Timeline 1997 July - September
Return to home
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1,
Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Mike Tyson for biting
Holyfield.
   (www.lasvegassun.com/sports/boxing/htfight/)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Film star Robert
Mitchum died at 79 (b.1917) in Santa Barbara County, Calif.
   (SFC, 7/2/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/1/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Hong Kong reverted
to Chinese rule after 156 years as a British colony. Britain
relinquished Hong Kong as a colonial territory, and China became
master. Many rights were guaranteed for 50 years under a
Sino-British treaty. Tung Chee Hwa (b.1937) began serving as the
first chief executive of Hong Kong.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Chee-hwa)(WSJ, 11/14/94,
p.A9)(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A9)(AP, 7/1/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Two Israeli
soldiers were injured by a pipe bomb and 15 Palestinians were
wounded by rubber bullets in Hebron in disturbances after an Israeli
women, Tatiana Susskin (25), distributed leaflets with the Prophet
Mohammed depicted as a pig stomping on the Koran.
   (SFC, 7/2/97, p.A8)(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, In the UK a new
handgun law took effect as a result of the 1996 massacre at the
school in Dunblane, Scotland.
   (SFEC, 6/29/97, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, In Russia the grave
site of 9,000 victims in the Karelia Forest at Medvezhyegorsk was
opened. In Oct-Nov, 1937, a 3-man panel under Stalin, the "Osobaya
Troika," signed death sentences that were sent to thousands of
gulags across Russia and led to the massacre. A monument was
planned.
   (SFC, 7/17/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Thailand let its
currency, the baht, float and it devalued about 20%. This event
marked the beginning of the Asian economic crises. In 1999 Thailand
sought to extradite Rakesh Saxena, a currency trader, from Canada
for his role in an alleged fraud that drained over $2 billion from
the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which led to the devaluation of the
baht. Pin Chakkaphak was blamed for the collapse of the currency and
fled Asia. He was ordered back from Britain in 2001 to face
accounting and theft charges. In 2009 Saxena (57) arrived in
Thailand after his extradition from Canada to face charges he
embezzled $88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which
collapsed in 1995. Saxena was also implicated in backing the
attempted 1997 coup in Sierra Leone.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.D4)(WSJ, 7/21/97, p.A1)(SFEC,
5/31/98, p.D1)(WSJ, 5/7/99, p.A1)(SFC, 3/9/01, p.A16)(Econ, 3/25/06,
p.80)(AP, 10/30/09)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.42)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, The US began a
round of underground nuclear weapons-related tests in Nevada.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, A federal judge in
New York ruled that the military policy, "don’t ask, don’t tell," is
unconstitutional and only serves to cater to the biases of many
heterosexuals.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, A Montana court
voided a 24-year-old ban on homosexual sex, concluding that the
government has no business meddling in the sexual activity of
consenting adults.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Two Union Pacific
trains collided 5 miles north of Rossville, Kan., when an engineer
overshot a siding a struck an oncoming train 6 cars behind the
locomotive; the engineer died in the wreck.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Severe thunder
storms tore through Michigan’s lower peninsula and killed at least 7
people.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Actor James Stewart
(b.1908), died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 89.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/2/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, US Aid to Honduras
had dropped this year to $28 million from a high of $229 million in
1985. The country had the highest AIDS rate in Central America.
   (WSJ, 7/2/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, In Japan the
Panamanian registered Diamond Grace oil tanker ran aground in Tokyo
Bay and spilled nearly 2 million gallons of oil. The amount spilled
was revised to 390,000 gallons.
   (SFC, 7/2/97, p.A9)(SFC, 7/3/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, A Canadian
commission, established to review the actions of peace-keeping
troops in Somalia between 1992-93, concluded that the troops were
unprepared and victimized by commanders who ignored problems that
escalated to torture and the killing of a Somali teenager.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, In Russia Pres.
Yeltsin fired justice minister Valentin Kovalyov due to the sex
scandal of Jun 22.
   (SFC, 7/3/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, In his first formal
response to Paula Jones' charges of sexual harassment, President
Clinton denied all allegations in her lawsuit and asked a judge to
dismiss the case.
   (AP, 7/3/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Mississippi became
the 1st state to settle its tobacco suit, less than one week before
the 1st scheduled trial.
   (http://tinyurl.com/amlhg)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Lockheed Martin
Corp., the nation's biggest defense contractor, announced its
purchase of Northrop Grumman Corp. for $11.2 billion [$7.9 billion].
However, the merger fell apart over antitrust concerns.
   (SFC, 7/4/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/3/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, The Rainbow Family,
founded in 1971, began their 25th gathering in Ochoco National
Forest in Oregon. 20-30,000 were expected to participate.
   (SFC, 7/4/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Daisy Mascada (18)
cut off the penis of Julio Luna with a 10-inch knife in Seaside, Ca.
She was sentenced to 7 years in prison and later pleaded that she
had been kidnapped, battered and abused.
   (SFC, 10/14/99, p.A22)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Blues guitarist
Johnny Copeland (b.1937), the "Texas Twister," died. His 1985
"Showdown" album with Albert Collins (d.1993) and Robert Cray won a
Grammy for best traditional blues recording.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Lions Gate
Entertainment Corp. (Lionsgate) was formed in Vancouver, BC. Its
headquarters were later moved to Santa Monica, Ca.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Entertainment)(Econ,
1/25/14, p.57)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Ritt Goldstein, a
businessman from Danbury, Conn., arrived in Sweden and sought
political asylum. He claimed to be persecuted in the US for his
crusade for civilian oversight of the police.
   (SFC, 10/14/98, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Bikers returned to
Hollister, Ca., for a 50-year anniversary and began an annual
motorcycle tradition. [see Jul 4, 1947]
   (SFC, 7/4/02, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, The Mars Pathfinder
landed and began to broadcast pictures of the red rocky landscape.
The landing site was later named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, TV journalist and
"On the Road" reporter Charles Kuralt (b.1934) died at 62 from
lupus. His mistress of 29 years later sought to inherit his 90 acre
Montana fishing retreat.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A5)(SFC, 2/18/00, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, It was reported
that Australia had sold 167 tons of gold over the last 6 months in
order to put the money into more productive assets.
   (SFC, 7/4/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, In Cambodia troops
of prince Ranariddh laid down their arms and some 140 were taken
prisoner by troops of 2nd Prime Minister Hun Sen. Ranariddh was on a
trip to France and Hun Sen claimed that illegal negotiations were
taking place with Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, In Guatemala Pres.
Alvaro Arzu fired 2 top military officials, after they had helped
negotiate a peace treaty. They were known as moderates and the
hard-liner Gen’l. Hector Barrios took over as the new defense chief.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, The Hong Kong
Philharmonic premiered of the "Symphony 1997 (Heaven Earth Mankind)"
by the composer Tan Dun. The piece was commissioned by China to mark
the reunification of Hong Kong and China.
   (WSJ, 6/25/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, In Mexico it was
reported that Amado Carillo Fuentes (41), Mexico’s reputed top drug
trafficker, died following extensive plastic surgery. His operations
were centered in Juarez, across the border from El Paso. He was
called "Lord of the Skies" for using passenger jets to bring in
cocaine from Colombia. It was later reported that his death was an
inside job arranged because a massive manhunt for him had become a
liability to his cartel’s business.
   (SFEC, 7/6/97, p.B4)(SFC, 7/7/97, p.A10)(SFC,
2/14/98, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, In Russia the
parliament passed a law to reassert state control over weapons
exports.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, It was reported
that as many as 100 paintings and drawings by Dutch artist Vincent
Van Gogh (1853-1890) may be fakes.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, From Columbus,
Ohio, The United Church of Christ decided to unite with 3 other
protestant denominations that include the Presbyterian Church, the
Reformed Church of America, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
America.
   (SFEC, 7/6/97, p.B10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Sixteen-year-old
Martina Hingis became the youngest Wimbledon singles champion this
century as she beat Jana Novotna in the women's finals. (Charlotte
"Lottie" Dod won in 1887 at age 15.)
   (AP, 7/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, NASA scientists
brainstormed to fix problems that left Mars Pathfinder's robot rover
stuck aboard the lander.
   (AP, 7/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, An editorial stated
that Governor Fob James had declared Alabama to be a rights-free
zone. In a letter to a federal judge Gov. James stated that the
Constitution’s Bill of Rights does not apply to the states.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Cambodia's Second
Prime Minister Hun Sen launched a bloody coup that toppled First
Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh. The heavy fighting in Phnom Penh
indicated the collapse of the fragile coalition.
   (SFEC, 7/6/97, p.A3)(AP, 7/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, From Taiwan it was
reported that the ruling party and the opposition pro-independence
party had joined behind a plan to change the constitution and scrap
the provincial government, a vestige of an old arrangement that
considered Taiwan a part of China.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, In Tokyo top
electronics manufacturers agreed on standards for a new computer
disk. The new magneto-optical disk will battle against the DVD-RAM
disks as the preferred data storage format. Both disks will feature
read and rewrite capabilities.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.D6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Pete Sampras won
his fourth Wimbledon title as he defeated Cedric Pioline of France.
   (AP, 7/6/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, The rover Sojourner
rolled down a ramp from the Mars Pathfinder lander and began
mankind’s first mobile exploration of Mars. The first rock targeted
for examination was named "Barnacle Bill."
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A1) (AP, 7/6/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Washington DC
Mary Mahoney (25), Emory Evans (25) and Aaron Goodrich (18) were
murdered in an apparent botched robbery at Starbucks coffee shop in
the Georgetown neighborhood. In 1999 Carl Derek Havord Cooper (29)
was charged with the murders.
   (SFC, 3/6/99, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Albania three
people died as the 2nd round of elections were completed. The
Socialist gained 12 more seats versus 5 more for the Democrats.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Cambodia Hun Sen
declared victory while Prince Ranariddh planned from France to carry
out a resistance effort.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Mexico City
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano, leader of the opposition Party of the
Democratic Revolution, declared victory in the race for mayor. The
PRI lost its majority in the lower house of Congress. The four
opposition parties banded together in a coalition to inaugurate the
new Congress on Aug 30.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A14)(AP,
7/6/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Portadown,
Northern Ireland, British troops cleared the streets to allow the
Orange Order to march through the Catholic enclave along Garvaghy
Road amidst scattered violence.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Montgomery Wards,
the nation’s largest privately owned retailer, filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection.
   (SFC, 7/8/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, It was reported
that toxic waste was being used across the country in fertilizers
with no regulation. Substances being recycled in fertilizer included
low level radioactive waste from a uranium processing plant in Gore,
Okla.; lead-laced waste from a pulp mill in Camas, Wash.; and toxic
byproducts from steel-making in Moxee City, Wash.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In California it
was reported that the state’s million plus cows were churning out $3
billion worth of milk and leaking harmful nitrates into the ground
water of the Central Valley. Years ago the Chino basin was forced to
write off vast quantities of tainted ground water due to dairies.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Three days after
landing on Mars, the Pathfinder spacecraft yielded what scientists
said was unmistakable photographic evidence that colossal floods
scoured the Red Planet's now-barren landscape more than a billion
years ago.
   (AP, 7/7/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In Chile the
government agreed to back the 670,000 acre nature preserve of Doug
Tompkins, founder of the Esprit clothing chain.
   (SFC, 7/8/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In Kenya 9 people
died during protests for constitutional reform.
   (SFC, 7/8/97, p.A8)(SFC, 7/12/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, The Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee opened politically charged hearings
into fund-raising abuses, with chairman Fred Thompson accusing China
of trying to influence the 1996 U.S. elections.
   (AP, 7/8/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, The Mayo Clinic and
the government warned the diet-drug combination known as "fen-phen"
could cause serious heart and lung damage. The drugs were withdrawn
in September. In 2000 a federal judge approved a $3.75 billion
national settlement of health claims due to use of the drugs.
   (AP, 7/8/98)(SFC, 8/29/00, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, Michelle
Moore-Bosko (18) of Pittsburgh, who had recently moved to Norfolk,
Va., and secretly married her longtime boyfriend, William Bosko, was
found raped and killed. 4 sailors, who became known as the Norfolk
Four, were later convicted for her rape and murder. In 2009 Danial
Williams (37), Derek Tice (39) and Joseph Dick (33) were pardoned,
culminating a four-year campaign for clemency based on the sailors'
claims that they were coerced into falsely admitting their
involvement, that the details they provided were wrong and that
there was no physical evidence linking them to the crime. A fourth
sailor, Eric Wilson (33), served more than eight years in prison and
has been released. A fifth man, Omar Ballard, was also convicted in
the crime, and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, 59 of which
were suspended. He is the only man whose DNA matched that found at
the scene. His confession stated that he committed the crime by
himself.
   (SFC, 8/7/09,
p.A5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Norfolk_Four)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, A US Army Black
Hawk helicopter crashed at Fort Bragg, NC, and killed 8 soldiers.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, NATO issued formal
membership invitations to Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/8/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In Cambodia
Interior Minister Ho Sok was seized and executed by forces loyal to
Hun Sen. Some 30 soldiers loyal to Ranariddh were captured and
tortured by Regiment 911 at Kambol.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A6)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In Dagestan a bomb
blew up on a bus carrying Russian border police and 9 officers were
killed. Sporadic violence continued along with kidnappings.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In India a bomb
exploded on a passenger train in the Punjab at Bhatinda and killed
36 people and wounded 70.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In Northern Ireland
masked members of the IRA boarded, cleared and set fire to a Dublin
to Belfast train.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, A report on
Transdniestria, between Moldova and the Ukraine, described it as a
haven for arms smugglers, money launderers and outlaws on the lam.
   (WSJ, 7/8/97, p.A1,8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Boxer Mike Tyson
was banned from the ring and fined $3 million for biting opponent
Evander Holyfield's ears.
   (AP, 7/9/98)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Poet Adrienne Rich
rejected the US government National Medal for the Arts award due to
radical disparities of wealth and power in America.
   (SFC, 7/10/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Louise Woodward
failed to respond to a wrongful death suit filed by the parents of
Matthew Eappen, the baby she was convicted of killing, and this
allowed a federal court to automatically rule against her.
   (www.courttv.com/trials/woodward/070998.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Hawaii medical,
insurance and pension benefits began to be allowed to any 2 adults
who could not legally marry under a law enacted to ward off
homosexual marriages.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Leaders of 16 NATO
nations met with 25 other countries in an unprecedented security
summit in Madrid, Spain.
   (AP, 7/9/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Algeria
Adbelkader Hachani, Muslim fundamentalist leader, was freed hours
after a court sentenced him to 5 years in prison. He had been held
without trial since 1991 when the military voided a vote that his
group was set to win.
   (WSJ, 7/10/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Cambodia some 30
opposition officials were arrested in Pray Veng Province, 13 in
Battambang, and 20 in Kompong Speu. Prince Ranariddh was in
consultation with the United Nations for support.
   (SFC, 7/10/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Cypriot Pres.
Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash were
scheduled to meet in a 4-day session in New York to resolve their
disputes.
   (SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In India half of
the Asian elephant population of 60,000 lived in an area of just
168,000 sq. miles.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Kenya armed
police shut down the Univ. of Nairobi and clubbed students who
demanded free and fair elections.
   (SFC, 7/10/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, From Thailand it
was reported that elephants were dying around pineapple orchards,
possibly from chemical poisoning. Only some 500 elephants remained
in the country.
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Venezuela a 6.7
earthquake hit the northeast coastal region and killed at least 59
people including 27 students trapped inside a collapsed school
building.
   (SFC, 7/10/97, p.E3)(SFC, 7/11/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, President Clinton,
visiting Poland, told a Warsaw square filled with cheering Poles
that "never again will your fate be decided by others." He announced
a successful drive to bring Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
into NATO by 1999.
   (AP, 7/10/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, RJR Nabisco
Holdings said it would phase out the Joe Camel cartoon character
used for advertising their cigarettes.
   (WSJ, 7/11/97, p.B1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, The DNA from the
arm bone of Neanderthal man found in 1856 was found to represent a
separate human species. Scientists in London said DNA from a
Neanderthal skeleton supported a theory that all humanity descended
from an "African Eve" 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/10/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Walter Korn
(b.1908), Czech-born chess authority, died. His books included "The
Art of Chess Competition."
   (SFC, 7/29/97, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Operation Tango
NATO forces captured Milan Kovacevic, a physician who was the 2nd
ranking officer in the Prijedor City Hall during the war. An attempt
to capture Simo Drljaca, a leader of local "ethnic cleansing" led to
a shootout and his death. Kovacevic died in 1998 while jailed in the
Hague.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A17)(WSJ, 8/3/98, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Britain
thousands of rural people showed up at Hyde Park to defend the sport
of fox and deer hunting. A bill to ban the hunting of foxes, deer,
hares and mink with dogs was being considered.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, ASEAN foreign
ministers voted to suspend Cambodia’s pending membership. The US
announced a 3/4 reduction of staff and some aid. More than 50 people
were dead after 2 days of fighting.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In the Central
African Republic Pres. Patasse reconciled with 300 mutinous
soldiers.
