At A Glance

17 May 1997 at a glance

Day of the week
17 May 1997 was a Saturday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G..
Top Film of 1997
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1997 was Titanic.
Bestselling Novel of 1997
“The Partner” by John Grisham was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1997.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Seinfeld” (NBC) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1997–98 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 May is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 May 1997 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 May 1997 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 17 May

  • 1990 The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
  • 1994 Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
  • 1995 Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.
  • 1997 Troops of Laurent-Désiré Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 2004 The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.

Famous people born on May 17

  • Josh Homme, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1973)
  • Bill Paxton, American actor and director (1955–2017)
  • Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (1936–2010)
  • Bob Saget, American comedian, actor, and television host (1956–2022)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1997 in the United States

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

  • February 28 – North Hollywood shootout: Two heavily armed bank robbers conflict with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in a mass shootout.
  • March 21 – Liar Liar is released in theaters nationwide, later going on to rank as the 7th highest grossing film of the year.
  • March 24 – The 69th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, are held at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with Anthony Minghella's The English Patient winning nine awards out of 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. The telecast garners nearly 40.1 million viewers.

Life in the US in 1997

President

Bill Clinton

Gas (per gallon)

$1.23

Loaf of Bread

$1.00

Average House

$146,000

Weekly Wage

$507

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.

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

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