| |
| 1997 |
| Janusry 1st |
 |
Kofi
Annan succeeded Boutros Boutros-Ghali as the new Secretary General
of the United Nations. Boutros Boutros-Ghali had stepped down
from office December 31st 1996. |
|
| January 9th |
|
Yachtsman
Tony Bullimore was found alive five days after his boat capsized
in the Southern Ocean. |
|
| January 19th |
|
Yasser
Arafat returned to Hebron after more than 30 years and joined
the celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled
West Bank city. |
|
| January 20th |
|
In
the United States, President Bill Clinton started his second
term as President of the United States. |
|
| January 22nd |
|
In
the United States, Madeleine Albright became the first female
Secretary of State after the confirmation by the United States
Senate. |
|
| January 23th |
|
Mir
Aimal Kasi received the death sentence for a 1993 assault rifle
attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two people and wounded
three others. |
|
| January
27th |
|
It
was revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of
art that were stolen by Nazis during WWII. |
|
| February
4th |
|
O.
J. Simpson was found in a civil court to be liable for the deaths
of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson was ordered
to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims. |
|
| February
4th |
|
On
their way to Lebanon two Israeli troop-transport helicopters
collided killing 73 people. |
|
| February
4th |
|
Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic at first contested the results,
but then recognised opposition victories in the November 1996
elections. |
|
| February
5th |
|
The
so-called 'Big Three' banks in Switzerland announced the creation
of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families. |
|
| February
6th |
|
In
Britain, widow Diane Blood won the right to use the sperm of
her dead husband to have a child. |
|
| February
13th |
|
Astronauts
from the Space Shuttle 'Discovery' on mission STS-82 began servicing
and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope. |
|
| February
19th |
|
Deng
Xiaoping died at 92. Xiaoping was the last of the People's Republic
of China's major revolutionaries. His death signalled weeks
of mourning for the leader in China. |
|
| February
22nd |
|
At
at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, scientists announced that
an adult sheep named 'Dolly' had been successfully cloned and
was born the previous year, on July 5th 1996. |
|
| February
23th |
|
On
the Russian Space station, Mir, a large fire occurred while
in orbit. |
|
| March 4th |
|
United
States President Bill Clinton blocked federal funding for any
research on human clone research. |
|
| March 6th |
|
In
Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers overran a military base and killed
more than 200 people. |
|
| March 13th |
|
India's
Missionaries of Charity chose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother
Teresa as its leader. |
|
| March
22nd |
|
The
comet Hale-Bopp had its closest approach to Earth. The comet
was discovered on July 23rd 1995 by two independent observers,
Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp of the United States. |
|
| March 26th |
|
In
the United States, 39 bodies of the Heaven's Gate cult were
found in Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego. The members had committed
suicide, convinced that their souls could take a ride on a spaceship
that they thought was hiding behind the comet Hale-Bopp. |
|
| April 7th |
|
Soviet
cosmonaut Georgy Shonin died aged 62. Shonin served as
back-up on the Soyuz 4 mission, 14th January 1969 and
commander on the Soyuz 6 mission on the 11th - 16th October
1969. |
|
| April
14th |
|
The
new trial of former Nazi SS captain Erich Priebke began. He
was accused of being involved in the 'Ardeatine massacre' in
1944 in Italy. Also accused to have participated in the deportation
of 6,000-7,000 Jews from Italy to the Auschwitz death camp,
and to have been involved in the torture of political prisoners. |
|
| April
21st |
|
First
space burial, carrying the remains of 24 people on a modified
Pegasus rocket into earth orbit, until re-entry on May 20th
2002. 'Earthview 01: The Founders Flight' had Gene Roddenberry
(Star Trek creator) and Timothy Leary buried on the flight. |
|
| April 22nd |
|
A
126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador
in Lima, Peru ended after government commandos stormed and captured
the building rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage died of a heart
attack, two soldiers were killed from rebel fire and all 14
Tupac Amaru rebels were slain. |
|
| April 27th |
|
Andrew
Cunanan murdered Jerffrey Trail, which began a murder spree
that would last until July and end with the murder of the fashion
designer Gianni Versace at his home in Florida. |
|
| May 1st |
|
In
Britain, the Labour Party ended 18 years of Conservative rule
in the 1997 British general election. |
|
| May 2nd |
|
Due
to Labour winning the British general election, Tony Blair,
leader of the Labour Party, was appointed Prime Minister of
Great Britain. |
|
| May 10th |
|
An
earthquake near Ardekul in north eastern Iran killed at least
2,400 people. |
|
| May 11th |
|
IBM's
(upgraded) chess supercomputer 'Deeper Blue' defeated Garry
Kasparov in the last game (6) of the rematch of the 1996 clash.
'Deeper Blue' won the match 3.5-2.5 and became the first computer
to beat a reigning World chess champion in a match. |
|
| May 12th |
|
The
Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty (Khasavyurt accords) was formally
signed by President Boris Yeltsin and President Aslan Maskhadov
in the Kremlin. Hostilities had ended with the signing of the
Khasavyurt accords by General Aleksandr Lebed on August 31st
1996. |
|
| May 16th |
|
US
President Bill Clinton issued a formal apology to the surviving
victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and their families, 25
years after the 40 year "study" was exposed by reporter
Jean Heller. |
|
| June 2nd |
|
In
the United States, Timothy McVeigh was convicted on 15 counts
of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma. |
|
| June 11th |
|
The
British House of Commons voted for a total ban on handguns.
