– About 50 people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M'sila) massacre in Algeria. June 21 – The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) plays its first game at The Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. June 25 A massive eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat leads to evacuation and eventual abandonment of the capital, Plymouth. An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir. June 26 – Bertie Ahern is appointed as the 10th Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland and Mary Harney is appointed as the 16th, and first female, Tánaiste, after their parties, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats respectively, win the 1997 General Election. June 26 – Bloomsbury Publishing publishes J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in London. July July – The 1997 Central European flood occurs across Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. July 1 – The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. July 2 – The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis. July 4 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars. July 5 In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup. The Egyptian Islamic Group announces a cessation-of-violence initiative. July 8 – NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999. July 10 – In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton, which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. July 11 – Thailand's worst hotel fire at Pattaya kills 90. July 13 – The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades. Guevara and his comrades were executed on October 9 1967 in Bolivia. July 15 – Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace dead outside Versace's Miami Beach residence. July 17 – The F. W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business. July 25 – K. R. Narayanan is sworn in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalit caste to hold this office. July 27 – About 50 are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria. July 30 – 18 people are killed in the Thredbo landslide in the Snowy Mountains resort in Australia.