Wednesday, October 1, 1997
Today's events
NATO defense ministers are expected to hold an
informal meeting under chairmanship of NATO Secretary General
Javier Solana in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
The Euro is expected to be launched experimentally in the Italian towns of Fiesole and Pontassieve.
Nigeria marks 37 years of independence with a national broadcast expected by military ruler General Sani Abacha.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
visits The Hague.
Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov is scheduled to hold the first spacewalk ever of a Russian cosmonaut wearing a U.S. spacesuit when he leaves from U.S. shuttle with an American astronaut and proceeds to Mir space station.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
visits Uruguay.
The Moslem-Croat federation parliament's House of
People convenes in Sarajevo to discuss draft laws passed by the federation
government.
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On the horizon
On Thursday, October 2, French President Jacques Chirac and
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi are scheduled to meet for the two nations' regular summit.
On Friday, October 3, Lee Kuan Yew, who formally retired in 1990 as the world's longest-serving prime minister, is scheduled to launch of book "Lee Kuan Yew -- The Man & His Ideas" in Singapore.
On Saturday, October 4, the youngest daughter of Spanish King Juan Carlos is scheduled to marry Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin in Barcelona, Spain.
On Sunday, October 5, French President Jacques Chirac is scheduled to visit Mexico.
On Monday, October 6, the winner of the Nobel Prize for
Physiology or Medicine is scheduled to be announced by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
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On this day
In 1795, Belgium became part of the French Republic.
In 1800, under the Treaty of San Idelfonso, Spain returned
Louisiana territory to France.
In 1869, the World's first official prepaid postcards were
issued by the Austrian Post Office.
In 1887, Baluchistan was declared to be British territory and
was merged with India.
In 1908, Henry Ford's Model T Ford went on sale for the first
time.
In 1914, Turkey closed the Dardenelles to the allies in World
War I.
In 1918, Arab forces assisted by the British under T. E.
Lawrence captured Damascus from the Turks.
In 1923, Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing colony
within the British Commonwealth.
In 1928, Stalin's first Five-Year Plan which set targets for
every industry, factory and workshop went into operation in the
Soviet Union.
In 1936, General Francisco Franco was named head of the
Nationalist government in Spain.
In 1938, German troops crossed into the Sudetenland following
an agreement between Britain, France, Germany and Italy to avoid
war over Czechoslovakia.
In 1943, after a month-long battle, allied soldiers captured
Naples in Italy.
In 1946, the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremburg
sentenced 12 Nazi leaders to death.
In 1949, the People's Republic of China was formed with Mao
Zedong as its head.
In 1957, the first meeting of the International Atomic Energy
Agency began in Vienna, with W. Sterling Cole as
Director-General.
In 1960, the Federation of Nigeria achieved independence
within the Commonwealth. On this day in 1963 it became a federal
republic.
In 1962, the United Nations took control of West New Guinea
(now Irian Jaya) from the Netherlands.
In 1964, Japan's "bullet train" from Tokyo to Osaka made its
first journey.
In 1965, a coup attempt in Indonesia was crushed by an army
officer named Suharto; he became president two years later.
In 1969, the Anglo-French Concorde aircraft broke the sound
barrier for the first time in a test flight over France.
In 1974, the Watergate cover-up trial opened in Washington.
In 1979, the Panama Canal Zone was formally handed over to
Panama after 70 years of U.S. control.
In 1982, Helmut Kohl was sworn in as West Germany's sixth
Chancellor, succeeding Helmut Schmidt.
In 1987, Fiji coup leader Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka formally
revoked his country's constitution, saying he had replaced Queen
Elizabeth as head of state with power to rule by decree.
In 1989, Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth after a 17-year
absence.
In 1991, President Aristide of Haiti flew into exile in
Venezuela after a coup by a three-man military junta led by
General Raul Cedras.
In 1995, a U.S. federal jury found Egyptian cleric Sheikh Omar
Abdel-Rahman and nine others guilty of plotting to blow up the
World Trade Center, bomb the United Nations, kill Egypt's
president and destroy vital highway tunnels in New York.
In 1996, the U.N. Security Council formally ended trade
sanctions against the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and
Montenegro imposed in 1992 for their role in fomenting the war
in Bosnia.
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Newslink
On Mir, a Russian cosmonaut prepares to take Russia's first spacewalk
in a U.S. spacesuit instead of a Russian one. Find out more about the mission by clickinghere.
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Holidays and more
Today is National Day in China.
Cyprus celebrates Independence Day.
Macau celebrates People's Republic of China National Day.
Nigeria celebrates National Day.
Rwanda rings in Armed Forces Day.
San Marino celebrates Captain Regents Day.
Actress Julie Andrews is 62.
Actor Tom Bosley is 70.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is 73.
Singer Richard Harris is 67.
Actor Phillipe Noiret is 67.
Actor Randy Quaid is 47.
Chief Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist is 73.
Actress Stella Stevens is 61.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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