1987

For other uses, see the year.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century 20th century 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years:	1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

Template:C20YearInTopicX 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). Template:C20YearTOC

Events of 1987

January

• January 1 – Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories, changes its name to Iqaluit. In 1999, it becomes the capital of Nunavut.
• January 1 Ahmed Ibrahim Elsaiegh was born on that day.
• January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict - Battle of Fada: The Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
• January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

• January 4 – 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts collides with Conrail engines at Chase, Maryland, killing 16.
• January 5 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery, causing speculation about his physical fitness to continue in office.
• 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 "Fat Tony" Salerno and Carmine Peruccia are sentenced to 100 years in prison for racketeering.
• January 16 – León Febres 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 – Pennsylvania Treasurer Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself with a revolver during a televised 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 25 – Super Bowl XXI: The New York Giants defeat the Denver Broncos, 39-20, to win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1956.
• January 29 – William J. Casey ends his term as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
• January 31 – The last Ohrbach's department store closes in New York City after 64 years of operation.

February

• February 9 – Brownsville, Texas is deluged with 7 inches (178 mm) of rain in just two hours, and flooding in some parts of the city is worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967.
• February 11 – British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
• February 11 – The new Constitution of the Philippines goes into effect.
• February 11 – The United States military detonates an atomic weapon at the Nevada Test Site.
• February 20 – A second Unabomber bomb explodes at the Salt Lake City computer store, injuring the owner.
• February 23 – Supernova 1987A, the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604, is observed.
• February 26 – Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes U.S. President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his National Security Council staff.

March

• March 2 – American Motors Corporation is acquired by the Chrysler Corporation
• March 4 – U.S. 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.
• March 6 – Zeebrugge Disaster: A cross-channel ferry capsizes outside the harbor off Zeebrugge, Belgium; 180 drown.
• March 9 – The Irish rock band U2 releases their studio album The Joshua Tree.
• March 18 – Woodstock of physics: The marathon session of the American Physical Society’s meeting features 51 presentations concerning the science of high-temperature superconductors.
• March 19 – In Charlotte, North Carolina, televangelist Jim Bakker, head of PTL Ministries, resigns after admitting an affair with church secretary Jessica Hahn.
• March 29 – WrestleMania III Record Breaking 93,173 attendance.

April

• April 7 – Harold Washington is re-elected Mayor of Chicago.
• April 13 – Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau will be returned to China in 1999.
• April 19 – The Simpsons cartoon first appears on The Tracy Ullman Show.
• April 20 – Professional cyclist and reigning Tour de France winner Greg LeMond is accidentally shot while turkey hunting.
• April 27 – The United States Department of Justice declares incumbent Austrian president Kurt Waldheim an "undesirable alien".
• April 30 – NASCAR driver Bill Elliott sets all time fastest lap at Talladega Superspeedway. 212.8 miles per hour (342.5 km/h)

May

• May 5 – The Assemblies of God defrocks Jim Bakker.
• May 8 – U.S. Senator Gary Hart drops out of the running for the Democratic presidential nomination, amid allegations of an extramarital affair with Donna Rice.
• May 9 – A Soviet-made Il-62 airliner, operated by LOT Polish Airlines, crashes near the Kabacki forest in Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
• May 11 – Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II
• May 14 – Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka executes a bloodless coup in Fiji.
• May 21 – Andrew Wyeth, with his "Helga Pictures," became the first living American painter to have a one-man show of his work in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
• May 28 – Nineteen year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defenses and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained (released on August 3, 1988).

June

• June 3 – Trade unionists in Vanuatu found the Vanuatu Labour Party.
• June 11 – United Kingdom general election, 1987: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wins for the third time.
• June 12 – During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
• June 16 – SDF-1 receives its first caller at 300 bit/s.
• June 17 – With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
• June 19 – Teddy Seymour is officially designated the first black man to sail around the world, when he completes his solo sailing circumnavigation in Frederiksted, St. Croix, of the United States Virgin Islands.
• June 19 – Edwards v. Aguillard: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools whenever evolution is taught is unconstitutional.
• June 27 – A commercial HS 748 (Philippine Airlines Flight 206) crashes near Baguio City, Philippines, killing 50.
• June 28 – An accidental explosion at Hohenfels Training Area in West Germany kills 3 U.S. troopers.
• June 29 – South Korean president Roh Tae-Woo makes a speech promising a wide program of nationwide reforms, the result of the 6.10 Democratization Movement.

