Saturday, December 27, 1997
Today's events
National Football League wild-card playoff games are held.
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On the horizon
On Monday, December 29, Kenya holds presidential and general elections.
On Tuesday, December 30, World Universities' Debating Championships will be held in Athens, Greece.
On Wednesday, December 31, Luxembourg relinquishes its six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.
On Thursday, January 1, Britain assumes presidency of the
European Union.
On Friday, January 2, World Chess Championship finals begin in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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On this day
In 1703, England and Portugal signed the Methuen Treaty, under which the Portuguese agreed to admit English textiles, which they had previously prohibited, and the English agreed to import wines at a duty rate lower than that imposed on French wines.
In 1831, the British Admiralty survey ship HMS Beagle, with
Charles Darwin aboard, set out from Plymouth on its scientific voyage round the globe.
In 1927, Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist
Party, marking a victory by Stalin in a power struggle.
In 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened to the public in New
York.
In 1945, the International Monetary Fund was established in
Washington.
In 1945, foreign ministers of Britain, U.S. and U.S.S.R.,
meeting in Moscow, agreed on a plan to govern Korea for five
years.
In 1947, children's show "Howdy Doody" premiered on NBC.
In 1948, Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, Catholic primate of
Hungary, was arrested for anti-Communist statements.
In 1949, Indonesia became legally independent from the
Netherlands
In 1956, after the Suez Crisis between Egypt and Israel,
Britain and France, a U.N. fleet began the clearance operation.
In 1965, British Petroleum's North Sea oil rig Sea Gem
collapsed, killing 13.
In 1969, Libya, Sudan and the UAR agreed to form a military,
political and economic alliance.
In 1972, Belgium became the first NATO country to establish
diplomatic relations with East Germany.
In 1972, Maltese Prime Minister Dom Mintoff issued an
ultimatum demanding withdrawal of British forces. Britain
refused.
In 1972, Lester Pearson, Canadian statesman and prime minister from 1963-68, died. He won the Nobel Peace Price in 1957 for his efforts to resolve the Suez crisis of 1956.
In 1975, more than 400 Indian miners died after being trapped underground following an explosion and flooding in Chasnala Colliery, Bihar State.
In 1978, King Juan Carlos ratified Spain's first democratic
constitution.
In 1978, Algerian President Houari Boumedienne died. He became president after the coup which overthrew Ben Bella in 1965.
In 1979, Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was executed
following a coup backed by the invading Soviet forces.
In 1984, four police officers went on trial in Warsaw for the killing of pro-Solidarity priest Father Popieluszko.
In 1985, fifteen people were killed when four Palestinian
terrorists attacked the El Al check-in counter at Rome's
Fiumicino airport. A similar attack at Vienna's Schwechat
airport left four dead, including one gunman.
In 1989, Egypt and Syria resumed full diplomatic relations
after a 12-year break.
In 1990, Gennady Yanayev was elected to the new post of Soviet vice president.
In 1991, all 129 passengers and crew survived when a
Scandinavian Airlines airliner crash-landed and broke into
three pieces minutes after taking off from Stockholm.
In 1995, France staged the fifth in a series of
bitterly disputed nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific.
In 1995, Israeli troops withdrew from Ramallah, completing the handover of six West Bank towns to the Palestinians.
In 1995, Ukraine-born Shura Cherkassky, one of the world's
last great romantic pianists, died.
In 1996, Rwanda's first genocide trial opened with the accused facing the death penalty for their part in the 1994 slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis.
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Newslink
Radio City Music Hall opened its New York City doors to the public 65 years ago today. Take a peek behind the stage with the official Grand Tour.
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Holidays and more
Actor Gerard Depardieu is 49.
Actress Tovah Feldshuh is 45.
Fashion designer Bernard Lanvin is 62.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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