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1997 occurs as common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.
Designations
International organizations, including a United Nations, designated 1997 when a International Year of the Reef.
Events
January
January 5 - NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time
January 8 - Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore found alive five years when his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean
January 16 - Ennis Cosby, the simply boy of actor Bill Cosby, is killed by the gunman when changing the flat tire around Los Angeles, California
January 18 - In northerly west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill Three Spanish help workers, Trey soldiers & seriously wound 1 more.
January 19 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than Xxx years & joins celebrations all over a handover of the endure Israeli-controlled West Bank city
January 20 - Bill Clinton starts his second term when President of the United States
January 21 - Newt Gingrich becomes the number 1 leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for honorable misconduct
January 22 - Madeleine Albright becomes the number one female secretary of state when confirmation per United States Senate.
January 23 - Mir Aimal Kasi receives the dying phrase for the 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed 2 and injured leash others.
January 27 - It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were purloined by Nazis.
January 28 - Clive Davis receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
February
February 4
O. J. Simpson is found in civil court to be liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims
In their way to Lebanon two Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide killing 73
When initially contesting a resolutions, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections
February 5
A then-alleged "Big Three" banks inside Switzerland announce the creation of the $71 million fund to help Holocaust survivors and their families
Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
February 6 - British Diane Blood wins a right to use the sperm cell of her dead married man to have a child
February 9 - The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running off prime-instance animated series.
February 10 - The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct
February 10 - Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville - the Sandline affair goes public
February 11 - Bill Parcells becomes head coach of New York Jets.
February 13
Tune-higher & repair act on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery
A Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
February 19 - The previous of the People's Republic of China's major revolutionaries, Deng Xiaoping dies at 92, this was followed by weeks of mourning for the leader.
February 22 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an grownup sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned and was born within July 1996.
February 23 - A big fire occurred in the Russian Space station, Mir.
March
March 1 - Osaka Dome opens in Chiyozaki, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Japan.
March 4 - United States President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research in human cloning.
March 6 - Picasso's Tete de Femme is stolen from either the London gallery (it was recovered a week late).
March 6 - In Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill further than 200
March 10 - The home base of Fuji TV moves from Kawadacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan to Odaiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
March 11 - An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-subordinate radioactive contamination in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
March 12 - Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old boy, Ennis Cosby.
March 13 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
March 16 - Sandline affair - On Bougainville, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International
March 18 - The fanny of the Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing a plane to crash killing 100% Fifty in board & late the grounding of a lot An-24s.
March 21 - In Zaire, Etienne Tshiksekedi is appointed new prime minister - he ejects supporters of [[Mobutu Sese Seko] from his cabinet
March 21 - Mercenaries of Sandline International withdraw from Papua New Guinea
March 22 - 14 year, 10 month old Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.
March 24 - Roberto Sanchez Vilella, the second Democratically Elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 84.
March 26
Thirty-nine bodies found in Heaven's Gate cult suicide.
Survey of a claimed gold site of Bre-X Minerals in Indonesia reveals it is worthless; Bre-X complains and accuses Internet rumours.
March 26 - Julius Chan resigns as a prime minister of Papua New Guinea - the Sandline affair ends
April
April 3 - Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
April 11 - Fire damages Turin Cathedral in Italy
April 14
Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, seven miles form Mecca - 343 dead
Former SS captain Erich Priebke is retried. On July 22 he is sentenced for five years in prison
April 16 - Houston, Texas socialite Doris McGowen Beck Angleton is murdered in her River Oaks home. Roger Nicholas Angleton admits to the crime in the suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury, he later gets arrested by the Department of Justice for similar charges.
April 18 - The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing 2 billion USD in damage.
April 21 - First space burial, carrying the remains of 24 people on a Pegasus rocket into earth orbit.
April 22 - Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
April 22 - A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru ends after government commandos storm and capture the building rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, two soldiers are killed from rebel fire and all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain
April 22 - France supports new transitional government for Zaire, withdrawing its support of Mobutu
April 22 - In Lima, Peru, after four-month standoff, government troops storm the Japanese ambassador's residence - they release 71 hostages and kill one hostage and 14 captors
April 23 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
April 27 - Andrew Cunanan murders Jerffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and terminate with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
April 31 - Mobutu and Laurent Kabila meet aboard South African warship Outenigus with Nelson Mandela and United Nations envoy Mohammad Sahnoun. They do not reach agreement
May
May 1
Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality
The UK's Labour Party end 18 years of Conservative rule in the 1997 UK general election
HM Prison Pentridge in Melbourne, Australia is officially closed
May 2 - Tony Blair appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
May 10 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400
May 11 - IBM's Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a chess World champion in a match.
