Tuesday, November 4, 1997
Today's events
U.S. voters are scheduled to select the governors of the states of New Jersey and Virginia, and mayors of the two largest cities, New York and Los Angeles.
Jordanian parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held.
The winner of the Giller Prize, Canada's richest
literary award, is scheduled to be presented at a ceremony at Toronto's Four Seasons Hotel.
Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel is scheduled to hold a hearing to consider defense motions to set aside the second-degree murder verdict against English au pair Louise Woodward in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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On the horizon
On Wednesday, November 5, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl are expected to hold a "working meeting" to discuss issues including European matters and the Middle East.
On Thursday, November 6, the 41st London film festival opens in Britain.
On Friday, November 7, Queen Beatrix of Holland visits Egypt.
On Saturday, November 8, the seventh Ibero-American presidential summit begins on Margarita Island, Venezuela
On Sunday, November 9, is the eighth anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall.
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On this day
In 1307, the Swiss Confederation declared itself independent
of Austria.
In 1520, Christian II of Denmark was crowned King of Sweden,
and granted an amnesty to his opponents.
In 1605, in London, Guy Fawkes was arrested under the House of Commons preparing gunpowder to blow up the building when
Parliament re-assembled the next day.
In 1842, 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.
In 1854, Florence Nightingale and a team of 38 nurses arrived
in the Crimea to set up a hospital for British troops at
Scutari.
In 1862, the first rapid-fire machine gun was patented by
Richard Jordan Gatling in Indianapolis, and named after him.
In 1879, the first cash register was patented by James J.
Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
In 1890, the first electrified underground railway system was
officially opened in London.
In 1918, the allied powers in World War I agreed on
peace terms for Germany based on U.S. President Wilson's
"Fourteen Points."
In 1921, Takashi Hara, prime minister of Japan, was
assassinated by a rightist fanatic.
In 1922, English archaeologist Howard Carter found the first signs of what proved to be King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Tombs of Kings in Egypt.
In 1942, British troops defeated the Germans under General
Rommel at El Alamein after a 12-day battle.
In 1946, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was formed.
In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president of the
United States.
In 1956, Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian
uprising. Imre Nagy was ousted as prime minister and replaced by Janos Kadar.
In 1966, the worst floods in Italy's history affected a third
of the country. Florence was cut off and many of the city's art treasures were damaged.
In 1977, the United Nations imposed a mandatory ban on arms
supplies to South Africa in an effort to force the country out of Namibia.
In 1979, Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran
and captured 90 hostages; 52 were held captive for 444 days.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan elected president of the United States.
In 1982, the U.N. passed a resolution calling on Argentina and Britain to discuss sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
In 1983, in Lebanon, over 40 Israeli soldiers were killed when an Arab suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into their camp.
In 1988, an attempted coup by foreign mercenaries on the
Maldive Islands was thwarted when Indian paratroopers crushed
the revolt.
In 1995, Yigal Amir, who said he was acting on God's orders,
assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
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Newslink
Today is the 75th Anniversary of the discovery of King Tut's tomb. On this day in 1922 in Luxor, Egypt, the tomb of Egypt's child-king, Tutankhamen, was found. To find out more about the history of this magnificent tomb, click here.
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Holidays and more
Today is St. Charles Day in Andorra.
It's Melbourne Cup Day in Australia.
Today is Independence Day in the Dominica.
It's Flag Day in Panama.
Today is Constitution Day in Tonga.
It's John Paul II Name Day in the Vatican City State.
Actor Martin Balsam is 78.
Actor Art Carney is 79.
Journalist Walter Cronkite is 81.
Actor Ralph Macchio is 35.
Singer Andrea McArdle is 34.
Actress Markie Post is 47.
Actress Loretta Swit is 60.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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