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Arthur Rubin (talk | contribs) m Reverted edits by 77.86.111.232 (talk) to last version by JForget |
script-assisted date/terms audit; see mosnum, wp:overlink |
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* January 9 - Yachtsman [[Tony Bullimore]] is found alive, five days after his boat capsized in the [[Southern Ocean]]. |
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[[Image:Bill Clinton.jpg|thumb|Bill Clinton, who began his second term on January 20]] |
[[Image:Bill Clinton.jpg|thumb|Bill Clinton, who began his second term on January 20]] |
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* January 17 - A [[Delta II]] rocket carrying a military [[GPS]] payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from [[Cape Canaveral]]. |
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* January 18 - In northwest [[Rwanda]], [[Hutu]] militia members kill three Spanish aid workers, three soldiers, and seriously wound another. |
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* 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. |
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* January 20 - U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] is inaugurated for his second term. |
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* January 21 - [[Newt Gingrich]] becomes the first [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] to be disciplined internally for ethical misconduct. |
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* January 22 - [[Madeleine Albright]] becomes the first female Secretary of State, after confirmation by the [[United States Senate]]. |
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* January 23 - [[Mir Aimal Kasi]] is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside [[CIA]] headquarters that killed two and wounded three. |
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* January 26 - The [[Green Bay Packers]] win the [[NFL Championship]] for the first time since 1967, defeating the [[New England Patriots]] 35-21 in [[Super Bowl XXXI]] at the [[Louisiana Superdome]] in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]. |
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* January 27 - It is revealed that French [[museum]]s had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by [[Nazis]]. |
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* January 31 - [[Final Fantasy VII]] is released in Japan. |
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===February=== |
===February=== |
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* February 4 - [[O.J. Simpson]] is found liable in civil court for the death of [[Ron Goldman]] and for the battery of [[Nicole Brown Simpson]]. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims. |
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* February 4 - On their way to [[Lebanon]], 2 Israeli troop-transport [[helicopter]]s collide, killing 73. |
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* February 4 - After at first contesting the results, [[Serbia]]n President [[Slobodan Milošević]] recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections. |
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* February 4 - [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]] footballer Adam Tanner, who had recently failed a [[Drug Testing|drugs test]], is banned from football for three months at an [[The Football Association|FA]] hearing. Some considered this to be a relatively lenient punishment as he had admitted taking drugs at the first attempt and shown remorse for his behaviour. |
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* February 4 - British [[Home Secretary]] [[Michael Howard]] informs [[Moors Murderers|Moors Murderer]] [[Myra Hindley]] that she will never be released from prison. Mr Howard made the decision in agreement with a recommendation made by his predecessor [[David Waddington, Baron Waddington|David Waddington]] in 1990. |
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* February 5 - The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid [[Holocaust]] survivors and their families. |
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* February 5 - [[Morgan Stanley]] and [[Dean Witter Reynolds]] investment banks announce a $10 billion merger. |
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* February 10 - The [[United States Army]] suspends Sgt. Major [[Gene C. McKinney]], its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct. |
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* February 10 - [[Sandline affair]]: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of [[Papua New Guinea]] has brought mercenaries onto [[Bougainville Island]]. |
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* February 13 - ''[[STS-82]]'': Tune-up and repair work on the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] is started by [[astronaut]]s from ''[[Space Shuttle Discovery]]''. |
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* February 13 - The [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] closes above 7,000 [[Closing milestones of the Dow Jones Industrial Average|for the first time]], gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44. |
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* February 19 - The last of the People's Republic of China's major revolutionaries, [[Deng Xiaoping]], dies at age 92. |
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* February 22 - In [[Roslin, Scotland]], scientists announce that an adult [[sheep]] named [[Dolly the sheep|Dolly]] had been successfully [[cloning|cloned]], and was born in July 1996. |
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* February 23 - A small fire occurs in the Russian [[space station]] [[Mir]]. |
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* February 28 - The [[North Hollywood shootout]] takes place between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the [[Los Angeles Police Department]]. |
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===March=== |
===March=== |
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[[Image:OsakaDomeEvening.jpg|thumb|Osaka Dome during the evening.]] |
[[Image:OsakaDomeEvening.jpg|thumb|Osaka Dome during the evening.]] |
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* March 4 - U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] bars federal funding for any research on [[human cloning]]. |
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* March 6 - [[Pablo Picasso]]'s ''Tête de Femme'' is stolen from a London gallery (recovered a week later). |
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* March 6 - In [[Sri Lanka]], [[Tamil Tigers]] overrun a [[military base]] and kill more than 200. |
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* March 11 - An explosion at the Tokaimura [[nuclear waste]] reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level [[radioactive contamination]], in the worst [[nuclear accident]] in Japan's history. |
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* March 13 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses [[Sister Nirmala]] to succeed [[Mother Teresa]] as its leader. |
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* March 13 - The [[National People's Congress]] of the People's Republic of China creates a new [[Chongqing]] Municipality. It was formerly part of [[Sichuan]]. |
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* March 13 - The [[Phoenix Lights]] are seen over Phoenix, AZ. |
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* March 16 - [[Sandline affair]]: On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander [[Jerry Singirok]] arrest [[Tim Spicer]] and his [[mercenary|mercenaries]] of the [[Sandline International]]. |
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* 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. |
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* March 21 - In [[Zaire]], Etienne Tshiksekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters of [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] from his cabinet. |
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* March 21 - Mercenaries of Sandline International withdraw from Papua New Guinea. |
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* March 22 - [[Tara Lipinski]], 14, becomes the youngest women's world [[figure skating]] champion. |
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* March 22 - The comet [[Hale-Bopp]] makes its closest approach to Earth. |
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* March 22 - UFO based [[suicide]] [[cult]] [[Heavens Gate]] commit mass suicide, led by a Mr Applewhite |
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* March 24 - The [[69th Academy Awards]], hosted by [[Billy Crystal]], are held at the [[Shrine Auditorium]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], with ''[[The English Patient]]'' winning [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. |
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* March 26 - In [[San Diego, California]], 39 [[Heaven's Gate (cult)|Heaven's Gate]] cultists commit mass suicide at their compound. |
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* March 26 - [[Julius Chan]] resigns as prime minister of Papua New Guinea, ending the Sandline affair. |
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===April=== |
===April=== |
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* April 3 - The [[Thalit massacre]] in [[Algeria]]: All but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas. |
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* April 11 - Fire damages the Turin Cathedral in Italy. |
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* April 14 - Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 7 miles from [[Mecca]]; 343 die. |
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* April 14 - Former SS Captain [[Erich Priebke]] is retried; on July 22 he is sentenced to five years in prison. |
