Tuesday, February 3, 1998
Today's events
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Karla Faye Tucker is scheduled to be executed in Texas for a
1983 double murder.
The court-martial of former Army Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney on sexual misconduct charges is scheduled.
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On the horizon
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On Wednesday, February 4, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair begins a four-day visit to the United States.
On Thursday, February 5, the Senate Agriculture Committee holds a hearing on the December global warming agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan.
On Friday, February 6, the NBA's All-Star Weekend gets under way.
On Saturday, February 7, the 1998 Winter Olympics open in Nagano, Japan.
On Monday, February 9, Russian President Boris Yeltin is tentatively scheduled to visit Rome and meet with Pope John Paul II.
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On this day
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In 1014, King Sweyn of Denmark I died and was succeeded by his
son, Canute II the Great; after King Ethelred II of England
ordered a massacre of Danes in 1002, Sweyn invaded Britain and
conquered much of the country.
In 1194, Henry VI of Germany released King Richard I (the
Lion-Heart) of England, captured during the Third Crusade.
In 1399, English Prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son
of King Edward III and father of King Henry IV, died.
In 1807, Montevideo was taken by British forces led by Sir
Samuel Auchmuty.
In 1809,Illinois Territory, including present-day Wisconsin,
was established.
In 1867, Prince Mutsuhito became Emperor Meiji of Japan at the
age of 14 and reigned until 1912.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was
ratified, giving the government the power to impose and collect
taxes on income.
In 1917, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with
Germany after Berlin announced a policy of unrestricted
submarine warfare.
In 1919, Kiev was captured by the Bolsheviks.
In 1919, the first meeting of the League of Nations took place
in Paris.
In 1924, Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States,
died.
In 1945, U.S. aircraft dropped 3,000 tons of explosives on
Berlin.
In 1954, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Australia for the first
visit by a reigning monarch.
In 1958, the Benelux Economic Union Treaty between Belgium,
Luxembourg and Netherlands was signed.
In 1959, singers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper
were killed in a plane crash in the United States.
In 1960, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan foreshadowed
the decolonization of Africa, telling the South African
parliament: "The wind of change is blowing through the
continent."
In 1966, the first controlled landing on the moon was made by
the Soviet unmanned spacecraft Luna IX.
In 1969, the Palestine National Congress appointed Yasser
Arafat head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
In 1977, the chairman of the Provisional Military Government
in Ethiopia, Brig-Gen Teferi Benti, and his closest associates
were executed by supporters of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
In 1978, the European Economic Community and China initialled
their first trade agreement.
In 1981, Gro Harlem Brundtland was elected Norway's first
woman prime minister following the resignation of Odvar Nordli.
In 1992, Argentine President Carlos Menem signed a decree
opening all files on Nazis who fled to South America after World
War II.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton announced the lifting of the
U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam, marking a dramatic shift in
relations chilled for decades by war and postwar hostility.
In 1994, President Boris Yeltsin signed a treaty with Georgia
reasserting Russia's military influence in the former Soviet
republic.
In 1994, the International Court of Justice, in a ruling on a
20-year border dispute, rejected Libya's claim to a huge swathe
of neighboring Chad's territory.
In 1997, Bohumil Hrabal, Czech author of "Closely Observed
Trains," fell to his death from the fifth floor of a Prague
hospital where he was being treated for arthritis.
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Newslink
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Have a burning question? Searching for the answers to life? Look no further. Just ask the Magic 8-Ball. Does it work? "Outlook not so good."
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Holidays and more
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Mozambique, So Tome and Principe celebrate Heroes Day.
Actress Blythe Danner is 55.
Actress Morgan Fairchild is 48.
Actor and director Keith Gordon is 37.
Football legend Fran Tarkenton is 58.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1997, J.P. Morgan
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