Directory

1997 CE

Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999. The International Olympic Committee picks Athens, Greece, to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 19 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. (→ Hebron Agreement)source
  • January 23 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State of the United States, after confirmation by the United States Senate.source
  • February 2 – 1997 Liechtenstein general election: The Patriotic Union remains the largest party and wins a majority of 13 seats in the Landtag.source
  • March 21 – In Zaire, Étienne Tshisekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.source
  • April 29 – The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), CWC treaty enters into force.source
  • May 1 – Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as the Labour Party wins the 1997 United Kingdom general election and returns to government for the first time in 18 years.source
  • May 16 – First Congo War ends when president Mobutu Sese Seko is exiled from Zaire.source
  • May 23 – Mohammad Khatami wins the 1997 Iranian presidential election and becomes the first Iranian Reformist president.source
  • June 1 – Socialist Party-led Centre-left coalition won the second-round in 1997 French legislative elections, began with the third Cohabitation (1997–2002).source
  • June 11 – In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons votes for a total ban on handguns.source
  • June 26 – Bertie Ahern is appointed as the 10th Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland and Mary Harney is appointed as the 16th, and first female, Tánaiste, after their parties, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats respectively, win the 1997 General Election.source
  • July 1 – The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of the British colony in Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.source
  • July 8 – NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.source
  • July 25 – K. R. Narayanan is sworn in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalit caste to hold this office.source
  • August 3–11 – Two of the three islands of the Union of the Comoros – Anjouan and Mohéli – attempt to revert to colonial rule by France. The plan fails when the French government of President Jacques Chirac refuses to recolonize them, resulting in the two islands being reintegrated into the Comoros over the next two years.source
  • August 26 – The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is set up in Northern Ireland, as part of a peace process.source
  • September 11 – Scotland votes in favour of a devolved Parliament, forming the Scottish Parliament less than two years later.source
  • September 15 – The Norwegian parliamentary election is held in Norway.source
  • September 18 – Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly for Wales.source
  • November 12 – Mary McAleese is elected the eighth President of Ireland in succession to Mary Robinson, the first time in the world that one woman has succeeded another as elected head of state.source
  • December 3 – In Ottawa (Canada) representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting the manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel land mines. However, the United States, the People's Republic of China, Russia, South Korea and 32 other nations do not ratify the treaty.source
  • December 10 – The capital of Kazakhstan is moved from Almaty to Astana.source
  • December 11 – The Kyoto Protocol is adopted by a United Nations committee.source
  • December 19 – Janet Jagan (widow of Cheddi Jagan) takes office in Guyana.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.source
  • February 10 – Sandline affair: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville Island.source
  • February 28 – North Hollywood shootout: Two robbers, wearing kevlar body armor, and armed with illegally modified Type 56S rifles with high-capacity magazines and other weapons, injure 20 police officers and civilians in a gun battle. The incident sparks debate on the appropriate firepower for United States patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future.source
  • February 28 – 1997 Turkish military memorandum: As a result of a meeting held by the National Security Council, the Turkish Armed Forces issues a memorandum to adopt more secular criteria. Later on June 18, the Turkish government resigns because of the pressure.source
  • March 7 – In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill over 100 Sri Lankan troops.source
  • April 3 – The Thalit massacre in Algeria: all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.source
  • April 22 – A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru.source
  • May 15 – The United States government acknowledges existence of the "Secret War" in Laos (1953–1975) during the Vietnam War, and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.source
  • May 17 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa.source
  • May 23 – A riot in Banjarmasin, Indonesia breaks out, causing at least 137 deaths.source
  • May 25 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.source
  • July 5 – The Egyptian Islamic Group announces a cessation-of-violence initiative.source
  • July 5 – In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup.source
  • August 29 – Over 98 (and possibly up to 400) are killed in the Rais massacre in Algeria.source
  • September 18 – Al-Qaeda carries out a terrorist attack in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.source
  • September 21 – The Islamic Salvation Army, the Islamic Salvation Fronts' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria.source
  • October 1 – Luke Woodham walks into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi and opens fire, killing two girls, after killing his mother earlier that morning.source
  • October 3 – The President of Paraguay, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, orders the arrest of political opponent Lino Oviedo.source
  • October 12 – Sidi Daoud massacre: 43 are killed at a false roadblock in Algeria.source
  • October 17 – The remains of Che Guevara are laid to rest with full military honours in a specially built mausoleum in the city of Santa Clara, Cuba, where he had won the decisive battle of the Cuban Revolution 39 years before.source
  • October 29 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq says it will begin shooting down Lockheed U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors.source
  • December 1 – In the Indian state of Bihar, Ranvir Sena attacks the CPI(ML) Party Unity stronghold Lakshmanpur-Bathe, killing 63 lower caste peoplesource
  • December 21 – Brazil beats Australia 6–0 in the FIFA Confederations Cup final.source
  • December 27 – Ulster loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated inside Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 13 – India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala, to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.source
  • September 6 – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, takes place at Westminster Abbey, London, UK, watched by over two billion people worldwide.source

Economy & Finance

  • March 4 – U.S. President Bill Clinton bans federal funding for any research on human cloning.source
  • July 2 – The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis.source
  • July 17 – The F. W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.source
  • December 19 – James Cameron's Titanic is released in theaters in the United States. It will become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time (adjusted for inflation).source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.source
  • May 11 – IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beats a chess World champion in a match.source
  • May 21 – Radiohead releases OK Computersource
  • May 31 – The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge, the world's longest bridge spanning ice-covered waters, opens between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.source
  • August 13 – Trey Parker and Matt Stone's animated television comedy series, South Park, started broadcasting with the first episode, Cartman Gets an Anal Probe, on Comedy Central.source
  • August 29 – Netflix, Inc. is founded as a DVD-by-mail rental service.source
  • October 16 – The first color photograph appears on the front page of The New York Times.source
  • November 11 – Telecom companies WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a US$37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom, the largest merger in U.S. history.source