July

• July 1 – The Single European Act is passed by the European Community.
• July 1 – The first ever Edgefest festival takes place at Molson Park in Barrie, Ontario.
• July 1 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan nominates former Solicitor General Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. The nomination is later rejected by the Senate
• July 3 – In the Soviet Union, Vladimir Nikolayev is sentenced to death for cannibalism.
• July 3 – Greater Manchester Police recover the body of 16-year-old Pauline Reade from Saddleworth Moor, after her killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley helped them in their search, almost exactly 24 years since Pauline was last seen alive.
• July 4 – A court in Lyon sentences former Gestapo boss Klaus Barbie to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity.
• July 11 – Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke's government is re-elected for a third term.
• July 11 – World population reaches five billion people with a child born in Zagreb, Croatia, according to the United Nations.
• July 17 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04.
• July 21 – Guns N' Roses release their debut album, Appetite For Destruction, which would go on to sell over 28 million copies as of 2008.
• July 22 – Palestinian cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali is shot in London; he dies August 28.
• July 25 – The East Lancashire Railway, a heritage railway in the North West of England, is opened between Bury and Ramsbottom.
• July 27 – Australian singer Kylie Minogue releases her first hit, a remake of Little Eva's The Loco-Motion.
• July 31 – Four hundred Iranian pilgrims are killed in clashes with Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca.
• July 31 – Docklands Light Railway, the first driverless railway in Great Britain, is formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
• July 31 – A F4-rated tornado devastates eastern Edmonton, Alberta. Hardest hit were an industrial park and a trailer park. 27 people are killed and hundreds injured. Hundreds more are left homeless and jobless.

August

• August 2 – Viswanathan Anand becomes the first Asian to win The World Junior Chess Championship.
• August 4 – The World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission, publishes its report, Our Common Future.
• August 4 – The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues.
• August 7 – The Colombian frigate Caldas enters Venezuelan waters near the Los Monjes Archipelago, sparking the Caldas frigate crisis between both nations.
• August 9 – Hoddle Street Massacre: Julian Knight, 19, goes on a shooting rampage in Melbourne, killing 9 people and injuring 17.
• August 14 – All the children held at Kia Lama, a rural property on Lake Eildon, Australia, run by the Santiniketan Park Association, are released after a police raid.
• August 16 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (a McDonnell Douglas MD-82) crashes on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan just West of Detroit killing all but 1 (4-year old Cecelia Cichan) of the 156 people on-board (among them Nick Vanos, a center for the Phoenix Suns).
• August 16 – The followers of the Harmonic Convergence claim it was observed around the world.
• August 17 – Rudolf Hess is found dead in his cell in Spandau Prison. Hess, 93, is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself with an electrical flex. He was the last remaining prisoner at the complex, which is soon demolished.

• August 19 – ABC News' chief Middle East correspondent Charles Glass escapes his Hezbollah kidnappers in Beirut, Lebanon, after 62 days in captivity.
• August 19 – Order of the Garter is opened to women.
• August 19 – Hungerford massacre: Michael Ryan kills 16 with an assault rifle before committing suicide.

September

Performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Index during Black Monday

• September 2 – In Moscow, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May.
• September 7–21 – The world's first conference on artificial life is held at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
• September 17 – At a small rally in Harlem, televangelist Pat Robertson announces his candidacy for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.

October

• October 10 – The Reverend Jesse Jackson launches his second campaign for U.S. President.
• October 11 – The first National Coming Out Day is held in celebration of the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
• October 14–16 – The United States is caught up in a drama that unfolds on television as a young child, Jessica McClure, falls down a well in Midland, Texas, and is later rescued.
• October 15–16 – Great Storm of 1987: Hurricane-force winds hit much of South England, killing 23 people.
• October 19 – Black Monday: Stock market levels fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world.
• October 19 – U.S. warships destroy 2 Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf
• October 19 – Two commuter trains collide head-on on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia; 102 are killed.
• October 23 – Champion English jockey Lester Piggott is jailed for three years after being convicted of tax evasion.
• October 23 – On a vote of 58-42, the United States Senate rejects President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court.
• October 25 – 1987 World Series: The Minnesota Twins win despite having the worst regular season win-loss ratio for a winner, a record they hold until 2006.
• October 26 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average goes down 156.83 points.

November

• November 1 – InterCity 125 breaks world land speed record of 238 km (147.88mph).
• November 4 – The Kamehameha Schools celebrates its centennial year. The Red Cross honors Bernice Pauahi Bishop as the Humanitarian of the Year.
• November 7 – Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumes the Presidency of Tunisia.
• November 8 – Enniskillen bombing: Eleven people are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb at a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen.
• November 17 – The Gulf of Alaska Tsunami hits.
• November 18 – The King's Cross fire on the London Underground kills 31.
• November 18 – Iran-Contra affair: U.S. Senate and House panels release reports charging President Ronald Reagan with 'ultimate responsibility' for the affair.
• November 22 – Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion incident – unknown perpetrators hijack the signal of WGN-TV for about 20 seconds, and WTTW for about 90 seconds, and display a strange video of a man in the eponymous mask.
• November 25 – Category 5 Typhoon Nina smashes the Philippines with 165 miles per hour (266 km/h) winds and a devastating storm surge, causing destruction and 1,036 deaths.
• November 29 – Korean Air Flight 858 is blown up over the Andaman Sea, killing 115 crew and passengers (North Korean agents are suspected).

December

• December 1 – NASA announces the names of 4 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 – Construction of the Channel Tunnel is initiated.
• 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 2 – Hustler Magazine v. Falwell is argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• December 7 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-supervisor on the flight, then shoots both pilots and himself.
• December 8 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
• December 8 – Queen Street massacre: In Melbourne, Australia, 22-year-old Frank Vitkovic kills 8 and injures another 5 in a Post Office building before committing suicide by jumping from the eleventh 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 8 – Alianza Lima air disaster: A Peruvian Navy Fokker F27 crashes near Ventanilla, Peru, killing 43.
• December 9 – General Rahimuddin Khan retires from the Pakistan Army, along with the cabinet of the country's military dictatorship.
• December 17 – Gustáv Husák resigns as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
• December 18 – Square Co., Ltd. releases Final Fantasy in Japan for the Famicom.
• December 18 – The Perl programming language is created by Larry Wall.
• December 20 – In history's worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry MV Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
• December 29 – Prozac makes its debut in the United States.
• December 30 – Pope John Paul II issues the encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concern).

Undated

• The Pendolino train makes its debut in Italy.
• Tinker Hatfield designed the Nike Air Max.
• Shoko Asahara founds the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
• Thomas Knoll and John Knoll develop the first version of Photoshop.
• Maglite introduces the 2AAA Mini Maglite battery, targeted for medical and industrial applications.
• Barry Minkow's ZZZZ Best fraud unravels.
• The pilot of a British Aerospace BAE Harrier GR5 registered ZD325 accidentally ejects his aircraft. The jet continues to fly until it runs out of fuel and crashes into the Irish Sea.
• A squirrel closes down the New York Stock Exchange when it burrows through a telephone line.

Ongoing

• Cold War.
• LRA.

Fictional

The following are references to year 1987 in fiction:

• Music:

• 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?), debut album by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, later known as The KLF.

• Film:

• 13 Going on 30 (2004): The scenes where Jenna is thirteen take place on May 26, 1987.
• American Psycho (2000): According to director Mary Harron on the DVD commentary, the film is set around the end of 1987. Patrick Bateman is seen reading Zagat's Survey of this year as well.
• Fargo (1996): The film takes place in Minnesota, 1987

• Television:

• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979): NASA launches the last of America's deep-space probes, the Space Shuttle Ranger 3, which is piloted by Captain William "Buck" Rogers.
• Set in 1987: the Doctor Who episode "Father's Day," 2005 takes place on November 7.

• Computer/video games:

• Resident Evil: Michael Warren is elected mayor of Raccoon City.
• Shenmue (1999) – Story continues into 1987.
• Shenmue II (2001): The game is set in 1987
• Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is set in this year (as claimed by the newspaper, after beating a boss).
• Syphon Filter 3: Three levels take place in and around Kabul, Afghanistan during this year amidst the Soviet occupation, with Gabe Logan and Lian Xing pitted against Afghan rebels and Soviet troops.

Environmental change

• Varroa destructor, an invasive parasite, is found in the U.S.

Mathematical interest

• This was the last year until 2013 with four distinct digits.

1987 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	1987 MCMLXXXVII
Ab urbe condita	2740
Armenian calendar	1436 ԹՎ ՌՆԼԶ
Assyrian calendar	6737
Baháʼí calendar	143–144
Balinese saka calendar	1908–1909
Bengali calendar	1393–1394
Berber calendar	2937
British Regnal year	35 Eliz. 2 – 36 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2531
Burmese calendar	1349
Byzantine calendar	7495–7496
Chinese calendar	丙寅年 (Fire Tiger) 4684 or 4477     — to — 丁卯年 (Fire Rabbit) 4685 or 4478
Coptic calendar	1703–1704
Discordian calendar	3153
Ethiopian calendar	1979–1980
Hebrew calendar	5747–5748
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2043–2044
- Shaka Samvat	1908–1909
- Kali Yuga	5087–5088
Holocene calendar	11987
Igbo calendar	987–988
Iranian calendar	1365–1366
Islamic calendar	1407–1408
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 62 (昭和６２年)
Javanese calendar	1919–1920
Juche calendar	76
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4320
Minguo calendar	ROC 76 民國76年
Nanakshahi calendar	519
Thai solar calendar	2530
Tibetan calendar	阳火虎年 (male Fire-Tiger) 2113 or 1732 or 960     — to — 阴火兔年 (female Fire-Rabbit) 2114 or 1733 or 961
Unix time	536457600 – 567993599

Births

January–March

• January 2 – Loui Batley, British actress
• January 2 – Lauren Storm, American actress
• January 5 – Kristin Cavallari, American reality television star
• January 10 – César Cielo, Brazilian swimmer
• January 11 – David Allen, American actor/comedian/writer
• January 13 – Marc Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
• January 15 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor
• January 15 – Michael Seater, Canadian actor
• January 15 – Kelly Kelly American professional wrestler
• January 16 – Kaavya Viswanathan, Indian-American author
• January 27 – Hannah Teter, American professional snowboarder
• January 27 – Zuleidy Spanish adult pornographic actress
• January 28 – Chelsea Brummet, American actress
• January 30 – Lance Franklin, Australian rules footballer
• February 1 – Wu Jingyu, chinese taekwondo practictioner.
• February 2 – Martin Spanjers, American actor
• February 16 – Luc Bourdon, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (d. 2008)
• February 16 – Theresa Goh, Singaporean Paralympic swimmer
• February 21 – Ellen Page, Canadian actress
• February 21 – Ashley Greene, American actress
• February 24 – Daniel Reilly, British entrepreneur
• February 24 – Mayuko Iwasa, Japanese entertainer and model
• February 26 – Julia Bond, American pornographic actress
• March 6 – Hannah Taylor-Gordon, British actress
• March 7 – Hatem Ben Arfa, French footballer
• March 9 – Bow Wow, American rapper
• March 13 – Marco Andretti, IRL driver
• March 14 – Aravane Rezaï, Iranian-French tennis player
• March 16 – Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
• March 20 – Emilia Attias, Argentina model
• March 20 – Joao Alves de Assis Silva, Brazilian soccer player
• March 25 – Jason Castro, American singer
• March 26 – Yui, Japanese musician and singer
• March 27 – Zaraah Abrahams, British actress

