1997 Explained
1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar).
Events of 1997
January
- January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive, 5 days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.
- January 17 - A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
- January 18 - In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers, and seriously wound another.
- January 19 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
- January 20 - U.S. President Bill Clinton is inaugurated for his second term.
- January 21 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to be disciplined internally for ethical misconduct.
- January 22 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State, after confirmation by the United States Senate.
- January 23 - Mir Aimal Kasi is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed 2 and wounded 3.
- 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.
- January 27 - It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.
February
- February 4 - O.J. Simpson is found liable in civil court for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the 2 victims.
- February 4 - On their way to Lebanon, 2 Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing 73.
- February 4 - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
- February 4 - Ipswich Town footballer Adam Tanner, who had recently failed a drugs test, is banned from football for 3 months at an FA hearing. Some consider this to be a relatively lenient punishment as he had admitted taking drugs at the first attempt and shown remorse for his behaviour.
- February 4 - British Home Secretary Michael Howard informs Moors Murderer Myra Hindley that she will never be released from prison. Mr. Howard has made the decision in agreement with a recommendation made by his predecessor David Waddington in 1990.
- February 5 - The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
- February 5 - Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter Reynolds investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
- February 10 - The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene C. McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.
- February 10 - Sandline affair: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville Island.
- February 13 - STS-82: Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from Space Shuttle Discovery.
- February 13 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time, gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
- February 22 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned, and was born in July 1996.
- February 23 - A small fire occurs on the Russian space station Mir.
- February 24- On the game show, Wheel of Fortune. Vanna gets a new puzzleboard that actually makes her touch the letters
instead of turning them.
March
- March 4 - U.S. President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
- March 6 - Pablo Picasso's Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery (recovered a week later).
- March 6 - In Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill more than 200.
- March 11 - An explosion at the Tokaimura nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination, in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
- March 13 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
- March 13 - The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China creates a new Chongqing Municipality, out of part of Sichuan.
- March 13 - The Phoenix Lights are seen over Phoenix, AZ.
- March 16 - Sandline affair: On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.
- March 18 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey, causing the plane to crash, killing all 50 on board, and resulting in the grounding of all An-24s.
- March 21 - In Zaire, Etienne Tshiksekedi is appointed prime minister; he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet.
- March 21 - Mercenaries of Sandline International withdraw from Papua New Guinea.
- March 22 - Tara Lipinski, 14, becomes the youngest women's world figure skating champion.
- March 22 - The comet Hale-Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth.
- 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.
- March 26 - Julius Chan resigns as prime minister of Papua New Guinea, ending the Sandline affair.
April
- April 3 - The Thalit massacre in Algeria: All but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
- April 11 - Fire damages the Turin Cathedral in Italy.
- April 14 - Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 7miles from Mecca; 343 die.
- April 14 - Former SS Captain Erich Priebke is retried; on July 22 he is sentenced to 5 years in prison.
- April 16 - Houston, Texas socialite Doris Angleton is murdered in her River Oaks home. Roger Angleton later admits to the crime in his suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury, he is later arrested by the United States Department of Justice on similar charges.
- 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.
- April 21 - A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first space burial.
- April 22 - Haouch Khemisti massacre: 93 villagers are killed in Algeria.
- April 22 - A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru ends after government commandos storm and capture the building, rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, 2 soldiers are killed by rebel fire, and all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain.
- April 22 - France supports the new transitional government in Zaire, withdrawing its support of Mobutu Sese Seko.
- April 23 - 42 villagers are killed in the Omaria massacre in Algeria.
- April 27 - Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that lasts until July and ends with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
- April 29 - Two trains crash at Hunan, China; 126 are killed.
May
- May 1 - Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
- May 1 - United Kingdom general election, 1997: The United Kingdom's Labour Party ends 18 years of Conservative rule.
- May 2 - Tony Blair is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Elizabeth II.
- May 3 - Katrina and the Waves win the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 for the UK with Love Shine a Light, the most successful Eurovision entry ever.
- May 10 - An earthquake near Ardekul, in northeastern Iran, kills at least 2,400.
- May 11 - IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beats a chess World champion in a match.
- May 12 - The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty is signed.