   (WSJ, 7/11/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Paramilitary
police suppressed protests in Mianyang city in Sichuan province
where more than 100,000 unemployed textile workers demanded
government assistance and accused local officials of stealing their
unemployment funds.
   (SFC, 7/18/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Northern
Ireland the Orange Order canceled plans to march through Catholic
neighborhoods in 2 main cities over the weekend.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, A mudslide in
Izumi on Kyushu island, Japan, killed 21 people and injured 14.
   (SFC, 7/12/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Papua New
Guinea Gen’l. Jerry Singirok, leader of the March revolt against
prime minister Chan, was decommissioned. Elections were completed
and a new government was to be announced at the end of the month.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Torrential rains
in Poland and the Czech Republic killed at least 39 people and
forced thousands from their homes.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Switzerland a 3
year pilot heroin distribution program was declared a success.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, President Clinton
was cheered by tens of thousands of people in Bucharest, Romania,
where he raised hopes for NATO membership.
   (AP, 7/11/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, Uwatec Corp. was
sold to Johnson Worldwide Assoc. (later Johnson Outdoors Inc.) for
$33.5 million. A defect in the Aladin Air X Nitrox, an underwater
diving computer, was not disclosed. Injuries and lawsuits followed
and the product was pulled Feb 5, 2003.
   (SSFC, 5/25/03, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, A Cuban An-24
passenger plane with 44 people plunged into the sea after take-off
from Santiago de Cuba enroute to Havana.
   (SFC, 7/12/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In India a riot
broke out in Bombay after a garland of shoes - a grave insult - was
draped over a bust of Babasaheb Ambedkar, a political leader from
Hinduism’s lowest caste. Police killed ten people including two
children on their way to school.
   (SFC, 7/12/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In Thailand a
kitchen fire went out of control at the 450-room Royal Jomtien Hotel
in Pattaya and killed 91 people with 64 injured.
   (SFC, 7/12/97, p.A10)(WSJ, 7/11/97, p.A12)(AP,
7/11/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, In Copenhagen, the
last stop of an eight-day European tour, President Clinton said
political divisions in Europe were closing.
   (AP, 7/12/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, In Berlin,
Germany, several hundreds of thousands gathered for the annual Love
Parade, a big party for fans of the electronic dance music known as
techno.
   (SFEC, 7/13/97, p.D8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, ETA kidnapped
small town politician Miguel Angel Blanco and demanded that the
group's prisoners be brought to Basque jails. Blanco was found
mortally dead shortly after a deadline. His slaying triggered
widespread demonstrations in Spain.
   (AP, 7/12/98)(AP, 3/22/06)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright returned to her Jewish roots in the Czech
Republic, finding names of family members killed by the Nazis
inscribed on a Prague synagogue wall. News reports the previous
February revealed that Albright, who'd been raised a Roman Catholic,
had Jewish relatives, many of whom died in the Holocaust.
   (AP, 7/13/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, In Poland floods
threatened the isle of Ostrow Tumski on the Oder River in the heart
of Wroclaw, whose buildings date back to the 13th century. A
100-year flood swept through the Sudety Mountains.
   (SFC, 7/14/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 8/2/98, p.T8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, In San Sebastian,
Spain, Miguel Angel Blanco (29), a Basque town councilor and
low-ranking member of the Popular Party of Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar, died of head wounds from the ETA, Basque Homeland and
Freedom, a Basque separatist group. Almost 800 people have died
since the ETA began fighting in 1968.
   (SFEC, 7/13/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, O.J. Simpson's
California mansion was auctioned off for $2.6 million.
   (AP, 7/14/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, The international
war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced Dusan Tadic,
a Bosnian Serb, to 20 years in prison for turning on his Muslim and
Croat neighbors in a deadly campaign of terror and torture.
   (AP, 7/14/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Algeria a bomb
exploded in an Algiers market filled with women and children and
killed 21 people and wounded 40. Weekend massacres left 40 villagers
dead.
   (SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Bangladesh
monsoon flooding killed at least 64 people in the last week.
   (WSJ, 7/14/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In El Salvador
regulators seized Financiera Insepro which collapsed and left more
than 1000 account holders demanding justice. The $15 million bank
failure led to a call for US investigators and 5 prominent business
leaders were jailed.
   (SFEC, 7/20/97, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, A footbridge over
the Yarkon River collapsed while being crossed by the Australian
delegation to the 15th Maccabiah games. Two died immediately in the
accident and 2 died later from complications possibly caused by the
pollution in the river. The games are held every 4 years for Jewish
athletes. The bridge was thrown up in less than a month with no
blueprint or foundation. 5 Israelis were convicted in 2000 for
criminal negligence. 4 officials were sentenced to prison terms from
6-21 months.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A6)(SFC, 4/18/00, p.A10)(SFC,
6/6/00, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Kenya thousands
of students fought riot police in Nairobi and demanded
constitutional reforms. Nairobi Univ. and Jomo Kenyatta Univ. were
closed indefinitely.
   (SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Rwanda weekend
clashes between the army and Hutu rebels left more than 170 people
dead.
   (SFC, 7/18/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Spain more than
2 million people took to the streets across Spain to mourn the death
of Miguel Angel Blanco and to condemn the Basque separatist
guerrillas who killed him.
   (SFC, 7/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Marine biologists
diving from the Johnson Sea Link in the Gulf of Mexico discovered
what appeared to be a new species of worm of the family polychaetes.
The worms lived on top of frozen mounds of gas hydrates.
   (SFC, 7/30/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Gianni Versace,
Italian fashion designer, was shot to death outside his home in
Miami Beach, Fla. Police searched for Andrew Philip Cunanan, 27, of
San Diego as the primary suspect. Suspected serial killer Andrew
Phillip Cunanan, was found dead eight days later. In 1999 Maureen
Orth authored "Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace and the
Largest Failed Manhunt in US History."
   (SFC, 7/17/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/15/98)(SFEC, 3/28/99,
p.D9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Algeria Abassi
Madani, former leader of the Islamic Salvation Front, was released
after serving 5 years of a 12 year sentence.
   (SFC, 7/16/97, p.C12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Algeria a court
condemned 24 Muslim militants to death for their involvement in
guerrilla activities.
   (SFC, 7/16/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15-1997 Jul 20, In
Colombia a right-wing death squad under Carlos Castano killed at
least 49 suspected guerrilla sympathizers in Mapiripan, Meta
province. In 1998 2 army sergeants, Juan Carlos Gamarra and Jose
Miller Urena, were linked to the massacre. In 2001 Gen. Jaime
Humberto Uscategui was given a 40-month sentence for failing to
defend the town. In 2009 a court convicted Uscategui of murder and
sentenced him to 40 years in prison for his role in the notorious
massacre.
   (SFC, 2/14/98, p.A8)(SFC, 7/11/98, p.A11)(SFC,
2/14/01, p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/coyuh)(AP, 11/26/09)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, The Czech trade
deficit was labeled as the largest in the world relative to its
economy.
   (SFC, 7/16/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Liberia pres.
candidate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (58), a banker and UN official, led
a women’s solidarity march. She had recently emerged as the leading
rival of warlord Charles Taylor.
   (SFC, 7/16/97, p.A9)(SFC, 7/19/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Northern
Ireland pro-British militants shot and killed Bernadette Martin
while she slept beside her Protestant boyfriend.
   (SFEC,10/26/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Serbia Slobodan
Milosevic was elected president of the Yugoslav federation in a vote
that opposition parties said was illegal.
   (SFC, 7/16/97, p.C12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Eastern Slavonia
was scheduled to be handed over to Croatian authorities. It had been
seized by the Serbs in 1991. [see Jan 15, 1998]
   (SFC, 1/22/96, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Hundreds of FBI
agents, some handing out photos in gay bars and hotels, blanketed
south Florida in the continuing hunt for alleged
prostitute-turned-serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan, who was
suspected of killing designer Gianni Versace.
   (AP, 7/16/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Jerold Mackenzie
was awarded $26.6M for being fired from Miller Brewing in 1993 for
sexual harassment for relaying a Seinfeld episode to a co-worker.
Higher courts later threw the entire award out. In 2003 Mackenzie
accepted an out-of-court settlement for $625,000.
   (MC,
7/16/02)(http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jun03/146469.asp)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In Recife, Brazil,
the 18,000 man police force went on strike. The crime and murder
rate immediately surged and some 3,000 soldiers were called to try
to maintain order.
   (SFC, 7/23/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In Cambodia Hun
Sen named a new co-premier, Ung Huot, the foreign minister and a
member of Ranariddh’s Funcinpec Party. Exiled legislators said was
the appointment was illegal.
   (SFC, 7/17/97, p.A8)(WSJ, 7/17/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In Cuba Vladimiro
Roca, Martha Beatriz Roque, Felix Bonne, and Rene Gomez Manzano were
detained for issuing a document "La Patria es de Todos," criticizing
the political system. They were scheduled for a trial on charges of
sedition in 1999. The Prosecution recommended a 6 year sentence for
Roca and 5 year sentences for the others after the 4 rejected a
government offer to go into exile. Roca was sentenced to 5 years,
Manzano and Bonne to 4 years, and Roque to 3 ½ years.
   (USAT, 10/9/98, p.13A)(SFC, 2/27/99, p.A17)(SFC,
3/3/99, p.A10)(SFC, 3/16/99, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In Mexico Benjamin
Flores Gonzalez (29), a newspaper editor of La Prensa, was gunned
down in San Luis Colorado across the border from Yuma, Ariz.
   (SFC, 7/17/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, President Clinton
nominated Army Gen. Henry Shelton to be the next chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
   (AP, 7/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Woolworth Corp.
announced that it would close more than 400 of its five-and-dime
retail stores, ending 117 years in business.
   (WSJ, 7/17/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, The Columbia space
shuttle and it crew of 7 returned after a 16-day mission. On the Mir
space station, the 3-man crew struggled to stabilize a free-spin
after a cable to a key computer system was mistakenly pulled.
   (SFC, 7/18/97, p.A1,9)(AP, 7/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Disney
sub-contractor H.H. Cutler announced that it would terminate its
business in Haiti due to slumping sales of children’s clothes. Some
2,300 jobs would be lost. Int’l. activists had criticized the
operations for wages as low as $.28 per hour. The unemployment rate
was at 80%.
   (SFC, 7/18/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Dr. Robert C.
Weaver (b.1907), the first African American to serve on a
president’s cabinet, died in NYC. He was the administrator of the
federal Housing and Home Finance Agency, the predecessor to HUD,
under President John F. Kennedy. He was named national chairman of
the NAACP in 1960 and in 1962 he was awarded the NAACP Spingarn
Medal. Weaver wrote more than 175 articles and four books on housing
and urban issues. [see Jan 18,1966]
  Â
(http://search.eb.com/Blackhistory/article.do?nKeyValue=76375)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In India K.R.
Narayannan, a member of the Dalits, was elected president by the
national and state legislatures. The Dalits, or "oppressed people,"
were according to Hinduism the lowest class of people, a fifth class
below the 4 main castes. He will replace Pres. Shanker Dayal Sharma
whose 5-year term expires Jul 25.
   (SFC, 7/18/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In Peru thousands
of demonstrators protested against Pres. Fujimori chanting "Down
with the dictatorship." Three cabinet ministers had also resigned in
the last 24 hours. Pres. Fujimori named 5 new ministers including 2
generals and sparked concern that he was moving even closer to the
armed forces.
   (SFC, 7/18/97, p.A10)(SFC, 7/19/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In Russia Boris
Yeltsin signed decrees to cut the size of the armed forces by
one-third and installed plans to boost tax collection.
   (WSJ, 7/17/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In the Ukraine the
parliament confirmed Valery Pustovitenko as prime minister. He was
an ally of Pres. Kuchma and vowed to work with lawmakers.
   (WSJ, 7/17/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Representative
George Miller of Martinez, Ca., demanded a full accounting by the
federal EPA concerning inspections of the Central Valley dairies,
where dairy waste was threatening underground water supplies.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A1,13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Federal agents in
California arrested eight seafood importers accused of smuggling
contaminated seafood by bribing customs brokers and FDA inspectors.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A15,18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, German businessman
Thomas Kramer was slapped with a record $323,000 penalty by the
Federal Election Commission for making illegal U.S. political
contributions.
   (HN, 7/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, All key systems on
the Russian space station Mir returned to near-normal, about 24
hours after the already disabled spacecraft had lost power.
   (HN, 7/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Sir James
Goldsmith (b.2/26/33), British-French financier and corporate
raider, died in Spain at age 64.
   (SFEC, 7/20/97, p.B6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Cambodia Prince
Ranariddh called off armed resistance and proposed a caretaker
government and new elections.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Mexico police
arrested Rolando Arroyo Palacios, aka "Long Hair," in San Luis Rio
Colorado for the murder of journalist Flores Gonzalez. He had been
supposedly hired by Ismael Guttierrez, brother of Jaime Gonzalez
Guttierrez, who was arrested last month.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Northern
Ireland the Sinn Fein party urged its allies in the IRA to call a
cease fire.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In the Philippines
the government signed a general cease-fire with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, the country's 2nd largest Muslim rebel group.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Sierra Leone
leaders of the ruling junta pledged to implement an immediate cease
fire and to restore constitutional government.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Eleven armored
carriers from NATO gathered in a show of force near the home of
ousted Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Bosnia's No. 1 war crimes
suspect.
   (HN, 7/19/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In Bosnia the Serb
Democratic Party expelled Pres. Biljana Plavsic after she threatened
to arrest Karadzic and his allies for rampant corruption.
   (SFC, 7/21/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In Cambodia Hun
Sen rejected a peace plan proposed by the 7-nation ASEAN group.
   (SFEC, 7/20/97, p.A19)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In Indonesia a
court sentenced 16 people to jail terms of 2-7 months for the May
rioting that left 123 dead on Borneo.
   (WSJ, 7/21/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, The Irish
Republican Army declared a new cease-fire and opened the way for
supporters to join peace talks with Northern Ireland's pro-British
Protestants.
   (HN, 7/19/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, From Slovakia it
was reported that Bratislava had become a narcotics depot and
crossroad of the Balkan drug route from Turkey and Central Asia.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Seven people were
arrested after New York City police found scores of deaf Mexicans
kept in slave-like conditions and forced to peddle trinkets for the
smugglers who had brought them to the United States.
   (AP, 7/20/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, From Qatar it was
reported that as many as 30% of Qatari women work. Some 6,000
graduated each year from the Univ. of Qatar.
   (SFEC, 7/20/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Palestinian
security forces arrested 4 Palestinian police officers who were
accused of planning to attack Jewish settlers. Israel had arrested 4
Palestinian policemen a week earlier for planned attacks at the
settlement of Har Bracha.
   (SFC, 7/21/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Turkish troops
killed 50 Kurdish guerrillas in the southeast. That raised the
weekly total to 84.
   (SFC, 7/21/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, The General
Convention of the Episcopal Church in Philadelphia voted to require
all Episcopal dioceses to ordain women.
   (SFC, 7/22/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, The U.S.S.
Constitution, aka Old Ironsides, which defended the United States
during the War of 1812, set sail with 216 crew members under its own
power for first time in 116 years, leaving its temporary anchorage
at Marblehead, Mass., for a one-hour voyage marking its 200th
anniversary. The actual anniversary was the following October. It
was built in 1797 and was never defeated in 42 battles.
   (HT, 3/97, p.34)(SFC, 7/22/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/21/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, In Canada
fishermen released the Malaspina ferry, a blocked Alaska-bound ship
at Prince Rupert. They were protesting US fishing of sockeye salmon
heading for spawning in British Columbia.
   (SFC, 7/22/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Singapore began
observing Racial Harmony Day in commemoration of a deadly communal
riot in 1964.
   (Econ, 12/17/16, p.36)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In San Francisco,
Ca., the .38 acres of the Mt. Davidson cross was auctioned off for
$26,000 to a group of Armenian organizations who proposed to
dedicate it as a memorial to Armenians massacred during WW I. The
sale was approved in a US Court of Appeals in 2001.
   (SFC, 7/22/97, p.A1)(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A18)(SFC,
9/6/01, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Michigan some
2,800 UAW workers went on strike at a GM plant in Warren.
   (SFC, 7/23/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, Algerian troops
killed 140 of 180 radical Islamist guerrillas in the Attatba area of
Blida province in an offensive that began 10 days ago.
   (SFC, 7/23/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Austria a
campaign was started to rename all public places named after poet
Ottokar Kernstock, the man who wrote the words of the "Swastika
Song," the election theme of Adolph Hitler’s Nazis.
