Tuesday, April 1, 1997
Today's Events
American and National league teams begin the 1997 baseball season. Active rosters
must be reduced to 25 players.
Cleveland Indians player Jose Mesa is scheduled to go on trial for rape.
U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen is scheduled to visit Japan and meet
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and other governmental officials.
|
On the horizon
On Wednesday, April 2, the space shuttle Columbia will be launched from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, beginning a 16-day microgravity science laboratory mission.
On Thursday, April 3, the fifth Beijing International Trade Exhibition is scheduled.
On Friday, April 4, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
Persons is scheduled to hold a Non-Violence Day rally in Los Angeles.
On Saturday, April 5, the U.S. and Japan are scheduled to hold defense talks.
On Sunday, April 6, most of the continental U.S. returns to Daylight Savings
Time. Clocks will be set ahead one hour at 2 a.m.
|
On this day
In 1204, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and of England, died. Known as a
powerful queen, she led troops in the Second Crusade.
In 1621, the first colonial treaty with Native Americans was signed between
Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags and English pilgrims on behalf of King James I
at Strawberry Hill, Massachusetts.
In 1865, in the U.S. Civil War, the battle of Five Forks ended with the defeat of
the Confederate Army under Pickett.
In 1875, the Times of London became the first newspaper to print a daily weather
chart.
In 1918, in Britain, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Force
amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force.
In 1924, a court sentenced Adolf Hitler to five years in jail for high treason
after his abortive 1923 putsch; he was released December 20.
In 1933, in Germany, the state ordered a boycott of business belonging to Jewish
people and seized their bank accounts.
In 1945, an assault by 50,000 U.S. troops led by General Buckner on the
Japanese-held island of Okinawa heralded the beginning of the last major battle
of the Pacific. It ended on July 2 with 7,000 U.S. and 100,000 Japanese dead.
In 1948, the blockade of Berlin started when the Russians began checking all road
and rail traffic between Berlin and the Western Zones.
In 1960, Tiros I, the world's first meteorological satellite which transmitted
cloud cover pictures, was launched from the United States.
In 1973, in Britain, Value Added Tax became operative.
In 1975, Cambodian President Lon Nol, leader of the U.S.-backed government, fled
to Indonesia as Khmer Rouge guerrillas closed in on the capital Phnom Penh.
In 1981, heavy fighting broke out in Beirut and Zahle between Arab peace-keeping
force and Lebanese right-wing militia.
In 1995, Irma Hadzimuratovic, the Bosnian girl whose plight came to symbolise the
tragedy of Sarajevo, died in a London hospital.
In 1996, in Japan, the world's largest bank was created when the merger of the
Mitsubishi Bank and the Bank of Tokyo was completed.
|
Newslink
Yeehaw! It's April Fool's Day. Need some ideas to fool your co-workers or loved
ones? Check out April Fools on the
Net where there's even archives for gags from years past.
|
Holidays and more
It is Easter Tuesday in Australia, Nauru and the Vatican City State.
Today is National Day in Cyprus.
It's Islamic Republic Day in Iran.
Today is the Day of the Foundation of the Commonwealth in the Russian Federation.
It's Captain Regents Day in San Marino.
Today is Sant Lasarus's Day in Bulgaria.
Actress Ali McGraw is 58.
Actor Toshiro Mifune is 77.
Actress Annette O'Toole is 44.
Actress Debbie Reynolds is 65.
|
Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
|