Notable births, deaths, and figures of 1987.
| Topic | Description | |—|—| | Gary Hart — Withdrawal from the 1988 Presidential Race (May 8, 1987) | U.S. Senator and Democratic frontrunner suspends his presidential campaign after a scandal involving model Donna Rice, permanently transforming the media’s scrutiny of candidates’ private lives. | | Mathias Rust — Flight to Red Square (May 28, 1987) | An 18-year-old West German amateur pilot flies a Cessna from Helsinki and lands beside the Kremlin, triggering the largest Soviet military purge since the 1930s. | | Margaret Thatcher’s Third General Election Victory (June 11, 1987) | Thatcher becomes the first British PM since 1820 to win three consecutive elections, securing a 102-seat majority; her third term ends with her resignation in November 1990. | | Klaus Barbie — Convicted of Crimes Against Humanity (July 4, 1987) | Former Lyon Gestapo chief is convicted in France’s first crimes-against-humanity prosecution and sentenced to life imprisonment for the deportation and murder of thousands. | | Rudolf Hess (death, August 17, 1987) | Hitler’s former deputy dies at 93 in Spandau Prison, ending four-power Allied custody and prompting the prison’s demolition. |
See also the master index and timeline.