1987 in the United Kingdom

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1987 in the United Kingdom:
Other years
1985 \| 1986 \| 1987 \| 1988 \| 1989
British and Irish current events
Sport and Music
1987 English cricket season
Football England \| Scotland
1987 in British music

Events from the year 1987 in the United Kingdom. At the beginning of the year, the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in Lebanon and remained a hostage until 1991. The major political event of this year was the re-election of Margaret Thatcher in June, making her the longest continuously serving Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in the early 19th century. The year was also marked by a number of disasters — the sinking of the ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise, the Hungerford massacre, the "Great Storm", the Remembrance Day Bombing in Northern Ireland and the King's Cross fire.

1 Incumbents
2 Events
3 Publications
4 Births
5 Deaths
6 References
7 See also

[edit] Incumbents

Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher, Conservative

[edit] Events

13 January - Prince Edward quits the Royal Marines just three months after joining.
20 January - Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, disappears in Beirut while negotiating for the release of hostages.^[1]
11 February
- British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.^[2]
- Cynthia Payne is acquitted of controlling prostitutes in her London home.^[3]
26 February - Church of England's General Synod voted to allow ordination of women.^[4]
6 March - British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsized while leaving the harbour of Zeebrugge, Belgium, killing 193 on board.^[5]
30 March - Christie's auction house in London sells one of Vincent Van Gogh's iconic Sunflowers paintings for £24,750,000.^[1]
3 April - The jewellery of the late Wallis, Duchess of Windsor sold at auction for £31 million, six times the expected value.^[1]
16 April - Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appeared in Court charged with gross indecency.^[6]
8 May - Soldiers of the SAS kill eight members of the IRA at Loughgal, County Antrim.^[7]
11 June - The 1987 General Election sees Margaret Thatcher secure her third term in office.^[8]
12 July - £60 million stolen during the Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery.^[9]
22 July - Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali is murdered in London.^[10]
24 July - Novelist and former Conservative MP Jeffrey Archer wins a libel case against The Daily Star over allegations that he was involved in a vice ring.^[11]
31 July
- Attorney General instituted legal proceedings against The Daily Telegraph to prevent it publishing details from the book Spycatcher.^[12]
- The Queen opens the Docklands Light Railway, the first driverless railway in Great Britain, in London.^[13]
6 August - Dr David Owen resigns as leader of the Social Democratic Party after its members vote to merge with the Liberal Party.^[14]
19 August
- Order of the Garter is opened to women.^[15]
- Michael Ryan shoots dead 15 people in the Berkshire town of Hungerford before taking his own life with a rifle.^[16]
21 August - The Hungerford Massacre claims its 16th victim when pensioner Mrs Myrtle Gibbs, whose husband Jack died in the shootings, dies in hospital from her injuries.
27 August - Robert Maclennan replaces David Owen as leader of the Social Democratic Party.^[17]
9 September - 25 Liverpool football fans are extradited to Belgium to face charges of manslaughter in connection with the Heysel Stadium disaster more than two years ago.^[18]
23 September - An Australian court lifts the ban on the publication of Spycatcher.^[19]
11 October - £1 million pound Operation Deepscan in Loch Ness fails to locate the legendary Loch Ness Monster.^[20]
15 October - Following a coup, Fiji becomes a republic with the resignation of the Governor-General.^[21]
15 October–16 October - Hurricane force winds batter much of south-east England, killing 23 people and causing extensive damage to property.^[22]
19 October - Black Monday Wall Street crash leads to £50billion being wiped of the value of shares on the London stock exchange.^[23]
23 October - Retired English jockey Lester Piggott is jailed for 3 years after being convicted of tax evasion.^[24]
25 October - Peugeot begins production of its second car - the 405 four-door saloon - at the Ryton plant near Coventry. The first customers are set to take delivery of their cars after Christmas. A French-built estate version will be launched next year.
5 November - London City Airport opens.^[7]
8 November - Enniskillen bombing: Eleven people killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb at a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen.^[25]
18 November - A fire at Kings Cross on the London Underground kills 31 people.^[26]
December - The British-built Peugeot 405 is European Car of the Year, and Peugeot's first winner of the award for nearly 20 years.
9 December - The England cricket team's tour of Pakistan is nearly brought to a premature end when captain Mike Gatting and umpire Shakoor Rana row during a Test Match.^[1]
15 December - Channel Tunnel construction is initiated, with completion targeted within seven years.^[27]