Friday, May 15, 1998
Today's events
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The Group of Eight summit opens in Birmingham, England.
The Daytime Emmy Awards show will be held.
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On the horizon
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On Saturday, May 16, it's the running of the Preakness, the second in
horse-racing's Triple Crown.
On Sunday, May 17, the National Basketball Association draft lottery takes place.
On Monday, May 18, the Socialist International annual meeting will be held in Norway.
On Tuesday, May 19, the National Geography Bee finals will be held in Washington.
On Wednesday, May 20, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan will unveil a redesigned $20 bill.
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On this day
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In 1004, Henry II, the last Saxon ruler of Germany, was
crowned king of Lombardy following the defeat of Arduin of
Ivrea. The city of Pavia rioted at the news.
In 1718, James Puckle, a London lawyer, patented the world's
first machine gun.
In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi, with 1,000 volunteers, defeated the superior Neapolitan army at the Battle of Calatafimi.
In 1916, in Italy, Asiago fell when Austrian troops under von
Hotzendorf attacked the Italian front along the Trentino.
In 1918, the world's first airmail postal service began
between New York, Philadelphia and Washington, using planes
supplied by the U.S. War Department.
In 1934, Karlis Ulmanis seized power in a coup in Latvia.
In 1936, Amy Johnson arrived in Croydon, England, after a
record-breaking return flight from South Africa that took four
days and 16 hours.
In 1940, nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in
the United States.
In 1940, the Dutch army surrendered to Nazi Germany.
In 1941, Britain's first jet-propelled aircraft, the
Gloster-Whittle E.28/39, was flown for the first time.
In 1955, the Vienna Treaty, signed by Britain, France, the
United States and the USSR, restored Austria's independence.
In 1957, Britain dropped its first hydrogen bomb on Christmas
Island in the Pacific.
In 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot and crippled
in an assassination attempt as he campaigned in Maryland for the
U.S. presidency.
In 1988, Moscow began the withdrawal of its estimated 115,000
troops in Afghanistan by pulling a unit out of Jalalabad.
In 1990, "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" by Vincent van Gogh
sold for $82.5 million at Christies in New York, smashing the
world record of $53.9 million.
In 1992, Opposition Popular Front forces in Azerbaijan swept
President Ayaz Mutalibov from power only a day after parliament
reinstated him.
In 1993, French police rescued six schoolgirls and a teacher
after a 46-hour hostage drama at a Paris suburban school.
In 1995, China conducted an underground nuclear test just days
after it had agreed to an extension of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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Newslink
Notable
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It is Buddha Jayanti in Nepal.
Paraguay celebrates Independence Day.
It is Saint Isidro's Day in Spain and Mexico.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is 61.
Photographer Richard Avedon is 75.
Filmmaker David Cronenberg is 55.
Musician Brian Eno is 50.
Actor Lee Horsley ("Matt Houston") is 43.
Artist Jasper Johns is 68.
Singer and actress Lanie Kazan ("My Favorite Year") is 56.
Actor and singer Trini Lopez ("The Dirty Dozen") is 61.
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Sources: Associated Press,
Chase's Calendar of Events 1998, J.P. Morgan
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