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* April 16 - [[Houston, Texas]] socialite [[Doris Angleton]] is murdered in her [[River Oaks]] home. [[Roger Angleton]] later admits to the crime in his suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a [[Texas]] jury, he is later arrested by the United States Department of Justice on similar charges. |
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* April 18 - The [[Red River of the North]] breaks through dikes and [[Red River Flood, 1997|floods]] [[Grand Forks, North Dakota]] and [[East Grand Forks, Minnesota]], causing US$ 2 billion in damage. |
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* April 21 - A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first [[space burial]]. |
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* April 22 - [[Haouch Khemisti massacre]] in [[Algeria]]; 93 villagers killed. |
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* April 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 [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]], two soldiers are killed from rebel fire, and all 14 [[Tupac Amaru]] rebels are slain. |
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* April 22 - France supports the new [[transitional government]] in Zaire, withdrawing its support of Mobutu Sese Seko. |
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* April 23 - [[Omaria massacre]] in Algeria; 42 villagers killed. |
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* April 27 - [[Andrew Cunanan]] murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and end with the murder of fashion designer [[Gianni Versace]]. |
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* April 29 - Two trains crushed at [[Hunan]], China, 126 killed. |
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===May=== |
===May=== |
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* May 1 - [[Tasmania]] becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize [[homosexuality]]. |
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* May 1 - [[United Kingdom general election, 1997]]: The United Kingdom's [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] ends 18 years of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] rule. |
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* May 2 - [[Tony Blair]] is appointed [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] by [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]]. |
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* May 3 - [[Katrina and the Waves]] win the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1997]] for the UK with [[Love Shine a Light]], the most successful Eurovision entry ever. |
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* May 10 - An [[earthquake]] near Ardekul, in northeastern [[Iran]], kills at least 2,400. |
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* May 11 - [[International Business Machines|IBM]]'s [[IBM Deep Blue|Deep Blue]] defeats [[Garry Kasparov]] in the [[Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1997, Game 6|last game]] of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a [[chess]] World champion in a match. |
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* May 12 - The Russian-[[Chechnya|Chechen]] Peace Treaty is signed. |
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* May 14 - The [[Star Alliance]] is formed between [[Air Canada]], [[Lufthansa]], [[Scandinavian Airlines System]], [[Thai Airways International]] and [[United Airlines]]. |
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* May 15 - United States government acknowledges existence of [[Laotian Civil War|"Secret War" in Laos]] and dedicates [[Laos Memorial]] in honor of [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and other "Secret War" veterans. |
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* May 16 - Mobutu Sese Seko leaves [[Kinshasa]] (eventually settles in Morocco). |
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* 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. |
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* May 17 - Troops of Laurent Kabila march into [[Kinshasa]]. |
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* May 22 - [[Kelly Flinn]], the [[U.S. Air Force]]'s first [[Women in the military|female bomber pilot]] certified for combat, accepts a [[general discharge]] in order to avoid a [[court martial]]. |
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* May 25 - [[Strom Thurmond]] becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the [[United States Senate]] (41 years and 10 months). |
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* May 25 - A military [[coup]] in [[Sierra Leone]] replaces President [[Ahmad Tejan Kabbah]] with Major [[Johnny Paul Koromah]]. |
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* May 27 - The [[Central Texas tornado outbreak|second-deadliest tornado]] of the 1990s hits in [[Jarrell, Texas]], killing 27 people. |
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* May 31 - Opening of the [[Confederation Bridge]]; the 13 kilometer bridge is the world's longest bridge spanning ice covered waters, between [[Prince Edward Island]] and [[New Brunswick]], Canada. |
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===June=== |
===June=== |
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{{Month3|6|6|0}} |
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* June 1 - [[Iraq disarmament crisis]]: [[Iraq]]i military escorts on board an [[UNSCOM]] helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews. |
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* June 1 - [[Hugo Banzer]] wins the [[Presidential elections]] in [[Bolivia]]. |
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* 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]]. |
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* June 5 - Kim Hyun Chul, son of [[Kim Young Sam]], [[president of South Korea]], is charged with [[bribery]] and [[political corruption|corruption]] related to the awarding of government contracts. |
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* June 6 - In Lacey Township, [[New Jersey]], high school senior [[Melissa Drexler]] kills her newborn baby in a toilet. |
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* June 7 - A computer user known as "_eci" publishes his [[Microsoft C]] source code on a [[Windows 95]] and [[Windows NT]] exploit, which would later become [[WinNuke]]. The source code gets wide distribution across the [[internet]], and [[Microsoft]] is forced to release a security patch. |
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* June 7 - The [[Detroit Red Wings]] win their first [[Stanley Cup]] championship in 42 years, defeating the [[Philadelphia Flyers]] four games to none. Red Wings goaltender [[Mike Vernon (ice hockey)|Mike Vernon]] is awarded the [[Conn Smythe Trophy]] as playoff MVP. |
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* June 8 - A [[United States Coast Guard]] helicopter crashes near [[Humboldt Bay (United States)|Humboldt Bay]], [[California]]. All four crewmembers perish. |
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* 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 (the news does not reach outside [[Cambodia]] for 3 days). |
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* June 11 - The [[British House of Commons]] votes for a total ban on [[handgun]]s. |
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* June 12 - The [[United States Department of the Treasury]] unveils a new [[United States dollar|$50 bill]], meant to be more difficult to [[counterfeit]]. |
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* June 13 - A jury sentences [[Timothy McVeigh]] to [[capital punishment|death]] for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. |
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* June 16 - [[Dairat Labguer massacre]] in Algeria; about 50 killed. |
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* June 19 - The fast food chain [[McDonald's]] wins a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the [[McLibel case]], against 2 environmental campaigners. The judge decides it was true that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting the company's restaurants. |
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* June 25 - An unmanned [[Progress spacecraft]] collides with the Russian space station Mir. |
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* 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 [[Irish General Election, 1997|1997 General Election]]. |
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===July=== |
===July=== |
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* July 1 - The United Kingdom [[Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong|hands sovereignty]] of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. |
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* July 4 - [[NASA]]'s [[Mars Pathfinder|Pathfinder]] space probe lands on the surface of [[Mars (planet)|Mars]]. |
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* July 5 - In Cambodia, [[Hun Sen]] of the [[Cambodian People's Party]] overthrows [[Norodom Ranariddh]] in a [[coup]]. |
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* July 7 - Beginning of the Great Flood in southern Poland |
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* July 8 - [[Mayo Clinic]] researchers warn that the [[dieting]] drug "[[fen-phen]]" can cause severe [[heart]] and [[lung]] damage. |
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* July 8 - [[NATO]] invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999. |
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* 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. |
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* July 10 - [[Miguel Ángel Blanco]] is kidnapped in [[Ermua]], Spain and murdered by the [[ETA]]. |
