- January 6
- The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon. (It later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles.) [19]
- January 8
- Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the World Trade Center bombing. [1] [19]
- Cosmologists announce that the universe's expansion rate is increasing. [19]
- January 9
- Anatoly Karpov defeats Viswanathan Anand to retain chess title. [1]
- Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov spacewalk record 3 hours 8 minutes. [1]
- Decapitated head of Danish Little Mermaid is returned. [1]
- January 10
- In Northeastern China, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs. Seventy people killed, about 11,500 injured, 44,000 families left homeless. Over 70,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. Damage to portions of the Great Wall of China in northwestern Hebei Province. [53]
- In Guatemala, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurs. At least 27 people injured. Felt throughout southern and western Guatemala, in El Salvador and parts of southern Mexico. [53]
- January 11
- Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria: over 100 people are killed. [19]
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- January 12
- Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. [19]
- Lrgest ever oil spill in Nigeria, 6.4 million litres spill from a ruptured oil pipeline to one of Mobil's terminals. [522]
- January 14
- Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis). [19]
- January 16
- 400-foot bulk carrier Flare breaks in two off Newfoundland in heavy seas; 21 crew die. [720.100]
- January 20
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts The Mama and The Papas, The Eagles. [1]
- Nepalese police intercept a shipment of 272 human skulls in Kathmandu. [19]
- January 21
- Pope John Paul II visits Cuba. [1]
- January 23
- Pope John Paul II condemns US embargo against Cuba. [1]
- January 25
- The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide attack Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth kills eight people, injuring 25 others. [19]
- January 27
- Roland Clarkson discovers 37th Mersenne prime, 2^3021377-1. [1]
- January 28
- Michelangelo's Christ and the Woman of Samaria painting sells for US$7.4 million. [1]
- Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion. [19]
- Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours, at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines. [19]
- January 29
- Soyuz TM-27 launches to MIR space station. [1]
- Thick fog causes highway carnage in Belgium and Netherlands, six die. [1]
- January 31
- NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS 89 lands. [1]
- February 1
- The United States Senate passes Resolution 71, urging U.S. President Bill Clinton to "take all necessary and appropriate actions to respond to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." [19]
- February 2
- The Standard & Poor's 500 index closes above 1,000 for the first time, at 1,001.27. [19]
- Philippine DC-9 crashes apparently killing all 104 on board. [1]
- February 3
- A United States Military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying plane severs the cable of a cable-car. [1] [19]
- February 4
- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates gets a pie thrown in his face in Brussels, Belgium. [1]
- In Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurs. At least 2,323 people killed, 818 injured, 8,094 houses destroyed. [19] [53]
- February 6
- International Telecommunications Union of modem vendors agree on v.90 as a common 56 kbps transmission standard. [4]
- The French prefect Claude Erignac is assassinated in the streets of Ajaccio (Corse). [19]
- February 9
- Failed assassination attempt on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. [1]
- February 10
- Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997, becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law. [19]
- February 11
- Lyrics to "Candle in the Wind 1997" auctioned for $442,500. [1]
- February 12
- 250-car Italy pile-up due to fog, four die and 50 hurt. [1]
- Intel unveils its first graphics chip, the i740. [1]
- February 16
- Tellabs Inc acquires Coherent Communications Systems for $670 million. [1]
- China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people (all 196 on board and six on the ground). [19]
- February 19
- Russian Soyuz TM-26 spacecraft lands. [1]
- A 66-day blackout begins in Auckland, New Zealand. [19]
- February 20
- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the United States and Britain. [1] [19]
- In Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs. One person killed and 11 injured. An earthquake-induced avalanche destroyed 35 houses and a mosque, and left 300 people homeless. Felt in much of northern Pakistan and in northeastern Afghanistan and in parts of Tajikistan. [53]
- February 22
- One third of the Tower block "Palace II" collapses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [19]
- February 23
- Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42. [1] [19]
- Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa, declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders. [19]
- February 24
- Musician Elton John knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. [1]
- A man tries to hijack a Turkish Airlines passenger plane, claiming that he has a bomb in his teddy bear; passengers disapprove and apprehend him. [19]
- February 26
- Total solar eclipse in Venezuela-Pacific Ocean (4 minutes 9 seconds). [1]
- February 27
- Netscape makes source code for Netscape Communicator 5.0 browser available for free download on the Internet. [4]
- February 28
- Serbian police begin to wipe out so-called "terrorist gangs" in Kosovo. [19]
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