Tuesday, December 30, 1997
Today's events
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World Universities' Debating Championships will be held in Athens, Greece.
The U.S. Conference Board releases its monthly survey of consumer
confidence.
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On the horizon
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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.
On Saturday, January 3, NFL divisional playoffs begin.
On Sunday, January 4, the Palestinian Authority is scheduled to announce the results
of the first West Bank and Gaza Strip census.
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On this day
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In 1460, in the Wars of the Roses, Richard of York with some
5,000 men was heavily defeated by Queen Margaret and the
Lancastrians at the battle of Wakefield; nearly 3,000 Yorkists
were killed.
In 1691, Robert Boyle, British chemist noted for his
experiments on the properties of gases, died.
In 1803, in the second Maratha War, the ruling Sindhia family
member of Gwalior, Daulat Rao, finally surrendered to the
British after being defeated in four battles.
In 1803, the United States took formal possession of the
territory of Louisiana, an area of 828,000 square miles, nearly
doubling the size of the country.
In 1873, the American Metrological Society, the first
organization to improve the system of weights and measures, was
formed.
In 1879, Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta "The Pirates
of Penzance" premiered in Paignton, England.
In 1880, the Transvaal, under Paul Kruger, declared itself a
republic.
In 1894, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, U.S. women's rights campaigner,
died. She invented "bloomers" in 1850.
In 1903, a fire in the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago killed 588
people; public outrage led to new theater safety codes across
America.
In 1915, in World War One, a German submarine torpedoed the
British P & O liner Persia off Crete. At least 330 people were
killed out of the 501 passengers and crew aboard.
In 1916, Grigory Rasputin, Siberian peasant, mystic, and
favourite of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra was shot,
was poisoned and eventually drowned at the house of Prince Feliks
Yusupov.
In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was
established through the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia,
Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Federation.
In 1933, Romanian Premier Ion Duca was assassinated by a
member of the Iron Guard.
In 1947, King Michael of Romania was forced to abdicate when
the Romanian People's Republic was proclaimed.
In 1968, Trygve Lie, Norwegian statesman and first
secretary-general of the United Nations (1946-52), died.
In 1979, U.S. composer Richard Rodgers died; he collaborated
with Oscar Hammerstein II in the hit musicals "Oklahoma!,"
"South Pacific," "The King and I" and "The Sound of
Music."
In 1985, President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan ended martial law,
in operation since he came to power in 1977.
In 1988, Yugoslav Prime Minister Branko Mikulic and his
government resigned in an economic policy showdown with
parliament.
In 1988, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George
Bush were subpoenaed to testify at the trial of former White
House aide Oliver North on criminal charges stemming from the
Iran-Contra affair.
In 1988, Yury Churbanov, son-in-law of former Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev, was jailed for 12 years for bribery.
In 1992, Interim Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was
elected head of state for two years in a ballot in which he was
the sole candidate.
In 1993, Israel and the Vatican signed an agreement on mutual
recognition, seeking to put behind them 2,000 years of often
bitter Jewish-Christian relations.
In 1993, Sudan, angered by the Archbishop of Canterbury's
visit to the rebel-held south, ordered the British ambassador to
leave the country.
In 1995, tens of thousands of cheering Palestinians greeted
PLO leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in the West Bank after
Israeli troops withdrew from the city.
In 1995, hundreds of people, many weeping with joy, lined the
streets of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia to welcome the first
passenger bus into the Muslim enclave for over three years.
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Newslink
Holidays and more
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Today is a National Holiday in Costa Rica.
Today in a Bank Holiday in El Salvador.
Today in Rizal Day in the Philippines.
Actor and writer Joseoh Bologna is 59.
Singer and songwriter Bo Diddley is 69.
Track athlete Ben Johnson is 36.
Actor and singer Davy Jones is 51.
Former sportscaster Sandy Koufax is 62.
News anchor Matt Lauer is 40.
Actor Jack Lord is 67.
Singer Michael Nesmith is 55.
Actor Russ Tamblyn is 62.
Actress Tracey Ullman is 38.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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