   (SFC, 7/23/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Britain the
labor party proposed a somewhat independent assembly for Wales.
   (SFC, 7/25/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, From Colombia it
was reported that 30,000 violent deaths per year occurred and marked
the country as the world’s most violent.
   (SFC, 7/22/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Egypt six
police officers were killed in an ambush by militants near Minya.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, More than 2,000
people gathered in Milan, Italy, for a memorial Mass for slain
fashion designer Gianni Versace; the mourners included Princess
Diana and singer-songwriter Elton John.
   (AP, 7/22/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Liberia results
from the election showed Charles Taylor in the lead with about 75 of
the vote.
   (SFC, 7/23/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In South Africa 5
killings in Magoda, Kwa Zulu / Natal Province, were suspected of
being caused an unknown "third force," a presumed right-wing group
dedicated to fomenting black-on-black violence.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, The US and
Venezuela signed an agreement to allow authorities of both countries
to board boats of each others flags if suspected of carrying drugs.
   (SFC, 7/24/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, The search for
Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of designer Gianni Versace and
others, ended as police found his body on a houseboat in Miami
Beach, Fla., an apparent suicide.
   (SFC, 7/24/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/23/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, The ASEAN trade
bloc admitted Laos and Burma but barred Cambodia.
   (SFC, 7/24/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, In Britain the
government announced that tuition fees would be imposed for the
first time on all college students.
   (SFC, 7/24/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, In Cuba Elio Reve
Matos, salsa musician, died in a road accident. He developed the
rhythm known as "charangon," a combination of salsa styles that
included "changui" and "son."
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, In Serbia Slobodan
Milosevic was sworn in as president of Yugoslavia and crowds reacted
by throwing shoes at his motorcade, symbolizing the young people who
have left Serbia due to his regime.
   (SFC, 7/24/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, Swiss banks
published a list of 2,000 WW II-era dormant accounts that included
assets of holocaust victims.
   (SFC, 7/23/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, Pres. Clinton held
a White House symposium on global warming.
   (WSJ, 7/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, A Dallas jury
awarded $120 million in damages against the local Roman Catholic
diocese that ignored evidence that the priest, Rudolph Kos, sexually
abused a number of altar boys from 1977-1992. Kos was suspended in
1992. Kos pleaded guilty to 3 sex abuse charges in 1998.
   (SFC, 7/25/97, p.A1)(SFC, 3/25/98, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, William J. Brennan
(91), retired Supreme Court Justice (1956-1990), died in Arlington,
Va.
   (AP,
7/24/98)(www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/90/)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, In Albania a
5-month long curfew was lifted and Rexhep Mejdani, the
secretary-general of the Socialist Party and former physics
professor, was elected President by the Parliament. Since Jan. some
1,800 killings had occurred.
   (SFC, 7/25/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, From Algeria it
was reported that security forces killed Antar Zouabri (26), the
chief of the Armed Islamic Group.
   (SFC, 7/25/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, Britain proposed
to the Scots the power to legislate, tax and speak for themselves in
the European Union.
   (SFC, 7/25/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, US immigration
agents rounded up 17 deaf Mexicans in Sanford, North Carolina. This
followed the revelation of 50 deaf Mexicans held in servitude in NYC
and forced to sell trinkets on the streets. In Dec. Adriana Paoletti
Lemus (29), also deaf and one of two alleged ringleaders, pleaded
guilty.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Autumn Jackson,
the young woman who claimed to be Bill Cosby's out-of-wedlock
daughter, was convicted by a federal jury in New York of trying to
extort $40 million from the entertainer.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A1)(AP, 7/25/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In San Francisco
some 5,000 bikers defied the city-approved route for the Critical
Mass bike ride and struck out on their own. Some 250 were arrested
for traffic violations. Numerous incidents of confrontations between
bikers, police and commuters were reported.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, An FDA drug panel
endorsed Rituximab, a drug designed to treat B-cell lymphoma. It was
made by Genentech and IDEC Pharmaceuticals. In November Genentech
and Idec (later Biogen Idec), received FDA approval for Rituxan for
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
   (SFC, 7/26/97,
p.A1)(www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/53059.php)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In Elk Creek,
Virginia, Louis Ceparano and Emmett Cressell Jr. doused Garnett Paul
"G.P." Johnson with gasoline, set him on fire and cut off his head.
They were both indicted for murder and robbery. Ceparano pleaded
guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison in 1998.
Cressell (38) was convicted of 1st degree murder in 1998 and
sentenced to life in prison in 1999.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.A3)(SFC,10/24/97, p.A4)(SFC,
5/30/98, p.A3)(SFC, 11/6/98, p.A2)(SFC, 1/30/99, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Ben Hogan (b.1912
in Dublin, Tx.), golf legend, died in Fort Worth, Texas, at 84. A
1996 biography by Curt Sampson was titled: "Hogan."
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.B1)(AP, 7/25/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In Afghanistan
police units of the Pashtun ethnic group raided minority
neighborhoods as opposition forces gathered 12 miles outside Kabul.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In Albania the new
Socialist led government was sworn in while a gang battle in Berat
left 10 people dead.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In the Congo
soldiers fired into a crowd of protestors in Kinshasa and killed at
least 3 people. The protest was against Kabila’s ban on political
activity.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In India Kocheril
Raman Narayannan (1920-2005) was sworn in as president, becoming the
first member of the "untouchable" Dalits caste to do so.
   (AP, 7/25/98)(SFC, 11/10/05, p.B8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In Ireland Rev.
Brendan Smyth (71) was sentenced to 12 years in prison for 74
instances of sexual abuse of 20 young people over 36 years.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Thousands of
German soldiers fought to contain the rain-gorged Oder River.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, Pres. Clinton
visited Lake Tahoe and announced that the Forest Service would allot
350 acres to the Washoe Indian tribe for a cultural center and give
tribal members access to the edge of Lake Tahoe. He also made an
executive order for $50 million over 2 years and 25 initiatives to
improve the water quality of Lake Tahoe. He brought with him $26
million worth of natural gas postal trucks and sewage pipes to help
preserve the lake.
   (SFEC, 7/27/97, p.A1,14)(AP, 7/26/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In Belgium at the
Ostend Air Show a Jordanian aerobatics airplane crashed and killed 9
people.
   (WSJ, 7/28/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In Cambodia
Communist guerrillas announced that Pol Pot was sentenced to life
imprisonment and Nate Thayer, a US reporter for the Far Eastern
Economic Review, claimed to have seen Pol Pot and prepared a report
for the Review.
   (WSJ, 7/28/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, From Egypt it was
reported that a cease-fire had been proclaimed by 6 imprisoned
leaders of the Gamaa al Islamiya. The government dismissed the
cease-fire as empty talk.
   (SFC, 7/26/97, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, United Auto
Workers approved a deal to end a six-day strike at a General Motors
parts plant that forced four assembly plant shutdowns and threatened
GM's entire North American production.
   (SFC, 7/28/97, p.A3)(AP, 7/27/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, In Belarus some
5-7 thousand marchers rallied to condemn Pres. Lukashenko. within
hours activists were detained by the government.
   (SFC, 7/28/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, In San Sebastian,
Spain, some 30,000 marched in support of the ETA separatist
movement.
   (SFC, 7/28/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, Mohammed Mahdi
al-Jawahri, classical Arab poet, died in Syria. He was the most
famous poet of Iraq from whence he fled in 1979. His work included
"Between Passion and Feeling" (1928) and "Al Jawahri’s Divan"
(1935).
   (SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, The Clinton
administration and congressional leaders reached a tentative
agreement on balancing the budget by 2002 while slashing taxes for
millions of families, students and investors.
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, A flash flood hit
Fort Collins, Colo., following torrential rains. At least 5 people
were killed and 40 or more injured.
   (SFC, 7/30/97, p.A6)(AP, 7/28/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, In Santiago,
Chile, nearly a million children stayed home when the government
closed schools for 2 days due to high smog levels.
   (SFC, 7/29/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Members of US
Congress from both parties embraced compromise legislation designed
to balance the budget while cutting taxes.
   (AP, 7/29/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Once a worldwide
symbol of industrial pollution, Minamata Bay, Japan, was declared
free of mercury 40 years after contaminated food fish were blamed
for birth defects and deaths.
   (AP, 7/29/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, In Russia the
deputy head of a construction firm in Moscow and the head of a
shipping firm in St. Petersburg were killed as well as 2 aides in
apparent contract shootings.
   (WSJ, 7/29/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, In Ankara, Turkey,
some 15,000 people protested government plans to curb Muslim
schools. At least 13 protestors were injured and 3 officers were
suspended by Prime Minister Yilmaz.
   (WSJ, 7/30/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, The US lifted a
12-year ban on US citizens visits to Lebanon.
   (G&M, 7/31/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, Eighteen people,
including two Americans, were killed in a landslide that swept one
ski lodge onto another at the Thredbo Alpine Village in southeast
Australia.
   (AP, 7/30/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, In Algeria it was
reported that Muslim militants massacred over 80 villagers in recent
attacks in apparent retaliation to a government offensive. 40
villagers were killed at Metmata village in Ain Defla province.
   (WSJ, 7/29/97, p.A12)(SFEC, 8/3/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, Two men bombed
Jerusalem's most crowded outdoor market, killing themselves and 16
others. Following the suicide bombing in Israel that killed 15
people, 79 Palestinians were arrested.
   (SFC, 8/2/97, p.A8)(AP, 7/30/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, In Sierra Leone
Major Johnny Komora announced that elections for civilian rule would
be held in Nov of 2001.
   (SFC, 8/1/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, In New York City,
police seized five bombs believed bound for terrorist attacks on
city subways. 2 potential suicide bombers were shot and wounded in
an explosives laden Brooklyn apartment. Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer (23)
and Lafi Khalil (22) were recovering from wounds. In 1998 Khalil was
acquitted and Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer was convicted of plotting to
bomb a subway station. Mezer was sentenced to life in prison in
1999.
   (SFC, 8/1/97, p.A1)(SFC, 8/4/97, p.A3)(WSJ,
7/24/98, p.A1)(HN, 7/31/98)(SFC, 3/2/99, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, Bao Dai (85),
former emperor of Annam [now Vietnam] and chief of state of French
Indochina, died in France.
   (SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)(MC, 7/31/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, Nigeria was named
the most corrupt country in the world by business people in a report
released by the German-based Transparency Int’l. Denmark was named
the least corrupt.
   (SFC, 8/1/97, p.B3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, A coalition of
Catholic bishops, Southern Baptist leaders and other conservative
evangelicals issued a statement entitled: "We Hold These Truths: A
Statement of Christian Conscience and Citizenship." The coalition
condemned legalized abortion and agreed that women should be barred
from serving as Catholic priests or evangelical pastors.
   (SFC, 7/21/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Gregory Taylor (30)
was arrested while trying to get into the kitchen of St. Joseph's
Church in downtown Los Angeles. He told officers that he was hungry.
Taylor was sentenced in 1997 to 25 years to life under California's
three-strikes law. He was released in 2010 following the work of law
student Reiko Rogozen, who started working on the case in January,
2010, as part of Stanford Law School's Three-Strikes Project.
   (AP, 8/17/10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Massachusetts
AT&T agreed to pay Wellesley Congregational Church $2,500 per
month for a decade for the right to install wireless transmission
equipment in the church steeple. An annual $6,000 bonus was included
plus costs for rebuilding the steeple. Rev. Lee Woofenden of the New
Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater also made a deal and stated: "Doing
business in this world is part of religion."
   (WSJ, 12/23/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Tyco Corp. under CEO
Dennis Kozlowski merged with ADT Ltd., a Bermuda corporation, and
began relocating employees to headquarters in Boca Raton, Flo.
   (WSJ, 4/5/04, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, The "phen-fen" diet
drugs (e.g. Redux) were linked to heart valve disease. Redux,
marketed by Wyeth, was withdrawn in Sep. Wyeth was a division of
American Home Products. AHP also made Pondimin, a version of
fenfluramine, the fen of the combination. In 2001 A Texas woman was
awarded a $56.6 million settlement against AHP.
   (WSJ, 8/28/97, p.B1)(WSJ, 9/30/98, p.A1)(WSJ,
4/9/01, p.B7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, The FDA allowed
Duract, an analgesic made by Wyeth, to hit the market. The drug was
pulled after 11 months following 4 deaths and 8 cases requiring
liver transplants.
   (WSJ, 9/30/98, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Vincent "Chin"
Gigante (69), boss of the Genovese crime family, was convicted of
murder conspiracy and racketeering in New York City. In Dec. he was
sentenced to 12 years in prison.
   (SFC,12/19/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Apple released its
newest Mac operating system, OS 8.
   (SFC, 1/24/04, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Chechnya Camilla
Carr and Jon James, British charity workers for a Quaker relief
organization, were taken hostage. The were released Sep 20, 1998.
   (SFC, 9/21/98, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Colombia
paramilitaries threatened a delegation of UN and Colombian judicial
officials investigating the exodus of peasants from Riosucio.
   (SFC, 1/5/98, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, The Colombian
government passed a law that made it illegal to sell more than
$170,000 worth of contraband. The annual contraband trade was
estimated to be $3 billion.
   (SFC, 1/24/98, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, The EU's Stability
and Growth Pact (SGP) was first outlined by a resolution and two
council regulations. The vade mecum, first published in May 2013, is
a manual prepared by DG ECFIN presenting the procedures and
methodologies for implementing the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP),
the rule-based framework for fiscal policy in the European Union.
   (https://tinyurl.com/ya7rqpm3)(Econ, 3/26/05,
p.55)(Econ., 10/31/20, p.64)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Macedonia three
ethnic Albanians were shot to death during riots after police
removed an Albanian flag from the town hall.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Namibia armed
police were sent to break up a meeting between elders of the Himba
tribe and their lawyers. They were discussing a challenge a
government proposed dam proposal.
   (SFC,11/19/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In the Philippines a
$1.1 billion bailout package was arranged. The government was
obliged to raise interest rates and run a budget surplus.
   (SFC, 1/8/98, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In Russia Pres.
Yeltsin formally reinstated the Don Cossack regiments into Russia’s
armed forces.
   (SFC,10/28/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In South Africa Max,
a 400-pound gorilla, beat up a fleeing armed robber, a former police
officer, who tried to hide in his cage at the Johannesburg Zoo. Max
survived 3 gunshots.
   (SFC,10/31/97, p.D2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In South Korea the
book "18 Reasons Why South Korea Will Die Before It Catches Up With
Japan" by Japanese writer Tadashi Momose became an instant best
seller.
   (SFEC,10/26/97, p.A19)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, In South Korea the
Kia Group, a conglomerate with 28 subsidiaries, went bankrupt with
$10.7 billion in debts. A government rescue plan in October put 30%
into government hands.
   (SFC,11/15/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Taiwan’s prime
minister launched a 5-year plan to crack down on betel-nut chewing.
   (WSJ, 8/22/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Pres. Clinton
announced that the 1978 ban on sales of high-performance aircraft
and other advanced weapons to Latin America would be lifted.
   (SFC, 8/2/97, p.A8)(AP, 8/1/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, The National Cancer
Institute reported that fallout from 1950s nuclear bomb tests had
exposed millions of children across the country to radioactive
iodine.
   (AP, 8/1/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Algeria 38
villagers at Sidi el Madani in Blida province were killed.
   (SFEC, 8/3/97, p.A19)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Bangladesh at
least 150 fishermen were missing in the Bay of Bengal after a storm
sank their boats.
   (SFC, 8/1/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Israel withheld $25
million in tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority, which made
the Authority unable to meet its payroll.
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Palestine 16 of
Arafat’s 18 Cabinet members offered their resignations in response
to allegations of widespread corruption.
   (SFC, 8/2/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Russia
Svyatoslav Richter, concert pianist, died at 82 in Moscow. He was
known for his brilliant technique in numerous styles.
   (SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, A UN report from
this day was made public in 2000 and cited Tutsi informants claiming
that they helped to shoot down the airplane carrying Rwandan Pres.
Juvanal Habyarimana on Apr 6, 1994.
   (SFC, 3/2/00, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Two fires in San
Diego burned out of control and destroyed 11 homes, 30 cars, 15
other structures and caused the crash of an air tanker dousing the
flames.
   (SFEC, 8/3/97, p.B5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, William Burroughs
(1914-1997), writer, the godfather of the beat generation, died of a
heart attack at his home in Lawrence, Ka. His work included "Naked
Lunch" (1959), which was originally banned and published in the US
in 1962. He also wrote the books "Junkie" and "Queer."
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.E5)(AP, 8/2/98)(SFC, 8/31/04,
p.E7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Typhoon Victor
struck Hong Kong and one person was killed. The typhoon battered the
surrounding Guangdong province and at least 65 people were killed.
