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Wednesday, December 3, 1997

  • Today's Events
  • On Horizon
  • On This Day
  • Newslink
  • Holidays & more
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  • "There was nothing to indicate he'd ever be dangerous. He just seemed like a small, immature 14-year-old in high school."

    -- Heath High School Principal Bill Bond





    Today's events


  • The United Nations marks the International Day of Disabled Persons.

  • The European Parliament holds a mini-session in Brussels.

  • The 11th Latin American Congress of Sexually Transmitted Diseases opens in Lima, Peru.

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    On the horizon


  • On Thursday, December 4, the English National Ballet will hold a special performance of "The Nutcracker" dedicated to patron Diana, Princess of Wales.

  • On Friday, December 5, the 5th China International Environmental Protection Exhibition and Conference is set to begin in Beijing.

  • On Saturday, December 6, about 50 heads of state are expected to attend the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in Tehran.

  • On Sunday, December 7, the Eleventh International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa opens.

  • On Monday. December 8, amnesty hearings resume into the death in detention of black consciousness activist Steve Biko in South Africa.

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    On this day


  • In 1800, in the War of the Second Coalition, 60,000 French under Moreau defeated 70,000 Austrians under Archduke John at the Battle of Hohenlinden in upper Bavaria.

  • In 1810, Britain seized the islands of Reunion and Mauritius from French control.

  • In 1818, Illinois became the 21st state of the United States.

  • In 1910, the neon lamp, developed by French physicist Georges Claude, was displayed for the first time at the Paris Motor Show.

  • In 1912, an armistice was signed by Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, ending the first Balkan War.

  • In 1919, French impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir died; his painting of sunlight through leaves and a series of pictures portraying bathers are amongst his best-known works.

  • In 1931, the Statute of Westminster was passed, under which British dominions gained complete legislative independence.

  • In 1944, virtual civil war broke out in Athens, Greece, between the government backed by Britain and the National Liberation Front (EAM).

  • In 1962, Edith Spurlock Sampson was sworn in as the first American black woman judge; she was elected associate judge of the Municipal Court in Chicago.

  • In 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard carried out the world's first heart transplant operation in Cape Town on Louis Washkansky. Washkansky lived for 18 days.

  • In 1969, Kliment Voroshilov, former head of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet, died.

  • In 1971, The Pakistani air force attacked Indian airfields and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency.

  • In 1984, a gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant near Bhopal, India, killed at least 3,000 people and disabled thousands.

  • In 1989, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev hailed their first summit as the start of a new era in U.S.-Soviet relations.

  • In 1989, the leader of East Germany's orthodox Communist Party, Egon Krenz, and the entire party hierarchy voted themselves out of office.

  • In 1993, Angola's government and its rebel foes agreed to a cease-fire in their 18-year war.

  • In 1993, Britain's Princess Diana said she was bowing out of the public spotlight because she wanted privacy and time to herself.

  • In 1995, former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan was arrested over charges of military rebellion stemming from a 1979 coup and a later army massacre.

  • In 1996, former Afghan Communist leader Babrak Karmal, who personified the Kremlin's ill-fated nine-year intervention in Afghanistan, died of liver cancer in Moscow.

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    Newslink


    Check out this animated Advent Calendar from Rooney Designs for a whimsical countdown to Christmas.


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    Holidays and more


  • Sudan celebrates Isra'a and Mierag.

  • Filmmaker Jean Luc Godard is 67.

  • Auto racer Rick Mears is 46.

  • Singer Jaye P. Morgan is 65.

  • Singer Ozzy Osbourne is 49.

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    Sources: Associated Press,
    Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan



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