1997

January 1 – the Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States of America January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. January 17 – A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. January 18 – In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 6 Spanish aid workers and three soldiers, and seriously wound another. January 19 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. January 20 – Bill Clinton is sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. January 23 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State of the United States, after confirmation by the United States Senate. February 4 On their way to Lebanon, two Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing all 73 on board. After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes North Khorasan province, Iran, killing 88 people and injuring 1,948. February 10 – Sandline affair: Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville Island. February 13 – STS-82: Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery. February 28 – North Hollywood shootout: Two robbers, wearing kevlar body armor, and armed with AK-47s containing armor-piercing bullets, injure 17 police officers and civilians in a gun battle. The incident sparks debate on the appropriate firepower for United States patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future. March 4 – U.S. President Bill Clinton bans federal funding for any research on human cloning. March 7 – In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill over 100 Sri Lankan troops.