Wednesday, February 18, 1998
Today's events
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Multiparty talks on Northern Ireland's future open in Dublin.
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On the horizon
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On Thursday, February 19, preparatory talks will be held in London for an ASEM leaders summit in April.
On Friday, February 20, the start of the "Women of Color and Allies Summit: Linking Arms in Dangerous Times" begins in Arlington, Virginia.
On Saturday, February 21, the National Governors Association holds its winter meeting in Washington, D.C.
On Sunday, February 22, extradition hearings for Maryland murder suspect Samuel Sheinbein are scheduled to start in Tel Aviv.
On Monday, February 23, the Whitewater-related trial
of former Arkansas Gov. Jm Guy Tucker and attorney John Haley is scheduled to start.
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On this day
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In 1248, imperial forces under Frederick II were defeated at
Parma in Italy.
In 1405, Timur Lenk, whose violent conquests in the late
14th century ranged from China to the Mediterranean, died while leading an expedition to China.
In 1478, George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason
against his brother Edward IV, was murdered in the Tower of
London.
In 1546, Martin Luther, leader of the 16th century Protestant reformation, died.
In 1564, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Italian painter, sculptor
and architect, died; his works included the Sistine Chapel, "The Last Judgment" and the statue of "David."
In 1685, in America, explorer Renee-Robert Cavelier Sieur de
La Salle established a French colony at Fort St Louis in Texas.
In 1861, in Italy, the first parliament met and proclaimed
Victor Emmanuel as king.
In 1865, in the American Civil War, the Unionist fleet took
the town of Charleston, South Carolina.
In 1884, British General Charles Gordon arrived at Khartoum in the Sudan in an attempt to end to the rebellion by the Mahdi.
In 1900, the battle of Paardeberg began in the second Boer
War; the Boers under Piet Cronje eventually surrendered on February 27 under the weight of British artillery led by Lord Roberts.
In 1915, Germany began a blockade of England using submarines.
In 1916, the last German soldiers in Cameroon surrendered to
the Allies, ending German control of the colony.
In 1918, the German army launched an offensive against Russia and within a week had occupied the Baltic states.
In 1930, Clyde William Tombaugh, working with photographic
plates at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona,
discovered the planet Pluto.
In 1944, British aircraft bombed Amiens prison in France,
allowing 100 prisoners to escape.
In 1951, in Nepal, a new council of ministers was sworn in,
ending century-old Rana domination and starting a new democracy.
In 1956, French composer Gustave Charpentier died.
In 1960, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay agreed to set up a Latin American Free Trade
Association.
In 1965, The Gambia became an independent state within the
Commonwealth.
In 1967, Robert Oppenheimer, U.S. physicist and father of the atomic bomb, died.
In 1980, in Canada, Pierre Trudeau, leader of the Liberal
Party, returned to office as prime minister.
In 1981, U.S. President Reagan's first budget proposed the
largest tax cuts and spending curbs ever for an administration.
In 1991, an IRA bomb exploded in London's Victoria Railway station, killing one and injuring at least 40 people.
In 1996, an IRA explosion ripped apart a bus in London,
killing one person and injuring nine others.
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Newslink
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Holidays and more
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The Gambia celebrates National Day.
Author Helen Gurley Brown is 76.
Actor Matt Dillon is 34.
Director Milos Forman is 66.
Actor George Kennedy is 71.
Novelist Toni Morrison is 67.
Singer Juice Newton is 46.
Musician and artist Yoko Ono is 65.
Actor Jack Palance is 78.
Actress Molly Ringwald is 30.
Actress Greta Scacchi is 38.
Actress Cybill Shepherd is 48.
Actor John Travolta is 43.
TV personality Vanna White is 41.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1998, J.P. Morgan
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