- January 7
- French airplanes harass Libyan positions in Duadi Doum. [1]
- January 8
- Dow Jones Industrial Index closes above 2,000 for first time (2,002.25). [83] [905.29]
- January 9
- Chinese/Vietnamese border fights, 1500 killed. [1]
- New Nicaraguan constitution takes effect. [1]
- January 12
- Britain's Prince Edward resigns from his Royal Marines training. [1]
- January 13
- West German police arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi, suspect in 1985 hijacking. [1]
- January 16
- Leon Cordero, president of Ecuador, is kidnapped by followers of imprisoned General Frank Vargas Pazzos, who successfully demand his release. The Presdident is released after 12 hours capticity when the Vice President orders the release of Pazzos. [83] [877.58]
- January 17
- US President Ronald Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran. [1]
- January 20
- Shiite Muslims in Beirut, Lebanon kidnap Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite (released November 1991). [1] [83] [129]
- January 22
- 27-year old Glen Tremml pedals the ultralight aircraft Eagle over Edwards Air Force Base, California, for a human-powered flight record of 37.2 miles. [5]
- January 23
- Japan first exceeds military spending cap of one percent of gross national product (US$23 billion). [1]
- January 24
- In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. [83]
- January 25
- West Germany holds parliamentary elections. The CDU/CSU gets 44.3% of the vote, the SPD 37%, the FDP 9.1% and the Green Party 8.3%. The CDU/CSU coalition continues with the FDP. Helmut Kohl (CDU) continues as chancellor and Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) as vice chancellor and foreign minister. [37]
- January 26
- In Japan, Enix releases the Dragon Quest II video game for the Famicom. (About 2.3 million copies are sold.) [9]
- In Algeria, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurs. [53]
- January 28
- US Foreign minister George Shultz meets African National Congress-leader Oliver Tambo. [1]
- February 2
- Philippines adopts constitution. [1]
- February 9
- Brownsville, Texas is deluged with seven inches of rain in just two hours; flooding in some parts of the city is worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967. [83]
- February 10
- Philippine troops murder 17 civilians-Lupao Massacre. [1]
- February 11
- British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange. [1] [83]
- Philippines' new constitution goes into effect. [1] [83]
- February 19
- Reagan lifts trade boycott against Poland. [1]
- February 21
- Syrian army marches into Beirut, Lebanon. [1]
- February 23
- Russian Writers Union accepts Boris Pasternak posthumous as member. [1]
- Supernova 1987A in LMC first seen; first naked-eye supernova since 1604. [1] [83]
- February 26
- USSR resumes nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- March 2
- Apple Computer introduces the expandable Macintosh SE, and open architecture Macintosh II with color graphics. [4]
- American Motors Corporation is acquired by the Chrysler Corporation. [83]
- March 4
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses the American people on the Iran-Contra Affair, acknowledging that his overtures to Iran had 'deteriorated' into an arms-for-hostages deal. [83]
- March 6
- In the Colombia - Ecuador border region, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs. Approximately 1,000 people killed, 4,000 missing, 20,000 homeless, extensive damage in Ecuador. About 27 km of the oil pipeline in Ecuador destroyed or badly damaged. [1] [53]
- British ferry boat Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in the English Channel outside the harbor off Zeebrugge, Belgium; 192 passengers and crew die of 543 on board. Waves cascaded through bow doors that had been mistakenly left open. [83] [879.54] [906.8]
- March 10
- The Vatican expresses formal opposition to test-tube fertilization and embryo transfer. [1]
- March 12
- Les Miserables opens at Broadway/Imperial theater in New York City for 4000+ performances. [1] [5]
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- Canadian government announces it would begin tracking down and persecuting war criminals in Canada from World War II. [879.14]
- March 19
- Hassanali inaugurated as President of Trinidad and Tobago. [1]
- March 20
- FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment). [1]
- Soviet filmmakers arrive in Hollywood for an entertainment summit. [1]
- March 23
- US offers military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf. [1]
- West Germany SPD chairman Willy Brandt resigns. [1]
- March 27
- President Habré's troops reconquer Faya Largeau, Chad. [1]
- March 29
- Wrestlemania III is held in Pontiac, Michigan; a record crowd of 93,173 watch Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant. [1] [83]
- Yitzhak Shamir re-elected chairman of right wing Herut Party in Israel. [1]
- March 30
- Christie's in London England auctions Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting for record £22.5M (US$39.7 million) to an anonymous buyer. [1] [880.30]
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