From left, clockwise: themovie set ofTitanic highest-grossing movie in history at the time;Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Comet Hale-Bopp passes byEarth and becomes one of the most observedcomets of the20th century ;Golden Bauhinia Square , wheresovereignty ofHong Kong ishanded over from theUnited Kingdom to thePeople's Republic of China ; theCentral European flood kills 114 people in theCzech Republic ,Poland , andGermany ;Korean Air Flight 801 crashes during heavyrain onGuam , killing 229;Mars Pathfinder Sojourner Mars ; flowers left outsideKensington Palace following thedeath of Diana, Princess of Wales , in a car crash inParis . Calendar year
1997 by topic Subject By country Lists of leaders Birth and death categories Establishments and disestablishments categories Works category
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1997 .
1997 (MCMXCVII ) was acommon year starting on Wednesday of theGregorian calendar , the 1997th year of theCommon Era (CE) andAnno Domini 2nd millennium , the 97th year of the20th century , and the 8th year of the1990s decade.
Calendar year
March 4 – U.S. PresidentBill Clinton bans federal funding for any research onhuman cloning .March 7 – InSri Lanka , theTamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill over 100 Sri Lankan troops.March 9 – American rapperThe Notorious B.I.G. ismurdered inLos Angeles .March 13 March 16 –Sandline affair : OnBougainville Island inPapua New Guinea , soldiers of commanderJerry Singirok arrestTim Spicer and hismercenaries of theSandline International .March 18 – The tail of a RussianAn-24 charter planebreaks off while en route to Turkey , causing the plane to crash, killing all 50 on board, and resulting in the grounding of all An-24s.March 21 – InZaire ,Étienne Tshisekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters ofMobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.March 22 – TheComet Hale–Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth.March 24 – The69th Academy Awards , hosted byBilly Crystal , are held at theShrine Auditorium inLos Angeles , withThe English Patient Best Picture . During the event, theDVD format is launched in the United States.March 24 –26 – InSan Diego , 39Heaven's Gate cultists commitmass suicide at their compound.March 26 –Julius Chan resigns as prime minister of Papua New Guinea, effectively ending theSandline affair .[ 8] May 1 –Tony Blair becomesPrime Minister of the United Kingdom , as theLabour Party wins the1997 United Kingdom general election and returns to government for the first time in 18 years.[ 11] May 3 –Katrina and the Waves win theEurovision Song Contest 1997 for the United Kingdom with "Love Shine a Light ".May 9 – The first genetically modified three-parent baby is born.[ 12] May 10 – The 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake strikes easternIran with a maximumMercalli intensity of X (Extreme ). At least 1,567 were killed and 2,300 were injured.May 11 –IBM 'sDeep Blue defeatsGarry Kasparov in thelast game of the rematch, the first time a computer beats achess World champion in a match.May 12 May 15 – The United States government acknowledges existence of the"Secret War" in Laos (1953 –1975 ) during theVietnam War , and dedicates theLaos Memorial in honor ofHmong and other "Secret War" veterans.[ 13] May 16 May 17 – Troops ofLaurent Kabila march intoKinshasa .May 21 –Radiohead releaseOK Computer May 23 May 25 – Amilitary coup inSierra Leone replaces PresidentAhmad Tejan Kabbah with MajorJohnny Paul Koroma .May 27 – Thefourth-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits inJarrell, Texas , killing 27 people and causing extreme damage in the Double Creek Estates.May 31 – The 13-kilometerConfederation Bridge , the world's longest bridge spanning ice-covered waters, opens betweenPrince Edward Island andNew Brunswick , Canada.June 1 June 2 – InDenver ,Colorado ,Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995Oklahoma City bombing .June 10 –Khmer Rouge leaderPol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief,Son Sen , and 11 of Sen's family members, before Pol Pot flees his northern stronghold.June 11 – In the United Kingdom, theHouse of Commons votes for atotal ban onhandguns .June 13 – A jury sentencesTimothy McVeigh todeath for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.June 16 – About 50 people are killed in theDaïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria.June 21 – The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA ) plays its first game atThe Great Western Forum in Los Angeles.[ 15] June 25 June 26 –Bertie Ahern is appointed as the 10thTaoiseach of theRepublic of Ireland andMary Harney is appointed as the 16th, and first female,Tánaiste , after their parties,Fianna Fáil and theProgressive Democrats respectively, win the1997 General Election .July – The1997 Central European flood occurs across Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.July 1 – The United Kingdomhands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.July 2 – The Bank of Thailand floats thebaht , triggering theAsian financial crisis .