Saturday, February 14, 1998
Today's events
It's Valentine's Day. Did you remember the flowers?
Some Major League Baseball teams begin spring training.
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On the horizon
On Sunday, February 15, Somali factions are tentatively
scheduled to meet at a national reconciliation conference.
On Monday, February 16, deadline is scheduled for
decision in Microsoft Corp. case involving whether temporary
workers should receive benefits.
On Tuesday, February 17, the trial of Jonathan Norman, charged with stalking film director Steven Spielberg, is scheduled to start in Santa Monica, California.
On Wednesday, February 18, multiparty talks on Northern Ireland's future open in Dublin.
On Thursday, February 19, preparatory talks will be held in London for an ASEM leaders summit in April.
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On this day
In 1014, Pope Benedict VIII was crowned Henry II as Holy Roman Emperor.
In 1400, King Richard II of England, deposed from the throne
the previous year, died mysteriously in Pontefract Castle.
In 1477, the world's first known valentine was sent to John
Paston from Margery Brews, addressed "To my right welbelovyd
Voluntyne."
In 1779, British explorer Captain James Cook was murdered in Hawaii.
In 1797, the British fleet, under Admirals John Jervis and
Horatio Nelson, defeated the Spanish at the battle of St. Vincent off Portugal.
In 1859, Oregon became the 33rd state of the Union.
In 1891, William Tecumseh Sherman, Union general in the
American Civil War, died.
In 1893, Hawaii was annexed to the United States by treaty, but the treaty was withdrawn by President Grover Cleveland.
In 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union.
In 1922, Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi began the first
regular radio broadcasting transmission from England.
In 1929, Al Capone's henchmen, in order to prevent the
hijacking of whiskey shipments, killed seven members of the Bugs Moran gang in the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in a Chicago garage.
In 1939, the German navy launched its battleship Bismarck.
In 1943, in World War II, the Russians captured Rostov,
Voroshilovgrad and Krasny Sulin from the Germans.
In 1946, an electronic brain, or computer, began working at
the University of Pennsylvania, taking seconds to do calculations which normally took hours. It was called ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer.
In 1950, a 30-year treaty was signed between the Soviet
Union and China in Moscow.
In 1956, the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party
opened, during which Nikita Khrushchev denounced the policies of Joseph Stalin.
In 1958, King Faisal of Iraq and King Hussein of Jordan
proclaimed the merger of their kingdoms in the "Arab
Federation," with King Faisal as head of state and King Hussein his deputy.
In 1963, Harold Wilson was elected leader of the British
Labour Party.
In 1972, the Soviet unmanned spacecraft Luna 20 was launched
to the moon.
In 1979, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolphe Dubs, was killed when security forces tried to free him from kidnappers.
In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was stormed by
demonstrators, holding the ambassador and staff captive for
several hours.
In 1988, Austrian composer and songwriter Frederick "Fritz"
Loewe died. Stage successes included "My Fair Lady," "Gigi"
and "Brigadoon."
In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, in a fatwa, ordered the
execution of British author Salman Rushdie after the publication of his novel, "Satanic Verses."
In 1989, kidnappers escaped with up to $2.5 million
ransom after releasing former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants from a month of captivity.
In 1989, Union Carbide Corp. accepted an Indian
Supreme Court ruling that it pay $470 million in
compensation for the 1984 Bhopal poison gas disaster, in which poisonous clouds from a Carbide fertilizer plant enveloped nearly 20 square miles and killed thousands in the immediate area.
In 1992, the European Community and the seven-nation European Free Trade Association struck a final deal, clearing the way for the creation of the world's biggest single market.
In 1995, Peru declared a cease-fire at the end of a 19-day-old border war with Ecuador.
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Newslink
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways ..... with a box of chocolates, a dozen red roses and a diamond necklace. Get in the mood with the Swanky Love Palace.
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Holidays and more
Today is Valentine's Day.
Journalist Carl Bernstein is 54.
Football player Drew Bledsoe is 26.
Broadcaster Hugh Downs is 77.
Actor Zach Galligan is 34.
Actress Florence Henderson is 64.
Dancer Gregory Hines is 52.
Actor Andrew Prine is 62.
Magician Teller is 50.
Actress Meg Tilly is 38.
Actor Ken Wahl is 45.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1998, J.P. Morgan
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