• NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time
• Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Yachtsman Tony Bullimore found alive five days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean
• Ennis Cosby, the only son of actor Bill Cosby, is killed by a gunman while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California
• In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
• Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city
• Bill Clinton starts his second term as President of the United States
• Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct
• Madeleine Albright becomes the first female secretary of state after confirmation by the United States Senate.
• Mir Aimal Kasi receives the death sentence for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three others.
• It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.
• Clive Davis receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• O.J. Simpson is found in civil court to be liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims
. On their way to Lebanon two Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide killing 73
. After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections
• The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families
. Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
• British Diane Blood wins the right to use the sperm of her dead husband to have a child
• The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time animated series.
• The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct
• Bill Parcells becomes head coach of New York Jets.
• Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery
. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
• The last of the People's Republic of China's major revolutionaries, Deng Xiaoping dies at 92, this was followed by weeks of mourning for the leader.
• In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned and was born in July 1996.
• A large fire occurred in the Russian Space station, Mir.
• Osaka Dome opens in Chiyozaki, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Japan.
• United States President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
• Picasso's Tete de Femme is stolen from a London gallery (it was recovered a week later).
. The main office of Fuji TV moves from Kawadacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan to Odaiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
• An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
• Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.
• India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
• The 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 later the grounding of all An-24s.
• 14 year, 10 month old Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.
• Roberto Sanchez Vilella, the second Democratically Elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 84.
• Thirty-nine bodies found in Heaven's Gate cult suicide.
. Survey of a claimed gold site of Bre-X Minerals in Indonesia reveals it is worthless; Bre-X complains and accuses Internet rumours.
• Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
• Fire damages Turin Cathedral in Italy
• Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, seven miles form Mecca - 343 dead
. Former SS captain Erich Priebke is retried. On July 22 he is sentenced for five years in prison
• Houston, Texas socialite Doris McGowen Beck Angleton is murdered in her River Oaks home. Roger Nicholas Angleton admits to the crime in the suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury, he later gets arrested by the Department of Justice for similar charges.
• The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing 2 billion USD in damage.
• First space burial, carrying the remains of 24 people on a Pegasus rocket into earth orbit.
• Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
• A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru ends after government commandos storm and capture the building rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, two soldiers are killed from rebel fire and all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain
• Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
• Andrew Cunanan murders Jerffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and terminate with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
• Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality
. The UK's Labour Party end 18 years of Conservative rule in the 1997 UK general election
. HM Prison Pentridge in Melbourne, Australia is officially closed
• Tony Blair appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400
• IBM's Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a chess World champion in a match.
• Barnes and Noble Inc. filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com, a day before Amazon launched its initial public offering.
. The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty signed.
• The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International and United Airlines
• US President Bill Clinton issues 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.
• Women in the military: Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial
• Strom Thurmond becomes the longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months)
. A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
• A strong tornado hits in Jarrell, Texas killing 27 people. It was the second deadliest tornado of the 1990s (see Jarrell Tornado).
• Official opening of the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge spanning ice covered waters.
• Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
• Timothy McVeigh is 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
• Kim Hyun Chul, son of Kim Young Sam, president of South Korea, is charged with bribery and corruption related to the awarding of government contracts
• A computer user known as "_eci" published his Microsoft C source code on a Windows 95 and Windows NT exploit, which would later become WinNuke. The source code gets wide distribution across the internet, and Microsoft is forced to release a security patch.
• The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 games in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals.
• Khmer 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 (the news did not reach outside Cambodia for three days)
• The British House of Commons votes for a total ban on handguns
• The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant
• A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to the death penalty for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; some 50 people killed.
• Fast food chain McDonald's won a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the McLibel case, against two environmental campaigners. The judge decided it was true that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting company's restaurants.
• An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian Space station, Mir.
• The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China
• NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage
• NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999
• In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neandertal skeleton which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago
• The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial alongside some of his other comrades
• Serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida residence.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88. It is the Dow's first close above 8,000. The Dow has doubled its value in 30 months.
• The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business
• The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years
• The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
• Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel
• K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalits caste to hold this office.
• Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.
• Boeing and McDonnell Douglas complete merger.
• Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver is rescued as the sole survivor from the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia, in which 18 lives were lost.
• Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
• 185,000 Teamsters union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
• Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
• The animated American TV series South Park is aired.
• Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.
• Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
• The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning set up in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.
• Rais massacre in Algeria; over 98 (and possibly up to 400) people killed.
• Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky is bludgeoned to death by serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz. Angel also rapes and beats Christopher's girlfriend, who survives. This is the first of a string of murders that Angel commits.
• Diana, Princess of Wales is taken to a hospital after a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 the next morning.
• Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
• In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird for three years rolls off the assembly line.
• Beni-Messous massacre in Algeria; over 87 killed.
. The IOC picks Athens to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics
• The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey, watched by over 1 billion people worldwide.
• First test flight of the F/A-22 Raptor.
• Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England
• An Iraqi military officer attacks an UNSCOM weapons inspector on board an UNSCOM helicopter while the inspector was attempting to take photographs of unauthorized movement of Iraqi vehicles inside a site designated for inspection
• Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
• While waiting for access to a site, UNSCOM inspectors witness and videotape Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and dumping waste cans into a nearby river
• Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly
• Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.
• The AIS, the FIS' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria.
• Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
• UNSCOM inspector Dr. Diane Seaman catches several Iraqi men sneaking out the back door of an inspection site with log books for the creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals.
• 234 die in air crash in Indonesia. Probable cause is the smoke rising from numerous forest fires in the area.
• The main office of Kansai TV moves from Nishi-Temma, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan to Ogimachi, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan.
• UK scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge with their colleagues independently show that the new variant form of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is the same disease as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad-cow disease"
• One million men gather for Promise Keepers' Stand in the Gap event in Washington DC.
• Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock.
• Andy Green sets the first supersonic land speed record for the ThrustSSC team, led by Richard Noble of the United Kingdom. ThrustSSC goes through the flying mile course at Black Rock Desert, Nevada at an average speed of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph).
• Stock markets around the world crash because of a global economic crisis scare. The Dow Jones Industrial Average follows suit and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15. The points loss exceeds the loss from Black Monday. Officials at the New York Stock Exchange for the first time invoke the "circuit breaker" rule to stop trading (this was a very controversial move and prompted a quick change in the rule; trading stops will only occur when the DJIA drops at least 10 or 20 percent) (see October 27, 1997 mini-crash).
• The bulls come running back as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 to 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.
• Iraq says it will begin shooting down U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors
• British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.
• Telcoms WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a US $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom (the largest merger in US history).
. A jury in Fairfax, Virginia finds Mir Aimal Kasi guilty of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993.
• Mary McAleese is elected the eighth President of Ireland
. The last Pentium 586 MMX cpu (233 MHz) made. (until the Pentium II)
• Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
• In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut (police killed the assailants)
• In Carlisle, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive.
• Boeing 727 of Portuguese TAP airline crashes just before landing in Funchal airport in Madeira - 123 dead
• Second Souhane massacre in Algeria; 25 killed.
• Michel Carneal fires at students in West Paducah, Ky. - 3 dead, five wounded.
• In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
• An episode of Pokemon (called Electric Soldier Porygon) in Japan caused 685 children to have epileptic seizures.
• Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria; 50-100 villagers killed.
• Loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison.
• Hong Kong begins to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
. In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997, 400 people are killed from four villages in the wilaya of Relizane: Khrouba (176 deaths), Sahnoun (113 deaths), El-Abadel (73 deaths), and Ouled-Tayeb (50 deaths). Six days later they would be followed by another set of local massacres.
• After 26 years in operation, Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee closed to the public.
