Monday, December 29, 1997
Today's events
Kenya holds presidential and general elections.
The jury considering the fate of Terry Nichols returns to hear
testimony of victims and witnesses for Nichols before they decide
whether he should get the death penalty for conspiring to blow up the federal
building in Oklahoma City.
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On the horizon
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 1170, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was
murdered by four knights acting on the orders of England's King
Henry II.
In 1845, Texas became the 28th state to join the union.
In 1859, the first iron-hulled armored warship, Britain's HMS
Warrior, was launched.
In 1874, Alfonso XII, son of the deposed Queen Isabella, was
proclaimed king of Spain.
In 1890, more than 200 Sioux men, women and children were
massacred by U.S. troops at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
In 1911, Sun Yat Sen became the first president of the Chinese
Republic.
In 1914, the battle of Sarikamis began between Turkey and
Russia. Although superior in numbers, the Turks were defeated in
five days of fighting, losing 77,000 men.
In 1937, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland came into
effect.
In 1940, German aircraft dropped thousands of incendiary bombs
on the center of London, causing the worst fire damage since the
great fire of 1666. St Paul's Cathedral survived but eight other
Wren churches along with the Guildhall and Old Bailey were badly
damaged.
In 1944, Soviet tanks entered Budapest in World War II.
In 1952, the first transistor hearing aid was marketed in the
United States.
In 1965, North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh rejected
unconditional peace talks offered by the United States.
In 1972, 16 survivors from an Andes plane crash were rescued more than three months
after the plane they were traveling on went down. Those rescued later revealed they had
survived by eating passengers who were killed in the crash.
In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced economic
sanctions to be imposed against the Soviet Union because of its alleged role
in the imposition of martial law in Poland.
In 1986, Harold Macmillan, prime minister of Britain from 1957-63,
died.
In 1989, playwright Vaclav Havel, jailed for five years for
his human rights activities and long denounced in the Communist
media as an enemy of the state, was sworn in as president of
Czechoslovakia.
In 1992, President Daniel arap Moi won Kenya's first
multi-party elections in 26 years.
In 1992, the Yugoslav parliament voted to oust Prime Minister
Milan Panic from office.
In 1995, French air force cargo plane landed at the Bosnian
city of Mostar, becoming the first aircraft to do so since 1992.
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Newslink
Holidays and more
Costa Rica celebrates National Holiday.
Nepal marks His Majesty the King's Birthday.
Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 61.
Actor Jon Voight is 59.
Actor Ted Danson is 50.
Actor Ed Flanders is 63.
Novelist William Gaddis is 75.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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