1997

1997 (MCMXCVII) was .
Births
January 3 - Rahul Shah, Indian cricketer
February 13 - Michael Jackson, American actor, singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, record producer and voice actor
March 21 - Martina Stoessel, Argentina actrees & singer
March 31 - Florin Pisica, Romanian ministry of education & guitarist (Trupa Muzicii Rock-The Jam Hendrix Experience)
April 1 - Asa Butterfield, English actor
April 15 - Maisie Williams, British actress
May 1 - Ariel Gade, American actress
June 29 - Lucian Emanoil Onisor, Romanian doctor & bassist
July 18 - Maria Nikka Feliselda, Filipina Bassist
August 10 - Kylie Jenner, American television personality and founder of Kylie Cosmetics
August 16 - Greyson Chance, American singer
August 20 - Vlad Busila, Romanian guitarist (Trupa Muzicii Rock-Fecal Matter)
September 1
Dragos Leonte, Romanian keyboardist & guitarist (Trupa Filmului) (d.2023)
Jungkook, Korean singer (BTS)
September 8 - Matthew Josten, American actor
October 2 - Liezel Lopez, Philippine actress
October 8 - Bella Throne, American actrees & singer
November 16 - Alex Polidori, Italian actress and younger sister of Gabriele Patriarca
November 17 - Luca Raicu, Romanian keyboardist (Trupa Muzicii Rock-The Jam Hendrix Experience)
November 19 - McCaughey septuplets, famous American set of septuplets
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 - Bao Dai, 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
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 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.
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" - Celine Dion
"Wannabe" - The Spice Girls
"A Long December" - Counting Crows
"All By Myself" - Celine 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