What Happened in December 1987

Historical Events

  • Dec 1 Digging begins to link England & France under English Channel
  • Dec 2 "334" club forms as 334 brave Devil fans journey through 20" of snow to attend New Jersey Devils 7-5 NHL victory over Calgary at Meadowlands
  • Dec 2 Chicago City Council elects Eugene Sawyer acting mayor
  • Dec 2 Jennifer Steele, 17, of Colorado becomes Miss Teen of America [Approx]
  • Dec 2 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Lendl's 3rd ATP

Dec 4 Defending champion Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia wins 3rd straight season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title by defeating Mats Wilander of Sweden 6–2, 6–2, 6–3 in the final at Madison Square Garden, NYC

  • Dec 4 Karlstad skates world record 10 km (13:48.51)
  • Dec 5 53rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Brown, Notre Dame (WR)
  • Dec 5 David Boon's 5th Test Cricket century, 143 v NZ at Brisbane
  • Dec 5 Schonbrunn skates world record 3 km ladies (4:16.76)
  • Dec 6 3 satanist Missouri teenagers bludgeon comrade to death for "fun"
  • Dec 6 Christa Rothenburger skates female world record 500m (39.39 sec)
  • Dec 7 43 die in Pacific Southwest Airline crash in California (man shot pilots)

Gorbachev in the US

Dec 7 Gorbachev arrives in US for a summit meeting with Ronald Reagan

  • Dec 7 Palestinian uprising against Israel in West Bank

Hextall Scores 1st Goalie Goal

Dec 8 Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st NHL goalie to actually score a goal, shooting the puck into Boston Bruins empty net in 5-2 win at The Spectrum in Philadelphia

  • Dec 8 Occupied Palestinians start "intefadeh" (uprising) against Israel
  • Dec 8 Peruvian Navy Fokker F27-400M chartered by Alianza Lima FC crashes into Pacific Ocean 7 miles from Jorge Chávez International Airport near Callao; 43 killed, only pilot survives
  • Dec 8 US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles

Bird's Streak Ends

Dec 9 Larry Bird ends streak of 59 consecutive free throws

  • Dec 9 Palestine uprising begin in Israeli-occupied West Bank
  • Dec 10 "Nightline" is seen in USSR for 1st time

Nuts

Dec 11 Martin Ritt's dramatic film "Nuts", starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfus premieres

  • Dec 11 Test debut of Carl Hooper, WI v India at Bombay
  • Dec 12 Mookie Blaylock sets NBA record of 13 steals in a game
  • Dec 12 Okla's sets NCAA record of 33 steals vs Centenary
  • Dec 12 Rollermania at Madison Square Garden, Eastern Express beats Midwest Pioneers
  • Dec 13 Belgium Christian Democrats (CVP) loses parliamentary election
  • Dec 13 Browns set club record for most points scored in a quarter, 28
  • Dec 13 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

Border Becomes Top Batsman

Dec 14 Allan Border scores 205 vs NZ to become Australian crickets' top run getter

  • Dec 14 Chrysler pleads no contest to selling driven vehicles as new
  • Dec 15 First National US tour of musical "Les Misérables" opens at Shubert Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Dec 16 Roh Tae Woo elected president of South Korea
  • Dec 17 Czechoslovak party leader Gustav Husak resigns
  • Dec 18 Ivan F Boesky sentenced to 3 years for insider trading
  • Dec 19 NHL Boston Bruins Ken Linseman & St. Louis Blues Doug Gilmore set a record for the fastest two goals in league history, scoring 2 seconds apart
  • Dec 20 76th Davis Cup: Sweden beats India in Gothenburg (5-0)
  • Dec 20 Dona Paz ferry sinks after crash with oil tanker Vector in Philippine waters, 4,386 die in world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster
  • Dec 21 3 white NY teens convicted of manslaughter in death of a black man
  • Dec 21 Soyuz TM-4 launches 3 cosmonauts - Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, and Anatoli Levchenko - to space station Mir. Titov and Manarov stay in space for just under 366 days, setting a new spaceflight record

Nikki Sixx Overdoes

Dec 22 Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx overdoses from heroin

  • Dec 23 Buffalo goaltender Tom Barrasso leads the Sabres to a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings to record his 100th NHL victory; makes him the youngest player to reach milestone at just 22 years, 9 months

Fromme Escapes Prison

Dec 23 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford, escapes from Alderson Prison

