Monday, May 19, 1997
Today's events
Attorney General Janet Reno is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at
Boston College.
Mongolia is scheduled to hold its presidential elections.
The Vietnam Women's Union is scheduled to hold its congress.
Britain's Royal Yacht Britannia is scheduled to visit Manila.
Professor Stephen Hawking is scheduled to launch his COSMOS supercomputer in Cambridge, England. It is first supercomputer dedicated to cosmological research.
The Air Bag Safety Campaign launches a national effort to make unbuckled children unacceptable in America.
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On the horizon
On Tuesday, May 20, the auction house Christie's holds its spring jewelry auction in Geneva.
On Wednesday, May 21, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber sells his wine collection of 18,000 bottles at auction in London. Said by Sotheby's to be "undoubtedly the greatest single wine collection ever to appear at auction," the sale is expected to fetch more than $3.3 million.
On Thursday, May 22, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) holds a two-day council meeting in London.
On Friday, May 23, presidential elections are to be held in Iran to elect a successor to President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
On Saturday, May 24, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is scheduled to visit Dhaka.
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On this day
In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII's wives,
was beheaded for adultery.
In 1643, the Spanish were heavily defeated by the French under the Duke of Enghien at the battle of Rocroi. The Spanish infantry were destroyed, thus ending their supremacy.
In 1643, the towns of Connecticut, Plymouth and New Haven
formed a Confederation of the United Colonies of New England as
protection in the wars with the Indians.
In 1802, in France, Napoleon created the Legion d'Honneur, an
order of distinction for civil or military service.
In 1900, Tonga was annexed by Britain.
In 1906, the Simplon Tunnel through the Alps between Italy and
Switzerland was officially opened by the King of Italy and the
president of the Swiss Republic.
In 1934, in Bulgaria, an authoritarian regime was created
after Gen. Kimon Gheorgiev together with the nationalist
organization Zveno seized power in a coup.
In 1974, in France, Valery Giscard d'Estaing won the second
round of presidential elections, defeating Francois Mitterrand.
In 1986, South African forces raided what they claimed were
ANC bases in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In 1992, two doctors who performed an autopsy on John F.
Kennedy confirmed that the president was killed by two bullets
fired from above and behind.
In 1993, the U.S. government recognized the Angolan government
after its democratic strides and urged UNITA to negotiate peace.
In 1994, Malawi's aged, autocratic President Kamuzu Banda
conceded victory to opposition leader Bakili Muluzi after more
than 30 years of iron-fisted rule.
In 1994, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, queen of a long-lost
American Camelot and a world-wide symbol of jet-set glamour,
died.
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Newslink
Professor Stephen Hawking is scheduled to launch his COSMOS supercomputer in Cambridge, England, today. His is the first supercomputer dedicated to cosmological research. Before COSMOS, there was QUEST, the Cambridge Science Centre project designed to bring science and technology alive. To find out more, click here.
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Holidays and more
Today is Whit Monday throughout much of the world.
It's Adelaide Cup Day in Australia.
Today is Victory Day in Canada.
It's Municipal Day in the Cape Verde Islands.
Today is Discovery Day in the Cayman Islands.
It's a Regional Holiday in Portugal.
Former baseball player Rick Cerone is 43.
Writer Nora Ephron is 56.
Actor James Fox is 58.
Actor David Hartman is 60.
Model Grace Jones is 45.
Journalist James Lehrer is 63.
Musician Peter Townsend is 52.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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