Tuesday, June 17, 1997
Today's events
Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) religious sect leader
Shoko Asahara appears at the Tokyo trial of cult official
Ikuo Hayashi.
The European Food Law holds it sixth annual conference in
Brussels.
Britain's Opposition Conservative Party MPs take part in the
second round of voting for new party leader.
Amnesty International presents its annual report, with
1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and East Timor independence
leader Jose Ramos Horta.
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On the horizon
On Wednesday, June 18, defense ministers from the
Commonwealth of Independent States meet in Tbilisi, Georgia.
On Thursday, June 19, new French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
is expected to deliver his keynote policy speech to
parliament.
On Friday, June 20, the Group of Seven, or G7, summit of
leading industrialized countries opens in Denver.
On Saturday, June 21, dragon boat competition is held in
Beijing.
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On this day
In 656, Caliph Uthman, the third caliph to rule after the
death of the Prophet, was assassinated at his home in Medina
(now Saudi Arabia) by besieging Muslim rebels from
Mesopotamia.
In 1239, Edward I, King of England, was born. He was king
from 1272 on the death of his father Henry III. His rule was
notable for its efficiency in administration.
In 1775, in the American War of Independence, British forces
defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill which
took place at Breed's Hill near Boston. The British won at
the cost of 800 out of their force of 2,000.
In 1789, in France, the Third Estate proclaimed itself a
National Assembly and refused to let the king keep his veto.
In 1860, the 692-foot liner Great Eastern, built by Brunel,
left the Isle of Wight on her first transatlantic voyage.
In 1867, Joseph Lister performed the first surgical
operation under antiseptic conditions on his sister Isabella,
at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary.
In 1882, Igor Stravinsky, composer, born in Russia. One of
the 20th century's leading musical figures and most famous
for his ballets "The Rite of Spring" and "Petrushka."
In 1925, 29 countries signed the Geneva Protocol
which prohibited the use of poisonous gases in war.
In 1940, Marshal Philippe Petain announced that France had
asked for armistice terms from Germany.
In 1940, the troop ship Lancastria was sunk by enemy fire
after having taken on board British troops who were
evacuating from France. Of the 5,300 on board almost 2,480
were saved.
In 1944, Iceland became an independent republic following a
referendum on disengaging from Denmark's rule.
In 1967, China exploded its first hydrogen bomb.
In 1971, America and Japan signed an agreement for the return
of Okinawa to Japan in 1972.
In 1972, in the United States, five men were arrested for
attempting to place bugging equipment at the Democratic Party
National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in
Washington. This led to President Richard Nixon's resignation
in 1974.
In 1974, an Irish republican guerrilla bomb exploded at
Westminster Hall, in the British Houses of Parliament
injuring
11.
In 1982, in Argentina, Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri resigned as
president following the country's defeat in the Falklands
War.
In 1991, South Africa's white-dominated parliament voted to
end race classification, the legal foundation of apartheid
since
1950.
In 1994, American football star O.J. Simpson, accused of
killing his ex-wife and a male friend, was arrested after a
dramatic motorway chase and a 90-minute standoff in the
driveway of his estate.
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Newslink
Amnesty International presents its annual report today, with
1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and East Timor independence
leader Jose Ramos Horta. For a closer look at the human
rights agency, check out Amnesty International Online.
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Holidays and more
Today is a National Day in Ireland.
Massachusetts celebrates Bunker Hill Day.
Actor Mark Linn-Baker is 44.
Singer Barry Manilow is 51.
Comedian Joe Piscopo is 46.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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