Friday, February 21, 1997
Today's Events
Russian former security chief Alexander Lebed holds a
meeting with the press at the Geneva diplomatic club.
Britain's Prince Charles visits Kuwait traveling on board the
royal yacht Britannia.
Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel-Meguid visits
United Arab Emirates for talks on its Sudan mediation
offer.
The World UFO Congress is held in Zurich.
French President Jacques Chirac visits Romania, which relies
on France to support its bid for early NATO membership.
Indonesia's President Suharto visits Burma.
|
On the horizon
On Saturday, February 22, the Third Annual Screen Actors
Guild Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles.
On Sunday, February 23, the 15th FESPACO Panafrican film and
television festival takes place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso;
this year's theme is "Cinema, Childhood and Youth."
On Monday, February 24, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright continues an international tour with a visit to
China.
On Tuesday, February 25, a 33-year-old Bosnian Serb,
identified only as Novislav D., goes on trial at the Bavarian
high court on charges of complicity in genocide and murder
during the Bosnian war.
On Wednesday, February 26, the 39th Annual Grammy Awards will
be presented in New York City.
On Thursday, February 27, the U.S. government is expected to
announce whether or not Colombia stays on a list of nations
not cooperating in international anti-drug efforts.
|
On this day
In 1437, James I, king of Scotland, was assassinated by a
group of conspirators led by Walter of Atholl after his
efforts to break the influence of the Scottish nobility.
In 1613, Michael Romanov was elected Tsar of Russia,
beginning the Romanov rule in Russia.
In 1728, Peter III, tsar of Russia, was born as Karl Peter
Ulrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.
In 1741, English agriculturalist Jethro Tull died.
In 1794, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Mexican revolutionary,
was born.
In 1801, John Henry Newman, English Roman Catholic Cardinal,
was born.
In 1849, in the second British-Sikh war, the British
inflicted a huge defeat on a force of 50,000 Sikhs under Shir
Singh at the battle of Gujerat.
In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.
In 1893, Spanish classical guitarist Andres Segovia was born.
In 1903, U.S. writer Anais Nin was born in Paris.
In 1907, poet W.H. Auden was born.
In 1911, a commercial treaty between Japan and the United
States was signed limiting the flow of workers from Japan to
the United States.
In 1916, the German army launched an attack on the fortress
at Verdun in World War One.
In 1918, the Australian cavalry captured the city of Jericho
in Jordan.
In 1924, Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, was born.
In 1941, Sir Frederick Banting, Canadian scientist, died in
an air crash.
In 1965, black nationalist leader, Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
was murdered in New York as he was about to address a meeting
of his Afro-American Unity Organization.
In 1970, a Palestine commando group claimed responsibility
for blowing up a Swiss airliner which crashed in Baden,
killing 47 passengers.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon became the first U.S.
President to visit China.
In 1973, a Libyan Boeing 727 was shot down over an Israeli
military airfield, killing 104 passengers.
In 1975, former U.S. President Nixon's aides, Attorney
General John Mitchell and Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman and
domestic adviser John Ehrlichman were given prison sentences
for obstructing the course of justice in the Watergate
affair.
In 1983, in the Indian state of Assam, more than 800 lives
lost were lost in ethnic rioting following state elections.
In 1989, two members of Winnie Mandela's guard were charged
with the murder of 14-year-old Stompie Seipei in Soweto,
South Africa.
In 1989, Czech dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was jailed
for incitement and obstruction in Prague.
In 1994, Pakistani commandos stormed the Afghan embassy in
Islamabad, killing three Afghan gunmen who had been holding
hostage five schoolboys and a teacher.
In 1994, the Togolese opposition claimed victory in elections
to the country's first multiparty parliament.
In 1994, British members of parliament voted overwhelmingly
to reduce the age of consent for homosexual men from 21 to
18.
In 1996, Jeanne Calment, believed to be the world's oldest
person, celebrated her 121st birthday with memories ranging
from meeting Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh to her new career
as a pop star.
|
Newslink
Holidays and more
Today is Martyrs Day in Bangladesh.
Actor Christopher Atkins is 36.
Musician Mary Chapin Carpenter is 39.
Actress Tyne Daly is 50.
Fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy is 70.
Actor Gary Lockwood is 60.
Actress Rue McClanahan is 63.
Singer Nina Simone is 64.
Baseball player Alan Stuart Trammel is 39.
|
Sources: Reuters,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
|