Friday, February 7, 1997
Today's events
The Chess International Tournament will begin in Ubeda, Spain
The National Basketball Association begins its All-Star
Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.
South African President Nelson Mandela opens Parliament.
Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, ends.
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On the horizon
The Chess International Tournament will begin in Ubeda, Spain
The National Basketball Association begins its All-Star
Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.
South African President Nelson Mandela opens Parliament.
Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, ends.
On the horizon
On Saturday, February 8, the annual Snow Festival will
begin in Japan.
On Sunday, February 9, the MILIA new media fair opens in
Cannes, France.
On Monday, February 10, jury selection begins in the
retrial of alleged Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss on state
pandering charges.
On Tuesday, February 11, the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences announces Oscar nominations in Hollywood.
On Wednesday, February 12, a verdict is tentatively expected
in the false accounting trial of Fiat President Cesare Romiti
and Fiat finance director Francesco Paolo Mattioli.
On Thursday, February 13, the Berlin International Film
Festival opens in Germany.
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On this day
In 1301, King Edward I of England revived the title of Prince
of Wales and bestowed it on Edward of Caernarvon, later
Edward
II.
In 1904, the biggest fire in the United States since the
great Chicago blaze of 1871 broke out in Baltimore,
destroying more than 2,600 buildings.
In 1941, the British captured Benghazi in Libya for the first
time; they held it until April but were then forced to
evacuate,
recapturing it again in December.
In 1964, amid scenes of mass hysteria, the Beatles pop group
arrived in the United States for the first time.
In 1968, all 10 provincial premieres of Canada agreed to
draft a new constitution giving the French language equal status
with English throughout Canada.
In 1971, in Switzerland, a referendum voted in favor of
female suffrage.
In 1977, Britain acknowledged to the European Court of Human
Rights that malpractice had been used against prisoners in
Ulster in 1971; it pledged never again to use deprivation
techniques.
In 1984, U.S. astronaut Bruce McCandless flew up to 100 yards
from the Space Shuttle Challenger using only a powered
backpack, the first time it had been done.
In 1986, President Jean-Claude Duvalier of Haiti fled to
France after demonstrations against his rule.
In 1990, the Soviet Communist Party leadership agreed to
surrender its 70-year monopoly on power, paving the way for a
multi-party democracy.
In 1991, a mortar bomb attack was made on Number 10 Downing
Street, the official residence of Prime Minister John Major,
from a vehicle in a nearby street.
In 1992, European Community ministers formally signed the
Maastricht Treaty of European Union.
In 1994, the European Union backed the use of air strikes to
relieve besieged Sarajevo.
In 1994, Iran arrested more than 20 "morally corrupt"
suspects in a plot to assassinate President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani.
In 1996, ten years to the day after the collapse of the
Duvalier family dictatorship, Rene Preval became Haiti's
second freely elected president.
In 1996, a Boeing 757 charter jet carrying 189 people plunged
into shark-infested waters off the Dominican coast, killing
everyone aboard.
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Newslink
The National Basketball Association's All-Star Weekend begins
today in Cleveland, Ohio. Can't get to Cleveland? You're in
luck because all the action is online. Click here.
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Holidays and more
Today is Jamat-ul-wida in Bangladesh.
It's the Lunar New Year in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Macau,
Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore and Taiwan.
Today is Independence Day in Grenada.
Today is the Chinese Spring Festival in Mauritius.
Actor Eddie Bracken is 77.
Singer Garth Brooks is 35.
Actor Miquel Ferrer is 43.
Actor James Spader is 37.
Author Gay Talese is 65.
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Sources: Reuters,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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