1997

1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday in the Gregorian calendar.

 Births 

January
 January 3 – Rahul Shah, Indian cricketer
 January 17 - Adyam Tesfalem, Eritrean road racing cyclist

February

March
 March 4 – Beatrice Vio, Italian wheelchair foil fencer
 March 8 – Sam Vanderpump, English former race kart driver, businessman and television personality
 March 21 – Martina Stoessel, Argentina actrees & singer

April
 April 1 – Asa Butterfield, English actor
 April 15 – Maisie Williams, British actress 

May
 May 1 – Ariel Gade, American actress

June

July
 July 18 – Maria Nikka Feliselda, Filipina Bassist

August
 August 10 – Kylie Jenner, American television personality and founder of Kylie Cosmetics
 August 16 – Greyson Chance, American singer

September
 September 1 – Jungkook, South Korean singer (BTS)
 September 8 – Matthew Josten, American actor

October
 October 2 – Liezel Lopez, Philippine actress
 October 8 – Bella Throne, American actrees & singer

November
 November 16 – Alex Polidori, Italian actress and younger sister of Gabriele Patriarca
 November 19 – McCaughey septuplets, famous American set of septuplets

December
 December 16 – Zara Larsson, Sweden singer

 Deaths 
 January 
 January 8 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist (b. 1911)
 January 9 – Edward Osobka-Morawski, Polish politician (b. 1909)
 January 10 – Alexander R. Todd, Scottish chemist (b. 1907)
 January 10 – Sheldon Leonard, American producer (b. 1907)
 January 12 – Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian cancer researcher (b. 1901)
 January 15 – Helenio Herrera, Argentine football manager (b. 1916)
 January 17 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
 January 18 – Paul Tsongas, American politician (b. 1941)
 January 19 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (b. 1923)
 January 21 – Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born American celebrity manager (b. 1909)
 January 25 – Jeane Dixon, American psychic (b. 1904)

 February 
 February 1 – Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)
 February 1 – Marjorie Reynolds, American actress (b. 1917)
 February 2 – Chico Science, Brazilian musician (b. 1967)
 February 5 – Pamela Harriman, U.S. Ambassador to France (b. 1920)
 February 16 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian writer (b. 1904)
 February 17 – Asfaw Wossen, Emperor-in-exile of Ethiopia (b. 1916)
 February 19 – Deng Xiaoping, Leader of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904)
 February 21 – Josef Posipal, German footballer (b. 1927)

 March 
 March 6 – Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
 March 6 – Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1924)
 March 9 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (b. 1972)
 March 14 – Fred Zinnemann, American director (b. 1907)
 March 19 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (b. 1904)
 March 21 - Wilbert Awdry, English writer (b. 1911)
 March 31 – Lyman Spitzer, American physicist (b. 1914)

 April 
 April 5 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
 April 7 – Georgi Shonin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1935)
 April 7 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese movie producer (b. 1910)
 April 11 – Wang Xiaobo, Chinese writer (b. 1952)
 April 12 – George Wald, American scientist (b. 1903)
 April 17 – Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (b. 1918)
 April 21 – Diosdado Macapagal, President of the Philippines (b. 1910)

 May 
 May 2 – John Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist (b. 1903)
 May 4 – Wijeyananda Dahanayake, Prime Minister of Ceylon (b. 1902)
 May 16 – Giuseppe De Santis, Italian movie director (b. 1917)
 May 20 – Virgilio Barco Vargas, President of Colombia (b. 1922)
 May 22 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist (b. 1908)
 May 29 – Jeff Buckley, American musician (b. 1966)

 June 
 June 1 – Nikolai Tikhonov, Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1905)
 June 2 – Helen Jacobs, American tennis player (b. 1908)
 June 6 – Magda Gabor, American actress (b. 1914)
 June 14 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor (b. 1926)
 June 15 – Edmond Leburton, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1915)
 June 23 – Betty Shabazz, American widow of Malcolm X (b. 1936)
 June 24 – Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
 June 25 – Jacques Cousteau, French underwater explorer (b. 1910)
 June 26 – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (b. 1959)
 June 29 – William Hickey, American actor (b. 1927)

 July 
 July 1 – Robert Mitchum, American actor (b. 1917)
 July 2 – James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
 July 15 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (b. 1946)
 July 18 – Eugene Shoemaker, American astronomer (b. 1928)
 July 24 – Saw Maung, Prime Minister of Myanmar (b. 1928)
 July 24 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (b. 1916)
 July 28 – Seni Pramoj, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1905)
 July 30 – Bảo Đại, Vietnamese Emperor (b. 1913)

