Editing 1987 (section)

==Events==
===January===

* [[January 1]] – [[Bolivia]] reintroduces the [[Boliviano]] currency.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |editor-last=Zeleny |editor-first=Robert O. |title=A Review of the Events of 1987 |journal=The World Book Year Book |publisher=World Book, Inc. |publication-place=Chicago |issue=1988}}</ref>
* [[January 2]] – [[Chadian–Libyan conflict]] – [[Battle of Fada]]: The [[Military of Chad|Chadian army]] destroys a [[Libya]]n armoured brigade.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Kenneth Pollack|last=Pollack |first=Kenneth M.|title=Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|year=2002|isbn=0-8032-3733-2 |pages=391–2}}</ref>
* [[January 3]] – Afghan leader [[Mohammad Najibullah]] says that Afghanistan's 1978 Communist revolution is "not reversible," and that any opposition parties will have to align with Communist goals.<ref name=":0" />
* [[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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR8801.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR8801.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Railroad Accident Report: Rear-end Collision of Amtrak Passenger Train 94, The Colonial and Consolidated Rail Corporation Freight Train ENS-121, on the Northeast Corridor, Chase, Maryland, January 4, 1987 |date=January 25, 1988 |publisher=[[National Transportation Safety Board]] |access-date=February 10, 2018}}</ref>
** Televangelist [[Oral Roberts]] announces to his viewers that unless they donate $8 million to his ministry by March 31, God will "call [him] home."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Associated Press |date=March 31, 1987 |title=Roberts Seeks More Pledges |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/31/us/roberts-seeks-more-pledges.html?searchResultPosition=8 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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 Pazzos|Frank Vargas]], who successfully demand the latter's release.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/12/16/obituarios/1229386285.html/ |title=León Febres Cordero, ex presidente de Ecuador |last=Ayala Samaniego |first=Maggy |date=2008-12-16 |work=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]] |access-date=2019-12-12 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* [[January 17]] – The [[Jumalan teatteri]] ("The theatre of God") theatre students' group cause a huge scandal at the [[Oulu City Theatre]] in [[Oulu]], [[Finland]] by throwing excrement, eggs and yoghurt on the audience during their two-minute performance.<ref>[https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2009/12/04/paska-juttu-jumalan-teatteri-oulussa Paska juttu – Jumalan teatteri Oulussa], [[Yleisradio]]. Accessed on 11 February 2024.</ref>
* [[January 20]] – [[Terry Waite]], the special envoy of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in [[Lebanon]], is kidnapped in [[Beirut]] (released November [[1991]]).
* [[January 24]] – [[1987 Forsyth County protests]]: About 20,000 protestors marched in a civil rights demonstration in [[Forsyth County, Georgia]], United States.
* [[January 28]] – The [[United States]] establishes diplomatic relations with [[Mongolia]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Halloran |first=Richard |date=January 28, 1987 |title="U.S. and Mongolia in Ceremony Establishing Diplomatic Relations" |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/28/world/us-and-mongolia-in-ceremony-establishing-diplomatic-relations.html?searchResultPosition=4 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== February ===
* [[February 6]] – The Soviet oil tanker [[Antonio Gramsci (ship)|''Antonio Gramsci'']] suffers a minor shipwreck in [[Finland|Finnish]] waters en route to the [[Neste]] oil refinery in [[Porvoo]], resulting in an oil spill of approximately 570–650 tons.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9444130 | title = Neuvostotankkerin karilleajosta 30 vuotta – Antonio Gramsci paljasti Suomen öljytorjunnan heikkoudet | website = [[Yle]] | date = 2017-02-06 | access-date = 2021-11-04 }}</ref>
* [[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]].
** The U.S. [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] rules in ''United States v. Paradise'' that [[affirmative action]] is lawful if the organization in question has a history of pervasive racial discrimination in hiring practices; in this case, police departments in the state of [[Alabama]]. Justice [[William J. Brennan Jr.|William J. Brennan, Jr.]] rules that the government is "justified by a compelling governmental interest in eradicating the Department's pervasive, systematic, and obstinate discriminatory exclusion of blacks."<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States v. Paradise, 480 U.S. 149 (1987) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/480/149/ |website=Justia U.S. Law}}</ref>
* [[February 26]] – [[Iran–Contra affair]]: The [[Tower Commission]] rebukes U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] for not controlling his [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] staff.