May 12
Barnes and Noble Inc. filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com, a day before Amazon launched its initial public offering.
The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty signed.
May 14 - The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International and United Airlines
May 14 - Laurent Kabila does not attend a second meeting with Mobutu
May 16- Mobutu Sese Seko leaves Kinshasa (eventually settles in Morocco)
May 16 - US President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and their families, 25 years after the 40 year "study" was exposed by reporter Jean Heller.
May 17 - Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa
May 22 - Women in the military: Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial
May 25
Strom Thurmond becomes the longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months)
A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
May 27 - A strong tornado hits in Jarrell, Texas killing 27 people. It was the second deadliest tornado of the 1990s (see Jarrell Tornado).
May 31 - Official opening of the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge spanning ice covered waters.
June
June - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
June 2 - Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 5 - Kim Hyun Chul, son of Kim Young Sam, president of South Korea, is charged with bribery and corruption related to the awarding of government contracts
June 6 - Melissa Drexler kills her newborn baby in a toilet
June 7 - A computer user known as "_eci" published his Microsoft C source code on a Windows 95 and Windows NT exploit, which would later become WinNuke. The source code gets wide distribution across the internet, and Microsoft is forced to release a security patch.
June 7 - The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 games in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals.
June 10 - Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen's family members before Pol Pot flees his northern stronghold (the news did not reach outside Cambodia for three days)
June 11 - The British House of Commons votes for a total ban on handguns
June 12 - The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant
June 13 - A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to the death penalty for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
June 16 - Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; some 50 people killed.
June 19 - Fast food chain McDonald's won a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the McLibel case, against two environmental campaigners. The judge decided it was true that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting company's restaurants.
June 25 - An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian Space station, Mir.
July
July 1 - The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China
July 4 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
July 5 - In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup
July 8 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage
July 8 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999
July 10 - In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neandertal skeleton which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago
July 13 - The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial alongside some of his other comrades
July 15 - Serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida residence.
July 16 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88. It is the Dow's first close above 8,000. The Dow has doubled its value in 30 months.
July 17 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business
July 21 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years
July 22 - The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
July 23 - Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel
July 25 - K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalits caste to hold this office.
July 27 - Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.
August
August 1 - Boeing and McDonnell Douglas complete merger.
August 2 - Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver is rescued as the sole survivor from the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia, in which 18 lives were lost.
August 3 - Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
August 4 - 185,000 Teamsters union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
August 6 - Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
August 13- The animated American TV series South Park is aired.
August 20 - Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.
August 26 - Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
August 26 - The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning set up in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.
August 29 - Rais massacre in Algeria; over 98 (and possibly up to 400) people killed.
August 29 - Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky is bludgeoned to death by serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz. Angel also rapes and beats Christopher's girlfriend, who survives. This is the first of a string of murders that Angel commits.
August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales is taken to a hospital after a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 the next morning.
September
September 3 - Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
September 4 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird for three years rolls off the assembly line.
September 5
Beni-Messous massacre in Algeria; over 87 killed.
The IOC picks Athens to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics
Death of Mother Teresa
September 6 - The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey, watched by over 1 billion people worldwide.
September 7 - First test flight of the F/A-22 Raptor.
September 11 - Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England
September 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: An Iraqi military officer attacks an UNSCOM weapons inspector on board an UNSCOM helicopter while the inspector was attempting to take photographs of unauthorized movement of Iraqi vehicles inside a site designated for inspection
September 15 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
September 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: While waiting for access to a site, UNSCOM inspectors witness and videotape Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and dumping waste cans into a nearby river
September 18 - Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly
September 19 - Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.
September 21 - The AIS, the FIS' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria.
September 22 - Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
September 25 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspector Dr. Diane Seaman catches several Iraqi men sneaking out the back door of an inspection site with log books for the creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals.
September 26 - 234 die in air crash in Indonesia. Probable cause is the smoke rising from numerous forest fires in the area
October
October 1 - The main office of Kansai TV moves from Nishi-Temma, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan to Ogimachi, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. Luke Woodham walked into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi and opened fire killing two girls, after earlier in the morning killing his mother.
October 2 – UK scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge with their colleagues independently show that the new variant form of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is the same disease as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad-cow disease"
October 4 - One million men gather for Promise Keepers' Stand in the Gap event in Washington DC.
October 12 - Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock.
October 15 - Andy Green sets the first supersonic land speed record for the ThrustSSC team, led by Richard Noble of the United Kingdom. ThrustSSC goes through the flying mile course at Black Rock Desert, Nevada at an average speed of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph).
