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William H. Webster

William H. Webster

rightWilliam Hedgcock Webster (born March 6, 1924) was the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1978 to 1987 and director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1987 to 1991. He was a former federal judge who ascended to the CIA after his successful coups against the New York mafia families while director of the FBI under President Jimmy Carter. He was born in St. Louis and received his early education in Webster Groves; he received his bachelor's degree from Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts in 1947 and his Juris Doctor degree from the Law School of Washington University in St. Louis in 1949. After serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II, he joined a St. Louis firm, but left private practice soon after to begin a long and illustrious career in public service. He was a United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri from 1960 to 1961, then a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners from 1964 to 1969. In 1970, Webster was appointed a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and in 1973 he was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Five years later, Webster resigned the judgeship to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1987 he was sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He led the CIA until his retirement from public office in 1991. Since then, Webster has practiced law at the Washington D.C. firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy where he specializes in arbitration, mediation and internal investigation. For his distinguished service, Webster has received numerous honors and awards. Washington University granted Webster the Alumni Citation for contributions to the field of law in 1972 and in 1981 he received the William Greenleaf Eliot Award. In 1999 the School of Law created the Webster Society, an outstanding scholars program. Furthermore, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the university's law school in 1977. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat named him "Man of the Year". Webster has received numerous awards for public service and law enforcement and holds honorary degrees from several colleges and universities. In 1991, he was presented the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Security Medal. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Council of the American Law Institute, the Order of the Coif, the Missouri Bar Integrated and the Metropolitan St. Louis Bar Association. Additionally, he served as chairman of the Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. He is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He served as Co-chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He currently lectures and advises the intelligence community, but is no longer active in the U.S. government. Webster, William H. Webster, William H. Webster, William H. Webster, William H. Webster, William H. Webster, William H.

1924

1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January

- January 7 - Great fire in London harbour
- January 8 - Heavy blizzards in England
- January 10 - British submarine L-34 sinks in the English Channel - 43 dead.
- January 12 - Gopinath Saha shoots a man he erroneously thinks is a Police commissioner of Calcutta, Charles Augustus Tegart - he is arrested soon after
- January 21 - Vladimir Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.
- January 22 - Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister.
- January 23 - Soviet Union officially declares that Lenin died January 21.
- January 25 - The 1924 Winter Olympics open in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
- January 26 - Petrograd (St. Petersburg) is renamed Leningrad.
- January 27 - Lenin is buried in a mausoleum in the Red Square.

February

- February 1 - The United Kingdom recognizes Soviet Union.
- February 1 - Australian Loans Council meets for the first time
- February 4 - Mohandas Gandhi is released prematurely on medical grounds.
- February 5 - GMT: Hourly time signals from Royal Greenwich Observatory are broadcasted for the first time.
- February 8 - Death penalty: The first state execution using gas in the United States takes place in Nevada.
- February 14 - IBM corporation founded.
- February 16-February 26 - Dock strike in US harbors.
- February 22 - Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.

March

- March 1 - Diana Vreeland, fashion editor and columnist, marries Thomas Reed Vreeland at St. Thomas's church in New York.
- March 3 - The 1400-year-old Islamic caliphate is abolished when Caliph Abdul Mejid II of the Ottoman Empire is deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed Turkey of President Kemal Atatürk.
- March 9 - Italy annexes Fiume
- March 25 - Greece proclaims it is a republic.
- March 29 - Government of Raymond Poincaré starts in France.

April

- April 1 - Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years in jail for his participation in the Beer Hall Putsch. However he was only in jail for nine months.
- April 1 - First revenue flight for Belgium's SABENA Airlines.
- April 6 - Fascists win elections in Italy with 2/3 majority.
- April 13 - Referendum in Greece favors the formation of Hellenic Republic.
- April 26 - Harry Grindell Matthews demonstrates his "death ray" in London but fails to convince British War Office
- April 27 - Group of Alawites kill some Christian nuns in Syria – French troops march against them.

May

- May 3 - The Aleph Zadik Aleph, the oldest Jewish youth fraternity, founded.
- May 4 - The 1924 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies held in Paris, France.
- May 10 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head the Bureau of Investigation.
- May 21 - University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a thrill killing.