* [[February 28]] – A [[Rüppell's vulture]] chick is hatched at the [[Milwaukee County Zoo]], the first time the animal has been successfully bred in North America.<ref name=":0" />

=== March ===
[[File:Herald of Free Enterprise.jpg|75px|thumb|{{MS|Herald of Free Enterprise}} before its capsizing on [[March 6]]]]
* [[March 1]] – The first [[Starbucks]] outside of the US is opened in [[Vancouver]], Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.starbucks.ca/about-us/our-heritage|title = About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company}}</ref>
* [[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 [[Iran–Contra affair|arms-for-hostages]] deal.
* [[March 6]] – [[Herald of Free Enterprise disaster|Zeebrugge disaster]]: [[Roll-on/roll-off]] cross-channel ferry {{MS|Herald of Free Enterprise}} capsizes off [[Zeebrugge]] harbor in Belgium; 193 people die.<ref>{{citation|last=Sheen|first=Mr Justice|title=mv Herald of Free Enterprise: Report of Court No. 8074 Formal Investigation |year=1987 |publisher=Crown Department of Transport |isbn=0-11-550828-7 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/54c1704ce5274a15b6000025/FormalInvestigation_HeraldofFreeEnterprise-MSA1894.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/54c1704ce5274a15b6000025/FormalInvestigation_HeraldofFreeEnterprise-MSA1894.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=31 July 2018 }}</ref>
* [[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 superconductor]]s.
* [[March 20]] – [[Zidovudine|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 {{convert|4,800|acre|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 [[Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987|hybrid solar eclipse]] is the second hybrid solar eclipse in less than one year, the first being on [[Solar eclipse of October 3, 1986|October 3, 1986]]. It is 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 totally visible in Atlantic Ocean, lasting just 7.57 seconds.
* [[March 30]] – The [[59th Academy Awards]] take place in [[Los Angeles]], with ''[[Platoon (film)|Platoon]]'' winning Best Picture.
* [[March 31]] – [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], conducts a 45-minute interview on Soviet television.

=== April ===
* [[April 5]] – [[Schoharie Creek Bridge collapse|Schoharie Creek Bridge Collapse]]: I-90 bridge collapse near [[Fort Hunter, New York|Fort Hunter]] leaves 10 people dead. Investigators conclude that the bridge's piers had been weakened by structural flaws and significant [[Bridge scour|scour]]. The accident leads to stricter safety standards in bridge design and inspection. The body of the 10th victim will ultimately be recovered from the [[Mohawk River]] more than two years later.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Uhlig |first=Mark A. |date=May 28, 1987 |title=A Warning was Ignored when Bridge that Collapsed was Built |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/28/nyregion/a-warning-was-ignored-when-bridge-that-failed-was-built.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[April 13]] – The governments of the [[Portuguese Republic]] and the People's Republic of China sign an [[Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau|agreement]] in which [[Macau]] will be returned to China in [[1999]].
* [[April 19]] – ''[[The Simpsons]]'' cartoon first appears as a series of [[The Simpsons shorts|shorts]] on ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]''.
* [[April 21]] – In [[Colombo]], [[Sri Lanka]], the [[Central Bus Station Bombing]] kills 113 civilians.
* [[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 4]] – The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] rules in ''Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte'' that local [[Rotary Clubs]] do not have a constitutional right to deny membership to women. Other clubs thereafter comply with the ruling: [[Lions Clubs International|Lions International]] begins admitting women in June, and [[Kiwanis|Kiwanis Club]] in July.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rotary Club Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte 481 U.S. 537 (1987) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/481/537/}}</ref>
* [[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]], [[LOT Flight 5055|crashes into a forest]] just outside [[Warsaw]], killing all 183 people on board.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-62M SP-LBG Warszawa-Okecie Airport (WAW)|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19870509-0|access-date=2020-07-12|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=[[Aviation Safety Network]]}}</ref>
* [[May 11]] – [[Klaus Barbie]] goes on trial in [[Lyon]] for [[war crime]]s committed during World War II.
