1st January » A value added tax is introduced in Greece for the first time.
4th January » The 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train 'en route' to Boston named Boston, Massachusetts from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.
20th January » Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.
22nd January » Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself during a televised press conference, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism.
22nd January » Philippines or Philippine security forces Mendiola massacre named open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañan Palace, Manila, killing 13.
2nd February » After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new Constitution of the Philippines e.g constitution.
6th February » Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed.
16th February » The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazism named Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.
20th February » Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
23rd February » Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
26th February » Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
6th March » The British ferry MS known as Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds killing 193.
19th March » Televangelist Jim Bakker resigns as head of the PTL Club due to a brewing sex scandal; he hands over control to Jerry Falwell.
20th March » The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, Zidovudine known as AZT.
8th April » Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over Racism or racially charged remarks he had made while on 'Nightline (US news program) known as Nightline'.
11th April » The Peres-Hussein London Agreement named London Agreement is secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.
19th April » 'The Simpsons' premieres as a short cartoon on 'The Tracey Ullman Show'.
21st April » The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam called Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
27th April » The United States Department of Justice or U.S. Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States, saying he had aided in the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer duri
28th April » American engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contra (guerrillas) called Contras in northern Nicaragua.
1st May » Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelites called Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz concentration camp known as Auschwitz.
3rd May » 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.
5th May » Iran–Contra affair: start of Congress of the United States or Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
8th May » The Loughgall Ambush: The Special Air Service or SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.
9th May » An LOT Polish Airlines Ilyushin Il-62 named Ilyushin IL-62M, 'Tadeusz Kościuszko' (SP-LBG), LOT Flight 5055 or crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
11th May » Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
11th May » In Baltimore, Maryland, the first heart–lung transplant takes place. The surgery is performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
15th May » The Soviet Union launches the Polyus (spacecraft) known as Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit.
17th May » An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet USS Stark incident fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark FFG-31 6, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
22nd May » First ever 1987 Rugby World Cup Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand playing Italy national rugby union team Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
28th May » 19-year-old West Germany known as West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. He is immediately detained and will not be released until August 3, 1988.
11th June » Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black Parliamentarians in Great Britain.
12th June » Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate President of the United States or U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall! e.g tear down the Berlin Wall.
17th June » With the death of the last individual of the species, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
28th June » For the first time in military history, a civilian population is targeted for Sulfur mustard or chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht, West Azerbaijan or Sardasht.
4th July » In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.
5th July » The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam e.g LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers were born and, in the following years, continued to kill with the tactic.
14th July » Montreal, Canada, is hit by a series of thunderstorms causing the Montreal Flood of 1987.
27th July » Premier Exhibitions RMS Titanic Inc. named RMS Titanic Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS e.g Titanic.
29th July » British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
29th July » Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.
4th August » The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues "fairly".
7th August » Lynne Cox becomes first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union
14th August » All the children held at Kia Lama, a rural property on Lake Eildon, Australia, run by the The Family (Australian New Age group) known as Santiniketan Park Association, are released after a police raid.
16th August » Northwest Airlines Flight 255 a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 MD-82 called McDonnell Douglas MD-82 crashes after take off in Detroit or Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground.
19th August » Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide.
23rd August » The American male basketball team lost the gold medal to Brazilian team at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis. The final score was 120–115 and triggered changes in this sport basis in USA, resulting in the "Dream Team".
31st August » Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Phuket Province named Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard.
10th September » Pope John Paul II starts his 11-day papal visit to Fort Simpson, Canada and afterwards to several southern and western cities in the United States.
13th September » 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.
14th September » The Toronto Blue Jays set a record for the most home runs in a single game, hitting 10 of them.
15th September » United States Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
16th September » The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from Ozone depletion known as depletion.
17th September » Pope John Paul II embraces an AIDS-infected boy while visiting San Francisco.
18th September » Jerzy Kukuczka becomes the second mountaineer to summit all 14 Eight-thousanders.
1st October » The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake or Whittier Narrows earthquake shakes the San Gabriel Valley, registering as Richter magnitude scale or magnitude 5.9.
7th October » Sikh nationalists declares the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized.
11th October » Start of Operation Pawan by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka that killed thousands of ethnic Tamil people called Tamil civilians and hundreds of Tamil Tigers & Indian Army soldiers.
15th October » The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England.
19th October » The United States Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
19th October » Black Monday (1987) or Black Monday - the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points.
21st October » Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 70 ethnic Tamil people e.g Tamil patients, physician called doctors and nurses.
30th October » In Japan, NEC releases the first History of video game consoles (fourth generation) known as 16-bit (fourth generation) video game console, the PC Engine, which is later sold in other markets under the name TurboGrafx-16.
5th November » Govan Mbeki is released from custody after serving 24 years of a life sentence for terrorism and treason.
7th November » In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
8th November » Remembrance Day bombing: A Provisional Irish Republican Army e.g 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 wound
15th November » In Brașov, Socialist Republic of Romania named Romania, Braşov Rebellion or workers rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
22nd November » Two Chicago television stations are Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion named hijacked by an unknown pirate dressed as Max Headroom (character) called Max Headroom.
25th November » Typhoon Nina (1987) called Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale called category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.
28th November » South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on board.
29th November » Korean Air Flight 858 explodes over the Thai–Burmese border, killing 115.
7th December » Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 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 himself.
8th December » The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.
8th December » Frank Vitkovic Queen Street Massacre e.g shoots and kills eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, Australia or Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
8th December » The 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster called Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
8th December » 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 barrier named Israel–Gaza Strip border, sparking the First Intifada.
9th December » Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
18th December » Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
20th December » In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry 'MV Doña Paz called Doña Paz' sinks after colliding with the oil tanker 'Vector ' in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).