  • Dec 25 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who escaped 2 days earlier, recaptured
  • Dec 27 Steve Largent sets all-time NFL record for career catches when he catches his 752nd pass
  • Dec 27 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • Dec 28 Ronald Gene Simmons kills 2 former employers and wounds 4 in a shooting spree and surrenders to police; later bodies of 14 of his relatives he had murdered are found at his home near Dover, Arkansas
  • Dec 29 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Dutch midfielder Ruud Gullit wins best football player in Europe award ahead of Paulo Futre (Porto/Atlético Madrid) and Real Madrid striker Emilio Butragueño
  • Dec 29 US Food and Drug Administration first approves the use of Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride) to treat depression [1]
  • Dec 30 Australia hang on for draw v New Zealand at MCG, 1 wkt left 17 runs short

Robert Mugabe Elected

Dec 30 Prime Minister Robert Mugabe elected President of Zimbabwe


1987 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Dec 1 Sarah Snook, Australian actress (Succession), born in Adelaide, Australia
  • Dec 2 Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Cuban performance poet and activist, born in Havan, Cuba
  • Dec 2 Teairra Marí, American R&B singer and songwriter, born in Detroit, Michigan
  • Dec 3 Alicia Sacramone, American gymnast (World C'ship gold 2005, 07, 10, 11), born in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Dec 3 Michael Angarano, American actor
  • Dec 7 Aaron Carter, American singer, rapper and songwriter, born in Tampa, Florida (d. 2022)
  • Dec 7 Baran Kosari, Iranian actress, born in Tehran, Iran
  • Dec 10 Gonzalo Higuaín, French-born Argentine footballer
  • Dec 11 Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan singer and dancer, born in Chișinău, Moldova
  • Dec 15 Josh Norman, American football cornerback (First-team All-Pro, Pro Bowl 2015 Carolina Panthers; San Francisco 49ers), born in Greenwood, South Carolina
  • Dec 15 Mikey Garcia, American boxer (lineal junior welterweight title 2018-20; WBO featherweight 2013; WBO junior lightweight 2013-14, WBC & IBF lightweight 2017-19), born in Oxnard, California
  • Dec 16 Hallee Hirsh, American actress
  • Dec 17 Chelsea [born Bradley] Manning, US soldier who released WikiLeaks, born in Crescent, Oklahoma
  • Dec 18 Ayaka [Iiko], Japanese pop singer-songwriter and producer ("Mikazuki"; "Winding Road"), born in Osaka, Japan
  • Dec 18 Fernando Jara, Panamanian jockey (Belmont Stakes 2006, Dubai World Cup 2007, Breeders' Cup Classic 2006), born in Herrera, Panama
  • Dec 18 Miki Andō, Japanese figure skater

Karim Benzema (36 years old)

Dec 19 French soccer striker (97 caps; FIFA Ballon d'Or 2022; Lyon, Real Madrid), born in Lyon, France

  • Dec 19 Ronan Farrow, American journalist (The New Yorker), born in New York City
  • Dec 20 Nao [Neo Joshua], British soul and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer ("And Then Life Was Beautiful"), born in Nottingham, England
  • Dec 20 Tariel Zintiridis, Greek judoka, born in Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Dec 21 Valerie Concepcion, Filipino actress, born in Tondo, Philippines
  • Dec 25 Demaryius Thomas, American football wide receiver (Super Bowl 2015; 4 × Pro Bowl; Denver Broncos), born in Montrose, Georgia (d. 2021)
  • Dec 26 Adam Walker, British concert flautist London Symphony, 2009-20), and educator, born in Redingham, Nottinghamshire, England
  • Dec 26 Carolina Eyck, German-Sorbian Theremin player and composer (Elegies for Theremin & Voice), born in Berlin, Germany
  • Dec 27 Lily Cole, English model and actress, born in Torquay, England
  • Dec 28 Thomas Dekker, American actor, born in Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Dec 29 Iain De Caestecker, Scottish actor (Young James Herriot; Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), born in Glasgow, Scotland
  • Dec 29 Joseph Lee [Lee Joe-yun], American actor (Beef), born in Arizona
  • Dec 30 Jake Cuenca, Filipino actor and commercial model
  • Dec 31 Émilie Le Pennec, French gymnast (Olympic gold uneven bars 2004), born in La Garenne-Colombes, France
Born in 1987

Famous Weddings

Benazir Bhutto

Dec 18 Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's future Prime Minister, marries Asif Ali Zardari

