Flashback: June 1987

High school is ovah for us! Outside of all our glee, and maybe some sorrow, the following events occurred in the world this month:

• President Ronald Reagan famously demands Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
• With the first pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, the Seattle Mariners select high school standout Ken Griffey, Jr.
• Danny Harris beats Edwin Moses and ends Moses' nine year streak of 122 consecutive high hurdle race wins.
  
• The Lakers beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals to win their fourth championship of the 1980's.
  
• Margaret Thatcher wins a third consecutive term as Britain's Prime Minister.
  
• The media dubbed "Subway Vigilante", Bernhard Goetz, is acquitted for the shooting of four young black men who had tried to rob him.

No.1 Pop Songs for June 1987

According to Billboard™, they were "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Kim Wilde, "Always" by Atlantic Starr, "Head to Toe" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston.

All in all, a pretty crappy month in Top 40 pop music.

Senior Class of 1987

First page of the Senior Class section from the yearbook that year. I actually remember eleven of these people, including Jared Klumker and Tina Okawa (in the big non-portrait picture down in the corner).



Update: The guy in the middle in the first row of pics.

Flashback: May 1987

The feeling of anticipation is in the air as graduation is fast approaching. Meanwhile, here's some stuff that happened while we were all making plans to party like it was...uh...8 years ago.

• U.S. Senator Gary Hart withdraws from the Democrat Party presidential primary amidst reports that he had an extra-marital affair with a 29 year old model named Donna Rice.
• Film director John Landis is acquitted of all criminal charges for the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children during the filming of "The Twilight Zone" movie.
• Tom Cruise, age 24, marries Mimi Rogers, age 31.
  
• Edith Stein aka Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a Jewish born Catholic nun who died in the Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz, is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

WTF?!

I wonder if 1987 was the first time SI ever chose a Sportsman of the Year for non-sports related achievements. I'd also be curious to know if '87 was the first time SI ever used a name other than "Sportsman of the Year" for its award. Inquiring minds want to know!

Flashback: April 1987

Ah, yes, spring was in the air, and we were in the home stretch toward the prom and graduation.

Outside in the real world 20 years ago, the following significant things occurred this month:

• China and Portugal signed an agreement in which political control of Macao would be handed back to China in 1999.
• The last wild condor is captured on a California wildlife reserve.
• Legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich dies.
• April 15, 1987 marked the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
• Al Campanis resigns as L.A. Dodgers general manager after making controversial statements in a nationally televised interview about how blacks may not be equipped to be in baseball management.

A Tree Falling in a Forest with Nobody Around

Lots of demand for the Class of '87 yearbook. (Not)