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

February 7, 1997 – New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Ox in Chinese astrology.

February 28, 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.

May 10, 1997 – A 7.3 Mw earthquake strikes Iran’s Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes.

May 22, 1997 – Kelly Flinn, US Air Force’s first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.

June 13, 1997 – A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

June 25, 1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.

September 18, 1997 – United States media magnate Ted Turner donates USD 1 billion to the United Nations.

November 17, 1997 – In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre (The police then kill the assailants).

December 11, 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.

January 24, 1997 – Dylan Riley Snyder, American film, television and theatre actor

February 10, 1997 – Chloë Moretz, American actress

March 23, 1997 – Aidan Davis, English dancer

April 1, 1997 – Asa Butterfield, English actor

May 1, 1997 – Ariel Gade, American actress

July 20, 1997 – Billi Bruno, American actress

July 22, 1997 – Field Cate, American actor

August 5, 1997 – Adam Irigoyen, American actor

October 1, 1997 – Sam Verlinden, New Zealander singer and actor

October 27, 1997 – Eden Taylor-Draper, English actress