/born

Born in 1987

People born in 1987 turn 39 in 2026. A dollar in 1987 buys what $2.97 buys in September 2026, and about 5.05 billion people were alive. Every figure below links to the source it came from.

Your birthday in 1987

1987

What things cost in 1987

U.S. average1987in today’s dollarslatest
One dollar$1.00$2.97CPI-U
Gallon of regular gasoline APU000074714$0.95$2.81$4.48
Dozen large eggs APU0000708111$0.78$2.32$2.27
Pound of white bread APU0000702111$0.55$1.62$1.83
Pound of ground beef APU0000703112$1.31$3.88$6.79
Pound of ground coffee APU0000717311$2.79$8.26$9.33
Kilowatt-hour of electricity APU000072610$0.08$0.23$0.20
Median price of a new house sold MSPUS$104,700$310,474$410,700
Median household income MEHOINUSA646N$26,060$77,278$87,460
Federal minimum wage STTMINWGFG$3.35$9.93$7.25

1987 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED.

Who was in charge in 1987

United States
Ronald Reagan (President)
United Kingdom
Elizabeth II (Queen); Margaret Thatcher (Prime minister)
Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary); Andrei Gromyko (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Nikolai Ryzhkov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers)
People's Republic of China
Deng Xiaoping (Paramount Leader); Hu Yaobang, then Zhao Ziyang (General Secretary); Li Xiannian (President)
France
François Mitterrand (President); Jacques Chirac (Prime minister)
East Germany
Erich Honecker (Chairmen of the State Council); Willi Stoph (Chairman)
West Germany
Richard von Weizsäcker (President of West Germany); Helmut Kohl (Chancellor of West Germany)
Japan
Hirohito (Emperor); Noboru Takeshita (Prime minister)
Republic of India
Zail Singh, then R. Venkataraman (President); Rajiv Gandhi (Prime minister)

From Wikipedia’s List of state leaders in the 20th century (1951–2000) (revision 1371751893), each name checked against Wikidata. Every country in 1987 →

No. 1 songs of 1987

  1. “Walk Like an Egyptian” — The Bangles (2 weeks)
  2. “Shake You Down” — Gregory Abbott (1 week)
  3. “At This Moment” — Billy Vera and the Beaters (2 weeks)
  4. “Open Your Heart” — Madonna (1 week)
  5. “Livin' on a Prayer” — Bon Jovi (4 weeks)
  6. “Jacob's Ladder” — Huey Lewis and the News (1 week)
  7. “Lean on Me” — Club Nouveau (2 weeks)
  8. “Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now” — Starship (2 weeks)
  9. “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” — Aretha Franklin and George Michael (2 weeks)
  10. “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” — Cutting Crew (2 weeks)
  11. “With or Without You” — U2 (3 weeks)
  12. “You Keep Me Hangin' On” — Kim Wilde (1 week)
  13. “Always” — Atlantic Starr (1 week)
  14. “Head to Toe” — Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (1 week)
  15. “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” — Whitney Houston (2 weeks)
  16. “Alone” — Heart (3 weeks)
  17. “Shakedown” — Bob Seger (1 week)
  18. “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” — U2 (2 weeks)
  19. “Who's That Girl” — Madonna (1 week)
  20. “La Bamba” — Los Lobos (3 weeks)
  21. “I Just Can't Stop Loving You” — Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett (1 week)
  22. “Didn't We Almost Have It All” — Whitney Houston (2 weeks)
  23. “Here I Go Again” — Whitesnake (1 week)
  24. “Lost in Emotion” — Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (1 week)
  25. “Bad” — Michael Jackson (2 weeks)
  26. “I Think We're Alone Now” — Tiffany (2 weeks)
  27. “Mony Mony” — Billy Idol (1 week)
  28. “(I've Had) The Time of My Life” — Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (1 week)
  29. “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” — Belinda Carlisle (1 week)
  30. “Faith” — George Michael (3 weeks)

Weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with issue dates in 1987, from List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1987 (Wikipedia revision 1362859689).

Famous people born in 1987

  • May 22 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player source
  • January 24 – Luis Suárez, Uruguayan football player source
  • May 15 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player source
  • June 17 – Kendrick Lamar, American rapper source
  • 19 December – Karim Benzema, footballer source
  • February 1 – Ronda Rousey, American martial arts expert, actress and professional wrestler source
  • August 7 – Sidney Crosby, ice hockey player source
  • 3 July – Sebastian Vettel, German racing driver source
  • January 30 – Becky Lynch, Irish professional wrestler source
  • April 19 – Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player source
  • May 23 – Bray Wyatt, wrestler (died 2023) source
  • January 12 – Naya Rivera, actress and singer (died 2020) source
  • January 1 – Meryl Davis, American figure skater source
  • 7 May – Mark Reynolds, footballer source
  • January 26 – Sebastian Giovinco, Italian football player source

What happened in 1987

  • January 15 – Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is forced into retirement by political conservatives. source
  • January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. source
  • January 1: Reflectors on each side of your tires become mandatory when you’re cycling. source
  • January 4 – Televangelist Oral Roberts announces to his viewers that unless they donate $8 million to his ministry by March 31, God will "call [him] home." source
  • June 19 – Teddy Seymour is officially designated the first black man to sail around the world, when he completes his solo sailing circumnavigation in Frederiksted, St. Croix, of the United States Virgin Islands. source
  • January 4 – 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston collides with Conrail engines at Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people. source
  • 23 January – The 1987 South American U-20 Championship begins in Armenia. source
  • January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. source
Everything that happened in 1987 →