Thursday, February 26, 1998
Today's events
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Today is the five-year anniversary of the World Trade Center
bombing in New York City.
The last total solar eclipse visible from the Western
Hemisphere this millennium takes place today.
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On the horizon
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On Friday, February 27, an estimated 600,000 teen-agers are
expected to participate in a World Hunger Day event designed
to teach children about global hunger issues.
On Saturday, February 28, Clint Eastwood is the guest of
honor at the Cesars, the French equivalent of the Academy
Awards in Paris.
On Sunday, March 1, Black Church Week of Prayer for the
Healing of AIDS begins in the United States.
On Monday, March 2, a court appearance is scheduled for
Michael Carneal, the 14-year-old charged with the December 1,
1997, shootings at his high school in Paducah, Kentucky.
On Tuesday, March 3, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee meets to
discuss the nominations -- this year a record 130 -- for the 1998 prize.
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On this day
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In 1443, Alfonso of Aragon entered Rome, where he was
eventually recognized as king.
In 1531, between 20,000 and 30,000 people died in an
earthquake in Lisbon.
In 1797, the Bank of England issued one pound notes for the
first time.
In 1802, Victor Hugo, French poet and novelist, born. Leader
of the French Romantic movement, his greatest novel "Les
Miserables," was published in 1862.
In 1815, Napoleon left the island of Elba to begin his second
conquest of France.
In 1832, the Polish constitution was abolished and replaced
by one imposed by Czar Nicholas I.
In 1834, Alois Senefelder, German inventor of lithography,
died.
In 1839, in Britain, the first Grand National horse race was
run.
In 1846, Buffalo Bill, American frontiersman and showman, was
born as William Frederick Cody.
In 1848, the Second French Republic was proclaimed two days
after the abdication of King Louis-Philippe.
In 1852, the British troop ship Birkenhead sank off Simon's
Bay, South Africa, with the loss of 485 lives.
In 1861, Ferdinand I, first king of modern Bulgaria, was born.
In 1885, the Congress of Berlin, hosted by Otto von Bismarck
and attended by 15 nations, agreed on the partition of
Central and East Africa.
In 1901, the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion in China, Chi-
hsui and Hsu Cheng-yu, were beheaded in public.
In 1903, Richard Gatling, American inventor of the cylinder
gun that bears his name, died.
In 1903, Orde Wingate, British general who led his forces
against the Japanese in Burma in World War II, was born in
Naini Tal, India.
In 1915, flame-throwers were used in battle for the first
time when the 3rd Guard German pioneer regiment used them
against the French at Malancourt.
In 1916, the Germans sunk the French transport ship Provence
II, killing 930.
In 1935, RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) was first
demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt.
In 1936, Adolf Hitler opened the first factory for the
production of the "People's Car," the Volkswagen, in Saxony.
In 1952, Winston Churchill announced that Britain had
produced its own atomic bomb and would test it in Australia.
In 1961, Prince Hassan acceded to the throne of Morocco as
King Hassan II following the sudden death of his father
Mohammed V.
In 1962, in Northern Ireland, the IRA suspended its campaign
of violence it began in 1956 against the province's government.
In 1969, Levi Eshkol, Israeli prime minister since 1963,
died.
In 1976, Spain handed over the Western Sahara to Morocco and
Mauritania.
In 1980, Egypt and Israel established diplomatic relations,
marking the end of 30 years of war between the two nations.
In 1984, the last U.S. Marines in the multinational
peacekeeping force in Lebanon left Beirut.
In 1986, after being airlifted from the presidential palace
the previous day, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and
an entourage of about 90 fled the country to Guam.
In 1990, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw all of its 73,500 troops from Czechoslovakia by July 1991.
In 1993, a bomb exploded at the World Trade Center in New
York. The blast killed six people and injured more than
1,000.
In 1994, sworn enemies of Russian President Boris Yeltsin
walked free from jail under a parliamentary amnesty. They
included former Vice President Alexander Rutskoi, and the
ex-chairman of the disbanded parliament, Ruslan Khasbulatov.
In 1995, the London finance house of Barings collapsed after
huge losses run up in Singapore by trader Nick Leeson.
In 1997, the Swiss government gave final approval to a
Holocaust memorial fund.
In 1997, Nuccio Bertone, one of the automobile world's great mentors and the doyen of Italian design, died.
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Newslink
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Today is the last chance this millennium for skywatchers to see a total eclipse from the Western Hemisphere. If you can't make it to the Caribbean for a good view, try this instead. Live@The Exploratorium is among the sites that will Webcast live pictures of the event.
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Holidays and more
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Today is Kuwait Liberation Day.
Singer Johnny Cash is 66.
Singer Fats Domino is 70.
Actor Tony Randall is 78.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1998, J.P. Morgan
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