Date in year · 1997 · The 1990s

May 15, 1997

On May 15, 1997, the United States government acknowledges the existence of the "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans. 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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Births

2

Deaths

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Year

1997

1990s

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.

Read the full year of 1997 →

What happened

On May 15, 1997

  1. 1997 The United States government acknowledges the existence of the "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.

    1959–1975 conflict in Laos

    The Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert theater during the Vietnam War with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. The fighting also involved the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, American and Thai armies, both directly and through irregular proxies.

  2. 1997 The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-84 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

    Space Shuttle orbiter (1985–2011)

    Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built.

Arrivals

Born on May 15, 1997

Ousmane Dembélé 1997– French footballer (born 1997)
Scott Drinkwater 1997– Australian rugby league footballer

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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