June

- June 1 - Harry Grindell Matthews returns from Paris to London - he tries to use a Pathe film to demonstrate that his death ray works
- June 2 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
- June 5 - Ernst Alexanderson sends the first facsimile across the Atlantic Ocean (to his father in Sweden).
- June 8 - George Mallory and Andrew Irvine are last seen "going strong for the top" of Mount Everest by teammate Noel Odell at 12:50 PM. The two mountaineers were never seen alive again.
- June 10 - Fascists kidnap and kill Italian socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in Rome.
- June 12 - the Roundout Heist - Six men of Egan's Rats gang rob a mail train in Roundout, Illinois. Robbery is later found to have been an inside job
- June 16 - Whampoa Military Academy is founded.
- June 23 - American airman Russell L. Maughan flew from New York to San Francisco in 21 hours and 48 minutes on a dawn-to-dusk flight in a Curtiss pursuit plane.

August-October

- August 18 - France begins to withdraw its troops from Germany.
- September 9 - Hanapepe Massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii
- September 9 - 8-hour work day in Belgium
- October 2 - The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
- October 19 - Abdul Azis declares himself protector of holy places in Mecca.
- October 22 - Toastmasters is founded.
- October 24 - British Foreign Office publishes Zinoviev Letter.
- October 25 - British authorities in India arrest Subhas Chandra Bose and jail him for the next two and half years

November

- November 4 - Fermin Romo of Wyoming elected as the first woman governor in the United States.
- November 4 - Calvin Coolidge defeats John W. Davis in the U.S. presidential election
- November 19 - In Los Angeles, California, famous silent film director Thomas Ince ("The Father of the Western") dies, reportedly of a heart attack, in his bed (rumors soon surface that he was shot dead by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst).
- November 27 - In the New York City the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.

December

- December 12 - Failed communist takeover attempt in Estonia
- December 24 - Air crash in Croydon air field - 8 dead.
- December 24 - Albania becomes a republic.
- December 30 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.

Unknown date

- Andre Breton founds surrealism, defining it as "pure psychic automatism"
- Voting in federal elections becomes compulsory in Australia
- US bootleggers begin to use Thompson SMGs
- Fritz Haarmann sentenced to death for 27 murders

Births

January-February

- January 2 - Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b. 1834)
- January 3 - Hank Stram, American football coach and broadcaster
- January 6 - Earl Scruggs, American musician
- January 11 - Roger Guillemin, French neuroendocrinologist, recpient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 11 - Sam B. Hall, American politician (d. 1994)
- January 11 - Slim Harpo, American musician (d. 1970)
- January 12 - Olivier Gendebien, Belgian race car driver (d. 1998)
- January 16 - Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
- January 19 - Jean-Francois Revel, French author
- January 21 - Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
- January 26 - Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1998)
- January 27 - Sabu, Indian actor (d. 1963)
- January 29 - Luigi Nono, Italian composer (d. 1990)
- January 30 - Lloyd Alexander, American writer
- February 2 - Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-born producer and musician
- February 17 - Margaret Truman, American novelist
- February 19 - Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
- February 20 - Gloria Vanderbilt, American cosmetics entrepreneur
- February 21 - Robert Mugabe, first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
- February 23 - Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
- February 29 - Al Rosen, baseball player

March-May

- March 1 - Deke Slayton, astronaut (d. 1993)
- March 7 - Kobo Abe, Japanese novelist (d. 1993)
- March 15 - Walter Gotell, German actor (d. 1997)
- March 27 - Sarah Vaughan, American jaz singer (d. 1990)
- March 28 - Freddie Bartholomew, British actor (d. 1992)
- March 30 - Alan Davidson, British author (d. 2003)
- April 1 - Brendan Byrne, Governor of New Jersey
- April 3 - Marlon Brando, American actor (d. 2004)
- April 3 - Doris Day, American actress
- April 4 - Gil Hodges, American baseball player (d. 1972)
- April 7 - Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer
- April 15 - Sir Neville Marriner, English conductor and violinist
- April 24 - Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician
- April 25 - Albert King, American musician (d. 1992)
- May 11 - Antony Hewish, English radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics
- May 12 - Tony Hancock, English comedian (d. 1968)
- May 18 - Priscilla Pointer, American actress
- May 19 - Sandy Wilson, British composer
- May 22 - Charles Aznavour, French singer, actor, and songwriter