   (SFEC, 8/3/97, p.A18)(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Charles Taylor was
sworn in as president of Liberia.
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, In Nigeria Fela
Anikulapo-Kuti (b.1938), pop superstar, died of AIDS. He was a
saxophone player who fused rock with African rhythms into a blend
known as "Afrobeat." His albums included: "Zombie," "Army
Arrangement," and "Vagabond in Power." He recorded more than 50
albums in the 1970s and 1980s and his 27 wives mourned his death. In
2003 Michael Veal authored "Fela: the Life and Times of an African
Lion."
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A16)(SFC, 4/27/04, p.E6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, The US Court of
Appeals issued a reprieve for Thomas Thompson, accused of the 1981
murder of Ginger Fleischli, less than 36 hours before his scheduled
death. California filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court. He was
executed Jul 14, 1998.
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/db9ve)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, UPS went out on
strike.
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Anjouan Island
unilaterally declared independence from Comoros. It complained that
it was not receiving a fair share of export revenues mainly from the
sale of ylang-ylang flowers, used to make perfume.
   (SFC, 8/10/01,
p.A18)(www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107423.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, On Feb 8, 2011,
Otto Rene Rodriguez (52) told the Associated Press in an exclusive
interview that he received powerful C-4 explosives and $2,000 in
cash directly from Luis Posada Carriles to carry out an Aug 3, 1997,
bombing at Havana's Melia Cohiba hotel. He was captured trying to
enter the country on a subsequent trip with 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds)
of C-4 that Posada had given him.
   (AP, 2/9/11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Iran's new
president, moderate Muslim cleric Mohammad Khatami, took office with
a message of peace to the world. In a reference to the United
States, he said his country opposed the "high-handedness of certain
big countries."
   (AP, 8/3/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, In South Africa a
Greyhound bus crashed near Trompsburg and left 4 people dead.
   (Eyewitness, Brett Moses)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, US Teamsters under
Ron Carey (1935-2008) went on a 15-day strike against United Parcel
Service after talks broke down with nation's largest package
delivery service.
   (AP, 8/4/98)(SFC, 12/13/08, p.B5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, From Bosnia it was
reported that Croats near Jajce had driven out hundreds of Muslims
who had recently returned to their homes.
   (WSJ, 8/4/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Cuba a small
explosion damaged a lobby in a Havana hotel. US-based groups were
blamed for this and a pair of bombings from 3 weeks ago. Otto Rene
Rodriguez Lerena confessed to the explosion at the Melia Cohiba
Hotel, which caused no injuries and little damage. He was sentenced
to death in 1999.
   (WSJ, 8/5/97, p.A1)(SFC, 4/2/99, p.D2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In France the
world’s oldest person, Jeanne Calment (b.1875), died in Arles at the
record age of 122. The title was passed on to Christien Mortensen of
San Rafael, Ca., (115). It was later found that Marie-Louise
Febronie Meilleur of Ontario was to turn 117 in August.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment)(SFC, 8/5/97,
p.A18)(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, From Mexico it was
reported that the Lacandon Jungle rain forest was 40% destroyed from
its original 4 million acres. Poor peasants were clearing the jungle
by fire to provide for agricultural needs.
   (SFC, 8/4/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Mexico gunmen
killed 6 people in the Max Fim restaurant in Ciudad Juarez.
   (SFC, 8/5/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Montserrat
superheated rock from the Soufriere Hills volcano flowed into the
abandoned capital of Plymouth.
   (SFC, 8/5/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Russia announced
that it would redenominate the ruble at the beginning of 1998. Three
zeroes would be taken off the bills with current inflation at about
12%.
   (WSJ, 8/5/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Sri Lanka
weekend fighting reportedly left 200 Tamil Tigers and 67 government
troops dead. The rebel bodies were severely disfigured.
   (SFC, 8/5/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Turkey 76
military officers and nco’s were dismissed in a continuing effort to
root out Islamic activism in the ranks.
   (WSJ, 8/5/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, President Clinton
signed the budget-balancing and tax-cutting bills into law, calling
the legislation "a true milestone for our nation."
   (AP, 8/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, Ramzi Yousef,
mastermind of world trade center bombing, went on trial.
   (www.fas.org/irp/news/1997/#aug)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, It was reported
that a Yale Univ. research team led by Sidney Altman discovered a
way to turn off genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotic
drugs. Human testing was thought to be 5 years away.
   (SFC, 8/5/97, p.A3)(WSJ, 8/5/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, In Bolivia the
Congress elected former dictator Hugo Banzer as president. He
pledged economic reforms and steps to cut poverty.
   (WSJ, 8/6/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, In Croatia Pres.
Tudjman took an oath of office for his 2nd 5-year term.
   (WSJ, 8/6/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, North Korea agreed
to hold talks with South Korea in New York beginning on this day.
   (SFC, 7/1/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, From Russia’s
cosmodrome in Kazakstan a Mir repair mission was launched with a
2-man replacement crew. The smooth launch was upstaged by another
breakdown aboard the aging space station, this time involving oxygen
generators.
   (WSJ, 8/6/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, The Dow Jones
reached an all-time high at 8,259.31.
   (SFC, 8/16/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, Ending years of
impassioned rivalry, Apple Computer and Microsoft agreed to share
technology in a deal giving Microsoft a stake in Apple's survival.
Microsoft announced that it would buy $150 million in non-voting
Apple stock.
   (SFC, 8/7/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/6/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, The tobacco
industry was forced to release documents that indicated efforts to
quash safety research and revealed steps taken for protection
against lawsuits.
   (SFC, 8/7/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, It was reported
that residents of 47 states faced warnings not to eat certain types
of freshwater fish due to pollution. The EPA said that some 2,200
fish consumption advisories were in effect in the US and that 15% of
the nation’s lakes and 5% of the rivers were covered by the
advisory.
   (SFC, 8/7/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, It was reported
that MWC480 is a young star in the constellation Taurus, 450 Light
years distant, with a gas-rich disk that looked like a "construction
zone" for new planets.
   (SFC, 8/7/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, It was reported
that scientists had created the genetic blueprint for Helicobacter
pylori, a bacterium responsible for stomach ulcers.
   (SFC, 8/7/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, Korean Air Flight
801 from Seoul, a Boeing 747-300 jumbo jet, crashed into a hillside
a short distance from Guam’s Agana International Airport killing 228
with 26 survivors. A programming glitch in the ground radar system
was later identified as a contributing factor but not the cause.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_801)(WSJ, 4/8/99,
p.A1)(AP, 8/6/98)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that US retail space and semiconductor manufacturing capacity far
exceeded demand. A downturn in the economy was said to have already
begun.
   (WSJ, 8/7/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The space shuttle
Discovery was launched with a crew of six. A satellite was dropped
off to study the Earth’s ozone layer.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Russian capsule
on a fix-it mission docked gingerly with the crippled Mir space
station, bringing a new crew to salvage the orbiting outpost.
   (AP, 8/7/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A DC-8 cargo plane
crashed on take-off at Miami Int’l. Airport. Four people were killed
on the denim filled 29-year-old plane bound for the Dominican
Republic.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US State Dept.
expressed concern over reports of Chinese nuclear-capable M-11
missiles sold to Pakistan.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Argentina Pres.
Eduardo Frei of Chile and Argentine Pres. Carlos Menem opened a $325
million pipeline for natural gas from Argentina to Santiago.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, From China it was
reported that Zhu Qihua planned to move the Big Green Mountain by
Lanzhou, a railroad hub, in order to clear the air of heavy smog.
   (WSJ, 8/7/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Mexico Jose
Paoletti Moreda and his son Renato were arrested on charges of
leading an operation that smuggled deaf people into the US and
forced them to work under virtual slavery conditions. Another couple
was arrested with ten deaf smuggled immigrants in Dallas on Aug 15.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)(SFC, 8/16/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Romania Prime
Minister Victor Ciorbea announced the closure of 17 factories at the
urging of the IMF. 30,000 jobs would be lost and the following day
thousands protested the closing of the essentially bankrupt
companies.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Switzerland the
measures to freeze the assets of deposed Zairean Pres. Mobuto Sese
Seko were declared legal.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, US Sec. of State
Madeleine Albright announced that the bulk of US aid to Cambodia
would be suspended.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, The Teamsters and
United Parcel Service completed a second day of federally mediated
talks, with neither side reporting progress toward ending a strike.
   (AP, 8/8/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, It was reported
that researchers have discovered how the defective gene in
Huntington’s disease causes the disorder. A genetic "stutter"
inserts from 30 to 150 copies of the amino acid glutamine into key
proteins and alters their properties.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, In Ddjelfa,
Algeria, a bomb in a baby bassinet killed 9 people. In the village
of Zeboudja insurgents slit the throats of 21 people and 20 others
were shot and wounded.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Gen’l. Eric
Shinseki, the American in charge of NATO forces in Bosnia, announced
a plan to force all paramilitary troops to disband or face arrest.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, In Colombia Senator
Jorge Cristo and a bodyguard were killed in Cucuta. Police said
leftist guerrillas were responsible.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, The resumption of
limited oil sales by Iraq was cleared by the UN Security Council.
The UN plan allows the sale of $2 billion in crude oil every 6
months.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Fighting broke out
on the Israel-Lebanon border when guerrillas fired rockets into
northern Israel and Israeli warplanes struck back. 13 people have
died since Aug 4 when Israeli commandos set off bombs behind the
front line killing 3 guerrilla field commanders and 2 fighters.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, In Kenya a
nationwide strike was called and declared illegal by the government.
In Nairobi a crowd of some 2,000 gathered and killed Gilbert Simiyu,
a plainclothes police officer. The strike turned into a riot with
looting.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, The largest int’l.
military exercise in Latvia’s history took place over 5 days at the
Adazi training center organized by the Northwest Europe Command.
Troops from 15 countries were to participate.
   (BN, 6/97)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, In Peru at least 20
bus passengers were killed in a crash in the province of Cuzco. Some
80 people have died in 4 bus crashes in the last week.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, On St. Vincent
James and Penny Fletcher were acquitted of the murder of Jerome
Joseph after 9 months of incarceration.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, In NYC police
officer Justin Volpe sodomized Abner Louima in the bathroom of the
70th precinct in Brooklyn. [see Aug 13] In 1999 Volpe was sentenced
to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay $277,495 in restitution. In
2001 a tentative settlement awarded Abner Louima $9 million.
   (SFC, 5/26/99, p.A1)(SFC, 12/14/99, p.A3)(SFC,
3/23/01, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, An Amtrak train
derailed on a bridge near Kingman, Arizona, and 183 of 350
passengers were injured. A flash flood had undermined supports for a
small bridge.
   (WSJ, 8/11/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/9/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, In Brazil Herbert
Jose de Souza, sociologist, died at age 60 of AIDS that he acquired
as a hemophiliac from contaminated blood. He spent his life fighting
inequality, hunger and police brutality.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, It was reported
that 800,000 children of North Korea were in immediate danger of
dying from malnutrition. UNICEF was appealing for a $14.3 million
emergency fund for supplies such as high-energy milk.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, In Indonesia huge
fires in tropical forests and plantations on Sumatra and Borneo and
Java were blamed on slash-and-burn farming techniques. Fires
originally set by developers to clear forest for palm plantations in
Borneo and Sumatra ran out of control and darkened skies across much
of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The World Bank estimated that
8% of total global emission of greenhouse gases for the year were
due to the fires.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A11)(Econ,
3/25/06, p.74)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, U.S. envoy Dennis
Ross met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in an attempt to restart the
Mideast peace process.
   (AP, 8/10/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In Nashville a
riot erupted when a police officer killed a black murder suspect.
   (WSJ, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, It was reported
that the gasoline additive MTBE, methyl tert-butyl ether, was
leaking into ground water in California and elsewhere in the US.
Some 1,000 wells in California tested above the state’s action
level. The additive leaks from gasoline stations and dissolves in
water and seeps into aquifers. In 1995 the EPA reported that it
caused cancer in laboratory animals.
   (SFEC, 8/10/97, p.A1,14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Peter Braestrup,
founder of the Wilson Quarterly, died in Maine at age 68.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In Colombia police
arrested drug trafficker Waldo Simeon Vargas, alias "The Minister."
He was a former associate of Pablo Escobar and created his own
organization after the Cali chiefs were arrested in 1995.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In the 6th World
Championship in Athletics in Athens (Aug 1-Aug 10), the American
4x400m team beat the British quartet by just 0.18 seconds in the
final. Antonio Pettigrew ran the anchor leg for the US team that
won, but subsequently admitted to taking performance-enhancing
drugs. In 2010 the BBC, citing UK Athletics (UKA) and the
International Association of Athletics' Federations (IAAF), said the
British quartet of Roger Black, Jamie Baulch, Iwan Thomas and Mark
Richardson, would be promoted to gold.
   (AFP,
1/7/10)(http://www2.iaaf.org/Results/Past/WCH97/data/M/4X4/Rf.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In Peru a
snowstorm trapped some 40 vehicles on the Andes highway between
Abancay and Puquio and left 6 people dead in their vehicles.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In Uganda the
state-owned Sunday Vision reported that its Chinese-built arms
factory would stop producing land mines and grenades. The Ugandan
army would be supplied but the products would not be exported.
Dry-cells would be produced to replace the land mines and grenades.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In Taiwan a
19-seat Formosa Airlines Dornier 228 crashed on the island of Matsu
and killed all 16 onboard.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)(WSJ, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Pres. Clinton made
the first use of the historic line-item veto approved by Congress.
He removed 3 narrow provisions in the new budget legislation in
spending and tax bills. The Supreme Court later struck down the
line-item veto as unconstitutional.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/11/05)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, US federal
officials arrested 29 people in a drug sweep in New York, Michigan
and New Mexico. The arrests were linked to Mexico’s Juarez cartel.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, It was reported
that the US Energy Dept. was short of tritium for nuclear weapons
and would borrow space from a civilian power plant for its
production.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Steelhead trout of
the west coast was added to the federal list of imperiled species.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, The Environmental
Working Group claimed that high levels of the weed killer atrazine
were found in 245 Midwest communities. The chemical is used to spray
corn and kill weeds.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, In Hawaii lava
from Kilauea Volcano began to flow over the walls of a 700-year-old
temple believed to have been used for human sacrifice.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, In Colombia
leftist guerrillas killed at least 9 people in 2 separate incident.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, In Honduras some
700 inmates escaped from prisons at Santa Barbara and Trujillo after
rioting prisoners set fire to facilities and burned them to the
ground.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, From Israel it was
reported that mobsters were in control of gambling, prostitution and
money laundering rings in the resort city of Netanya. Seven gang
killings in the last 18 months were reported and protection money
was demanded from stall holders and shop owners.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, It was reported
that Sri Lanka was getting desperate for recruits and that more than
12,000 soldiers had deserted the army in recent months. Women were
being recruited and it was noted that half of the Tamil rebel attack
forces were composed of women. The government military service was
comprised of some 114,000 vs. about 5,000 Tamil fighters.
   (SFC, 8/11/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Int’l. donors
offered Thailand a $16-17 bil loan package.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A8)(SFC, 1/8/98, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Steel workers in
West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania ended a 10-month strike at
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. with a new contract. It was the
longest strike by a major steel company.
   (SFC, 8/13/97, p.A3)(AP, 8/12/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Two New York City
police officers were placed in desk jobs as authorities investigated
the charges of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who accused police
of sodomizing him after his arrest in a nightclub fight. Louima's
subsequent civil suit against the city resulted in a settlement of
$8.75 million on July 30, 2001, the largest police brutality
settlement in NYC history. After legal fees, Louima collected
approximately $5.8 million.
   (AP,
8/12/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Louima)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, A hamburger recall
issued to cover some 1.2 million pounds. The Hudson Foods Inc., of
Rogers, Ark., issued the recall due to E. coli poisonings in
Colorado. [see 8/21]
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, In Arizona a flash
flood from a storm 15 miles away killed ten hikers in the Lower
Antelope Canyon near Lake Powell. The group leader of the
Trek-America outfit, that catered mostly to Europeans, was the only
survivor.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.A3)(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A2)(AP,
8/12/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, It was reported
that the World Bank joined the IMF in withholding credit from Kenya
due to government corruption.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, It was reported
that Laos was promoting the development of the $1.44 billion Nam
Theun Two Dam. It would alter 2 major tributaries of the Mekong
River and flood an area the size of Singapore. The World Bank
contributed $130 million to the project, which was expected to begin
generating power in 2009. Environmentalists feared severe impact to
the Nakai Plateau and some 120,000 people downstream as one river
dries up and another swells.
   (WSJ, 8/12/97, p.A1)(SFC, 12/17/07, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, From Lithuania it
was reported that the country has become a favorite transit point
for smugglers. Cigarettes, alcohol, home appliances, oil, amber,
gas, cars and illegal narcotics were crossing the borders.