* [[May 14]] – Lieutenant Colonel [[Sitiveni Rabuka]] executes a bloodless coup in [[Fiji]].
* [[May 17]] – {{USS|Stark|FFG-31|6}} is [[USS Stark incident|hit]] by two [[Iraq]]i-owned [[Exocet]] AM39 air-to-surface missiles killing 37 sailors.
* [[May 22]] 
** The [[Hashimpura massacre]] occurs in [[Meerut]], India.
** The inaugural [[1987 Rugby World Cup|Rugby World Cup]] hosted by both New Zealand and Australia kicks off. In the opening match of the new tournament, [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]] beat [[Italy national rugby union team|Italy]] in the pool stage.
* [[May 27]] 
** At the [[Ernst-Happel-Stadion|Prater Stadium]] of [[Vienna]], [[FC Porto|Porto]] of [[Portugal]] defeats [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern München]] of [[West Germany]] 2–1 and wins its first European Cup.
** 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 Union|Soviet]] air defenses and lands a private plane on [[Red Square]] in Moscow. He is immediately detained (released on August 3, 1988).

=== 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 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]].
* [[June 12]] – During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] challenges [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|general secretary]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] to [[Tear down this wall!|tear down]] the [[Berlin Wall]].
* [[June 13]] – At the [[Paris Air Show]], [[Boeing]] announces the sale of their 1,842nd [[Boeing 737]], making the 737 the best-selling airliner of all time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenhouse |first=Steven |date=June 13, 1987 |title=The Boeing 737 is now No. 1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/13/business/the-boeing-737-is-now-no-1.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>''[[Newsweek]]'', June 9, 2008, page 45</ref>
* [[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 (separatist group)|ETA]] perpetrate a car-bomb attack at an Hipercor market in [[Barcelona]], killing 21 and hurting 45.
* [[June 20]] – [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]] wins the [[1987 Rugby World Cup|inaugural Rugby World Cup]] after beating [[France national rugby union team|France]] in [[1987 Rugby World Cup final|the final]].<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jun/25/the-breakdown-rugby-union-1987-world-cup-nations-championship|title=1987 Rugby World Cup|work=The Guardian|date=25 June 2020|access-date=16 March 2025}}</ref>
* [[June 27]] – A commercial [[Hawker Siddeley HS 748|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, West Azerbaijan|Sardasht]] in two separate bombing rounds, on four residential areas. This is the first time a civilian town has been targeted by chemical weapons.
** An accidental explosion at the [[Hohenfels, Bavaria|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]] in England 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 8 – A [[Delta Air Lines]] [[Lockheed L-1011 TriStar|L-1011]] strays 60 miles off course and nearly collides with a [[Continental Airlines]] [[Boeing 747|747]] over the Atlantic Ocean. The two planes are carrying nearly 600 total passengers and may have come within 100 feet of each other.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Witkin |first=Richard |date=1987-07-09 |title=2 Jets Nearly Collide Over the Atlantic |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/09/us/2-jets-nearly-collide-over-the-atlantic.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=15}}</ref>
* [[July 11]]
** [[1987 Australian federal election]]: [[Bob Hawke]]'s [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] [[Hawke government|government]] is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] led by [[John Howard]] and the [[National Party of Australia|National Party]] led by [[Ian Sinclair]].
** [[World population]] is estimated to have reached five billion people, according to the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 12, 1987 |title=And Baby Makes Five Billion – U.N. Hails a Yugoslav Infant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/12/world/and-baby-makes-five-billion-un-hails-a-yugoslav-infant.html |access-date=2024-11-11 |work=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref name="o293">{{cite news| last=Grierson | first=Jamie | title=Police reinvestigate 1987 London murder of Palestinian cartoonist | website=the Guardian | date=2017-08-29 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/29/police-reinvestigate-1987-london-of-palestinian-cartoonist-naji-salim-hussain-al-ali- | access-date=2024-12-02}}</ref>
* [[July 23]] – The [[United States Census Bureau]] reports the biggest population gains in metropolitan U.S. areas of over 1 million people since 1980: [[Phoenix metropolitan area|Phoenix]] (population increase of 26%); [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas-Fort Worth]] (+25%); [[Metro Atlanta|Atlanta]] (+20%); [[Greater San Antonio|San Antonio]] (+19%) [[Tampa Bay area|Tampa-Saint Petersburg]] (+19%); [[San Diego County, California|San Diego]] (+18%); [[Sacramento metropolitan area|Sacramento]] (+17%); and [[Greater Houston|Houston]] (+17%). The largest population losses were in [[Rust Belt]] cities: [[Detroit]], [[Pittsburgh]], and [[Cleveland]].<ref name=":0" />
* [[July 25]] – The [[East Lancashire Railway]], a [[heritage railway]] in the North West of England, is opened between [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]] and [[Ramsbottom]].
* [[July 27]] – [[Salvage diving|Salvage]] dives begin on the wreck of the [[Titanic]]; survivor [[Eva Hart]] likens the salvage teams to "vultures."<ref>{{Cite news |last=AP |date=July 28, 1987 |title=Titanic Survivor Sees Salvagers as 'Vultures' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/28/us/titanic-survivor-sees-salvagers-as-vultures.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[July 31]]
** Four hundred pilgrims are killed in [[1987 Mecca incident|clashes]] between demonstrating Iranian pilgrims and [[Saudi Arabia]]n security forces in [[Mecca]].
** [[Docklands Light Railway]] in London, the first driverless railway in Great Britain, is formally opened by Queen [[Elizabeth II]].
** An [[Edmonton tornado|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 [[Colombia]]n frigate ''Caldas'' enters [[Venezuela]]n 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 (murderer)|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]] – [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] introduces [[HyperCard|Hypercard]], a precursor to the [[World Wide Web]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pollack |first=Andrew |date=August 11, 1987 |title=Apple to Introduce Unusual Software |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/11/business/company-news-apple-to-introduce-unusual-software.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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 15]] – [[Great Basin National Park]] is dedicated; it is the 49th [[List of national parks of the United States|national park]] in the United States and the first in the state of [[Nevada]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=AP |date=August 16, 1987 |title=New National Park is Dedicated in Nevada's Lonely Outback |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/16/us/new-national-park-is-dedicated-in-nevada-s-lonely-outback.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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 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 soon demolished.
* [[August 19]]
** [[Hungerford massacre]]: Sixteen people die in an apparently motiveless mass shooting in the United Kingdom, carried out by [[Michael Ryan (mass murderer)|Michael Ryan]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Josephs |first1=Jeremy |title=Hungerford: One Man's Massacre |url=http://www.jeremyjosephs.com/hunger.htm |access-date=1 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060104044543/http://www.jeremyjosephs.com/hunger.htm |archive-date=4 January 2006}}</ref>
** [[ABC News (United States)|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Waddington |first=Raymond B. |year=1993 |journal= Sixteenth Century Journal |title= Elizabeth I and the Order of the Garter |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=97–113 |doi= 10.2307/2541800 |publisher=The Sixteenth Century Journal |jstor= 2541800|s2cid=165893968 | issn=0361-0160 }}</ref> 
*[[August 22]] – The [[Parliament of Zimbabwe]] votes to eliminate the 20 seats reserved for the [[White Zimbabweans|white minority]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 22, 1987 |title=Zimbabwe to Drop White-Only Posts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/22/world/zimbabwe-to-drop-white-only-posts.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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]].
* [[August 24]] – [[Mozert v. Hawkins]] decision: The U.S. [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit|Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals]] rules that the class readings assigned by public schools in [[Hawkins County, Tennessee]] do not violate Christian students' [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] rights.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools, 647 F. Supp. 1194 (E.D. Tenn. 1986) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/647/1194/2359788/ |website=Justia U.S. Law}}</ref>
* [[August 26]] – [[Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County]] decision: The U.S. [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit|Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals]] overturns the earlier ruling of a lower court which found that certain public school textbooks promoted the "religion" of [[secular humanism]]; in this final ruling, the court finds that the plaintiffs have not proven that the state is presenting secular humanism as a religious ideology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Smith v. Board of School Com'rs of Mobile County, 655 F. Supp. 939 (S.D. Ala. 1987) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/655/939/1423583/ |website=Justia U.S. Law}}</ref>
* [[August 31]] – [[Michael Jackson]] releases ''[[Bad (album)|Bad]]'', his first studio album since ''[[Thriller (Michael Jackson album)|Thriller]]'', the best-selling album of all time. The album would produce five number one singles in the US, a record which has not been broken.

