Date in year · 1997 · The 1990s

April 4, 1997

On April 4, 1997, space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-83. However, the mission is later cut short due to a fuel cell problem. 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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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 April 4, 1997

  1. 1997 Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-83. However, the mission is later cut short due to a fuel cell problem.

    Space Shuttle orbiter (1981–2003)

    Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and becoming the first spacecraft to be re-used after its first flight when it launched on STS-2 on November 12, 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique external and internal features compared with later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines.

Farewells

Died on April 4, 1997

Leo Picard Israeli geologist (1900–1997)
Alparslan Türkeş Turkish politician (1917–1997)

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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