[ 16] July 4 –NASA 'sPathfinder space probe lands on the surface ofMars .July 5 July 8 –NATO invites theCzech Republic ,Hungary , andPoland tojoin the alliance in1999 .July 10 – In London, scientists report theirDNA analysis findings from aNeanderthal skeleton, which support theout of Africa theory ofhuman evolution , placing an "African Eve " at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.July 11 –Royal Jomtien Resort Hotel fire atPattaya ,Thailand 's worst hotel fire, kills 90.July 13 – The remains ofChe Guevara are returned toCuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades.Guevara and his comrades were executed on October 91967 inBolivia .July 15 –Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designerGianni Versace dead outside Versace'sMiami Beach residence.July 17 – TheF. W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.July 25 –K. R. Narayanan is sworn in as India's 10th president and the first member of theDalit caste to hold this office.July 27 – About 50 are killed in theSi Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.July 30 – 18 people are killed in theThredbo landslide in theSnowy Mountains resort in Australia.August 3 – Between 40 and 76 villagers are killed in theOued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria.August 3 –11 – Two of the three islands of theUnion of the Comoros –Anjouan andMohéli – attempt to revert to colonial rule by France. The plan fails when the French government of PresidentJacques Chirac refuses to recolonize them, resulting in the two islands being reintegrated into the Comoros over the next two years.August 4 –Jeanne Calment , the verified oldest person to have ever lived, dies at 122 years and 164 days.August 6 –Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands west ofGuam International Airport , resulting in the deaths of 228 people.August 13 –Trey Parker andMatt Stone 'sanimated television comedyseries ,South Park , started broadcasting with the first episode,Cartman Gets an Anal Probe , onComedy Central .August 20 – More than 60 are killed, 15 kidnapped in theSouhane massacre in Algeria.August 26 August 29 August 31 –Death of Diana, Princess of Wales :Diana, Princess of Wales , is taken to a hospital after a car accident shortly after midnight, in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 am.[ 18] October 1 –Luke Woodham walks into Pearl High School inPearl, Mississippi andopens fire , killing two girls, after killing his mother earlier that morning.October 2 – British scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge, with their colleagues, independently show that the new variant form of theCreutzfeldt–Jakob disease is the same disease asBovine spongiform encephalopathy .October 3 – ThePresident of Paraguay ,Juan Carlos Wasmosy , orders the arrest of political opponentLino Oviedo .October 10 – Uruguay's worst air disaster occurs whenAustral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 crashes nearNuevo Berlín , killing all 74 on board.[ 23] October 12 –Sidi Daoud massacre : 43 are killed at a false roadblock in Algeria.October 15 October 16 – The first color photograph appears on the front page ofThe New York Times [ 24] October 17 – The remains ofChe Guevara are laid to rest with full military honours in a specially builtmausoleum in the city of Santa Clara,Cuba , where he had won thedecisive battle of theCuban Revolution 39 years before.October 22 – Danish escaped criminalSteen Christensen robs the Hotel Palace in Helsinki, Finland, killing two police officers while evading capture.[ 25] [ 26] October 29 –Iraq disarmament crisis : Iraq says it will begin shooting downLockheed U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors.November 2 –Severe Tropical Storm Linda devastates southernVietnam andThailand , killing 3,275 people.[ 27] November 11 – Telecom companiesWorldCom andMCI Communications announce a US$37 billion merger to formMCI WorldCom , the largest merger in U.S. history.November 12 –Mary McAleese is elected the eighthPresident of Ireland in succession toMary Robinson , the first time in the world that one woman has succeeded another as electedhead of state .November 13 –Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the1993 World Trade Center bombing .November 17 – InLuxor ,Egypt ,62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside theTemple of Hatshepsut .November 19 – InDes Moines, Iowa , Bobbi McCaughey gives birth toseptuplets in the second known case where all seven babies are born alive, and the first in which all survive infancy.November 27 –NASA 'sTropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is launched, the start of the satellite component of theClouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System .December 1 – In the Indian state ofBihar ,Ranvir Sena attacks theCPI(ML) Party Unity stronghold Lakshmanpur-Bathe,killing 63 lower caste people .December 3 – InOttawa, Ontario , Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign atreaty prohibiting the manufacture and deployment of anti-personnelland mines . However, the United States, the People's Republic of China, Russia, South Korea and 32 other nations do not sign and/or ratify the treaty.December 10 – The capital ofKazakhstan is moved fromAlmaty toAstana .December 11 – TheKyoto Protocol is adopted by aUnited Nations committee .