Year in a Minute: 1997

SBS celebrating 50 Years. This is a Year in a Minute 1997.

Gov. Chris Patten and Britain's Prince of Wales in Hong Kong for ceremonies commemorating the handover of the British colony to China. (AP Photo/Eric Draper) Credit: AP

Diana, Princess of Wales, killed in a car accident in Paris.

18 die as freak landslide destroys ski lodges in Thredbo,

After 65 hours in the rubble, Stuart Diver is pulled out alive.

37-year-old Oz rock God Michael Hutchence, found dead in a Sydney Hotel.

Bird flu hits China,

As Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule.

The world’s most expensive film Titanic crashes into cinemas,

US TV star Ellen DeGeneres publicly comes out,

And Tasmania is the last state to decriminalise homosexuality.