At A Glance
8 May 1997 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 8 May 1997 was a Thursday.
- UK Number One
- The UK Number One single was “Love Won't Wait” by Gary Barlow.
- Top Film of 1997
- The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1997 was Titanic.
- Star sign
- The star sign for 8 May is Taurus.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 8 May 1997 fell in the Year of the Ox.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for May is Emerald.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 8 May 1997 was Waxing Crescent.
On this day: 8 May
- 1976 The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
- 1978 The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
- 1980 The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.
- 1984 The Soviet Union announces a boycott upon the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles, later joined by 14 other countries.
- 1984 The Thames Barrier is officially opened, preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.
Famous people born on 8 May
- David Attenborough, English environmentalist and television host (born 1926)
- Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (1884–1972)
- Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (1895–1979)
- Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (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.
Life in 1997
Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Pint of Beer
£1.60
Loaf of Bread
67p
Average House
£65,798
Weekly Wage
£385.00
Or
Browse by Year
Famous Faces Born in the 1990s
Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.
Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
About The Day You Were Born
Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.
About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →
