1987

Events in 1987 66

• 1893 – 1987 Andres Segovia (1893-1987) Died 2 June 1987, aged 94 Segovia was a Spanish virtuoso guitarist widely credited with establishing the classical guitar as a respected concert instrument. He inspired composers to write new works for the guitar and trained generations of players. He died in Madrid.
• 1894 – 1987 Rudolf Hess (1894-1987) Died 17 August 1987, aged 93 Hess was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party until his solo flight to Scotland in 1941 in an attempt to negotiate peace with Britain. He was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and served as the last prisoner at Spandau Prison in Berlin. He died there, apparently by suicide.
• 1897 – 1987 Pola Negri (1897-1987) Polish actress, a star of German silent film under Ernst Lubitsch and one of Hollywood's first European imports.
• 1897 – 1987 Hermione Gingold (1897-1987) English actress of revue and film, famous for singing I Remember It Well in Gigi.
• 1898 – 1987 Randolph Scott (1898-1987) American actor, the stoic hero of westerns, including a celebrated series with Budd Boetticher.
• 1899 – 1987 Fred Astaire (1899-1987) Died 22 June 1987, aged 88 Astaire was an American dancer, actor and choreographer renowned for his partnership with Ginger Rogers in a series of Hollywood musicals during the 1930s. He is widely regarded as the most influential dancer in the history of film. He died in Los Angeles.
• 1901 – 1987 Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) Died 10 December 1987, aged 86 Heifetz was a Russian-born American violinist widely regarded as one of the greatest of the twentieth century. His technical precision set a standard against which later violinists were measured. He died in Los Angeles.
• 1904 – 1987 Ray Bolger (1904-1987) American dancer and actor, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
• 1906 – 1987 Madeleine Carroll (1906-1987) English actress, Hitchcock's first great blonde in The 39 Steps, who gave up film to nurse wounded soldiers.
• 1906 – 1987 Mary Astor (1906-1987) American actress, a silent-film beauty who became famous as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon.
• 1906 – 1987 John Huston (1906-1987) Died 28 August 1987, aged 81 Huston was an American film director and screenwriter known for classics including The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen. His directing career spanned over four decades and won him an Academy Award. He died in Middletown, Rhode Island, shortly after completing his final film, The Dead.
• 1913 – 1987 Danny Kaye (1913-1987) Died 3 March 1987, aged 74 Kaye was an American actor, singer and comedian known for films including The Court Jester and White Christmas. He was also a longtime goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles.
• 1916 – 1987 Jackie Gleason (1916-1987) Died 24 June 1987, aged 71 Gleason was an American comedian and actor best known for creating and starring in the television series The Honeymooners. He also appeared in films including The Hustler and Smokey and the Bandit. He died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
• 1918 – 1987 Robert Preston (1918-1987) American actor who became Harold Hill in The Music Man on Broadway and film.
• 1918 – 1987 Rita Hayworth (1918-1987) Died 14 May 1987, aged 68 Hayworth was an American actress and dancer who became one of the top Hollywood stars of the 1940s, known for films including Gilda. Her later years and death drew public attention to Alzheimer's disease, with which she had been diagnosed. She died in New York City.
• 1919 – 1987 Liberace (1919-1987) Died 4 February 1987, aged 67 Liberace was an American pianist and entertainer famed for his flamboyant stage shows who became one of the highest-paid performers in the world during the 1950s and 1970s. He died of complications from AIDS at his home in Palm Springs, California. His death brought renewed public attention to the AIDS epidemic.
• 1919 – 1987 Primo Levi (1919-1987) Died 11 April 1987, aged 67 Levi was an Italian chemist and writer best known for If This Is a Man, his memoir of surviving imprisonment at Auschwitz. His writing became central to Holocaust literature worldwide. He died at his home in Turin in a fall ruled by authorities to be suicide.
• 1922 – 1987 Alistair MacLean (1922-1987) Died 2 February 1987, aged 64 MacLean was a Scottish novelist known for adventure thrillers including The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, several of which were adapted into major films. He was one of the best-selling authors of the twentieth century. He died in Munich, West Germany.
• 1924 – 1987 Lee Marvin (1924-1987) Died 29 August 1987, aged 63 Marvin was an American actor known for tough-guy roles in films including The Dirty Dozen and Cat Ballou, for which he won an Academy Award. A decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Second World War, he was also the defendant in a landmark palimony lawsuit. He died in Tucson, Arizona.