June-August

- June 1 - Dr. William Sloane Coffin, American clergyman
- June 3 - Torsten Wiesel, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 12 - George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st United States President
- June 18 - George Mikan, basketball player (d. 2005)
- June 20 - Chet Atkins, American country guitar player (d. 2001)
- June 20 - Audie Murphy, American World War II hero and actor (d. 1971)
- June 27 - Bob Appleyard, English cricketer
- June 29 - Flo Sandon's, Italian singer
- June 29 - Ezra Laderman, American composer
- July 4 - Eva Marie Saint, American actress
- July 5 - Janos Starker, Hungarian cellist
- July 13 - Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor
- July 14 - James W. Black, Scottish pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- July 19 - Stanley K. Hathaway, American politician
- August 1 - Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 2 - John Carroll O'Connor, American actor (d. 2001)
- August 3 - Leon Uris, American writer (d. 2003)
- August 12 - Derek Shackleton, English cricketer
- August 12 - Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, leader of Pakistan (d. 1988)
- August 15 - Robert Bolt, English writer (d. 1995)
- August 23 - Robert Solow, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 28 - Peggy Ryan, American actress (d. 2004)
- August 29 - Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican songwriter (d. 2005)
- August 31 - Buddy Hackett, American comedian and actor (d. 2003)

September-October

- September 2 - Daniel arap Moi, President of Kenya
- September 4 - Joan Aiken, English writer (d. 2004)
- September 8 - Mimi Parent, Canadian painter (d. 2005)
- September 9 - Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist (d. 2003)
- September 11 - Tom Landry, American football player and coach (d. 2000)
- September 19 - Don Harron, Canadian entertainer
- September 22 - Charles Keeping, English illustrator (d. 1988)
- September 22 - Rosamunde Pilcher, English novelist
- October 1 - Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 1 - William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 2005)
- October 10 - Ed Wood, American filmmaker (d. 1978)
- October 11 - Mal Whitfield, American athlete
- October 12 - Doris Grau, American actress (d. 1995)
- October 15 - Mark Lenard, American actor (d. 1996)
- October 21 - Celia Cruz, Cuban singer (d. 2003)

November-December

- November 13 - Motoo Kimura, Japanese population geneticist (d. 1994)
- November 19 - William Russell, British actor
- November 20 - Benoit Mandelbrot, Polish-born mathematician
- November 24 - Mel Patton, American athlete
- November 25 - Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, critic, and philosopher.
- December 2 - Alexander M. Haig, Jr., American politician
- December 25 - Rod Serling, American television screenwriter (d. 1975)
- December 25 - Atal Behari Vajpayee, tenth Prime Minister of India
- December 25 - Moktar Ould Daddah, first President of Mauritania (d. 2003)
- December 28 - Milton Obote, President of Uganda (d. 2005)
- Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, King of Malaysia
- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Deaths

- January 21 - Vladimir Lenin, first leader of the USSR (b. 1870)
- January 24 - Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1894)
- February 3 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)
- April 21 - Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
- May 4 - E. Nesbit, English author (b. 1858)
- May 15 - Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1852)
- May 24 - Victor Herbert, Irish dramatist (b. 1859)
- June 3 - Franz Kafka, Austrian author (b. 1883)
- June 10 - George Mallory, English mountain climber (lost on Mount Everest) (b. 1886)
- June 11 - Théodore Dubois, French composer and teacher (b. 1837)
- July 23 - Frank Frost Abbott, American classical scholar (b. 1860)
- July 27 - Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1866)
- August 3 - Joseph Conrad, Polish-born author (b. 1857)
- August 17 - Pavel Urysohn, Russian mathematician (b. 1898)
- September 15 - Frank Chance, baseball player and manager (b. 1877)
- October 12 - Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
- November 4 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)
- November 29 - Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (b. 1858)
- December 7 - Gene Stratton Porter, American author (b. 1863)
- December 29 - Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- December 31 - Sir Samuel William Knaggs, British civil servant (b. 1856)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Manne Siegbahn
- Chemistry - Bryan Hymer
- Physiology or Medicine - Willem Einthoven
- Literature - Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont
- Peace - Fermin Romo Category:1924 ko:1924년 ms:1924 ja:1924年 simple:1924 th:พ.ศ. 2467

1978

1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar).