   (SFC, 8/12/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, U.S. envoy Dennis
Ross wrapped up a four-day mission to the Middle East, during which
he'd persuaded the Palestinians to resume security cooperation with
Israel.
   (AP, 8/13/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, In Detroit, Mich.,
Yolanda Bellamy was slain with 2 young sons, a niece and a nephew. A
suspect was later arrested and jumped from a 5th floor police
station window. He was critically injured.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, A NYC police
officer of the 70th precinct in Flatbush was arrested for sexually
assaulting a Haitian immigrant who was arrested in a nightclub
fight. Officer Justin Volpe sodomized Abner Louima with a toilet
plunger and then forced the handle into Louima’s mouth. Volpe’s
partner, Thomas Bruder, was ordered off active duty and Mayor
Giuliani ordered a shakeup and investigation. Officer Charles
Schwartz was later arrested for his participation. Two more
officers, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder, were later arrested for
beating Louima after his arrest. In 1998Â federal civil rights
charges were filed against the involved officers. Officer Volpe was
jailed in 1999 after he pleaded guilty that he had sodomized Abner
Louima. In 1999 Officer Schwarz was found guilty of holding Louima
down. Officers Bruder, Wiese and Bellomo were acquitted. In 2000
officers Bruder, Schwartz and Wiese were convicted of covering up
the assault on Louima. Schwartz was sentenced to 15 years and 8
months in prison and ordered to pay $277,495 in restitution. Bruder
and Wiese were sentenced to 5 years each. In 2002 a federal appeals
court overturned the convictions against Schwarz, Wiese and Bruder.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.A5)(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A4)(SFC,
8/16/97, p.A5)(SFC, 8/19/97, p.A3)(SFC, 2/27/98, p.A6)(SFC, 5/26/99,
p.A1)(SFC, 6/9/99, p.A3)(SFC, 3/7/00, p.A3)(SFC, 6/28/00, p.A3)(SFC,
3/1/02, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, In India the
Supreme Court ordered the government to come up with legislation to
protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, In Tehran, Iran,
Ali Reza Khoshruy Kuran Kordiyeh ("the vampire") was flogged and
hung for the rape, murder and burning of 9 women in a crime spree
that began in March.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, From Panama it was
reported that Pres. Balladares has given journalist Gustavo Gorriti
until the end of the month to leave Panama. Mr. Gorriti had
published investigative articles detailing the financial dealings of
the president’s election campaign, his allies and gentlemen of
questionable character.
   (WSJ, 8/13/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, In Russia the book
"Boris Yeltsin: From Dawn to Sunset" by former bodyguard Alexander
Korzhakov went on sale.
   (SFC, 8/13/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, From Russia it was
reported that a helicopter accidentally had dropped a 2.3 ton lead
box containing strontium 90 into 66 feet of water off Sakhalin
Island.
   (WSJ, 8/13/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, An unrepentant
Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma
City bombing.
   (AP, 8/14/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Argentina
public sector and opposition unions called for a 24-hour strike to
protest the nation’s 16.1% unemployment rate and proposed labor
reforms.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, From Canada it was
reported that Ontario planned to close down 7 of 19 nuclear power
plants for repairs. Inadequate maintenance practices and management
problems were charged in an internal document and, Allan Kupcis, the
CEO had resigned.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, Congo
announced a $2.5 billion project to build roads and that it
would seek EU financing.
   (WSJ, 8/14/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Kenya 6
officers and 7 civilians were killed in Mombasa when assailants
burned down a police station.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, Russian cosmonauts
Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Lazutkin made it safely home to Earth
after a luckless six-month mission aboard the Mir space station.
   (AP, 8/14/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Turkey the
parliament approved an amnesty program for some 89 journalists
imprisoned for their news coverage. Pres. Demirel signed the
measure.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Yemen ten
Italian tourists were reported kidnapped in 2 separate incidents.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, The US government
expanded its recall of ground beef sold under the Hudson brand name
to 1.1 million pounds because of new evidence of possible
contamination by E. coli bacteria.
   (AP, 8/15/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, The US Justice
Department decided not to prosecute senior FBI officials in
connection with an alleged cover-up that followed the deadly 1992
Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho.
   (AP, 8/15/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, In Louisiana a
self-defense law, passed in June, that permits motorists to use
deadly force in a car-jacking incident took effect.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Beginning today
couples seeking marriage in Louisiana were given the choice between
a traditional or a covenant marriage. The covenant marriage,
designed to make divorce much more difficult, required counseling
and a 2-year cooling off period.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A6)(Econ, 2/12/05, p.31)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, The Dow Jones
dropped 247 points in its 2nd biggest point loss session ending at
7,694.66.
   (SFC, 8/16/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Researchers from
the Univ. of New Hampshire reported that the spanking of children
causes long-term behavioral problems.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Scientists at
Geron corp. reported that an "immortality gene" had been cloned. The
key gene carries the code for a key section of the enzyme
telomerase, that rebuilds the telomere of DNA. It could lead to new
cancer-prevention drugs and even be used to slow the process of
aging.
   (SFC, 8/15/97, p.A1,17)(SFC, 8/16/97, p.D1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, From Argentina it
was reported that the country would issue bonds to pay indemnities
to the relatives and descendants of the 1970s "dirty war." As many
as 30,000 people disappeared and about 8,000 families have applied
for payments authorized at $224,000 per victim.
   (WSJ, 8/15/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, In Bosnia the high
court ruled that Pres. Biljana Plavsic had no right to disband the
Parliament. Plavsic announced the formation of a new political
party, the Serb National Union.
   (SFC, 8/16/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, In Colombia ten
woodcutters were killed by a gang of hooded gunmen near the town of
Retiro in Antioquia province.
   (SFC, 8/16/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, From Egypt it was
reported that a nurse in Alexandria, Aida Nur el-Din, had killed at
least 18 patients so that she would not be disturbed at night.
   (SFC, 8/16/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, In Mexico the Saba
family’s 22% stake in Television Azteca SA was sold through an IPO.
The family led by Isaac Saba Raffoul was reputed to have a cash
equivalent of a billion dollars with the sale.
   (WSJ, 8/22/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Thousands of Elvis
Presley fans thronged Graceland on the 20th anniversary of his
death.
   (AP, 8/16/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, It was reported
that the US led the world in arms sales last year with 35.5% of all
orders. Britain ranked 2nd with 15.1% and Russia 3rd with 14.5%.
   (SFC, 8/16/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, In Mexico
Alejandro Ortiz Martinez, brother of the finance minister Guillermo
Ortiz, was shot and killed by three gunmen in Mexico City.
   (SFEC, 8/17/97, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan, the most popular singer in Pakistan, died in a London
hospital. He was considered one of the world’s greatest singers of
Sufi devotional music in a style called qawwali, where long
performances built up emotion and complexity to the backdrop of
stringed instruments and the harmonium.
   (SFEC, 8/17/97, p.D8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Scientists
reported that an underground seismic event occurred in Russia.
Inquiries were being made about nuclear testing. Russian scientists
claimed a magnitude-2 earthquake near the Novaya Zemlya test range
triggered the event.
   (SFC, 8/29/97, p.A18)(WSJ, 9/3/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Two cosmonauts
just returned from Mir (Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Lazutkin)
rejected criticism that they were to blame for troubles aboard the
aging, problem-plagued space station.
   (AP, 8/16/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, President Clinton
urged both sides in the United Parcel Service strike to "redouble
their efforts" to reach a deal, but hours later, negotiators
recessed their intensive talks.
   (AP, 8/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, The Lutheran
Church approved a Formula of Agreement document that called for
closer cooperation with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United
Church of Christ and the Reformed Church in America. A separate
document called the Concordat of Agreement for closer ties with the
Episcopal Church was 6 votes short of a required majority.
   (SFC, 8/19/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, UPS management
agreed to a tentative contract with the striking Teamsters Union to
end a 15-day-old strike. New full-time jobs and pay raises
were part of the settlement.
   (SFC, 8/19/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, In Virginia the
VMI class of 2001 included 30 women among the 460 freshman students.
Beth Ann Hogan became the first coed in the Virginia Military
Institute's 158-year history.
   (SFC, 8/18/97, p.A3)(AP, 8/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Burnum Burnum
(b.1936 as Henry James Penrith), Australian Aboriginal activist,
died at age 61. He had been a member of the "stolen generation,"
Aborigine children taken from their families into government
welfare.
   (SFC, 8/19/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Militiamen under
the South Lebanon Army, a key ally of Israel, shelled the port city
of Sidon and killed at least 6 people while injuring over 3 dozen.
In apparent retaliation northern Israel was hit by dozens of
Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon.
   (SFC, 8/19/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Typhoon Winnie
swept over Taiwan and left 24 people dead.
   (SFC, 8/19/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, In Tajikistan
government forces killed 50 mutinous troops in a battle over a
bridge on the Vakhsh River.
   (SFC, 8/19/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, Missouri and
Oklahoma withdrew inmates from a private Texas prison after the
release of a video tape that showed guards using dogs and stun guns
on prisoners made to crawl during a drug raid.
   (WSJ, 8/20/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, A New Hampshire
man, Carl Drega (67) of Colebrook, killed 2 state troopers, Scott
Philips (32) and Les Lord (45), a local judge and a newspaper editor
in Colebrook. The shooting spree ended with his death near the
Canadian border in Vermont. The issue was believed to be a grudge
over a tax case.
   (WSJ, 8/20/97, p.A1)(SFC,11/3/97, p.A3)(AP,
8/19/98)(SFEC, 10/18/98, Par p.9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Cambodia 35,000
people fled across the border to Thailand to escape fighting between
forces loyal to Prince Ranariddh and troops of coup leader Hun Sen.
   (WSJ, 8/20/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Honduras
lawmakers voted to name Archbishop Oscar Andres Rodriguez to oversee
the creation of a new civilian police force.
   (SFC, 8/21/97, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Kenya some 300
kiosks were burned in Malindi.
   (SFC, 8/21/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In North Korea
groundbreaking ceremonies were held for 2 nuclear power plants to be
built by a US led Int’l. consortium.
   (WSJ, 8/20/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Sri Lanka
government jets hit rebel positions and some 20,000 government
troops met guerrillas en route to Puliyankulam where 7 soldiers and
more than 50 rebels were reported killed.
   (SFC, 8/20/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, United Parcel
Service drivers put away picket signs, put on brown shirts and
shorts, and called on customers again as the delivery giant began to
sluggishly recover from its costly strike.
   (AP, 8/20/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, NATO troops in
Bosnia seized truckloads of weapons from police stations in Banja
Luka. They moved to force out officers loyal to Karadzic.
   (WSJ, 8/21/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Israeli jets
struck deep in Lebanon and bombed a guerrilla base and a power plant
supplying electricity to Sidon.
   (WSJ, 8/21/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, In Jamaica prison
guards walked off their jobs after a commissioner suggested that
guards and prisoners use condoms to prevent AIDS. Anti-gay violence
broke out and within a week 16 inmates were killed and 20 injured at
Kingston’s Gen’l. Penitentiary and St. Catherine District Prison.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, In Kenya police
arrested 2 KANU politicians for instigating violence along the
coastal region. Karisa Maitha and Omar Masumbuko lent credence that
KANU officials were attempting to divert attention from the
reformist movement.
   (SFC, 8/21/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Palestinian Pres.
Arafat met with Islamic militant groups including Hamas and called
for Palestinian unity against Israeli demands.
   (WSJ, 8/21/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, A hamburger recall
was extended to cover some 25 million pounds. The Hudson Foods Inc.,
of Rogers, Ark., closed its Nebraska beef-processing facility under
a "non-negotiable" recommendation by Agricultural Sec. Dan Glickman
due to E. coli poisonings in Colorado.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A3)(AP, 8/21/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, The CEO of Philip
Morris Cos. said that cigarettes "might have" killed 100,000
Americans. It was the first acknowledgement by the company of a
possible link between smoking and death.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In Afghanistan
leaders of the alliance fighting the Taliban army were killed in an
air crash aboard an Antonov 32 about 90 miles NW of Kabul.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, From Bosnia Judge
Jovo Rosic reported that he was beaten up and ordered to vote
against Pres. Plavsic last week.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In France Pope
John Paul II began a visit to Paris with an outdoor encounter with
500,000 young people from around the world.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In North Korea a
tidal wave from a passing typhoon struck and destroyed some 700,000
tons of corn and left 28,000 people homeless.
   (WSJ, 9/2/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, Palestinians began
an embargo of Israeli goods.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In Russia Yuri
Nikulin (b.1921), a cherished comic actor, died.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, From Russia the
Kremlin demanded the release of journalists of ORT TV. They were
jailed in Belarus for allegedly trying to cross the border illegally
into Lithuania. The journalists had made negative reports on Pres.
Lukashenko.
   (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, A US federal judge
rejected Pres. Clinton’s request to dismiss the sexual harassment
suit of Paula Jones. The trial was scheduled to start May 27, 1998.
   (SFC, 8/23/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, A federal official
threw out the contentious Teamsters election because of alleged
campaign fund-raising abuses, forcing union President Ron Carey into
another race against James P. Hoffa.
   (SFC, 8/23/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/22/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, A $64.8 million
890- lb. Lewis satellite was launched by NASA on a hoped-for 5-year
mission. It went into an uncontrolled spin on Aug 22 and was
expected to fall and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere in Sep.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, It was reported
that Ethiopia has completed work on more than 200 dams that use 624
million cubic yards of Nile water per year.
   (WSJ, 8/22/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, In Kenya armed
marauders attacked a church filled with some 2,500 refugees and
killed 2 refugees and wounded a police guard in Linkoni.
   (SFC, 8/23/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, On Montserrat
voluntary evacuation of the islanders was begun. Two-thirds of the
12,000 inhabitants fled the island. It was expected that much of the
island would not be habitable for 20 years after the eruptions
ceased.
   (SFC, 8/23/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, In Rwanda at least
120 people were killed at the Mudende camp near Mutura. The slain
were thought to have been Tutsis and were killed by "infiltrators,"
rival rebel Hutus.
   (SFC, 8/23/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, In his weekly
radio address, President Clinton said he would ask Congress to renew
his authority for speedy negotiation of trade agreements, saying the
"fast track" approach would make U.S. companies more competitive
worldwide.Â
   (AP, 8/23/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, In Iran Pres.
Khatami appointed the first woman vice-president and ended an
18-year ban on commercial flights to Saudi Arabia.
   (WSJ, 8/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, Officer Jeremy
Charron, 24, was shot and killed Gordon Perry (22) and Kevin Paul
(18) in Epsom, New Hampshire. Both captured suspects were on
probation. Paul later received a 16- to 50-year prison sentence.
Perry was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
   (SFC, 8/25/97,
p.A8)(www.odmp.org/officer/14959-patrolman-jeremy-t.-charron)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In Cambodia troops
of Hun Sen overran O’Smach, the last frontier town held by forces
loyal to Prince Ranariddh.
   (SFC, 8/25/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In France Pope
John Paul II offered tough challenges and affectionate encouragement
to more than 1 million faithful attending Mass during closing World
Youth Day ceremonies in Paris.
   (AP, 8/24/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In Honduras a
power outage at a state-run hospital resulted in the death of 14
patients. The Sunday blackout was not reported until Monday.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In Zambia former
pres. Kaunda accused Pres. Frederick Chiluba of trying to kill
him after he was wounded by riot police during a protest rally.
   (WSJ, 8/25/97, p.B5A)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, It was reported
that the number of US mutual funds today has climbed to 2,855 funds
controlling $2.13 trillion, as opposed to 1987 when there were 812
mutual funds with $241.9 billion in assets.
   (WSJ, 8/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, The tobacco
industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of
Florida to settle a smoking-related lawsuit.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/25/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Dow Corning Corp.
offered $2.4 billion to settle claims from more than 200,000 women
with illnesses related to silicone breast implants.Â
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A3)(AP, 8/25/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, It was reported
that the US government would pay 1,000 teaching hospitals not to
train doctors in specialties where there is a glut.
   (WSJ, 8/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Prof. William
Ferris, a scholar at the Univ. of Mississippi, was selected by Pres.
Clinton to head the National Endowment for the Humanities.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, NASA sent a Delta
rocket aloft with the Ace solar observatory, Advanced Composition
Explorer. The 5-year $110 million project will go into orbit at a
point 1 million miles from Earth and 92 million miles from the Sun
where the gravity of Earth and Sun balance.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Germany convicted
3 politicians from the defunct East German era on charges related to
shootings of would-be escapees. Egon Krenz, the last leader of the
East German Communist Party, was convicted along with Politburo
members Guenther Kleiber and Guenther Schabowski. The conviction was
upheld in 1999.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A8)(SFC, 11/9/99, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, From South Korea
it was reported that Samsung was proceeding with plans to
manufacture automobiles. Korea’s 5 auto manufacturers will increase
capacity to 6 million units a year.
