Remembering Diana: 29 Years Since the Paris Tunnel Crash
On Aug. 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash. This date also marks other historical milestones.
August 31 marks the somber anniversary of one of the most shocking tragedies of the late 20th century. On this day in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, lost her life in a car accident inside a Paris tunnel. The crash also claimed the lives of her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver, Henri Paul, who was later found to have been intoxicated. The event sent waves of grief across the globe and forever changed the public's relationship with the British royal family.
Beyond this tragedy, the date is notable for a range of other historical milestones. In 1881, the first U.S. tennis championships for men began in Newport, Rhode Island. A powerful earthquake struck Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886, killing at least 60 people. In 1962, Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from British rule.
The 20th century also saw the birth of Poland's Solidarity movement in 1980, and in 1992, the end of a tense 11-day siege in Idaho involving white separatist Randy Weaver. Russia officially ended its military presence in former East Germany and the Baltics in 1994. In 2006, Edvard Munch's iconic painting "The Scream" was recovered after being stolen just nine days earlier.
More recently, in 2010, President Barack Obama announced the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq. In 2019, a shooting rampage in Texas left seven dead. And in 2025, a devastating landslide in Sudan's Darfur region killed an estimated 1,000 people.
The day also celebrates the birthdays of notable figures, including violinist Itzhak Perlman, singer Van Morrison, and actor Richard Gere.