 August 
 August 2 – William S. Burroughs, American writer (b. 1914)
 August 4 – Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian (b. 1875)
 August 8 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist (b. 1915)
 August 12 – Luther Allison, American musician (b. 1939)
 August 23 – John Kendrew, British molecular biologist (b. 1917)
 August 30 – Ernst Willimowski, Polish footballer (b. 1931)
 August 31 – Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961)
 August 31 – Dodi al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (b. 1955)

 September 
 September 5 – Mother Teresa, Albanian nun and missionary (b. 1910)
 September 7 – Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire (b. 1930)
 September 9 – Burgess Meredith, American actor (b. 1907)
 September 11 – Matrika Prasad Koirala, Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912)
 September 17 – Red Skelton, American entertainer (b. 1913)
 September 18 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American blues singer (b. 1920)
 September 29 – Roy Lichtenstein, American artist (b. 1923)

 October 
 October 5 – Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
 October 12 – John Denver, American musician (b. 1943)
 October 16 – James A. Michener, American writer (b. 1907)
 October 16 – Audra Lindley, American actress (b. 1918)
 October 22 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (b. 1905)
 October 30 – Samuel Fuller, American screenwriter and director (b. 1912)

 November 
 November 8 – Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh, Iranian writer (b. 1892)
 November 22 – Michael Hutchence, Australian musician (b. 1960)
 November 25 – Hastings Banda, 1st President of Malawi (b. 1907)

 December 
 December 1 – Stephane Grappelli, French violinist (b. 1908)
 December 7 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (b. 1942)
 December 16 – Lillian Disney, American artist (b. 1899)
 December 18 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
 December 20 – Juzo Itami, Japanese movie director (b. 1933)
 December 24 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
 December 27 – Billy Wright, Northern Irish paramilitary leader (b. 1960)

 Events 
 January 
150px|thumb|right|Kofi Annan becomes UN Secretary-General.
 January 1 – Kofi Annan becomes Secretary-General of the UN.
 January 8 – Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
 January 9 – Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive five days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.
 January 18 – In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound 1 other.
 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 – Bill Clinton starts his second term as President of the United States.
 January 21 – Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined 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 receives the death sentence for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed 2 and wounded 3 others.
 January 27 – It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.
 January 28 – Clive Davis receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 February 
 February 22 – Scientists in Scotland announce the cloning of Dolly, born on July 5, 1996.
 February 23 – A small fire occurs on the Mir space station.
 February 27 – Divorce becomes legal in the Republic of Ireland.

 March 
 March 6 – Guyana's President Cheddi Jagan dies in office.
 March 22 – At age 14, Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest figure skating world champion.
 March 24 – The movie The English Patient wins an Academy Award for best picture.

 April 
 April 29 – 126 people are killed in a train crash in Hunan, China.

 May 
 May 1 – Tony Blair of the Labour Party is elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in a landslide victory over the Conservatives, who lose all of their seats in Scotland and Wales, and lose power after 18 years in Government.
 May 3 – Katrina and the Waves win the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom.
 May 10 – An earthquake in northeastern Iran kills 2400 people.
 May 16 – Mobutu Sese Seko leaves Zaire.
 May 17 – Laurent Kabila's troops enter Kinshasa, as Zaire changes its name to Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 May 23 – Mohammad Khatami is elected President of Iran.

 June 
 June 13 – Timothy McVeigh is sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.
 June 25 – The town of Plymouth on the Caribbean island of Montserrat is evacuated as the Soufriere Hills volcano erupts.
 June 26 – Bertie Ahern becomes Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland.

 July 
 July 1 – The United Kingdom hands control of Hong Kong back to the People's Republic of China.
 July 15 – Fashion designer Gianni Versace is shot dead in Florida by spree killer Andrew Cunanan.
 July 25 – K. R. Narayanan becomes President of India.

 August 
 August 4 – Jeanne Calment dies after a record human lifespan of 122 years and 164 days.
 August 6 – Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands on the island of Guam, killing 228 people.
 August 13 – South Park debuts on Comedy Central.
 August 31 – Diana, Princess of Wales, Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul are killed in a car crash in Paris.

 September 
 September 5 – The 2004 Summer Olympics are awarded to Athens, Greece.
 September 6 – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey in London. It is watched by over 2 billion people worldwide.
 September 11 – Voters in Scotland approve the creation of their own regional parliament in a referendum.
 September 18 – Voters in Wales approve the creation of their own Assembly in a referendum.
 September 26 – The regions of Umbria and Marche in Italy are hit by a strong earthquake.
 September 26 - An Airbus A300 of Garuda Indonesia Airlines crashes in Medan, Sumatra, killing all 234 people on board.

