Contemporary
Hong Kong Handover 1997: British Rule Ends after 156 Years
Sovereignty over Hong Kong passed from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, which made it a Special Administrative Region under 'one country, two systems'.
Era · 1945 – present
Contemporary
From the Cold War and the Space Race to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the world we live in today.
Contemporary
Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner (1997): The First Mars Rover
Pathfinder proved a low-cost airbag landing on Mars, and Sojourner became the first wheeled rover to operate on another planet.
Contemporary
Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn (1997-2017): Rings and Titan
Cassini studied Saturn, its rings and moons for 13 years, Huygens made the first landing in the outer Solar System on Titan, and the spacecraft ended its mission by diving into Saturn.
Contemporary
Kyoto Protocol (1997): The First Binding Climate Change Treaty
Industrialised countries agreed binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 5 percent below 1990 levels in 2008-2012, backed by new international carbon markets; the United States never ratified it.
Contemporary
Second Congo War 1998-2003: Africa's World War Explained
A series of peace agreements led to foreign troop withdrawals and a transitional government in 2003, but fighting continued in the east and the war's death toll ran into millions.
Contemporary
International Space Station: History of the ISS Since 1998
The largest structure ever built in space, continuously inhabited since November 2000 and a long-running model of international cooperation.
Contemporary
Kosovo War (1998–1999): Conflict and NATO Intervention
Yugoslav forces withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999, and the territory was placed under UN administration with a NATO-led peacekeeping force.
Contemporary
Good Friday Agreement (1998): Peace in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's main parties and the British and Irish governments agreed a power-sharing settlement, approved by referendums on both sides of the Irish border.
Contemporary
Hurricane Mitch (1998): Catastrophe in Honduras and Nicaragua
Mitch killed about 11,000 people, left thousands more missing and over 2 million homeless or displaced, and destroyed infrastructure and harvests across Central America.
Contemporary
East Timor Independence Referendum 1999: Vote and Violence
78.5 per cent of voters rejected autonomy within Indonesia; after militia violence and an international intervention, East Timor became independent in 2002.
Contemporary
Kargil War 1999: India and Pakistan Fight in the Mountains
Indian forces recaptured most of the occupied heights and Pakistan withdrew under international pressure; the Line of Control was restored.
Contemporary
Introduction of the Euro (1999): Europe's Single Currency
Eleven EU countries replaced their national currencies with the euro and handed monetary policy to the European Central Bank.