Events

January

- January 1 - The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law.
- January 1 - Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay - 213 dead.
- January 4 - Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet.
- January 6 - The Hungarian Holy Crown (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) returned to Hungary from the United States where it was held after World War II.
- January 7 - Emilio Palma is born in Antarctica, making his birth the southernmost in history.
- January 10 - Assassination of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, who had criticized the Nicaraguan government. Riots erupt against Somoza's government.
- January 18 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
- January 19 - Federal Appeals Court Judge William H. Webster appointed as Director of the FBI.
- January 22 - Ethiopia announces the ambassador of West Germany as Persona non grata.
- January 23 - Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays that are thought to damage earth's protective ozone layer.
- January 24 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns in Earth atmosphere and its debris is scattered over Canadian Northwest Territories
- January 28 - Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento", is arrested
- January 30 - Blizzards in the USA kill 90.

February

- February 1 - Film director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
- February 8 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time.
- February 11 - 16 Unification Church couples wed in New York City.
- February 11 - Military mobilization in Somalia due to an apparent Ethiopian attack.
- February 11 - The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
- February 13 - Hilton bombing: A bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two garbagemen, a policeman and several others. Many believe that ASIO was responsible.
- February 15 - Rhodesia's prime minister Ian Smith and three black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule.
- February 15 - Serial killer Ted Bundy is captured in Florida.
- February 16 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
- February 21 - Electrical workers in Mexico City find an Aztec monolith in the middle of the city.

March

- March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland but are recovered 11 weeks later near Lake Geneva.
- March 1 - Broadway play Timbuktu opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.
- March 3 - Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting with the aid Cuban soldiers against Somalian troops in Ogaden.
- March 3 - Rhodesia attacks Zambia.
- March 3 - New York Post publishes an article about David Rorvik's book The Cloning of Man about a supposed cloning of a human being
- March 6 - US porn publisher Larry Flynt is shot and paralysed
- March 11 - Palestinian terrorists on the Tel Aviv Haifa highway kill 34 Israelis.
- March 15 - The United States Senate approves the Panama Canal neutrality treaty; votes to turn the canal over to Panama by the year 2000 on April 18.
- March 16 - Israeli forces invade Lebanon.
- March 16 - Former Italian premier Aldo Moro is kidnapped by Red Brigades, who kill five bodyguards; he is found dead on May 9.
- March 17 - The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz runs aground on the coast of Brittany.
- March 18 - Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is sentenced to death by hanging for ordering the assassination of a political opponent.
- March 22 - Karl Wallenda of the Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- March 24 - The tanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two off Brittany spilling 50,000 metric tons of crude oil.
- March 28 - The US Supreme Court hands down 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.

April

- April 1 - Dick Smith of Dick Smith Foods tows a fake iceberg to Sydney Harbour.
- April 8 - Regular broadcasts of proceedings in British Parliament start.
- April 16 - In Cologne, 15,000 former members of the resistance movement demonstrate against National Socialism.
- April 18 - The US Senate votes 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31 1999.
- April 27 - President of Afghanistan, Daud Khan is killed during a military coup - Mohammed Takain succeeds him.
- April 30 - The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is proclamed, under pro-communist leader Nur Mohammed Taraki.

