Portal:Current events/May 1997

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May 1997 was the fifth month of that common year. The month, which began on a Thursday, ended on a Saturday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events[edit]

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from May 1997.

May 2, 1997 (Friday)

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The Labour Party of the United Kingdom returns to power for the first time in 18 years, with Tony Blair becoming Prime Minister, in a landslide majority in the 1997 general election.

May 3, 1997 (Saturday)

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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 8, 1997 (Thursday)

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Playhouse Disney launches.

May 10, 1997 (Saturday)

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The 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake shakes eastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). At least were 1,567 killed and 2,300 were injured.

May 11, 1997 (Sunday)

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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, 1997 (Monday)

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The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty is signed.

May 14, 1997 (Wednesday)

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The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.

May 15, 1997 (Thursday)

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The United States government acknowledges existence of the "Secret War" in Laos (1953–1975) during the Vietnam War, and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.

May 16, 1997 (Friday)

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President Mobutu Sese Seko is exiled from Zaire.
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, 1997 (Saturday)

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Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa.

May 22, 1997 (Thursday)

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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 23, 1997 (Friday)

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Mohammad Khatami wins the 1997 Iranian presidential election and becomes the first Iranian Reformist president.

May 25, 1997 (Sunday)

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French legislative election, 1997 first-round voting.
Strom Thurmond becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months).
A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.

May 27, 1997 (Tuesday)

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The second-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.

May 31, 1997 (Saturday)

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The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge, the world's longest bridge spanning ice-covered waters, opens between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.