|
Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar).
Events of 1987
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.
February
March
- March 2 - American Motors Corporation is acquired by the Chrysler Corporation
- 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 - A cross-channel ferry capsizes outside the harbor off Zeebrugge, Belgium - 180 drown.
- March 9 - The admirable Nate Schacht was born.
- March 18 - Woodstock of physics, the marathon session of the American Physical Society’s meeting featuring 51 presentations concerning the science of high-temperature superconductors.
- March 19 - In Charlotte, North Carolina, televangelist Jim Bakker, head of PTL Ministries, resigns after admitting an affair with church secretary Jessica Hahn.
- March 29 - WrestleMania III is held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, setting the North American indoor attendance record at 93,173.
- March 29 - Australian Football League expansion team, the West Coast Eagles, play their first ever match (not including pre-season). They defeat the Richmond Tigers 20.13 (133) to 16.23 (119).
April
May
- May 5 - The Assemblies of God defrocks Jim Bakker.
- May 8 - U.S. Senator Gary Hart drops out of the running for the Democratic presidential nomination, amid allegations of an extramarital affair with Donna Rice.
- May 9 - A Soviet-made Il-62 airliner, operated by LOT Polish Airlines crashed near the Kabacki forest in Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
- May 11 - The first heart-lung transplant takes place in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 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 20 - Tennessee court rules that WWF can not promote Harley Race as the King of Wrestling in Tennessee upholding Jerry Lawler's claim.
- May 24 - Indianapolis 500: Al Unser wins for a fourth time, the second driver to do so, after A.J. Foyt in 1977.
- May 26 - Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Iron Sheik are arrested together in car for possession of marijuana. Many feel this is the beginning of the end for pro wrestling trying to hide the fact that it is scripted entertainment and not real sport, as Duggan and Sheik were portrayed as hated rivals.
- May 28 - West German pilot Mathias Rust, 19, evades Soviet air defenses and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained (but is released August 3, 1988).
June
July
|