1997 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: Bill Clinton
• Vice President: Al Gore
• Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Newt Gingrich
• Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott
• Congress: 104th, 105th

  Governors

Lieutenant governors

Events

January

• January 17 - A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
• January 20 – President Bill Clinton begins his second term.
• January 23 – Mir Qazi is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three.
• January 26 - Super Bowl XXXI: The Green Bay Packers win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1967, defeating the New England Patriots 35–21 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

  February

• February 8 - Motorcycle stunt rider Corey Scott is killed in front of a crowd of around 30,000 spectators at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami, Florida, after a stunt goes terribly wrong.
• February 10 - The United States Army suspends Gene C. McKinney, Sergeant Major of the Army, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.
• February 13
• *The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time, gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
• *STS-82: Astronauts from Space Shuttle Discovery begin tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope.
• February 23 - 1997 Empire State Building shooting: A gunman kills one person and wounds six others before taking his own life on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York City.
• February 28
• *FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Soviet Union.
• *North Hollywood shootout: Two heavily armed bank robbers conflict with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in a mass shootout.

  March

• March 4 - U.S. President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
• March 9 - Brooklyn rapper The Notorious B.I.G. is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at age 24 before the release of his second album Life After Death. The album is released on March 25.
• March 13 - The Phoenix Lights are seen over Phoenix, Arizona.
• March 14 - A famous study of gender reassignment of a twin boy who lost his penis to a botched circumcision is exposed as fraudulent. The supposedly successful outcome for "Joan" had been widely cited as proof that gender was determined by nurture, yet the patient, David Reimer, was deeply unhappy and had returned to his original gender by the age of 15, thus indicating the exact opposite thesis.
• March 24 - The 69th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, with The English Patient winning Best Picture.
• March 26 - In San Diego, California, 39 Heaven's Gate cultists commit mass suicide at their compound.

  April

• April 16 - Houston socialite Doris Angleton is murdered, drawing suspicion to her estranged husband, Robert. His brother Roger confesses to the crime and the investigation reveals that Robert had amassed a fortune through illegal betting.
• April 18 - The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing US$2 billion in damage.

  May

• May - For the first time since December 1973, unemployment falls below 5%. It would remain below 5% until September 2001, during the early 2000s recession.
• May 2 - The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
• May 15 - The United States government acknowledges existence of the "Secret War" in Laos, and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.
• May 16 - U.S. President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male and their families.
• May 22 - Kelly Flinn, the U.S. Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.
• May 25 - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Senate.
• May 27 - The second-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.

  June

• June 2 - In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• June 6 - In Lacey Township, New Jersey, high school senior Melissa Drexler gives birth in a toilet and leaves the newborn for dead in the trash.
• June 7
• *A computer user known as "_eci" publishes his C source code on a Windows 95 and Windows NT exploit, which later becomes WinNuke. The source code gets wide distribution across the internet, and Microsoft is forced to release a security patch.
• *The Detroit Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup championship in 42 years, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 0. Red Wings goaltender Mike Vernon is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
• June 8 - A United States Coast Guard helicopter crashes near Humboldt Bay, California; all four crew members perish.
• June 12 - The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill, meant to be more difficult to counterfeit.
• June 13 - A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
• June 19 - The fast food chain McDonald's wins a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the "McLibel case", against two environmental campaigners. The judge agrees that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting the company's restaurants.
• June 28 - During the Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II boxing match in Las Vegas, Mike Tyson bites off part of Evander Holyfield's ear.

  July

• July 4 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• July 15 - Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida, residence.
• July 16 - 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.
• July 21 - The fully restored celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
• July 23 - Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.

  August

• August 1 - Steve Jobs returns to Apple Computer, Inc at Macworld in Boston.
• August 6 - Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
• August 6 - Korean Air Flight 801 crashes while attempting to land in the U.S. territory of Guam, killing 229.

  September

• September 4 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird for 3 years rolls off the assembly line.
• September 15 - www.google.com is registered by Google.
• September 29 - The Forced Abortion Condemnation Act is introduced in the U.S. Congress.