- May 14 - The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.
- 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 - Mobutu Sese Seko leaves Kinshasa, eventually settling in Morocco.
- 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 17 - Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa.
- 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 (41 years and 10 months).
- May 25 - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
- May 27 - The second-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.
- May 31 - The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge, the world's longest bridge spanning ice covered waters, opens between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.
June
- June 1 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
- June 1 - Hugo Banzer wins the Presidential elections in Bolivia.
- 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 5 - Kim Hyun Chul, son of Kim Young Sam, president of South Korea, is charged with bribery and corruption related to the awarding of government contracts.
- June 6 - In Lacey Township, New Jersey, high school senior Melissa Drexler kills her newborn baby in a toilet.
- June 7 - A computer user known as "_eci" publishes his Microsoft 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.
- June 7 - 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 4 crewmembers perish.
- June 10 - Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief, Son Sen, and 11 of Sen's family members, before Pol Pot flees his northern stronghold (the news does not reach outside Cambodia for 3 days).
- June 11 - The British House of Commons votes for a total ban on handguns.
- 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 16 - About 50 are killed in the Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria.
- June 19 - The fast food chain McDonald's wins a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the McLibel case, against 2 environmental campaigners. The judge decides it was true that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting the company's restaurants.
- June 25 - An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.
- June 26 - Bertie Ahern is appointed as the 10th Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland and Mary Harney is appointed as the 16th, and first female, Tánaiste, after their parties, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats respectively, win the 1997 General Election.
July
- July 1 - The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
- July 4 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
- July 5 - In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup.
- July 7 - The Great Flood begins in southern Poland.
- July 8 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.
- July 8 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
- July 10 - In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton, which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
- July 10 - Miguel Ángel Blanco is kidnapped in Ermua, Spain and murdered by the ETA.
- July 11 - Thailand's worst hotel fire at Pattaya kills 90.
- July 13 - The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades.
- 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 17 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
- July 21 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") 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.
- July 25 - K.R. Narayanan is sworn in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalit caste to hold this office.
- July 27 - About 50 are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
August
- August 1 - Boeing and McDonnell Douglas complete a merger.
- August 1- Steve Jobs returns to Apple Computer, Inc at Macworld in Boston.
- August 2 - Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver is rescued as the sole survivor from the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, in which 18 die.
- August 3 - Between 40-76 villagers are killed in the Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria.
- August 4 - 185,000 Teamsters Union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
- August 6 - Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
- August 6 - Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands west of Guam International Airport, resulting in the deaths of 228 people.
- August 13 - In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Cruzeiro wins the Sporting Cristal of Peru by 1-0 and are Copa Libertadores de América champions for the second time.
- August 20 - Over 60 are killed, 15 kidnapped in the Souhane massacre in Algeria; .
- August 25 - Egon Krenz is convicted of a shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy.
- August 26 - 60-100 are killed in the Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; .
- August 26 - The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is set up in Northern Ireland, as part of a peace process.
- August 29 - Over 98 (and possibly up to 400) are killed in the Rais massacre in Algeria.
- August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales, is taken to a hospital after a car crash shortly after midnight, in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 04:00 a.m.
September
- September 3 - Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted of various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
- September 4 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird for 3 years rolls off the assembly line.
- September 5 - Over 87 are killed in the Beni-Messous massacre in Algeria.
- September 5 - The International Olympic Committee picks Athens, Greece to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
- September 5 - Mother Theresa of Calcutta dies of heart failure in Kolkata, India.
- September 6 - The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey, watched by over 2 billion people worldwide.
- September 6 - A Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene in Moscow concert, celebrating the city's 850th anniversary, draws 3.5 million people.
- September 7 - The F-22 Raptor makes its first test flight.
- September 11 - Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England.
- September 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: An Iraqi military officer attacks an UNSCOM weapons inspector on board an UNSCOM helicopter, while the inspector attempts to take photographs of unauthorized movement of Iraqi vehicles inside a site designated for inspection.
- September 15 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
- September 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: While waiting for access to a site, UNSCOM inspectors witness and videotape Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and dumping waste cans into a nearby river.
- September 18 - Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly.
- September 19 - 53 are killed in the Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria.
