Events

January

• January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
• January 4 – 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston collides with Conrail engines at Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.
• January 15 – Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is forced into retirement by political conservatives.
• January 16 – León Febres Cordero, president of Ecuador, is kidnapped for 11 hours by followers of imprisoned general Frank Vargas, who successfully demand the latter’s release.
• January 20 – Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut (released November 1991).

February

• February 6 – The Soviet oil tanker Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in Finnish waters en route to the Neste oil refinery in Porvoo, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 570–650 tons.
• February 11
  • British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
  • The new Constitution of the Philippines goes into effect. This new constitution adds Spanish and Arabic as optional languages of the Philippines.
• February 20 – A second Unabomber bomb explodes at a Salt Lake City computer store in the United States, injuring the owner.
• February 23 – SN 1987A, the first “naked-eye” supernova since 1604, is observed.
• February 25 – Beginning of the Phosphorite War protest movement in the Estonian SSR.
• February 26 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes U.S. President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his National Security Council staff.

March

• March 1 – The first Starbucks outside of the US is opened in Vancouver, Canada.
• March 2 – New Zealand‘s most destructive earthquake in 19 years hits near the city of Edgecumbe, killing 1 person and leaving 25 injured. 
• March 4 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses the American people on the Iran–Contra affair, acknowledging that his overtures to Iran had “deteriorated” into an arms-for-hostages deal.

• March 6 – Zeebrugge disaster: Roll-on/roll-off cross-channel ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes off Zeebrugge harbor in Belgium; 193 people die.
• March 7 – 1987 Lieyu massacre: The Republic of China Army execute 19 unarmed Vietnamese refugees on Donggang beach, Lieyu, Kinmen off Mainland China.
• March 18 – Woodstock of physics: A marathon session of the American Physical Society‘s meeting features 51 presentations concerning the science of high-temperature superconductors.
• March 20 – AZT is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
• March 24 – Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and French Prime Minister and future President of France, Jacques Chirac, sign an agreement to construct the 4,800 acres (19 km²) Euro Disney Resort (now called Disneyland Paris) and to develop the Val d’Europe area of the new town Marne-la-Vallée in Paris, France.
• March 29
  • The World Wrestling Federation (later WWE) produces WrestleMania III from the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. The event is particularly notable for the record attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America until February 14, 2010, when the 2010 NBA All-Star Game has an attendance of 108,713 at AT&T Stadium.
  • A hybrid solar eclipse was the second hybrid solar eclipse in less than one year, the first being on October 3, 1986. It was annular visible in southern Argentina, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan (part of the path of annularity crossed today’s South Sudan), Ethiopia, Djibouti and northern Somalia and total visible in Atlantic Ocean, lasting just 7.57 seconds.
• March 30 – The 59th Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles, with Platoon winning Best Picture.
• March 31 – Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, conducts a 45-minute interview on Soviet television.

April

• April 13 – The governments of the Portuguese Republic and the People’s Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau will be returned to China in 1999.
• April 18 – The New York Islanders defeat the Washington Capitals 3 to 2 in Game 7 of their Patrick Division Semifinal series. Pat LaFontaine scores the winning goal at 8:47 of the 4th overtime in a game known as the Easter Epic.
• April 19 – The Simpsons cartoon first appears as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.
• April 21 – In Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Central Bus Station Bombing kills 113 civilians.
• April 23 – In Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States, 28 construction workers are killed in the L’Ambiance Plaza collapse.
• April 27 – The United States Department of Justice declares incumbent Austrian president Kurt Waldheim an “undesirable alien”.
• April 30 – Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the Provincial Premiers agree on principle to the Meech Lake Accord which would bring Quebec into the constitution.

May

• May 8 – Loughgall ambush: A 24-man unit of the British Army Special Air Service (SAS) ambushed eight members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) as they mounted an attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) barracks. All IRA members were killed as well as one civilian.
• May 9 – A Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-62 airliner, operated by LOT Polish Airlines, crashes into a forest just outside Warsaw, killing all 183 people on board
• May 10 – Napoli of Diego Maradona wins its first Italian soccer championship.
• May 11 – Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
• May 14 – Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka executes a bloodless coup in Fiji.
• May 17 – USS Stark is hit by two Iraqi-owned Exocet AM39 air-to-surface missiles killing 37 sailors.
• May 22
  • The Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
  • The first ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park, Auckland.
• May 27 – In one of the densest concentrations of humanity in history, a crowd of 800,000+ packed shoulder-to-shoulder onto the Golden Gate Bridge and its approaches for its 50th Anniversary celebration.
• May 28 – Eighteen-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defenses and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained (released on August 3, 1988).
• May 31 – The Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team defeat the Philadelphia Flyers four games to three to win the Stanley Cup. Flyers’ goalie Ron Hextall would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs despite the team’s loss in the finals.