   (WSJ, 8/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, It was announced
that researchers at Johns Hopkins had found a gene that causes colon
cancer in some people of Jewish ancestry.
   (WSJ, 8/26/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, In Colombia Mayor
Mauricio Guzman of Cali was arrested for allegedly accepting money
from a drug cartel.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, It was reported
that China executed at least 4,367 people in 1996.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, It was reported
that Israel planned to proceed with the building of a dam on the
Yarmuk River. The territory is claimed by Syria.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Two defectors and
their families from North Korea were accepted by the US. One was
Chang Sung Gil, the ambassador to Egypt, the other was his
brother Chang Sung Ho, a commercial councilor at the North Korean
mission in Paris. High level arms talks were immediately terminated.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Former South
African President F.W. de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize
for helping to end apartheid, announced his retirement from politics
and his leading role in the National Party which had created the
practice of apartheid.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.C2)(AP, 8/26/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Former Agriculture
Secretary Mike Espy was charged with seeking and accepting more than
$35,000 dollars in trips, sports tickets and favors from companies
that did business with his agency. A jury found Espy innocent in
1998 of taking illegal gifts, but eight others pleaded guilty or
were convicted of various charges; President Clinton later issued
seven pardons and a commutation.
   (AP, 8/27/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, There was a report
on the US nuclear arsenal broken down to the number of nuclear
weapons in each state. New Mexico was 1st with 2,850, Georgia 2nd
with 2,000, and Washington State 3rd with 1,600. The total stockpile
was totaled at 12,500 warheads, of which 8,750 were described as
"operational."
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, A secret CIA
report acknowledged that the CIA knew of human rights abuses by the
Honduran military in the 1980s. It was declassified in 1998.
   (SFC, 10/24/98, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, It was announced
that the diet drugs, Redux and Pondimin, caused brain damage in
animals at doses similar to those taken by humans.
   (WSJ, 8/27/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Brandon Tartikoff
(48), TV exec (NBC), died in Los Angeles.
   (www.imdb.com/name/nm0850748/)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, From India it was
reported that at least 945 people had died since June due to
torrential monsoon rains.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, It was reported
that a 3-part expose in the Israeli Maariv newspaper alleged that
gameshow host Dudu Topaz was involved in rigging the winners in the
Mar 30 show "First in Comedy."
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.E7)(WSJ, 8/28/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27 Israel lifted a
month-long blockade of Bethlehem imposed after a suicide bombing
July 30 that killed 16 people.
   {Israel}
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.E7)(WSJ, 8/28/97, p.A1)(AP,
8/27/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, It was announced
that South Korea had a $22 billion trade deficit in 1996 and that
the purchase of foreign goods was being actively discouraged.
   (SFC, 8/26/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, The annual Burning
Man Festival began near Gerlach, Nevada, on a private ranch on the
Hualapai Playa, a prehistoric lakebed. Some 20,000 people came to
the instantly created "Black Rock City" for the torching of the
50-foot effigy.
   (SFEC, 8/24/97, p.A3)(SFC, 8/30/97, p.A1, 15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, After nearly a
year of legal challenges, California's affirmative action ban,
Proposition 209, became law. In SF some 4,000 people marched with
Jesse Jackson across the Golden Gate Bridge to protest Prop. 209, in
what was dubbed the "March to Save the Dream."
   (SFC, 8/29/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/28/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, The UN imposed air
and travel sanctions on the UNITA movement in Angola to deter Jonas
Savimbi from increasing tensions.
   (SFC, 8/29/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, In Algeria a 2nd
bomb this week killed 8 people in the Casbah.
   (USAT, 8/29/97, p.8A)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, US troops clashed
with Bosnian Serbs in Brcko. NATO forces rescued some 50 besieged UN
police monitors as crowds, opposed to Pres. Plavsic, demanded the
expulsion of Western peacekeepers. U.S. troops fired tear gas and
warning shots to fend off rock-hurling Serb mobs. The attempt by
US-led NATO forces to install Plavsic forces in police stations in 3
cities failed.
   (SFC, 8/29/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/3/97, p.C2)(AP,
8/28/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Four Israeli
soldiers were killed in a fire caused by strafing from Israeli
helicopters in southern Lebanon in a battle where 4 Amal guerrillas
were also killed.
   (WSJ, 8/29/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, In Mexico the
government’s National Human Rights Commission recommended that the
Durango State Attorney Gen’l. Francisco Arroyo be fired for
negligence. This was in response to the suicide 2 months ago of
16-year-old Yessica Diaz Cazares who had been gang raped some 5
months ago. Yessica had spent 3 months recounting her story to
officials under threats from her attackers and pressure from
authorities to drop the charges.
   (SFC, 8/30/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Pres. Yeltsin set
the draft Russian military budget at $14 million, up from $11.9
million. He also fired the head of the defense council and his
culture minister.
   (WSJ, 8/29/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, In Sri Lanka Pres.
Kumaratunga pushed parliament to enact constitutional changes to
address Tamil grievances.
   (SFC, 8/29/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Taiwan’s Pres. Lee
Teng-hui selected Vincent Siew (58) to replace Lien Chen as premier.
   (SFC, 8/29/97, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, In Venezuela 29
prison inmates died after a dominant prison gang fell on a group of
newcomers at the El Dorado Jail in Bolivar state.
   (WSJ, 8/29/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In NYC some 7,000
protestors marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest police
brutality and the assault on Abner Louima.
   (SFC, 8/30/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In Algeria some
300 villagers of Rais were slain by hooded men armed with axes
in an Algerian farm village in the worst carnage since an Islamic
insurgency began. In addition 20 young women were abducted.
   (SFC, 8/30/97, p.A10)(AP, 8/29/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In Britain the
government formally invited Sinn Fein, the political wing of the
IRA, to peace talks next month in Northern Ireland.
   (SFC, 8/30/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In Japan the
Supreme Court upheld the government’s right to control the nation’s
textbooks but not to tamper with the truth. Japan's Supreme Court
ruled that the country's Education Ministry broke the law by
removing mention of a Japanese World War II atrocity from historian
Saburo Ienaga's high school textbook. Novelist Ryotaro Shiba was
quoted: "A country whose textbooks lie... will inevitably collapse."
   (SFC, 8/30/97, p.A12)(AP, 8/29/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, In Kenya thousands
fled from the Indian Ocean coast in fear of ethnic violence and
attacks from government security forces.
   (SFC, 8/30/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Philip Noel
Johnson, an armored car driver believed to have stolen $22 million,
was arrested at the Texas border. Johnson later pleaded guilty to
charges of kidnapping, money laundering and interfering with
interstate commerce. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Johnson
(33) a former armored car driver for Loomis, Fargo & Co., was
accused of raiding the vault of the company's Jacksonville, Fla.,
office on March 29. The heist was one of the biggest in U.S.
history.
   (AP, 8/30/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug. 30, Americans and
others in the Western Hemisphere learned of the deaths of Princess
Diana, her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, in a
car crash in Paris. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones survived. (Because
of the time difference, it was the morning of Aug. 31 in Paris when
Diana was pronounced dead.) [see Aug 31]
   (AP, 8/30/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, In Phoenix, Az.,
bounty hunters in search of a bail jumper killed a couple that
apparently knew nothing about the sought bail jumper. Chris Foote
(23) and Spring Wright (20) were killed by 5 bounty hunters. Matthew
Brackney (20), his father David Brackney (45) and Michael Martin
Sanders (40) were in custody and 2 others were sought by
authorities. Arizona laws allow bounty hunters to break down doors
and use guns to bring bail jumpers back to jail without a court
order, warrant or license. There were an estimated 2,000 bounty
hunters nationwide. Brian Jay Robbins and Ronald Eugene Timms were
arrested on Sep 3. On October 30, 1998 Michael Martin Sanders was
judged guilty of murder, and nine other felonies including burglary,
aggravated assault and unlawful imprisonment. Co-defendant Ronald
Timms pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and testified against
Sanders, saying the men planned to break into Foote's home because
they mistakenly believed there would be a large amount of drugs and
cash there. The rest were charged with second degree murder and
various counts of felonious assault.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.A3)(SFC, 9/4/97,
p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/lp6bs)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, Prince Charles
brought Princess Diana home for the last time, escorting the body of
his former wife to a Britain that was shocked, grief-stricken and
angered by her death in a Paris traffic accident. Princess Diana
(36) and Egyptian billionaire Dodi al-Fayed (42) were killed along
with the car’s driver in a car crash in Paris while trying to evade
paparazzi photographers. A bodyguard was severely injured but
expected to survive. It was later learned that the driver had 3
times the legal alcohol limit and was driving at about 110 mph.
   (SFEC, 8/31/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A1)(SFC,
9/2/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/31/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, In Peru 2 small
planes collided at the Nazca archeological site and 12 people were
killed.
   (SFC, 9/1/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, Vitaly Schmidt
(47), Russian oil tycoon, died in Moscow. Much of his fortune came
from a group of small offshore energy companies he oversaw on behalf
of himself and a few fellow executives of OAO Lukoil.
   (WSJ, 12/6/06, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Newsweek reported
Linda Tripp, a White House secretary, was told by Kathleen Willey,
that Pres. Clinton had made an aggressive sexual pass at Willey.
   (WSJ, 2/18/98, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â A North American ban on
cattle feed that included bovine brain and spinal tissue went into
effect to prevent the spread of mad cow disease, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy.
   (SFC, 12/30/03, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Arizona two jurors
in the Symington trial received telephoned death threats and offers
of bribes.
   (SFC,10/16/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Harry Stonecipher,
CEO of McDonnell Douglas, negotiated a merger with Boeing.
   (WSJ, 3/7/05, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, The US population was
267.8 million people.
   (WSJ, 10/22/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Argentine beef was
allowed to be imported fresh to the US market.
   (WSJ, 5/26/98, p.B1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Chad a plague of
locusts began to spread across the southwest with as many as 200
locusts per square yard.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Chen Xiaotang, son of
former Beijing mayor Chen Xitong, was sentenced to 12 years in
prison for economic crimes.
   (SFC, 9/10/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Colombia a group
of 30 intellectuals issued a plea for UN mediation over the violence
in the countryside.
   (SFC, 1/5/98, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Cyprus UN talks
between Turkish and Greek Cypriot officials broke down when the EU
reaffirmed that it would begin membership talks with the Greek-led
Cypriot government. Lower level talks continued.
   (SFEC,12/28/97, p.A22)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Ethiopian officials
set up an administration in the contested region known as Bada, that
triggered skirmishes with Eritrea.
   (SFC, 6/13/98, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In India A.R. Rahman
launched his first non-movie album "Vande Mataram" (Salute to the
Motherland) to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of independence
from Britain. He was the first Indian artist signed by Sony Records.
   (SFEC,12/14/97, DB p.63)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Indonesia a $43
billion economic bailout package obliged the government to run a
budget surplus, close insolvent banks, end nepotism and raise
interest rates.
   (SFC, 1/8/98, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Kenyan police with US
investigators raided the home of Wadih el-Hage and seized his papers
and computer. Hage was arrested a year later for his ties to Osama
bin Laden and terrorist conspiracy.
   (SFEC, 1/23/00, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Russia Mikhail
Manevich, deputy governor of the of St. Petersburg region and
privatization chief, was shot and killed. In 1998 4 suspects were
arrested in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
   (SFC, 7/22/98, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, In Zimbabwe on Heroes
Day Pres. Mugabe was shouted down by his own former guerrillas who
were angered that pensions to disabled veterans were frozen and over
allegations that $36 million had gone to the ruling party elite.
   (SFC, 1/26/98, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, The 32nd annual
Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, led by Jerry Lewis, ended with a record
$50.5 million pledged.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.E5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, The 2nd phase of
the US minimum wage raise to $5.15 per hour went into effect.
   (SFC, 9/1/97,
p.A3)(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Scientists
announced in the Physics Review Letters that evidence was found for
an exotic meson subatomic particle. It is supposed to be composed of
an unusual quark combination and only exists for a trillionth of a
trillionth of a second. The experiment supports the current standard
model of physics in which 3 quarks make a proton or a neutron and 2
quarks can combine to make a meson.
   (SFC, 9/1/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In Bosnia several
hundred Bosnian Serbs attacked some 300 armed US troops in an effort
to take back a key TV transmitter that was seized by the Americans
last week. The melee was a standoff.
   (SFC, 9/2/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, As Britain
continued to mourn the untimely death of Princess Diana, came word
from a source in the Paris prosecutor's office that Diana's driver,
Henri Paul, was legally intoxicated at the time of the crash.
   (AP, 9/1/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In Switzerland
robbers made off with $37 million in cash from a Zurich post office.
By Sep 8 Swiss and Italian police had detained 13 suspects. A total
of 19 people in five countries were arrested in connection with the
case.
   (WSJ, 9/2/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/9/97, p.A11)(AP,
9/1/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, It was reported
that 52,000 books, fiction and non-fiction, would be published this
year in the US.
   (WSJ, 9/2/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, US troops in Bosnia
relinquished control of the TV transmitter in exchange for
agreements to permit opposition voices on the air and an end to
inflammatory rhetoric.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, The US demanded
exemptions to a proposed global ban on land mines at an int'l.
meeting in Oslo, Norway. The exemptions were for mines on the Korean
peninsula and for certain types of mines.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, The US stock market
made a record 257 point gain.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.B1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, In Miami Beach,
Florida US postal worker, Jesus Antonio Tamayo (64) shot and
critically injured his former wife, Manuela Acosta (62) and a friend
and then killed himself.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Rudolf Bing (95),
opera manager (NY Met Opera), died.
   (www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0761029.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Viktor E. Frankl
(b. 1905), psychotherapist, died in Vienna at age 92. He was the
author in the 1960s of "Man’s Search for Meaning." He developed
logotherapy, a theory whose primary belief is that man’s primary
motivational force is his search for meaning. His teachings are
called the 3rd Vienna School of Psychotherapy after Freud and Adler.
He held that one can discover the meaning of life in 3 different
ways: "by creating a work or doing a deed; by experiencing something
or encountering someone; and by the attitude we take toward
unavoidable suffering." Frankl's autobiography, "Reflections," was
translated by Joseph Fabry (d.1999 at 89) and his wife.
   (WSJ, 9/4/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.C4)(SFC,
5/12/99, p.C6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Ethnic Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh elected Arkady Gukasian as president with an 89%
vote. Azerbaijan called the vote invalid.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, In London, a
grieving human tide engulfed St. James's Palace, where Princess
Diana's body lay in a chapel closed to the public, as the British
monarchy and government prepared for her funeral. The White House
announced that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton would attend on
behalf of the United States.
   (AP, 9/2/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, In Russia Space
Agency officials blamed the cosmonauts for the Jun 25 crash on the
Mir space station. Later ground controllers were also held partly
responsible.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.C3)(SFC, 9/5/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, The U.S. Senate
voted to ban most federal financing for abortions provided by the
managed-care industry.Â
   (AP, 9/3/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, Arizona Gov. Fife
Symington, the great-grandson of steel baron Henry Clay Frick, was
found guilty by a jury on 7 counts of lying to get millions in loans
to shore up his collapsing real estate empire. He was later
sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, charged a fine of $60,000, and
ordered to serve 5 years of probation. Symington's conviction was
overturned in 1999; he was pardoned by President Clinton in January
2001 as prosecutors again pursued the case.
   (WSJ, 9/4/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A3)(SFC,
2/3/98, p.A2)(AP, 9/3/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, Belarus tax
officials emptied the bank account of the Soros foundation and
forced it to close down.
   (SFC, 9/4/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, It was reported
that Catania, Sicily, (pop. 378,000) has some 100 gangland killings
per year.
   (SFC, 9/3/97, p.C2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In Cambodia a
Vietnam Airlines, Tupelov 134, Soviet jet crashed on approach
to Phnom Penh airport and killed 65 people. One child, 1-year-old
Chanayuth Nim-Anong, survived. A 2nd child about 4 also survived.
   (WSJ, 9/3/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A12)(SFC,
9/5/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In Colombia workers
joined protests across the country to protest government
privatization plans, for better wages, respect for human rights and
an end to the guerrilla war.
   (SFC, 9/4/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, A trio of Buddhist
nuns acknowledged in Senate testimony that their temple outside Los
Angeles illegally reimbursed donors after a fund-raiser attended by
Vice President Al Gore and later destroyed or altered records to
avoid embarrassment.
   (AP, 9/4/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, It was reported
that scientists have pinpointed the gene, Torsin 1, responsible for
dystonia, a condition marked by uncontrolled movements.