- September 21 - The Islamic Salvation Army, the Islamic Salvation Fronts' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria.
- September 22 - Over 200 villagers are killed in the Bentalha massacre in Algeria.
- September 25 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspector Dr. Diane Seaman catches several Iraqi men sneaking out the back door of an inspection site, with log books for the creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals.
- September 26 - An air crash in Indonesia (likely caused by smoke rising from numerous forest fires in the area) kills 235 people (see Garuda Indonesia Flight 152).
- September 26 - An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
- September 27 - The Catholic diocese of Požega, Croatia is founded.
October
- October 1 - Luke Woodham walks into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi and opens fire, killing 2 girls, after killing his mother earlier that morning.
- October 2 - British scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge, with their colleagues, independently show that the new variant form of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is the same disease as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
- October 4 - One million men gather for Promise Keepers' "Stand in the Gap" event in Washington, DC.
- October 4 - The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history ($17.3 million, mostly in small bills) 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 11 - The mixed martial arts organization PRIDE Fighting Championships holds its inaugural event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event Rickson Gracie defeats Nobuhiko Takada by armbar.
- October 12 - 43 are killed at a false roadblock, in the Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria.
- 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 (763.035 mph).
- October 15 - 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 17 - The remains of Che Guevara are laid to rest with full military honours in a specially built mausoleum in the city of Santa Clara, Cuba, where he had won the decisive battle of the Cuban Revolution 39 years before.
- October 26 - Michael Schumacher commits the infamous Dry Sac corner incident at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez track, an act for which he is disqualified from the 1997 season by the FIA and crucified in the press.
- October 26 - 1997 World Series: The Florida Marlins defeat the Cleveland Indians.
- October 27 - Stock markets around the world crash because of 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 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq says it will begin shooting down Lockheed U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors.
- 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
December
- December 3 - In Ottawa, 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 5 - John O'Shaugnessey, 32, admits the rape and murder of 9-year-old Kayleigh Ward at Chester Crown Court. The trial judge sentences O'Shaugnessey, of Blacon, Chester, to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should serve at least 30 years before being considered for parole.
- December 8 - Myra Hindley, one of the Moors murderers, arrives at the High Court of Justice, to contest a recent Home Secretary's decision that she should remain in prison until she dies.
- December 11 - The Kyoto Protocol is adopted by a United Nations committee.
- December 12 - Demonstrations occur in the state capitals of Australia against the WTO and IMF.
- December 16 - "Dennō Senshi Porigon" an episode of Pokemon is aired, giving hundreds of Japanese Children seizures.
- December 17 - The Ukranian aircraft VK-42 crashes into a mountain in Greece, killing 62 passengers.
- December 18 - Myra Hindley loses her High Court appeal against the government's decision to keep her behind bars for the rest of her life.
- December 19 The highest-grossing movie of all time, James Cameron's Titanic, premiers in the U.S.
- December 24 - 50-100 villagers are killed in the Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria.
- December 27 - Ulster loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison.
- December 29 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
- December 30 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997: In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, 400 are killed from four villages in the wilaya of Relizane.
Undated
- The Toyota Prius comes to showrooms, only in Japan. The Prius is the first hybrid vehicle to go into full production. It comes to U.S. showrooms in 2000.
Fictional
- In the 1965 TV series, Lost in Space, the spacecraft Jupiter II is launched on October 16, 1997.
- The 1984 film The Terminator and its sequel, , both referenced the year 1997 as the time in which the fictional computer entity Skynet would launch a nuclear attack on mankind on August 29.
- The 1987 NES RPG-game, Crystalis, references October 1, 1997 as the day when a terrible war takes place and the whole human kind goes back in time, therefore, strange animals populate in cities and a few build a tower that goes high into the sky.
- John Carpenter's 1981 film Escape from New York is set in 1997 of a United States so crime-ridden that Manhattan Island in New York City has become a maximum security prison.
- The events of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta supposedly begin on November 5, 1997.
- The 1990 film Predator 2 takes place in 1997 Los Angeles.
- The manga and anime InuYasha takes place in 1997 in Tokyo.
