January:
- Seoul National University student Park Jong-cheol dies during torture at the Security Investigation Office in Namyeong-dong
- President of Ecuador, Léon Febres Cordero, is kidnapped by followers of imprisoned general Frank Vargas, who successfully demand the latter’s release
- Pennsylvania Treasurer Budd Dwyer shoots himself with a revolver during a televised press conference after being found guilty of bribery, fraud, conspiracy and racketeering
- Publishers replace golliwogs with gnomes in Enid Blyton books following complaints the former are offensive to black people
- British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange
February:
- A second Unabomber bomb explodes at a Salt Lake City computer store, injuring the owner
March:
- US President Ronald Reagan addresses the American people on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging that his overtures to Iran had “deteriorated” into an arms-for-hostages deal
- Republic of China Army execute 19 unarmed Vietnamese refugees on Donggang beach, Lieyu, Kinmen off Mainland China
- CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner, and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac sign an agreement to construct the 4,800 acre Euro Disney Resort
- The World Wrestling Federation produces Wrestlemania III from the Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan, featuring the legendary main event between World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant. A record attendance of 93,173 is the largest for an indoor sporting event in North America, which remained a record until 2010
- UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher conducts a 45-minute interview on Soviet television
- Christie’s auction house sells one of Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers paintings for £24.75 million
April:
- The Simpsons first appears as a series of shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show
- The Central Bus Station Bombing in Colombo, Sri Lanka, kills 113 civilians
- MPs vote 342-230 against the restoration of the death penalty
- Arsenal win the Football League Cup for the first time in their history and their first trophy since 1979, beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final
May:
- Loughgall ambush: A 24-man unit of the British Army SAS ambushed eight members of the Provisional IRA as they mounted an attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks. All IRA members were killed as well as one civilian
- Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II
- The Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India, whereby 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded up 42 Muslim youths, took them to outskirts of the city, shot them and dumped their bodies in a nearby canal
- The first ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park, Auckland. New Zealand later defeat France 29-9 in the final to be crowned champions
- Everton win the Football League First Division title for the ninth time
- Coventry City win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in the final
- Aldershot become the first team to win promotion through the new Football League playoffs, gaining promotion from the Fourth Division with a 3-0 aggregate win over Wolverhampton Wanderers
June:
- The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, is re-elected for a third term at the general election. Diane Abbott is elected as an MP for the first time, while former Prime Minister James Callaghan retires
- During a visit to Berlin, US President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall
- The Basque terrorist group ETA perpetrate a car-bomb attack at a Hipercor market in Barcelona, killing 21 and injuring 45
- Iraqi warplanes drop mustard gas on the Iranian town of Sardasht, the first time a civilian town is targeted by chemical weapons
- Canada introduces a one-dollar coin, nicknamed the “Loonie”
- Chessington Zoo is renamed Chessington World of Adventures and made into a theme park
- Peter Beardsley becomes the most expensive player transferred between British clubs when he completes a £1.9 million move from Newcastle United to Liverpool
July:
- The Single European Act is passed by the European Community
- Greater Manchester Police recover the body of 16 year-old Pauline Reade after her killers, Ian Brady and Myra Huntley, help them in their search
- World population is estimated to have reached five billion people, according to the United Nations
- Konami release Metal Gear in Japan for the MSX2
- Martial law in Taiwan ends after 38 years
- Palestinian satirical cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali is shot in London, he later dies in hospital
- 400 hundred pilgrims are killed in clashes between demonstrating Iranians and Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca
- Jeffrey Archer wins a libel case against the Daily Star over allegations he was involved in a vice ring. In 2001 he will be convicted and imprisoned for perjury in connection with this case
August:
- Hoddle Street massacre: Julian Knight, 19, goes on a shooting rampage in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill, killing 7 and injuring 19 before surrendering to police
- The world’s first synchronised global peace meditation, the Harmonic Convergence, is observed
- Rudolf Hess is found dead in his cell in Spandau Prison, he is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself with an electrical flex
- Britain’s first mass shooting, the Hungerford massacre, is carried out by Michael Ryan who kills 16 people including a police officer and his own mother, before shooting himself
- The Order of the Garter is opened to women
- Months after confessing to a further two murders, Ian Brady claims he committed a further five
- It is reported that one person a day is dying of AIDS in Britain
September:
- 25 Liverpool fans are extradited to Belgium to face charges of manslaughter in connection with the Heysal Stadium disaster more than two years ago
- Following the Hungerford massacre, the Government bans automatic weapons of the type used by Michael Ryan
October:
- The first National Coming Out Day is held
- Hurricane force winds hit much of southern England, killing 23 people
- Black Monday: Stock market levels fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world
- IKEA opens its first British store in Warrington
- £1 million Operation Deepscan fails to locate the Loss Ness Monster
November:
- Twelve people are killed by a Provisional IRA bomb at a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen
- The King’s Cross fire on the London Underground kills 31 people and injured a further 100
- Unknown perpetrators hijack the signal of WGN-TV for 20 seconds and WTTW for 90 seconds and display a strange video of a man in a Max Headroom mask
- Korean Air Flight 858 is blown up over the Andaman Sea, killing 115 crew and passengers, North Korean agents are responsible
- The first acid house raves are reported in the UK, many of them in derelict buildings
- London City Airport opens
- Customs officers in Southampton seize more than £50 million worth of cocaine, the most expensive haul ever found in the UK
- The Government announces eye tests will no longer be provided free of charge by the NHS
December:
- Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-supervisor then both pilots
- The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank
- Queen Street massacre: 22 year-old Frank Vitkovic kills 8 and injured another 5 in a Melbourne Post Office before jumping from the eleventh story
- Square Co., Ltd. release Final Fantasy in Japan for the Famicom
- In history’s worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry MV Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Philippines’ Tablas Strait, killing an estimated 4,000 people
- Construction on the Channel Tunnel begins
Other:
- The comedy film Three Men and a Baby is the highest grossing film of 1987, earning $168 million worldwide
- Rick Astley’s now legendary “Never Gonna Give You Up” was the biggest selling single of the year in the UK with over 810,000 copies sold
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