1987 After many years of research a new drug AZT is used for the treatment of AIDS. After a long period of growth the US stockmarket drops 22.6% in one day on October 19 and throughout the rest of the world major falls are recorded by the end of October with Hong Kong dropping by 45.8%. In the UK 2 major transport disasters happen when A cross-channel ferry capsizes and an underground fire in Kings Cross Tube Station. England also suffers one of the worst storms in history when Hurricane force winds hit much of the South of England

Cost of Living 1987

How Much things cost in 1987
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 3.66%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 1938
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 8.75%
Average Cost of new house $92,000.00
Average Income per year $24,350.00
Average Monthly Rent $395.00
Average Price for new car $10,3055.00
1 gallon of gas 89 cents
1 LB of Bacon $1.80
US Postage Stamp 24 cents
Dozen Eggs 65 cents


What Events Happened in 1987

• US Stock Market Crashes on Monday, October 19, 1987 with a 508 point drop or 22.6%
• Stockmarkets around the world follow with falls, by the end of October Australia had fallen 41.8%, Canada 22.5%, Hong Kong 45.8%, and the United Kingdom 26.4%.
• King's Cross fire was an underground fire in Kings Cross Tube Station in London on November 18, 1987, which killed 31 people
• The World's Population reaches approx five billion (5,000,000,000)
• The USS Stark a Frigate is attacked by an Iraq Air to Sea missile Which is "an Accident" and 30 US Sailors are killed
• Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut
• Supernova is observed, the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604.
• A cross-channel ferry capsizes outside the harbor off Zeebrugge, Belgium - 180 drown
• Margaret Thatcher is elected as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the third time
• Fox Broadcasting Co. made its prime-time TV debut
• Tamil Tigers plant a massive bomb in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo killing more than 100
• In the United Kingdom, Michael Robert Ryan kills 16 People in Hungerford with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
• Hurricane force winds hit much of the South of England killing 23 people
• An IRA Bomb is let off at Remembrance Day Service in Eniskillin Northern Ireland
• Alan Greenspan succeeds Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
• The Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie / Butcher of Lyon found guilty of crimes against humanity
• The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior is sunk when French agents plant a bomb on the hull
• British Airways Merges With British Caledonian to compete with large US Airlines
• Sikh terrorist attacks Hindu bus passengers in India leaving 72 dead
• A rare earthquake 5.0 on the Richter scale affects 14 states in the Midwest and parts of Canada
• Docklands Airport Opens in London
• Manilla Philippines Ferry Accident resulting in 4,000 dead
  

Popular Culture 1987

• Prozac makes its debut in the United States
  
• Televangelist Jim Bakker Scandal
  
• The Simpson's seen on TV for the first time
  
• British Government Stops Publication in Britain of Spycatcher Book
  

Popular Films

• Three Men and a Baby
  
• Fatal Attraction
  
• Beverly Hills Cop II
  
• Good Morning, Vietnam
  
• The Untouchables
  
• Stakeout
  
• Lethal Weapon
  
• The Witches of Eastwick
  
• The Last Emperor
  
• Wall Street
  
• Dirty Dancing
  
• RoboCop
  
• Moonstruck
  

Popular Musicians

• Michael Jackson with " BAD "
  
• Lionel Richie
  
• Fleetwood Mac
  
• Peter Gabriel
  
• Janet Jackson
  
• Heart
  
• Whitney Houston
  
• Bruce Hornsby and " The Range "
  
• George Michael with " Faith "
  
• Bryan Adams
  
• Bananarama
  
• Aretha Franklin
  
• George Michael
  
• U2 with " With or Without You "

Technology 1987

• The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
• The First Criminal convicted using DNA Evidence Robert Melias in England
• Work on the Channel Tunnel joining UK and France begins
• Clive Sinclair launches the Z88 Portable Computer weighing under 2 LBS
• 1987 is shortened by 1 second to adjust to the Gregorian calendar
• Disposable Contact Lenses became available for commercial distribution

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country (or attributed to First Use)

• Kitty Litter USA by Edward H Lowe