1987
1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a Common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar .
Events 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 Boston 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 13 - New York mafiosi Anthony Salerno and Carmine Peruccia are sentenced for 100 years in prison for racketeering January 16 - Leon Cordero , president of Ecuador , is kidnapped by followers of imprisoned general Frank Vargas who successfully demand his release January 20 - Terry Waite , the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon , is kidnapped in Beirut (released November 1991 ) January 22 - R. Budd Dwyer , Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shoots himself dead 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. November 18 - King's Cross fire on the London Underground kills 31. December 1 - NASA announces 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 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 7 - PSA Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss on the flight, then shoots both pilots and himself. 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 8 - The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev . December 12 - Pennsylvania celebrates its bicentennial statehood. December 13 - Graz I was born. December 17 - Czechoslovakian leader Gustáv Husák resigns as General secretary of the Communist Party . December 18 - New Jersey celebrates its bicentennial statehood. December 18 - Square Co., Ltd. releases Final Fantasy in Japan for the Famicom. December 21 - The ferry Dońa 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 BOŘWY declared breakup at Shibuya Kokaido. December 29 - Prozac® makes its debut in the United States. Environmental change Unknown dates Births February 2 - Martin Spanjers , American actor April 10 - Hayley Westenra , New Zealand soprano April 11 - Joss Stone , English musician April 19 - Courtland Mead , American actor April 19 - Maria Sharapova , Russian tennis player May 2 - Nana Kitade , Japanese singer May 6 - Moon Geun Young , Korean actress May 15 - Andrew Murray , Scottish tennis player May 21 - Ashlie Brillault , American actress June 3 - Lalaine , American actress June 3 - Masami Nagasawa , Japanese actress June 16 - Diana DeGarmo , American singer July 20 - Nicolas Dansereau , Canadian professional wrestler July 25 - Michael Welch , American actor August 7 - Sidney Crosby , Canadian hockey player September 7 - Evan Rachel Wood , American actress and singer September 19 - Danielle Panabaker , American actress September 22 - Tom Felton , English actor September 28 - Hilary Duff , American actress October 21 - Gomez , ill kick ur ass if u edit this, Sex Advocate December 2 - Teairra Mari , American singer December 4 - Orlando Brown , American singer and comedian December 18 - Miki Ando , Japanese figure skater Deaths January 15 - Ray Bolger , American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904 ) January 21 - Charles Goodell , American politician (b. 1926 ) January 27 - Allan V. Cox , American geologist (b. 1926 ) February 2 - Alistair MacLean , British writer (heart attack) (b. 1922 ) February 4 - Liberace , American pianist (b. 1919 ) February 14 - Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky , Russian composer (b. 1904 ) February 22 - Andy Warhol , American artist, director, writer (b. 1928 ) March 2 - Randolph Scott , American actor (b. 1898 ) March 3 - Danny Kaye , American singer, actor, and comedian (b. 1918 ) March 11 - Woody Hayes , Football coach at Ohio State (b. 1913 ) March 19 - Louis-Victor de Broglie , French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892 ) March 21 - Robert Preston , American actor (b. 1918 ) March 21 - Dean Paul Martin , American actor (b. 1951 ) March 26 - Eugen Jochum , German conductor (b. 1902 ) March 28 - Maria von Trapp , Austrian singer (b. 1905 ) March 28 - Patrick Troughton , British actor (b. 1920 ) April 2 - Buddy Rich , American jazz drummer (b. 1917 ) April 3 - Tom Sestak , American football player (b. 1936 ) April 4 - C. L. Moore , American writer (b. 1911 ) April 28 - Ben Linder , American engineer (murdered) (b. 1959 ) May 3 - Dalida , French singer (b. 1933 ) May 4 - Paul Butterfield , American musician (b. 1942 ) May 6 - William J. Casey , American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. 1913 ) May 14 - Rita Hayworth , American actress (b. 1918 ) May 17 - Gunnar Myrdal , Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898 ) May 19 - James Tiptree, Jr , American author (b. 1915 ) May 27 - John Howard Northrop , American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891 ) June 2 - Andres Segovia , Spanish guitarist (b. 1893 ) June 6 - Fulton Mackay , Scottish actor (b. 1922 ) June 10 - Elizabeth Hartman , American actress (suicide) (b. 1943 ) June 22 - Fred Astaire , American actor and dancer (b. 1899 ) July 10 - John Hammond , American record producer (b. 1910 ) August 17 - Rudolf Hess , Hitler's second-in-command (b. 1894 ) August 26 - Georg Wittig , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897 ) September 4 - Bill Bowes , English cricketer (b. 1908 ) September 11 - Lorne Greene , Canadian actor (b. 1915 ) September 11 - Peter Tosh , Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1944 ) September 21 - Jaco Pastorius , American bassist (b. 1951 ) September 23 - Bob Fosse , American theater choreographer and director (b. 1927 ) October 3 - Jean Anouilh , French dramatist (b. 1910 ) October 3 - Kalervo Palsa , Finnish artist (b. 1947 ) October 13 - Walter Brattain , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902 ) October 19 - Jacqueline du Pré , English cellist (b. 1945 ) October 20 - Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov , Russian mathematician (b. 1903 ) October 28 - André Masson , French artist (b. 1896 ) October 29 - Woody Herman , American jazz musician (b. 1913 ) October 31 - Joseph Campbell , American author on mythology (b. 1904 ) December 2 - Luis Federico Leloir , French-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906 ) December 2 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich , Russian physicist (b. 1914 ) December 10 - Jascha Heifetz , Lithuanian violinist (b. 1901 ) Fiction On November 7 , Events in the Doctor Who episode Father's Day take place.
The animated internet cartoon series Homestar Runner frequently references 1987 as if the name of a year in the close past yet preceding 1999 is needed.
Nobel Prizes