Wednesday, September 3, 1997
Today's events
South African President Nelson Mandela visits Berne, Switzerland, to discuss bilateral and international issues.
Czech President Vaclav Havel is to host "Forum 2000" in Prague, a conference to evaluate humanity's past and consider its future.
A "Conference on Global Strategies for Prevention of HIV Transmission from Mothers to Infants" is scheduled to start in Arlington, Virginia.
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On the horizon
On Thursday, September 4, Japan's Prime Minister Ryutaro
Hashimoto visits China to commemorate the 25th anniversary of
the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations
On Friday, September 5, the International Olympic Committee
announces its decision on the venue for the 2004
Olympic Games from a short list of five cities, Athens,
Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Rome and Stockholm.
On Saturday, September 6, the International Open Air Theatre
Festival opens in South Korea.
On Sunday, September 7, Saab is scheduled to celebrate its 60
year anniversary.
On Monday, September 8, Italian foreign affairs commission are scheduled to visit Turkey on a human rights tour.
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On this day
In 1189, the coronation of England's King Richard the
Lionheart took place at Westminster Abbey in London.
In 1650, the Scots were routed by the English, led by Oliver
Cromwell, at the Battle of Dunbar in Scotland.
In 1758, the Marquis of Tavora and his wife led a revolt in
Portugal against King Joseph I; the king was wounded but the
plotters were soon arrested.
In 1759, the expulsion of Jesuits began in Portugal as a
result of conspiracy of 1758.
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris, ending the American War of
Independence, was signed by Britain and the United States.
In 1791, the French Constitution was passed by the National
Assembly, making France a constitutional monarchy.
In 1826, Nicholas I was crowned Tsar of Russia in Moscow.
In 1879, after a month-long siege, British residents in Kabul
were massacred by Afghan troops.
In 1914, Cardinal Giacomo Della Chiesa was elected Pope as
Benedict XV.
In 1918, the allies forced the Germans back across the
Hindenburg Line, which they had crossed in March.
In 1925, the U.S. dirigible Shenandoah, the first airship to
use helium gas, ran into a storm over southern Ohio and broke up in the air with the loss of 14 officers and men.
In 1935, at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, Sir Malcolm
Campbell's automobile was timed at 301.1292 mph (484.6205 kph), the first officially clocked 300-mph performance by a land vehicle.
In 1939, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany
after its invasion of Poland. The Liner Athenia became the first ship to be sunk by a U-boat in the War, when it was torpedoed on the first day.
In 1943, the British Eighth Army invaded Italy from Sicily.
In 1965, Hector Garcia Godoy was sworn in as President of the
Dominican Republic, ending four months of fighting after a coup.
In 1967, Sweden changed to driving on the right.
In 1967, Nguyen Van Thieu won South Vietnam's presidential
election with Nguyen Cao Ky as his vice-president.
In 1971, the Four-power agreement on Berlin was signed by the
U.S., British and French ambassadors to West Germany and the
Soviet ambassador to East Germany. The agreement came into force June 3, 1972.
In 1976, the U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars and began sending back photographs of the Martian landscape.
In 1980, Zimbabwe and South Africa closed their diplomatic
missions in each others' country.
In 1984, a new South African constitution came into effect,
setting up a three-chamber, racially divided parliament for
white, Indian and mixed race people.
In 1989, a Cuban Airlines IL-62M carrying 126 people on a
flight from Havana to Milan crashed into a village shortly after takeoff. All on board, plus some 45 people on the ground, were killed.
In 1990, the Mongolian parliament re-elected reformist
communist Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat as president.
In 1990, Somalia's President Mohamed Siad Barre sacked his
government amid intensified fighting between security forces and rebels.
In 1991, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania applied for membership
of the United Nations.
In 1993, Cambodia's government agreed to the country becoming
a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihanouk returning to the throne.
In 1994, Russia and China formally ended decades of
confrontation and agreed to cease aiming nuclear missiles at
each other.
In 1996, the U.S. launched one of the biggest military strikes against Iraq since the Gulf War, firing 27 cruise missiles at targets in southern Iraq in response to Iraqi attacks on Kurds in the north.
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Newslink
Princess Diana spoke out in the years before here death about the paparazzi and pressures of royal life. To read a transcript of her interview with the BBC, click here.
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Holidays and more
Today is Liberation Day in Monaco.
It's Independence Day in Qatar.
Today is St. Marinus Day in San Marino.
Actress Eileen Brennan is 60.
Actress Kitty Carlisle is 82.
Actress Pauline Collins is 57.
Actress Anne Jackson is 71.
Actress Valerie Perrine is 54.
Actor Charlie Sheen is 32.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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