Events Date 1997 December | History by KabAstro

Rimes and Spice Girls Win

Dec 8 8th Billboard Music Awards: LeAnn Rimes & Spice Girls win

Singer and Fashion Designer Victoria Beckham

The Sunshine Boys

Dec 8 Revival of Neil Simon's comedy "The Sunshine Boys", starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, opens at Lyceum Theater, NYC; runs for 230 performances

Tomorrow Never Dies

Dec 9 "Tomorrow Never Dies", 18th James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh, premieres in London

Dec 11 Delegates from 150 industrial nations attending a UN climate conference in Kyoto, Japan, reach agreement to control heat-trapping greenhouse gases
Dec 11 Federal judge orders Microsoft not to bundle IE4 in Windows
Dec 12 Carlos the Jackal, "professional revolutionary", goes on trial in Paris

Crosby Claimant Sentenced

Dec 12 Fed judge sentences Autumn Jackson, who claims to be Bill Cosby's daughter, to 26 months for trying to extort $40 million from him

Dec 12 Florida releases Alex Arias, the last original Marlin
Dec 12 Japanese train builders (Maglev) claim world speed record at 332 MPH

Contract of Interest

Dec 12 Red Sox sign Pedro Martinez to record 6 year $69 million contract

Dec 12 SWAT team shoots John E Armstrong in Florida, freeing 2 young hostages
Dec 12 TWA 800 hearings end
Dec 13 63rd Heisman Trophy Award: Charles Woodson, Michigan (CB)

Gartner Scores 700

Dec 14 Phoenix Coyote winger Mike Gartner becomes 5th NHLer to score 700 goals

A View From the Bridge

Dec 14 Revival of Arthur Miller's dramatic play "A View From the Bridge", starring Anthony LaPaglia, Allison Janney, and Brittany Murphy. opens at the Criterion Theater, NYC; runs for 239 performance, wins 2 Tony and 4 Drama Desk Awards

Spice World

Dec 15 "Spice World" movie directed by Bob Spiers and starring girl pop group the Spice Girls premieres in the UK

49ers Retire #16

Dec 15 SF 49ers retire Joe Montana's #16

Clinton Names Dog

Dec 16 US President Bill Clinton names his Labrador retriever "Buddy"

Dec 18 HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium
Dec 21 Detroit Lions Barry Sanders is 3rd to run for 2,000 yards in a season
Dec 21 Detroit Lions linebacker Reggie Brown, knocked unconscious in game
Dec 22 Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
Dec 22 Hunter Tylo awarded $4 million in Melrose Place breach of contract
Dec 22 Merck baldness pill for men approved by FDA

MTV Removes Prodigy Video

Dec 22 MTV removes music video of The Prodigy's song "Smack My Bitch Up" from broadcast rotation

Kerrigan and Harding Record Show

Dec 22 Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding pre-record a show to air on FOX on Feb 5

1st Coach to 200 Wins

Dec 22 Scotty Bowman's Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 giving him 200 wins with Detroit, and making him the first NHL coach to record 200 wins with 3 different teams; also Montreal and Buffalo

As Good as It Gets

Dec 23 "As Good as It Gets" film released written and directed by James L. Brooks, starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt

Dec 23 A Channukah candle is officially lighted in Vatican City for the 1st time to celebrate Hanukkah and to reconcile Roman Catholics and Jews [1]

Ballon d'Or

Dec 23 Ballon d'Or: Barcelona/Inter's Brazilian striker Ronaldo wins his first of 2 best football player in Europe awards ahead of Real Madrid forward Predrag Mijatović and Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane

Football Player and Manager Zinedine Zidane

Jackson Quickest to 500 Wins

Dec 23 Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson is quickest to reach 500 wins (682 games)

Kurri Scores 800

Dec 23 Colorado Avalanche Jari Kurri is 8th NHLer to score 600 career goals

Dec 23 Terry Nichols found guilty of manslaughter in Oklahoma bombing
Dec 23 US Agriculture Department estimates it costs $149,820 to raise a child to 18
Dec 24 The Dominican Republic becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
Dec 24 The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
Dec 25 For 1st time US movie box office receipts pass $6 billion

"Seinfeld" to End

Dec 25 Jerry Seinfeld announces the final season of his TV show "Seinfeld" will air the following year

Dec 26 The Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.
Dec 27 Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.
Dec 28 Sting beats Hollywood Hogan for WCW Championship
Dec 29 Carquest Bowl 8: Georgia Tech beats West Virginia, 35-30
Dec 29 Cricket Women's World Cup: Australia defeats New Zealand by 5 wickets
Dec 29 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu
Dec 29 Orville Lynn Majors, 36, arrested for many deaths under his care
Dec 29 Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant in China
Dec 30 An abandoned building collapses on NY's 42nd St, no one hurt
Dec 30 In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people are killed from four villages.
Dec 31 27th Fiesta Bowl: #10 Kansas State beats #14 Syracuse, 35-18
Dec 31 72 year-old Marv Levy retires as coach of the NFL Buffalo Bills after 12 seasons, including 4 consecutive losing Super Bowl appearances
Dec 31 Buffalo's Czech NHL goalie Dominik Hasek stops 36 shots for his 27th career shutout in Sabres' 3-0 win over Ottawa Senators; his 6th shutout in month of December; first since George Hainsworth in 1928-29 to achieve the feat

Intel Cuts Pentium Price

Dec 31 Intel cuts price of Pentium II-233 MHz from $401 to $268

Semiconductor Pioneer and CEO of Intel Andrew Grove

Dec 31 Microsoft buys Hotmail email service for $400 million and re-launches it as MSN Hotmail
Dec 31 More Swedes died than were born in 1997, 1st time since 1809
Dec 31 Orlando Hernandez, half-brother of pitcher Livan, defects from Cuba
Dec 31 South African & US surgeons separate Zambian Siamese twins joined at the head