1987

Events from the year **1987 in the United States**.

* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tip O'Neill (D-MA) (until January 3), Jim Wright (D-TX) (starting January 6)
* Senate Majority Leader: Bob Dole (R-KS) (until January 3), Robert Byrd (D-WV) (starting January 3)
* Congress: 99th (until January 3), 100th (starting January 3)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: George Wallace (Democratic) (until January 19), H. Guy Hunt (Republican) (starting January 19)
* Governor of Alaska: Steve Cowper (Democratic)
* Governor of Arizona: Bruce Babbitt (Democratic) (until January 5), Evan Mecham (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Arkansas: Bill Clinton (Democratic)
* Governor of California: George Deukmejian (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: Richard Lamm (Democratic) (until January 13), Roy Romer (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Connecticut: William A. O'Neill (Democratic)
* Governor of Delaware: Michael N. Castle (Republican)
* Governor of Florida:
	+ until January 3: Bob Graham (Democratic)
	+ January 3 – January 6: Wayne Mixson (Democratic)
	+ starting January 6: Bob Martinez (Republican)
* Governor of Georgia: Joe Frank Harris (Democratic)
* Governor of Hawaii: John D. Waihee III (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: John V. Evans (Democratic) (until January 5), Cecil D. Andrus (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Illinois: James R. Thompson (Republican)
* Governor of Indiana: Robert D. Orr (Republican)
* Governor of Iowa: Terry E. Branstad (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: John W. Carlin (Democratic) (until January 12), Mike Hayden (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Kentucky: Martha Layne Collins (Democratic) (until December 8), Wallace G. Wilkinson (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Governor of Louisiana: Edwin W. Edwards (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic) (until January 7), John R. McKernan Jr. (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Maryland: Harry R. Hughes (Democratic) (until January 20), William Donald Schaefer (Democratic) (starting January 20)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Michael Dukakis (Democratic)
* Governor of Michigan: James Blanchard (Democratic)
* Governor of Minnesota: Rudy Perpich (Democratic)
* Governor of Mississippi: William Allain (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: John Ashcroft (Republican)
* Governor of Montana: Ted Schwinden (Democratic)
* Governor of Nebraska: Bob Kerrey (Democratic) (until January 9), Kay A. Orr (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Nevada: Richard Bryan (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John H. Sununu (Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: Thomas Kean (Republican)
* Governor of New Mexico: Toney Anaya (Democratic) (until January 1), Garrey Carruthers (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New York: Mario Cuomo (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: James G. Martin (Republican)
* Governor of North Dakota: George A. Sinner (Democratic)
* Governor of Ohio: Dick Celeste (Democratic)
* Governor of Oklahoma: George Nigh (Democratic) (until January 12), Henry Bellmon (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Oregon: Victor G. Atiyeh (Republican) (until January 12), Neil Goldschmidt (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Dick Thornburgh (Republican) (until January 20), Robert P. Casey (Democratic) (starting January 20)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Edward D. DiPrete (Republican)
* Governor of South Carolina: Richard Riley (Democratic) (until January 14), Carroll A. Campbell Jr. (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of South Dakota: William J. Janklow (Republican) (until January 6), George S. Mickelson (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Tennessee: Lamar Alexander (Republican) (until January 17), Ned McWherter (Democratic) (starting January 17)
* Governor of Texas: Mark White (Democratic) (until January 20), Bill Clements (Republican) (starting January 20)
* Governor of Utah: Norman H. Bangerter (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: Madeleine M. Kunin (Democratic)
* Governor of Virginia: Gerald L. Baliles (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Booth Gardner (Democratic)
* Governor of West Virginia: Arch A. Moore Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Tony Earl (Democratic) (until January 5), Tommy Thompson (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Wyoming: Edgar J. Herschler (Democratic) (until January 7), Mike Sullivan (Democratic) (starting January 7)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Bill Baxley (Democratic) (until January 19), Jim Folsom Jr. (Democratic) (starting January 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: Stephen McAlpine (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Winston Bryant (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Leo T. McCarthy (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Nancy E. Dick (Democratic) (until January 13), Mike Callihan (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Joseph J. Fauliso (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: Shien Biau Woo (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Florida:
	+ until January 3: Wayne Mixson (Democratic)
	+ January 3-January 6: vacant
	+ starting January 6: Bobby Brantley (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Zell Miller (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii: Ben Cayetano (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: David H. Leroy (Republican) (until January 5), Butch Otter (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: George H. Ryan (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: John Mutz (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Robert T. Anderson (Democratic) (until January), Jo Ann Zimmerman (Democratic) (starting January)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Thomas R. Docking (Democratic) (until January 12), Jack D. Walker (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Steve Beshear (Democratic) (until December 8), Brereton Jones (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Bobby Freeman (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Maryland: J. Joseph Curran (Democratic) (until January 21), Melvin A. Steinberg (Democratic) (starting January 21)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: vacant (until month and day unknown), Evelyn Murphy (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Martha W. Griffiths (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Marlene Johnson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Brad Dye (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Harriett Woods (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: George Turman (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Donald F. McGinley (Democratic) (until January 9), William E. Nichol (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Bob Cashell (Democratic) (until January 5), Bob Miller (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Mike Runnels (Democratic) (until January 1), Jack L. Stahl (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Stan Lundine (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Robert B. Jordan III (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Ruth Meiers (Democratic) (until March 19), Lloyd Omdahl (Democratic) (starting March 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: vacant (until January 12), Paul R. Leonard (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: Spencer Bernard (Democratic) (until January 12), Robert S. Kerr III (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: William Scranton III (Republican) (until January 20), Mark Singel (Democratic) (starting January 20)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Richard A. Licht (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Michael R. Daniel (Democratic) (until January 14), Nick Theodore (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Lowell C. Hansen II (Republican) (until January 6), Walter Dale Miller (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John S. Wilder (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: William P. Hobby Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Utah: W. Val Oveson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Peter Plympton Smith (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Howard Dean (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Douglas Wilder (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: John Cherberg (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: James Flynn (Democratic) (until January 5), Scott McCallum (Republican) (starting January 5)

