At A Glance

5 January 1997 at a glance

Day of the week
5 January 1997 was a Sunday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “2 Become 1” by Spice Girls.
Top Film of 1997
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1997 was Titanic.
Star sign
The star sign for 5 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 5 January 1997 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 5 January 1997 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 5 January

  • 1991 Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
  • 1991 Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.
  • 1993 The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
  • 2005 The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time.
  • 2014 A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.

Famous people born on 5 January

  • Suki Waterhouse, English actress, singer-songwriter, and model (born 1992)
  • Vinnie Jones, British footballer and actor (born 1965)
  • Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman (1946–2025)
  • Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer (born 1975)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1997 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1997 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 30 March – Channel 5, Britain's fifth terrestrial television channel and its first new one since the launch of Channel 4 in November 1982, is launched.
  • 31 March – BBC preschool children's television series Teletubbies first airs.
  • 26 June – Publication of J. K. Rowling's first Harry Potter fantasy novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in London by Bloomsbury Publishing, in an edition of 500 copies.
More events of 1997 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in 1997

Prime Minister

John Major

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

£1.60

Loaf of Bread

67p

Average House

£65,798

Weekly Wage

£385.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1990s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Tom Holland1 June 1996ActorView their day →Florence Pugh3 January 1996ActressView their day →Kaya Scodelario13 March 1992ActressView their day →Ed Sheeran17 February 1991Singer-songwriterView their day →Dua Lipa22 August 1995Singer-songwriterView their day →Callum Turner15 February 1990ActorView their day →Harry Kane28 July 1993FootballerView their day →Jack Lowden2 June 1990ActorView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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