1987

January 1 - Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories, changes its name to Iqaluit. In 1999, it will become the capital of Nunavut.
January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
January 4 - An Amtrak train en route from Washington, DC to New York collides with CONRAIL engines killing 16.
January 5 - US President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery causing worries about his health.
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 20 - Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut (released November 1991)
January 22 - In Pennsylvania, R. Budd Dwyer, Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shoots 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 29 - William J. Casey ends his term as a director of CIA
January 31 - The last Ohrbach's department store closes in New York City after 64 years of operation.

February 11 - British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
February 11 - Constitution of the Philippines goes into effect.
February 11 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
February 12 - Unabomber bomb explodes in Salt Lake City, Utah
February 23 - Supernova 1987a is observed, the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604.
February 26 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
May 8 - Gary Hart drops out of the running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1988 U.S. presidential election, amid allegations of an extra-marital affair with Donna Rice
May 11 - The first heart-lung transplant takes place (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 on the island of Fiji.
May 17 - Iran-Iraq War: The USS Stark (FFG-31), while patrolling the Persian Gulf, is struck by two exocet missiles from an Iraqi F-1 Mirage fighter killing 37 sailors and injuring 21 other crew members
May 28 - 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defense and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained and will later be released on Wednesday, August 3, 1988.

The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues
July 11 - Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke's government is re-elected for a 3rd term
August 9- 9 people die + 11 injured when 19 year old Julian Knight goes on shooting rampage in Melbourne(Hoddle St Massacre)
August 16 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashes on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport killing all but one of the 156 people on-board (sole survivor was four-year old Cecelia Cichan). The crew forgot to properly set the plane's flaps
August 17 - The Harmonic Convergence is observed.
August 17 - Rudolf Hess is found hanging in his cell in Spandau Prison
August 19 - Order of the Garter opened to women
August 19 - Hungerford Massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills 16 with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
September 2 - In Moscow, the trial of 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May 1987, begins.
September 7-September 21 - World's first conference on artificial life, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Wednesday-Friday, October 14-October 16 - The US is caught up in a drama that unfolds on television as a young child, Jessica McClure, falls down a well and is later rescued.
October 15 and October 16 - Great Storm of 1987: hurricane force winds to hit much of the South of England killing 23 people.
October 19 - Black Monday: stock market falls sharply around the world.
October 23 - British jockey Lester Piggott is jailed for 3 years for 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.

December 1 - NASA announces the names of four companies who were awarded contracts to help build the International Space Station: Boeing Aerospace, General Electric's Astro-Space Division, McDonnell Douglas, and the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell
December 1 - Channel Tunnel digging commences
December 1 - 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 - Delaware celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
December 8 - first Intifada begins
December 8 - Queen Street Massacre in Melbourne, Australia. 22 year old Frank Vitkovic kills 8 and injures another 5 in an Australia Post office building in Queen Street before committing suicide by jumping from the 11th floor.
December 12 - Pennsylvania celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
December 18 - New Jersey celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
December 21 - The ferry Do�a Paz collides with the oil tanker Vector I - 1,500 confirmed deaths (reportedly closer to 4,000 due to unregistered passengers)
December 24 - Japanese legendary rock band BO�WY declared breakup at Shibuya Kokaido.
December 29 - Prozac� makes its debut in the US