- Apr 3 Bill Elliott sets NASCAR qualify record of 212.809 mph at Talladega
- Apr 3 Cubs trade Dennis Eckersley to A's for 3 minor leaguers
- Apr 3 Duchess of Windsor's jewels auctioned for £31,380,197
- Apr 3 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Apr 4 Dow Jones up 69.89 points, ending at record 2,390.34 pts
- Apr 4 141st Grand National: Jockey Steve Knight wins his second GN aboard 28/1 shot Maori Venture by 5 lengths from The Tsarevich
Event of Interest
Apr 4 "Always & Forever" 2nd studio album by Randy Travis (Billboard Album of the Year 1988)
Randy Travis
Golf Major
Apr 5 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Betsy King wins the first of her 6 major titles in a sudden-death playoff with Patty Sheehan, with a par on the 2nd extra hole
Betsy King
Patty Sheehan
- Apr 5 Fox TV network premieres showing "Married With Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show"
Event of Interest
Apr 5 Wayne Gretzky wins 7th straight NHL scoring title
Wayne Gretzky
Music Awards
Apr 6 22nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams Jr, Randy Travis, and Reba McEntire win
Hank Williams Jr
Reba McEntire
Randy Travis
Event of Interest
Apr 6 Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Sugar Ray Leonard
- Apr 6 Al Campanis appears on TV program Niteline saying Blacks may not be equipped to be in baseball management, sparking a racial controversy
- Apr 7 National Museum of Female Physicians opens in Washington, D.C.
- Apr 7 Al Campanis, Dodger executive for more than 40 years, resigns, after making racial remarks on "Nightline"
- Apr 9 For 3rd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in a Stanley Cup game and passes Jean Béliveau as all time playoff scoring champ
- Apr 11 Yankees score 12 runs in 7th inning vs KC Royals
- Apr 11 Zoja Ivanova wins 2nd female World Cup marathon (2:30:39)
US Masters Golf
Apr 12 51st US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Larry Mize chips-in from 140 feet for an improbable birdie 3 on the 2nd playoff hole to beat Greg Norman for his only major title
Greg Norman
- Apr 12 Ahmed Salah wins 2nd World Cup marathon (2:10:55)
- Apr 12 Texaco files for bankruptcy
- Apr 12 CBS' premiere of fact-based World War II drama "Escape from Sobibor"
- Apr 13 1st 3 San Diego Padres hit HRs off SF starter Roger Mason
- Apr 13 Portugal signs agreement to return Macau to China (in 1999)
- Apr 14 Turkey asks to join European market
- Apr 15 "Barbara Cook: A Concert" opens at Ambassador NYC for 13 performances
- Apr 15 Alfred Uhry's "Driving Miss Daisy" premieres in NYC
- Apr 16 August Wilson's "Fences" wins 1987 Pulitzer Prize for drama
- Apr 16 FCC imposes a broader definition of indecency over airwaves
- Apr 16 Howard Stern & Infinity Broadcasting are warned by FCC
NBA Record
Apr 16 Michael Jordan becomes the second NBA player in history to score 3000 points in a season
Michael Jordan
- Apr 16 Peter Taylor's "Summons to Memphis" wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction
- Apr 16 Pulitzer prize awarded to August Wilson for "Fences"
- Apr 16 British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with gross indecency
Event of Interest
Apr 17 Julius Erving becomes 3rd NBA (and ABA) player to score 30,000 points
Julius Erving
Baseball Record
Apr 18 Mike Schmidt hits 500th home run (vs Robinson-Pirates)
Mike Schmidt
- Apr 18 Pat Knauff, France sets 1-leg downhill ski speed record (115.012 mph)
- Apr 18 Gregory Robertson does 200-mph free fall to save unconscious skydiver near Coolidge, Arizona
- Apr 19 Brendon Kuruppu scores 201* on Test Cricket debut (Sri Lanka v NZ)
- Apr 19 Brewers score 5 runs in 9th to win 6-4 & record 12th straight AL win
- Apr 19 Jacqueline Blanc, sets women's downhill ski speed rec (124.902 mph)
- Apr 19 LA Clippers end season with a terrible 12-70 record
- Apr 19 Last wild condor captured on California wildlife reserve
- Apr 19 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Apr 20 91st Boston Marathon: Toshihiko Seko of Japan wins 2nd title in 2:11:50; Rosa Mota of Portugal claims women's event in 2:25:21; her first of 3 race victories
- Apr 20 Sri Lankan Civil War: Tamils shoot 122 Sinhalese dead
- Apr 20 US deports Karl Linnas to USSR, charged with Nazi war crimes
- Apr 21 Brewers lose, ending AL season-opening winning streak at 13 games
- Apr 21 Dow Jones Average soared 664.7; 2nd biggest one-day gain in history
- Apr 21 Milwaukee Brewers lose after 13th straight victory to start season
Event of Interest
Apr 21 Richard Hadlee makes highest Test Cricket score of 151* (v Sri Lanka)
Richard Hadlee
Event of Interest
Apr 24 Howard Stern holds a free speech rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, NYC
Howard Stern
- Apr 26 "Barbara Cook: A Concert" closes at Ambassador NYC after 13 performances
Event of Interest
Apr 27 US Justice Department bars Austrian Chancellor Kurt Waldheim from entering US, due to his aid of Nazi Germany during WW II
Kurt Waldheim
- Apr 28 NBA announces expansion to Charlotte NC & Miami Fla in 1988 & Minneapolis Minn & Orlando Fla in 1989
- Apr 28 American engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contras in northern Nicaragua.
- Apr 28 NFL Draft: University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first pick by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Event of Interest
Apr 29 Chicago Cub Andre Dawson hits for cycle
Andre Dawson
Event of Interest
Apr 30 NY Islander Mike Bossy plays his final game
Mike Bossy