## Events

### January

* January 5 – President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery, causing speculation about his physical fitness to continue in office.
* January 13 – New York mafiosi Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and Carmine Peruccia are sentenced to 100 years in prison for racketeering.
* January 22 – Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer commits suicide by shooting himself during a press conference. The incident was captured by news cameras and later broadcast on television.
* January 25 – Super Bowl XXI: The New York Giants defeat the Denver Broncos 39–20 at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
* January 28 – The U.S. State Department invalidates U.S. passports for travel to or through Lebanon due to security concerns. The ban was lifted in 1997.
* 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, receives 7 inches (177.80 mm) of rain in just two hours; flooding in some parts of the city is worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967.
* February 11 – The United States military detonates an atomic weapon at the Nevada Test Site.
* February 20 – A second Unabomber bomb explodes at a computer store in Salt Lake City, injuring the owner.
* 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.
	+ Jonathan Pollard is sentenced to life in prison on one count of espionage.
* 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 – World Wrestling Entertainment presents WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan. Hulk Hogan retains the WWF World Heavyweight Championship defeating his former friend André The Giant.
* March 30 – The 59th Academy Awards, hosted by Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan, are held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Oliver Stone's *Platoon* wins four awards out of eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film is tied in nominations by James Ivory's *A Room with a View*.

### April

* April 5 – The Fox Network makes its primetime debut.
* April 23 – L'Ambiance Plaza collapse: 28 construction workers are killed at a residential project under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was one of the worst disasters in Connecticut history.
* April 27 – The United States Department of Justice declares incumbent Austrian president Kurt Waldheim an "undesirable alien".
* April 30 – NASCAR driver Bill Elliott sets the record for the all-time fastest lap at Talladega Superspeedway at 212.8 miles per hour (342.5 km/h).

### May

* May 8 – U.S. Senator Gary Hart drops out of the running for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, amid allegations of an extramarital affair with Donna Rice.
* May 17 – The USS *Stark* is hit by two Iraqi owned Exocet AM39 air-to-surface missiles, killing 37 sailors.
* May 21 – Andrew Wyeth, with his "Helga Pictures," becomes 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 24
	+ Approximately 800,000 people gather for a walk to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
	+ Five days before his 48th birthday, Al Unser became the oldest winner of the Indianapolis 500 and only the second driver to win the event four times.

### June

* June 12 – During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
* June 16 – Bernhard Goetz is exonerated on 12 of 13 counts by a jury in the case against him stemming from the 1984 shootings of four youths in a New York subway car.
* 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.
	+ *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 28 – An accidental explosion at Hohenfels Training Area in West Germany kills 3 U.S. troopers.

### July

* 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, the first and only nominee rejection to date.
* July 17 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04.
* July 25 – United States Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige Jr. dies in a rodeo accident at a California ranch.

### August

* 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 one (4-year old Cecelia Cichan) of the 156 people on board (among them Nick Vanos, a center for the Phoenix Suns).
* August 19 – ABC News chief Middle East correspondent Charles Glass escapes his Hezbollah kidnappers in Beirut, Lebanon, after 62 days in captivity.

### September

* September 17 – Televangelist Pat Robertson announces his candidacy for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.
* September 22 – Bee Gees' album, *E.S.P.* is released in the United States.
* September 25 – *Varroa destructor*, an invasive parasite, is found for the first time in the U.S.

