WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MAY 1997
Find out what all happened January to May 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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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

Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo. (17. May 1997)

Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country. (16. May 1997)

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

Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven's Gate cult suicides. (26. March 1997)

The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts. (19. May 1997)

The Japanese embassy hostage crisis ends in Lima, Peru. (22. April 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)

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Paula Jones can pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton while he is in office. (27. May 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)

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

A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah. (25. May 1997)

Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format. (11. May 1997)

A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people. (8. May 1997)