WHAT HAPPENED IN 1997.
Look what happened the 1997.

Zaire officially joins the World Trade Organization. (1. January 1997)

Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations. (1. January 1997)

China announces it will spend US$27.7 billion to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys. (3. January 1997)

A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad. (17. January 1997)

In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other. (18. January 1997)

Børge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided. (18. January 1997)

Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. (19. January 1997)

The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined. (21. January 1997)

Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State. (23. January 1997)

Greek Serial Killer Antonis Daglis is sentenced to thirteen consecutive life sentences, plus 25 years for the serial slayings of three women and the attempted murder of six others (23. January 1997)

En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73. (4. February 1997)

After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections. (4. February 1997)

The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families. (5. February 1997)

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. (11. February 1997)

In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned. (22. February 1997)

Yi Han-yong, North Korean defector was murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea. (25. February 1997)

An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 3,000 deaths. (28. February 1997)

The North Hollywood shootout takes place, resulting in the injury of 19 people and the deaths of both perpetrators. (28. February 1997)

GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way. (28. February 1997)

The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction. (3. March 1997)