### October

* October 1 – The 5.9 Mw Whittier Narrows earthquake affected the Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (*Severe*), killing eight and injuring 200.
* October 2 – The unemployment rate drops below 6% for the first time since 1979.
* October 10 – 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 – A young child, Jessica McClure, falls down a well in Midland, Texas, and is later rescued.
* October 19
	+ Black Monday: Stock market levels fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world.
	+ U.S. warships destroy two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf
* 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 defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 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; at the time it is the second largest decrease ever (trailing Black Monday).

### November

* November 6 – Florida rapist Tommy Lee Andrews is the first person to be convicted as a result of DNA fingerprinting: he is sentenced to 22 years in prison.
* 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 – The Max Headroom Incident: An unidentified person hijacks two television stations in Chicago, Illinois, and broadcasts video of them wearing a mask in the likeness of the character Max Headroom.
* November 23 – Frank Carlucci is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense, succeeding Caspar Weinberger.

### December

* December 1 – NASA announces the names of four 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 2 – *Hustler Magazine v. Falwell* is argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
* December 3 – The unemployment rate drops to 5.7%, the lowest since July 1979.
* 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 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
* December 10 – A squirrel closes down the Nasdaq Stock Exchange when it burrows through a telephone line.
* December 22 – Ronald Gene Simmons goes on a 6-day killing spree in Russellville, Arkansas, killing his wife, children, and grandchildren as they arrived to celebrate the holidays at his home. On the 28th he went on a shooting spree, killing an additional woman and wounding 5 others before surrendering to police. The final death toll was 16. He was tried and eventually executed.
* December 29 – Prozac makes its debut in the United States.
* December 31 – *Varroa destructor*, an invasive parasite of honeybees, is found in the United States.

## Memoriam

* January 1 – Lloyd Haynes, actor (aged 52; Coronado, CA, USA)
* January 3 – David Maysles, documentary filmmaker and brother of Albert Maysles (aged 55; New York City, NY, USA)
* January 13 – Taddy Aycock, politician, 45th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana (aged 71; Franklin, LA, USA)
* January 15 – Ray Bolger, actor, singer and dancer, Scarecrow in *The Wizard of Oz* (aged 83; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 22 – R. Budd Dwyer, 30th State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (aged 47; Harrisburg, PA, USA)
* February 5 – E. Michael Burke, sports executive, naval officer and CIA agent (aged 70; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 9 – Lou Darvas, artist and cartoonist (aged 73; North Royalton, OH, USA)
* February 22 – Andy Warhol, leading figure in the visual art movement pop art (aged 58; New York City, NY, USA)
* March 3 – Danny Kaye, singer, actor, and comedian (aged 76; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 21 – Dean Paul Martin, actor (aged 35; San Gorgonio Mountain, CA, USA)
* March 27 – Martin Provensen, children's illustrator and writer (aged 70; Staatsburg, NY, USA)
* May 5 – Phil Woolpert, basketball coach (aged 71; Sequim, WA, USA)
* May 7 – John Pierotti, cartoonist (aged 75; Drexel Hill, PA, USA)
* May 13 – Richard Ellmann, literary critic and biographer (aged 69; Oxford, England, UK)
* June 8 – Bascom N. Timmons, newspaperman (aged 97; Washington, DC, USA)
* June 22 – Fred Astaire, dancer, actor, singer, choreographer and presenter (aged 88; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* June 24 – Jackie Gleason, actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor (aged 71; Lauderhill, FL, USA)
* June 25 – Boudleaux Bryant, songwriter (aged 67; Gatlinburg, TN, USA)
* August 24 – Bayard Rustin, African American civil rights activist (aged 75; New York City, NY, USA)
* September 29 – Henry Ford II, businessman in the automotive industry (aged 70; Detroit, MI, USA)
* October 12 – Alf Landon, 1936 Republican presidential nominee (aged 100; Topeka, KS, USA)
* October 18 – Pete Carpenter, musician and arranger (aged 73; Sherman Oaks, CA, USA)
* November 2 – Claude J. Jasper, Wisconsin politician (aged 82; Scottsdale, AZ, USA)
* November 10 – Jackie Vernon, stand-up comedian and actor (aged 63; Hollywood, CA, USA)
* November 22 – W. Haydon Burns, 35th Governor of Florida (aged 75; Jacksonville, FL, USA)
* December 1 – James Baldwin, author and civil rights activist (aged 63; Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France)
* December 4 – Arnold Lobel, children's book author (aged 54; Manhattan, NY, USA)
* December 4 – Rouben Mamoulian, film and theatre director (aged 90; Woodland Hills, CA, USA)
* December 5 – Molly O'Day, country singer (aged 64; Huntington, WV, USA)