1987

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s

Years: 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 - 1987 - 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992

• January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• January 4 - An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, DC collides with Conrail[?] engines killing 16.
• January 5 - President of the United States Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery causing worries about his health.
• January 21 - Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon (released 1991)
• January 24 - In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen[?], Jesse Turner[?], Robert Polhill[?] and Mitheleshwar Singh[?]
• February 11 - British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
• February 11 - Philippines constitution goes into effect.
• February 11 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• February 12 - Unabomber bomb explodes in Salt Lake City
• February 16 - The trial of John Demjanjuk, who was accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem. He was eventually convicted, but this ruling was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court[?].
• February 20 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah a bomb explodes in a computer store.
• February 23 - Supernova 1987a is observed, the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604.
• February 26 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
• March 6 - The Herald of Free enterprise[?] ferry capsizes off of Zeebrugge[?], Belgium, killing 189
• March 10 - Reproductive rights[?]: The Vatican condemns the practice of surrogate motherhood along with test-tube babies and artificial insemination.
• March 12 - Les Miserables[?] opens on Broadway.
• March 17 - An Iraqi F-1 Mirage fighter fires two exojet[?] missles at the USS Stark while patrolling the Persian Gulf, killing 37 sailors, wounding 62 others.
• March 19 - Following a scandal involving Jessica Hahn[?], televangelist Jim Bakker resigns from the PTL.
• March 20 - The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
• March 22 - Apple announces Macintosh II ja Macintosh SE[?]
• March 30 - Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers" is bought for $39.85 million.
• May 8 - Gary Hart drops out of the running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1988 U.S. presidential election, amid allegations of an extra-marital affair with Donna Rice[?]
• May 11 - The first heart-lung transplant takes place (Baltimore, Maryland).
• May 11 - Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
• May 17 - Iran-Iraq War: The USS Stark (FFG-31) is struck by a missile from an Iraqi Mirage fighter killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
• May 28 - 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defense and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained and will later be released on August 3, 1988.
• April 6 - The White Patriot Party declares "war" against the Zionist Occupation Government (of America)
• June 11 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first British prime minister in 160 years to win a third consecutive term,
• July 4 - In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
• August 19 - Hungerford Massacre in UK. Michael Ryan kills 16 with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
• August 19 - Order of Garter[?] opened to women
• September 7-September 21 - World's first conference on artificial life, Los Alamos National Laboratory
• October 15 - Hurricane force winds cause extensive damage in southern England
• October 14 - October 16 - The US is caught up in a drama that unfolds on television as a young child, Jessica McClure[?], falls down a well and is later rescued.
• October 19 - Black Monday: sharp stock market falls around the world
• November 8 - IRA bomb explodes at Ulster Remembrance Day Service in Enniskillen. 11 bystanders die
• November 18 - Thirty one people die in a fire at King's Cross subway station, London, UK
• December 1 - Channel Tunnel digging commences
• December 8 - first Intifada begins

• Pendolino[?] train in Italy
• Shoko Asahara founds Aum Shinrikyo
• Televangelist Jimmy Bakker is involved in a sex scandal, which causes him to step down as the host of The PTL Club[?].
• US Politician Gary Hart is involved with a sex scandal which destroys his career.

Art, Culture & Fashion

• 1987 in film
  • The Last Emperor
  • Broadcast News
  • Fatal Attraction
  • Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover[?]
• 1987 in literature
  • Spycatcher[?] by Peter Wright[?]
• 1987 in music
• 1987 in sports[?]
  • January 25 - Super Bowl XXI New York Giants (39) def. Denver Broncos (20)
  • March 7 - Mike Tyson unifies the World Heavyweight boxing championship when he beats James Smith after a 12-round fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • April 6 - Sugar Ray Leonard beats Marvin Hagler for boxing's world Middleweight championship.

• 1987 in television
  • November 13 - Sonny and Cher reunite for a performance on Late Night with David Letterman.
  • Matt Groening's The Simpsons debuts as a series of short animated segments on the Tracey Ullman show.

Births

• March 9 - Lil' Bow Wow, rap musician

Deaths

• January 15 - Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer
• February 2 - Alistair MacLean, British thriller writer, heart attack
• February 4 - Liberace
• February 22 - Andy Warhol, artist, director, writer
• March 2 - Randolph Scott, actor
• March 3 - Danny Kaye, actor, singer, comedian
• March 19 - Louis-Victor de Broglie, physicist and winner 1929 of the Nobel Prize in Physics
• March 21 - Robert Preston[?], actor
• March 28 - Maria von Trapp[?], singer
• April 2 - Buddy Rich[?], drummer
• April 4 - C.L. Moore[?], science fiction writer
• May 3 - Dalida, French singer
• May 6 - William Casey, controversial director of the CIA
• May 11 - Peter Tosh, musician
• May 14 - Rita Hayworth[?], actress
• May 19 - James Tiptree Jr.[?], science fiction author
• August 17 - Rudolf Hess, Hitler's second-in-command, commits suicide in Spandau[?] prison
• October 19 - Jacqueline Du Pre, English Cellist
• October 20 - Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician
• October 31 - Joseph Campbell, author and expert on mythology
• Bob Fosse, choreographer and director

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - J. Georg Bednorz[?], K. Alexander Müller[?]
• Chemistry Donald J Cram[?], Jean-Marie Lehn[?], Charles J Pedersen[?]
• Medicine - Susumu Tonegawa[?]
• Literature - Joseph Brodsky[?]
• Peace- Oscar Arias Sanchez
• Economics - Robert Solow