1987 in history
Here are some light-hearted facts about 1987, designed to serve as a prep sheet for a radio feature on 1987.
I created this page because when I needed some notes to create a few talking points about 1987 in Ireland I couldn't find any suitable sources, so I thought I'd share what I did find. It applies to 1987 in Britain too.
You can also look at years other than 1987:
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1987
A General Election was won by Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives, beating Neil Kinnock's Labour albeit with a reduced majority.
It was the Great Storm: hurricane-force winds battered much of south-east England, killing 23 people and causing extensive damage to property. Weatherman Michael Fish was famously misquoted as saying "don't worry".
Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Out Run was the most successful arcade game of the year.
Bike shorts started to become fashionable.
Black Monday saw the stock market plunge.
1987 Launches
The first British IKEA opened in Warrington.
Disposable contact lenses were invented.
1987 in Film
Beverly Hills Cop II was the biggest film of the year.
Other big films include Fatal Attraction, Three Men and a Baby, Married with Children and Lethal Weapon.
Robocop, Dirty Dancing and Planes Trains and Automobiles were also released.
1987 in TV
Big TV shows of the year (not premiers): A Question Of Sport, Wish You Were Here, It'll Be Alright On The Night, Don't Wait Up, Family Ties and Cheers.
The Chuckle Brothers graced our screens for the first time in ChuckleVision. It ran for 21 series.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was launched as a cartoon.
Full House, Going Live!, Going for Gold, ThunderCats, 21 Jump Street and Inspector Morse were new on TV.
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie.
A Children In Need special created the idea for Challenge Anneka.
ALF was first shown in the UK and Ireland, and Through The Keyhole launched as a spin-off.
The first The Simpsons cartoon short was shown on The Tracey Ullman Show.
1987 in Ireland
The Irish National Lottery was launched.
RTÉ introduced its Aertel teletext service.
Roddy Doyle published his first novel, The Commitments.
Charles Haughey replaced Garret FitzGerald as an Taoiseach.
Car number plates were changed to show the year and the county.
While these facts about 1987 have been checked against third-party sources (and have been used on air before!), they are provided in good faith to inspire your research and no guarantee is made about their accuracy or their uniqueness. You can use the facts however you wish: most people just take a couple of points they remember and talk around then.
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