Thursday, January 29, 1998
Today's events
The 25th annual Conservative
Political Action Conference will be held in Arlington,
Virginia.
Business and government leaders gather at the
annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is scheduled to
testify before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.
|
On the horizon
On Friday, January 30, International Olympics Committee
executive board meets in Nagano, Japan.
On Saturday, January 31, National Religious Broadcasters
Association holds its annual meeting in Washington.
On Sunday, February 1, the NFL Pro Bowl is held in Honolulu.
On Monday, February 2, President Clinton is scheduled to submit his budget to Congress.
On Tuesday, February 3, the court martial for former Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney on sexual misconduct charges is scheduled.
|
On this day
In 1635, the Academie Francaise, which became one of the most famous literary societies in Europe, was founded.
In 1730, Peter II, tsar of Russia (1727-30), died of smallpox on the day set for his wedding.
In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles first landed on Singapore and
concluded a preliminary agreement to set up a trading post.
In 1820, British King George III, who lost the American
colnies, died.
In 1853, Napoleon III married Eugenie de Montijo at the
Tuileries Palace, Paris.
In 1856, the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military
decoration, was instituted.
In 1861, Kansas entered the Union as the thirty-fourth state.
In 1886, German motor pioneer Karl Benz was granted a patent
for the first successful gasoline-driven car.
In 1888, Edward Lear, English landscape painter and writer of nonsense verse, died.
In 1891, Hawaii proclaimed as its queen Liliuokalani, renowned for her song "Aloha Oe."
In 1896, U.S. physician Emile Grubbe became the first to use
radiation treatment for breast cancer on his patient, Rose Lee of Chicago.
In 1899, Alfred Sisley, English painter and one of the
creators of French Impressionism, died.
In 1900, the American Baseball League was founded in Chicago.
In 1916, the first bombings of Paris by German Zeppelins took place.
In 1916, British military tanks were tested for the first time at Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
In 1928, Douglas Haig, British field marshal and commander in chief of British forces in France for most of World War I, died.
In 1941, Ioannis Metaxas, dictator of Greece from 1936 to
1941, died.
In 1942, the Protocol of Rio de Janeiro came into force,
ending the war between Peru and Ecuador.
In 1960, five days after a major insurrection in Algeria,
French President Charles de Gaulle broadcast a re-affirmation of his colonial policy.
In 1962, Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-born virtuoso violinist,
died. In 1910, he gave the first performance of Elgar's "Violin Concerto," dedicated to him.
In 1963, U.S. poet Robert Frost died. Awarded the Pulitzer
Prize for poetry four times, he was invited to read a poem at the 1961 inauguration of President John Kennedy.
In 1963, negotiations on Britain's entry into the European
Economic Community collapsed.
In 1964, U.S. film actor Alan Ladd died. His films included
"The Glass Key" and "Shane."
In 1980, Jimmy Durante, U.S. comedian, actor and singer, died. One of America's best loved clowns, his beaked nose earned him the nickname "Schnozzle."
In 1991, Nelson Mandela, now president of South Africa, and
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi held the first talks for almost
30 years between predominantly Zulu Inkatha and the
ethnically mixed African National Congress.
In 1994, Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, who came
to power pledging to clean up Japan's corrupt politics, saw his reform bills pass into law but in a watered-down form.
In 1995, on the anniversary of the 1942 treaty between them,
tensions between Ecuador and Peru flared again when Ecuador said it had downed a helicopter on the disputed border.
In 1996, eight people died in South Africa when gunmen opened fire on people lining up for jobs at a Johannesburg factory.
In 1996, Venice's opera house, named La Fenice or "The
Phoenix," was destroyed by fire for the second time in its
history.
|
Newslink
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep./ But I have promises to keep/ And miles to go before I sleep/ And miles to go before I sleep." America's most loved poet, Robert Frost, died on this day in 1963, leaving behind a true legacy. Frost in Cyberspace hopes to introduce the poet to a new generation.
|
Holidays and more
Korea and Taiwan celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Macau celebrates the Chinese New Year.
Nepal celebrates Martyrs Memorial Day.
Actor John Forsythe is 80.
Actress Sara Gilbert is 23.
Author Germaine Greer is 59.
Actress Ann Jillian is 47.
Basketball player Ronald Stacey King is 31.
Actor and diver Greg Louganis is 38.
Actress Bobbie Phillips is 30.
Actress Katharine Ross is 55.
Former baseball player Steve Sax is 38.
Actor Tom Selleck is 53.
TV talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey is 44.
|
Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
|