Today in History for Year 1997

Months in Year 1997: January February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 832

Jan 1st - The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
Jan 2nd - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Columbus OH on WBZX 99.7 FM
Jan 3rd - Bryant Gumbel co-hosted his final "Today" show on NBC-TV
Jan 3rd - Eddo Brandes takes ODI hat-trick v England at Harare
Jan 3rd - Zimbabwe clean-sweep ODI series v England 3-0
Jan 3rd - The People's Republic of China announces it will spend $27.7 billion USD to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
Jan 5th - "Juan Darien-Carnival Mass" closes at Vivian Beaumont NYC
Jan 5th - "Love Thy Neighbor," closes at Booth Theater NYC
Jan 5th - "Show Boat," closes at Gershwin Theater NYC
Jan 6th - "It's a Slippery Slope," closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater NYC
Jan 7th - Newt Gingrich, narrowly re-elected speaker of the House
Jan 9th - Heart attacks sends Frank Sinatra back to hospital
Jan 10th - "Rehersal," closes at Criterion Theater NYC
Jan 10th - 1st Comet of 1997 Discovered: Comet 1997 A1
Jan 10th - 4,000th episode of "Entertainment Tonight"
Jan 10th - Dow Corning provides $295 billion to settle breast implant suits
Jan 10th - Italy's new 1,000 lire coin shows divided Germany on map
Jan 10th - Right-winger Arnoldo Aleman sworn in as president of Nicaragua
Jan 11th - 23rd People's Choice Awards: Bill Cosby wins
Tennis Star Martina Hingis Jan 11th - Martina Hingis beats Jennifer Capriati at Sydney Tennis Intl
Jan 11th - Telstar 401 Satellite Fails
Jan 12th - 17th United Negro College Fund raises
Jan 12th - Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions
Jan 12th - Chrysler-Plymouth LPGA Tournament of Champions
Jan 12th - HAL became operational (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Jan 12th - Ice skater Oksana Baiul injured slightly whiled driving intoxicated
Jan 12th - Space Shuttle STS 81 (Atlantis 18), launches into space
Jan 12th - Tiger Woods wins Mercedes Championships
Jan 12th - wins Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament Of Champions
Jan 15th - Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman kicks cameraman, Eugene Amosin the groin
Jan 15th - Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir Space Station
Jan 16th - Anthony Stuart takes ODI hat-trick, Aus v Pakistan, MCG
Jan 17th - NBA suspends Dennis Rodman indefinitely for kicking cameraman
Jan 18th - 47th NHL All-Star Game: East beat West 11-7 at San Jose Arena
Basketball Player Dennis Rodman Jan 18th - In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
Jan 18th - Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided.
Jan 19th - 54th Golden Globes: English Patient, Brenda Blethyn & Geoffrey Rush
Jan 19th - Cerebral Palsy telethon
Jan 19th - Michelle McGann wins LPGA Healthsouth Inaugural
Jan 19th - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
Jan 20th - Comet Hale-Bopp crosses Mars' orbit
Jan 20th - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in New Orleans LA on KKND 106.7 FM
Jan 20th - Pakistan defeat West Indies 2-0 to win Aust one-day Series
Jan 22nd - Space Shuttle Atlantis Returns to Earth, Successful
Jan 25th - 71st Australian Womens Tennis: Martina Hingis beat Mary Pierce (62 62)
Jan 26th - "Ideal Husband" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 308 performances
Jan 26th - 85th Australian Mens Tennis: Pete Sampras beats Carlos Moya (62 63 63)
Jan 26th - Brunswick World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by John Gant
Jan 26th - Superbowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers beat NE Patriots, 35-21 in New Orleans
Champion Tennis Player Pete Sampras Jan 27th - "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus," opens at Gershwin NYC
Jan 27th - 24th American Music Award: Toni Braxton & Alanis Morissette win
Jan 30th - Minuteman III launches
Feb 2nd - "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" closes at Gershwin NYC
Feb 2nd - Mark O'Meara wins Pebble Beach National Golf Pro-am
Feb 2nd - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 26-23 (OT)
Feb 2nd - Royal Caribbean Senior Golf Classic
Feb 3rd - Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Ithaca NY
Feb 3rd - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Detroit MI on WKRK 97.1 FM
Feb 4th - Mario LeMieux is 7th NHL player to score 600 goals
Feb 4th - OJ Simpson found libel in murders of Ron Goldman & Nicole Simpson
Feb 4th - Sec of State Margaret Albright announces she just discovered that her grandparents were Jewish
Feb 4th - En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
Feb 4th - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
Feb 5th - 3 Swiss banks create $70 million Holocaust fund
NFL Running Back and Convicted Criminal OJ Simpson Feb 5th - Brook Lee, Hawaii, crowned 46th Miss USA (en route to Miss Universe)
Feb 6th - Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husbands sperm
Feb 7th - US & Russia announce summit set for Helsinki, March 20-21
Feb 9th - 11th American Comedy Award: Debbie Reynolds
Feb 9th - 47th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 132-120 at Cleveland
Feb 9th - Kelly Robbins wins LPGA Diet Dr Pepper National Pro-Am
Feb 9th - LG Senior Golf Championship
Feb 9th - Mark O'Meara wins Buick golf invitational
Feb 9th - Palm Beach National LPGA Pro-Am
Feb 9th - Scotty Bowman, is 1st NHL coach to win 1,000 games
Feb 9th - Fox cartoon series "Simpsons" airs 167th episode the longest-running animated series in cartoon history
Feb 10th - 13th Soap Opera Digest Awards
Feb 10th - 5th annual ESPY Awards presented
Feb 10th - Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Closest Approach to Earth (1.9245 AU)
Feb 10th - O J Simpson jury reaches decision on $25M in punitive damages
Feb 10th - Soyuz TM-25 launches to the MIR
Feb 10th - Lemrick Nelson found guilty in the fatal stabbing on Hasidic Jew Yankel Rosenbaum in Crown Heights Brooklyn in 1991
Feb 11th - Bill Parcells becomes head coach of NY Jets
Feb 11th - STS 82 (Discovery 22) launches
Feb 12th - Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O J Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement
Feb 13th - "Three Sisters," opens at Criterion Theater NYC
Feb 13th - Discovery captures Hubble Space Telescope
Feb 15th - US female Figure Skating championship won by Tara Lipinski
Feb 15th - US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldridge
Feb 16th - At age 25, Jeff Gordon is youngest winner in Daytona 500 history
Feb 16th - GTE Suncoast Senior Golf Classic
Feb 16th - Paul Stankowski wins Hawaiian Golf Open
Feb 16th - Terry-Jo Myers wins LPGA Los Angeles Women's Championship
Feb 17th - Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Pasadena Calif
Feb 17th - Weekly Standard shows evidence Larry Flint sex abused his daughter
Feb 19th - FCC makes available 311 for non-emergency calls & 711 for hearing or speech-impaired emergency calls
Feb 20th - "Stanley" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC
Feb 20th - SF Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9M 2 year contract
Feb 21st - "Empire Strikes Back, special edition," premieres
Feb 21st - STS 82 (Discovery 22) lands
Feb 22nd - Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 24 of 24