• 1924 – 1987 James Baldwin (1924-1987) Died 1 December 1987, aged 63 Baldwin was an American novelist and essayist whose work, including Go Tell It on the Mountain and The Fire Next Time, explored race, sexuality and identity in twentieth-century America. He lived much of his later life in France. He died of stomach cancer in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
• 1924 – 1987 Geraldine Page (1924-1987) American actress with eight Oscar nominations, winning for The Trip to Bountiful.
• 1927 – 1987 Bob Fosse (1927-1987) Died 23 September 1987, aged 60 Fosse was an American director and choreographer known for his distinctive dance style and for films including Cabaret and All That Jazz. He won an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards and an Emmy, a rare combination in entertainment. He died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C.
• 1928 – 1987 Andy Warhol Pop Art · USA Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American Pop Art artist who blurred the line between fine art and commercial culture. His Campbell's Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe prints made him the defining artist of the 1960s.
• 1944 – 1987 Peter Tosh (1944-1987) Died 11 September 1987, aged 42 Tosh was a Jamaican reggae musician and founding member of the Wailers alongside Bob Marley, who went on to a successful solo career and outspoken activism. He was shot and killed during a robbery at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. His death was widely mourned across the reggae world.
• 1951 – 1987 Jaco Pastorius (1951-1987) Died 21 September 1987, aged 35 Pastorius was an American jazz bassist and composer widely regarded as one of the most influential electric bass players of all time, known for his work with Weather Report. He struggled with bipolar disorder and substance abuse in his final years. He died from injuries sustained in a fight outside a Florida nightclub.
• 1987 Black Monday crash Black Monday crash The Dow Jones fell 22.6 per cent on 19 October 1987, the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, with markets falling worldwide. Portfolio insurance and computerised program trading accelerated the slide. Exchanges introduced circuit breakers afterwards to halt trading during steep falls.
• 1987 – 1994 Early swimming -- outgrowing the allergy Thorpe begins competitive swimming at age eight, following his sister Christina (who will qualify for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics). Despite the chlorine allergy that requires the nose-clip, his natural aptitude for the water is immediately apparent -- particularly his physical gifts: he will eventually stand 6 feet 5 inches tall, weigh 230 pounds, wear a size 17 shoe and carry an arm span of 6 feet 5 inches. His coaches note the extraordinarily powerful kick -- eight to ten leg beats per two arm strokes, where most swimmers manage six. At 13 he breaks 10 national age-group records in a single meet. In 1994, he captains the New South Wales team at the Australian Primary Schools Championships.
• 1987 – present Green Day Punk Rock Resurgence Their 2004 album "American Idiot" became a generation-defining rock opera.
• 1987 – 1994 Nirvana American rock band Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl — the band that brought grunge and alternative rock to the mainstream.
• 1987 – present TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) — founded in 1987 by Morris Chang in Hsinchu, Taiwan — invented the pure-play semiconductor foundry model and became the most strategically important company in the world. TSMC manufactures chips for Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Intel and virtually every other technology company, controlling over 90% of the world's most advanced chip production. The 2nm chips rolling off its production lines in 2025 contain transistors smaller than a strand of DNA. No single company is more central to the global technology supply chain — or more geopolitically contested.
• 1987 Australian Open 1987 — moves to January Men: Stefan Edberg · Women: Hana Mandlíková Australian Open permanently moves to January, establishing its place as the first Grand Slam of the year.
• 1987 – present Luis Suárez El Pistolero Record goalscorer for Uruguay and winner of multiple European Golden Shoes.
• 1987 Superconductivity discovered above the boiling point of nitrogen Paul Chu's team finds a superconductor that works above 90 kelvin Physicist Paul Chu and colleagues at the University of Houston discovered that a yttrium barium copper oxide compound becomes superconducting above 90 kelvin, warmer than liquid nitrogen. It was the first superconductor that could be cooled with cheap liquid nitrogen rather than liquid helium. The breakthrough triggered intense global research into high-temperature superconductors.
• 1987 New Philippine Constitution ratified Post-Marcos constitution approved by popular referendum Filipino voters ratified a new constitution in a national plebiscite, replacing the constitution used under deposed president Ferdinand Marcos. Drafted under President Corazon Aquino, it restored a presidential system with term limits and a bill of rights. It remains the Philippines' governing charter.
