Historical Events That Occurred in the Year 1997

• The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
• China announces it will spend $27.7 billion to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
• Withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.
• A Comair Embraer 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29.
• In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
• Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided.
• Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
• Bill Clinton is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
• Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
• Madeleine Albright becomes the first female secretary of state after confirmation by the United States Senate.
• Woman struck with space debris
• Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
• It is revealed that French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.
• Sixth general elections held in Pakistan under 1973 constitution.
• O. J. Simpson is found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
• En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
• After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Miloaevi recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
• The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
• Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
• Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time closing at 7,022.44.
• In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.
• A large fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.
• Scottish scientists announced the successful cloning of a sheep.
• The North Hollywood shootout takes place.
• The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
• President Clinton bans federally funded human cloning research.
• In London, the match-fixing trial of footballers Bruce Grobbelaar, John Fashanu and Hans Segers ends in deadlock with the jury failing to reach verdicts.
• Comet Hale-Bopp directly above the Sun
• "Zeya Start-1" is launched in
• Picasso's painting Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer premieres on the WB network.
• An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
• India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
• In Phoenix, Arizona, the Phoenix Lights, one of the most widely witnessed UFO sightings, take place.
• The Chinese city of Chongqing
• Sandline affair - On Bougainville, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International
• Stuart Appleby wins the Honda Golf Classic.
• The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board. This leads to the grounding of all An-24s.
• Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.
• The comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth.
• Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.
• Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
• Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win golf's Masters Tournament.
• Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.
• Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
• 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 1
• Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
• The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention goes into effect. Russia, Iraq and North Korea were notable nations who had not ratified the treaty.
• The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories.
• Ellen DeGeneres's character comes out of the closet on the sitcom Ellen.
• The Labour Party's Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, ending 18 years of Conservative Party rule. At 44, he is the youngest prime minister for 185 years.
• In Dublin, Ireland, Katrina and the Waves win the forty-second Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom singing "Love Shine a Light".
• A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Shenzhen's Huangtian Airport, killing 35 people.
• An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400 people.
• IBM's Deep Blue chess-playing supercomputer defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player.
• In the 7th inning of a baseball game between the Anaheim Angels and the Chicago White Sox, the Angels score 13 runs.
• Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.
• Mohammad Khatami is elected as President of Iran.
• A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
• Strom Thurmond becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Senate, at 41 years and 10 months.
• The F5-strength Jarrell Tornado slams into the small town of Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.
• The Confederation Bridge opens, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick.
• 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.
• Lionel Jospin becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 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.
• Interleague play begins in baseball, ending a 126-year tradition of separating the major leagues until the World Series
• The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant. [2]
• A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to the death penalty for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; some 50 people killed.
• French musician Jean Michel Jarre's "Oxygene Tour" concert in Spodek
• An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian Space station, Mir.
• The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment.
• Boxer Mike Tyson is disqualified from WBA title re-match, for biting off part of the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield.
• China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.
• The United Kingdom hands sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
• NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.
• NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
• 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.
• In Miami, Florida, serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan guns down Gianni Versace outside his home.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88, closing above 8,000 for the first time.
• The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
• The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
• 8000 low-caste Indians riot in Mumbai
• 8000 low-caste Indians riot in Mumbai
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serb Democratic Party forces President Biljana Plavai to resign.
• The fully restored USS Constitution
• The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.
• Digital Equipment Company files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
• Spree killer Andrew Cunanan commits suicide in the upstairs bedroom aboard a Miami houseboat to avoid capture by the police
• K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit formerly called untouchable to hold this office.
• Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.
• Guatemala becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• A double suicide bombing kills 14 people in Jerusalem,Israel.
• Eighteen lives are lost in the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia.
• Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
• 185,000 Teamsters union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
• Microsoft buys $150 million worth of shares of financially troubled Apple Computer.
• Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228.
• Fine Air Flight 101, a cargo flight from Miami to Santo Domingo crashes onto NW 72nd Ave near Miami International Airport, killing five people.
• South Park debuts on Comedy Central.
• South Park debuts on Comedy Central.
• Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.
• Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.
• The British Rock Group Oasis release album, Be Here Now.
• The British Rock Group Oasis release album, Be Here Now.
• Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
• At least 98 villagers are killed by the GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria.
• Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.
• Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
• A Vietnam Airlines Tupolev TU-134 crashes on approach into Phnom Penh airport, killing 64.
• In Lorain, Ohio, United States, the last Ford Thunderbird rolls off the assembly line.