June

• June 3 – The Vanuatu Labour Party is founded.
• June 8 – The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act is passed, the first of its kind in the world.
• June 11 – The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, led by Margaret Thatcher, is re-elected for a third term at the 1987 general election.
• June 12 – During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
• June 17 – With the death of the last known individual, the dusky seaside sparrow, a subspecies native to the US state of Florida, becomes extinct.
• June 19
  • Teddy Seymour is officially designated the first black man to sail around the world, when he completes his solo sailing circumnavigation in Frederiksted, St. Croix, of the United States Virgin Islands.
  • Edwards v. Aguillard: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools whenever evolution is taught is unconstitutional.
  • Hipercor bombing: the Basque terrorist group ETA perpetrate a car-bomb attack at an Hipercor market in Barcelona, killing 21 and hurting 45.
• June 27 – A commercial HS 748 (Philippine Airlines Flight 206) crashes near Baguio, Philippines, killing 50.
• June 28
  • Iraqi warplanes drop mustard-gas bombs on the Iranian town of Sardasht in two separate bombing rounds, on four residential areas. This is the first time a civilian town was targeted by chemical weapons.
  • An accidental explosion at the Hohenfels Training Area in West Germany kills 3 U.S. troops.
• June 29 – South Korean politician, presidential candidate of the ruling party Roh Tae-woo makes a speech promising a wide program of nationwide reforms, the result of the June Democracy Movement.
• June 30 – Canada introduces a one-dollar coin, nicknamed the “Loonie“.

July

• July 1 – The Single European Act is passed by the European Community.
• 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 help 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
  • 1987 Australian federal election: Bob Hawke‘s Labor Government is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the Liberal Party led by John Howard and the National Party led by Ian Sinclair.
  • World population is estimated to have reached five billion people, according to the United Nations.
• July 15 – Martial law in Taiwan ends after 38 years.
• July 17 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04.
• 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 – The song Never Gonna Give You Up a single was created and released by Rick Astley.
• July 31
  • Four hundred pilgrims are killed in clashes between demonstrating Iranian pilgrims and Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca.
  • Docklands Light Railway in London, the first driverless railway in Great Britain, is formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
  • E! Launches as Movie Time.
  • An F4-rated tornado devastates eastern Edmonton, Alberta; hardest hit are an industrial park and a trailer park. 27 people are killed and hundreds injured, with hundreds more left homeless and jobless.

August

• August 4
  • The World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission, publishes its report, Our Common Future.
  • The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to present alternative views on controversial issues.
• August 7
  • The Colombian frigate Caldas enters Venezuelan waters near the Los Monjes Archipelago, sparking the Caldas frigate crisis between both nations.
  • American Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim the Bering Strait, crossing from Little Diomede Island to Big Diomede in 2 hours and 5 minutes.
• August 9 – Hoddle Street massacre in Australia: Julian Knight, 19, goes on a shooting rampage in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill, Victoria, killing 7 people and injuring 19 before surrendering to police.
• August 11 – Arema F.C. Football Club is founded.
• August 14 – All the children held at Kai Lama, a rural property on Lake Eildon, Australia, run by the Santiniketan Park Association, are released after a police raid.
• 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 one (4-year old Cecelia Cichan) of the 156 people on board.
  • The followers of the Harmonic Convergence claim it was 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 soon demolished.
• August 19
  • Hungerford massacre: Sixteen people die in an apparently motiveless mass shooting in the United Kingdom, carried out by Michael Ryan.
  • ABC News‘ chief Middle East correspondent Charles Glass escapes his Hezbollah kidnappers in Beirut, Lebanon, after 62 days in captivity.
  • The Order of the Garter is opened to women.
• August 23 – The Hirvepark meeting is organized as the first unsanctioned political meeting in Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, in commemoration of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

September

• September 2 – In Moscow, USSR, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May.
• September 3 – In a coup d’état in Burundi, President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza is deposed by Major Pierre Buyoya.
• September 7–21 – The world’s first conference on artificial life is held at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States.
• September 13 – Goiânia accident: Metal scrappers open an old radiation source abandoned in a hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, causing the worst radiation accident ever in an urban area.
• September 15 – Pope John Paul II arrives in Los Angeles for a two-day papal visit, his first one ever to the city, where he makes an arrival day speech to local leaders of the U.S. entertainment industry.
• September 17 – Pope John Paul II arrives in San Francisco for his first visit to the city, in which he embraces several AIDS sufferers, including an infected child, and proclaims abstinence from illicit sex and drugs are the two main ways to avoid infection.
• September 20 – Alain Prost wins the Portuguese F1 race in Estoril to surpass Jackie Stewart and sets a new record of 28 career wins.