May

- May 4 - – Communist activist Henri Curiel is murdered in Paris.
- May 5 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3000th major league hit.
- May 8 - Norway opens a natural gas field in the Polar Sea.
- May 9 - In Rome, the body of Aldo Moro, the Italian president of the Christian-Democrats, is found in a parked car.
- May 12-May 13 - Group of mercenaries lead by Bob Denard oust Ali Soilih in the Comoros - 10 local soldiers killed. Denard forms a new government
- May 12 - In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining centre of the province of Shaba. The government of Zaire asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
- May 15 - Students of the University of Teheran riot in Tabriz - an army stops the riot.
- May 17 - Charles Chaplin's coffin is found ten miles from the cemetery it was stolen from, near Lake Geneva.
- May 18 - Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov is sentenced for seven years hard labor for distributing counterrevolutionary material.
- May 18-May 19 - Belgian and French paratroopers fly to Zaire to aid the fight against the rebels.
- May 20 - Mavis Hutchinson, 53, becames the first woman to run across the USA - trek took 69 days.
- May 22 - Exiled leaders Ahmed Abdallah and Mohammed Ahmed return to the Comoros
- May 25 - A bomb explodes in the security section of Northwestern University - security guard is wounded. The first bomb of the Unabomber case.
- May 26 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Resorts International, the first legal casino in the eastern United States, opens.
- May 29 - Ali Soilih is found dead, allegedly shot when trying to escape

June

- June 6 - Californians in referendum approve Proposition 13 for a nearly 60% slash in property tax revenues.
- June 9 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extends the priesthood and temple blessings to "all worthy males," ending a general policy of excluding blacks from priesthood and temples since 1849 (see Blacks and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
- June 12 - Serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam," is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
- June 15 - King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby.
- June 19 - Cricketer Ian Botham becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.
- June 19 - Comic Strip Garfield debuts in newspapers.
- June 21 - An outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and the British Army leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.
- June 22 - Discovery of Charon, a satellite of Pluto, announced.
- June 23 - Josip Broz Tito is named for Yugoslav president for life.
- June 24 - President of Yemen Arab Republic Ahmad al-Ghashmi is killed.
- June 25 - Argentina defeats Netherlands 3-1 after extra time to win the 1978 World Cup.
- June 26 - The bombing of Breton nationalists causes destruction in Versailles.
- June 28 - The Supreme Court of the United States, in the Bakke case, bars quota systems in college admissions but affirms constitutionality of programs giving advantage to minorities.
- June 30 - Ethiopia begin a massive offensive in Eritrea.

July-August

- July 7 - The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.
- July 25 - First human birth, girl Louise Brown, from in vitro fertilization (the test tube baby).
- August 6 - Pope Paul VI dies at age of 80.
- August 7 - United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal.
- August 12 - Sino-Japanese relations: The Treaty of Peace and Friendship is signed between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
- August 15 - Foundation of Mirapuri - The City of Peace and Future Man in Europe, Italy.
- August 17 - Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Preque Isle, Maine
- August 19 - Fire in Rex Cinema in Tehran - 477 dead.
- August 20 - Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al airline bus in London.
- August 20 - In Abadan, Iran, nearly 400 are killed when Muslim extremist arsonists set fire to a crowded theater.
- August 25 - The Shroud of Turin goes on public display for the first time in 45 years.
- August 25 - US Army sergeant Walter Robinson "walks" across the English Channel in 11 hours 30 minutes using homemade water shoes
- August 26 - Albino Cardinal Luciani succeeds Pope Paul VI as Pope John Paul I.

September-October

Pope John Paul I
- September 1 - Dublin Institute of Technology is established.
- September 5 - Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland.
- September 8 - Riots in Teheran - Iranian army troops open fire - 122 dead, 4000 wounded.
- September 11 - The tip of an umbrella poisons Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov, probably on orders of Bulgarian intelligence. He dies four days later.
- September 17 - Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt
- September 19 - British Police launch a massive murder hunt when newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater is shot dead after disturbing a burglary.
- September 25 - PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a small private airplane and crashes in San Diego, California resulting in the death of 144.
- September 28 - Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy.
- October 1 - Vietnam attacks Cambodia.
- October 7 - Wranslide in NSW; the Wran government is re-elected with a increased majority.
- October 8 - Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
- October 10 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
- October 14 - Daniel arap Moi becomes president of Kenya.
- October 16 - Karol Wojtyła becomes Pope John Paul II.
- October 27 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.

