1987 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1987 in the United Kingdom.

1987 in the United Kingdom
Other years
1985 | 1986 | 1987 (1987) | 1988 | 1989
Constituent countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Popular culture

The major political event of this year is the re-election of Margaret Thatcher in June's general election, making her the longest continuously-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since Lord Liverpool in the early 19th century. The year is also marked by six disasters: the 1987 United Kingdom and Ireland cold wave, the sinking of the ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise, the Hungerford massacre, the "Great Storm", the Remembrance Day bombing and the King's Cross fire.

Incumbents

edit

Events

edit

January

edit

February

edit

March

edit

April

edit

June

edit

July

edit

August

edit

September

edit

October

edit
  • October – Construction work begins on the extension to the M40 motorway between Oxford and Birmingham. It is hoped that the motorway, providing an alternative route to the M6 and M1 from the Midlands to London as well as improving road links with the Midlands and the South Coast ports, will be fully operational by 1990.[36]
  • 1 October
  • 9 October – Margaret Thatcher tells the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool that she wants to continue as Prime Minister until 1994 and the age of 69, which would make her Britain's oldest Prime Minister since Harold Macmillan in 1963. She is already three months away from becoming Britain's longest-serving Prime Minister this century, exceeding the previous record set by H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party more than 70 years ago, but will be forced by her party to resign in 1990.
  • 11 October – £1,000,000 Operation Deepscan in Loch Ness fails to locate the legendary Loch Ness Monster.[40]
  • 15–16 October – Great storm: Hurricane force winds batter much of south-east England, killing 23 people and causing extensive damage to property.[41] Two days after the end of the storm, some 250,000 homes in the region will still be without electricity.
  • 19 October
    • Black Monday: Wall Street crash leads to £50,000,000,000 being wiped of the value of shares on the London stock exchange.[42]
    • Glanrhyd Bridge collapse: A train runs off the end of a bridge that has collapsed into the River Towy in Wales due to flooding, killing four people.
  • 23 October – Retired English jockey Lester Piggott is jailed for three years after being convicted of tax evasion.[43]
  • 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.

November

edit
  • November – The first acid house raves are reported in the United Kingdom, many of them being in derelict buildings.
  • 1 November – British Rail establishes a world speed record for diesel traction, 148.4 mph (238.9 km/h) with a test InterCity 125 formation between Darlington and York.[44]
  • 2 November – Peter Brooke succeeds Norman Tebbit as Chairman of the Conservative Party.
  • 3 November – It is announced that unemployment in Britain fell quicker during October than in any other European country.
  • 5 November – London City Airport opens.[11]
  • 8 November – Enniskillen bombing: Eleven people are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb at a Remembrance Day service in Enniskillen.[45]
  • 11 November – Customs officers in Southampton seize more than £50,000,000 worth of cocaine – the most expensive haul of the drug ever found in the UK.
  • 12 November – Unemployment has fallen to 2,700,000 (just under 10% of the workforce), the lowest level of unemployment recorded in Britain for over six years.
  • 17 November
    • The Government announces that the Poll tax (community charge) to fund local government will be introduced in England and Wales in April 1990.
    • Fireman Sam, a children's television series about a fireman voiced and narrated by John Alderton, debuts on BBC1.[46]
  • 18 November – King's Cross fire: A fire on an escalator at King's Cross station on the London Underground kills 31 people.[47]
  • 19 November – Conservative support has reached 50% in a MORI poll for the first time.[15]
  • 24 November – The Government announces that eye tests will no longer be provided free of charge by the National Health Service.

December

edit
  • December – The British-built Peugeot 405 wins the European Car of the Year award, the first Peugeot to be given the title for nearly 20 years. British sales begin in the new year, several months after it was launched in France.
  • 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.[2]
  • 15 December – Channel Tunnel construction is initiated, and it is expected to open in 1993 or early-1994[48] (in the event, it will be mid to late 1994).
  • 17 December – A year that has seen an excellent performance for the British economy ends with unemployment reported to have fallen below the 2,700,000 mark; having started the year in excess of 3,000,000.
  • 25 December – ITV enjoys a record breaking audience when more than 26,000,000 viewers tune in for the Christmas Day episode of Coronation Street, in which Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) makes her final appearance on the show after 23 years.
  • 29 December – The Kylie Minogue single "I Should Be So Lucky" is released by PWL. Australian Minogue, 19, of maternal Welsh heritage, is already hugely popular with British audiences for her role in the TV soap Neighbours which debuted on the BBC fourteen months ago.
  • 31 December – 31 British and Belgian people are recognised in the New Year Honours for heroism shown in the rescue operation at the Zeebrugge Disaster earlier in the year.[49]

Undated

edit
  • Inflation remains low for the sixth year running, standing at 4.2% for 1987.[50]
  • Largest ever deficit to date on UK balance of payments.
  • With overall unemployment falling below 3,000,000, youth unemployment is now below the 1,000,000 mark.[51]
  • Overall economy growth for the year reaches 5.5% – the highest since 1963.[52]

