What happened in 1997

World3

• Jun 25An uncrewed spacecraft Progress M-34 collides with the Russian space station Mir.
• Jul 1The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of the British colony in Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
• Dec 15Microsoft releases Windows 98 Beta 3.

Japan1

• Dec 16In Japan, over 700 children suffer photosensitive epilepsy attacks after watching an episode of the Pokémon anime.

North America19

• Jan 1The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
• Feb 13STS-82: Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
• Feb 28North Hollywood shootout: Two robbers, wearing kevlar body armor, and armed with illegally modified Type 56S rifles with high-capacity magazines and other weapons, injure 20 police officers and civilians in a gun battle. The incident sparks debate on the appropriate firepower for United States patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future.
• Mar 9American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. is murdered in Los Angeles.
• Mar 24The 69th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with The English Patient winning Best Picture. During the event, the DVD format is launched in the United States.
• May 31The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge, the world's longest bridge spanning ice-covered waters, opens between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.
• Jul 4NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• Jul 15Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace dead outside Versace's Miami Beach residence.
• Aug 6Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands west of Guam International Airport, resulting in the deaths of 228 people.
• Aug 13Trey Parker and Matt Stone's animated television comedy series, South Park, started broadcasting with the first episode, Cartman Gets an Anal Probe, on Comedy Central.
• Oct 15NASA launches the Cassini–Huygens probe to Saturn.
• Nov 18Metallica released the album Reload internationally.
• Nov 27NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is launched, the start of the satellite component of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System.
• Dec 3In 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, Russia, South Korea and 32 other nations do not ratify the treaty.
• Dec 11The Kyoto Protocol is adopted by a United Nations committee.

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Europe11

• Apr 29The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), CWC treaty enters into force.
• May 21Radiohead releases OK Computer
• JulThe 1997 Central European flood occurs across Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
• Aug 4Jeanne Calment, the verified oldest person to have ever lived, dies at 122 years and 164 days.
• Aug 31Death of Diana, Princess of Wales: Diana, Princess of Wales, is taken to a hospital after a car accident shortly after midnight, in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 am.
• Sep 6The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, takes place at Westminster Abbey, London, UK, watched by over two billion people worldwide.
• Sep 11Scotland votes in favour of a devolved Parliament, forming the Scottish Parliament less than two years later.
• Sep 18Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly for Wales.
• Sep 26An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
• Nov 9BBC News 24 has launched a new channel at 5:30pm, after the final closedown with the last national anthem of God Save the Queen, which occurred at approximately 2:57am for BBC One, following the death of Lady Diana Spencer.
• Dec 27Ulster loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated inside Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland.

USSR / Russia2

• Mar 18The 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.
• May 12The Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty is signed.

Asia7

• Mar 13India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala, to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
• Jun 10Khmer 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.
• Jul 2The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis.
• Jul 5In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup.
• Sep 26Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 crashes while on approach to Medan, North Sumatra, during the 1997 Southeast Asian haze, killing all 234 people on board. This becomes the deadliest aviation accident in Indonesian history.
• Nov 2Severe Tropical Storm Linda devastates southern Vietnam and Thailand, killing 3,275 people.
• Dec 19SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.

Middle East8

• Jan 11Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
• Feb 4A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes North Khorasan province, Iran, killing 88 people and injuring 1,948.
• Feb 281997 Turkish military memorandum: As a result of a meeting held by the National Security Council, the Turkish Armed Forces issues a memorandum to adopt more secular criteria. Later on June 18, the Turkish government resigns because of the pressure.
• Apr 14Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, from Mecca; 343 die.
• May 10The 7.3 Qayen earthquake strikes eastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). At least 1,567 were killed and 2,300 were injured.
• May 23Mohammad Khatami wins the 1997 Iranian presidential election and becomes the first Iranian Reformist president.
• Sep 18Al-Qaeda carries out a terrorist attack in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Nov 17In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Latin America3

• Apr 22A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru.
• Jun 1Hugo Banzer wins the Presidential elections in Bolivia.
• Oct 10Uruguay's worst air disaster occurs when Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 crashes near Nuevo Berlín, killing all 74 on board.

Africa15

• Mar 21In Zaire, Étienne Tshisekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.
• Apr 3The Thalit massacre in Algeria: all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
• Apr 22Haouch Khemisti massacre: 93 villagers are killed in Algeria.
• Apr 2342 villagers are killed in the Omaria massacre in Algeria.
• May 16First Congo War ends when president Mobutu Sese Seko is exiled from Zaire.
• Jun 16About 50 people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria.
• Jul 27About 50 are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
• Aug 3Between 40 and 76 villagers are killed in the Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria.
• Aug 20More than 60 are killed, 15 kidnapped in the Souhane massacre in Algeria.
• Aug 2660–100 are killed in the Beni Ali massacre in Algeria.
• Aug 29Over 98 (and possibly up to 400) are killed in the Rais massacre in Algeria.
• Sep 5Over 87 are killed in the Beni Messous massacre in Algeria.
• Sep 2053 people are killed in the Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria.
• Dec 241010 villagers are killed in the Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria.
• Dec 30Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997: In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, 423 people from four villages in the wilaya of Relizane are killed.