November-December

- November 3 - Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- November 5 - Riots and demonstrations in Teheran - the British embassy is sacked.
- November 7 - Indira Gandhi re-elected to Indian parliament.
- November 17 - The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS.
- November 18 - Jonestown mass suicide: In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his People's Temple in a mass murder-suicide; 913 die, including 276 children.
- November 19 - The first US Take Back the Night march occurs in San Francisco.
- November 20 - Military coup in Spain fails.
- November 27 - In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
- November 30 - Publication of The Times suspended - industrial relations problems until November 13 1979.
- December 4 - Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first woman mayor (she served until Friday, January 8, 1988).
- December 11 - Lufthansa heist - Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City's Kennedy airport.
- December 11 - Massive anti-Shah demonstration in Iran - 2 million demonstrators.
- December 13 - First Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation.
- December 15 - Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first major American city to go into default since the Great Depression, under the mayoral administration of Dennis Kucinich.
- December 25 - Vietnam launches a major offensive against the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.
- December 27 - The Spanish Constitution is approved in referendum officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.

Unknown dates

- The Hillside Strangler, a stealthy serial killer, is on the prowl in Los Angeles.
- The Usu volcano erupts in Japan.
- Eagles' Hotel California was nominated for a Grammy award.
- Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was nominated for a Grammy award.
- Artificial insulin is invented.
- David Rorvik claims he has participated in a creation of a human clone in his book In His Image.
- Abortion legalized in Italy for first time.
- Acorn Computers Ltd is founded.
- The Honda Prelude, the car which introduced the world to the VTEC engine and 4-wheel steering, begins production. It would continue for many years before it would be discontinued and replaced with the S2000 and Acura RSX.
- Remove Intoxicated Drivers established.
- Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems established to promote temperance.

Births

January-May

- January 1 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress
- January 3 - Alex Leigh, British model
- January 4 - Dwight Freeney, American football player
- January 9 - Chad Johnson, American football player
- January 14 - Shawn Crawford, American runner
- January 28 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
- February 7 - Ashton Kutcher, American actor
- February 14 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
- February 15 - Tuan Le, American poker player
- February 20 - Jakki Degg, British model
- February 20 - Julia Jentsch, German actress
- February 23 - Dan Snyder, Canadian hockey player (d. 2003)
- February 24 - Janine Machin, English radio presenter
- March 1 - Jensen Ackles, American actor
- March 14 - Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
- March 21 - Kevin Federline, American dancer
- March 22 - Josh Heupel, American football player
- March 23 - Nicholle Tom, American actress
- April 5 - Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
- April 9 - Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer
- April 9 - Rachel Stevens, English singer
- April 16 - Lara Dutta, Indian actress
- May 1 - Matt Lovato, American bassist (Mest)
- May 9 - Marwan al-Shehhi, United Arab Emirates hijacker (d. 2001)
- May 12 - Jason Biggs, American actor
- May 13 - Mike Bibby, American basketball player
- May 13 - Barry Zito, baseball player
- May 21 - Briana Banks, German actress
- May 22 - Jordan, English model

June-September

- June 1 - Danielle Harris, American voice actress
- June 6 - Carl Barat, English singer and guitarist (The Libertines)
- June 8 - Maria Menounos, American actress, journalist, and televison presenter
- June 10 - Shane West, American actor
- June 19 - Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player
- June 22 - Champ Bailey, American football player
- June 22 - Dan Wheldon, English race car driver
- July 9 - Linda Park, Korean-born actress
- July 18 - Ben Sheets, baseball player
- July 21 - Francine Dee, import car model
- July 25 - Gerard Warren, American football player
- August 1 - Edgerrin James, American football player
- August 9 - Audrey Tautou, French actress
- August 19 - Callum Blue, English actor
- August 21 - Reuben Droughns, American football player
- August 23 - Kobe Bryant, American basketball player
- August 24 - Rafael Furcal, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- August 27 - Mase, American rapper
- September 7 - Nora Greenwald, American professional wrestler
- September 11 - Ed Reed, American football player
- September 12 - Ruben Studdard, American singer
- September 20 - Jason Bay, Canadian Major League Baseball player
- September 22 - Harry Kewell, Australian footballer
- September 24 - Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer
- September 25 - Jodie Kidd, English model
- September 29 - Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian singer
- September 30 - Candice Michelle, American professional wrestler and model