April–June

• April 1 – Ding Junhui, Chinese snooker player
• April 4 – Sarah Gadon, Canadian actress
• April 6 – Bartolomej Kuru, Austrian footballer
• April 7 – Choi Siwon, Korean singer and actor, member of Super Junior
• April 8 – Royston Drenthe, Real Madrid footballer
• April 9 – Jesse McCartney, American singer and actor
• April 9 – Jazmine Sullivan, American singer and songwriter
• April 10 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
• April 11 – Joss Stone, English musician
• April 12 – Brendon Urie, American musician
• April 13 – Jiafeng Chen, Chinese violinist
• April 16 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer
• April 19 – Courtland Mead, American actor
• April 19 – Joe Hart, English under 21 Footballer
• April 19 – Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player
• April 22 – Mikel John Obi, Nigerian footballer
• April 23 – Emily Fox, American cupstacking champion
• April 26 – Jessica Rose, American internet celebrity and actress
• April 27 – Ciara Janson British actress
• April 27 – William Moseley, English actor
• April 27 – Emma Taylor-Isherwood, Canadian actress
• April 29 – Joanna Maranhão, Brazilian swimmer
• May 1 – Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player
• May 2 – Nana Kitade, Japanese singer
• May 4 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish football player
• May 5 – Samantha Cope, American actress
• May 5 – Ian Michael Smith, American actor
• May 6 – Moon Geun Young, Korean actress
• May 7 – Asami Konno, Japanese singer
• May 10 – Eileen April Boylan, American actress
• May 12 – Darren Randolph, Irish football goalkeeper
• May 13 – Hunter Parrish, American actor
• May 14 – Francois Steyn, South African rugby player
• May 15 – Andrew Murray, Scottish tennis player
• May 15 – Jennylyn Mercado, Filipina actress and singer
• May 20 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
• May 21 – Ashlie Brillault, American actress
• May 22 – Novak Đoković, Serbian tennis player
• May 24 – Damir Kedzo, Croatian singer
• May 25 – Michael Leib, American actor
• May 29 – Noah Reid, Canadian actor
• May 30 – Brianna Taylor American singer, TV-show contestant
• May 31 – Curtis Williams, American actor
• June 3 – Lalaine, American actress and singer
• June 3 – Masami Nagasawa, Japanese actress
• June 5- Charlie Clements,English Actor
• June 6 – Kyle Falconer, Scottish musician
• June 9 – Rheagan Wallace, American actress
• June 10 – Amobi Okoye, Nigerian-born American football player
• June 12 – Ryu Deok-hwan, South Korean actor
• June 14 – Andrew Cogliano, Canadian hockey player
• June 17 – Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer
• June 19 – Rashard Mendenhall, American football player
• June 21 – Dale Thomas, Australian rules footballer
• June 21 – Kim Ryeowook, Korean singer, member of Super Junior
• June 22 – Joseph Dempsie, British actor
• June 24 – Lionel Messi, Argentine soccer player
• June 25 – Hayami Kishimoto, Japanese singer
• June 25 – Lil' Wil, American rapper
• June 26 – Samir Nasri, French footballer
• June 29 – Yasuka Saitou, Japanese actor

