| |
|
1987 |
| January 3rd |
 |
In
the United States, Motown singer Aretha Franklin became the
first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. |
|
| January 5th |
|
In
The United States, President Ronald Reagan under went prostate
surgery and caused worries about his health. |
|
| January 13th |
|
New
York mafiosi Anthony Salerno and Carmine Peruccia were sentenced
for 100 years in prison for racketeering. |
|
| January 16th |
|
In
Ecuador, President Leon Cordero was kidnapped by followers of
the imprisoned General Frank Vargas, who successfully demanded
his release. |
|
| January 20th |
|
In
Lebanon, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Terry Waite, was kidnapped in Beirut. He would be released on
November 18th 1991. |
|
| January 29th |
|
In
the United States, William J. Casey ended his term as a director
of CIA. |
|
| February
11th |
|
In
the United States, the US performed nuclear tests at Nevada
Test Site. |
|
| February
12th |
|
In
Utah, USA, a 'Unabomber' bomb exploded in Salt Lake City. |
|
| February
20th |
|
In
Utah, a second 'Unabomber' bomb exploded at the Salt Lake City
computer store and injured the owner. |
|
| February
23rd |
|
Supernova
1987A was observed, the first 'naked-eye' supernova since 1604. |
|
| February
26th |
|
In
the United States, in Iran-Contra scandal, the Tower Commission
rebuked American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling
his national security staff. |
|
| March 6th |
|
The
'Herald Of Free Enterprise' disaster. As the car-ferry left
the port of Zeebrugge, its car-loading deck doors were open.
The ferry took in water and capsized. The disaster killed 180
people. |
|
| April 2nd |
|
Legendary
American jazz drummer Buddy Rich died. |
|
| April 13th |
|
Portugal
and China signed an agreement in which Macau would be returned
to China in 1999. |
|
| April
27th |
|
In
the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice declared the
former United Nations Secretary-General and at present Austrian
President Kurt Waldheim an "undesirable alien". |
|
| May 6th |
|
In
the United States, the ex-CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
director William J. Casey died. Casey had finished his term
of office on January 29th. |
|
| May 11th |
|
In
the United States, the first heart-lung transplant took place
in Baltimore, Maryland. |
|
| May
11th |
|
In
France, Klaus Barbie the 'Butcher Of Lyon', went on trial in
Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II. |
|
| May 14th |
|
In
Fiji, Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka executed a bloodless
coup on the island of Fiji, and was declared a republic. |
|
| May 17th |
|
In
the Middle-East, during the Iran-Iraq War, the American battleship
USS Stark (FFG-31) was struck by two exocet missiles from an
Iraqi F-1 Mirage fighter, while on patrol in the Persian Gulf.
The attack killed 37 crew and injured 21. |
|
| May 28th |
|
In
Russia, a 19-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evaded
Soviet air defences and landed his private plane in Red Square
in Moscow. He was immediately arrested and was later released
on Wednesday, August 3rd 1988. |
|
| May. |
|
In
the United States, Congressional hearings opened over reports
of illegal diversion of US funds from sales of arms to Iran,
to support anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua, South
America. |
|
| June 11th |
|
In
Britain, Margaret Thatcher won her third general election and
remained the British Prime Minister for a third term as the
Conservative Party beat Neil Kinnock's Labour Party. |
|
| July 1st |
|
The
Single European Act was passed by the European Union. |
|
| July 3rd |
|
In
Soviet Union, Vladimir Nikolayev was sentenced to death for
cannibalism. |
|
| July
4th |
|
In
France, a court in Lyons sentenced Klaus Barbie the 'Butcher
Of Lyon' to life in prison. |
|
| July 22nd |
|
In
Britain, the Palestine cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali was shot
in London. He died of his wounds on August 28th. |
|
| July 31st |
|
In
Saudi Arabia, 400 Iranian pilgrims were killed when pilgrims
clashed with Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca. |
|
| July. |
|
In
the United States, National Security Council member Oliver North
defended his actions as his 'patriotic duty', during the Iran-Contra
hearings. |
|
| August 16th |
|
In
the United States, Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashed on
takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. All but one of the
156 passengers were killed. The survivor was a 4-year old girl,
Cecelia Cichan. |
|
| August 17th |
|
In
West Berlin, leading Nazi official Rudolf Hess died. Hess was
found hanged in his cell in Spandau Prison. Hess had spent over
40 years in prison for his involvement with the Nazis. |
|
| August 19th |
|
In
Britain, gunman Michael Robert Ryan killed 16 with an assault
rifle Hungerford. Trapped and surrounded by the police Ryan
turned the gun on himself. |
|
| September
2nd |
|
In
Russia, the trial of 19-year-old German pilot, Mathias Rust,
began in Moscow. Rust flew his Cessna airplane through Soviet
airspace undetected and landed it in Red Square, Moscow, on
May 28th. |
|
September
7th - 21st |
|
In
the United States, the World's first conference on artificial
life was held at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. |
|
October
15th - 16th |
|
In
Britain, the 'Great Storm' battered southern England. The hurricane's
epicentre hit the seaside town of Brighton, and hurricane force
winds hit much of the South of England. 23 people were killed. |
|
| October 19th |
|
'Black
Monday'. World stockmarket prices crashed, which caused global
panic, as stock exchanges from New York, London and Toyko fell
dramatically fearing a world recession would be the result. |
|
| October 23rd |
|
In
Britain, the champion English jockey Lester Piggott was convicted
of tax evasion and was jailed for 3 years. |
|
| November
8th |
|
In
Northern Ireland, the IRA detonated a bomb at Enniskillen during
a Remembrance Day service. The terrorist attack killed 11 people. |
|
| November
18th |
|
In
Britain, London's Underground station King's Cross was engulfed
in fire started by a discarded cigarette. The cigarette ignited
rubbish that had collected under the station's escalator. The
fire killed 31 people. |
|
| November
25th |
|
In
Asia, the category 5 typhoon 'Nina' smashed the Philippines.
The storm caused winds of up to 165 mph. 1,036 people were killed. |
|
| December
1st |
|
NASA
announced the names of four companies who were awarded contracts
to help build Space Station Freedom: Boeing Aerospace, General
Electric's Astro-Space Division, McDonnell Douglas and the Rocketdyne
Division of Rockwell. |
|
| December
1st |
|
In
Europe, the link under the English Channel, the Channel Tunnel,
between Britain and France commenced. |
|
| December
2nd |
|
NASA
astronaut Donn Eisele died. Eisele was Command Module
pilot for Apollo 7, 11th October 1968, and served as
back-up CM pilot for Apollo 10. |
|
| December
8th |
|
In
the Middle-East, the first Intifada began. Palestinian uprising
(Intifada) exploded against Israel. |
|
| December
8th |
|
In
the United States, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces
Treaty in Washington, D.C.. The treaty signed between the United
States and the Soviet Union was to eliminate European targeted
nuclear weapons. |
|
| December
17th |
|
In
Czechoslovakia, Gustáv Husák resigned as the leader
of the General Secretary of the Communist Party. |
|
| December
21st |
|
The
ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector I.
1,500 people were confirmed killed, although it was suspected
closer to 4,000 due to unregistered passengers. |
|
| |
|
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