soviet bureaucracy, but instead he unleashes forces that will bring down the Soviet Union and shake the world's political order.

Taken Hostage (March 16): Terry Anderson, a correspondent for The Associated Press in Beirut, is kidnapped by Arab terrorists. He will be held hostage until Dec. 4, 1991.

	Michael Jordan

Shooting Star (May 16): Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls is named rookie of the year.

Her Last Breath (June 11): After a decade in a comatose vegetative state, Karen Ann Quinlan dies of pneumonia, ending the nation's first major right-to-die battle.

Titanic Discovery (Sept. 1): The luxury liner Titanic, which has lain on the ocean floor for 73 years, is found in 13,100 feet of water south of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic.

Unpaid Bills (Sept. 16): The Commerce Department announces that the United States has become a debtor nation for the first time since 1914.

Publicizing AIDS (Oct. 2): Rock Hudson dies at age 59. The actor had disclosed in July that he had the virus that causes AIDS, making AIDS a household word.

Hijack (Oct. 7): Four members of the Palestine Liberation Front hijack a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. The terrorists fatally shoot a wheelchair-bound American, Leon Klinghoffer, 69, before surrendering in Egypt on Oct. 9. The next day, as an Egyptian airliner flies the hijackers out of the country, U.S. fighter jets force it to land in Italy. The men are convicted on Nov. 19.

U.S.-Soviet Summit (Nov. 20-21): President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Geneva, agree to work toward strategic arms reduction and plan another summit meeting for 1986.

Down With Deficit (Dec. 12): President Reagan signs into law an act that aims to eliminate the deficit by 1991.