Jan 9th - Lauryn McClain, American actress and singer
Jan 26th - Pasaye, Palatine Ill, twin born 92 days after his brother (Oct 26)
Feb 10th - Chloe Moretz, American actress
Feb 13th - Michael Jackson Jr, son of Michael Jackson
Apr 13th - Sloane Momsen, American actress
May 1st - Ariel Gade, American actress
May 18th - Alana Etheridge, American actress
Jun 12th - William Cuddy, Canadian actor
Jun 20th - Maria Lark, Russian-born American actress
Jul 20th - Billi Bruno, American actress
Jul 22nd - Field Cate, American actor
Aug 25th - Holly Gibbs, English actress
Sep 8th - Kimberlea Berg, English actress
Oct 12th - Prince Boris of Bulgaria
Nov 13th - Brent Kinsman, American actor
Nov 13th - Shane Kinsman, American actor
Nov 19th - Alexis May McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (2)
Nov 19th - Brandon James McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (5)
Nov 19th - Joel Steven McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (7)
Nov 19th - Kelsey Ann McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (4)
Nov 19th - Kenneth Robert McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (1)
Nov 19th - Natalie Sue McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (3)
Nov 19th - Nathaniel Roy McCaughey, Iowa, septuplets (6)
Nov 28th - Thor Salden, Belgian singer

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 36 of 35

Jan 4th - Czech Republic's first president Vaclav Havel (60) weds Czech actress Dagmar Havlova (43) in Prague, Czech Republic
Jan 4th - "Smothers Brothers" actor-singer Dick Smothers (58) weds Denby Franklin (47) in Las Vegas
Feb 2nd - "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul (34) weds sportswear designer Brad Beckerman at The Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel
Feb 22nd - Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez (27) weds Ojani Noa on the grounds of a friend's Miami home
Mar 29th - Actor Harry Hamlin weds actress Lisa Rinna
Apr 19th - Tennis player champion Andre Agassi (26) weds actress and model Brooke Shields (31) in Monterey, California
May 3rd - "Port Charles" soap opera actor Jon Lindstrom (39) weds "The Young and The Restless" actress Eileen Davidson (38) in Cambria, California
May 6th - "The X-files" actor David Duchovny (36) weds actress Tea Leoni (31) in the garden of the Grace Church School
May 17th - Sylvester Stallone weds Jennifer Flavin in London
May 19th - Film and stage actor Matthew Broderick (50) weds Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker (47) in New York
May 19th - Film and stage actor Matthew Broderick (50) weds Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker (47) in New York
Jun 1st - Grammy Award-winning singer Kenny Rogers (59) weds Wanda Miller (31) at his ranch in Athens, Georgia
Jun 5th - Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher (30) weds Meg Mathews at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas
Jun 17th - Pop rock band singer Kevin Jonas (24) weds Danielle Deleasa (25) at Oheka Castle
Jun 17th - Actress and philanthropist Grace Hightower (57) weds actor Robert De Niro (68) at their Marbletown home
Jun 21st - "Bridget Jones' Diary" actor Colin Firth (36) weds Italian film producer Livia Giuggioli (27) in Tuscany, Italy
Jul 4th - "Beverly Hills 90210" actor Ian Ziering (34) weds model-actress Nikki Schieler (26) in Beverly Hills, California
Jul 28th - Two-time Grammy Award winner Sheena Easton (38) weds documentary director Timothy Delarm (35) in Las Vegas
Aug 2nd - "Frazier" actor-comedian Kelsey Grammer (43) weds Playboy model Camille Donatacci (29) at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu
Actor Colin Firth (Jun 21st) Aug 28th - British-Indian novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (50) weds Elizabeth West
Sep 5th - TV and radio host Larry King (64) weds singer Shawn Southwick (38) at the hospital room in Los Angeles, California
Sep 6th - "Desperate Housewives" actress Felicity Huffman (34) weds "Fargo" actor William H. Macy (47) in Woody Creek, Colorado
Sep 20th - "CHIPs" actor Erik Estrada (48) weds Nanette Mirkovich
Sep 27th - Grammy Award winning singer-rapper Coolio (34) weds Los Angeles DJ Josefa Salinas (37) in Las Vegas
Sep 27th - "The Cosby Show" actress Erika Alexander (28) weds screenwriter Tony Puryear (40) on outdoor ceremony in Malibu
Sep 28th - Actor Chad Lowe (29) weds actress Hilary Swank (23)
Oct 4th - MTV news anchor Tabitha Soren (30) weds "Liars Poker" author Michael Lewis (37) in Garrison, New York
Oct 11th - "Charlie's Angels" actress Jaclyn Smith (52) weds Chicago heart surgeon Bradley Allen (43) at United Westwood Methodist Church
Oct 12th - "Malcom X" actress Angela Bassett (39) weds actor Courtney B. Vance (38) in Los Angeles
Nov 15th - "Rescue 911" TV host and actor William Shatner (66) weds former Ford model Norine Kidd (37) in Pasadena, California
Nov 22nd - "The Lord of The Rings" actor Sean Bean (38) weds actress Abigail Cruttenden (29)
Dec 6th - ABC's World News Tonight news anchor Peter Jennings (59) weds Kayce Freed in Bridgehampton, New York
Dec 23rd - Woody Allen, 62 weds Soon-Yi Previn 27, adopted daughter of Mia Farrow
Dec 25th - Actress Rue McClanahan (64) weds actor-producer Morrow Wilson (58) at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria
Actor Will Smith (Dec 31st) Dec 31st - "The Fresh Prince" Will Smith (43) weds actress and singer-songwriter Jada Pinkett (40) in Baltimore, Maryland
Dec 31st - Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren (52) weds The Devil's Advocate director Taylor Hackford (53) at the Ardersier Parish Church near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands

Famous Divorces

Divorces 1 - 2 of 2

Jan 27th - "Wall Street" actor Charlie Sheen (31) divorces model Donna Peele after nearly 5 months of getting married
Jun 25th - "Dumb and Dumber" actress Lauren Holly (33) divorces actor-comedian Jim Carrey (35) due to irreconcilable differences after 9 months of marriage

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 537

Jan 1st - Graham Kersey, cricket wicket keeper, dies in car crash
Jan 1st - Joan Rice, actress (Payroll, Steel Key, Curtain Up), dies at 66
Jan 1st - John Burgess, rugby administrator, dies at 71
Jan 1st - Townes Van Zandt, musician, dies at 52
Jan 1st - Hagood Hardy, Canadian composer and musician (b. 1937)
Jan 2nd - Jim Rodger, sports writer, dies at 75
Jan 2nd - Randy California, [Wolfe], rock guitarist, dies at 45
Jan 3rd - Burton Lane, composer, dies at 84
Jan 4th - Harry B Helmsley, owner (Empire State Building), dies at 87
Jan 5th - Andre Franquin, cartoonist, dies at 72
Jan 6th - Ian Peter Leslie Smith, journalist, dies at 52
Jan 6th - Litz Pisk, movement teacher, dies at 87
Jan 6th - Vince Williams, actor (Hamp-Guiding Light), dies of cancer at 39
Jan 6th - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (b. 1912)
Jan 7th - Desmond Flower, publisher, dies at 89
Jan 7th - Sandor Vegh, violinist teacher/conductor, dies at 84
Jan 8th - Carole Carr, singer/actress (Down Among the Z Men), dies at 68
Jan 8th - Jesse White, actor (Maytag repairman), dies at 77
Jan 8th - Joseph George Handy Hendleman, musician, dies at 76
Jan 8th - Melvin Calvin, scientist, dies at 85
Jan 8th - Phyllis Hartnoll, writer/editor, dies at 90
Jan 8th - Ronald William Eastman, cinematogrpaher, dies at 60
Jan 9th - Edward Osobka-Morawski, prime minister of Poland (1945-47), dies
Jan 9th - Junaidu ibn Buhari, scholar, dies at 90
Jan 10th - Alvinio Misciano, Italian tenor, killed in a fall from a window
Jan 10th - Elspeth Josceline Huxley, writer, dies at 96
Jan 10th - George Young, footballer, dies at 74
Jan 10th - Hilary Grover Barratt Brown, conservationist, dies at 71
Jan 11th - Cavan O'Connor, singer, dies at 97
Jan 11th - Duncan Wood, television director/producer, dies at 71
Jan 11th - Helen Foster Snow, writer, dies at 89
Jan 11th - Joshua William Steward, polymath, dies at 83
Jan 11th - Sheldon Leonard, producer/director (Dick Van Dyke), dies at 89
Jan 12th - Charles Huggins, surgeon/medical researcher, dies at 95
Jan 12th - Jean Writer-Edern Hallier, dies at 60
Jan 12th - Jill Summers, actress (Agatha Coronation Street), dies at 86
Jan 13th - William Mills, painter, dies at 74
Jan 14th - King Hu, film director, dies at 64
Jan 14th - Dollard Ménard, French Canadian general (b. 1913)
Jan 15th - Jose Ignacio Domecq, wine maker, dies at 82
Jan 15th - Kenneth Thimann, botanist, dies at 92
Jan 16th - Charlie Alfred Galbraith, jazz trombonist, dies at 76
Jan 16th - Innis Cosby, son of Bill Cosby, murdered on LA highway at 29
Jan 16th - Jim Kensil, NFL president (NY Jets), dies of heart failure at 66
Jan 16th - Stephen Fitz-Simon, entrepreneur, dies at 59
Jan 17th - Andrea Fisher, artist, dies at 21
Jan 17th - Asfa Wossen, [Amha Selassie], crown emperor of Ethiopia in exile, dies