Johnny Bench

Dec 19 Retired baseball catcher Johnny Bench (40) weds Laura Cwikowski


Famous Deaths

  • Dec 1 Donn Fulton Eisele, American Air force officer and astronaut, dies of a heart attack at 57
  • Dec 1 James Arthur Baldwin, American writer (Another Country), dies at 63

James Baldwin (1924-1987)

Dec 1 American novelist (Go Tell it on the Mountain; Another Country) and playwright (The Amen Corner; Blues for Mister Charlie), dies of stomach cancer at 63

  • Dec 1 Punch Imlach, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame coach and general manager (Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres), dies of a heart attack at 69
  • Dec 2 Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist, dies at 73
  • Dec 4 Rouben Mamoulian, American movie director and author (The Mark of Zorro, Applause), dies at 90
  • Dec 5 "Fat" Larry James, American drummer (Fat Larry's Band-Zoom), dies at 38
  • Dec 6 Izler Solomon, American conductor, dies at 77
  • Dec 6 James Dobson, American actor (Impulse, Jet Attack, Okinawa), dies at 67
  • Dec 8 José Casanova, Peruvian soccer midfielder (10 caps; Alianza Lima), dies in Alianza Lima air disaster at 23
  • Dec 8 José González, Peruvian soccer goalkeeper (20 caps; Alianza Lima), dies in Alianza Lima air disaster at 33
  • Dec 8 Marcos Calderón, Peruvian soccer coach (Peru 1975-79; Copa América 1975), dies in Alianza Lima air disaster at 59
  • Dec 10 (Leroy) "Slam" Stewart, American jazz double bass player, dies of congestive heart failure at 73
  • Dec 10 Jascha Heifetz, Russian violinist, dies at 86
  • Dec 11 Clabon Allen, Australian astronomer (University of London Observatory director, wrote "Astrophysical Quantities"), dies at 82 [1]
  • Dec 11 G. A. Kulkarni, Indian (Marathi) writer (RamalKhuna), dies at 64
  • Dec 12 Enrique Jorrín, Cuban charanga violinist and pop-dance music composer, considered the father of the cha-cha-chá, dies at 60
  • Dec 12 Louis de Meester, Belgian pianist and classical and electronic music composer (The Great Temptation of St Anthony), dies at 83
  • Dec 12 Truman "Pinky" Tomlin, American singer and actor (Sing While You're Able, With Love and Kisses), dies from a heart attack at 80
  • Dec 13 Peter Birch, American dancer, choreographer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), and director (Captain Kangaroo), dies of a heart attack at 65
  • Dec 14 Clinton Sundberg, American actor (Belle of NY, Easter Parade), dies at 84
  • Dec 15 Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and civil rights activist, dies at 89
  • Dec 16 Albert P. Morano, American politician (Rep-R-Conn, 1951-59), dies at 79
  • Dec 17 Bernardus Johannes Alfrink, Dutch cardinal of Utrecht Netherlands, dies at 87
  • Dec 17 Marguerite Yourcenar, French-American novelist (Memoirs of Hadrian, The Abyss), dies at 84
  • Dec 18 Conny Plank, German record producer and musician, dies at 47
  • Dec 21 John Spence, founding No Doubt member (b. 1969)
  • Dec 21 Robert Paige, American actor, TV newscaster and political correspondent (Son of Dracula, Pardon My Sarong, Colgate Comedy Hour), dies 77
  • Dec 22 Alice Terry [Taaffe], actress (4 Horsemen of Apocalypse), dies
  • Dec 22 Henry Cotton, English golfer (British Open 1934, 1937, 1948), dies at 80
  • Dec 22 Leonidas Zoras, Greek conductor and composer, dies at 82
  • Dec 24 Joop [Johannes] den Uyl, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (PVDA, 1973-77), dies at 68
  • Dec 24 M. G. Ramachandran, Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu (b. 1917)
  • Dec 27 Geoffrey D Lloyd, Chairman of the guild of British Newspaper editors (b. 1933)
  • Dec 27 Priscilla Dean, actress (Outside the Law), dies of injuries at 91
  • Dec 27 Rewi Alley, New Zealand writer (Americans in China, dies at 90
  • Dec 28 Charles Malik, Lebanon's 1st delegate to UN, dies at 81
  • Dec 31 Randall Garrett, American author (Too Many Magicians; Takeoff!), dies after a long illness at 60