July–September

• July 1 – Yoga Lin, Taiwanese singer
• July 2 – Ruslana Korshunova, Kazakhstani model (d. 2008)
• July 3 – Chris Hunter, American actor
• July 6 – Matt O'Leary, American actor
• July 6 – Kate Nash, British singer/songwriter
• July 11 – Shigeaki Kato, Japanese singer (member of NEWS)
• July 24 – Mara Wilson, American actress
• July 25 – Nathan Lawrence, American actor
• July 25 – Michael Welch, American actor
• July 26 – Miriam McDonald, Canadian actress
• July 29 – Génesis Rodríguez, American actress
• August 4 – Philip Younghusband, British-Filipino footballer
• August 5 – Stephanie Edwards, American singer
• August 5 – Xenia Tchoumitcheva, Swiss model
• August 5 – Genelia D'Souza, Indian actress
• August 6 – Aditya Narayan, Bollywood actor and singer
• August 6 – Matt Di Angelo English actor
• August 7 – Sidney Crosby, Canadian hockey player
• August 8 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress
• August 8 – Pierre Boulanger, French actor
• August 10 – Jim Bakkum, Dutch singer and actor
• August 14 – Tim Tebow, American football quarterback
• August 18 – Mika Boorem, American actress
• August 19 – Marlon Knauer, German singer
• August 20 – Cătălina Ponor, Romanian gymnast
• August 21 – Kim Kibum, Korean singer, member of Super Junior
• August 25 – Liu Yifei, Chinese actress
• August 25 – Blake Lively, American actress
• August 25 – Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
• August 25 – Justin Upton, professional baseball player
• August 27 – Darren McFadden, American football player
• August 29 – Risa Shimamoto, Japanese gravure idol
• September 2 – Spencer Smith, American musician
• September 3 – Chris Fountain, British actor
• September 5 – Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi, Prince of Monaco
• September 6 – Ramiele Malubay, American singer
• September 7 – Evan Rachel Wood, American actress and singer
• September 7 – Aleksandra Wozniak, Canadian tennis player
• September 9 – Clayton Snyder, American actor
• September 11 – Tyler Hoechlin, American actor
• September 11 – Susianna Kentikian, German-Armenian boxer
• September 13 – Simon Walton, English footballer
• September 16 – Anthony Padilla, American comedian and co-founder of Smosh
• September 19 – Danielle Panabaker, American actress
• September 21 – Twins Ashley Paris and Courtney Paris, American basketball players
• September 22 – Tom Felton, English actor
• September 24 – Chris Holder, Speedway Rider
• September 24 – Matthew Connolly, English footballer
• september 26 – Whitney Thompson, Winner of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 10
• September 28 – Hilary Duff, American actress and singer

Deaths

January–March

• January 15 – Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
• January 21 – Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
• January 22 – Budd Dwyer, American politician (b. 1939)
• January 27 – Allan V. Cox, American geologist (b. 1926)
• February 2 – Alistair MacLean, British writer (heart attack) (b. 1922)
• February 3 – Donald Aronow, Creator of the Cigarette Boat (Assassinated) (b. 1927)
• February 4 – Liberace, American pianist (b. 1919)
• February 10 – Robert O'Brien, racing driver (b. 1908)
• February 14 – Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky, Russian composer (b. 1904)
• February 22 – Andy Warhol, American artist, director, writer (b. 1928)
• February 24 – Jim Connors, American radio personality (b. 1940)
• 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 13 – Gerald Moore, English pianist (b. 1899)
• March 19 – Louis-Victor de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
• March 21 – Dean Paul Martin, American actor (b. 1951)
• March 21 – Robert Preston, American actor (b. 1918)
• 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–June

• April 2 – Buddy Rich, American jazz drummer (b. 1917)
• April 2 – Trevor Hockey, Welsh footballer (b. 1943)
• April 3 – Tom Sestak, American football player (b. 1936)
• April 4 – C. L. Moore, American writer (b. 1911)
• April 15 – Masatoshi Nakayama, Japanese Karate Master (b. 1913)
• April 17 – Carlton Barrett, Jamaican reggae drummer (b. 1950)
• April 17 – Dick Shawn, American actor (b. 1924)
• April 19 – Milt Kahl, Animator for the Disney Studio (b. 1909)
• April 19 – Hugh Brannum,American actor and radio (b. 1910)
• April 26 – John Ernest Silkin, British politician (b. 1923)
• April 28 – Ben Linder, American engineer (murdered) (b. 1959)
• May 3 – Dalida, French singer (b. 1933)
• May 4 – Paul Butterfield, American musician (b. 1942); Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
• May 6 – William J. Casey, American Central Intelligence Agency director (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 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)
• June 6 – Fulton Mackay, Scottish actor (b. 1922)
• June 10 – Elizabeth Hartman, American actress (suicide) (b. 1943)
• June 13 – Geraldine Page, American actor (b. 1924)
• June 19 – Teresa Cormack, New Zealand murder victim (b. 1981)
• June 22 – Fred Astaire, American actor and dancer (b. 1899)
• June 22 – John Harold Hewitt, Northern Irish poet (b. 1907)
• June 24 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and comedian (b. 1916)