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* July 11 - 90 die in [[Thailand]]'s worst hotel fire at [[Pattaya]]. |
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* July 13 - The remains of [[Che Guevara]] are returned to [[Cuba]] for burial, alongside some of his comrades. |
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* July 15 - [[Spree killer]] [[Andrew Cunanan]] shoots fashion designer [[Gianni Versace]] to death outside Versace's [[Miami, Florida]] residence. |
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* July 16 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88. It is the Dow's [[Closing milestones of the Dow Jones Industrial Average|first close]] above 8,000. The Dow has doubled its value in 30 months. |
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* July 17 - The [[F.W. Woolworth Company]] closes after 117 years in business. |
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* July 21 - The fully restored [[USS Constitution]] (aka "[[Old Ironsides]]") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years. |
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* July 23 - [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] files [[Competition law|antitrust]] charges against chipmaker [[Intel]]. |
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* July 25 - [[K.R. Narayanan]] is sworn in as India's 10th president and the first member of the [[Dalit (outcaste)|Dalit caste]] to hold this office. |
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* July 27 - About 50 are killed in the [[Si Zerrouk massacre]] in Algeria. |
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===August=== |
===August=== |
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* August 1 - [[Boeing]] and [[McDonnell Douglas]] complete a merger. |
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* August 1- [[Steve Jobs]] returns to [[Apple Computer, Inc]] at [[Macworld]] in [[Boston]] |
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* August 2 - Australian ski instructor [[Stuart Diver]] is rescued as the sole survivor from the [[1997 Thredbo landslide|Thredbo landslide]] in [[New South Wales]], in which 18 died. |
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* August 3 - [[Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre]] in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed. |
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* August 4 - 185,000 [[Teamsters]] Union [[United Parcel Service]] drivers walk off the job. |
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* August 6 - [[Microsoft]] buys a $150 million share of financially troubled [[Apple Computer]]. |
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* August 6 - 228 die as [[Korean Air Flight 801]] crash lands at [[Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport|Guam International Airport]]. |
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* August 13 - In [[Belo Horizonte]], [[Brazil]], [[Cruzeiro Esporte Clube|Cruzeiro]] wins [[Sporting Cristal]] of [[Peru]] by 1-0 and are [[Copa Libertadores de América]] champions by second time. |
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* August 20 - [[Souhane massacre]] in Algeria; over 60 killed, 15 kidnapped. |
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* August 25 - [[Egon Krenz]] is convicted of a shoot-to-kill [[Berlin Wall]] policy. |
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* August 26 - [[Beni-Ali massacre]] in Algeria; 60-100 killed. |
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* August 26 - The [[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning]] is set up in [[Northern Ireland]], as part of a peace process. |
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* August 29 - [[Rais massacre]] in Algeria; over 98 (and possibly up to 400) killed. |
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* August 31 - [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], is taken to hospital after a car crash shortly after midnight in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 04:00. |
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===September=== |
===September=== |
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[[Image:Diana's funeral.jpg|thumb|The funeral cortege of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], on route to [[Westminster Abbey]] from [[Kensington Palace]].]] |
[[Image:Diana's funeral.jpg|thumb|The funeral cortege of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], on route to [[Westminster Abbey]] from [[Kensington Palace]].]] |
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* September 3 - [[Arizona]] Governor [[Fife Symington]] is convicted for various crimes tied to his [[real estate]] business, effectively forcing him out of office. |
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* September 4 - In [[Lorain, Ohio]], the last [[Ford Thunderbird]] for three years rolls off the [[assembly line]]. |
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* September 5 - [[Beni-Messous massacre]] in Algeria; over 87 killed. |
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* September 5 - The [[International Olympic Committee]] picks [[Athens, Greece]] to be the host city for the [[2004 Summer Olympics]]. |
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* September 5 - [[Mother Theresa of Calcutta]] dies of heart failure in [[Kolkata]], India. |
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* September 6 - The funeral of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] takes place at [[Westminster Abbey]], watched by over 2 billion people worldwide. |
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* September 6 - A [[Jean Michel Jarre]] [[List of Jean-Michel Jarre concerts#Oxygene in Moscow|Oxygene in Moscow]] concert, celebrating the city's 850th anniversary, draws 3.5 million people. |
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* September 7 - First test flight of the [[F-22 Raptor]]. |
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* September 11 - Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England. |
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* September 13 - [[Iraq disarmament crisis]]: An Iraqi military officer attacks an UNSCOM weapons inspector on board an UNSCOM helicopter while the inspector was attempting to take photographs of unauthorized movement of Iraqi vehicles inside a site designated for inspection |
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* September 15 - [[Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997]] |
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* September 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: While waiting for access to a site, UNSCOM inspectors witness and videotape Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and dumping waste cans into a nearby river. |
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* September 18 - Wales votes in favour of [[devolution]] and the formation of a [[National Assembly]]. |
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* September 19 - [[Guelb El-Kebir massacre]] in Algeria; 53 killed. |
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* September 21 - The [[Islamic Salvation Army]], the [[Islamic Salvation Front]]s' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria. |
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* September 22 - [[Bentalha massacre]] in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed. |
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* September 25 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspector Dr. Diane Seaman catches several Iraqi men sneaking out the back door of an inspection site, with log books for the creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals. |
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* September 26 - An air crash in [[Indonesia]] kills 234 people (likely caused by smoke rising from numerous forest fires in the area). -see [[Garuda Indonesia Flight 152]] |
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* September 26 - An [[earthquake]] strikes the Italian regions of [[Umbria]] and [[Marche]], causing part of the [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi|Basilica of St. Francis]] at [[Assisi]] to collapse. |
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* September 27 - The [[Catholic]] diocese of [[Požega, Croatia|Požega]] is founded. |
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===October=== |
===October=== |
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* 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 . |
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* 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]]. |
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* October 4 - One million men gather for [[Promise Keepers]]' "Stand in the Gap" event in [[Washington, DC]]. |
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* October 4 - The [[Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery (1997)|second largest cash robbery]] in [[U.S. history]] ($17.3 million, mostly in small bills) occurred at the [[Charlotte, North Carolina]] office of [[Wells Fargo]]. An [[FBI]] investigation eventually resulted in 24 convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the stolen cash. |
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* October 11 - The [[mixed martial arts]] organization [[PRIDE Fighting Championships]] holds its inaugural event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event [[Rickson Gracie]] defeats [[Nobuhiko Takada]] by armbar. |
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* October 12 - [[Sidi Daoud massacre]] in Algeria: 43 are killed at a false roadblock. |
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* 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). |
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* October 15 - [[NASA]] launches the [[Cassini-Huygens]] probe to Saturn. |
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* October 16 - First color photograph on the front page of the [[New York Times]] appears. |
