| in?=
| cp=18th century
| c=19th century
| cf=20th century
| yp1=1894
| yp2=1895
| yp3=1896
| year=1897
| ya1=1898
| ya2=1899
| ya3=1900
| dp3=1860s
| dp2=1870s
| dp1=1880s
| d=1890s
| dn1=1900s
| dn2=1910s
| dn3=1920s
}}
1897 (''' MDCCCXCVII ''') was a Common Year Starting On Friday (see link for calendar).
Events
- January 1 - Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City .
- January 4 - A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the Oba Of Benin . This leads to a Punitive Expedition against Benin .
- February 2 - Harrisburg , the Pennsylvania state capitol, is destroyed by fire.
- February 18 - Benin is put to the torch by the Punitive Expedition .
- March 4 - William McKinley succeeds Grover Cleveland as President Of The United States .
- March 13 - San Diego State University founded.
- April 5 - "Ordinance of April 5," equalizing German and Czech in Bohemia, signed in Austria-Hungary (see Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni ).
- April 27 - Grant's Tomb is dedicated.
- May 19 - Oscar Wilde is released from prison.
- June 2 - Mark Twain , responding to rumors that he was dead, is quoted by the ''New York Journal'' as saying, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."
- July 11 - S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition Of 1897 begins. The ill-fated expedition to fly over the arctic results in the death of the entire team within months.
- July 17 - Klondike Gold Rush begins when first successful prospectors arrive in Seattle .
- July 25 - Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he will write his first successful stories.
- July 31 - First ascent of Mount Saint Elias , second highest peak in the United States and Canada .
- August 29 - First Zionist Congress convenes in Basel , Switzerland .
- September 1 - The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground Metro in North America .
- September 10 - In the Lattimer Massacre , a sheriff's posse killes more than nineteen unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania .
- September 11 - After months of searching, generals of Menelik II Of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho , the last king of Kaffa , bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.
- December 9 - First issue of the feminist newspaper '' La Fronde '' is published by Marguerite Durand .
- December 28 - The play '' Cyrano De Bergerac '', by Edmond Rostand , premieres in Paris .
- December 30 - Natal annexes Zululand .
Births
January-March
- January 3 - Marion Davies , American actress (d. 1961 )
- January 23 - Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky , Austrian architect and anti-Nazi activist (d. 2000 )
- January 23 - Netaji Subash Chandra Bose , Indian freedom fighter (d. ?)
- January 28 - Ivan Stedeford , British Industrialist (d. 1975 )
- February 4 - Ludwig Erhard , Chancellor Of Germany (d. 1977 )
- February 7 - Quincy Porter , American composer (d. 1966 )
- February 10 - John F. Enders , American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (d. 1985 )
- February 10 - Dame Judith Anderson , Australian actress (d. 1992 )
- February 21 - Sean Heuston , Irish rebel
- February 27 - Marian Anderson , American contralto (d. 1993 )
- March 1 - Shoghi Effendi , Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith (d. 1957 )
- March 2 - Violet Baudelaire , heiress to the Baudelaire inheritance (d. 1980 )
- March 4 - Lefty O'Doul , baseball player and restaurateur (d. 1969 )
- March 5 - Set Persson , Swedish communist politician (d. 1960 )
- March 15 - Jackson Scholz , American sprinter (d. 1986 )
- March 20 - Ruby Muhammad , African Americans' rights activists
- March 24 - Wilhelm Reich , Austrian psychotherapist (d. 1957 )
- March 27 - Gloria Swanson , American actress (d. 1983 )
- March 28 - Sepp Herberger , German football coach (d. 1977 )
April-June
- April 1 - Nita Naldi , American film actress (d. 1961 )
- April 7 - Walter Winchell , American broadcast journalist (d. 1972 )
- April 9 - John B. Gambling , American radio talk-show host (d. 1974 )