July–September

• July 10 – John Hammond, American record producer (b. 1910)
• July 17 – Kristjan Palusalu, Estonian wrestler (b. 1908)
• July 17 – Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (b. 1934)
• July 22 – Jack Lescoulie, American actor (b. 1917)
• July 28 – Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, former Premier of New South Wales (b. 1909)
• August 1 – Pola Negri, Polish born actress )b.1897
• August 11 – Clara Peller, American actress (b. 1902)
• August 16 – Nick Vanos, American basketball player (b. 1963)
• August 17 – Rudolf Hess, Nazi official (b. 1894
• August 26 – Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
• August 28 – John Huston, American actor (b. 1906)
• August 29 – Lee Marvin, American actor (b. 1924)
• September 3 – Rusty Wescoatt, American actor (b. 1911)
• September 4 – Bill Bowes, British cricketer (b. 1908)
• September 11 – Lorne Greene, Canadian actor (b. 1915)
• September 11 – Peter Tosh, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1944)
• September 16 – Howard Moss, American poet, dramatist, and critic (b. 1922)
• September 17 – Harry Locke, British character actor (b. 1913)
• September 21 – Jaco Pastorius, American bassist (b. 1951)
• September 22 – Dan Rowan, American comedian (b. 1922)
• September 23 – Bob Fosse, American theater choreographer and director (b. 1927)
• September 25 – Mary Astor, Academy Award-winning American actress (b. 1906)
• September 25 – Harry Holtzman, American abstract artist (b. 1912)
• September 29 – Henry Ford II, president of Ford Motor Company (b. 1917)

October–December

• October 2 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1915)
• October 3 – Jean Anouilh, French dramatist (b. 1910)
• October 3 – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (b. 1947)
• October 9 – William Parry Murphy, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1892)
• October 13 – Walter Brattain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• October 19 – Jacqueline du Pré, British cellist (b. 1945)
• October 20 – Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1903)
• October 22 – Lino Ventura, Italian actor (b. 1919)
• 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)
• November 1 – René Lévesque, Canadian politician and premier of Quebec (b. 1922)
• November 5 – Eamonn Andrews, Television and Radio Presenter (b. 1922)
• November 16 – Zubir Said, Singaporean composer who composed Singapore's national anthem (b. 1907)
• November 25 – Zohar Argov, Israeli singer (b. 1955)
• November 30 – James Baldwin, American writer (b. 1924)
• December 1 – Punch Imlach, Canadian NHL coach (b. 1918)
• 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-born violinist (b. 1901)
• December 17 – Linda Wong, porn star (b. 1951)

Ship events

• Solo sailing circumnavigation completions: On June 19, 1987, Teddy Seymour became officially designated the first black man to sail around the world solo (finishing in Frederiksted, St. Croix, of the United States Virgin Islands).
• List of ship launches in 1987
• List of ship commissionings in 1987
• List of ship decommissionings in 1987
• List of shipwrecks in 1987

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – J. Georg Bednorz, Karl Alexander Müller
• Chemistry – Donald J Cram, Jean-Marie Lehn, Charles J. Pedersen
• Medicine – Susumu Tonegawa
• Literature – Joseph Brodsky
• Peace – Oscar Arias Sanchez
• Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – Robert Solow

Right Livelihood Award

• Johan Galtung, Chipko movement, Hans-Peter Dürr / Global Challenges Network, Institute for Food and Development Policy / Frances Moore-Lappé and Mordechai Vanunu

Templeton Prize

• Rev. Professor Stanley L. Jaki