=== September ===
* [[September 1]] – [[Honda]] announces plans to build a second U.S. assembly plant, the [[East Liberty Auto Plant]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Philip E. |date=September 18, 1987 |title=Honda Expansion: U.S. Exports a Goal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/18/business/honda-expansion-us-exports-a-goal.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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 [[1987 Burundian coup d'état|coup d'état in Burundi]], President [[Jean-Baptiste Bagaza]] is deposed by Major [[Pierre Buyoya]].
* [[September 4]] – In a village in [[Rajasthan]], an 18-year-old widow, [[Roop Kanwar|Roop Kanwar]] is burned alive on her husband's funeral pyre, in a banned practice known as [[Sati (practice)|Sati]]. Though the woman's father-in-law is arrested by authorities, thousands of Hindu pilgrims travel to the cremation site in support of the act.<ref name=":0" />
* [[September 7]]–[[September 21|21]] – The world's first conference on [[artificial life]] is held at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] in the United States.
* [[September 7]] – [[Erich Honecker]] makes a visit to [[Bonn]], the first (and last) visit by an East German head of state to [[West Germany]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schmemann |first=Serge |date=September 13, 1987 |title=Honecker Visit To The West Stirs More Curiosity Than Passion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/13/weekinreview/honecker-visit-to-west-stirs-more-curiosity-than-passion.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[September 11]] – [[Chadian–Libyan War]]: Chad and Libya sign a ceasefire under supervision of the [[Organisation of African Unity]], officially ending the 14-year territorial conflict. Sporadic fighting will continue.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenhouse |first=Steven |date=September 12, 1987 |title=Chad and Libya in Pact but Clash Anew |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/12/world/chad-and-libya-in-pact-but-clash-anew.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[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 23]] – The [[Poland–United States relations|United States and Poland]] agree to exchange ambassadors after a four-year break in relations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |date=September 23, 1987 |title=Poland and U.S. to Exchange Envoys |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/23/world/poland-and-us-to-exchange-envoys.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>

=== October ===
[[File:Aftermath of the Great Storm of 1987.jpg|thumb|75px|[[October 16]]: aftermath of the [[Great Storm of 1987]]]]
[[File:DJIA Black Monday 1987.svg|thumb|75px|Performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Index during Black Monday, October 19]]
* [[October 3]] – The [[Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement]] is reached but still requires ratification. This agreement would be a precursor to [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]].
* [[October 6]] – [[Fiji]] becomes a republic.
* [[October 7]] 
** [[Sikh]] nationalists declare the independence of [[Khalistan]] from India.
** The U.S. [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]] announces new guidelines for teaching about [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] in public schools, emphasizing the importance of [[Abstinence-only sex education|abstinence]] and "appropriate moral and social conduct."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boffey |first=Philip |date=October 7, 1987 |title=U.S. AIDS Guide for Schools Stresses Abstinence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/07/us/us-aids-guide-for-schools-stresses-abstinence.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[October 8]] – [[Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi]] announces that [[Algeria]] and [[Libya]] have "agreed in principle" to a proposed union of the two states, which Gaddafi suggests should be named "Algibya."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |date=October 8, 1987 |title=Libya Says Political Treaty with Algeria is Near |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/08/world/libya-says-political-treaty-with-algeria-is-near.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[October 8]]–[[November 8]] – The [[1987 Cricket World Cup]] is held in India and Pakistan with Australia defeating England in the final.