• At least 87 people killed in the Beni-Messous massacre
• The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, at Westminster Abbey draws large crowds.
• The first test flight of the F-22A Raptor takes place.
• Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
• Hastings Wise murders four at the R.E. Phelon Company lawn mower parts manufacturing factory in Aiken, South Carolina. The only possible motive for the murders was Hastings' dismissal from his job eleven weeks earlier.
• Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
• Hastings Wise murders four at the R.E. Phelon Company lawn mower parts manufacturing factory in Aiken, South Carolina. The only possible motive for the murders was Hastings' dismissal from his job eleven weeks earlier.
• National Stepfamily Day chosen in recognition of founder Christy Borgeld which is held every year on September 16-the day of the birth of her first child. more details
• National Stepfamily Day chosen in recognition of founder Christy Borgeld which is held every year on September 16-the day of the birth of her first child. more details
• U.S. media magnate Ted Turner donates USD $1 billion to the United Nations.
• Voters in Wales vote yes
• Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse agreed to merge to create the world's biggest accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• U.S. media magnate Ted Turner donates USD $1 billion to the United Nations.
• Voters in Wales vote yes
• Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse agreed to merge to create the world's biggest accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.
• Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.
• Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
• Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
• A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234
• An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
• A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234
• An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
• Communications are lost with the Mars Pathfinder for unknown reasons.
• Communications are lost with the Mars Pathfinder for unknown reasons.
• An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.
• The NHL's Carolina Hurricanes win their first-ever regular season game by defeating the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
• Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock
• The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC
• The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
• After a brief civil war which has driven President Pascal Lissouba out of Brazzaville, Denis Sassou-Nguesso proclaims himself the President of the Republic of the Congo.
• The left arms of Chen Ming-Kuo and Yang Chung-ming are amputated by the rope in a 1,500-person tug-of-war contest in Taipei; both arms are successfully reattached later on.
• Basketball player Charles Barkley is charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest after throwing Jorge Lugo through a plate glass window in a dance club in Orlando, Florida.
• Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummets 554.26 points to 7,161.15. For the first time, the New York Stock Exchange activated their "circuit breakers" twice during the d
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points to close at 7,498.32.
• British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.
• 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward, convicted by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, jury of second-degree murder the day before, is sentenced to life in prison.
• US president Bill Clinton speaks at a dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the USA's largest gay rights organisation.
• WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger
• A jury in Fairfax, Virginia finds Mir Aimal Kasi guilty of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993.
• The conviction of 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward reduced from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter and her sentence reduced from life in prison to time served. She had been found guilty less than two weeks earlier in a baby-shakin
• Mary McAleese inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland.
• Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
• In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut
• Gary Glitter is arrested in the United Kingdom on child pornography charges.
• In Des Moines, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive.
• Twenty-five are killed in the second Souhane massacre in Algeria.
• Kosovo Liberation Army, Albanian guerrilla group fighting for freedom of Kosovo, presents in front of the people of Kosovo.
• Solar System lined up and was visible from Earth
• 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.
• A Russian Antonov AN-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
• A chartered Tupolev TU-154 from Tajikistan crashes in the desert near Sharja, United Arab Emirates airport killing 85.
• Typhoon Paka makes landfall on the island of Guam with 150 mph winds.
• The Pokémon episode Electric Soldier Porygon triggers attacks of photosensitive epilepsy in hundreds of Japanese children.
• HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
• Silkair Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
• The film Titanic is released.
• Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
• The Sid El-Antri massacre
• The Dominican Republic becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.
• Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens
• In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people are killed from four villages.
• Quaker Oats settles a lawsuit involving the immoral use of child subjects.

