Monday, November 17, 1997
Today's events
- Nigerian military ruler General Sani Abacha, is likely to address the nation on this, the fourth anniversary of his take-over.
- French Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou is scheduled to visit her Dutch counterpart Winnie Sorgdrager at the Hague in talks that are expected to focus on Dutch drugs policy.
- Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski is scheduled to visit China.
- Spink's auctioneers in London are to auction off gold coins believed to have belonged to Clive of India and shipwrecked in 1755.
|
On the horizon
- On Tuesday, November 18, the trial of two Palestinians, a Libyan and two Germans, charged in connection with the 1986 bomb attack in the West Berlin discotheque that killed two U.S. soldiers and a Turkish woman, is to open in Berlin.
- On Wednesday, November 19, Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh attend a lunch given by the Lord Mayor of London to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, which is Thursday.
- On Thursday, November 20, Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh are to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by attending a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey where they were married and stage a walkabout.
- On Friday, November 21, Japan's Prime Minister Hashimoto, other government leaders and ambassadors are to attend a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of Okinawa's reversion to the Japanese.
- On Saturday, November 22, The Miss World competition is scheduled to take place in Victoria, Seychelles.
|
On this day
- In 1558, Mary I of England, the first Queen to rule England in her own right, died.
- In 1800, the U.S. Congress met for the first time in the new capital Washington; President John Adams became the first occupant of the Executive Mansion, later called the White House.
- In 1855, Scottish explorer David Livingstone discovered Victoria Falls in Africa.
- In 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation after more than 10 years of construction.
- In 1937, Britain's Lord Halifax arrived in Germany for talks with Adolf Hitler on Sudetenland.
- In 1941, less than a month before Pearl Harbor, Japanese Prime Minister General Tojo outlined a three-point plan he said was aimed at peace in East Asia.
- In 1941, Ernst Udet, head of the German Luftwaffe Ordnance Department, committed suicide after disagreements with the Nazi leadership.
- In 1954, General Gamal Abdel Nasser became Egyptian head of state following the fall of President Mohamed Naguib.
- In 1958, the civilian government of Sudan was overthrown by the military; Ibrahim Abboud became prime minister.
- In 1969, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the Soviet Union and the U.S. opened in Helsinki.
- In 1970, the Russian Luna 17 spacecraft landed an eight-wheeled lunar vehicle on the moon.
- In 1971, the Thai armed forces and Revolutionary Party staged a bloodless coup, proclaimed martial law and dissolved parliament.
- In 1972, Argentine ex-president Juan Peron arrived in Buenos Aires after 17 years of exile.
- In 1974, the first general election in Greece for over 10 years ended with a decisive victory for the New Democracy Party of Constantine Karamanlis.
- In 1977, the Egyptian foreign minister and his deputy resigned over President Sadat's proposed visit to Israel.
- In 1986, in Paris the managing director of the car firm Renault, Georges Besse, was shot dead by "Action Directe" terrorists.
- In 1986, court hearings began in Australia on Britain's attempt to stop former spy Peter Wright publishing his memoirs.
- In 1989, tens of thousands of people marched through Prague demanding an end to Communist rule in Czechoslovakia but riot police and army paratroopers crushed the protest.
- In 1991, the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar fell to the Serb-dominated federal army after an 86-day siege.
- In 1991, Son Sen, a leader of the Khmer Rouge responsible for the deaths of a million Cambodians in the 1970s, returned to Phnom Penh to take his seat in a power-sharing administration.
- In 1993, military rule was reimposed in Nigeria when General Sani Abacha ousted civilian leader Ernest Shonekan.
- In 1993, judges from 11 nations were sworn in at the inaugural session of the U.N. Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal -- the first such forum since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials judged World War II criminals.
- In 1993, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
- In 1994, Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds resigned to avoid defeat in parliament over his government's handling of a child sex-abuse case.
- In 1995, former Italian prime minister Bettino Craxi and 74 other people were ordered to stand trial on corruption charges.
- In 1995, Algeria's military-backed leader Liamine Zeroual was declared winner of the November 16 presidential election.
|
Newslink
Ever wonder what a gorilla would paint given the chance? Well, here's your chance to find out. Click here to see the images painted by Koko and Michael, two western lowland gorillas.
|
Holidays and more
- Today is the Day of National Revival in the Azerbaijan Republic.
- It's the Independence of Cartagena in Colombia.
- Today is a Provincial Anniversary in New Zealand.
- It's Armed Forces Day in Zaire.
- Comedian Peter Cook is 60.
- Actor Danny Devito is 53.
- Actress Lauren Hutton is 53.
- Singer Gordon Lightfooot is 59.
- Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 39.
- Director Martin Scorsese is 55.
|
Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
|