WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO OCTOBER 1987
Find out what all happened February to October 1987

The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people. (21. April 1987)

Start of Operation Pawan by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka that killed thousands of ethnic Tamil civilians and hundreds of Tamil Tigers & Indian Army soldiers. (11. October 1987)

The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues "fairly". (4. August 1987)

Basque separatist group ETA commits one of its most violent attacks, in which a bomb is set off in a supermarket, Hipercor, killing 21 and injuring 45. (19. June 1987)

Hashimpura massacre in Meerut, India. (22. May 1987)

Lynne Cox becomes first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union (7. August 1987)

A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage. (31. July 1987)

Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 70 ethnic Tamil patients, doctors and nurses. (21. October 1987)

The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds killing 193. (6. March 1987)

Iran-Contra affair: start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America (5. May 1987)

American engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contras in northern Nicaragua. (28. April 1987)

Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff. (26. February 1987)

The 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. He is immediately detained and will not be released until August 3, 1988. (28. May 1987)

Televangelist Jim Bakker resigns as head of the PTL Club due to a brewing sex scandal; he hands over control to Jerry Falwell. (19. March 1987)

Fiji becomes a republic. (6. October 1987)

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 crashes after take off in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus 2 people on the ground. (16. August 1987)

In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. (4. July 1987)

Black Monday - the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points. (19. October 1987)

The Central African Republic's former Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule. (12. June 1987)

Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. (12. June 1987)