October 27 - Stock markets around the world crash because of a global economic crisis scare. The Dow Jones Industrial Average follows suit and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15. The points loss exceeds the loss from Black Monday. Officials at the New York Stock Exchange for the first time invoke the "circuit breaker" rule to stop trading (this was a very controversial move and prompted a quick change in the rule; trading stops will only occur when the DJIA drops at least 10 or 20 percent) (see October 27, 1997 mini-crash).
December 27 - Irish Loyalist leader Billy Wright assassinated at the Maze prison
October 28 - The bulls come running back as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 to 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.
October 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq says it will begin shooting down U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors
October 30 - British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.
November
November 3 - In France, striking truck drivers blockade ports during a dispute over pay
November 10
Telcoms WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a US$37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom (the largest merger in US history).
A jury in Fairfax, Virginia finds Mir Aimal Kasi guilty of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993.
November 11
Mary McAleese is elected the eighth President of Ireland
The last Pentium 586 MMX cpu (233 MHz) made. (until the Pentium II)
November 12 - Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
November 16 - After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
November 17 - In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut (police killed the assailants)
November 19 - In Carlisle, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive.
November 20 - Boeing 727 of Portuguese TAP airline crashes just before landing in Funchal airport in Madeira - 123 dead
November 27 - Second Souhane massacre in Algeria; 25 killed.
December
December 1 - Michel Carneal fires at students in West Paducah, Ky - 3 dead, five wounded.
December 3 - In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
December 16 - An episode of Pokemon (called Electric Soldier Porygon) in Japan caused 685 children to have epileptic seizures.
December 24 - Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria; 50-100 villagers killed.
December 27 - Loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison.
December 29 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
December 30 - In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997, 400 people are killed from four villages in the wilaya of Relizane: Khrouba (176 deaths), Sahnoun (113 deaths), El-Abadel (73 deaths), and Ouled-Tayeb (50 deaths). Six days later they would be followed by another set of local massacres.
December 31 - After 26 years in operation, Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee closed to the public.
Unknown Dates
Miami police arrests Russian criminal who tries to sell a Russian submarine to the Columbian drug cartels
The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger in December 1997.
The Toyota Prius comes to showrooms, only in Japan. The Prius was the first hybrid vehicle to go into full production. The Prius would come to US showrooms in 2000.
Fictional Events
August 29: Judgment Day in the Schwarzenegger movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Births
Deaths
January-May
January 10 - Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, director
January 17 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
January 19 - James Dickey, American poet and novelist (b. 1923)
January 20 - Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
January 21 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch born American celebrity manager (b. 1909)
February 1 - Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)
February 2 - Chico Science, Brazillian musician (automobile accident) (b. 1967)
February 5 - Pamela Harriman, U.S. Ambassador to France
February 11 - Don Porter, actor.
February 19 - Deng Xiaoping, leader of the People's Republic of China
February 20 - Edmond Yu, medical student
March 7 - Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
March 7 - Martin Kippenberger, german artist
March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G., rapper (b. 1972)
March 10 - La Vern Baker, singer
March 12 - Egil Harder, Danish composer (b. 1917)
March 14 - Fred Zinnemann, director
March 19 - Willem de Kooning, artist
March 20 - Tony Zale, boxer
April 5 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
April 7
Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut
Witto Aloma, Major League Baseball player (b. 1923)
April 16 - Doris Angleton, American socialite
May 5 - Walter Gotell, actor
May 14 - Harry Blackstone Jr., magician
May 23 - James Lee Byars, modern artist (b. 1932)
May 24 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
May 29 - Jeff Buckley, musician (accidental drowning)
June-August
June 3 - Dennis James, game show host. (b. 1917)
June 22 - Gérard Pelletier, French journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1919)
June 24 - Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
June 26 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (b. 1959
June 28 - Mrs. Miller, American singer (b. 1907)
July 2 - James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
July 4 - Charles Kuralt, American television reporter (b. 1934)
July 15 - Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (murdered) (b. 1946)
July 20 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler (b. 1949)
July 23 - Chuhei Nambu, Japanese athlete (b. 1904)
July 24 - William J. Brennan, American Judge (b. 1906)
August 2
William S. Burroughs, American author (b. 1914)
Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and political activist (b. 1938)
August 4 - Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian oldest documented human being of all time (b. 1875)
August 8 - Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian born Soviet pianist (b. 1915)
August 10 - Conlon Nancarrow, American born Mexican composer (b. 1912)
August 12 - Luther Allison, American musician (b. 1939)
August 24 - Louis Essen, English physicist (b. 1908)
August 29 - Christopher Maier, American murder victim (b. 1976)
August 31
Dodi Al-Fayed, (automobile accident) Egyptian businessman (b. 1955)
Diana, Princess of Wales, (automobile accident), (b. 1961)
September-December
September 2 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian opera singer and manager (b. 1902)
September 5 - Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor (b. 1912)
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