• Townes Van Zandt, American musician
• Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress
• Melvin Calvin, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• Edward Osobka-Morawski, Prime Minister of Poland
• Jesse White, American actor
• Elspeth Huxley, British journalist and writer
• Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, and director
• Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Ennis Cosby, son of entertainer Bill Cosby
• Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer
• Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
• James Dickey, American writer
• Curt Flood, baseball player
• Colonel Tom Parker, American manager of Elvis Presley
• Richard Berry, American composer and musician
• Jeane Dixon, American astrologer
• John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate
• Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist
• Sanford Meisner, American actor
• Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player
• Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat
• Barry Evans, English actor
• Don Porter, American actor
• Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American Physicist
• Emily Hahn, American writer
• Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist leader and revolutionary
• Leo Rosten, American Yiddish writer and humorist
• Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster
• Tony Williams, American jazz drummer
• David Doyle, American actor
• Robert H. Dicke, American experimental physicist
• Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman
• Samm Sinclair Baker, American diet author
• Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana
• Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica
• Rabbi Emanuel Bronner, German-American soap magnate and philosopher
• Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper
• La Vern Baker, American singer
• Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-born director
• Gail Davis, American actress
• Victor Vasarely, Hungarian painter
• Tony Zale, American boxer
• W. V. Awdry, English children's writer
• Lyman Strong Spitzer dies - developed famous space observatories
• Allen Ginsberg, American poet
• Witto Aloma, baseball player
• Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut
• Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese movie producer
• Laura Nyro, American singer and composer
• Michael Dorris, American author
• George Wald, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Dorothy Frooks, American author, publisher, military figure, and actress
• Doris Angleton, American socialite
• Roland Topor, French illustrator
• Allan Francovich, American documentary-film makers
• Eldon Hoke a.k.a. El Duce, American musician
• Denis Compton, English cricketer
• Pat Paulsen, American comedian and politician
• Eugene Stoner, American engineer and weapons designer
• Mike Royko, American columnist
• John Carew Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator & writer, recipient of the 1986 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education
• Walter Gotell, German actor
• Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician
• Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Edward Mulhare, Irish actor
• Jeff Buckley, American musician
• James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist
• Doc Cheatham, American jazz trumpeter
• Dennis James, American television personality
• Ronnie Lane, British bass player with Small Faces and Faces
• Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician
• Bulat Okudzhava, Russian writer and musician
• Richard Jaeckel, American actor
• Lev Kopelev, Russian writer and dissident
• Bobby Helms, American singer
• Lawrence Payton, American singer
• Fidel Velázquez Sánchez, Mexican labor leader
• Gérard Pelletier, French journalist, politician, and diplomat
• Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer
• Don Hutson, American athlete
• Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer, scientist, and inventor
• Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer
• Mrs. Miller, American singer
• Robert Mitchum, American actor
• James Stewart, American actor
• Charles Kuralt, American television reporter
• John Zachary Young, biologist
• Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer
• John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler
• Chuhei Nambu, Japanese athlete
• William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• Ben Hogan, American golfer
• Bao Dai, Emperor of Vietnam
• Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist
• William S. Burroughs, American writer
• Jeanne Calment, the oldest ever human.
• Conlon Nancarrow, American composer
• Conlon Nancarrow, American composer
• Luther Allison, American musician
• Luther Allison, American musician
• Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright and actor
• Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright and actor
• Norris Bradbury, American physicist
• Norris Bradbury, American physicist
• Brandon Tartikoff, American television producer
• Diana, Princess of Wales
• Dodi Fayed, Egyptian-born film producer
• Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager
• Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist
• Aldo Rossi, Italian architect
• Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor
• Mother Teresa, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Zaire
• Burgess Meredith, American actor
• Jack Adkisson, professional wrestler
• Red Skelton, American actor and comedian
• Red Skelton, American actor and comedian
• Rich Mullins, American singer
• Rich Mullins, American singer
• Jean Françaix, French composer
• Jean Françaix, French composer
• Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor
• Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game developer
• Brian Pillman, Professional Wrestler
• John Denver, American singer
• Harold Robbins, American novelist
• Glen Buxton, American guitarist
• Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker
• Don Messick, voice actor
• Anton LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan
• Victor Mills, father of disposable diapers, died
• Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-born historian of ideas
• Helenio Herrera, French football player and manager
• Rodney Milburn, American athlete
• Carlos Surinach, Spanish composer
• André Boucourechliev, French composer
• Eddie Arcaro, American jockey
• Michael Hutchence, Australian singer and songwriter
• Kathy Acker, American author
• Randy Walker
• Audree Wilson, mother of three founding members of The Beach Boys
• Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist
• Shirley Crabtree, British professional wrestler
• Richard Vernon, British actor
• Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer
• Chris Farley, American actor and comedian
• Denise Levertov, English-born poet
• Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director
• Toshirô Mifune, Japanese actor
• Denver Pyle, American actor
• Brendan Gill, American columnist and humorist
• Billy Wright, Irish Protestant paramilitary leader
• Floyd Cramer, American musician
• Michael Kennedy, American politician

• Chloe Moretz, American actress
• Sloane Momsen, American child actress
• Ariel Gade, American child actress
• Billi Bruno, American child actress