  October

• October 1 - Luke Woodham walks into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi and opens fire, killing two girls, after killing his mother earlier that morning.
• October 4
• *One million men gather for Promise Keepers' "Stand in the Gap" event in Washington, DC.
• *Loomis Fargo Bank Robbery: The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs at the Charlotte, North Carolina, office of Wells Fargo. An FBI investigation eventually results in 24 convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the stolen cash.
• October 15
• *Andy Green sets the first supersonic land speed record for the ThrustSSC team, led by Richard Noble of the UK. ThrustSSC goes through the flying mile course at Black Rock Desert, Nevada, at an average speed of 1,227.985 km/h.
• *NASA launches the Cassini-Huygens probe to Saturn.
• October 16 - The first color photograph appears on the front page of The New York Times.
• October 26 - 1997 World Series: The Florida Marlins defeat the Cleveland Indians.
• October 27 - Stock markets around the world crash due to 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.
• October 28 - In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points, closing at 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.
• October 30 - In Newton, Massachusetts, British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.

  November

• November - The unemployment rate drops to 4.6%, the lowest since October 1973.
• November 10
• *Telecom companies WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a US$37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
• *A Fairfax, Virginia, jury finds Mir Qazi guilty of murdering two CIA employees in 1993.
• November 12 - Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• November 14 - Mary Kay Letourneau is sentenced to six months imprisonment in Washington after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape. Letourneau gave birth to her victims' child and the leniency of her sentence was widely criticised.
• November 19 - In Des Moines, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all 7 babies are born alive, and the first in which all survive infancy.
• November 27 - NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is launched, the start of the satellite component of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System.

  December

• December 1 - Michael Carneal opens fire on a prayer group at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, killing 3 and injuring 5.
• December 3 - In Ottawa, Ontario, 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, and Russia do not sign the treaty.
• December 19 - James Cameron's Titanic, the highest-grossing film of all time until Avatar, premieres in the US.

  Ongoing

• Iraqi no-fly zones
• Dot-com bubble

  Births

January

• January 4 - Carmen LoPorto, actor
• January 8 - Jack Andraka, inventor
• January 13 - Jimmy Wopo, rapper
• January 14 - Joey Luthman, actor
• January 17
• * Lamar Jackson, American football player
• * Shea Patterson, American football player
• * Jake Paul, American actor
• * Kyle Tucker, American baseball outfielder
• January 18 - Amber Lily, singer, actress, and dancer
• January 20 - Blueface, rapper
• January 21 - Jeremy Shada, actor and singer
• January 23
• * Brennan Bailey, actor
• * Lexie Priessman, gymnast
• January 24
• * Jonah Bobo, actor
• * Dylan Riley Snyder, actor, singer, dancer
• January 26 - Gedion Zelalem, footballer
• January 27 - Peyton Ernst, artistic gymnast

  February

• February 6 - Mitch Hyatt, American football player
• February 7
• *Saquon Barkley, American football player
• *Matthew Gumley, actor
• February 8 - Kathryn Newton, actress
• February 9
• *Jaire Alexander, American football player
• *Molly Jepson, actress
• February 10 - Chloë Grace Moretz, actress
• February 12 - Shane Baumel, actor
• February 14 - Madison Iseman, actress
• February 20 - Mitchie Brusco, skateboarder
• February 21 - Ben Rhodes, stock car racing driver
• February 25 - Isabelle Fuhrman, actress
• February 26 - Aidan Gould, actor

  March

• March 2
• * Becky G, American singer
• * Lizzy LeDuc, American-born Filipino artistic gymnast
• March 3
• *Camila Cabello, Cuban American singer
• *Ty Walker, American snowboarder
• March 9 - Jessica Rogers, wheelchair athlete
• March 10 - Uriah Shelton, actor and singer
• March 14 - Simone Biles, artistic gymnast
• March 16 - Tyrel Jackson Williams, actor
• March 17 - Katie Ledecky, swimmer
• March 18 - Ciara Bravo actress and singer
• March 26 - Cameron Smith, American football player
• March 29 - Josh Sweat, American football player

  April

• April 10 - Claire Wineland, activist and author
• April 12
• * Jacob Clemente, actor and dancer
• * Katelyn Ohashi, artistic gymnast
• April 15 - Donavan Brazier, middle-distance runner

  May

• May 1 - Ariel Gade, actress
• May 2 - Perla Haney-Jardine, Brazilian-born actress
• May 3 - Dwayne Haskins, American football quarterback
• May 9 - Zane Huett, actor
• May 12 - Odeya Rush, Israeli-born actress
• May 14 - Riley Griffiths, actor
• May 15 - Precious Doe, murder victim
• May 23 - Coy Craft, American footballer
• May 30
• * Peter Lenz, amateur motorcycle racer
• * Jake Short, actor

  June

• June 11 - John Hunter Nemechek, stock car racing driver
• June 15 - Madison Kocian, artistic gymnast
• June 20 - Maria Lark, Russian-born actress
• June 21 - Rebecca Black, singer

