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1 – Occupied Palestinians Start First Intifada Against Israel

The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

The uprising began on 9 December 1987, in the Jabalia refugee camp after an Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) truck collided with a civilian car, killing four Palestinians.

A protest movement of resistance and civil disobedience arose, consisting of general strikes, economic boycotts, refusal to pay taxes, and the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the IDF.

Israel deployed over 80,000 soldiers, who killed over 330 Palestinians in the first year, while 12 Israelis were killed.

According to Save the Children, an estimated 7% of all Palestinians under 18 years of age suffered injuries from shootings, beatings, or tear gas.

Over the next six years, the IDF killed as many as 1,200 Palestinians, with up to 30,000 Palestinian children requiring medical treatment from IDF beatings.

100 Israeli civilians and 60 IDF personnel were killed, with more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and 1,700 soldiers injured.

Violence among Palestinians was also a prominent feature of the Intifada, with an estimated 822 Palestinians executed as alleged Israeli collaborators by April 1994.

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Israeli prime minister and vowed to pursue a peace process, freezing new Israeli settlements in the occupied territory, leading to the Intifada being called off after five years.

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Oslo, Norway, led to the signing of the historic Oslo Accords, on 13 September 1993.

It called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and Jericho and the establishment of a Palestinian government with authority over much of the West Bank.

Despite attempts by extremists on both sides to sabotage the peace process, the Israelis completed their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho in May 1994.

In July, Yasser Arafat entered Jericho to the jubilation of Palestinians and established the Palestinian Authority.

In 1995, Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist at a peace rally in Tel Aviv, leading to the peace process stalling under his successors.

The ensuing Second Intifada took place from September 2000 to 2005.

2 – IRA Bomb Attack in Enniskillen

The Enniskillen bombing (also known as the Remembrance Day bombing) took place on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh,  Northern Ireland.

A Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb exploded near the town’s war memorial during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony, which was being held to commemorate the British military war dead.

Ten, mostly elderly, civilians and a police officer were killed, along with 63 people who were injured.

The IRA said it was a mistake and that its intended target had been British soldiers parading to the memorial.

The bombing was roundly condemned by all sides and undermined support for the IRA and Sinn Féin.

It also played a part in the passing of the Extradition Act, making it easier to extradite IRA suspects from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom.

Loyalist paramilitaries responded with revenge attacks on Catholic civilians.

The Enniskillen bombing is often seen as a turning point in the Troubles, energizing efforts of Irish nationalists looking for a political solution to the conflict.

3 – The Alianza Lima Air Disaster

The Alianza Lima air disaster took place on 8 December 1987, when a Peruvian Navy aircraft chartered by Peruvian football club Alianza Lima plunged into the Pacific Ocean six miles short of its destination.

There were a total of 44 people on board, including players, coaching staff, and crew members. Only the pilot survived the accident. The team had been returning from a Peruvian league match.

The pilot had requested a flyby of the control tower at Lima’s International Airport so that spotters could confirm the aircraft’s landing gear was down and locked, as the indicator was malfunctioning.

Having received visual confirmation of safe configuration for landing, the aircraft went around for another attempt at landing, during which it flew too low, crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

Following the crash, the Peruvian Navy shut itself off from the press, and did not release the results of its investigation nor did it allow private investigations to take place.

It was not until 2006 that a Peruvian television program revealed that the results of the official inquiry had been concealed by the Peruvian Navy.

It cited the pilot’s lack of experience flying at night and the aircraft’s poor mechanical condition as contributing factors to the accident.

The Peruvian Football Federation chose not to end the football season early, despite the loss of the majority of Alianza’s team.

The club played their last few matches with retired volunteers, and players loaned by Chilean club  Colo-Colo, while Peruvian legend Teófilo Cubillas played for free.

Alianza would struggle to compete for the following decade, having lost most of their star team, and were almost relegated the year after the disaster.

However, they went on to win the league title again in 1997, ending an 18-season drought.

4 – First Rugby World Cup Takes Place

In 1985, a proposal for a Rugby World Cup successfully passed 10–6. Australia, France, New Zealand, and South Africa voted for the proposal, with Ireland and Scotland voting against it.

English and Welsh delegates were split, with one from each country for and one against.

The inaugural World Cup in 1987, did not involve any qualifying process. The 16 places were filled by the seven eligible World Rugby member nations, and the rest by invitation.

South Africa was unable to compete because of the international sporting boycott due to apartheid.

Argentina, Fiji, Italy, Canada, Romania, Tonga, Japan, Zimbabwe, and the United States were invited to compete.

The USSR refused the invitation on political grounds, while Western Samoa was controversially excluded, despite having a better playing standard than some of the invited teams.

The inaugural tournament, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, was held in May and June 1987.

New Zealand became the first-ever world champions, defeating France 29–9 in the final.