Publications

edit

Births

edit

Deaths

edit

January

edit
 
Heather Thatcher
 
Victor Goddard

February

edit
 
Donald MacCrimmon MacKay

March

edit
 
Patrick Troughton

April

edit
 
Hermione Gingold

June

edit
 
Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort

July

edit
 
Ernest Achey Loftus

August

edit
 
Douglas Byng

September

edit
 
Christopher Soames
 
Emlyn Williams

October

edit
 
Madeleine Carroll
 
Jacqueline du Pré

November

edit
 
Duncan Sandys

December

edit
 
John H. Humphrey

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "1987". Those were the days. Wolverhampton: Express & Star. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  3. ^ "The History Of The British Airways Museum – 1987". Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Mrs Payne is no brothel Madam". BBC. 11 February 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Synod says 'yes' to women priests". BBC. 26 February 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  6. ^ "Hundreds trapped as car ferry capsizes". BBC. 6 March 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  7. ^ "1987: 30 hurt as car bomb hits Army base". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC News. 23 March 1987.
  8. ^ "How Princess Diana changed attitudes to Aids". BBC News. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Teachers carry on working". The Times. No. 62738. 9 April 1987. p. 3. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  10. ^ "MP on gay sex charges". BBC. 16 April 1987. Archived from the original on 18 July 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  11. ^ a b Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 453–454. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  12. ^ Stamp, Gavin (9 September 2016). "The unhappy fate of Christopher Wren's City churches". Apollo. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Marriage: legitimacy and adoption". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  14. ^ "FA Cup Final 1987". Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  15. ^ a b c "BBC News – Poll tracker: Interactive guide to the opinion polls". news.bbc.co.uk.
  16. ^ "Thatcher wins record third term". BBC. 11 June 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  17. ^ "Goal.com's Top 50 English Players: Peter Beardsley (31)". Goal.com.
  18. ^ "Flying Squad foils £80m robbery". BBC. 18 May 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  19. ^ "Great British airline ready for take off". BBC. 16 July 1987. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Cartoonist shot in London street". BBC. 22 July 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  21. ^ "Archer wins record damages". BBC. 24 July 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  22. ^ "Rick Astley – Overview". allmusic. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  23. ^ "Biography". Mike Stock Music. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  24. ^ "Biography". Rickastley.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  25. ^ "Our history". Eurotunnel. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010.
  26. ^ "Docklands Light Railway (D.L.R.)". Exploring 20th Century London. Archived from the original on 15 March 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  27. ^ "Newspaper caught in Spycatcher row". BBC. 31 July 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  28. ^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 614–616. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
  29. ^ Harwood, Elain (2003). England: a Guide to Post-War Listed Buildings (rev. ed.). London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8818-2.
  30. ^ "Gunman kills 14 in Hungerford rampage". BBC. 19 August 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  31. ^ "Massacre toll rises to 16 as two more victims die". The Glasgow Herald. 22 August 1987. p. 3. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  32. ^ "Information about the Order of the Garter, the most senior British order of chivalry". The Official website of the British Monarchy. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  33. ^ "Maclennan replaces Owen in SDP". BBC. 27 August 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  34. ^ "Liverpool fans to stand trial in Belgium". BBC. 9 September 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  35. ^ "Ban lifted on MI5 man's memoirs". BBC. 23 September 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  36. ^ "M40: Waterstock (J8A) to Umberslade (M42–J3A)". The Motorway Archive. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  37. ^ "The Origins of Black History – An Interview with Akyaaba Addai-Sebo", Black History Month, 20 February 2017 (interviewer Kubara Zamani; first published in New African magazine).
  38. ^ "Territorial Sea Act 1987". Statutelaw.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  39. ^ Everett, Adam (25 October 2017). "Then and Now: IKEA Warrington marks 30 years since 'bedlam' of store's opening day". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  40. ^ "Search ends for Loch Ness monster". BBC. 11 October 1987. Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  41. ^ "Hurricane winds batter southern England". BBC. 16 October 1987. Archived from the original on 24 May 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  42. ^ "Shares plunge after Wall Street crash". BBC. 19 October 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  43. ^ "Lester Piggott jailed for three years". BBC. 23 October 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  44. ^ Balkwill, Richard; Marshall, John (1993). The Guinness Book of Railway Facts and Feats (6th ed.). Enfield: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-707-X.
  45. ^ "Bomb kills 11 at Enniskillen". BBC. 8 November 1987. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  46. ^ Shuttleworth, Peter (17 November 2017). "Happy 30th birthday Fireman Sam" – via www.bbc.com.
  47. ^ "King's Cross station fire 'kills 27'". BBC. 18 November 1987. Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  48. ^ "Our history". Eurotunnel. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  49. ^ "Zebrugge heroes honoured". BBC On This Day. BBC. 31 December 1987. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  50. ^ "Inflation: the Value of the Pound 1750–1998" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  51. ^ Bowater, Donna (16 November 2011). "Youth unemployment reaches 1986 levels". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  52. ^ "UK GDP since 1955". Datablog. The Guardian.
  53. ^ "Olympedia – Gemma Gibbons". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  54. ^ Cutruzzola, Annemarie (30 January 2017). "Happy Birthday, Phil Lester". CelebMix. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  55. ^ "Songwriter/Composer: Mumford Marcus Oliver Johnstone". Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  56. ^ "A 'Tudors' tutorial". New York Daily News. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  57. ^ "Dover's Soul Sensation Joss Stone". Devon Soul. 16 October 2004. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  58. ^ 1987 in the United KingdomFIFA competition record (archived)
  59. ^ "William Moseley". AllMovie. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  60. ^ "Amy Oliver - Olympic Archery | Great Britain". International Olympic Committee. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  61. ^ Georg Predota (20 July 2022). "On This Day 20 July: Nicola Benedetti Was Born". Interlude. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  62. ^ Adam Welch (July 2010). "Augustus Prew - Interview Magazine". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 16 June 2014.