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* 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. |
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* October 26 - [[Michael Schumacher]] commits the infamous ''Dry Sac'' corner incident at the [[Circuito Permanente de Jerez]] track, an act for which he was disqualified from the 1997 season by the FIA and crucified in the press. |
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* October 26 - The [[Florida Marlins]] win the [[1997 World Series]] against the [[Cleveland Indians]]. |
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* |
* October 27 - [[Stock market]]s around the world [[October 27, 1997 mini-crash|crash]] because of a global [[world economy|economic]] crisis scare. The [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] follows suit and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15. The points loss exceeds the loss from [[Black Monday (1987)|Black Monday]]. Officials at the [[New York Stock Exchange]] for the first time invoke the "circuit breaker" rule to stop trading. |
||
* |
* October 28 - In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points, closing at 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever. |
||
* |
* October 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq says it will begin shooting down [[Lockheed U-2]] surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors. |
||
* |
* October 30 - In [[Newton, Massachusetts]], British au pair [[Louise Woodward]] is found guilty of the [[baby-shaking]] death of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen. |
||
===November=== |
===November=== |
||
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[[Image:Mary McAleese.jpg|thumb|[[Mary McAleese]].]] |
[[Image:Mary McAleese.jpg|thumb|[[Mary McAleese]].]] |
||
{{Month3|11|5|0}} |
{{Month3|11|5|0}} |
||
* |
* November 3 - In France, striking truck drivers blockade ports during a pay dispute. |
||
* |
* November 10 - Telecom companies [[WorldCom]] and [[MCI Communications]] announce a US$37 billion merger to form [[MCI WorldCom]] (the largest merger in US history). |
||
* |
* November 10 - A [[Fairfax, Virginia]] jury finds [[Mir Aimal Kasi]] guilty of murdering 2 [[CIA]] employees in 1993. |
||
* |
* November 11 - [[Mary McAleese]] is elected the eighth [[President of Ireland]]. |
||
* |
* November 12 - [[Ramzi Yousef]] is found guilty of masterminding the [[World Trade Center 1993 bombings]]. |
||
* |
* November 16 - The [[Toronto Argonauts]] win their second consecutive Canadian Football League title by defeating the [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]] 47-23 to win the [[85th Grey Cup]] at [[Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton)|Commonwealth Stadium]] in [[Edmonton, Alberta]]. |
||
* |
* November 17 - In [[Luxor]], [[Egypt]], 62 people are killed by 6 [[Islam]]ic militants outside the [[Temple of Hatshepsut]]. |
||
* |
* November 19 - In [[Des Moines, Iowa]], Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to [[McCaughey septuplets|septuplets]] in the second known case where all seven babies are born alive, and the first in which all survived infancy. |
||
* |
* November 27 - [[NASA]]'s [[Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission]] is launched, the start of satellite component of the [[Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System]]. |
||
===December=== |
===December=== |
||
<!-- Link dates even if repeated, for date-format preferences. --> |
<!-- Link dates even if repeated, for date-format preferences. --> |
||
{{Month3|12|0|0}} |
{{Month3|12|0|0}} |
||
* |
* December 3 - In [[Ottawa]], Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a [[treaty]] prohibiting the manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel [[land mine]]s. However, the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Russia, do not sign the treaty. |
||
* |
* December 5 - [[John O'Shaugnessey]], 32, admits the rape and murder of 9-year-old Kayleigh Ward at [[Chester Crown Court]]. The trial judge sentences O'Shaugnessey, of [[Blacon]], [[Chester]], to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should serve at least 30 years before being considered for parole. |
||
* |
* December 8 - [[Myra Hindley]], one of the [[Moors murders|Moors murderers]] arrives at the [[High Court of Justice]] to contest a recent [[Home Secretary]]'s decision that she should remain in prison until she dies. |
||
* |
* December 11 - The [[Kyoto Protocol]] is adopted by a [[United Nations]] [[United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change#COP-3.2C_The_Kyoto_Protocol_on_Climate_Change|committee]]. |
||
* |
* December 12 - Demonstrations in state capitals of Australia against the [[WTO]] and [[IMF]]. |
||
* |
* December 16 - "[[Dennō Senshi Porigon]]" an episode of Pokemon is aired, giving hundreds of Japanese Children seizures. |
||
* |
* December 18 - [[Myra Hindley]] loses her High Court appeal against the government's decision to keep her behind bars for the rest of her life. |
||
* |
* December 19 The highest-grossing movie of all time, [[James Cameron]]'s ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'', premiers in the U.S. |
||
* |
* December 24 - [[Sid El-Antri massacre]] in Algeria: 50-100 villagers are killed. |
||
* |
* December 27 - [[Ulster loyalism|Ulster loyalist]] [[paramilitary]] leader [[Billy Wright (terrorist)|Billy Wright]] is assassinated in [[Northern Ireland]], inside [[Maze (HM Prison)|Long Kesh]] prison. |
||
* |
* December 29 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the [[chicken]]s within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly [[influenza]] strain. |
||
* |
* December 30 - [[Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997]]: In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, 400 are killed from four villages in the ''wilaya'' of [[Relizane]]. |
||
<!-- IF THIS CHRONOLOGY IS SPLIT INTO ARTICLES, see top note. --> |
<!-- IF THIS CHRONOLOGY IS SPLIT INTO ARTICLES, see top note. --> |
||
===Undated=== |
===Undated=== |
||
* The [[Toyota Prius]] comes to showrooms, only in |
* The [[Toyota Prius]] comes to showrooms, only in Japan. The Prius was the first hybrid vehicle to go into full production. It would come to U.S. showrooms in 2000. |
||
===Fictional=== |
===Fictional=== |
||
* The 1984 film ''[[The Terminator]]'' and its sequel, ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'', both referenced the year 1997 as the time in which the fictional computer entity Skynet would launch a nuclear attack on mankind on |
* The 1984 film ''[[The Terminator]]'' and its sequel, ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'', both referenced the year 1997 as the time in which the fictional computer entity Skynet would launch a nuclear attack on mankind on August 29. |
||
* The 1987 NES RPG-game, ''[[Crystalis]]'', references October 1, 1997 as the day when a terrible war takes place and the whole human kind goes back in time, therefore, strange animals populate in cities and a few build a tower that goes high into sky. |
* The 1987 NES RPG-game, ''[[Crystalis]]'', references October 1, 1997 as the day when a terrible war takes place and the whole human kind goes back in time, therefore, strange animals populate in cities and a few build a tower that goes high into sky. |
||
* The [[John Carpenter]]'s 1981 film ''[[Escape from New York]]'' is set in 1997 of a United States so crime-ridden that Manhattan Island in New York City has become a maximum security prison. |
* The [[John Carpenter]]'s 1981 film ''[[Escape from New York]]'' is set in 1997 of a United States so crime-ridden that Manhattan Island in New York City has become a maximum security prison. |
||
* The events of [[Alan Moore]] and [[David Lloyd]]'s ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' supposedly begin on November 5, 1997. |
* The events of [[Alan Moore]] and [[David Lloyd]]'s ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' supposedly begin on November 5, 1997. |
||
* The 1990 film ''[[Predator 2]]'' takes place in 1997 |
* The 1990 film ''[[Predator 2]]'' takes place in 1997 Los Angeles. |
||
==Births== |
==Births== |
||
Line 262: | Line 262: | ||
<!-- Please do not add yourself, non-notable people, fictional characters, or people without Wikipedia articles to this list. No red links, please. --> |
<!-- Please do not add yourself, non-notable people, fictional characters, or people without Wikipedia articles to this list. No red links, please. --> |
||
{{Year in other calendars}} |
{{Year in other calendars}} |
||
* |
* January 13 - [[Marius Borg Høiby]], son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway |
||
* |
* January 14 - Nastya and Masha Tolmacheva ([[The Tolmachevy Twins]]), Russian singers |
||
* |
* January 24 - [[Jonah Bobo]], American actor |
||
* |
* February 10 - [[Chloe Moretz]], American actress |
||
* |
* March 3 - [[Maria Francisca Isabel de Bragança]], daughter of [[Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza]] |
||
* |
* March 27 - [[Princess Aisha bint Al Faisal|Princess Aisha of Jordan]] |
||
* |
* March 27 - [[Princess Sara bint Al Faisal|Princess Sara of Jordan]] |
||
* |
* May 1 - [[Ariel Gade]], American actress |
||
* |
* May 18 - [[Alana Etheridge]], American actress |
||
* |
* June 20 - [[Maria Lark]], Russian-born American actress |
||
* |
* July 15 - [[Prince Lukás of Bulgaria]] |
||
* |
* July 20 - [[Billi Bruno]], American actress |
||
* |
* July 22 - [[Field Cate]], American actor |
||
* |
* August 25 - [[Holly Gibbs]], English actress |
||
* |
* September 8 - [[Kimberlea Berg]], English actress |
||
* |
* October 8 - [[Connor Carmody]], American actor |
||
* |
* October 8 - [[Bella Thorne]], American actress/model |
||
* |
* October 12 - [[Prince Boris of Bulgaria]], second in line to the Bulgarian throne, |
||
* |
* October 31 - [[Sydney Park (person)|Sydney Park]], American actress and comedian |
||
* |
* November 1 - [[Alex Wolff|Alexander Draper Wolff]], American actor and drummer |
