WORLD HISTORY · 1987 日本語
Events of 1987Showa 62 (Japan) · Year of the Rabbit
What happened in 1987?
In 1987, Japanese National Railways was split up and privatized as the JR Group, and the Nikkei stock average topped 20,000 for the first time. In October, Black Monday sent stock prices crashing around the world, and in December the United States and the Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty.
- Nikkei average tops 20,000 for first timeAsia
- G7 reaches Louvre AccordEurope
- National railways privatized as JRAsia
- Roh Tae-woo declares democratization in South KoreaAsia
- Single European Act takes effectEurope
- Tonegawa Susumu wins Nobel Prize in MedicineAsia
- Black Monday stock market crashNorth America
- U.S. and Soviets sign INF TreatyEurope
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1987 at a glance
| Japanese era | Showa 62 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Rabbit |
| Age of people born in 1987 | Turn 39 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 1986 (Showa 61) ／ 1988 (Showa 63) |
| Events | 85 |
| AP World History | Unit 8 (Cold War and Decolonization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 1987
Our birthday pages list 863 people born in 1987. Here are some of them.
- Lionel MessiBorn June 24 · turns 39 this year · Argentine soccer star who won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards and led Argenti…
- Hilary DuffBorn September 28 · turns 39 this year · American actress and singer who rose to fame as Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire…
- Novak DjokovicBorn May 22 · turns 39 this year · Serbian tennis star who has won 24 Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gol…
- Maria SharapovaBorn April 19 · turns 39 this year · Russian tennis champion who won five Grand Slam singles titles and completed a…
- Masami NagasawaBorn June 3 · turns 39 this year
- Han Hyo-jooBorn February 22 · turns 39 this year
- Oleksandr UsykBorn January 17 · turns 39 this year
- Nozomi TsujiBorn June 17 · turns 39 this year
- Miki AndoBorn December 18 · turns 39 this year
- Carolina KostnerBorn February 8 · turns 39 this year
- Kengo KoraBorn November 12 · turns 39 this year
- Nobunari OdaBorn March 25 · turns 39 this year
Show 28 more
- Hyun-jin RyuBorn March 25 · turns 39 this year
- Naomi WatanabeBorn October 23 · turns 39 this year
- Cynthia ErivoBorn January 8 · turns 39 this year
- Shigeaki KatoBorn July 11 · turns 39 this year
- Jon OssoffBorn February 16 · turns 39 this year
- Elliot PageBorn February 21 · turns 39 this year
- Blake LivelyBorn August 25 · turns 39 this year
- Evan Rachel WoodBorn September 7 · turns 39 this year
- Rose LeslieBorn February 9 · turns 39 this year
- Gia CoppolaBorn January 1 · turns 39 this year
- Gilbert BruléBorn January 1 · turns 39 this year
- Meryl DavisBorn January 1 · turns 39 this year
- Patric HörnqvistBorn January 1 · turns 39 this year
- Loïc RémyBorn January 2 · turns 39 this year
- Robert MilsomBorn January 2 · turns 39 this year
- Shelley HennigBorn January 2 · turns 39 this year
- AdriánBorn January 3 · turns 39 this year
- Kim Ok-vinBorn January 3 · turns 39 this year
- Reto BerraBorn January 3 · turns 39 this year
- Danny SimpsonBorn January 4 · turns 39 this year
- Kay VoserBorn January 4 · turns 39 this year
- Marissa ColemanBorn January 4 · turns 39 this year
- Przemysław TytońBorn January 4 · turns 39 this year
- Alexander SalákBorn January 5 · turns 39 this year
- Brian Mushana KwesigaBorn January 5 · turns 39 this year
- Dexter BeanBorn January 5 · turns 39 this year
- Jason MitchellBorn January 5 · turns 39 this year
- Kristin CavallariBorn January 5 · turns 39 this year
Events of 1987 (timeline · 85)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor.
The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.
Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13.
Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan sends a "letter of death" to Somali President Siad Barre, proposing the genocide of the Isaaq people.
About 20,000 protestors march in a civil rights demonstration in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States.
After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.
Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds, killing 193.
The London Agreement is secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.
The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
The U.S. Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (and his wife, Elisabeth, who had also been a Nazi) from entering the US, charging that he had aided in the deportations and executions of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line would lead NASCAR to develop the restrictor plate for the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States.
The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.
LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.
Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
An 18-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
New Zealand's Labour government establishes a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.
June Democratic Struggle: The June Democratic Struggle starts in South Korea, and people protest against the government.
Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain.
Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
The Central African Republic's former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.
With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct.
Aeroflot Flight N-528 crashes at Berdiansk Airport in present-day Ukraine, killing eight people.
Basque separatist group ETA commits one of its most violent attacks, in which a bomb is set off in a supermarket, Hipercor, killing 21 and injuring 45.
For the first time in military history, a civilian population is targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bomb the Iranian town of Sardasht.
Vincent van Gogh's painting, the Le Pont de Trinquetaille, is bought for $20.4 million at an auction in London, England.
The American radio station WFAN in New York City is launched as the world's first all-sports radio station.
Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic.
Hulda Crooks, at 91 years of age, climbs Mt. Fuji. Crooks became the oldest person to climb Japan's highest peak.
US supertanker SS Bridgeton collides with mines laid by IRGC, causing a 43-square-meter dent in the body of the oil tanker.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Channel Tunnel).
Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.
The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing views.
Cold War: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union.
Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.
Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide.
Odaeyang mass suicide: Thirty-three individuals linked to a religious cult are found dead in the attic of a cafeteria in Yongin, South Korea. Investigators attribute their deaths to a murder–suicide pact.
Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard.
In Moscow, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May.
In a coup d'état in Burundi, President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza is deposed by Major Pierre Buyoya.
Goiânia accident: A radioactive object is stolen from an abandoned hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, contaminating many people in the following weeks and causing some to die from radiation poisoning.
Fijian Governor-General Penaia Ganilau is overthrown in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.
The 5.9 Mw Whittier Narrows earthquake shakes the San Gabriel Valley with a Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing eight and injuring 200.
Sikh nationalists declare the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is first displayed during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
Start of Operation Pawan by Indian forces in Sri Lanka. Thousands of civilians, insurgents, soldiers die.
Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460 crashes near Conca di Crezzo, Italy, killing all 37 people on board.
A coup d'état in Burkina Faso overthrows and kills then President Thomas Sankara.
The United States Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
The Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian peacekeeping forces in Sri Lanka, killing 70 Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.
British Rail Class 43 (HST) hits the record speed of 238 km/h for rail vehicles with on-board fuel to generate electricity for traction motors.
In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Remembrance Day bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland during a ceremony honouring those who had died in wars involving British forces. Twelve people are killed and sixty-three wounded.
Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashes during takeoff from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, killing 25.
In Brașov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras.
The Max Headroom signal hijacking incident takes place, in which a pirate broadcast interrupts television broadcasts in Chicago.
Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 265 km/h (165 mph) and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.
South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on board.
North Korean agents plant a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, which kills all 115 passengers and crew.
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, a British Aerospace 146-200A, crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and steers the plane into the ground.
An Israeli army tank transporter kills four Palestinian refugees and injures seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, which has been cited as one of the events which sparked the First Intifada.
Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region known as the Gukurahundi.
Stella Sigcau, Prime minister of the South African Bantustan of Transkei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General Bantu Holomisa.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 1987 in the Japanese calendar?
1987 was Showa 62 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1987?
1987 is the Year of the Rabbit.
How old is someone born in 1987?
They turn 39 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 1987?
In 1987, Japanese National Railways was split up and privatized as the JR Group, and the Nikkei stock average topped 20,000 for the first time. In October, Black Monday sent stock prices crashing around the world, and in December the United States and the Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.