Friday, February 14, 1997
Today's events
Valentine's Day is celebrated in several countries.
The German miners' union, IG Bau, and energy union, IG Energie, are scheduled to form a human chain along the 93.1 km distance between Neukirchen-Vluyn and Luenen Germany in a protest designed to save the coal industry.
Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is scheduled to meet with the pope in the Vatican City.
A State Security Court in Ankara is scheduled to hold further hearings in the trial of pro-Kurdish HADEP party members on charges of links to Kurdish rebels.
In Australia, members of the Alley Cat Allies of the National Feral Cat Network plan to protest Australian Parliament member Richard Evans' plan to eliminate cats in the country by the year 2020.
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On the horizon
On Saturday, February 15, a refurbished British Army World War II underground operations center, known as the "Battle Box," opens at Fort Canning Hill in Singapore.
On Sunday, February 16, the Laurence Olivier Theater Awards are announced in London.
On Monday, February 17, more than 250 magicians from around the world, including 28 international stars, convene in Bogota, Colombia, for the International Magic Congress.
On Tuesday, February 18, Korea's outlawed Confederation of Trade Unions says it will start a series of nationwide strikes.
On Wednesday, February 19, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visits Russia.
On Thursday, February 20, Formula One team chief Frank Williams and five other people are due to go on trial, charged with manslaughter in the death of Brazil's world champion driver Ayrton Senna in a 1994 San Marino Grand Prix crash.
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On this day
In 1400, King Richard II of England, deposed from the throne
the previous year, died mysteriously in Pontefract Castle.
In 1779, British explorer Captain James Cook was murdered on
Hawaii.
In 1797, the British fleet, under Admirals John Jervis and
Horatio Nelson, defeated the Spanish at the battle of St. Vincent
off Portugal.
In 1859, Oregon became the 33rd state of the Union.
In 1893, Hawaii was annexed to the U.S. by treaty, but the
treaty was withdrawn by President Grover Cleveland.
In 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union.
In 1929, Al Capone's henchmen, in order to prevent the
hijacking of whiskey shipments, killed seven members of the Bugs
Moran gang in the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in a Chicago
garage.
In 1933, the first telephone speaking clock came into
operation in the Paris area.
In 1939, the German navy launched its battleship Bismarck.
In 1946, an electronic brain, or computer, began working at
the University of Pennsylvania, taking seconds to do calculations which normally took hours. It was called ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer.
In 1956, the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party
opened, during which Nikita Khrushchev denounced the policies of
Joseph Stalin.
In 1958, King Faisal of Iraq and King Hussein of Jordan
proclaimed the merger of their kingdoms in the Arab Federation,
with King Faisal as head of state and King Hussein his deputy.
In 1963, Harold Wilson was elected leader of the British
Labor Party.
In 1972, the Soviet unmanned spacecraft Luna 20 was launched
to the moon.
In 1979, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolphe Dubs, was
killed when security forces tried to free him from kidnappers.
In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was stormed by
demonstrators, holding the ambassador and staff captive for
several hours.
In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued an edict ordering the
execution of British author Salman Rushdie after the publication
of his novel, "Satanic Verses."
In 1989, kidnappers escaped with up to $2.5 million
ransom after releasing former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden
Boeynants from a month of captivity.
In 1989, Union Carbide Corp. of the U.S. accepted an Indian
Supreme Court ruling that it pay $470 million in
compensation for the 1984 Bhopal poison gas disaster.
In 1990, an Indian Airlines Airbus crashed near Bangalore
airport in southern India, killing 90 of the 146 people on
board.
In 1992, the European Community and the seven-nation European
Free Trade Association struck a final deal, clearing the way for
the creation of the world's biggest single market.
In 1993, veteran conservative Glafcos Clerides scored a
surprise Cyprus presidential election win.
In 1996, an armed North Korean demanding political asylum shot
his way into the Russian embassy compound in Pyongyang, killing
three.
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Newslink
You know Valentine's Day means spending tons of money on roses, teddy bears, chocolate and whatever else your sweetheart desires, but have you ever learned why? Click here to find out.
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Holidays and more
Today is Viticulturists Day in Bulgaria.
Today is Valentine's Day.
Journalist Carl Bernstein is 53.
Broadcaster Hugh Downs is 76.
Actor Zach Galligan is 33.
Actress Florence Henderson is 63.
Dancer Gregory Hines is 51.
Actor Ken Wahl is 44.
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Sources: Reuters,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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