  July

• July 7 - Gatlin Green, actress
• July 13 - Leo Howard, actor
• July 20 - Billi Bruno, actress
• July 22 - Field Cate, actor
• July 23 - Faresa Kapisi, track and field athlete

  August

• August 2 - Christina Robinson, actress
• August 5
• * Adam Irigoyen actor
• * Olivia Holt, actress
• August 10 - Kylie Jenner, model
• August 12 - Jordan Brown
• August 16 - Greyson Chance, singer
• August 19 - Joseph Castanon, actor and singer
• August 25 – Madison Desch, artistic gymnast

  September

• September 3 - Shavar McIntosh, actor
• September 10 - Leah Keiser, figure skater
• September 16 - Elena Kampouris, actress

  October

• October 4 - Brenden Foster,
• October 7 - Kira Kosarin, actress
• October 8
• * Bella Thorne, actress, dancer, singer, and model
• October 13
• * Daphne Blunt, actress
• * Aaron Refvem, actor
• October 15 - Adora Svitak, prodigy and author
• October 27 - Lonzo Ball, basketball player
• October 28
• *Joy-Anna Forsyth, television personality
• *Sierra McCormick, actress
• October 31 - Sydney Park, actress

  November

• November 1
• * Max Burkholder, actor
• * Alex Wolff, actor and musician
• November 11 - Nicole Axelrod, actress
• November 13 - Brent and Shane Kinsman, twin actors
• November 17 - Zach Bonner, philanthropist and founder of the non-profit charity Little Red Wagon Foundation
• November 19
• * The McCaughey septuplets
• * Rachel Parsons, ice dancer

  December

• December 11
• * Alexis Beucler, artistic gymnast
• * Ben Cook, actor
• December 15
• * Stefania LaVie Owen, actress
• * Maude Apatow, actress

  Full date unknown

• Milivi Adams
• Amanda Balon, actress, vocalist and dancer
• Lexi Peters, first female ice hockey player to appear in an EA Sports NHL Hockey video game

  Deaths

January

• January 1 – Townes Van Zandt, American Country-folk music singer-songwriter
• January 4 – Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul
• January 5 – Burton Lane, American composer and lyricist
• January 6 – Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress
• January 8 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist
• January 9
• * Jesse White, American actor
• * Ellen Griffin Dunne, American actress and activist
• January 10 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer
• January 11 – Carol Habben, American baseball player
• January 12 – Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher
• January 17 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer
• January 18 – Paul Tsongas, American politician
• January 19
• * James Dickey, American poet and novelist
• * Adriana Caselotti, American actress
• January 20 – Curt Flood, American baseball player and sportscaster
• January 23 – Richard Berry, American singer and composer
• January 24 – Dr. Jerry Graham, American wrestler and trainer
• January 25 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer
• January 26 – Laurence Stoddard, American rower
• January 30 – Charles Hargens, American painter.
• January 31 – Johnny Klein, American drummer

  February

• February 1
• * Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist
• * Marjorie Reynolds, American actress
• February 5 – Pamela Harriman, American diplomat
• February 7 – Owen Aspinall, 45th Governor of American Samoa
• February 8 – Corey Scott, American motorcycle stunt rider
• February 11 – Don Porter, American actor
• February 13 – John Ries Bartels, American judge
• February 16 – Ethel Owen, American actress
• February 23 – Tony Williams, American musician
• February 24 – Isabelle Lucas, Canadian-born British actress
• February 26 – David Doyle, American actor

  March

• March 2 – Judi Bari, American environmental activist
• March 4
• * Robert H. Dicke, American experimental physicist
• * Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman
• March 7 – Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist
• March 9 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper
• March 10 – LaVern Baker, American singer
• March 15 – Gail Davis, American actress
• March 17 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer
• March 20 – Tony Zale, American boxer
• March 21 – John Nemechek, American race car driver

  April

• April 5 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet
• April 8 – Laura Nyro, American singer and composer
• April 10 – Michael Dorris, American author
• April 12 – George Wald, American scientist
• April 13 – Dorothy Frooks, American author, military figure and actress.
• April 15
• * Don Bexley, American actor and comedian
• * Mildred Cleghorn, Chairwoman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe
• April 16 – Doris Angleton, American socialite
• April 20
• * Jean Louis, American costume designer
• * Henry Mucci, American army ranger
• April 21 – Thomas H. D. Mahoney, American professor and politician
• April 24 – Pat Paulsen, American comedian
• April 26 – John Beal, American actor
• April 30 – Henry Picard, American golfer

