What happened in 1987

“Livin' On A Prayer”

Bon Jovi · 4 weeks at #1 in 1987

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1. Jan 3Walk Like An EgyptianThe Bangles2 wks
2. Jan 17Shake You DownGregory Abbott1 wk
3. Jan 24At This MomentBilly Vera & The Beaters2 wks
4. Feb 7Open Your HeartMadonna1 wk
5. Feb 14Livin' On A PrayerBon Jovi4 wks
6. Mar 14Jacob's LadderHuey Lewis & The News1 wk
7. Mar 21Lean On MeClub Nouveau2 wks
8. Apr 4Nothing's Gonna Stop Us NowStarship2 wks
9. Apr 18I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)Aretha Franklin & George Michael2 wks
10. May 2(I Just) Died In Your ArmsCutting Crew2 wks
11. May 16With Or Without YouU23 wks
12. Jun 6You Keep Me Hangin' OnKim Wilde1 wk
13. Jun 13AlwaysAtlantic Starr1 wk
14. Jun 20Head To ToeLisa Lisa And Cult Jam1 wk
15. Jun 27I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)Whitney Houston2 wks
16. Jul 11AloneHeart3 wks
17. Aug 1Shakedown (From "Beverly Hills Cop II")Bob Seger1 wk
18. Aug 8I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking ForU22 wks
19. Aug 22Who's That GirlMadonna1 wk
20. Aug 29La BambaLos Lobos3 wks
21. Sep 19I Just Can't Stop Loving YouMichael Jackson With Siedah Garrett1 wk
22. Sep 26Didn't We Almost Have It AllWhitney Houston2 wks
23. Oct 10Here I Go AgainWhitesnake1 wk
24. Oct 17Lost In EmotionLisa Lisa And Cult Jam1 wk
25. Oct 24BadMichael Jackson2 wks
26. Nov 7I Think We're Alone NowTiffany2 wks
27. Nov 21Mony MonyBilly Idol1 wk
28. Nov 28(I've Had) The Time Of My LifeBill Medley & Jennifer Warnes1 wk
29. Dec 5Heaven Is A Place On EarthBelinda Carlisle1 wk
30. Dec 12FaithGeorge Michael3 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1987; weeks count only those in 1987.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Jan 22After being convicted of receiving bribes, Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer shot and killed himself in front of television cameras during a press conference.
2. Feb 23SN 1987A, the first supernova that modern astronomers were able to study in great detail, was observed from Earth occurring in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
3. Mar 4U.S. president Ronald Reagan made a nationally televised address in which he accepted full responsibility for illegal actions in the Iran–Contra affair.
4. Mar 19American televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as the host of The PTL Club in the midst of a sex scandal.
5. May 11Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
6. May 17An Iraqi jet fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark, killing 37 personnel and injuring 21 others.
7. Jun 4American intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to charges of spying for Israel.
8. Jun 12The Central African Republic's former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.
9. Jun 12Cold War: During a speech at the Brandenburg Gate by the Berlin Wall, US president Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" (speech featured).
10. Jun 19The Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at a Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45 others.
11. Jul 24Iran–Iraq War: In opposition to the American plan to protect Kuwaiti tankers, Iran laid mines and damaged the SS Bridgeton, resulting in a propaganda victory for Iran.
12. Jul 29British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Channel Tunnel).
13. Oct 6Fiji becomes a republic.
14. Oct 19The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 22.6 percent on Black Monday, the largest one-day percentage decline in the stock market index's history.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  Ronald Reagan

• UK Prime Minister

  Margaret Thatcher

• Prime Minister of Canada

  Brian Mulroney

• President of France

  François Mitterrand

• German Chancellor

  Helmut Kohl

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Yasuhiro Nakasone → Noboru Takeshita

• Soviet leader

  Mikhail Gorbachev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1987, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• Gia CoppolaAmerican director and screenwriter · Jan 1
• Kristin CavallariAmerican television personality · Jan 5
• Naya RiveraAmerican actress and singer (died 2020) · Jan 12
• Evan PetersAmerican actor · Jan 20
• Marcus MumfordAmerican-English singer-songwriter · Jan 31
• Ronda RouseyAmerican mixed martial artist, wrestler and actress · Feb 1
• Michael B. JordanAmerican actor · Feb 9
• Jon OssoffAmerican politician and filmmaker · Feb 16
• Miles TellerAmerican actor · Feb 20
• Ashley GreeneAmerican actress · Feb 21

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.