1997 - What happened in 1997 ?

January 1997

Friday 03:

NBC's Today show host Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time.

Thursday 09:

A Comair Embraer 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29.

Sunday 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.

Thursday 23:

Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.

Monday 27:

It is revealed that French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.

February 1997

Tuesday 04:

After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milo?evi? recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.

Monday 10:

The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene C. McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Thursday 13:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time closing at 7,022.44.

Saturday 22:

In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.

Sunday 23:

A large fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.

March 1997

Tuesday 04:

United States President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.

Thursday 06:

Picasso's Tete de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later.

Thursday 13:

India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.

Sunday 16:

Stuart Appleby wins the Honda Golf Classic.

Saturday 22:

Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.

April 1997

Thursday 03:

Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.

Sunday 13:

Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament

Tuesday 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 rebels are slain.

Monday 28:

The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention goes into effect. Russia, Iraq and North Korea were notable nations who had not ratified the treaty.

Tuesday 29:

The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories.

May 1997

Thursday 08:

A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Shenzhen's Huangtian Airport, killing 35

Sunday 11:

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.

Monday 12:

1997 - In the 7th inning of a baseball game between the Anaheim Angels, and the Chicago White Sox,the Angels score 13 runs.

Thursday 22:

Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.

Saturday 31:

Canada's Confederation Bridge opens, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick.

June 1997

Monday 02:

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.

Tuesday 03:

Lionel Jospin becomes Prime Minister of France.

Friday 13:

A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to the death penalty for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Thursday 26:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.), the first book in J.K. Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter series, is published.

Monday 30:

China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.

July 1997

Tuesday 15:

In Miami, Florida, serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan guns down Gianni Versace outside his home.

Friday 18:

1997 - 8000 low-caste Indians riot in Mumbai (Bombay) following a funeral for 10 children who had been killed by police.

Tuesday 22:

The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

Wednesday 23:

Digital Equipment Company files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.

Wednesday 30:

A double suicide bombing kills 14 people in Jerusalem,Israel.

August 1997

Saturday 02:

Eighteen lives are lost in the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia.

Sunday 03:

Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.

Wednesday 06:

Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228.

Wednesday 20:

Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.

Sunday 31:

Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.

September 1997

Thursday 04:

A U.S. Air Force C-141 cargo plane and a German TU-154 collide in mid-air over southwest Africa killing 33. <!--can we get a more specific location than "SW Africa"? --->

Friday 05:

1997 - The IOC picks Athens to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Thursday 11:

Scotland votes to re-establish its own Parliament on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, after 290 years of union with England.

Thursday 18:

1997 - Voters in Wales vote yes (50.3%) on a referendum on Welsh autonomy.

Friday 19:

Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.

October 1997

Friday 10:

An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

Sunday 12:

Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock

Tuesday 21:

The government of Singapore announces in a widely-publicized "toilet alert" that the drive for toilet cleanliness is a great success; five toilets were selected by citizens as toilet role models.

Saturday 25:

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.

Sunday 26:

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.

November 1997

Sunday 09:

Mike Lookinland (of The Brady Bunch fame) is charged with drunk driving in St. George, Utah.

Monday 10:

Seymour Hersh's book "The Dark Side of Camelot" is published; it includes allegations of explicit photos of John F. Kennedy with various sex partners having been taken.

Tuesday 11:

Marianne Biancuzzo is charged for drowning her newborn baby in a toilet and hiding the remains in a coffee can in Tucson, Arizona.

Tuesday 18:

Gary Glitter is arrested in the United Kingdom on child porn charges.

Wednesday 19:

In Carlisle, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive.

December 1997

Tuesday 16:

Super Typhoon Paka makes landfall on the island of Guam with 150 mph winds.

Wednesday 17:

A chartered Yakovlev-42 from Ukraine crashes into the mountains near Katerini, Greece killing 70

Monday 22:

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 were massacred by paramilitary forces.

Wednesday 24:

The Dominican Republic becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

Monday 29:

Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.