1987 Snapshot
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The Vibe
Pop Culture
Black Monday
Slang
"No Duh"
Price Check
Gas: $0.90
Notable Deaths
Andy Warhol, Fred Astaire, James Baldwin
Music & Style
College Rock
World Affairs
INF Treaty
First Intifada
Year's Summary
- Global Events: The 'Black Monday' stock market crash. Reagan tells Gorbachev to 'Tear down this wall!' The population of the world reaches 5 billion.
- Culture & Mood: Star Trek: The Next Generation debuts. Hip-hop begins to cross over into the mainstream with Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys.
- Fashion & Slang: Acid-wash jeans and scrunchies. 'Eat my shorts!'
- Fun Fact: 1987 saw the first ever broadcast of The Simpsons (as shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show) and the release of the first Final Fantasy game.
- 2 Jan: Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke Secures Historic Third Electoral Victory – Prime Minister Bob Hawke led the Australian Labor Party to a historic third consecutive federal election victory, cementing his administration's legacy of economic deregulation, labor accord reforms, and modernization policies across Australia.
- 8 Jan: Dow Jones Industrial Average Surpasses 2,000 Milestone on Wall Street – Driven by robust corporate earnings and surging investor confidence, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 2,000 threshold for the first time in financial history, marking a psychological milestone during the booming global equity markets of the late 1980s.
- 24 Feb: Observation of Supernova 1987A Captures Global Astronomical Attention – Astronomers observed Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, marking the closest and brightest supernova visible to the naked eye since 1604, providing astrophysicists with unprecedented data on stellar evolution and neutrino emission.
- 6 Mar: MS Herald of Free Enterprise Capsizes Off Belgian Coast – The cross-channel roll-on/roll-off ferry *MS Herald of Free Enterprise* capsized moments after leaving Zeebrugge harbor in Belgium due to unclosed bow doors, resulting in 193 tragic fatalities and prompting sweeping improvements to maritime safety regulations.
- 17 May: Iraqi Air Force Attack on USS Stark Kills Thirty-Seven Sailors – During patrols in the Persian Gulf amid the Iran-Iraq War, an Iraqi Mirage fighter jet fired two Exocet anti-ship missiles at the United States Navy frigate USS *Stark*, striking the vessel and tragically killing thirty-seven American sailors.
- 11 Jun: Conservative Party Wins British General Election Under Margaret Thatcher – Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher secured a historic third consecutive term in office following a decisive Conservative Party victory in the United Kingdom general election, reaffirming her mandate for free-market privatization and public sector reform.
- 12 Jun: President Reagan Delivers Famous 'Tear Down This Wall' Speech in Berlin – Standing before the Brandenburg Gate during a visit to West Berlin, United States President Ronald Reagan delivered a landmark address challenging Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to dismantle the Berlin Wall and demonstrate a commitment to European freedom.
- 19 Aug: Hungerford Mass Shooting Shocks the United Kingdom – An armed gunman went on a motiveless shooting rampage across Hungerford, Berkshire, killing sixteen people and wounding several others before taking his own life, prompting intense parliamentary debate and strict legislative reforms regarding firearm ownership and gun control laws in Britain.
- 16 Sep: Signing of the Montreal Protocol Protects the Global Ozone Layer – International diplomats meeting in Canada formally signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, establishing legally binding limits on the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons to safeguard Earth's atmospheric shield.
- 19 Oct: Black Monday Stock Market Crash Sends Global Shockwaves – Global financial markets experienced a catastrophic collapse as stock indices plummeted precipitously in a single day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping by over 22 percent in the worst single-day percentage decline in Wall Street history.
- 18 Nov: King's Cross Underground Station Fire Kills Thirty-One People – A devastating fire broke out underneath the wooden escalator at King's Cross St. Pancras underground station on the London Underground network, resulting in thirty-one fatalities and leading to sweeping modernization mandates and fire safety overhauls across public transit networks.
- 8 Dec: Reagan and Gorbachev Sign Landmark INF Treaty in Washington – United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty at the White House, agreeing to eliminate an entire class of nuclear missile systems for the first time in history and marking a defining breakthrough in Cold War diplomacy.
- 9 Dec: Outbreak of the First Palestinian Intifada Against Israeli Rule – A massive wave of sustained protests, civil disobedience, and general strikes erupted across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, marking the beginning of the First Intifada and profoundly altering Middle Eastern political dynamics.