World Events
Population: 5.840 billion
Nobel Peace Prize: International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Jody Williams (US)
Hebron agreement signed; Israel gives up large part of West Bank city of Hebron (Jan. 16). Israeli government approves establishment of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, a setback in Middle East peace process (Feb. 26). Background: Middle East Peace Negotiations
US, UK, and France agree to freeze Nazis' gold loot (Feb. 3).
Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule (June 30).
Khmer Rouge hold trial of longtime leader Pol Pot (July 25).
Swiss plan first payment to Holocaust victims (Sept. 17).
European Union plans to admit six nations (Dec. 13).
U.S. Events
President: William J. Clinton
Vice President: Albert Gore, Jr
Population: 267,743,595
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $8,110.90 billion
Federal spending: $1635.33 billion
Federal debt: $5498.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $37,005
Consumer Price Index: 160.5
Unemployment: 4.9%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.32
US shuttle joins Russian space station (Jan. 17).
. J. Simpson found liable in civil suit (Feb. 5).
Heaven's Gate cult members commit mass suicide in California (March 27).
US Appeals Court upholds California ban on affirmative action (April 8).
Clinton exercises new line-item veto (Aug. 11).
Timothy J. McVeigh sentenced to death for Oklahoma City bombing (Aug. 14).
Two convicted in New York Trade Center bombing (Nov. 12).
Sports
Super Bowl
Green Bay d. New England (35-21)
Halftime show: The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and Jim Belushi), ZZ Top, James Brown (produced by Radio City and House of Blues, with a corporate sponsor)
World Series
Florida Marlins d. Cleveland (4-3)
NBA Championship
Chicago d. Utah (4-2)
Stanley Cup
Detroit d. Philadelphia (4-0)
Wimbledon
Women: Martina Hingis d. J. Novotna (2-6 6-3 6-3)
Men: Pete Sampras d. C. Pioline (6-4 6-2 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Silver Charm
NCAA Basketball Championship
Arizona d. Kentucky (84-79 OT)
NCAA Football Champions
Michigan (AP) (12-0) & Nebraska (ESPN/USA) (13-0)
Entertainment
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, Steven Millhauser
Music: Blood on the Field, Wynton Marsalis
Oscars awarded in 1997
Academy Award, Best Picture: The English Patient, Saul Zaentz, producer (Miramax)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Dario Fo (Italy)
Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: Change the World - Eric Clapton
Album of the Year: Falling Into You - Celine Dion (550 Music/Epic)
Song of the Year: Change the World - Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Tommy Sims, songwriters
Miss America: Tara Dawn Holland (KS)
Events
The controversial television ratings system debuts on cable stations and broadcast networks. The ratings, TV-Y, TV-G, TV-Y7, TV-PG, TV-14 and TV-M, appear for 15 seconds in the upper left-hand corner of the screen at the beginning of each show, except news and sports programs, which are not rated.
Titanic crashes into theaters. It is the most expensive film of all time, costing between $250 and $300 million to produce and market.
Ellen DeGeneres outs herself. She becomes the first openly gay woman to have her own sitcom.
The Prince of Pop is born to Michael Jackson and wife Debbie Rowe. The child's name is Prince Michael Junior.
J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone is published in the U.K. It comes to U.S. in 1998 as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Movies
As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, The Ice Storm, L.A. Confidential, Titanic
Books
Don DeLillo, Underworld
Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain
Rick Moody, Purple America
Philip Roth, American Pastoral
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Paul D. Boyer (US), Jens C. Skou (Denmark), and John E. Walker (UK), for discoveries about a molecule that allows the human body to store and transfer energy between cells
Physics: Steven Chu, William D. Phillips (both US), and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (France), for developing a method to cool and trap atoms using light from lasers
Physiology or Medicine: Stanley B. Prusiner (US), for discovery of a new type of germ, called prions, that causes degenerative brain disorders
A team led by Drs. Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell (UK) create the first sheep with a human gene in every cell of its body. The genetically engineered lamb is named Dolly.
Scientists at Oregon Regional Primate Research Center (US) create the first primates —two rhesus monkeys named Neti and Ditto— from DNA taken from cells of developing monkey embryos. Background: Cloning Milestones
Comet Hale-Bopp is the closest it will be to Earth until 4397 (March 22).
US spacecraft begins exploration of Mars (July 4). Background: US Unstaffed Planetary and Lunar Programs
US company launches first commercial spy satellite (Dec. 24).
Deaths
William S. Burroughs
Jacques Cousteau
Xiaoping Deng
John Denver
Princess Diana
Allen Ginsberg
Mother Theresa
James A. Michener
James Stewart
Gianni Versace
Dr. Charles B. Huggins