Jan 17th - Clyde William Tombaugh, discoverer (Pluto), dies at 90
Jan 17th - Bert Kelly, Australian politician (b. 1912)
Jan 18th - Myfanwy Piper, librettist, dies at 85
Jan 18th - Neville Crump, racehorse trainer, dies at 86
Jan 18th - Paul Tsongas, (Sen-D-Mass), dies at 55
Jan 19th - Adriana Caseloti, voice (Snow White), dies at 70
Jan 19th - George Armin Goyder, businessman/social philosopher, dies at 88
Jan 19th - James Dickey, poet/novelist, dies at 84
Jan 20th - Curt Flood, centerfielder (Cards), dies of throat cancer at 59
Jan 20th - Edith Haisman, the oldest survivor of Titanic, dies at 100
Jan 20th - Vladimir Yamnikov, owner (Kristall vodka), dies of cirrhosis at 56
Jan 21st - Colonel Tom Parker, manager (Elvis Presley), dies at 87
Jan 21st - Dennis Main Wilson, TV/radio producer, dies at 72
Jan 21st - Michael Duane, educationalist, dies at 81
Jan 22nd - Ian Arthur Hoyle Munro, medical journalist, dies at 73
Jan 22nd - Irwin Levine, composer (Tie a Yellow Ribbon), dies at 58
Jan 22nd - Mollie Panter-Downes, writer , dies at 90
Jan 22nd - Wally Whyton, musician/broadcaster, dies at 66
Jan 22nd - Ron Holden, American singer (b. 1939)
Jan 22nd - Billy Mackenzie, Scottish musician (Associates) (b. 1957)
Jan 23rd - Charles Craig, opera singer, dies at 77
Jan 23rd - David Waller, actor (Lady Jane, Perfect Friday, Hannay), dies at 76
Jan 23rd - Jeremy Stephen Maas, writer/art dealer, dies at 68
Jan 23rd - Laura "Dinky" Patterson, dies bungee jumping at Superbowl rehearsal at 43
Jan 23rd - Randy Greenawalt, convicted killer, executed by injection at 47
Jan 23rd - Richard Berry, lyricist (Louie Louie), dies at 61
Jan 23rd - Roger John Tayler, astrophysicist, dies at 67
Jan 24th - Callum Alexander MacDonald, historian, dies at 49
Jan 25th - Herbert Eugene Caen, columnist, dies at 80
Jan 25th - Jean Dixon, psychic (Gift of Prophecy), dies of a heart attack at 79
Jan 26th - Margaret Hesse, princess of Hesse/the Rhine, dies at 83
Jan 26th - Sarah Lucas, theatre Administrator, dies at 53
Jan 26th - Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (b. 1904)
Jan 27th - Cecil Lewis, airman/writer, dies at 98
Jan 27th - Matthew Coady, journalist, dies at 73
Jan 27th - Gerald Marks, American songwriter (All of Me) (b. 1900)
Jan 28th - James Colin Ross Welch, journalist, dies at 72
Jan 28th - Pietro Cavallero, bandit, dies at 68
Jan 28th - Vivien Signy, nurse, dies at 80
Jan 29th - Eric Schneider, murderer of 2 teachers, executed in MO at 35
Jan 29th - Louis Pauwels, writer/editor, dies at 76
Jan 29th - Osvaldo Soriano, writer, dies at 54
Jan 31st - Eve Lister, actress/singer (No Limit, Hyde Park), dies at 84
Jan 31st - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)
Feb 1st - Herb Caen, columnist, Lung cancer, dies at 80
Feb 1st - Mitchell Goodman, writer, dies at 71
Feb 1st - Peter Morris, historian of France, dies at 50
Feb 1st - Thelma Moss, psychologist, dies at 78
Feb 2nd - Chico Science Francisco Franca, musician, dies at 40
Feb 2nd - Godfrey Baseley, British radio executive, dies at 92
Feb 2nd - Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)
Feb 2nd - Sanford Meisner, American actor (b. 1904)
Feb 3rd - Anthony Cuthbert Baines, writer/curator, dies at 84