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Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar).
[edit] Events of 1987
[edit] January
- January 1 - Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories, changes its name to Iqaluit. In 1999, it became the capital of Nunavut.
- January 2 - Battle of Fada: The Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
- January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- January 4 - Chase, Maryland rail wreck: An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts collides with Conrail engines, killing 16.
- January 5 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery, causing speculation about his physical fitness to continue in office.
- January 8 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 2,000 for the first time, gaining 8.30 to close at 2,002.25.
- January 13 - New York mafiosi Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and Carmine Peruccia are sentenced to 100 years in prison for racketeering.
- January 16 - Leon Cordero, president of Ecuador, is kidnapped by followers of imprisoned General Frank Vargas, who successfully demand his release.
- January 20 - Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut (released November 1991).
- January 22 - Budd Dwyer, Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, shoots and kills himself at a press conference after being found guilty on charges of bribery, fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.
- January 24 - In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh.
- January 25 - The New York Giants defeat the Denver Broncos, 39-20, in Super Bowl XXI to win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1956.
- January 29 - William J. Casey ends his term as CIA Director.
- January 31 - The last Ohrbach's department store closes in New York City after 64 years of operation.
[edit] February
- June 2 - Andrés Segovia died in Madrid, Spain at the age of 94.
- June 11 - United Kingdom general election, 1987: Margaret Thatcher is elected as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the third time.
- June 12 - During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
- June 16 - SDF-1 received its first caller at 300 bit/s
- June 17 - With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
- June 19 - Teddy Seymour became officially designated the first black man to sail around the world when he completed his solo sailing circumnavigation in Frederiksted, St. Croix, of the United States Virgin Islands.
- June 19 - In the case of Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools whenever evolution was taught was unconstitutional.
- June 27 - A commercial HS 748 (Philippine Airlines Flight 206) crashes near Baguio City, Philippines, killing 50.
- June 28 - An accidental explosion at Hohenfels Training Area in West Germany kills 3 U.S. troopers.
- June 29 - Roh Tae-Woo, president of South Korea make a speech promising a wide program of reforms of Korea. It was result of 6.10 Democratization Movement.
- July 1 - The Single European Act is passed by the European Union.
- July 1 - The first ever Edgefest festival takes place at Molson Park in Barrie, Ontario.
- July 1 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan nominates former Solicitor General Robert Bork, a controversial conservative judge and legal scholar, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- July 3 - In the Soviet Union, Vladimir Nikolayev is sentenced to death for cannibalism.
- July 3 - Greater Manchester Police recover the body of 16-year-old Pauline Reade from Saddleworth Moor after her killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley helped them in their search - almost exactly 24 years since Pauline was last seen alive.
- July 4 - A court in Lyon sentences former Gestapo boss Klaus Barbie to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity.
- July 11 - Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke's government is re-elected for a third term.
- July 11 - World population reached 5 billion people in Zagreb, Croatia, according to the United Nations.[1]
- July 17 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04.
- July 21 - Guns N' Roses release their debut album, Appetite For Destruction, which would go on to sell over 28 million copies as of 2008.
- July 22 - Palestinian cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali is shot in London; he dies August 28.
- July 25 - The East Lancashire Railway, a heritage railway in the North West of England, is opened between Bury and Ramsbottom.
- July 27- Australian singer Kylie Minogue releases her first hit, a remake of Little Eva's The Loco-Motion.
- July 31 - Four hundred Iranian pilgrims are killed in clashes with Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca.
- July 31 - Docklands Light Railway, the first driverless railway in Great Britain, is formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II
- July 31 - A F4-rated tornado devastates eastern Edmonton, Alberta. Hardest hit were an industrial park and a trailer park. 27 people are killed and hundreds injured. Hundreds more are left homeless and jobless.
[edit] August
- August 4 - The World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission, publishes its report, Our Common Future.
- August 4 - The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues.
- August 7 - Colombian frigate Caldas enters Venezuelan waters near the Los Monjes Archipelago, sparking the Caldas frigate crisis between both nations.
- August 9 - Hoddle Street Massacre: Nine people die and 17 are injured when 19-year-old Julian Knight goes on a shooting rampage in Melbourne.
- August 16 - Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (a McDonnell Douglas MD-82) crashes on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan just West of Detroit killing all but 1 (4-year old Cecelia Cichan) of the 156 people on-board (among them Nick Vanos, a center for the Phoenix Suns).
- August 16 - The Harmonic Convergence is observed around the world.
- August 17 - Rudolf Hess is found dead in his cell in Spandau Prison. Hess, 93, is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself with an electrical flex. He was the last remaining prisoner at the complex, which is expected to be demolished.
- August 19 - ABC News Chief Middle East Correspondent Charles Glass escapes his Hezbollah kidnappers in Beirut, Lebanon, after sixty-two days in captivity.
- August 19 - In London, The Order of the Garter is opened to women.
- August 19 - Hungerford Massacre: Michael Ryan kills 16 with an assault rifle before committing suicide.
[edit] September
[edit] October
Performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Index during Black Monday
- October 10 - The Reverend Jesse Jackson launches his second campaign for U.S. President.
- October 11 - the first National Coming Out Day was held in celebration of the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
- October 14-October 16 - The United States is caught up in a drama that unfolds on television as a young child, Jessica McClure, falls down a well in Midland, Texas, and is later rescued.
- October 15-October 16 - Great Storm of 1987: hurricane force winds hit much of the South of England, killing 23 people.
- October 19 - Black Monday: stock market levels fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world.
- October 19 - U.S. warships destroy 2 Iranian oil platforms in Persian Gulf
- October 19 - Two commuter trains head collided and crash at outskirt of Jakarta, Indonesia, 102 killed.
- October 23 - Champion English jockey Lester Piggott is jailed for 3 years after being convicted of tax evasion.
- October 23 - On a vote of 58-42, the United States Senate rejects President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- October 25 - The Minnesota Twins win the 1987 World Series, despite having the worst regular season win-loss ratio for a winner, a record they held until 2006.
[edit] November
[edit] December
