Monday, April 21, 1997
Today's events
Britain's Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 71st birthday.
Former U.S. Senator Paul Simon and Congressman Jesse Jackson
Jr. will join representatives of numerous religious, human
rights and civil rights groups in Chicago to announce a
campaign to suspend executions in Illinois.
Runners compete in the 101st Boston Marathon.
Sudan's president, Lt. Gen. Omar el-Bashir, is expected to
sign a peace treaty with four southern Sudanese faction
leaders.
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On the horizon
On Tuesday, April 22, King Hussein of Jordan is scheduled to
visit Denmark.
On Wednesday, April 23, International Monetary Fund World
Bank holds its 1997 spring meeting in Washington.
On Thursday, April 24, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro
Hashimoto visits the United States for talks with President
Clinton.
On Friday, April 25, the Lantau Link bridge connecting Hong
Kong with Lantau Island officially opens. The bridge provides
a highway and railway link to the new Chek Lap Kok airport
off Lantau Island.
On Saturday, April 26, a preview of Royal Academy of Arts
exhibition "Living Bridges" is scheduled in Hong Kong. The
exhibition will present a spectacular array of scale models
of famous bridges and proposed bridges. Exhibits include Hong
Kong's Lantau Link, the world's longest combined road and
rail suspension bridge.
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On this day
In 753 BC, according to the historian Varro, Romulus founded
Rome.
In 1836, the Mexicans were defeated by the Texans at the
battle of San Jacinto, thus ensuring Texan independence.
In 1918, Manfred von Richthofen, Germany's top aviator in
World War I, was killed in action. Known as the Red Baron, he
shot down 80 enemy aircraft.
In 1945, the last of the German troops motored out of
Bologna, Italy; on the same day Russian troops reached the
suburbs of Berlin.
In 1959, English ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn was jailed for
a day in Panama while the police looked for her Panamanian
husband, accused of plotting a coup.
In 1960, Brasilia was inaugurated as the new capital of
Brazil.
In 1961, a French army revolt led by General Maurice Challe
began in Algeria.
In 1965, the 114-nation U.N. Disarmament Commission resumed
talks in New York after a five-year interval.
In 1967, a military coup in Athens established the regime of
the "Greek Colonels."
In 1968, British Conservative politician Enoch Powell made
his
"rivers of blood" warning of the dangers of immigration,
where
he called for a stiffening of policy.
In 1968, Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson resigned and
was succeeded by Pierre Trudeau.
In 1975, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned
after 10 years in office.
In 1985, Tancredo Neves, Brazilian president-elect, died on
the eve of his swearing-in.
In 1992, California carried out its first execution in 25
years, when double murderer Robert Alton Harris was put to
death in the gas chamber.
In 1994, a Belfast court cleared Paul Hill of the 1974 murder
of a former British soldier, formally absolving him of IRA
guerrilla links for which he was wrongfully jailed for 13
years.
In 1996, the center-left Olive Tree coalition won the Italian
general election, the left's first win since World War II.
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Newslink
More than 30,000 runners will tackle the Boston Marathon
today. The race, in its 101st running, begins in the rural
New England town of Hopkinton and winds through eight cities
and towns before finishing in downtown Boston. To keep up
with all the action, click here.
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Holidays and more
Today is Independence Hero Tiradentes in Brazil.
It's St. George's Day in Canada.
Today is SechselSuten in Switzerland.
It's Kartini Day in Indonesia.
Today is the Birthday of Rome in Italy.
Passover begins at sundown.
Today is Patriot's Day in Massachusetts and Maine.
Actor Tony Danza is 46.
Queen Elizabeth II is 71.
Actor Charles Grodin is 62.
Actress Patti LuPone is 48.
Actress Andie MacDowell is 39.
Singer Iggy Pop is 50.
Actor Anthony Quinn is 81.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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