• 1987 United States regains the America's Cup Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes wins the yachting trophy back from Australia Skipper Dennis Conner and the yacht Stars & Stripes defeated Australia's Kookaburra III off Fremantle to win back the America's Cup. The victory avenged the US loss of the trophy in 1983, ending Australia's four-year hold on it. It was the first time the Cup had been raced for off Australian waters.
• 1987 Supernova 1987A observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud Brightest supernova visible from Earth since 1604 Astronomers observed a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere. It was the brightest supernova seen from Earth since Kepler's Supernova in 1604 and remains the closest observed since the invention of the telescope. It gave astronomers their first chance to detect neutrinos from a supernova explosion.
• 1987 Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes off Zeebrugge Cross-Channel ferry disaster kills 193 people The roll-on/roll-off ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized minutes after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge because its bow doors had been left open. The disaster killed 193 passengers and crew. The inquiry led to major reforms in ferry safety design.
• 1987 U2 release The Joshua Tree With or Without You Their biggest album, with I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
• 1987 Prince releases Sign o' the Times Double album Often seen as his masterpiece.
• 1987 Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal revealed Japanese and Norwegian firms accused of selling submarine technology to the Soviet Union It was revealed that Toshiba Machine and Norway's Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk had illegally sold milling machinery to the Soviet Union that allowed Soviet submarines to run more quietly. The scandal strained relations between Japan and the United States and led to US sanctions against Toshiba. Japanese export control laws were tightened as a result.
• 1987 1987 World Snooker Championship Steve Davis Title 4 Winner: Steve Davis; Runner-up: Joe Johnson. Score: 18–14.
• 1987 – present Maria Sharapova The Siberian Siren Completed the career Grand Slam and was the world's highest-paid female athlete for years.
• 1987 The Simpsons debuts as animated shorts Matt Groening's cartoon family first appears on The Tracey Ullman Show The Simpsons first appeared as a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, created by cartoonist Matt Groening. The crudely animated vignettes introduced Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson to television audiences. They led to the standalone series that debuted in 1989 and became the longest-running scripted primetime show in US television history.
• 1987 – present Marianne Vos The GOAT Widely regarded as the greatest female cyclist; multi-discipline World Champion. Winner: 3x Giro d'Italia Women.
• 1987 – present Andy Murray Sir Andy Three-time major winner and two-time Olympic Gold medalist who ended the British Wimbledon drought.
• 1987 USS Stark hit by Iraqi missiles Iraqi jet strikes a US Navy frigate in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 An Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter fired two Exocet missiles into the USS Stark, a US Navy frigate patrolling the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War. Thirty-seven American sailors were killed. Iraq claimed the attack was a mistake and paid compensation.
• 1987 First Rugby World Cup held New Zealand beats France to win the inaugural tournament The first Rugby World Cup was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, featuring sixteen national teams. The All Blacks defeated France 29-9 in the final in Auckland. The tournament established rugby union's premier international competition.
• 1987 – present Novak Djokovic The Joker All-time leader in men's Grand Slam titles and weeks at World No. 1.
• 1987 Reagan delivers "Tear down this wall" speech Reagan challenges Gorbachev to open the Berlin Wall Speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, President Ronald Reagan called on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. The speech became one of the defining rhetorical moments of the late Cold War. The wall would fall two years later in 1989.
• 1987 – present Lionel Messi La Pulga Record 8-time Ballon d'Or winner who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title. Currently playing for Inter Miami.
• 1987 The Living Daylights — Timothy Dalton Timothy Dalton takes over as Bond, bringing a harder, more faithful-to-Fleming interpretation. Bond helps a Soviet general defect and uncovers an arms and drugs smuggling operation. Dalton is intense and physical — critics respond positively but the film underperforms relative to the Moore peak. Budget: $40 million. Box office: $191.2 million.
• 1987 Klaus Barbie convicted of crimes against humanity "Butcher of Lyon" sentenced to life imprisonment in France Former Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie was convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity for deporting Jews and torturing resistance members in Lyon during the Second World War. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial was one of the first to bring extensive video testimony of Holocaust survivors before the public.
• 1987 Oliver North testifies in Iran-Contra hearings Congressional hearings expose secret US arms-for-hostages deal Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North testified before Congress about the secret sale of arms to Iran and the diversion of funds to Nicaraguan Contra rebels. The televised hearings revealed a covert Reagan-administration operation that violated a congressional arms embargo. The scandal damaged the credibility of the Reagan presidency.
