1997 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s – 1990s – 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years:	1994 1995 1996 – 1997 – 1998 1999 2000

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

Births

February 13 - Prince Michael Jackson I, American actor, singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, record producer and voice actor
April 1 – Asa Butterfield, English actor
May 1 – Ariel Gade, American actress
September 8 – Matthew Josten, American actor
October 25 – Sven Wilpshaar, Unknown Dutchman
November 16 – Alex Polidori, Italian actress and younger sister of Gabriele Patriarca
November 19 – McCaughey septuplets, famous American set of septuplets

Deaths

January – March

Deng Xiaoping 1904–1997

January 9 – Edward Osobka-Morawski, Polish politician (b. 1909)
January 10 – Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist (b. 1907)
January 10 – Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, director (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 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 American celebrity manager (b. 1909)
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 19 – Deng Xiaoping, leader of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904)
February 21 – Josef Posipal, German footballer (b. 1927)
March 6 – Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
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)

April – June

Allen Ginsberg 1926–1997

Jacques-Yves Cousteau 1910–1997

April 5 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
April 7 – Georgi Shonin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1935)
April 7 – Witto Aloma, Major League Baseball player (b. 1923)
April 11 – Wang Xiaobo, Chinese writer
April 12 – George Wald, American scientist (b. 1903)
April 17 – Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (b. 1918)
May 2 – John Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist (b. 1903)
May 16 – Giuseppe De Santis, Italian movie director (b. 1917)
May 22 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist (b. 1908)
May 29 – Jeff Buckley, American musician (b. 1966)
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 23 – Betty Shabazz, American widow of Malcolm X (b. 1936)
June 25 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French underwater explorer and movie maker (b. 1910)
June 26 – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (b. 1959)
June 29 – William Hickey, American actor (b. 1927)

July – September

Robert Mitchum 1917-1997

Jeanne Calment 1875–1997

Diana, Princess of Wales 1961–1997

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 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (b. 1916)
August 2 – William S. Burroughs, American writer (b. 1914)
August 4 – Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian, longest-lived human ever (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 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 18 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American blues singer (b. 1920)
September 29 – Roy Lichtenstein, American artist (b. 1923)

October – December

Stephane Grappelli 1908–1997

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 22 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (b. 1905)
October 30 – Samuel Fuller, American screenwriter and director (b. 1912)
November 22 – Michael Hutchence, Australian musician (b. 1960)
November 25 – Hastings Banda, 1st President of Malawi (b. 1907)
December 1 – Stephane Grappelli, French violinist (b. 1908)
December 7 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (b. 1942)
December 18 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
December 20 – Juzo Itami, Japanese movie director (b. 1933)
December 27 – Billy Wright, Northern Irish paramilitary leader (b. 1960)

Events

January

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 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

Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Korean Airlines Flight 801 crashes on Guam.

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 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 al-Fayed and their driver Henri Paul are killed in a car crash in Paris.

September

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales on September 6, 1997

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

Mary McAleese is chosen as President of Ireland on November 11, 1997.

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.