News and Events of 1987

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1987 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 5.018 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Oscar Arias Sánchez (Costa Rica)

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William Buckley, American hostage in Lebanon, reported slain (Jan. 20).
Iraqi missiles kill 37 in attack on US frigate Stark in Persian Gulf (May 17); Iraqi president Hussein apologizes (May 18).
Prime Minister Thatcher wins rare third term in Britain (June 11).
Klaus Barbie, 73, Gestapo wartime chief in Lyon, sentenced to life by French court for war crimes (July 4).

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 242,288,918
Life expectancy: 74.9 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 55.5
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 49.4

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US Supreme Court rules Rotary Clubs must admit women (May 4).
US Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., retires (June 26).
Oliver North, Jr., tells Congressional inquiry higher officials approved his secret Iran-Contra operations (July 7–10).
Admiral John M. Poindexter, former National Security Adviser, testifies he authorized use of Iran arms sale profits to aid Contras (July 15–22).
George P. Shultz testifies he was deceived repeatedly on Iran-Contra affair (July 23–24).
Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger tells inquiry of official deception and intrigue (July 31, Aug. 3).
Reagan says Iran arms-Contra policy went astray and accepts responsibility (Aug. 12).
Senate, 58-42, rejects Robert H. Bork as US Supreme Court Justice (Oct. 23).

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $4,692.30 billion
Federal spending:   $1003.91 billion
Federal debt:   $2346.1 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $26,061
Consumer Price Index:   113.6
Unemployment:   6.2%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.22

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

NY Giants d. Denver (39-20)

World Series

Minnesota d. St. Louis Cardinals (4-3)

NBA Championship

LA Lakers d. Boston (4-2)

Stanley Cup

Edmonton d. Philadelphia (4-3)

Wimbledon

Women: Martina Navratilova d. S. Graf (7-5 6-3)
Men: Pat Cash d. I. Lendl (7-6 6-2 7-5)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Alysheba

NCAA Basketball Championship

Indiana d. Syracuse (74-73)

NCAA Football Champions

Miami-FL (12-0-0)

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: A Summons to Memphis, Peter Taylor
Music: The Flight Into Egypt, John Harbison
Drama: Fences, August Wilson

Oscars awarded in 1987
Academy Award, Best Picture: Platoon, Arnold Kopelson, producer (Orion)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Joseph Brodsky (US)

1987 Emmy Awards

1987 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1987
Record of the Year: "Higher Love," Steve Winwood
Album of the Year: Graceland, Paul Simon (Warner Bros.)
Song of the Year: "That's What Friends Are For," Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, songwriters

Miss America: Kellye Cash (TN)

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Events

Though African, Latin American and other genres of international music have been around for centuries, a group of small, London-based labels coin the term "world music," which helps record sellers find rack space for the eclectic music.
thirtysomething debuts on ABC and departs from typical dramas, featuring analytical, self-absorbed baby-boomer characters.

Movies

Moonstruck, Wall Street, The Last Emperor, Fatal Attraction

Books

Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
Toni Morrison, Beloved

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Donald J. Cram, Charles J. Pedersen (both US), and Jean-Marie Lehn (France), for wide-ranging research that has included the creation of artificial molecules that can mimic vital chemical reactions of the processes of life

Physics: K. Alex Müller (Switzerland) and J. Georg Bednorz (Germany), for their discovery of high-temperature superconductors

Physiology or Medicine: Susumu Tonegawa (Japan), for his discoveries of how the body can suddenly marshal its immunological defenses against millions of different disease agents that it has never encountered before

Prozac released for use in US by Eli Lilly & Company. Background: Health & Nutrition
AZT wins FDA approval for use in the treatment of AIDS.
An international treaty signed in Montreal calls for a 50% reduction in the use of CFCs by the year 2000 (Sept. 16). Background: environmentalism
Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand make the first transatlantic hot-air balloon flight. 2,790 miles from Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine, to Ireland Virgin Atlantic Flyer (July 2–4). Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation