Timeline October 1987

Events in October 1987 6

• 1906 – 1987 Madeleine Carroll (1906-1987) English actress, Hitchcock's first great blonde in The 39 Steps, who gave up film to nurse wounded soldiers.
• 1987 Fiji declared a republic Military coups end Fiji's status as a Commonwealth realm Following two military coups led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka earlier in the year, Fiji was declared a republic, severing its ties to the British monarchy. The coups were driven by tensions between indigenous Fijians and the Indo-Fijian community. Fiji was subsequently suspended from the Commonwealth.
• 1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine as the sole recipient for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity. He was the first Japanese scientist to win a Nobel Prize in the medical sciences.
• 1987 Madeleine Carroll dies in Marbella Madeleine Carroll dies aged 81.
• 1987 Great Storm of 1987 batters Britain and France Unforecast hurricane-force winds kill 22 in England An unforecast extratropical cyclone brought hurricane-force winds across southern England and northern France overnight, felling an estimated 15 million trees. The storm killed 22 people in England and caused billions of pounds in damage. It became notorious after a BBC weather forecast had dismissed rumours of an approaching hurricane.
• 1987 Black Monday — first crisis, decisive response On 19 October 1987 — Black Monday — the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 22.6% in a single day, the largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history. Greenspan, in office for just two months, responds the following morning with a one-sentence statement: 'The Federal Reserve, consistent with its responsibilities as the Nation's central bank, affirmed today its readiness to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system.' The statement prevents a bank run. Markets stabilise within days. Greenspan's calm, decisive response establishes his authority immediately.