Tuesday, December 9, 1997
Today's events
A meeting of the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference begins in Tehran.
Amnesty hearings resume into the death in detention of South
African black activist Steve Biko.
The steering Board of Bosnia's Peace Implementation
Council meets in Germany.
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On the horizon
On Wednesday, December 10, the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize is
presented in Oslo.
On Thursday, December 11, European Union foreign ministers
meet in Geneva.
On Friday, December 12, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright is to arrive in Democratic Republic of Congo,
formerly known as Zaire, from Rwanda as part of a six-country
tour of Africa
On Saturday, December 13, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright visits South Africa.
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On this day
In 1165, Malcolm IV, King of Scotland, died and was succeeded
by his younger brother, William I the Lion.
In 1625, the Treaty of the Hague was signed under which
England and the Netherlands agreed to subsidize Christian IV
of Denmark in his campaign in Germany.
In 1824, in the Peruvian War of Independence, 9,300
Spaniards under Laserna were defeated by Peruvian Patriots
led by Sucre at the battle of Ayacucho; the victory led to
Peru's independence.
In 1868, W.E. Gladstone became British prime minister for the
first of his four terms.
In 1905, "Salome," a one-act opera by Richard Strauss from
the story by Oscar Wilde, had its first performance in
Dresden, Germany, and was condemned as obscene.
In 1917, Turkish troops surrendered Jerusalem to British
troops led by Viscount Allenby.
In 1940, in World War II, the British 8th Army launched
an offensive in North Africa by attacking Sidi Barrani in
Egypt.
In 1941, China formally issued a declaration of war against
Japan, Germany and Italy.
In 1958, the John Birch Society was founded in the United States, vowing to fight Communism.
In 1961, Tanganyika became independent within the
Commonwealth, with Julius Nyerere as prime minister; one year
later, it became a republic within the Commonwealth.
In 1965, Nikolai Podgorny replaced Anastas Mikoyan as Soviet
president.
In 1985, former Argentine president Jorge Videla and his
fellow junta member, Admiral Emilio Massera, were sentenced
to life imprisonment for their part in the "dirty war"
against left-wing guerrillas in which up to 9,000 people
disappeared.
In 1987, the first riots of the intifada, or Palestinian
uprising, erupted on the Gaza Strip.
In 1990, Lech Walesa, former leader of of the trade union
Solidarity, won a landslide victory in the Polish
presidential election.
In 1992, U.S. Marines stormed into Mogadishu, spearheading an
international effort to overcome one of the worst famines
this century.
In 1992, the separation of the prince and princess of Wales
was announced.
In 1993, U.S. astronauts finished a gruelling five-day repair job on the $3 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
In 1994, Britain and Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army's
political wing, held their first formal talks in more than
70 years.
In 1995, Poland's Supreme Court confirmed the victory of
ex-communist Aleksander Kwasniewski in November's
presidential election, rejecting protests from supporters of
defeated former Solidarity hero Lech Walesa.
In 1996, the United Nations authorized the start of a
long-delayed oil-for-food deal with Iraq, enabling Baghdad
to make a limited return to the world oil market for the
first time since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
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Newslink
Take a wide-eyed look into the past with the National Archives' online Panoramic Photograph Gallery.
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Holidays and more
It's Independence Day in Brunei, Darussalam and Tanzania.
Singer Joan Armatrading is 47.
Actor Beau Bridges is 56.
Sportscaster and football icon Dick Butkus is 55.
Actor Kirk Douglas is 81.
Actor John Malkovitch is 44.
Actor Donny Osmond is 40.
Actor Dick Van Patten is 69.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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