   (SFC, 9/4/97, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, In Algeria 22
people were killed in El Arbi. Their throats were slit and bodies
burned.
   (SFC, 9/5/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, In Cuba an
explosion shook 3 tourist hotels and one Italian tourist was killed.
Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon (25) of Salvador was arrested and accused of
carrying out a half-dozen hotel attacks. He worked for Luis Posada
Carriles, who was supported by the Cuban-American National
Foundation. Cruz was sentenced to death in 1999. In 2010 Cuba's
Supreme Court commuted the death sentence ruling that he should
serve 30 years in prison instead. Francisco Chavez Abarca of El
Salvador was later arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison for
planting some of the bombs.
   (SFC, 9/5/97, p.A12)(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.A21)(WSJ,
3/24/99, p.A1)(AP, 12/3/10)(SFC, 5/24/11, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, In Israel a triple
suicide bombing in a mall in the heart of Jerusalem claimed the
lives of seven people, including the three assailants.
   (SFC, 9/5/97, p.A1)(AP, 9/4/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, From Kenya it was
reported that the unemployment rate was 35%.
   (SFC, 9/4/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, In Turkey 33 people
were killed when 2 buses collided near Ankara. Turkey has the
highest incidence of road traffic deaths with 2,713 killed in the
first 7 months of this year.
   (SFC, 9/5/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, In Arizona Sec. of
State Jane Dee Hull assumed the role of governor, the 3rd current
female governor in the US after Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey
and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
   (SFC, 9/6/97, p.A5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, The new Kansas City
Jazz Museum opened next to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
   (WSJ, 11/19/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Leon Edel (b.1907),
American scholar and biographer, died. His work included a 5-volume
biography of Henry James (1843-1916), for which he received the 1963
Pulitzer Prize.
   (WSJ, 6/17/08,
p.A21)(www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Edel-Jos.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, In Argentina a
group headed by Sociedad Macri SA took over the postal service with
an offer to pay the state about $102 million annually for 20 years.
   (WSJ, 9/8/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, In England funeral
services for Princess Diana were held in London. Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II broke the royal reticence over Princess Diana's death,
delivering a televised address in which she called her former
daughter-in-law "a remarkable person." The 1973 song “Candle in the
Wind,” an ode to Marilyn Monroe on the album “Goodbye Yellow Brick
Road” by Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, was adopted for the
funeral.
   (SFC, 9/6/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/24/97, p.E1)(AP,
9/5/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Hungarian-born
conductor Sir George Solti (b.1912) died at age 84 in France. He was
made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1972 for his
contributions to British music.
   (SFC, 9/6/97, p.A3)(AP, 9/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Athens, Greece, won
the competition to host the 2004 Summer Olympics.
   (WSJ, 9/8/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, In India Mother
Teresa (b.1910), the Calcutta nun who worked on behalf of the
destitute, died of heart failure in Calcutta. Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II broke the royal reticence over Princess Diana's death,
calling her "a remarkable person" in a televised address. In 1996 a
US Congress joint resolution declared her an honorary US citizen. In
2003 Albania declared 2004 to be "Mother Teresa Year" and set aside
Oct. 19 as a national holiday in her honor. "It is Christmas every
time you let God love others through you ... yes, it is Christmas
every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand."
   (SFC, 9/6/97, p.A1)(AP, 9/5/98)(AP, 9/12/03)(SFC,
9/3/10, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Israel’s PM
Netanyahu announced that the Oslo peace process was being frozen.
   (SFC, 9/6/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, In Lebanon at least
12 Israeli commandos were killed in a botched raid deep inside
Lebanese territory. Itamar Ilya, a commando, was killed with 11
other soldiers in Southern Lebanon.
   (SFC, 9/5/97, p.A1)(SFC, 6/26/98,
p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/64nx84f)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, The USS Hopper, the
354th ship in the modern naval fleet, was commissioned. The
high-tech destroyer is the 2nd warship to be named after a woman.
Grace Hooper (d.1992) was a computer programmer for the Navy until
she retired in 1986 at age 79. She coined the term "debugging" when
she pulled a moth from her computer.
   (SFEC, 8/31/97, p.B1,3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, In Albania the
Socialist government dismissed 17 generals.
   (WSJ, 9/8/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, In Algeria at least
87 people were killed and 100 injured by about 50 attackers in the
town of Beni Messous.
   (SFEC, 9/7/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Britain bade
farewell to Princess Diana with a funeral service at Westminster
Abbey.
   (AP, 9/6/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Weeping masses
gathered in Calcutta, India, to pay homage to Mother Teresa, who had
died the day before at age 87.
   (AP, 9/6/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, The US F-22 Raptor
stealth fighter took its first flight from Dobbins Air Reserve Base
north of Atlanta, Ga. The plane was estimated to cost $100 million.
   (SFC, 9/8/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, This was the
scheduled date for Israel’s departure from the West Bank,Â
except for Jewish settlements and certain military locations
according to a peace accord negotiated between Arafat and Rabin on
Sep 24, 1995.
   (SFC, 1/9/96, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Mobuto Sese Seko
(66), former dictator of Zaire, later Congo, died of prostate cancer
in exile in Rabat, Morocco. Mobutu began his career in the Belgian
Congolese army, rising to the highest rank available to Africans,
sergeant-major. However, after leaving the army in 1956, he began to
be involved with the independence movement, representing the
nationalists at some negotiations. Five years after independence, in
1965, Mobutu, then commander in chief of the army, exploited a power
struggle in the young government by assuming the presidency in a
coup. Mobutu managed to stay in power over the following decades
despite uprisings, coup attempts and Angola-backed rebels. In the
early 1970s, he began to Africanize names in the country, most
notably changing the name of the country from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo to the Republic of Zaire and his own name from
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu to Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga
(which means "The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance
and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest,
leaving fire in his wake"). The end of the Cold War meant that, in
1991, Mobutu could no longer hold the same dictatorial control he
had held over the country nor keep his party, the MPR, as the only
legal political entity. With the beginnings of a multiparty system
and a lack of Western finance, Mobutu released control of the
government to the rebel leader Laurent Kabila in May 1997. Kabila‘s
rebels—backed by Rwanda and Uganda—had been gaining ground over the
past seven months. Mobutu died in exile several months later. In
2001 Michela Wrong authored ""In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living
on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo."
   (SFC, 9/8/97, p.A8)(AP, 9/7/98)(HNQ,
2/15/01)(WSJ, 4/27/01, p.W10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, In the disputed
Kashmir region Indian and Pakistani gunners exchanged artillery fire
and 14 villagers on the Pakistani side were reported killed and 5
were reported killed on the Indian side.
   (WSJ, 9/8/97, p.A16)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, The TV series “Ally
McBeal” starred Calista Flockhart as a working girl who was part
successful attorney and part angst-ridden woman. The show continued
to 2002.
   (LSA, Spring, 2009,
p.45)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0118254/)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Lawyers in the
Paula Jones case against Pres. Clinton decided to quit the suit
after Jones refused to accept a financial settlement.
   (SFC, 9/9/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Monday commuters in
and around San Francisco faced huge traffic jams a day after workers
for the Bay Area's commuter rail system went on strike. An agreement
ending the walkout was reached five days later.
   (AP, 9/8/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Forbes Mag. listed
Steven Spielberg as the best paid figure, $313 Mil, in the
entertainment business in 1997.
   (SFC, 9/9/97, p.E2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, It was announced
the America Online Inc. (AOL) would take over Compuserve in a 3-way
deal that involved WorldCom.
   (SFC, 9/8/97, p.A3)(AP, 9/8/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, John Liebeskind
(62) died in LA. He was a leading researcher in the study of pain
and found that the brain controls pain by creating a chemical now
known as an endorphin.
   (SFC, 9/22/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In France a
passenger train collided with a gasoline truck in Perigord town and
killed at least 12 people and injured 39.
   (WSJ, 9/9/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, From Guatemala it
was reported that a new rebel group emerged in the Chajul region
calling itself the Guerrilla Command Force ‘97.
   (SFC, 9/8/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In Haiti the ferry,
Pride of Gonave, sank in the Saint Marc Channel off Montrouis. The
60-foot vessel was chartered for only 80 passengers. The recovered
bodies numbered 170. A Haitian ferry, the Pride of Gonave, capsized,
killing about three-quarters of the 200 people aboard.
   (SFC, 9/9/97, p.A10)(SFC, 9/10/97, p.A10)(WSJ,
9/17/97, p.A1)(AP, 9/8/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In Japan Prime
Minister Hashimoto won re-election as head of the Liberal Democrats.
   (WSJ, 9/9/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In Liberia some
200,000 refugees from Sierra Leone had spilled over from escalating
violence.
   (WSJ, 9/9/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In Mexico the Fox
and Jaguar SWAT police in Mexico City engaged in a gun fight with a
neighborhood gang. One young man and one police officer died. Police
seized 6 youths and 3 were found dead the next day with gunshot
wounds to the head. Three more were found dead on Sep 29. On Oct 3
nineteen members of the police force were arraigned for the
executions. Three ranking officers were later arrested due to
contradictory and misleading statements.
   (SFC, 10/4/97, p.A8)(SFC,11/19/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, Actor Burgess
Meredith died in Malibu, Calif., at age 89. He had played the
Penguin on TV’s Batman and numerous films in a 60 year film career.
He was born Nov 16, 1907 in Cleveland.
   (SFC, 9/11/97, p.A18)(AP, 9/9/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, Richie Ashburn,
Hall of Fame baseball player (Phillies, Mets), died at 70.
   (www.baseball-reference.com/a/ashburi01.shtml)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, Sinn Fein, the
IRA's political ally, accepted the Mitchell Principles and formally
renounced violence as it took its place in talks on Northern
Ireland's future.
   (AP, 9/9/98)(MC, 9/9/01)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, In China former
Beijing mayor Chen Xitong was handed over to prosecutors on charges
of corruption in a scandal with the loss of as much as $2.2 billion
in public funds.
   (SFC, 9/10/97, p.A9)(Econ, 9/30/06, p.49)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Former Agriculture
Secretary Mike Espy pleaded innocent to charges of accepting $35,000
in sports tickets, travel and lodging from companies regulated by
the Agriculture Department. He was later acquitted.
   (AP, 9/10/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Discovery Comm.
Bought a 70% stake in the Travel Channel from Paxson Comm. for $20
million. Paxson had acquired the Travel Channel in June from Clear
Channel Comm.
  Â
(www.backchannelmedia.com/articles/41-42-new-era-demands-new.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, The $250 million
Mars Global Surveyor successfully went into orbit around Mars for
its 2 year mapping mission.
   (USAT, 8/29/97, p.12A)(SFC, 9/10/97, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, The ashes of Eliot
Ness, FBI agent, were laid to rest in Cleveland.
   (HIR, 9/11/97, p.11B)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, In LA 11 people
were killed in a fiery car crash after a day of selling corn.
   (HIR, 9/11/97, p.11B)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, In Cuba a former
Salvadoran soldier was arrested and confessed to carrying out a
series of bomb attacks. A statement said that Raul Ernesto Cruz was
paid $4,500 for each bomb he planted and that he had been trained in
El Salvador.
   (SFC, 9/11/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, In Manhattan Elie
Wiesel helped dedicate the new Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery
Park, designed by Kevin Roche. It was dubbed a Living memorial to
the Holocaust.
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.A10)(WSJ, 9/17/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, The US Army issued
a searing indictment of itself, asserting that "sexual harassment
exists throughout the Army, crossing gender, rank and racial lines."
   (AP, 9/11/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, In Kenya the
Parliament approved some constitutional reforms but opponents
charged the measures were only meant to diffuse protests. Detention
without trial was ended and greater media access to the opposition
was to be established.
   (WSJ, 9/12/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, In Scotland voters
went to the polls on a referendum for a separate Scottish
Parliament. In a two-part referendum, 74.3% of Scots voted for a
129-member parliament to administer many aspects of Scottish life.
63.5% said 'yes' to giving it modest tax changing powers. The
parliament controls schools, the health service, environmental
affairs and farm support programs.
   (SFC, 9/11/97, p.A10)(SFC, 9/12/97,
p.A12)(Reuters, 2/16/12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Pres. Clinton
named Dr. David Satcher, 56, as the new surgeon general.
   (SFC, 9/13/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, With little to
show after three days of shuttle diplomacy, US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright declared she wouldn't return to the Mideast until
Israeli and Palestinian leaders made the "hard decisions" necessary
to restart peace talks.
   (AP, 9/12/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, US Senate Foreign
Relations Chairman Jesse Helms, exercising iron control, prevented
any committee hearing on William Weld's nomination to be ambassador
to Mexico.
   (AP, 9/12/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Edwin Lawrence
Njuguna of Kenya was stabbed to death in Napa, Calif., after being
dragged with two friends from a car by skinheads.
   (SFC, 10/1/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, It was reported
that Comoros government troops under Pres. Mohamed Taki were routed
on Anjouan and half of a force of 300 were killed or captured by
people who demanded to be French again.
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, In southeast Congo
a plane crashed enroute to a religious meeting. All 20 aboard were
killed.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, The Chinese
Communist Party Congress opened under Pres. Jiang Zemin and embraced
a program of bold economic reform. The event was held every 5 years.
Jiang Zemin was expected to stay as general-secretary. The positions
of Li Peng and Qiao Shi were in question. Jiang issued a call to use
layoffs, bankruptcies, shareholding and other capitalist policies to
attack the nation’s industrial ills.
   (SFC, 8/28/97, p.C2)(SFC, 9/13/97, p.A8)(SFC,
9/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, In Mexico a crowd
of tens of thousands rallied in the central square of Mexico City in
support of the Zapatista movement.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Katherine Shindle
of Illinois was crowned Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, It was reported
that a monster hurricane named Linda was moving up the Pacific
coast.
   (SFC, 9/13/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Victor Szebehely,
a theorist of celestial mechanics, died in Texas. He wrote or edited
some 18 books including: "Theory of Orbit," and "Adventures in
Celestial Mechanics."
   (SFC, 9/29/97, p.A23)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In Algeria
security forces killed 8 suspected Muslim militants in a rocket
attack on a mosque in a suburb of the capital. Earlier a Muslim
cleric was assassinated by suspected militants in Constantine.
   (WSJ, 9/15/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In Bosnia
municipal elections were held under NATO escort. There was a high
voter turnout.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A22)(SFC, 9/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, A German military
transport, a Soviet-made Tupelov-154 jet, was reported crashed with
24 people off the coast of Angola. A midair collision with a USAF
C-141 Starlifter cargo plane from Namibia was reported and the total
dead reached 32. Poor communications and faulty regional traffic
control were cited as the cause. On Mar 31, 1988 the German
government reported that the German crew was at fault for flying in
airspace reserved for westbound traffic.
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A1)(SFC,12/16/97, p.B1)(WSJ,
3/31/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 4/25/99, p.A5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Funeral services
were held in Calcutta, India, for Nobel peace laureate Mother
Teresa.
   (AP, 9/13/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In Lebanon six
soldiers were killed in a rocket attack by Israeli helicopters.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A22)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In Mexico City a
national Zapatista civilian movement was inaugurated.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, From New Zealand
it was reported that the government approved the release of the
rabbit calcivirus to eradicate the rabbit pest problem.
   (SFC, 9/13/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In the Philippines
the Mount Pinukis volcano, 120 miles east of Zamboanga City, erupted
after being dormant since 1985.
   (SFC, 9/13/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, At the 49th Annual
Primetime Emmy Awards, "Law and Order" won best drama series while
"Frasier" won best comedy series.
   (AP, 9/14/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, An Air Force
F-117A Stealth fighter broke apart in midair at a Baltimore County
air show. The pilot ejected safely but about a dozen people on the
ground were slightly injured.
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Overcoming fears
of violence, Bosnians flooded polling stations to vote in local
elections.
   (AP, 9/14/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, In India at least
77 people were killed when a train plunged from a bridge near Champa
town in the east of Madhya Pradesh state. Another 234 were injured.
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A11)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Two Israeli
soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon.
   (WSJ, 9/15/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Israel announced
that it will return half of the $67 million in Palestinian tax
revenues as a "goodwill gesture."
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, It was reported
that Norway is the world’s 2nd largest oil exporter and that the
government sets aside nearly $8.3 billion into a fund for the
future.
   (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A24)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Former
Massachusetts Gov. William Weld gave up his battle to be U.S.
ambassador to Mexico.
   (AP, 9/15/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Two of the
nation's most popular diet drugs -- dexfenfluramine and fenfluramine
-- were pulled off the market because of new evidence they could
seriously damage patients' hearts.
   (AP, 9/15/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, A Marine F/Aa-18
Hornet fighter jet crashed in North Carolina’s Pamlico sound and its
2 pilots were killed.