October-December

- October 2 - Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
- October 13 - Jermaine O'Neal, American basketball player
- October 14 - Usher Raymond, American musician
- October 20 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
- October 21 - Joey Harrington, American football player
- October 25 - Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer
- October 26 - Antonio Pierce, American football player
- October 27 - Vanessa-Mae, Singaporean musician
- October 29 - Travis Henry, American football player
- November 1 - Manju Warriar, Indian actress
- November 6 - Taryn Manning, American actress
- November 9 - Sisqó, American actor and singer (Dru Hill)
- November 10 - Eve, American rapper
- November 17 - Reggie Wayne, American football player
- November 24 - Katherine Heigl, American actress
- November 25 - Shina Ringo, Japanese singer and musician
- November 30 - Clay Aiken, American singer
- December 1 - Brad Delson, American guitarist (Linkin Park)
- December 2 - Nelly Furtado, Canadian-born singer and songwriter
- December 8 - Ian Somerhalder, American actor
- December 8 - Vernon Wells, baseball player
- December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
- December 18 - Katie Holmes, American actress
- December 23 - Andra Davis, American football player
- December 23 - Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- December 23 - Estella Warren, Canadian swimmer, model, and actress
- December 29 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian actress, dancer, and model

Unknown dates

- Kris Roe, American guitarist and singer (The Ataris)
- Princess Tamara Czartoryski-Borbon, Spanish athlete

Deaths

January-June

- January 13 - Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S Vice President and Senator (b. 1911)
- January 13 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager (b. 1887)
- January 14 - Harold Abrahams, English athlete (b. 1899)
- January 14 - Kurt Gödel, Austrian-born mathematician (b. 1906)
- January 22 - Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (b. 1894)
- January 23 - Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago) (b. 1946)
- January 23 - Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
- February 11 - James B Conant, American chemist and headmaster of Harvard University (b. 1893)
- February 11 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- February 27 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (b. 1912)
- March 18 - Leigh Brackett, American author (b. 1915)
- March 19 - Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893)
- March 21 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, fifth President of Ireland (b. 1911)
- March 31 - Charles Best, American-born medical scientist (b. 1899)
- April 21 - Sandy Denny, English singer (b. 1947)
- May 1 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
- May 9 - Aldo Moro, former Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
- May 14 - Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- May 22 - Joe Colombo, American gangster (b. 1914)
- June 7 - Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)

July-December

- July 30 - Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator (b. 1885)
- August 2 - Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)
- August 6 - Pope Paul VI (heart attack) (b. 1897)
- August 21 - Charles Eames, American architect and designer (b. 1907)
- August 22 - Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman
- August 26 - Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
- September 7 - Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (drug overdose) (b. 1947)
- September 9 - Jack Warner, Canadian film studio founder (b. 1892)
- September 10 - Ronnie Peterson, Swedish race car driver (racing accident) (b. 1944)
- September 11 - Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident (assassinated) (b. 1929)
- September 15 - Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft engineer (b. 1898)
- September 23 - Lyman Bostock, baseball player (murdered) (b. 1950)
- September 26 - Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- September 28 - Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
- October 6 - Johnny O'Keefe, Australian singer (b. 1935)
- October 10 - Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b. 1910)
- November 6 - Harry Bertoia, Italian artist and designer (b. 1915)
- November 15 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
- December 8 - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)
- December 10 - Ed Wood, American filmmaker (b. 1924)
- December 11 - Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- December 27 - Houari Boumédiènne, President of Algeria (b. 1932)

Unknown dates

- Walter C. Alvarez, American physician (b. 1884)
- Pankaj Mullick, Bengali composer and singer (b. 1904)
- Mark A. Shaw, American temperance movement leader and Prohibition Party candidate for vice-president in 1964 (b. ?)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias, Robert Woodrow Wilson
- Chemistry - Peter D. Mitchell
- Medicine - Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith
- Literature -Isaac Bashevis Singer
- Peace - Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin
- Economics - Herbert Simon

