CNN Interactive - Almanac - December 27, 1998

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga is scheduled to visit New Delhi, India.
Amartya Sen, 1998 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, is to be honored by officials in Calcutta, India.
Peace activists from 16 countries are planning to hold an anti-war conference in New Delhi,India.

On Monday, December 28, the U.N.Security Council may meet in a new effort to rebuild consensus on dealing with Saddam Hussein. Iraqi military forces remain on alert and militiamen of Saddam's ruling party continue patrols in Baghdad that began just before US-led air attacks were launched.
On Tuesday, December 29, The Conference Board in New York is scheduled to release its monthly consumer confidence index.
On Wednesday, December 30, President and Mrs. Clinton are scheduled to leave for Hilton Head, SC. They'll participate in the annual Renaissance Weekend.
On Thursday, December 31, the ceremonial ball will drop at midnight in Times Square in New York. Sang Lan, the 17-year-old Chinese gymnast paralyzed at last summer's Goodwill Games, will help Mayor Rudolph Giuliani do the honors.
On Friday, January 1, the Euro, the single European currency; is scheduled to be launched.

NEWSLINK:		NOTABLE:
The latest attempt to circle the globe in a balloon ended with a plunge in the Pacific. To learn more about ballooning, click here.		Actor Gerard Depardieu ("Cyrano de Bergerac") is 50. Actress Tovah Feldshuh ("Holocaust") is 46. Fashion designer Bernard Lanvin is 63. Physician William Masters is 83. Comedienne Anna Russell is 87. President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon is 47.

In 1703, England and Portugal signed the Methuen Treaty, under which the Portuguese agreed to admit English textiles, which they had previously prohibited, and the English agreed to import wines at a duty rate lower than that imposed on French wines.
In 1822, Louis Pasteur, the French chemist and bacteriologist, was born. He originated the heat process known as Pasteurization, used to destroy micro-organisms in certain foods and drinks.
In 1831, the British Admiralty survey ship HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, set out from Plymouth on its scientific voyage round the globe.
In 1901, Marlene Dietrich, the German actress, was born as Maria Magdalene von Losch.
In 1927, Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party.
In 1932, the Radio City Music Hall opened to the public in New York.
In 1945, the International Monetary Fund was established in Washington.
In 1948, Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, Catholic primate of Hungary, was arrested for anti-Communist statements.
In 1949, Indonesia became legally independent from the Netherlands.
In 1972, Belgium became the first NATO country to establish diplomatic relations with East Germany.
In 1972, Lester Pearson, the Canadian statesman and prime minister (1963-68), died. He won the Nobel Peace Price in 1957 for his efforts to resolve the Suez crisis of 1956.
In 1978, King Juan Carlos ratified Spain's first democratic constitution.
In 1979, Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was executed following a coup backed by Soviet forces.
In 1984, four police officers went on trial in Warsaw for the killing of pro-Solidarity priest Father Popieluszko.
In 1989, Egypt and Syria resumed full diplomatic relations after a 12-year break.
In 1991, all 129 passengers and crew survived when a Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) airliner crash-landed and broke into three pieces minutes after taking off from Stockholm.