[ 28] December 15 – Microsoft releases Windows 98 Beta 3December 16 – InJapan , over 700 children sufferepileptic attacks after watchingan episode of thePokémon anime.December 19 December 21 –Brazil beatsAustralia 6–0 in theConfederations Cup final .December 24 – 50–100 villagers are killed in theSid El-Antri massacre in Algeria.December 27 –Ulster loyalist paramilitary leaderBilly Wright is assassinated inNorthern Ireland , insideLong 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 deadlyInfluenza A virus subtype H5N1 strain.December 30 –Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997 : In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, 400 people from four villages in thewilaya of Relizane^ "Turkey hints at strike on Cypriot missiles" .The Independent . October 23, 2011. Archived fromthe original . RetrievedMarch 8, 2021 .^ "Arafat arrives in Hebron for 'victory' celebration" .CNN World News . January 19, 1997.Archived from the original on December 29, 2021. RetrievedDecember 29, 2021 .^ "Biography: Madeleine Korbel Albright" . Office of the US Secretary of State. Archived fromthe original on February 4, 2016. RetrievedJuly 9, 2010 .^ Miller, Marjorie (February 5, 1997)."Israeli Helicopters Collide in Midair; 73 Soldiers Killed" .Los Angeles Times .ISSN 0458-3035 .Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 2, 2018 . ^ Amir, Noam; Hashavua, Maariv (February 5, 2016)."Israel remembers 73 soldiers who died in helicopter disaster 19 years ago" .The Jerusalem Post .Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. RetrievedFebruary 2, 2018 . ^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database.NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information .doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K Archived March 10, 2022, at theWayback Machine ^ Aeronautics and Space Report of the President ... Activities . National Aeronautics and Space Council. 1996. p. 1.^ "Papua New Guinea Head Steps Down After Mutiny" .New York Times . March 26, 1997.Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. RetrievedDecember 29, 2021 .^ "More than 80 Algerians killed in weekend massacres" .CNN Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2024 .^ Lara Santoro (April 17, 1997)."Ex-Nazi's Trial Opens Up Italy's Fascist Past" .Christian Science Monitor .Archived from the original on December 29, 2021. RetrievedDecember 29, 2021 . ^ "The Election. The Statistics. How the UK voted on May 1st" .BBC Politics 97 . BBC News.Archived from the original on March 24, 2015. RetrievedJuly 8, 2020 .^ "DocGuide" . DocGuide.Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. RetrievedNovember 25, 2015 .^ "Laos, Hmong Veterans of Vietnam War Honored At National Ceremonies" .Businesswire . May 13, 2013. RetrievedMay 13, 2024 .^ 130 looters die in fire during Indonesian riot – CNN Archived 2012-04-06 at theWayback Machine . Articles.cnn.com (1997-05-25). Retrieved on 2011-06-12.^ Voepel, Mechelle (June 16, 2016)."Twenty seasons later, a look back at WNBA's first game" .ESPN.com .Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. RetrievedOctober 7, 2019 . ^ Joseph E. Stiglitz,The roaring nineties: a new history of the world's most prosperous decade (WW Norton & Company, 2004) pp 12–16. ^ Pogue, David (January 25, 2007)."A Stream of Movies, Sort of Free" The New York Times ISSN 0362-4331 .Archived from the original on March 22, 2016.^ "Series of Real-Time Reports involving the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales" . Emergency. 1997. Archived fromthe original on May 7, 2008. RetrievedDecember 9, 2018 .^ Longman, Jere (September 6, 1997)."Athens Wins a Vote for Tradition, and the 2004 Olympics" .The New York Times .Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2017 . ^ Chang, Suna; Holmes, Anna (December 26, 1997)."Take a look back at Princess Diana's impact on 1997" .Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on January 1, 2014. RetrievedMay 14, 2018 . ^ "53 die in Algerian massacre" . Daily Dispatch. September 22, 1997. Archived fromthe original on February 27, 2005. RetrievedMay 11, 2017 .^ "Church of St Olaf" . Archived fromthe original on July 20, 2011.^ Accident description for McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 LV-WEG Nuevo Berlin at theAviation Safety Network . Retrieved on 26 May 2011.^ Higginbotham, Will (October 4, 2018)."When the Gray Lady Started Wearing Color" .The New York Times .Archived from the original on November 25, 2022. RetrievedNovember 25, 2022 . ^ Larros, Heini; Suhonen, Pete (November 27, 1998)."Steen Christensen: Pyövelin puheenvuoro" .City-lehti (in Finnish).Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 24, 2021 . ^ Palmén, Tiia (June 19, 2016)."Poliisisurmat järkyttivät Suomea 1997 – kaksi poliisia ammuttiin kadulle" .Iltalehti Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 24, 2021 . ^ Joint Typhoon Warning Center (2001)."1997 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report" (PDF) . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on June 6, 2011. RetrievedMarch 22, 2010 . ^ "7 .a Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" .UN Treaty Database . Archived fromthe original on October 8, 2018. RetrievedNovember 27, 2014 .