A direct response to the 'Dunblane Massacre' of March 13th 1996. |
|
| June 13th |
|
In
the United States, a jury sentenced Timothy McVeigh to the death
penalty for his part in the April 19th 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. |
|
| June
25th |
|
A
Russian unmanned Progress freighter spacecraft collided with
the Russian Space station, Mir. |
|
| July 1st |
|
The
United Kingdom handed over sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's
Republic of China. |
|
| July
4th |
|
NASA's
Mars Pathfinder space probe, launched December 4th 1996, after
a 7-month voyage landed on the surface of Mars, a region called
Chryse Planitia. |
|
| July 8th |
|
NATO
invited the former Eastern block countries of the Czech Republic,
Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999. |
|
| July 13th |
|
The
skeletal remains of Che Guevara were exhumed from beneath an
air strip near Vallegrande, Bolivia and were returned to Cuba
for burial alongside some of his other comrades of the revolution. |
|
| July 15th |
|
Serial
killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan shot fashion designer Gianni Versace
to death outside Versace's US home in Miami, Florida. |
|
| July 22nd |
|
The
trial of former Nazi SS captain Erich Priebke ended. He was
found guilty of 'crimes against humanity' and involved in the
'Ardeatine massacre' in 1944 in Italy. Also found guilty of
deporting of 6,000-7,000 Jews to the Auschwitz death camp, and
to have tortured political prisoners. He was sentenced to 15
years years in prison. |
|
| August 1st |
|
In
the United States, the aircraft and aerospace manufacturers
Boeing and McDonnell Douglas Corp completed their merger. |
|
| August 26th |
|
The
Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was
set up in Northern Ireland, as part of the on-going peace process. |
|
| August 31st |
|
In
France, Diana the Princess of Wales was killed after a car crash
in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. Two other people
in the car were also killed, and one survived. Dodi Al-Fayed,
an Egyptian businessman, died as did the driver of the car Henri
Paul. Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only passenger
that survived. |
|
| September
5th |
|
Mother
Teresa, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize died. |
|
| September
6th |
|
The
funeral of Princes Diana took place at Westminster Abbey in
London, England. A shocked British public displayed their grief
and sympathy, as funeral was watched by over 1 billion people
worldwide. |
|
| September
11th |
|
Scotland
voted to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union
with England. |
|
| September
18th |
|
Wales voted in favour of devolution and the formation of a National
Assembly. |
|
| September
25th |
|
UNSCOM
inspector Dr. Diane Seaman caught several Iraqi men sneaking
out the back door of an inspection site with log books for the
creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals. |
|
| October 2nd |
|
UK
scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge with their colleagues
independently showed that the new variant form of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease was the same disease as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) or 'mad-cow disease'. |
|
| October 15th |
|
Andy
Green set the first supersonic land speed record for the ThrustSSC
team, led by Richard Noble of the United Kingdom. ThrustSSC
went through the flying mile course at Black Rock Desert, Nevada
at an average speed of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph). |
|
| October 15th |
|
The
Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched from Earth. The combined
craft had the European Space Agency (ESA) Huygens probe, the
destination was Saturn's largest moon, Titan. |
|
| October 17th |
|
The
remains of Che Guevara were laid to rest with full military
honours in a specially built mausoleum in the city of Santa
Clara, where he had won the decisive battle of the Cuban Revolution
thirty-nine years before. |
|
| October 27th |
|
Stock
markets around the world crashed due to a global economic crisis
scare. |
|
| October 29th |
|
Iraq
stated it would shoot down U-2 surveillance planes that were
used by UNSCOM inspectors. |
|
| October 30th |
|
In
the United Statesss, British au pair Louise Woodward was found
guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. |
|
| November
3rd |
|
In
France, striking truck drivers blockaded ports during a dispute
over pay. |
|
| November
10th |
|
In
the United States, a jury in Fairfax, Virginia, found Mir Aimal
Kasi guilty of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993. |
|
| November
11th |
|
In
Ireland, Mary McAleese was elected the eighth President of Ireland. |
|
| November
12th |
|
In
the United States, terrorist Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of
masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. |
|
| November
16th |
|
After
nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China
released Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail
for medical reasons. |
|
| November
17th |
|
In
Luxor, Egypt, 62 people were killed by 6 Islamic militants outside
the Temple of Hatshepsut. The terrorist attackers were killed
by police. |
|
| November
19th |
|
In
Carlisle, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to septuplets in
the second known case where all seven babies were born alive. |
|
| December
3rd |
|
In
Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries signed a
treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel
landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and
Russia were the only countries that did not sign the treaty. |
|
| December
12th |
|
The
trial of the terrorist, 'Carlos the Jackal', (Ilich Ramírez
Sánchez) began in Paris, charged with the murder of the
two policemen and the Israeli double agent Michel Moukharbal
in Paris in 1975. |
|
| December
23rd |
|
The
trial of the terrorist, 'Carlos the Jackal', real name Ilich
Ramírez Sánchez, ended in Paris. Sánchez
was found guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment. |
|
| December
27th |
|
Loyalist
paramilitary leader Billy Wright was assassinated in Northern
Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison. |
|
| December
29th |
|
Hong
Kong began to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25
million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza
strain. |
|
| December
31st |
|
In
the United States, son of Robert F. Kennedy, Michael LeMoyne
Kennedy died. Kennedy was killed in a skiing accident when he
hit a tree while playing football on skis, in Aspen, Colorado. |
|
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