Births
- January 13 - Marius Borg Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
- January 14 - Nastya and Masha Tolmacheva (The Tolmachevy Twins), Russian singers
- January 24 - Jonah Bobo, American actor
- February 10 - Chloe Moretz, American actress
- March 3 - Maria Francisca Isabel de Bragança, daughter of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
- March 27 - Princess Aisha of Jordan
- March 27 - Princess Sara of Jordan
- April 1 - Asa Butterfield, British actor
- May 1 - Ariel Gade, American actress
- May 18 - Alana Etheridge, American actress
- June 20 - Maria Lark, Russian-born American actress
- July 15 - Prince Lukás of Bulgaria
- July 20 - Billi Bruno, American actress
- July 22 - Field Cate, American actor
- August 25 - Holly Gibbs, English actress
- September 2 - Nikki Taylor Melton, American actress
- September 8 - Kimberlea Berg, English actress
- October 8 - Connor Carmody, American actor
- October 8 - Bella Thorne, American actress/model
- October 12 - Prince Boris of Bulgaria, second in line to the Bulgarian throne,
- October 31 - Sydney Park, American actress and comedian
- November 1 - Alexander Draper Wolff, American actor and drummer
- November 13 - Brent Kinsman, American actor
- November 13 - Shane Kinsman, American Actor
- November 19 - McCaughey septuplets, the world's first set of septuplets to survive infancy
Deaths
January–June
- January 1 - Townes Van Zandt, American folk singer (b. 1944)
- January 4 - Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul (b. 1909)
- January 6 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (b. 1912)
- January 10 - Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, director (b. 1907)
- January 10 - Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- January 12 - Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1901)
- January 16 - Ennis Cosby, comedian Bill Cosby's son (b. 1969)
- January 17 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
- January 18 - Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator from (Massachusetts) and one-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination (b. 1941)
- January 19 - James Dickey, American poet and novelist (Deliverance) (b. 1923)
- January 20 - Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- January 21 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (b. 1909)
- January 31 - Johnny Klein, American drummer (b. 1918)
- February 1 - Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)
- February 2 - Chico Science, Brazilian musician (automobile accident) (b. 1967)
- February 5 - Pamela Harriman, U.S. Ambassador to France (b. 1920)
- February 11 - Don Porter, American actor (b. 1912)
- February 17 - Zein Isa, Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter
- February 19 - Deng Xiaoping, leader of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904)
- February 23 - Tony Williams, American musician (b. 1945)
- February 28 - Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Dechebal Matasareanu, shooters in the North Hollywood shootout.
- March 4 - Robert H. Dicke, American experimental physicist (b. 1916)
- March 4 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (b. 1914)
- March 6 - Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (b. 1918)
- March 7 - Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- March 7 - Martin Kippenberger, German artist (b. 1953)
- March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (b. 1972)
- March 9 - Terry Nation,Scriptwriter (b. 1930)
- March 10 - La Vern Baker, American singer (b. 1929)
- March 14 - Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-born director (b. 1907)
- March 17 - Jermaine Stewart, American singer (b. 1957)
- March 19 - Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (b. 1904)
- March 20 - Tony Zale, American boxer (b. 1913)
- March 21 - W.V. Awdry, British children's writer (b. 1911)
- April 5 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
- April 8 - Laura Nyro, American singer and composer (b. 1947)
- April 7 - Witto Aloma, Cuban Major League Baseball player (b. 1923)
- April 7 - Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut (b. 1935)
- April 12 - George Wald, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- April 15 - Mildred Cleghorn, chairwoman of the Fort Sill Apache tribe (b. 1910)
- April 16 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)
- April 16 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)
- April 19 - El Duce, American singer/drummer (The Mentors) (b. 1958)
- April 20 - Henry Mucci, American Colonel of the 98th Ranger Battalion (b. 1909)
- April 22 - Baroness Seear, President of the UK Liberal Party (b. 1913)
- May 2 - John Carew Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- May 5 - Walter Gotell, German actor (b. 1924)
- May 14 - Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician (b. 1934)
- May 22 - Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1908)
- May 23 - James Lee Byars, American artist (b. 1932)
- May 24 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- May 29 - Jeff Buckley, American musician (drowned) (b. 1966)
- May 31 - James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (b. 1905)
- June 3 - Dennis James, American game show host (b. 1917)