October

• October 3 – The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement is reached but still requires ratification. This agreement would be a precursor to NAFTA.
• October 6 – Fiji becomes a republic.
• October 7 – Sikh nationalists declare the independence of Khalistan from India.
• October 15 – In Burkina Faso, a military coup is orchestrated by Blaise Compaoré against incumbent President Thomas Sankara.

• October 15–16 – Great Storm of 1987: Hurricane-force winds hit much of southern England, killing 23 people.
• October 19
  • Black Monday: Stock market levels fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world.
  • US warships destroy two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
  • Two commuter trains collide head-on on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia; 102 are killed.
• October 22 – The pilot of a British Aerospace BAE Harrier GR5 registered ZD325 accidentally ejects from his aircraft. The jet continues to fly until it runs out of fuel and crashes into the Irish Sea.
  • John Adams’ opera Nixon in China premiered.
• October 23
  • British champion jockey Lester Piggott is jailed for three years after being convicted of tax evasion.
  • On a vote of 58–42, the United States Senate rejects President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court.
• October 26 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average goes down 156.83 points.

November

• November 1 – The InterCity 125 breaks the world speed record for a diesel-powered train, reaching 238 km/h (147.88 mph).
• November 7
  • Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumes the Presidency of Tunisia.
  • Lynne Cox swims between the Diomede Islands from the American Little Diomede Island to the Soviet Big Diomede Island.
  • Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Singapore opens for passenger service.^[19]
• November 8 – Enniskillen bombing: Twelve people are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb at a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen.
• November 12 – The first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Mainland China opens in Beijing, near Tiananmen Square.
• November 15 – In Brașov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime led by Nicolae Ceaușescu.
• November 16 – The Parlatino Treaty of Institutionalization is signed.
• November 17 – A tsunami hits the Gulf of Alaska.
• November 18
  • The King’s Cross fire on the London Underground kills 31 people and injures a further 100.
  • Iran–Contra affair: U.S. Senate and House panels release reports charging President Ronald Reagan with ‘ultimate responsibility’ for the affair.
• November 22 – Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion – unknown perpetrators hijack the signal of WGN-TV for about 20 seconds, and WTTW for about 90 seconds, and displays a strange video of a man in a Max Headroom mask.

• November 25 – Category 5 Typhoon Nina smashes the Philippines with 265 kilometres per hour (165 mph) winds and a devastating storm surge, causing destruction and 812 deaths.
• November 28 – South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean off Mauritius, due to a fire in the cargo hold; the 159 passengers and crew perish.
• November 29 – Korean Air Flight 858 is blown up over the Andaman Sea, killing 115 crew and passengers. North Korean agents are responsible for the bombing.

December

• December – Fluoxetine, marketed as Prozac, is approved for use as an antidepressant in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.
• December 1
  • NASA announces the names of 4 companies awarded contracts to help build Space Station Freedom: Boeing Aerospace, General Electric‘s Astro-Space Division, McDonnell Douglas, and the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell.
  • Queensland: Following a week of turmoil from his National Party of Australia colleagues, Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigns as Premier of Queensland. He is replaced by Mike Ahern, the only premier never to contest an election as premier.
• December 7 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, United States, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-supervisor on the flight, then shoots both pilots.
• December 8
  • Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
  • Queen Street massacre: In Melbourne, Australia, 22-year-old Frank Vitkovic kills 8 people and injures another 5 in a Post Office building before committing suicide by jumping from the eleventh floor.
  • The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It later expires in 2019.
  • Alianza Lima air disaster: A Peruvian Navy Fokker F27 crashes near Ventanilla, Peru, killing 43.
• December 9 – General Rahimuddin Khan retires from the Pakistan Army, along with the cabinet of the country’s military dictatorship.
• December 15 – Production I.G is founded by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and Takayuki Goto.
• December 17 – Gustáv Husák resigns as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
• December 20 – In history’s worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry MV Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
• December 21 – Turgut Özal of ANAP forms the new government of Turkey (46th government).
• December 22 – In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region known as the Gukurahundi.
• December 30 – Pope John Paul II issues the encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis (On Social Concern).

Full date unknown

• Qatar Scientific Club is founded.