||
* |
* November 13 - [[Brent Kinsman]], American actor |
||
* |
* November 13 - [[Shane Kinsman]], American Actor |
||
* |
* November 19 - [[McCaughey septuplets]], the world's first set of septuplets to survive infancy |
||
==Deaths== |
==Deaths== |
||
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===January–June=== |
===January–June=== |
||
<!-- Link dates even if repeated, for date-format preferences. --> |
<!-- Link dates even if repeated, for date-format preferences. --> |
||
* |
* January 1 - [[Townes Van Zandt]], American folk singer (b. 1944) |
||
* |
* January 4 - [[Harry Helmsley]], American real estate mogul (b. 1909) |
||
* |
* January 6 - [[Catherine Scorsese]], Italian-American actress (b. 1912) |
||
* |
* January 10 - [[Sheldon Leonard]], American producer, actor, director (b. 1907) |
||
* |
* January 10 - [[Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd]], Scottish chemist, [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize]] laureate (b. 1907) |
||
* |
* January 12 - [[Charles B. Huggins]], Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (b. 1901) |
||
* |
* January 16 - [[Ennis Cosby]], comedian Bill Cosby's son (b. 1969) |
||
* |
* January 17 - [[Clyde Tombaugh]], American astronomer (b. 1906) |
||
* |
* January 18 - [[Paul Tsongas]], US Senator([[Massachusetts]]) and a one-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination (b. 1941) |
||
* |
* January 19 - [[James Dickey]], American poet and novelist (b. 1923) |
||
* |
* January 20 - [[Curt Flood]], American baseball player (b. 1938) |
||
* |
* January 21 - [[Colonel Tom Parker]], Dutch-born celebrity manager (b. 1909) |
||
* |
* January 31 - [[Johnny Klein]], American drummer (b. 1918) |
||
* |
* February 1 - [[Herb Caen]], American newspaper columnist (b. 1916) |
||
* |
* February 2 - [[Chico Science]], Brazilian musician (automobile accident) (b. 1967) |
||
* |
* February 5 - [[Pamela Harriman]], U.S. Ambassador to France (b. 1920) |
||
* |
* February 11 - [[Don Porter]], American actor (b. 1912) |
||
* |
* February 17 - [[Zein Isa]], Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the [[honor killing]] of his daughter |
||
* |
* February 19 - [[Deng Xiaoping]], leader of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904) |
||
* |
* February 23 - [[Tony Williams]], American musician (b. 1945) |
||
* |
* February 28 - [[Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr.]] and [[Emil Dechebal Matasareanu]], shooters in the [[North Hollywood shootout]]. |
||
* |
* March 4 - [[Robert H. Dicke]], American experimental physicist (b. 1916) |
||
* |
* March 4 - [[Carey Loftin]], American actor and stuntman (b. 1914) |
||
* |
* March 6 - [[Cheddi Jagan]], [[President of Guyana]] (b. 1918) |
||
* |
* March 7 - [[Edward Mills Purcell]], American physicist, [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] laureate (b. 1912) |
||
* |
* March 7 - [[Martin Kippenberger]], German artist (b. 1953) |
||
* |
* March 9 - [[The Notorious B.I.G.]], American rapper (b. 1972) |
||
* |
* March 9 - [[Terry Nation]],Scriptwriter (b. 1930) |
||
* |
* March 10 - [[La Vern Baker]], American singer (b. 1929) |
||
* |
* March 14 - [[Fred Zinnemann]], Austrian-born director (b. 1907) |
||
* |
* March 17 - [[Jermaine Stewart]], American singer (b. 1957) |
||
* |
* March 19 - [[Willem de Kooning]], Dutch artist (b. 1904) |
||
* |
* March 20 - [[Tony Zale]], American boxer (b. 1913) |
||
* |
* March 21 - [[W.V. Awdry]], British children's writer (b. 1911) |
||
* |
* April 5 - [[Allen Ginsberg]], American poet (b. 1926) |
||
* |
* April 7 - [[Witto Aloma]], Cuban [[Major League Baseball]] player (b. 1923) |
||
* |
* April 7 - [[Georgi Shonin]], cosmonaut (b. 1935) |
||
* |
* April 12 - [[George Wald]], American scientist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (b. 1903) |
||
* |
* April 15 - [[Mildred Cleghorn]], chairwoman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe (b. 1910) |
||
* |
* April 16 - [[Doris Angleton]], American socialite (b. 1951) |
||
* |
* April 16 - [[Roland Topor]], French illustrator (b. 1938) |
||
* |
* April 19 - [[Eldon Hoke|El Duce]], American singer/drummer ([[The Mentors]]) (b. 1958) |
||
* |
* April 20 - [[Henry Mucci]], American Colonel of the 98th Ranger Battalion (b. 1909) |
||
* |
* April 22 - [[Baroness Seear]], President of the UK Liberal Party (b. 1913) |
||
* |
* May 2 - [[John Carew Eccles]], Australian neurophysiologist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (b. 1903) |
||
* |
* May 5 - [[Walter Gotell]], German actor (b. 1924) |
||
* |
* May 14 - [[Harry Blackstone Jr.]], American magician (b. 1934) |
||
* |
* May 22 - [[Alfred Hershey]], American biochemist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (b. 1908) |
||
* |
* May 23 - [[James Lee Byars]], American artist (b. 1932) |
||
* |
* May 24 - [[Edward Mulhare]], Irish actor (b. 1923) |
||
* |
* May 29 - [[Jeff Buckley]], American musician (drowned) (b. 1966) |
||
* |
* May 31 - [[James Bennett Griffin]], American archaeologist (b. 1905) |
||
* |
* June 3 - [[Dennis James]], American game show host (b. 1917) |
||
* |
* June 12 - [[Bulat Okudzhava]], [[Soviet]] non-mainstream singer of [[Georgian people|Georgian]] descent (b. 1924) |
||
* |
* June 22 - [[Gérard Pelletier]], French journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1919) |
||
* |
* June 23 - [[Betty Shabazz]], widow of [[Malcolm X]] (b. 1936) |
||
* |
* June 24 - [[Brian Keith]], American actor (b. 1921) |
||
* |
* June 25 - [[Jacques-Yves Cousteau]], French explorer (b. 1910) |
||
* |
* June 26 - [[Israel Kamakawiwo'ole]], Hawaiian singer (b. 1959) |
||
* |
* June 28 - [[Mrs. Miller]], American singer (b. 1907) |
||
===July–December=== |
===July–December=== |
||
<!-- Link dates even if repeated, for date-format preferences. --> |
<!-- Link dates even if repeated, for date-format preferences. --> |
||
* |
* July 1 - [[Robert Mitchum]], American actor (b. 1917) |
||
* |
* July 2 - [[James Stewart (actor)|James Stewart]], American actor (b. 1908) |
||
* |
* July 4 - [[Charles Kuralt]], American television reporter (b. 1934) |
||
* |
* July 4 - [[John Zachary Young]], British biologist (b. 1907) |
||
* |
* July 14 - [[Garfield Barwick| Sir Garfield Barwick]], Australian Chief Justice (b. 1903) |
||
* |
* July 15 - [[Gianni Versace]], Italian fashion designer (murdered) (b. 1946) |
||
* |
* July 18 - [[Eugene Shoemaker]], American astrologist (b. 1928) |
||
* |
* July 20 - [[John Akii-Bua]] Ugandan hurdler (b. 1949) |
||
* |
* July 23 - [[Chuhei Nambu]], Japanese athlete (b. 1904) |
||
* |
* July 24 - [[William J. Brennan]], U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1906) |
||
* |
* August 2 - [[William S. Burroughs]], American author (b. 1914) |
||
* |
* August 2 - [[Fela Kuti]], Nigerian musician and political activist (b. 1938) |
||
* |
* August 4 - [[Jeanne Calment]], French supercentenarian and the oldest living person ever documented in history. (b. 1875) |
||
* |
* August 8 - [[Sviatoslav Richter]], Ukrainian pianist (b. 1915) |
||
* |
* August 10 - [[Conlon Nancarrow]], American-born composer (b. 1912) |
||
* |
* August 12 - [[Luther Allison]], American musician (b. 1939) |
||
* |
* August 16 - [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]], Pakistani Qwalli artist (b. 1948) |
||
* |
* August 21 - [[Yuri Nikulin]], Russian actor |
||
* |
* August 23 - [[John Kendrew]], British molecular biologist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (b. 1917) |
||
* |
* August 24 - [[Louis Essen]], English physicist (b. 1908) |
||
* |
* August 31 - [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] (car accident) (b. 1961) |
||
* |
* August 31 - [[Dodi Al-Fayed]], Egyptian businessman (car accident) (b. 1955) |
||
* |
* September 2 - [[Rudolph Bing]], Austrian opera manager (b. 1902) |
||
* |
* September 2 - [[Viktor Frankl]], Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1905) |
||
* |
* September 5 - [[Georg Solti]], Hungarian conductor (b. 1912) |
||
* |
* September 5 - [[Mother Teresa]], Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (b. 1910) |
||
* |
* September 7 - [[Mobutu Sese Seko]], president of [[Zaire]] (b. 1930) |
||
* |
* September 9 - [[Burgess Meredith]], American actor (b. 1907) |
||
* |
* September 17 - [[Red Skelton]], American comedian (b. 1913) |
||
* |
* September 18 - [[Jimmy Witherspoon]], [[blues]] singer (b. 1920) |
||
* |
* September 19 - [[Rich Mullins]], American musician (b. 1955) |
||
* |
* September 25 - [[Jean Françaix]], French composer (b. 1912) |
||
* |
* September 27 - [[Walter Trampler]], American violist (b. 1915) |
||
* |
* October 1 - [[Jerome H. Lemelson]], American inventor (b. 1923) |
||
* |
* October 4 - [[Gunpei Yokoi]], Japanese video game franchise creator (b. 1941) |
||
* |
* October 5 - [[Brian Pillman]], American professional wrestler (b. 1962) |
||
* |
* October 6 - [[Adrienne Hill]], British actress |
||
* |
* October 6 - [[Johnny Vander Meer]], baseball player (b. 1914) |
||
* |
* October 12 - [[John Denver]], American musician (b. 1943) |
||
* |
* October 19 - [[Glen Buxton]], American guitarist (b. 1947) |
||
* |
* October 22 - [[Leonid Amalrik]], Russian animator (b. 1905) |
||
* |
* October 23 - [[Bert Haanstra]], Dutch filmmaker (b. 1916) |
||
* |
* October 24 - [[Don Messick]], American voice actor (b. 1926) |
||
* |
* October 29 - [[Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos]], [[Greek-American]] [[NASA]] astrophysicist (b. 1947) |
||
* |
* October 29 - [[Anton Szandor LaVey]], American founder of the Church of Satan (b. 1930) |
||
* |
* November 4 - [[Eddie Arcaro]], American Hall of Fame Jockey (b. 1916) |
||
* |
* November 5 - [[James Robert Baker]], American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1946) |
||
* |
* November 5 - Sir [[Isaiah Berlin]], Russian historian of ideas (b. 1909) |
||
* |
* November 11 - [[Rodney Milburn]], American athlete (b. 1950) |
||
* |
* November 12 - [[Carlos Surinach]], Spanish composer (b. 1915) |
||
* |
* November 15 - [[Douglas MacArthur II]], nephew of [[World War II]] General [[Douglas MacArthur]] (b. 1909) |
