Wednesday, September 24, 1997
Today's events
India's federal government employees are expected to hold a strike for an indefinite amount of time to press for wage demands.
The four-day World PC Expo '97 is scheduled to open in Chiba, Japan.
U.N. Envoy James Baker is expected to lead an international delegation to southern Algeria to discuss regional conflict.
Greenland's home-rule parliament is expected to select a new
Prime Minister to replace outgoing Lars-Emil Johansen.
An Emirates Airlines stewardess is scheduled to appeal against a four-year sentence for smoking
hashish in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Czech President Vaclav Havel is expected to visit Palestinian
autonomous territories.
NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana is scheduled to meet with
Latvian Prime Minister Guntar Krasts in Brussels.
The U.S. military is expected to hold military exercises in Hokkaido, Japan.
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On the horizon
On Thursday, September 25, London Fashion Week is scheduled to kick off at the Natural History Museum.
On Friday, September 26, Qufu, China, is scheduled to host a festival celebrating the 2,548th anniversary of Confucius' birth.
On Saturday, September 27, an island-wide protest against the government removal of the base limit of the education, science and cultural affairs budgets is scheduled in Taiwan.
On Sunday, September 28, the International Open Air Theater Festival '97 is scheduled to end in Kwachon, South Korea.
On Monday, September 29, Quebec's Prime Minister Lucien Bouchard is scheduled to visit Paris for
an annual bilateral meeting and is expected to meet with President Jacques Chirac.
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On this day
In 1789, U.S. President George Washington appointed John Jay
of New York as America's first Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court.
In 1852, Henri Giffard, a French engineer, made the first
powered flight in a dirigible. The steam-powered airship
traveled 17 miles from Paris to Trappes.
In 1869, Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold
bullion market in the United States. The government responded by
releasing gold on to the market, causing panic and a slump in
its price. The event became known as "Black Friday."
In 1941, nine allied governments meeting in London pledged
allegiance to the Atlantic Charter, an eight-point declaration
issued President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister
Winston Churchill.
In 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the National
Guard to enforce racial integration of schools in Little Rock,
Arkansas.
In 1960, the first U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the
USS Enterprise, was launched from Newport, Virginia.
In 1965, the constitutional conference on Mauritius ended in
London, deciding that the country should become an independent
state within the Commonwealth by the end of 1966.
In 1966, rioters in the Congo burned and looted the Portuguese
embassy in Kinshasa, demanding that relations with Portugal be
broken off.
In 1968, Swaziland was admitted to the United Nations.
In 1971, 90 Russian diplomats were expelled from Britain
for spying following revelations made by a Soviet defector.
In 1972, in a referendum, Norwegians voted 53.5 percent to
46.5 percent against joining the European Economic Community.
In 1975, Britons Dougal Haston and Doug Scott became the first
to climb Mount Everest by the south-west face.
In 1980, a simmering border war between Iran and Iraq flared
into full-scale hostilities when Iraqi troops crossed the border
and encircled Abadan, setting fire to the world's biggest oil
refinery.
In 1983, five business executives received jail sentences of
up to five years for their role in the 1976 environmental
disaster in Seveso, Italy, when a cloud of dioxin gas was
released after an explosion.
In 1988, Canadian Ben Johnson set a new world record of 9.79 seconds for the 100 meters at the Olympic Games in Seoul. Six days later he was stripped of his medal for taking drugs.
In 1990, East Germany left the Warsaw Pact ahead of
unification with NATO member West Germany.
In 1993, Imelda Marcos was convicted of corruption and
sentenced to at least 18 years in jail.
1995, 13 people were killed in the southern French
town of Cuers when Eric Borel, 16, ran amok with a rifle a day
after he had killed three members of his family.
In 1996, the U.S., China, France, Russia and Britain became
the first signatories to a landmark world treaty banning nuclear
tests.
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Newslink
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Tuesday showed
unprecedented color images of the oceans on planet Earth. The images were relayed by the Sea-viewing
Wide Field-of-view Sensor instrument, generally known as SeaWiFS. For more information on NASA's SeaWiFS project, click here.
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Holidays and more
The Dominican Republic celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy.
Guinea-Bissau marks the Establishment of the Republic.
It's New Caledonia Day in New Caledonia
South Africa marks Heritage Day.
Spain celebrates Our Lady of Mercy.
Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson is 63.
Singer and Actress Sheila MacRae is 74.
Singer and photographer Linda McCartney is 55.
Sportscaster Jim McKay is 76.
Actor Anthony Newley is 66.
Baseball player Rafael Corrales Palmeiro is 33.
Actor Don Porter is 85.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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