1997 - What happened in 1997 ?

January 1997

Wednesday 08:

computer processer Pentium MMX introduced by Intel.

Thursday 16:

Ennis Cosby, the only son of actor Bill Cosby, is killed by a gunman while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California.

Tuesday 21:

Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.

Sunday 26:

Super Bowl XXXI: The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots, 35-21.

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.

Wednesday 05:

Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.

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.

March 1997

Monday 03:

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.

Tuesday 04:

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

Tuesday 11:

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.

Wednesday 12:

Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.

Wednesday 26:

Thirty-nine bodies found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides.

April 1997

Sunday 13:

Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament

Tuesday 15:

Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.

Wednesday 23:

Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.

Monday 28:

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

Wednesday 30:

Ellen DeGeneres's character comes out of the closet on the sitcom Ellen.

May 1997

Thursday 01:

HM Prison Pentridge, Melbourne, Australia is officially closed.

Saturday 03:

In Dublin, Ireland, Katrina and the Waves win the forty-second Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom singing "Love Shine a Light".

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.

Tuesday 27:

The F5-strength Jarrell Tornado slams into the small town of Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.

Saturday 31:

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

June 1997

Thursday 12:

The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant. http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/rr1746.htm

Friday 13:

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

Monday 16:

Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; some 50 people killed.

Wednesday 25:

An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian Space station, Mir.

Saturday 28:

Boxer Mike Tyson is disqualified from WBA title re-match, for biting off part of the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield.

July 1997

Wednesday 16:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88, closing above 8,000 for the first time.

Wednesday 23:

Digital Equipment Company files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.

Sunday 27:

Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.

Monday 28:

Guatemala becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

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.

Wednesday 06:

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

Thursday 07:

Fine Air Flight 101, a cargo flight from Miami to Santo Domingo crashes onto NW 72nd Ave near Miami International Airport, killing five people.

Thursday 21:

The British Rock Group Oasis release album, Be Here Now.

Friday 29:

Serial killer Ángel Maturino Reséndiz bludgeons to death Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky, USA, the first of nine victims.

September 1997

Friday 05:

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

Saturday 06:

The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, at Westminster Abbey draws large crowds.

Sunday 07:

The first test flight of the F/A-22 Raptor takes place.

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.

Saturday 27:

Communications are lost with the Mars Pathfinder for unknown reasons.

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.

Tuesday 28:

The bulls come running back as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points to close at 7,498.32. The massive rally comes a day after a 554 point drop. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.

Thursday 30:

British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.

November 1997

Saturday 08:

US president Bill Clinton speaks at a dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the USA's largest gay rights organisation.

Wednesday 12:

Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Sunday 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.

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

Wednesday 03:

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.

Saturday 06:

A Russian Antonov AN-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67

Friday 19:

Titanic (the highest-grossing movie ever as of 2005) opens in U.S. theaters.

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.

Tuesday 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.