* [[October 15]] – In [[Burkina Faso]], a [[1987 Burkinabé coup d'état|military coup]] is orchestrated by [[Blaise Compaoré]] against incumbent President [[Thomas Sankara]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/16/world/burkino-faso-leader-ousted-in-coup-led-by-chief-adviser.html|title=Burkino Faso Leader Ousted In Coup Led by Chief Adviser|date=16 October 1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref>
* [[October 15]]–[[October 16|16]] – The [[Great storm of 1987]] strikes southern Great Britain and northwestern France. It is one of the strongest storms to affect the region in the past 200 years. 
* [[October 19]]
** [[Black Monday (1987)|Black Monday]]: Stock market levels fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world.
** US warships [[Operation Nimble Archer|destroy two Iranian oil platforms]] in the [[Persian Gulf]].
** Two commuter trains [[1987 Bintaro train crash|collide]] head-on on the outskirts of [[Jakarta]], [[Indonesia]]; 102 are killed.
* [[October 22]] – The pilot of a [[BAE Harrier II|British Aerospace BAE Harrier GR5]] registered ZD325 accidentally ejects from his aircraft. The jet continues to fly until it [[fuel exhaustion|runs out of fuel]] and crashes into the [[Irish Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-182748.html|title=Accidental and fatal ejection over southern England [Archive] – PPRuNe Forums|work=pprune.org}}</ref>
* [[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 [[Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination|nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court]].

=== November ===
[[File:KingsXfire.jpg|thumb|75px|[[November 18]]: [[King's Cross St Pancras tube station]] catches fire]]
* [[November 1]] – The [[InterCity 125]] breaks the world speed record for a diesel-powered train, reaching 238&nbsp;km/h (147.88&nbsp;mph).<ref>{{cite news | first=Russell | last=Hollowood | title=The little train that could |date=16 March 2006 |work=BBC News |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4812304.stm |access-date = 7 April 2008 |location= London}}</ref>
* [[November 7]]
** [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]] assumes the [[Presidency of Tunisia]].
** The [[Soviet Union]] celebrates the 70th Anniversary of The [[October Revolution Day|October Revolution]] with a Parade on [[Moscow]]'s [[Red Square]].
** [[Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)|Mass Rapid Transit]] (MRT) system in [[Singapore]] opens for passenger service.<ref>{{cite news |title=MRT: Set to roll |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19871106-1.2.38.1 |work=[[The Straits Times]] |date=6 November 1987 |page=20}}</ref> 
* [[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]], [[Brașov Rebellion|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&nbsp;seconds, and [[WTTW]] for about 90&nbsp;seconds, and displays a video of a man in a Max Headroom mask.
* [[November 25]] – [[Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale|Category 5]] [[Typhoon Nina (1987)|Typhoon Nina]] smashes the [[Philippines]] with {{convert|265|km/h|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 1]]
** [[NASA]] announces the names of 4 companies awarded contracts to help build [[Space Station Freedom]]: [[Boeing|Boeing Aerospace]], [[General Electric]]'s Astro-Space Division, [[McDonnell Douglas]], and the [[Rocketdyne]] Division of [[Rockwell International|Rockwell]].
* [[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]].
** The [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]] is signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] and Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. It expires in [[2019]].
** [[Alianza Lima air disaster]]: A [[Peruvian Navy]] [[Fokker F27]] crashes near [[Ventanilla District|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|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 [[Motherland Party (Turkey)|ANAP]] forms the new government of [[Turkey]] (46th government).
* [[December 22]] – In Zimbabwe, the political parties [[Zimbabwe African National Union|ZANU]] and [[Zimbabwe African People's Union|ZAPU]] reach an agreement that ends the violence in the [[Matabeleland]] region known as the [[Gukurahundi]].
* [[December 23]] – [[Nikki Sixx]], [[Mötley Crüe]]'s bassist overdoses on heroin and is declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revives him with two syringes full of adrenaline.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newsweek.com/motley-crue-nikki-sixx-overdose-dirt-1368786|title=Mötley Crüe and the Real Story of Nikki Sixx's Overdose: Going Beyond 'The Dirt'|first=Andrew|last=Whalen|magazine=[[Newsweek]]|date=2019-03-22|access-date=2019-03-31}}</ref>
* [[December 30]] – [[Pope John Paul II]] issues the [[encyclical]] ''[[Sollicitudo rei socialis]]'' (''On Social Concern'').