Science & Discovery

  • January 17 – A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.source
  • February 13 – STS-82: Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery.source
  • March 22 – The Comet Hale–Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth.source
  • April 21 – A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first space burial by Celestis company.source
  • June 25 – An uncrewed spacecraft Progress M-34 collides with the Russian space station Mir.source
  • July 4 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.source
  • July 10 – In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton, which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.source
  • October 15 – NASA launches the Cassini–Huygens probe to Saturn.source
  • October 15 – Andy Green sets the first supersonic land speed record for the ThrustSSC team, led by Richard Noble of the UK. 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).source
  • November 27 – NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is launched, the start of the satellite component of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System.source

Health & Medicine

  • January 26 – VJTI changes its name from Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute to Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in Mumbai.source
  • March 24 – The 69th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with The English Patient winning Best Picture. During the event, the DVD format is launched in the United States.source
  • May 16 – U.S. President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male and their families.source
  • September 1 – Dublin Regulation on treatment of applications for right of asylum under European Union law first comes into force.source
  • October 2 – British 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.source
  • November 2 – Severe Tropical Storm Linda devastates southern Vietnam and Thailand, killing 3,275 people.source
  • November 19 – In Des Moines, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies are born alive, and the first in which all survive infancy.source
  • December 15 – Microsoft releases Windows 98 Beta 3.source
  • December 16 – In Japan, over 700 children suffer photosensitive epilepsy attacks after watching an episode of the Pokémon anime.source
  • 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 A virus subtype H5N1 strain.source

Crime & Justice

  • January 16 – Murder of Ennis Cosby: Near Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, Bill Cosby's son Ennis is shot in the head in a failed robbery attempt.source
  • March 9 – American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. is murdered in Los Angeles.source
  • March 16 – Sandline affair: On Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.source
  • April 14 – Former SS Captain Erich Priebke is retried; on July 22 he is sentenced to fifteen years in prison.source
  • June 2 – In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.source
  • 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.source
  • June 13 – A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.source
  • July 13 – The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades. Guevara and his comrades were executed on October 9 1967 in Bolivia.source
  • July 15 – Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace dead outside Versace's Miami Beach residence.source
  • August 20 – More than 60 are killed, 15 kidnapped in the Souhane massacre in Algeria.source
  • October 22 – Danish escaped criminal Steen Christensen robs the Hotel Palace in Helsinki, Finland, killing two police officers while evading capture.source
  • November 13 – Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.source
  • November 17 – In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 4 – On their way to Lebanon, two Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing all 73 on board.source
  • March 18 – The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks 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.source
  • March 24–26 – In San Diego, 39 Heaven's Gate cultists commit mass suicide at their compound.source
  • April 14 – Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 11 km mi from Mecca; 343 die.source
  • April 29 – Two trains crash at Hunan, China; 126 are killed.source
  • July 11 – Royal Jomtien Resort Hotel fire at Pattaya, Thailand's worst hotel fire, kills 90.source
  • September 21 – St. Olaf's Church, a stone church from the 16th century in Tyrvää, Finland, is burnt down.source
  • September 26 – Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 crashes while on approach to Medan, North Sumatra, during the 1997 Southeast Asian haze, killing all 234 people on board. This becomes the deadliest aviation accident in Indonesian history.source
  • October 10 – Uruguay's worst air disaster occurs when Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 crashes near Nuevo Berlín, killing all 74 on board.source
  • December 19 – SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.source

Climate & Environment

  • February 4 – A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes North Khorasan province, Iran, killing 88 people and injuring 1,948.source
  • April 18 – The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing US$2 billion in damage.source
  • May 10 – The 7.3 Qayen earthquake strikes eastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). At least 1,567 were killed and 2,300 were injured.source
  • May 12 – An F1-rated tornado strikes downtown Miami, causing $525,000 in damages. Pictures and videos of this tornado made news headlines around the world.source
  • May 27 – The fourth-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people and causing extreme damage in the Double Creek Estates.source
  • June 25 – A massive eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat leads to evacuation and eventual abandonment of the capital, Plymouth.source
  • July 30 – 18 people are killed in the Thredbo landslide in the Snowy Mountains resort in Australia.source
  • July – The 1997 Central European flood occurs across Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.source
  • September 26 – An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.source

Culture & Society

  • June 21 – The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) plays its first game at The Great Western Forum in Los Angeles.source
  • June 26 – Publication of J. K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in London by Bloomsbury Publishing, in an edition of 500 copies.source
  • September 5 – The International Olympic Committee picks Athens, Greece, to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics.source
  • September 27 – The sports-fused entertainment TV program SASUKE started on TBS in Japan.source
  • November 18 - Metallica released the album Reload internationally.source

Deaths

  • August 4 – Jeanne Calment, the verified oldest person to have ever lived, dies at 122 years and 164 days.source
  • August 6 – Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands west of Guam International Airport, resulting in the deaths of 228 people.source
  • 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.source
  • Television series, Melangkah di Atas Awan was aired by Indonesian private television station, Indosiar. It was a final TV series of Ryan Hidayat, who died on 8 February 1997, before the TV series was broadcast.source
  • November 9 – BBC News 24 has launched a new channel at 5:30pm, after the final closedown with the last national anthem of God Save the Queen, which occurred at approximately 2:57am for BBC One, following the death of Lady Diana Spencer.source