Quick Answer: On August 7, 1997, Garth Brooks performed a free concert in New York’s Central Park that drew an estimated 980,000 people — the largest crowd in the park’s history. The show, broadcast live on HBO, featured surprise appearances by Billy Joel and Don McLean, was nominated for six Emmy Awards, and pulled 14.6…
The Mars Pathfinder landing happened on July 4, 1997, when NASA bounced a lander onto the plains of Ares Vallis using a cocoon of giant airbags. The next day it released Sojourner, a microwave-sized six-wheeled rover — the first wheeled machine ever to drive on another planet. Built on a shoestring budget of about $265…
The Tyson bite fight happened on June 28, 1997, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In the third round of his rematch with WBA heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s right ear, then bit the left ear seconds later. Referee Mills Lane disqualified Tyson, who was…
On June 26, 1997, Bloomsbury released just 500 copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone after 12 publishers rejected it. Inside the launch that changed publishing forever.
On May 11, 1997, Deep Blue vs Kasparov ended in a way nobody outside IBM thought possible. Garry Kasparov, the most dominant world chess champion of the modern era, resigned a game after only 19 moves against an IBM supercomputer, handing Deep Blue a 3.5–2.5 series victory in the Equitable Center in New York. It…
On March 22, 1997, 14-year-old Tara Lipinski broke Sonja Henie’s 70-year record to become the youngest World Figure Skating Champion in Lausanne, Switzerland.
