Saturday, February 1, 1997
Today's events
Today is the last day of official campaigning for national and provincial elections in Pakistan.
Today is Russian President Boris YeltsinÕs 66th birthday.
Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum of government and business leaders is scheduled to take place in Davos, Switzerland.
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On the horizon
On Sunday, February 2, the Missionaries of Charity religious order announces a possible successor to the ailing Mother Teresa.
On Monday, February 3, an international congress on education opens in Havana.
On Tuesday, February 4, President Clinton delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.
On Wednesday, February 5, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana is expected to visit Turkey.
On Thursday, February 6, President Lee Teng-hui is scheduled to deliver his Chinese New Year speech in Taipei.
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On this day
In 1790, the U.S. Supreme Court met for the first time.
In 1793, France declared war on England and Holland.
In 1840, the world's first dental college opened in Baltimore, Maryland.
In 1861, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate states.
In 1884, the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.
In 1893, Thomas Edison opened the world's first film studio in West Orange, New Jersey.
In 1908, King Carlos I of Portugal was assassinated together with his son in Lisbon.
In 1915, passport photographs were first required in Great Britain.
In 1920, the North West Mounted Police ("The Mounties") became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In 1934, Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss dissolved all political parties except his own Fatherland Front.
In 1942, Vidkun Quisling became prime minister of Norway.
In 1958, Egypt and Syria proclaimed the union of their two countries in a state to be known as "The United Arab Republic."
In 1963, Kamuzu Banda was sworn in as the first prime minister of Nyasaland (Malawi).
In 1974, more than 220 people died in a fire in a newly built skyscraper in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran from Paris after 15 years of exile spent mainly in Iraq.
In 1982, the Confederation of Senegambia was formally launched.
In 1990, Bulgaria's government resigned after the ruling Communists failed to entice the fledgling opposition movement into a power-sharing deal until free elections.
In 1990, Yugoslavia deployed troops, tanks and warplanes in Kosovo province, where police battled ethnic Albanians demanding political reforms.
In 1991, South African President F.W. De Klerk opened Parliament with a speech promising the demolition of the remaining pillars of apartheid.
In 1991, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit Afghanistan and Pakistan, resulting in more than 1,200 people killed.
In 1994, United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali backed the use of air power in Bosnia.
In 1995, Communist Vietnam raised its red flag in Washington for the first time 20 years after the end of the Vietnam War as the two old foes began a new chapter, opening liaison offices in each others' capital.
In 1996, Poland's president named Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, an ex-communist leader who had often stood outside his dominant party's mainstream, as prime minister to lead the country out of political crisis.
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Newslink
Today is Russian President Boris YeltsinÕs 66th birthday. Although he's not been seen in public much lately, there's sure to be a celebration going on somewhere. To learn more about the country he governs, check out Russia Alive!, an Internet journey through the ever-constant, yet ever-changing country of Russia.
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Holidays and more
Today is City Day in Malaysia.
Singer Don Everly is 60.
Actress Sherilynn Fenn is 32.
Actor Sherman Hemsley is 59.
Singer Rick James is 45.
Actor Terry Jones is 55.
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Sources: Reuters, the History Channel
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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