Date in year · 1997 · The 1990s

December 22, 1997

On December 22, 1997, 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. The year's #1 song was "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John. Asa Butterfield, Álex Palou, Claire Wineland would arrive in the same year.

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Year

1997

1990s

Featured · December 22, 1997

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.

The Acteal massacre was a massacre of 45 people attending a prayer meeting of Catholic Indigenous townspeople, including a number of children and pregnant women, who were members of the pacifist group Las Abejas, in the small village of Acteal in the municipality of Chenalhó, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Right-wing paramilitary group Máscara Roja murdered the victims on December 22, 1997, while the Government of Mexico first admitted responsibility for the massacre in September 2020.

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Around 1997

The year in brief

1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1997th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 997th year of the 2nd millennium, the 97th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1990s decade.

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What happened

On December 22, 1997

  1. 1997 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.

    1997 terror attack in Mexico

    The Acteal massacre was a massacre of 45 people attending a prayer meeting of Catholic Indigenous townspeople, including a number of children and pregnant women, who were members of the pacifist group Las Abejas, in the small village of Acteal in the municipality of Chenalhó, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Right-wing paramilitary group Máscara Roja murdered the victims on December 22, 1997, while the Government of Mexico first admitted responsibility for the massacre in September 2020.

  2. 1997 Somali Civil War: Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.

    Ongoing civil war in East Africa

    The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the Somaliland War of Independence in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south.

Farewells

Died on December 22, 1997

Sebastian Arcos Bergnes Cuban human rights activist

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1997

The class of 1997

Others born in 1997

Asa Butterfield 1997– English actor
Álex Palou 1997– Spanish racing driver
Claire Wineland 1997– American activist and author (died 2018)
Mateo Cassierra 1997– Colombian footballer
Kyle Walker-Peters 1997– English footballer
D. J. Moore 1997– American football player

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The full year 1997 Every december 22, through history December 22 One year earlier 1996