||
* |
* November 17 - [[John Wimber]], American leader of the Vineyard Movement (b. 1934) |
||
* |
* November 21 - [[Robert Simpson (composer)|Robert Simpson]], English composer (b. 1921) |
||
* |
* November 22 - [[Michael Hutchence]], Australian musician (b. 1960) |
||
* |
* November 25 - [[Monique Serf| "Barbara" (Monique Serf)]], French singer (b. 1930) |
||
* |
* November 30 - [[Kathy Acker]], American author (b. 1947) |
||
* |
* December 2 - [[Shirley Crabtree]], British wrestler best known as Big Daddy (b. 1930) |
||
* |
* December 2 - [[Michael Hedges]], American composer and guitarist (b. 1953) |
||
* |
* December 18 - [[Chris Farley]], American actor and comedian (b. 1964) |
||
* |
* December 19 - [[David Schramm]], American astrophysicist (b. 1945) |
||
* |
* December 20 - [[Denise Levertov]], English-born American poet (b. 1923) |
||
* |
* December 21 - [[Amie Comeaux]], American country singer (b. 1976) |
||
* |
* December 24 - [[Toshirō Mifune]], Japanese actor (b. 1920) |
||
* |
* December 25 - [[Denver Pyle]], American actor (b. 1920) |
||
* |
* December 27 - [[Billy Wright (terrorist)|Billy Wright]], Irish paramilitary leader (b. 1960) |
||
===Unknown dates=== |
===Unknown dates=== |
||
{{C20YearTOCright}} |
{{C20YearTOCright}} |
||
* [[Laurence Henry Hicks]], Australian composer (b. |
* [[Laurence Henry Hicks]], Australian composer (b. 1912) |
||
==Nobel Prizes== |
==Nobel Prizes== |
Revision as of 14:03, 9 November 2008
Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
---|---|
Centuries: | |
Decades: | |
Years: |
Template:C20YearInTopicX Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar).
The year 1997 was the Year of the Ox according to the Chinese Zodiac. Template:C20YearTOC
Events of 1997
January
- January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive, five days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.
- January 17 - A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
- January 18 - In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill three Spanish aid workers, three soldiers, and seriously wound another.
- 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.
- January 20 - U.S. President Bill Clinton is inaugurated for his second term.
- January 21 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to be disciplined internally for ethical misconduct.
- January 22 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State, after confirmation by the United States Senate.
- January 23 - Mir Aimal Kasi is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three.
- January 26 - The Green Bay Packers win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1967, defeating the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- January 27 - It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.
- January 31 - Final Fantasy VII is released in Japan.
February
- February 4 - O.J. Simpson is found liable in civil court for the death of Ron Goldman and for the battery of Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims.
- February 4 - On their way to Lebanon, 2 Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing 73.
- February 4 - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
- February 4 - Ipswich Town footballer Adam Tanner, who had recently failed a drugs test, is banned from football for three months at an FA hearing. Some considered this to be a relatively lenient punishment as he had admitted taking drugs at the first attempt and shown remorse for his behaviour.
- February 4 - British Home Secretary Michael Howard informs Moors Murderer Myra Hindley that she will never be released from prison. Mr Howard made the decision in agreement with a recommendation made by his predecessor David Waddington in 1990.
- February 5 - The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
- February 5 - Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter Reynolds investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
- February 10 - The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene C. McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.
- February 10 - Sandline affair: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville Island.
- February 13 - STS-82: Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from Space Shuttle Discovery.
- February 13 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time, gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
- February 19 - The last of the People's Republic of China's major revolutionaries, Deng Xiaoping, dies at age 92.
- February 22 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned, and was born in July 1996.
- February 23 - A small fire occurs in the Russian space station Mir.
- February 28 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department.
March
- March 4 - U.S. President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
- March 6 - Pablo Picasso's Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery (recovered a week later).
- March 6 - In Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill more than 200.
- March 11 - An explosion at the Tokaimura nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination, in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
- March 13 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
- March 13 - The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China creates a new Chongqing Municipality. It was formerly part of Sichuan.
- March 13 - The Phoenix Lights are seen over Phoenix, AZ.
- March 16 - Sandline affair: On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.
- 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.
- March 21 - In Zaire, Etienne Tshiksekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.
- March 21 - Mercenaries of Sandline International withdraw from Papua New Guinea.
- March 22 - Tara Lipinski, 14, becomes the youngest women's world figure skating champion.
- March 22 - The comet Hale-Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth.
- March 22 - UFO based suicide cult Heavens Gate commit mass suicide, led by a Mr Applewhite
- March 24 - The 69th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, with The English Patient winning Best Picture.
- March 26 - In San Diego, California, 39 Heaven's Gate cultists commit mass suicide at their compound.
- March 26 - Julius Chan resigns as prime minister of Papua New Guinea, ending the Sandline affair.
April
- April 3 - The Thalit massacre in Algeria: All but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
- April 11 - Fire damages the Turin Cathedral in Italy.
- April 14 - Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 7 miles from Mecca; 343 die.
- April 14 - Former SS Captain Erich Priebke is retried; on July 22 he is sentenced to five years in prison.
- April 16 - Houston, Texas socialite Doris Angleton is murdered in her River Oaks home. Roger Angleton later admits to the crime in his suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury, he is later arrested by the United States Department of Justice on similar charges.
- 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.
- April 21 - A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first space burial.
- April 22 - Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
- April 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 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain.
- April 22 - France supports the new transitional government in Zaire, withdrawing its support of Mobutu Sese Seko.
- April 23 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
- April 27 - Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and end with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
- April 29 - Two trains crushed at Hunan, China, 126 killed.
May
- May 1 - Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
- May 1 - United Kingdom general election, 1997: The United Kingdom's Labour Party ends 18 years of Conservative rule.
- May 2 - Tony Blair is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Elizabeth II.
- May 3 - Katrina and the Waves win the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 for the UK with Love Shine a Light, the most successful Eurovision entry ever.
- May 10 - An earthquake near Ardekul, in northeastern Iran, kills at least 2,400.
- May 11 - IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a chess World champion in a match.
- May 12 - The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty is signed.
- May 14 - The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.
- May 15 - United States government acknowledges existence of "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.
- May 16 - Mobutu Sese Seko leaves Kinshasa (eventually settles in Morocco).
- 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.
- May 17 - Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa.
- May 22 - Kelly Flinn, the U.S. Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.
- May 25 - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months).
- May 25 - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
- May 27 - The second-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.
- May 31 - Opening of the Confederation Bridge; the 13 kilometer bridge is the world's longest bridge spanning ice covered waters, between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.
June
- June 1 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
- June 1 - Hugo Banzer wins the Presidential elections in Bolivia.
- 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.
- June 5 - Kim Hyun Chul, son of Kim Young Sam, president of South Korea, is charged with bribery and corruption related to the awarding of government contracts.
- June 6 - In Lacey Township, New Jersey, high school senior Melissa Drexler kills her newborn baby in a toilet.
- June 7 - A computer user known as "_eci" publishes his Microsoft C source code on a Windows 95 and Windows NT exploit, which would later become WinNuke. The source code gets wide distribution across the internet, and Microsoft is forced to release a security patch.
- June 7 - The Detroit Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup championship in 42 years, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to none. Red Wings goaltender Mike Vernon is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
- June 8 - A United States Coast Guard helicopter crashes near Humboldt Bay, California. All four crewmembers perish.
- 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 (the news does not reach outside Cambodia for 3 days).
- June 11 - The British House of Commons votes for a total ban on handguns.
- June 12 - The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill, meant to be more difficult to counterfeit.
- June 13 - A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- June 16 - Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; about 50 killed.
- June 19 - The fast food chain McDonald's wins a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the McLibel case, against 2 environmental campaigners. The judge decides it was true that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting the company's restaurants.
- June 25 - An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.
- 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.
July
- July 1 - The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
- July 4 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
- July 5 - In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup.
- July 7 - Beginning of the Great Flood in southern Poland
- July 8 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.
- July 8 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
- 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.
- July 10 - Miguel Ángel Blanco is kidnapped in Ermua, Spain and murdered by the ETA.
- July 11 - 90 die in Thailand's worst hotel fire at Pattaya.
- July 13 - The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades.
- July 15 - Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida residence.
- July 16 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88. It is the Dow's first close above 8,000. The Dow has doubled its value in 30 months.
- July 17 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
- July 21 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
- July 23 - Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
- 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.
- July 27 - About 50 are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
August
- August 1 - Boeing and McDonnell Douglas complete a merger.
- August 1- Steve Jobs returns to Apple Computer, Inc at Macworld in Boston
- August 2 - Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver is rescued as the sole survivor from the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, in which 18 died.
- August 3 - Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
- August 4 - 185,000 Teamsters Union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
- August 6 - Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
- August 6 - 228 die as Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands at Guam International Airport.
- August 13 - In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Cruzeiro wins Sporting Cristal of Peru by 1-0 and are Copa Libertadores de América champions by second time.
- August 20 - Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 killed, 15 kidnapped.
- August 25 - Egon Krenz is convicted of a shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy.
- August 26 - Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 killed.
- August 26 - The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is set up in Northern Ireland, as part of a peace process.
- August 29 - Rais massacre in Algeria; over 98 (and possibly up to 400) killed.
- August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales, is taken to hospital after a car crash shortly after midnight in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 04:00.
September
- September 3 - Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
- September 4 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird for three years rolls off the assembly line.
- September 5 - Beni-Messous massacre in Algeria; over 87 killed.
- September 5 - The International Olympic Committee picks Athens, Greece to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
- September 5 - Mother Theresa of Calcutta dies of heart failure in Kolkata, India.
- September 6 - The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey, watched by over 2 billion people worldwide.
- September 6 - A Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene in Moscow concert, celebrating the city's 850th anniversary, draws 3.5 million people.
- September 7 - First test flight of the F-22 Raptor.
- September 11 - Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England.
- September 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: An Iraqi military officer attacks an UNSCOM weapons inspector on board an UNSCOM helicopter while the inspector was attempting to take photographs of unauthorized movement of Iraqi vehicles inside a site designated for inspection
- September 15 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
- September 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: While waiting for access to a site, UNSCOM inspectors witness and videotape Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and dumping waste cans into a nearby river.
- September 18 - Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly.
- September 19 - Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.
- September 21 - The Islamic Salvation Army, the Islamic Salvation Fronts' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria.
- September 22 - Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
- September 25 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspector Dr. Diane Seaman catches several Iraqi men sneaking out the back door of an inspection site, with log books for the creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals.
- September 26 - An air crash in Indonesia kills 234 people (likely caused by smoke rising from numerous forest fires in the area). -see Garuda Indonesia Flight 152
- September 26 - An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
- September 27 - The Catholic diocese of Požega is founded.
October
- 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 .
- 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.
- October 4 - One million men gather for Promise Keepers' "Stand in the Gap" event in Washington, DC.
- October 4 - The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history ($17.3 million, mostly in small bills) occurred at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Wells Fargo. An FBI investigation eventually resulted in 24 convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the stolen cash.
- October 11 - The mixed martial arts organization PRIDE Fighting Championships holds its inaugural event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event Rickson Gracie defeats Nobuhiko Takada by armbar.
- October 12 - Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria: 43 are killed at a false roadblock.
- 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).
- October 15 - NASA launches the Cassini-Huygens probe to Saturn.
- October 16 - First color photograph on the front page of the New York Times appears.
- 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.
- October 26 - Michael Schumacher commits the infamous Dry Sac corner incident at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez track, an act for which he was disqualified from the 1997 season by the FIA and crucified in the press.
- October 26 - The Florida Marlins win the 1997 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.
- October 27 - Stock markets around the world crash because of a global economic crisis scare. The Dow Jones Industrial Average follows suit and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15. The points loss exceeds the loss from Black Monday. Officials at the New York Stock Exchange for the first time invoke the "circuit breaker" rule to stop trading.
- October 28 - In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points, closing at 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.
- October 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq says it will begin shooting down Lockheed U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors.
- October 30 - In Newton, Massachusetts, British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen.
November
- November 3 - In France, striking truck drivers blockade ports during a pay dispute.
- November 10 - Telecom companies WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a US$37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom (the largest merger in US history).
- November 10 - A Fairfax, Virginia jury finds Mir Aimal Kasi guilty of murdering 2 CIA employees in 1993.
- November 11 - Mary McAleese is elected the eighth President of Ireland.
- November 12 - Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the World Trade Center 1993 bombings.
- November 16 - The Toronto Argonauts win their second consecutive Canadian Football League title by defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 47-23 to win the 85th Grey Cup at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta.
- November 17 - In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut.
- 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 survived infancy.
- November 27 - NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is launched, the start of satellite component of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System.
December
- 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, and Russia, do not sign the treaty.
- December 5 - John O'Shaugnessey, 32, admits the rape and murder of 9-year-old Kayleigh Ward at Chester Crown Court. The trial judge sentences O'Shaugnessey, of Blacon, Chester, to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should serve at least 30 years before being considered for parole.
- December 8 - Myra Hindley, one of the Moors murderers arrives at the High Court of Justice to contest a recent Home Secretary's decision that she should remain in prison until she dies.
- December 11 - The Kyoto Protocol is adopted by a United Nations committee.
- December 12 - Demonstrations in state capitals of Australia against the WTO and IMF.
- December 16 - "Dennō Senshi Porigon" an episode of Pokemon is aired, giving hundreds of Japanese Children seizures.
- December 18 - Myra Hindley loses her High Court appeal against the government's decision to keep her behind bars for the rest of her life.
- December 19 The highest-grossing movie of all time, James Cameron's Titanic, premiers in the U.S.
- December 24 - Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria: 50-100 villagers are killed.
- December 27 - Ulster loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison.
- 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 strain.
- December 30 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997: In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, 400 are killed from four villages in the wilaya of Relizane.
Undated
- The Toyota Prius comes to showrooms, only in Japan. The Prius was the first hybrid vehicle to go into full production. It would come to U.S. showrooms in 2000.
Fictional
- The 1984 film The Terminator and its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, both referenced the year 1997 as the time in which the fictional computer entity Skynet would launch a nuclear attack on mankind on August 29.
- The 1987 NES RPG-game, Crystalis, references October 1, 1997 as the day when a terrible war takes place and the whole human kind goes back in time, therefore, strange animals populate in cities and a few build a tower that goes high into sky.
- The John Carpenter's 1981 film Escape from New York is set in 1997 of a United States so crime-ridden that Manhattan Island in New York City has become a maximum security prison.
- The events of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta supposedly begin on November 5, 1997.
- The 1990 film Predator 2 takes place in 1997 Los Angeles.
