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Friday, February 14, 1997

  • Today's events
  • On the horizon
  • On this day
  • Newslink
  • Holidays & more
  • Almanac archive
  • "You have stripped us of any mercy that we might have had at the beginning of this investigation. We will see that justice is served in this case and that you pay for what you did. The death of this child has broken all of our hearts, except yours."

    -- Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter



    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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