- April 19 - Peter De Noronha , Indian businessman (d. 1970 )
- April 19 - Constance Talmadge , American actress (d. 1973 )
- April 23 - Lester B. Pearson , Prime Minister Of Canada , recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1972 )
- April 25 - Mary, Princess Royal of England (d. 1965 )
- April 26 - Douglas Sirk , German-born director (d. 1987 )
- April 26 - Eddie Eagan , American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967 )
- May 2 - J. Fred Coots , American songwriter (d. 1985 )
- May 14 - Sidney Bechet , American musician (d. 1959 )
- May 17 - Odd Hassel , Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981 )
- May 18 - Frank Capra , American producer, director, and writer (d. 1991 )
- May 19 - Frank Luke , American World War I pilot (d. 1918 )
- May 21 - Nikola Avramov , Bulgarian painter (d. 1945 )
- May 27 - John Cockcroft , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967 )
- May 29 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Austrian composer (d. 1957 )
- June 7 - George Szell , Hungarian conductor (d. 1970 )
- June 10 - Grand Duchess Tatiana Of Russia (d. 1918 )
- June 13 - Paavo Nurmi , Finnish runner (d. 1973 )
- June 16 - Georg Wittig , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987 )
- June 19 - Cyril Norman Hinshelwood , English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967 )
- June 19 - Moe Howard , American comedian and actor, Three Stooges member (d. 1975 )
July-September
- July 20 - Tadeus Reichstein , Polish-born chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (d. 1996 )
- July 24 - Amelia Earhart , American aviator (d. 1937 - presumed)
- July 29 - Sir Neil Ritchie , British general (d. 1983 )
- August 2 - Max Weber , Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1974 )
- August 5 - Aksel Larsen , Danish politician (d. 1972 )
- August 28 - Charles Boyer , French actor (d. 1978 )
- September 1 - Andy Kennedy , Northern Irish footballer (d. 1963 )
- September 8 - Jimmie Rodgers , American singer (d. 1933 )
- September 12 - Irene Joliot-Curie , French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Chemistry (d. 1956 )
- September 17 - Earl Webb , baseball player (d. 1965 )
- September 23 - Walter Pidgeon , Canadian actor (d. 1984 )
- September 25 - William Faulkner , American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962 )
- September 26 - Pope Paul VI (d. 1978 )
- September 26 - Arthur Rhys Davids , English pilot (d. 1917 )
October-December
- October 3 - Louis Aragon , French author (d. 1982 )
- October 15 - Johannes Sikkar , Estonian statesman (d. 1960 )
- October 20 - Yi, Eun , Korean Crown Prince (d. 1970 )
- October 29 - Joseph Goebbels , German Nazi propagandist (d. 1945 )
- November 9 - Ronald George Wreyford Norrish , British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978 )
- November 15 - Sacheverell Sitwell , English author (d. 1988 )
- November 17 - Frank Fay , American actor and first husband of Barbara Stanwyck (d. 1961 )
- November 18 - Patrick Blackett , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974 )
- November 23 - Nirad C. Chaudhuri , Bengali author (d. 1999 )
- December 18 - Fletcher Henderson , American musician (d. 1952 )
- December 30 - Alfredo Bracchi , Italian author (d. 1976 )
Deaths
- February 4 - Major Charles Bendire , U.S. Army captain and ornithologist (b. 1836 )
- February 19 - Karl Weierstrass , German mathematician (b. 1815
- March 19 - Antoine Thomson D'Abbadie , Irish-born traveler (b. 1810 )
- April 3 - Johannes Brahms , German composer (b. 1833 )
- September 9 - Richard Holt Hutton , English writer and theologian (b. 1826 )
- September 21 - Wilhelm Wattenbach , German historian (b. 1819 )
- October 29 - Henry George , American economist (b. 1839 )
- November 19 - William Seymour Tyler , American educator and historian (b. 1810 )
- November 20 - Ernest Giles , Australian explorer (b. 1835 )
- December 17 - Alphonse Daudet , French writer (b. 1840 )
- Jang Seung-eop , Korean painter (b. 1843 )
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