Births
- January 13 - Marius Borg Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
- January 14 - Nastya and Masha Tolmacheva (The Tolmachevy Twins), Russian singers
- January 24 - Jonah Bobo, American actor
- February 10 - Chloe Moretz, American actress
- March 3 - Maria Francisca Isabel de Bragança, daughter of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
- March 27 - Princess Aisha of Jordan
- March 27 - Princess Sara of Jordan
- May 1 - Ariel Gade, American actress
- May 18 - Alana Etheridge, American actress
- June 20 - Maria Lark, Russian-born American actress
- July 15 - Prince Lukás of Bulgaria
- July 20 - Billi Bruno, American actress
- July 22 - Field Cate, American actor
- August 25 - Holly Gibbs, English actress
- September 8 - Kimberlea Berg, English actress
- October 8 - Connor Carmody, American actor
- October 8 - Bella Thorne, American actress/model
- October 12 - Prince Boris of Bulgaria, second in line to the Bulgarian throne,
- October 31 - Sydney Park, American actress and comedian
- November 1 - Alexander Draper Wolff, American actor and drummer
- November 13 - Brent Kinsman, American actor
- November 13 - Shane Kinsman, American Actor
- November 19 - McCaughey septuplets, the world's first set of septuplets to survive infancy
Deaths
January–June
- January 1 - Townes Van Zandt, American folk singer (b. 1944)
- January 4 - Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul (b. 1909)
- January 6 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (b. 1912)
- January 10 - Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, director (b. 1907)
- January 10 - Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- January 12 - Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1901)
- January 16 - Ennis Cosby, comedian Bill Cosby's son (b. 1969)
- January 17 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
- January 18 - Paul Tsongas, US Senator(Massachusetts) and a one-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination (b. 1941)
- January 19 - James Dickey, American poet and novelist (b. 1923)
- January 20 - Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- January 21 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (b. 1909)
- January 31 - Johnny Klein, American drummer (b. 1918)
- February 1 - Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)
- February 2 - Chico Science, Brazilian musician (automobile accident) (b. 1967)
- February 5 - Pamela Harriman, U.S. Ambassador to France (b. 1920)
- February 11 - Don Porter, American actor (b. 1912)
- February 17 - Zein Isa, Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter
- February 19 - Deng Xiaoping, leader of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904)
- February 23 - Tony Williams, American musician (b. 1945)
- February 28 - Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Dechebal Matasareanu, shooters in the North Hollywood shootout.
- March 4 - Robert H. Dicke, American experimental physicist (b. 1916)
- March 4 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (b. 1914)
- March 6 - Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
- March 7 - Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- March 7 - Martin Kippenberger, German artist (b. 1953)
- March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (b. 1972)
- March 9 - Terry Nation,Scriptwriter (b. 1930)
- March 10 - La Vern Baker, American singer (b. 1929)
- March 14 - Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-born director (b. 1907)
- March 17 - Jermaine Stewart, American singer (b. 1957)
- March 19 - Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (b. 1904)
- March 20 - Tony Zale, American boxer (b. 1913)
- March 21 - W.V. Awdry, British children's writer (b. 1911)
- April 5 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
- April 7 - Witto Aloma, Cuban Major League Baseball player (b. 1923)
- April 7 - Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut (b. 1935)
- April 12 - George Wald, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- April 15 - Mildred Cleghorn, chairwoman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe (b. 1910)
- April 16 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
- April 16 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)
- April 19 - El Duce, American singer/drummer (The Mentors) (b. 1958)
- April 20 - Henry Mucci, American Colonel of the 98th Ranger Battalion (b. 1909)
- April 22 - Baroness Seear, President of the UK Liberal Party (b. 1913)
- May 2 - John Carew Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- May 5 - Walter Gotell, German actor (b. 1924)
- May 14 - Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician (b. 1934)
- May 22 - Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1908)
- May 23 - James Lee Byars, American artist (b. 1932)
- May 24 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- May 29 - Jeff Buckley, American musician (drowned) (b. 1966)
- May 31 - James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (b. 1905)
- June 3 - Dennis James, American game show host (b. 1917)
- June 12 - Bulat Okudzhava, Soviet non-mainstream singer of Georgian descent (b. 1924)
- June 22 - Gérard Pelletier, French journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1919)
- June 23 - Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X (b. 1936)
- June 24 - Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
- June 25 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer (b. 1910)
- June 26 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (b. 1959)
- June 28 - Mrs. Miller, American singer (b. 1907)
July–December
- July 1 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (b. 1917)
- July 2 - James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
- July 4 - Charles Kuralt, American television reporter (b. 1934)
- July 4 - John Zachary Young, British biologist (b. 1907)
- July 14 - Sir Garfield Barwick, Australian Chief Justice (b. 1903)
- July 15 - Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (murdered) (b. 1946)
- July 18 - Eugene Shoemaker, American astrologist (b. 1928)
- July 20 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler (b. 1949)
- July 23 - Chuhei Nambu, Japanese athlete (b. 1904)
- July 24 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1906)
- August 2 - William S. Burroughs, American author (b. 1914)
- August 2 - Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and political activist (b. 1938)
- August 4 - Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian and the oldest living person ever documented in history. (b. 1875)
- August 8 - Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist (b. 1915)
- August 10 - Conlon Nancarrow, American-born composer (b. 1912)
- August 12 - Luther Allison, American musician (b. 1939)
- August 16 - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani Qwalli artist (b. 1948)
- August 21 - Yuri Nikulin, Russian actor
- August 23 - John Kendrew, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917)
- August 24 - Louis Essen, English physicist (b. 1908)
- August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales (car accident) (b. 1961)
- August 31 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (car accident) (b. 1955)
- September 2 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian opera manager (b. 1902)
- September 2 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1905)
- September 5 - Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor (b. 1912)
- September 5 - Mother Teresa, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1910)
- September 7 - Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire (b. 1930)
- September 9 - Burgess Meredith, American actor (b. 1907)
- September 17 - Red Skelton, American comedian (b. 1913)
- September 18 - Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer (b. 1920)
- September 19 - Rich Mullins, American musician (b. 1955)
- September 25 - Jean Françaix, French composer (b. 1912)
- September 27 - Walter Trampler, American violist (b. 1915)
- October 1 - Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor (b. 1923)
- October 4 - Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese video game franchise creator (b. 1941)
- October 5 - Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
- October 6 - Adrienne Hill, British actress
- October 6 - Johnny Vander Meer, baseball player (b. 1914)
- October 12 - John Denver, American musician (b. 1943)
- October 19 - Glen Buxton, American guitarist (b. 1947)
- October 22 - Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (b. 1905)
- October 23 - Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1916)
- October 24 - Don Messick, American voice actor (b. 1926)
- October 29 - Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos, Greek-American NASA astrophysicist (b. 1947)
- October 29 - Anton Szandor LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan (b. 1930)
- November 4 - Eddie Arcaro, American Hall of Fame Jockey (b. 1916)
- November 5 - James Robert Baker, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1946)
- November 5 - Sir Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (b. 1909)
- November 11 - Rodney Milburn, American athlete (b. 1950)
- November 12 - Carlos Surinach, Spanish composer (b. 1915)
- November 15 - Douglas MacArthur II, nephew of World War II General Douglas MacArthur (b. 1909)
- November 17 - John Wimber, American leader of the Vineyard Movement (b. 1934)
- November 21 - Robert Simpson, English composer (b. 1921)
- November 22 - Michael Hutchence, Australian musician (b. 1960)
- November 25 - "Barbara" (Monique Serf), French singer (b. 1930)
- November 30 - Kathy Acker, American author (b. 1947)
- December 2 - Shirley Crabtree, British wrestler best known as Big Daddy (b. 1930)
- December 2 - Michael Hedges, American composer and guitarist (b. 1953)
- December 18 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
- December 19 - David Schramm, American astrophysicist (b. 1945)
- December 20 - Denise Levertov, English-born American poet (b. 1923)
- December 21 - Amie Comeaux, American country singer (b. 1976)
- December 24 - Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
- December 25 - Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920)
- December 27 - Billy Wright, Irish paramilitary leader (b. 1960)
Unknown dates
- Laurence Henry Hicks, Australian composer (b. 1912)
Nobel Prizes
- Chemistry - Paul D. Boyer, John E. Walker, Jens C. Skou
- Economics - Bank of Sweden - Robert C. Merton, Myron Scholes
- Literature - Dario Fo
- Peace - International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Jody Williams
- Physics - Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, William D. Phillips
- Medicine - Stanley B. Prusiner