Wednesday, January 14, 1998
Today's events
A motion is expected to be filed by attorneys for Timothy McVeigh, sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.
Tokyo District Court holds a trial of Ichiro
Fujita, former vice president of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank,
accused of making payoffs to a corporate racketeer.
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On the horizon
On Thursday, January 15, about 12,000 Catholics are expected to attend Convocation 2000, a three-day workshop in Washington aimed at helping prepare for the year 2000.
On Friday, January 16, President Clinton plans to meet with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to sign a Charter of Partnership.
On Saturday, January 17, NAACP holds Summit on Employment
Discrimination in the Federal Workplace.
On Sunday, January 18, the Golden Globe awards are presented in Los Angeles.
On Monday, January 19, the Conference on Disarmament holds its first session in Geneva.
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On this day
In 1604, the Hampton Court Conference began under James I to discuss Puritan demands for doctrinal changes in the Church of England.
In 1676, Italian composer Pietro Francesco Cavalli died; he is best known for his sacred music and his operas, notably "Calisto."
In 1742, English astronomer Edmond Halley died; he became the
first to work out the orbit of the comet named after him and
correctly predicted its return in 1705, 1758, 1835 and 1910.
In 1797, in the Battle of Rivoli in Italy, the French defeated
an Austrian attempt to relieve Mantua; 3,500 Austrian troops
were killed.
In 1814, under the Treaty of Kiel, the king of Denmark ceded
Norway to the king of Sweden.
In 1858, Italian revolutionary Felice Orsini threw bombs at
Napoleon III in Paris in an assassination attempt; several
people were killed but the emperor was unharmed.
In 1866, Peru, dissatisfied with a treaty recognising Peruvian
independence signed in 1865, declared war on Spain.
In 1878, the first private connection by telephone in Great
Britain was made on the Isle of Wight when Queen Victoria spoke
to Thomas Biddulph.
In 1898, Lewis Carroll, British author of "Alice in
Wonderland," died; he also lectured in mathematics at Oxford
University and was a pioneer photographer.
In 1900, Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca" was staged for the
first time in Rome.
In 1907, hundreds died when an earthquake destroyed much of
the Jamaican capital Kingston.
In 1929, in Afghanistan, King Amanullah was forced to abdicate
in favour of his brother, Inayatullah.
In 1943, the Allies met in Casablanca to agree on a strategy for
concluding World War II and to demand the unconditional
surrender from the enemy.
In 1953, Marshal Josip Broz Tito was elected first president
of the Republic of Yugoslavia.
In 1957, Humphrey Bogart, whose films included "The Maltese
Falcon" and "Casablanca," died; he won an Oscar for his role
in "The African Queen."
In 1965, the prime ministers of Northern Ireland and Ireland
met for the first time in 43 years.
In 1969, the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 was launched, followed
the next day by Soyuz 5; they achieved the first docking of two
manned spacecraft in Earth orbit.
In 1976, Malaysian Premier Tun Abdul Razak died in London. He
was succeeded by Datuk Hussein Bin Onu.
In 1977, Anthony Eden, British statesman and prime minister
from 1955 to 1957, died. He resigned his premiership in the
aftermath of the Suez Crisis of 1956.
In 1977, Peter Finch, British film actor, died. He starred in
"Network" with Faye Dunaway and in "Trials of Oscar Wilde."
In 1980, the U.N. General Assembly approved a motion calling
for immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan
following the Soviet invasion in December, 1979.
In 1991, three Palestinian guerrilla chiefs, including Abu
Iyad, were assassinated in Tunis.
In 1995, the British Army ended 25 years of daylight patrols
in Belfast in a wind-down of a guerrilla conflict which engulfed
Northern Ireland.
In 1996, the confessed assassin of Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, Yigal Amir, was
formally charged with conspiricy to murder.
In 1996, right-wing businessman Alvaro Arzu took office as
Guatemala's new president and appealed for an end to a brutal
35-year civil war.
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Newslink
What do you do when you have an abundance of snow and lots of pent-up creative energy? If you live in Illinois, you grab a snow shovel and enter the Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition, which starts today. Take a peek at preliminary sketches and past winners.
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Holidays and more
It is Tamil Thai Pongal Day in Sri Lanka.
Actor Jason Bateman is 29.
Actress Faye Dunaway is 57.
U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth is 70.
Filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan is 49.
Columnist Andy Rooney is 79.
Journalist Nina Totenberg is 54.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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