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Wednesday, June 4, 1997

  • Today's Events
  • On Horizon
  • On This Day
  • Newslink
  • Holidays & more
  • Almanac archive
  • "The penalty phase hearing here cannot be turned into some type of a lynching,"

    -- U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch





    Today's events


  • The World Economic Forum issues its world competitiveness report in Zurich

  • Retrial of soccer stars Bruce Grobbelaar, Hans Segers and John Fashanu, charged with fixing top-level soccer matches, takes place in Winchester, England.

  • Irish Prime Minister John Bruton and main opposition leader Bertie Ahern are due to take part in a pre-election head-to-head television debate.

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    On the horizon


  • On Thursday, June 5, multiparty legislative elections are scheduled to be held in Algeria, the first since authorities annulled 1992's general election.

  • On Friday, June 6, the 44th Sydney Film Festival takes place in Australia.

  • On Saturday, June 7, the 129th running of the Belmont Stakes, third leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, will be run at Belmont Park.

  • On Sunday, June 8, Nordic and Baltic defense ministers are scheduled to meet in Saaremaa, Estonia.

  • On Monday, June 9, the Bank for International Settlements, holds an annual meeting attended by world's senior central banker in Basle, Switzerland.

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    On this day


  • In 1738, King George III of Britain was born.

  • In 1783, brothers Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier made the first public demonstration of a hot air balloon.

  • In 1798, Giovanni Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt, Italian adventurer, writer, diplomat and spy, died. His name became synonomous with passion after a series of romantic intrigues across Europe.

  • In 1831, the Belgium Congress proclaimed Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as the first monarch of an independent Belgium.

  • In 1859, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Magenta, Italy.

  • In 1867, Carl Gustav Emil von Mannnerheim, Finnish soldier and statesman, born. He was responsible for organising the Mannerheim Line of defence against Russia during World War Two and was president of Finland from 1944-1946.

  • In 1896, Henry Ford took his first car to the roads of Detroit for a trial run.

  • In 1910, Sir Christopher Cockerell, British inventor of the hovercraft, was born.

  • In 1913, British suffragette Emily Davison ran in front of the King's horse Anmer during the Derby horse race; she died June 8.

  • In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made his famous "We shall fight on the beaches... we shall never surrender" speech to the House of Commons.

  • In 1941, Kaiser Wilhelm II, ninth king of Prussia and third German emperor from 1888-1918, died in exile in the Netherlands.

  • In 1942, the Battle of Midway, the turning point in the sea war in the Pacific, began.

  • In 1943, President Ramon Castillo was overthrown by an army coup in Argentina.

  • In 1944, Rome was liberated by allied troops with the U.S. General Mark Clark leading the way into the city. Historic sites had been left intact.

  • In 1946, General Juan Peron was inaugurated as president of Argentina.

  • In 1951, Conductor Serge Koussevitsky died. Born in Russia, he conducted the State Symphony Orchestra in Petrograd before moving to the U.S. to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

  • In 1968, Sir Walter Nash, veteran New Zealand politician and prime minister from 1957-60, died.

  • In 1970, the British protectorate of Tonga became independent within the Commonwealth.

  • In 1977, the Soviet Union published its new draft constitution, which was approved by the Supreme Soviet the following October.

  • In 1979, in South Africa, John Vorster resigned as president after the Erasmus Commission report implicated him in a scandal involving misappropriation of government funds while he was prime minister.

  • In 1989, hundreds of student dissidents were killed when the Chinese army moved in to remove them from Tiananmen Square; some estimates put the death toll in the thousands.

  • In 1989, gas from a leaking pipeline exploded, engulfing two packed passenger trains on the Trans-Siberian railway; 575 people were killed and over 600 injured in the second worst rail disaster ever.

  • In 1991, after a 20-day general strike, the communist government in Albania under Fatos Nano resigned. In 1993, the U.N. Security Council agreed to send armed troops to Bosnia to protect six "safe havens" -- Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zepa, Srebrenica, Gorazde and Bihac.

  • In 1994, Bangladesh ordered the arrest of feminist writer Taslima Nasrin after she told an Indian newpaper the Koran should be "thoroughly revised."

  • In 1996, the wife of detained Nigerian presidential claimant Moshood Abiola was shot and killed by unknown gunmen.

  • In 1996, Europe's Ariane-5 rocket was blown up by ground controllers after it veered off course 40 seconds into its maiden flight.

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    Newslink


    On this day in 1783, brothers Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier made the first public demonstration of a hot air balloon. The sport is still going strong today. For all the news and events in the balloon world, check out Hot Air Online.


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    Holidays and more


  • Today is Revolution Day in Ghana.

  • It is Yom Yerushalayim in Israel.

  • It is Emancipation Day in Tonga.

  • Actor Bruce Dern is 61.

  • Singer Robert Merrill is 78.

  • Singer and actress Michelle Phillips is 52.

  • Actor Parker Stevenson is 44.

  • Actor Dennis Weaver is 73.

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    Sources: Associated Press,
    Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan



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