• 1987 India deploys peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka Indo-Sri Lanka Accord sends Indian troops to disarm Tamil rebels India and Sri Lanka signed an accord under which India deployed an Indian Peace Keeping Force to help disarm Tamil separatist militants in northern Sri Lanka. The intervention was intended to end the Sri Lankan Civil War but instead drew Indian troops into years of fighting with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A grenade attack at the signing ceremony narrowly missed Sri Lanka's president.
• 1987 Los Lobos top the charts with La Bamba Number one Their cover from the Ritchie Valens biopic goes to number one worldwide.
• 1987 Second World Championship gold -- Rome 1987 Bubka retains his world title at the 1987 IAAF World Championships in Rome, winning with 5.90m. The performance is part of a period of consistent dominance across all major championships. By 1987 he has set 13 world records; the question is no longer whether he will win competitions but how high he will go. The Rome defence of his title is the second step in what will become an unbroken six-title run at World Championships -- every two years, 1983 through 1997.
• 1987 First DNA mass screening leads to arrest of Colin Pitchfork Genetic fingerprinting used for the first time to solve a murder case British police conducted the world's first mass DNA screening, testing blood samples from thousands of men in Leicestershire to find the killer of two teenage girls. The screening led to the arrest of Colin Pitchfork after a coworker was caught taking the test in his place. It was the first criminal case solved using genetic fingerprinting, a technique developed by Alec Jeffreys.
• 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 1 Set 78 years after the original series, TNG premieres in first-run syndication with Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The first season is uneven but the ensemble — including Brent Spiner as Data, Jonathan Frakes as Riker and LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge — quickly establishes itself as one of television's finest casts. 26 episodes.
• 1987 Fiji declared a republic Military coups end Fiji's status as a Commonwealth realm Following two military coups led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka earlier in the year, Fiji was declared a republic, severing its ties to the British monarchy. The coups were driven by tensions between indigenous Fijians and the Indo-Fijian community. Fiji was subsequently suspended from the Commonwealth.
• 1987 Great Storm of 1987 batters Britain and France Unforecast hurricane-force winds kill 22 in England An unforecast extratropical cyclone brought hurricane-force winds across southern England and northern France overnight, felling an estimated 15 million trees. The storm killed 22 people in England and caused billions of pounds in damage. It became notorious after a BBC weather forecast had dismissed rumours of an approaching hurricane.
• 1987 Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing IRA bomb kills 11 at a war memorial service in Northern Ireland The Provisional IRA detonated a bomb at a Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 11 civilians and injuring dozens more. The attack caused widespread revulsion and was widely seen as a turning point that weakened public support for the IRA. It became one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles.
• 1987 King's Cross fire kills 31 Fire beneath a London Underground station spreads via an escalator A fire broke out on a wooden escalator at King's Cross St Pancras Underground station in London and spread rapidly, killing 31 people. Investigators identified the previously unknown "trench effect" as the cause of the escalator's sudden acceleration. The disaster led to a ban on smoking and wooden escalators across the Underground.
• 1987 Korean Air Flight 858 bombed North Korean agents blow up a passenger jet, killing all 115 aboard North Korean agents planted a bomb aboard Korean Air Flight 858, which exploded over the Andaman Sea near Myanmar, killing all 115 people on board. The attack was intended to discourage foreign participation in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. One of the two agents, Kim Hyon-hui, was captured and confessed after a failed suicide attempt.
• 1987 United States and Soviet Union sign the INF Treaty Reagan and Gorbachev agree to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in Washington. It was the first arms control agreement to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons. The treaty marked a major thaw in Cold War relations.
• 1987 First Intifada begins in Gaza and the West Bank Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupts after a traffic accident A Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, triggered by a traffic accident that killed four Palestinians. The uprising spread rapidly across the Gaza Strip and West Bank, involving strikes, boycotts and street protests. It lasted into the early 1990s and reshaped the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• 1987 Prozac approved by the FDA Fluoxetine becomes the first widely prescribed SSRI antidepressant The US Food and Drug Administration approved fluoxetine, marketed as Prozac, for the treatment of depression. It was the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor to reach mass use and transformed the treatment of depression and anxiety. Prozac became one of the best-selling and most culturally discussed drugs of the following decade.