- June 12 - Bulat Okudzhava, Soviet non-mainstream singer of Georgian descent (b. 1924)
- June 22 - Gérard Pelletier, French journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1919)
- June 23 - Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X (b. 1936)
- June 24 - Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
- June 25 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer (b. 1910)
- June 26 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (b. 1959)
- June 28 - Mrs. Miller, American singer (b. 1907)
July–December
- July 1 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (b. 1917)
- July 2 - James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
- July 4 - Charles Kuralt, American television reporter (b. 1934)
- July 4 - John Zachary Young, British biologist (b. 1907)
- July 14 - Sir Garfield Barwick, Australian Chief Justice (b. 1903)
- July 15 - Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (murdered) (b. 1946)
- July 18 - Eugene Shoemaker, American astronomer (b. 1928)
- July 20 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler (b. 1949)
- July 23 - Chuhei Nambu, Japanese athlete (b. 1904)
- July 24 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1906)
- August 2 - William S. Burroughs, American author (b. 1914)
- August 2 - Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and political activist (b. 1938)
- August 4 - Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian and the oldest living person ever documented in history. (b. 1875)
- August 8 - Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist (b. 1915)
- August 10 - Conlon Nancarrow, American-born composer (b. 1912)
- August 12 - Luther Allison, American musician (b. 1939)
- August 16 - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani Qwalli artist (b. 1948)
- August 21 - Yuri Nikulin, Russian actor
- August 23 - John Kendrew, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917)
- August 24 - Louis Essen, English physicist (b. 1908)
- August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales (car accident) (b. 1961)
- August 31 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (car accident) (b. 1955)
- September 2 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian opera manager (b. 1902)
- September 2 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1905)
- September 5 - Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor (b. 1912)
- September 5 - Mother Teresa, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1910)
- September 7 - Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire (b. 1930)
- September 9 - Burgess Meredith, American actor (b. 1907)
- September 17 - Red Skelton, American comedian (b. 1913)
- September 18 - Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer (b. 1920)
- September 19 - Rich Mullins, American musician (b. 1955)
- September 25 - Jean Françaix, French composer (b. 1912)
- September 27 - Walter Trampler, American violist (b. 1915)
- October 1 - Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor (b. 1923)
- October 4 - Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese video game franchise creator (b. 1941)
- October 5 - Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
- October 6 - Adrienne Hill, British actress
- October 6 - Johnny Vander Meer, baseball player (b. 1914)
- October 12 - John Denver, American musician (b. 1943)
- October 19 - Glen Buxton, American guitarist (b. 1947)
- October 22 - Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator (b. 1905)
- October 23 - Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1916)
- October 24 - Don Messick, American voice actor (b. 1926)
- October 29 - Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos, Greek-American NASA astrophysicist (b. 1947)
- October 29 - Anton Szandor LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan (b. 1930)
- November 4 - Eddie Arcaro, American Hall of Fame Jockey (b. 1916)
- November 5 - James Robert Baker, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1946)
- November 5 - Sir Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (b. 1909)
- November 11 - Rodney Milburn, American athlete (b. 1950)
- November 12 - Carlos Surinach, Spanish composer (b. 1915)
- November 15 - Douglas MacArthur II, nephew of World War II General Douglas MacArthur (b. 1909)
- November 17 - John Wimber, American leader of the Vineyard Movement (b. 1934)
- November 21 - Robert Simpson, English composer (b. 1921)
- November 22 - Michael Hutchence, Australian musician (b. 1960)
- November 25 - "Barbara" (Monique Serf), French singer (b. 1930)
- November 30 - Kathy Acker, American author (b. 1947)
- December 2 - Shirley Crabtree, British wrestler best known as Big Daddy (b. 1930)
- December 2 - Michael Hedges, American composer and guitarist (b. 1953)
- December 18 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
- December 19 - David Schramm, American astrophysicist (b. 1945)
- December 20 - Denise Levertov, English-born American poet (b. 1923)
- December 21 - Amie Comeaux, American country singer (b. 1976)
- December 24 - Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
- December 25 - Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920)
- December 27 - Billy Wright, Irish paramilitary leader (b. 1960)
Unknown dates
Nobel Prizes
Templeton Prize
