Wednesday, February 26, 1997
Today's Events
The 39th Annual Grammy Awards will be presented in New York City.
President Clinton meets with visiting Chilean President Eduardo Frei in Washington.
Venezuela's infamous Catia prison in Caracas is due to be demolished; it was closed on January 25.
Britain's Prince Charles visits Bangladesh as part of an extended international tour.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cassisa is expected to stand trial in Sicily on charges of extortion, fraud and corruption.
The New Orleans Boat and Sportfishing Show opens at the Louisiana Superdome.
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On the horizon
On Thursday, February 27, the U.S. government is expected to announce whether Colombia stays on a list of nations not cooperating in international anti-drug efforts.
On Friday, February 28, the Annual Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering will be held in Alpine, Texas.
On Saturday, March 1, South African President Nelson Mandela visits the Philippines.
On Sunday, March 2, Irish President Mary Robinson arrives in Kigali, Rwanda, where she will address a pan-African conference on peace, gender and development.
On Monday, March 3, Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with European Union leaders to discuss mutual relations and security issues.
On Tuesday, March 4, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel begins a visit to Middle East that sees him set foot in Jordan, Israel and regions governed by the Palestinian Authority.
On Wednesday, March 5, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel visits Israel on the second day of a tour of the Middle East.
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On this day
In 1531, between 20,000 and 30,000 people died in an earthquake in Lisbon.
In 1797, the Bank of England issued one-pound notes for the
first time.
In 1832, the Polish constitution was abolished and replaced by one imposed by Czar Nicholas I.
In 1839, the first Grand National horse race was
run in Britain.
In 1848, the Second French Republic was proclaimed.
In 1885, the Congress of Berlin, hosted by Otto von Bismarck and attended by 15 nations, agreed on the partition of Central and East Africa.
In 1901, the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion in China, Chi-hsui and Hsu Cheng-yu, were beheaded in public.
In 1916, the Germans sunk the French transport ship Provence
II, killing 930.
In 1935, RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) was first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt.
In 1936, Adolf Hitler opened the first factory for the production of the "People's Car," the Volkswagen, in Saxony, Germany.
In 1952, Winston Churchill announced that Britain had produced its own atomic bomb and would test it in Australia.
In 1961, Prince Hassan acceded to the throne of Morocco as King Hassan II, following the sudden death of his father Mohammed V.
In 1976, Spain handed over the Western Sahara to Morocco and
Mauritania.
In 1980, Egypt and Israel established diplomatic relations, marking the end of 30 years of war between the two countries.
In 1984, the last American Marines in the multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon left Beirut.
In 1990, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw all of its 73,500 troops from Czechoslovakia by July 1991.
In 1993, a bomb exploded at the World Trade Center in New York. The blast, the worst terrorist attack to date on American soil, killed six people and injured more than 1,000.
In 1995, the London finance house of Barings collapsed after losses run up in Singapore by trader Nick Leeson.
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Newslink
Two hundred years ago today the Bank of England issued its first one-pound note. Since then, Britain's paramount financial institution has come a long way. British bank notes continue to evolve to this day, the specter of a European common currency even looms over the bank. But the Bank of England's Web site looks to its past, too, with history links and banknote tidbits.
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Holidays and more
Actor Mason Adams is 78.
Basketball player Rolando Blackman is 38.
Singer Johny Cash is 65.
Singer, songwriter Fats Domino is 69.
Actress Betty Hutton is 76.
Actor Tony Randall is 77.
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Sources: Reuters,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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