 October 
 October 15 – NASA launches the Cassini-Huygens probe to Saturn.
 October 16 – The New York Times' first colour photographs appear.
 October 26 – The Florida Marlins win the 1997 World Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians in seven games.  This is their first championship in franchise history.

 November 
 November 11 – Mary McAleese is chosen to succeed Mary Robinson as President of the Republic of Ireland, marking the first-ever woman to woman Presidential transfer.
 November 17 – 62 people are killed by Islamist terrorists in Luxor, Egypt.

 December 
 December 11 – The Kyoto protocol is approved by a UN committee.
 December 19 – Janet Jagan becomes President of Guyana, succeeding her deceased husband, Cheddi Jagan.
 December 19 – James Cameron's movie Titanic is released in the US.

 Other significant events 
 Algerian Civil War: Hundreds of people are killed in massacres throughout the year.

 Nobel Prizes 
Chemistry: Paul D. Boyer, John E. Walker, Jens C. Skou
Economics: Robert C. Merton, Myron C. Scholes
Literature: Dario Fo
Nobel Peace Prize: International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams
Physics: Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, William D. Phillips
Medicine: Stanley B. Prusiner

 Movies Released 
 Air Force One
 Amistad
 As Good as It Gets
 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
 Batman & Robin
 Breakdown
 Cop Land
 Con Air
 Contact
 Face/Off
 Fire Down Below
 Gattaca
 Good Will Hunting
 Hercules
 Home Alone 3
 Into Thin Air
 L.A. Confidential
 Liar Liar
 Men in Black
 Mononoke Hime
 My Best Friend's Wedding
 Suicide Kings
 The Fifth Element
 The Full Monty
 The Ice Storm
 The Lost World: Jurassic Park
 The Rainmaker
 The Sweet Hereafter
 Titanic
 Tomorrow Never Dies
 U Turn
 Power Rangers Turbo: The Movie
 Volcano

 New books 
 American Pastoral  –  Philip Roth
 Are You Experienced? – William Sutcliffe
 Barney's Version –  Mordecai Richler
 The Best Laid Plans  –  Sidney Sheldon
 The Bible Code  –  Michael Drosnin
 Budgie: The Little Helicopter – Sarah Ferguson
 Cat & Mouse  –  James Patterson
 Cold Mountain  –  Charles Frazier
 Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs  –  Dave Barry
 Deja Dead – Kathy Reichs
 Diana: Her True Story – Andrew Morton
 Everyday Wicca – Gerina Dunwich
 Fall On Your Knees – Ann-Marie MacDonald
 The Ghost  –  Danielle Steel
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – J. K. Rowling
 Hornet's Nest  –  Patricia Cornwell
 I Am the Most Interesting Book of All (translation) – Marie Bashkirtseff
 Instruments of Darkness – Nancy Huston
 Jingo – Terry Pratchett
 Larry's Party  –  Carol Shields
 Last Standing Woman – Winona LaDuke
 Moab Is My Washpot – Stephen Fry (autobiography)
 Morisson of Peking – Cyril Pearl
 Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet – Karen Armstrong
 Night Train – Martin Amis
 The Partner  –  John Grisham
 Pretend You Don't See Her – Mary Higgins Clark
 The Ranch  –  Danielle Steel
 The Red Tent – Anita Diamant
 Special Delivery  –  Danielle Steel
 The Subtle Knife – Philip Pullman
 Timequake – Kurt Vonnegut
 Toulouse-Lautrec: The Soul of Montmartre – Reinhold Heller
 Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Albom
 Unnatural Exposure  –  Patricia Cornwell
 A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
 A Wiccan's Guide to Prophecy and Divination – Gerina Dunwich

 Hit songs 
 Candle in the Wind 1997 – Elton John
 "MMMBop" – Hanson
 "My Heart Will Go On" – Céline Dion
 "Wannabe" – The Spice Girls
 "A Long December" – Counting Crows
 "All By Myself" – Céline Dion
 "Bitch" – Meredith Brooks
 "Don't Speak" – No Doubt
 "Forty Six & 2" – Tool
 "Longneck Bottle" – Garth Brooks
 "Magdalene" – Lenny Kravitz
 "Silver Springs" – Fleetwood Mac
 "The Difference" – The Wallflowers
 "Volcano" – Presidents of the United States of America
 "You Were Meant For Me" – Jewel