On this day

August 3, 1997

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from August 3, 1997

Uneasy Freedom for the Once Fettered

By Alan Riding

Few Eastern European films are widely seen since fall of Communist; Eastern European films are finding themselves struggling no less than other foreign-language productions to find distributors in US and Western Europe; exception is Kolya from Czech Republic; other recent acclaimed films are Forgotten Light from Czech Republic and Late Full Moon from Bulgaria; photos (L)

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BILLS ON SPENDING ARE MOVING EASILY THROUGH CONGRESS

By Jerry Gray

Congress begins monthlong recess with both houses having passed a majority of the spending bills needed to run the Federal Government; that these bills advanced without the fanfare and partisan bitterness that led to the partial shutdowns of the Federal Government last year is in large part due to balanced-budget deal that Pres Clinton, Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate majority leader Trent Lott forged earlier this year; photos (M)

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Taking a Vacation, but Not From Worship

By Gustav Niebuhr

Summer is often a slack time for urban religious congregations, but a boom time for those in resort areas; in Syracuse, Ind, 'boat-in worship' services are held on Lake Wawasee; elsewhere, in more traditional settings, modest congregations that are quiet nine months of the year go through growth spurt as tourists arrive; photos (M)

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of July 30, 1997, covering August 3, 1997.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Men In Black--The Album by Soundtrack

    Men In Black--The Album

    Soundtrack

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    3
  2. 2
    Album cover for Surfacing by Sarah McLachlan

    Surfacing

    Sarah McLachlan

    Last week
    —
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    1
  3. 3
    Album cover for Supa Dupa Fly by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott

    Supa Dupa Fly

    Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott

    Last week
    —
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    1
  4. 4
    Album cover for Spice by Spice Girls

    Spice

    Spice Girls

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    24
  5. 5
    Album cover for The Fat Of The Land by The Prodigy

    The Fat Of The Land

    The Prodigy

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    3

Notable Births

Luis Robert Jr.

1997Luis Robert Jr., Cuban baseball player[†]

Luis Robert Moirán Jr. is a Cuban professional baseball center fielder for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). After defecting from Cuba in 2016, Robert signed with the White Sox in 2017. He made his MLB debut in 2020. That year, he won the Gold Glove Award. He was named an All-Star in 2023.

Notable Deaths

Pietro Rizzuto

1997Pietro Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1934)[†]

Pietro Rizzuto was an Italian-born Canadian politician.

Historical Events

1997Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria: A total of 116 villagers killed, 40 in Oued El-Had and 76 in Mezouara.[†]

The Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre took place on August 2, 1997. This massacre occurred between two villages near Arib in the wilaya of Tipaza and Ain Defla, Algeria. Around 100 people were killed as a result of the massacre. This massacre was one of the bloodiest since the start of terrorism in Algeria. Algeria-Watch's timeline describes them as strange guerrillas with shaven heads and eyebrows, carrying flags emblazoned "al-ghadhibun 'ala Allah".

History of the world's tallest structures

1997The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.[†]

This is the History of the world's tallest structures.

Historical Context for August 3, 1997

In 1997, the world population was approximately 5,924,787,816 people[†]