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.

Thursday 06:

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

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.

Thursday 13:

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

Friday 14:

The Chinese city of Chongqing (formerly Chunking) is upgraded to a centrally administered municipality

Sunday 16:

Stuart Appleby wins the Honda Golf Classic.

Tuesday 18:

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.

Saturday 22:

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

Wednesday 26:

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