  May

• May 4
• * Alvy Moore, American actor
• * Lee Miglin, American businessman and philanthropist
• May 11 – Howard Morton, American actor
• May 14
• * Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician
• * Thelma Carpenter, American singer and actress
• May 17 – James Bennett Griffin, archaeologist and academic
• May 18 – Bridgette Andersen, American actress
• May 22 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist
• May 23 – James Lee Byars, American artist
• May 29 – Jeff Buckley, American musician
• May 31 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist

  June

• June 2 – Helen Jacobs, American tennis champion
• June 3 – Dennis James, American game show host
• June 6 – Magda Gabor, American actress
• June 8 – Reid Shelton, American actor
• June 14 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor
• June 23
• * Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist
• * William Slater Brown, American novelist, biographer and translator
• June 24
• * Don Hutson, American football player
• * Brian Keith, American actor

  July

• July 1
• * Robert Mitchum, American actor
• * Charles Werner, American cartoonist
• July 2 – James Stewart, American actor and soldier
• July 4 – Charles Kuralt, American reporter and television journalist
• July 5 – Mrs. Miller, American singer
• July 13 – Alexandra Danilova, Russian-American ballerina and dance instructor
• July 15 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer
• July 18 – Eugene Merle Shoemaker, American astronomer
• July 23 – Andrew Cunanan, American serial killer
• July 24
• * William J. Brennan Jr., American Supreme Court Justice
• * Frank Parker, American tennis champion
• July 25 – Ben Hogan, American golf champion
• July 27 – K'tut Tantri, American broadcaster and hotelier,

  August

• August 2 – William S. Burroughs, American writer and artist
• August 10 – Conlon Nancarrow, American-born composer
• August 12 – Luther Allison, American musician
• August 18
• * Harry R. Wellman, American university president
• * Jimmy Witherspoon, American musician
• August 25 – Carl Richard Jacobi, American journalist and author
• August 27
• * Sally Blane, American actress
• * Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive

  September

• September 2 – Rudolf Bing, Austrian-born British opera manager
• September 7 – Elisabeth Brooks, Canadian actress
• September 8 – Helen Shaw, American actress
• September 9
• * Richie Ashburn, American baseball player and broadcaster
• * Burgess Meredith, American actor
• September 13 – Victor Szebehely, Hungarian-American astronomer
• September 17 – Red Skelton, American comedian
• September 18 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American blues singer
• September 19 – Rich Mullins, American Christian musician
• September 23
• * Shirley Clarke, American filmmaker
• * Wilbur R. Ingalls, Jr., American architect
• September 27 – Adriana Marines, American murder victim
• September 29 – Roy Lichtenstein, American artist

  October

• October 1 – Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor
• October 5
• * Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler
• * Arthur Tracy, American singer
• October 6 – Johnny Vander Meer, American baseball player
• October 9 – Arch Johnson, American actor
• October 12 – John Denver, American musician
• October 14 – Harold Robbins, American writer
• October 16
• * Audra Lindley, American actress
• * James A. Michener, American writer
• October 19 – Glen Buxton, American guitarist
• October 21 – Dolph Camilli, American baseball player
• October 23 – Claire Falkenstein, American sculptor, painter, printmaker, jewelry designer and teacher
• October 24 – Don Messick, American voice actor
• October 28 – Paul Jarrico, American screenwriter
• October 29
• * Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos, American astrophysicist
• * Anton Szandor LaVey, American author and Satanist
• October 30 – Samuel Fuller, American screenwriter and director

  November

• November 1 – Victor Mills, American chemical engineer
• November 11 – Rod Milburn, American athlete
• November 13 – Dawud M. Mu'Min, murderer
• November 22 – Joanna Moore, American actress
• November 23 – Hulda Crooks, American mountaineer
• November 30 – Kathy Acker, American author

  December

• December 2 – Michael Hedges, American composer and guitarist
• December 14 – Stubby Kaye, American actor
• December 16
• * Lillian Disney, American artist
• * Nicolette Larson, American pop singer
• * Thomas J. Parmley, American academic
• December 18 – Chris Farley, American actor and comedian
• December 19
• * David Schramm, American astrophysicist
• * Jimmy Rogers, American musician
• December 20 – Denise Levertov, English-born American poet
• December 21 – Amie Comeaux, American country singer
• December 23 – Stanley Cortez, American cinematographer
• December 25 – Denver Pyle, American actor
• December 31
• * Billie Dove, American actress
• * Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, American socialite