1897

Year 1897 () was a (link will display the full calendar) of the  (or a  of the 12-day slower ).

January - March

 * - A force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the . This leads to a  against.
 * - found dead in, . The resulting murder trial of her husband was perhaps the only case in United States history where the testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.


 * -, the state capitol, is destroyed by fire.
 * - Freedom of religion is proclaimed in.
 * - is put to the torch by the.


 * - succeeds  as.
 * - is founded.

April - June

 * - "Ordinance of April 5," equalizing German and Czech in Bohemia, signed in (see ).
 * - is dedicated.


 * - The opens in, for 6 months, illuminated by many electric lights.
 * - Snaefell Mining Disaster in the Isle of Man, 1897
 * -, a novel by Irish author is published.
 * - is released from prison.


 * - The great miners strike of 1897 begins. The strike would successfully establish the Union and brought about the 8-hour work day to the mines.
 * -, responding to rumors that he was dead, is quoted by the New York Journal as saying, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."
 * - World's first Fingerprint Bureau opens in Calcutta (now Kolkata) India after the Council of the Governor General approved a committee report that fingerprints should be used for classification of criminal records.
 * - Queen celebrates her.

July - September

 * - begins. The ill-fated expedition to fly over the Arctic results in the death of the entire team within months.
 * - begins when first successful prospectors arrive in.
 * - Writer sails to join the  where he will write his first successful stories.
 * - First ascent of, second highest peak in the and.


 * - First convenes in,.


 * - The subway opens, becoming the first underground  in.
 * - In the, a sheriff's posse killes more than nineteen unarmed immigrant miners in.
 * - After months of searching, generals of capture, the last king of , bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.
 * - and  sign a peace treaty to end the.

October - December

 * - The first issue is published of the radical paper .
 * - uses tricolore flag: green is for the land, yellow for peace, and red is symbolic of strength.
 * - The (Cruiser # 3, later CM-1) is recommissioned, since, for several months of duty in the.
 * - The, a  of the , is launched at  (will be deployed widely in ).


 * - First issue of the feminist newspaper  is published by.
 * - The play , by, premieres in.
 * - annexes.

Undated

 * allows women to study at the .
 * First use of the word "" meaning an electronic calculation device.
 * is formed.
 * is first brewed in anticipation of new century.
 * discovers the as a, over 1800 times smaller than a  (in the nucleus).

January - June

 * -, American actress (d. )
 * -, French sculptor (d. )
 * , n political leader (d. (?))
 * , Austrian architect and anti-Nazi activist (d. )
 * -, British Industrialist (d. )
 * -, (d. )
 * -, American composer (d. )
 * , American scientist, recipient of the (d. )
 * Dame, Australian actress (d. )
 * -, daughter of President and  (d. )
 * , WWII German general, the "Scapegoat of Stalingrad" (d. )
 * , American contralto (d. )
 * -, Guardian of the (d. )
 * -, baseball player and restaurateur (d. )
 * -, Swedish communist politician (d. )
 * -, American sprinter (d. )
 * -, African Americans' rights activist
 * -, Austrian psychotherapist (d. )
 * -, German football coach (d. )
 * -, American film actress (d. )
 * -, American broadcast journalist (d. )
 * -, American radio talk-show host (d. )
 * , Indian businessman (d. )
 * , American actress (d. )
 * -, American Protestant pastor (d. )
 * -, , recipient of the (d. )
 * - of England (d. )
 * , German-born director (d. )
 * , American boxer and bobsledder (d. )
 * -, American songwriter (d. )
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, Norwegian chemist, laureate (d. )
 * -, American producer, director, and writer (d. )
 * -, American World War I pilot (d. )
 * -, Bulgarian painter (d. )
 * -, English physicist, laureate (d. )
 * -, Austrian composer (d. )
 * -, Hungarian conductor (d. )
 * - (d. )
 * -, (d. )
 * -, Finnish runner (d. )
 * -, German chemist, laureate (d. )
 * , English chemist, laureate (d. )
 * , American comedian and actor (d. )
 * -, American Broadcaster and journalist (d. )
 * -, Finnish runner (d. )
 * -, German chemist, laureate (d. )
 * , English chemist, laureate (d. )
 * , American comedian and actor (d. )
 * -, American Broadcaster and journalist (d. )
 * -, American Broadcaster and journalist (d. )

July - December

 * -, Polish-born chemist, recipient of the (d. )
 * -, American aviator (d. - presumed)
 * - Sir, British general (d. )
 * -, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. )
 * -, Danish politician (d. )
 * -, French actor (d. )
 * -, Northern Irish footballer (d. )
 * -, American singer (d. )
 * -, French physicist, recipient of the (d. )
 * -, baseball player (d. )
 * -, Canadian actor (d. )
 * -, American writer, laureate (d. )
 * (d. )
 * , English pilot (d. )
 * -, American actor (d. )
 * -, French author (d. )
 * -, Estonian statesman (d. )
 * -, Korean Crown Prince (d. )
 * -, German Nazi propagandist (d. )
 * -, British chemist, laureate (d. )
 * -, English author (d. )
 * -, American actor and first husband of (d. )
 * -, American Protestant Episcopal clergyman (b. )
 * -, English physicist, laureate (d. )
 * -, Bengali author (d. )
 * -, Sicilian-American mobster (d. )
 * -, American nurse theorist (d. )
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, Italian author (d. )
 * -, Italian author (d. )

January-June

 * -, U.S. Army captain and ornithologist (b. )
 * -, German mathematician (b. )
 * -, Scottish evangelical writer and lecturer (b. )
 * -, Irish-born traveler (b. )
 * -, Aborigine who led armed insurrections against white settlement in Australia.
 * -, German composer (b. )
 * - (b. )
 * - (b. )
 * -, Filipino revolutionary (b. )

July-December

 * , English writer and theologian (b. )
 * , Hungarian politician (b. )
 * -, German historian (b. )
 * -,  (b. )
 * -, American economist (b. )
 * November -, Cuban poet and freedom fighter (b. )
 * -, "Prince of Politicians" (b. )
 * -, American educator and historian (b. )
 * -, Australian explorer (b. )
 * -, French writer (b. )
 * date unknown -, Korean painter (b. )
 * date unknown -, Korean painter (b. )