• Monarch: Louis I
• Prime Minister: José Luciano de Castro

• 6 March – Portuguese legislative election, 1887
• 1 December – Signing of the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking, when sovereignty over Macau was surrendered to Portugal, or as in the Chinese interpretation, only administrative rights were transferred

• 7 March – Cyril Wright (rugby union), rugby player (died 1960)
• 21 March – Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal, prince (died 1908)
• 17 May – Froilano de Mello, microbiologist (died 1955)
• 14 November – Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, painter (died 1918)
• 18 December – Artur Carlos de Barros Basto, military officer (died 1961)

• 19 October – José Rodrigues, painter (born 1828)
• 11 November – Manuel Inocêncio Liberato dos Santos, musician (born 1802).^[1]

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• Fontes Pereira de Melo, statesman, politician, and engineer (born 1819)