Fields Medalists

- Pierre Deligne, Charles Fefferman, Grigory Margulis, Daniel Quillen

Templeton Prize

- Professor Thomas F. Torrance Category:1978 als:1978 ko:1978년 ja:1978年 simple:1978 th:พ.ศ. 2521

1987

1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

- January 1 - Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories, changes its name to Iqaluit. In 1999, it will become the capital of Nunavut.
- January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- January 4 - An Amtrak train en route from Washington, DC to Boston collides with Conrail engines killing 16.
- January 5 - US President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery causing worries about his health.
- January 8 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 2,000 for the first time gaining 8.30 to close at 2,002.25.
- January 13 - New York mafiosi Anthony Salerno and Carmine Peruccia are sentenced for 100 years in prison for racketeering
- January 16 - Leon Cordero, president of Ecuador, is kidnapped by followers of imprisoned general Frank Vargas who successfully demand his release
- January 20 - Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut (released November 1991)
- January 22 - R. Budd Dwyer, Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shoots himself dead at a press conference after being found guilty on charges of bribery, fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.
- January 24 - In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh.
- January 29 - William J. Casey ends his term as a director of CIA
- January 31 - The last Ohrbach's department store closes in New York City after 64 years of operation.

February-May

May
- February 11 - British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
- February 11 - Constitution of the Philippines goes into effect.
- February 11 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- February 12 - Unabomber bomb explodes in Salt Lake City, Utah
- February 20 - Second Unabomber bomb explodes at the Salt Lake City computer store - owner injured
- February 23 - Supernova 1987a is observed, the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604.
- February 26 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
- March 6 - A cross-channel ferry capsizes outside the harbor off Zeebrugge, Belgium - 180 drown
- April 13 - Portugal and China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999.
- April 27 - US Department of Justice declares incumbent Austrian president Kurt Waldheim as an undesirable alien
- May 5 - Assemblies of God defrocks Jim Bakker
- May 8 - Gary Hart drops out of the running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1988 U.S. presidential election, amid allegations of an extra-marital affair with Donna Rice
- May 11 - The first heart-lung transplant takes place (Baltimore, Maryland)
- May 11 - Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II
- May 14 - Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka executes a bloodless coup on the island of Fiji.
- May 17 - Iran-Iraq War: The USS Stark (FFG-31), while patrolling the Persian Gulf, is struck by two exocet missiles from an Iraqi F-1 Mirage fighter killing 37 sailors and injuring 21 other crew members
- May 28 - 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defense and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained and was later released on Wednesday, August 3, 1988.

June-September

- The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues
- July 3 - In Soviet Union, Vladimir Nikolayev is sentenced to death for cannibalism
- July 4 - Court in Lyons sentences Klaus Barbie to life in prison
- July 11 - Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke's government is re-elected for a 3rd term
- July 17 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time at 2510.04.
- July 22 - Palestine cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali is fatally shot in London. He dies August 28
- July 31 - 400 Iranian pilgrims die in clashes with Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca
- August 9- 9 people die and 17 are injured when 19-year-old Julian Knight goes on a shooting rampage in Melbourne.
- August 16 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashes on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport killing all but one of the 156 people on-board (sole survivor was four-year old Cecelia Cichan). The crew forgot to properly set the plane's flaps
- August 17 - The Harmonic Convergence is observed.
- August 17 - Rudolf Hess is found hanging in his cell in Spandau Prison
- August 19 - Order of the Garter opened to women
- August 19 - Hungerford Massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Robert Ryan kills 16 with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
- September 2 - In Moscow, the trial of 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May 1987, begins.
- September 7-September 21 - World's first conference on artificial life, Los Alamos National Laboratory

October

October
- Wednesday-Friday, October 14-October 16 - The US is caught up in a drama that unfolds on television as a young child, Jessica McClure, falls down a well and is later rescued.
- October 15- 16 - Great Storm of 1987: hurricane force winds hit much of the South of England killing 23 people.
- October 19 - Black Monday: stock market falls sharply around the world.
- October 22 - John Coolidge Adams's opera Nixon in China debuts at the Houston Grand Opera in Houston, Texas.
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