Sunday, February 23, 1997
Today's Events
The Third Annual Screen Actors
Guild Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles.
The 15th FESPACO Panafrican film and television festival takes place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; this year's theme is "Cinema, Childhood and Youth."
U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright
visits Japan where she is expected to meet Japanese Prime
Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.
A demonstration is scheduled in Neckarwestheim, Germany, against the planned transportation of nuclear waste containers from the Neckarwestheim nuclear power station.
Turner Broadcasting System broadcasts its fifth annual
Trumpet Awards ceremony in Atlanta.
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On the horizon
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.
Friday, February 28, is the deadline for U.S. government to announce
whether Colombia should remain on a virtual blacklist of countries "decertified" for their failure to cooperate fully in the anti-drug fight.
On Saturday, March 1, South African President Nelson Mandela visits the Philippines.
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On this day
In 1820, the Cato Street Conspiracy, an attempt to assassinate British cabinet ministers, was discovered with hours to spare. The plotters were executed.
In 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna with several
thousand Mexican troops began besieging the Alamo mission
settlement held by a force of 145 Texans led by Colonel Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. The siege ended on March 6 with all the Texans killed.
In 1848, John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United
States, died.
In 1866, King Alexander Cuza of Romania was forced to abdicate and was succeeded by Charles, Prince of Hohenzollern as Carol I.
In 1898, in France, novelist Emile Zola was imprisoned for
writing his "J'accuse" letter accusing the government of
anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
In 1905, the Rotary Club was founded by lawyer Paul Percy
Harris in Chicago.
In 1917, Russians staged an enormous demonstration in
Petrograd in protest against food shortages.
In 1919, Benito Mussolini broke with the Socialist party and
founded his own Fasci del Comattimento (Fascist) party in Italy.
In 1944, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin forced one million
Chechens into exile and dissolved the republic, accusing them of collaboration with Nazi Germany.
In 1945, the Japanese island of Iwo Jima fell to the Americans after severe fighting.
In 1970, Guyana, formerly British Guiana, became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.
In 1981, Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero and a group of civil guards burst into the Spanish parliament firing shots in a failed coup attempt.
In 1991, Thailand's armed forces seized power in a bloodless coup and arrested prime minister Chatichai Choonhaven.
In 1994, Bosnia's government and separatist Bosnian Croat forces agreed a comprehensive cease-fire under U.N. auspices.
In 1994, the Russian parliament voted to pardon participants in an armed rebellion against President Boris Yeltsin in October 1993 and a hard-line Soviet coup attempt in 1991.
In 1996, Pope John Paul issued an updated code for electing Popes, introducing modern comforts for cardinals in conclave and reaffirming rules against electronic bugging to safeguard their secrecy.
In 1996, two top-level Iraqi dissidents were murdered by relatives only days after returning home to a pardon from President Saddam Hussein.
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Newslink
Deng Xiaoping's legacy will be debated for years to come. To get a leg up on the discussions, check out TIME magazine's retrospective Deng: One in a Billion.
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Holidays and more
Today, Guyana celebrates its Republic Anniversary.
Today, Malaysia celebrates the Birthday of the Sultan.
It's National Day in Brunei Darussalam.
Baseball player Bobby Bonilla is 34.
Newscaster Sylvia Chase is 59.
Actor Peter Fonda is 58.
Singer Howard Jones is 42.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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