   (SFC, 9/20/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, From Afghanistan
it was reported that the Taliban has prohibited the cultivation of
opium poppies. Some 200,000 families produced a record 2,800 tons of
opium in 1997, a 25% increase over 1996.
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, In Algeria 7
people were killed in Saida by masked assailants and four people had
their throats cut in Medea.
   (SFC, 9/16/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, In India at the
port city of Visakhapatnam a fire raged at the Hindustan Petroleum
Corp. and 37 were reported dead.
   (SFC, 9/16/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, The IRA allied
Sinn Fein party entered Northern Ireland's peace talks for the first
time. All party talks for peace were to begin in Belfast.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A8)(AP, 9/15/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, In North Korea it
was reported that about 15% of people in the towns and villages of
the country may be dying of starvation and famine-related diseases
in a survey conducted by Korean-American organizations.
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, In Norway Prime
Minister Thorbjoern Jagland said he would step down after support in
national elections reached only about 35%.
   (SFC, 9/16/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, In Oman a US Navy
F/A-18 crashed and the pilot was killed.
   (WSJ, 9/16/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/20/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, From Thailand it
was reported that layoffs, salary cuts and downsizing was spreading
across the economy under an expensive foreign debt load and a 40%
fall in the value of the baht.
   (SFC, 9/15/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, US Attorney
General Janet Reno named Charles La Bella the Justice Department's
new lead prosecutor in the campaign fund-raising investigation.
   (AP, 9/16/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, Two Air national
Guard F-16 fighters collided off Atlantic City, N.J. All the crew
members survived.
   (SFC, 9/17/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, In Egypt a
state-owned farm-truck carrying up to 120 boys and girls overturned
and killed 29 of them. 23 children from Sa el-Hagar were killed.
   (SFC, 9/17/97, p.C4)(SFC, 10/1/98, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Pres. Clinton
rejected a proposed tobacco deal and planned to outline his own
policy.
   (SFC, 9/17/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Pres. Clinton
announced that the US would not sign the int’l. treaty banning
anti-personnel land mines after 89 nations rejected US demands to
water down the accord. 89 nations endorsed the pact.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.A1)(AP, 9/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, The US House of
Representatives voted themselves a $3,000 pay increase, the
equivalent of a 2.3% raise on $133,600. It was termed a
cost-of-living increase and was opposed by the Senate.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.A3)(WSJ, 9/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Montana passed a
new law, effective Dec 17, that makes the entire state an offshore
banking center, allowing foreign interests to anonymously stash
their cash. Depositors could not be US citizens and a minimum of
$200,000 was required.
   (SFC,12/17/97, p.A1)(SFEC, 1/18/98, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Dr. Sam Sheppard's
body (subject of the TV show "The Fugitive") was exhumed in
Cleveland, Ohio, for DNA test.
  Â
(www.courttv.com/archive/trials/sheppard/timeline_ctv.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Bernard Richard
Skelton (Red Skelton, b.1913), comic clown and actor, died at age 84
in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He made his debut on radio and Broadway in
1937 and appeared in 43 films. In 1979 Arthur Marx wrote his
biography.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.C2)(AP, 9/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, From Indonesia it
was reported that government spending was slashed and projects for
power plants and roads were put on hold in order to keep the economy
on an even keel.
   (WSJ, 9/17/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, The German Red
Cross estimated that the famine in North Korea might be killing
10,000 children every month.
   (WSJ, 9/17/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, In Macedonia the
mayor of Gostevar, Rufi Osmani, was sentenced to 13 years in prison
on charges of inciting ethnic hatred in the July riots.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.A11)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, In Ensenada,
Mexico, 20 people were shot and 18 were killed by gunmen. The
victims included 8 children. Fermin Castro (38), aka "The Ice Man,"
was the principal target and leader of one of 6 gangs linked to the
Arellano Felix drug cartel. Castro, a native Pai Pai Indian, was
tortured before being shot and was in a coma. In Dec. Tijuana police
arrested Hector Flores Esquivias and Cruz Medina Perez, the wife of
gang leader Martinez Gonzalez.
   (WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)(SFC, 9/18/98, p.A1)(SFC,
10/17/98, p.A12)(SFC, 12/5/98, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, A U.N. helicopter
slammed into a fog-shrouded mountain in central Bosnia and burst
into flames, killing German diplomat Gerd Wagner, five Americans and
six others.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.A12)(AP, 9/17/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, In Vietnam Tran
Duc Luong (60) was nominated to be the country’s president. Vice
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (64) was nominated to be the new prime
minister. A week later Luong was elected by the National Assembly
and Khai was confirmed as premier.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.A11)(WSJ, 9/25/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Coopers &
Lybrand and Price Waterhouse agreed to merge to create the world's
biggest accounting firm.
   (AP, 9/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Media mogul Ted
Turner pledged to give the United Nations $1 billion over the next
ten years.
   (SFC, 9/19/97, p.A1)(AP, 9/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Colorado
Sabrina (31) Bebb-Jones was reported missing by employees of the
Hotel Melrose in Grand Junction. Her husband, Marcus Bebb-Jones, a
professional gambler, was later accused of dumping her on a mountain
pass in northwestern Colorado. Her skull was found and positively
identified in 2004. He returned to his native England, where he was
arrested in 2009.
   (AP, 4/12/10)(http://tinyurl.com/y9wqjtr)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Albania a
Socialist lawmaker shot and wounded a rival from the opposition
Democrats inside the parliament building.
   (WSJ, 9/19/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Bosnia a car
bomb in Mostar injured about 50 people and destroyed 56, apartments,
9 businesses and 44 cars.
   (SFC, 9/20/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Egypt two
gunmen killed 10 people in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in front of the
Egyptian Museum. Of the dead were nine German tourists and a bus
driver and a dozen more were wounded as the tour bus was set afire.
Saber and Mahmoud Abu el-Ulla, a former inmate of a mental hospital
and his brother, were caught, convicted and sentenced to death.
   (SFC, 9/19/97, p.A12)(SFC,10/31/97, p.D3)(AP,
9/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Norway an
explosion at a Russian-operated coal mine in the Svalbard islands
killed 23 Russian and Ukrainian workers.
   (SFC, 9/19/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Wales voters
narrowly approved a referendum for partial self-government with
50.3% of the vote in which only 50% of the voters took part.
   (SFC, 9/19/97, p.A12)(AP, 9/18/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, The crime drama
"L.A. Confidential" opened. It was directed by Curtis Hanson. Los
Angeles and New York film critics later voted it the best film of
the year. Kim Bassinger won the Golden Globes award for best
supporting actress.
   (SSFC, 9/1/02, Par p.14)(AP, 9/19/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, It was reported
that the US trade deficit rose to $10.3 billion in July, a 25% jump
over June.
   (WSJ, 9/19/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, A US Air Force B-1
bomber crashed on a training mission in Montana and all 4 crew
members were killed.
   (SFC, 9/20/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, Alfredo Enrique
Tello Jr. (19) was found charred and dismembered in an Aspen Hill,
Md., garage. One suspected killer, Samuel Sheinbein (17), fled to
Israel. A 2nd suspect, Aaron B. Needle (17), was held in jail. In
Oct. the attorney general decided to return Sheinbein to the US. The
two young men were indicted on murder and conspiracy charges. Needle
committed suicide by hanging in 1998. In 1999 the Israeli Supreme
Court held that Sheinbein could not be extradited. Sheinbein agreed
to plead guilty to murder and received a prison sentence of 24 years
with possible parole after 16.
   (SFC, 10/7/97, p.A3)(SFC,10/20/97,
p.A1)(SFC,10/31/97, p.A3)(SFEC, 4/19/98, p.A18)(SFC, 2/25/99,
p.A12)(SFC, 8/25/99, p.A14)(SFC, 10/25/99, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, In his first
public comments since the death of Princess Diana, Princes Charles
told the British people he would always feel the loss of his former
wife, and thanked them for their support.
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, In England a
passenger train collided with a freight train in west London and 6
people were killed and 170 injured.
   (SFC, 9/20/97, p.A10)(AP, 9/19/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, President
Clinton's attorneys insisted no laws were broken as it was disclosed
that Attorney General Janet Reno had taken a first step toward
seeking a special prosecutor to investigate the president's 1996
fund-raising activities.
   (AP, 9/20/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Nicholas Traina
(19), the son of novelist Danielle Steel, died in SF of a drug
overdose.
   (SFEC, 9/21/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Jimmy Witherspoon
(b.8/23/23 in Gurdon, Ark.), blues singer, died at age 74 in LA.
   (SFEC, 9/21/97, p.C7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, In Niger it was
reported that about 71,000 villagers were threatened by famine in
the southwestern areas around Oualam.
   (SFC, 9/20/97, p.A19)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, In the Philippines
Pres. Ramos announced that he would not run for re-election. A mass
protest was staged the next day anyway to prevent a change in the
constitution that would allow a 2nd term.
   (SFEC, 9/21/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Saying their
persistent demands for a special investigation had been vindicated,
senior Republicans insisted Attorney General Janet Reno seek
appointment of an independent counsel to look into White House
fund-raising activities, a day after the Justice Department revealed
it had begun a preliminary review.
   (AP, 9/21/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, American
billionaire George Soros, vilified by Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohammad as the cause of the national financial crises,
defended himself and called his accuser "a menace to his own
country."
   (SFC, 9/22/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, In Algeria an
armed group killed 53 people in Beni-Slimane and then mutilated and
burned the bodies.
   (SFC, 9/22/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, From Chile it was
reported that the hantavirus had caused the death of 13 people in
recent months.
   (SFEC, 9/21/97, p.A27)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, From Poland
election results indicated that Solidarity won 189 of the 460 seats
of the parliament with about 34% of the vote.
   (WSJ, 9/23/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Elton John
released his Diana tribute "Candle in the Wind 1997."
   (www.vex.net/~paulmac/elton/ej1997.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, President Clinton,
addressing the United Nations, told world leaders to "end all
nuclear tests for all time" as he sent the long-delayed global
test-ban treaty to the Senate.
   (AP, 9/22/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Sportscaster Marv
Albert went on trial in Arlington, Va., on charges of sodomy and
assault. Albert later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault,
received no jail time and later had his record cleared.
   (AP, 9/22/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, In the farming
village of Roby, Illinois, a standoff between police and Shirley
Allen (51) began that turned into a 5-week police siege. Her brother
initially showed up with a court order for a psychiatric exam and
she refused to comply. She was finally captured after being shot
with rubber bullets. Shirley Ann Allen was apprehended when she
stepped out onto her porch on October 30, 1997. Illinois State
Police officers fired several large rubber bullets at her from a
grenade launcher, striking her several times. Apparently not
seriously injured, Allen was taken to St. Johns Hospital in
Springfield, Illinois for her "evaluation." Ending on Thursday,
October 30, 1997 a 39-day police siege, the longest in Illinois
history. According to Illinois State Police Director Terry Gainer
between $750,000 and $1,000,000 of taxpayer money was spent during
the stand-off. After six weeks in a mental hospital, Allen was
released when doctors said she posed no danger to herself or others.
   (SFC, 10/14/97, p.A3)(SFC,10/31/97,
p.A3)(www.outlawslegal.com/friendly/shirley.htm)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, It was reported
that IBM has developed a new copper chip that will be smaller and up
to 40% more powerful than previous chips.
   (SFC, 9/22/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, It was reported
that scientists had developed a new technology that takes the
flicker out of starlight using "adaptive optics."
   (SFC, 9/22/97, p.A5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Shoichi Yokoi
(b.1915), Japanese WW II fighter who only surrendered in 1972, died.
For 28 years he had hid in an underground jungle cave on Guam,
fearing to come out of hiding even after finding leaflets declaring
that World War II had ended.
   (www.wanpela.com/holdouts/profiles/yokoi.html)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, In Serbia the
Socialist Party of Slobodan Milosevic claimed victory in the
elections. Many of his opponents boycotted the elections which they
said were rigged. Zoran Lilic was expected to take the presidency. A
majority was not won and a runoff election was scheduled for Oct 5.
   (SFC, 9/22/97, p.A8)(SFC, 9/23/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, The White House
awarded the $10,000 National Heritage Fellows awards to a dozen
Americans that included Chinese singer Hua Wenyi, and Ali Akbar
Khan, composer of North Indian music.
   (SFC, 9/24/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, The Gilmore Artist
Award, a $300,000 prize given every 4 years to a classical pianist,
was awarded to Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes at the Irving S.
Gilmore Int’l. Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   (SFC, 9/24/97, p.E5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, The US Senate
Finance Committee opened hearings into reports of alleged abuses by
the Internal Revenue Service.
   (AP, 9/23/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, Kevin (18) and
Tilmon Golphin (19) of Virginia shot and killed Patrol Troopers Ed
Lowry and David Hathcock on I-95 in North Carolina after they were
pulled over in a stolen car. The 2 brothers were sentenced to death
May 13, 1998.
   (SFC, 5/14/98, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Algeria the
government reported that 85 people were killed, while eyewitnesses
counted more than 200 bodies in the Bentalha neighborhood of the
Baraki suburb of Algiers. Armed men raided an Algerian village,
killing at least 200 people in one of the worst massacres since
Algeria's Islamic insurgency began.
   (AP, 9/23/98)(SFC, 9/24/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Garth Brooks was
named best entertainer by Country Music Association.
   (AP, 9/24/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, President Clinton
urged the annual convention of the AFL-CIO not to try to punish
Democratic lawmakers who stood with him on his request for stronger
authority to negotiate new free-trade treaties.
   (AP, 9/24/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Travelers Group
announced the acquisition of Salomon Brothers for $9 billion in
stock.
   (Econ, 10/14/06,
p.89)(www.businessweek.com/1997/40/b3547006.htm)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, The Islamic
Salvation Army (AIS) declared a truce and blamed recent killings on
a splinter fundamentalist group, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA).
   (WSJ, 9/25/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/27/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, It was reported
that drought has destroyed crops across the Indonesian archipelago
and could force up to 1 million villagers into a famine diet. Forest
and scrub fires continued to burn out of control. 750,000 acres of
bush land had burned. It was the worst drought in 50 years.
   (SFC, 9/24/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A11)(SFC,
7/6/98, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, In the Republic of
the Congo it was reported that the Cobras, the private militia of
former military dictator Gen’l. Denis Sassou-Nguesso, had taken
control of more than three-quarters of the country.
   (SFC, 9/24/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, The NBC prime-time
drama "ER" did its season premiere live for the Eastern United
States, then repeated the performance live for the West Coast.
   (AP, 9/25/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, President Clinton
pulled open the door of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., as
he welcomed nine blacks who had faced hate-filled mobs 40 years
earlier.
   (AP, 9/25/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, Sportscaster Marv
Albert ended his trial in Arlington, Va., by pleading guilty to
assault and battery charges; within hours, NBC fired him. The
network later rehired him.
   (AP, 9/25/07)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, In the town of
Scotia in Humboldt County, Ca., 7 protestors settled in the company
office of Pacific Lumber. Sheriff’s deputies applied pepper spray
directly to the eyes of the protestors using cotton swabs and
Q-tips.
   (SFC,10/31/97, p.A15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, In California it
was reported that traces of toxaphene, banned in 1982, were found in
at least one bird in a southern Tulare County canal where some 1600
western grebes and millions of fish were found dead.
   (SFC, 9/25/97, p.A13)
1997      Sep 25, The space
shuttle Atlantis was launched. Astronaut David Wolf scheduled to
replace Michael Foale on the Mir space station.
   (www.cnn.com/TECH/9709/25/shuttle.mir/)(SFC,
9/27/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, A British jet car,
Thrust SSC, driven by Andy Green of the Royal Air Force set a land
speed record of 714.144 mph. [see Oct 13]
   (SFC, 10/14/97, p.A1,7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, From Brazil it was
reported that local transsexuals could get a free sex-change
operation under new rules that classified the surgery as
experimental.
   (SFC, 9/25/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, Iraq demanded that
Turkey pull back some 15,000 troops who crossed its border in
pursuit of Kurdistan Workers Party guerrillas.
   (WSJ, 9/26/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, In Jordan Khalid
Mashaal, the political leader of Hamas, was chemically attacked by
two men with forged Canadian passports in Amman. Hamas accused the
men of being Israeli Mossad agents. Jordan's King Hussein
intervened, forcing Israel to send the antidote that saved the Hamas
leader's life and release the group's jailed founder in exchange for
the freedom of its captured agents.
   (SFC, 10/2/97, p.A10)(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B4)(SFC,
10/12/97, p.A17)(AP, 9/25/04)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Gap Inc. dressed
the NY stock exchange in khakis fashion, the first casual dress day
in exchange history.
   (SFEC, 8/29/99, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, US and Russia
signed a package of arms control agreements that extended parts of
START II to 2007. Systems were still required to be disabled by
2003. Other accords modified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of
1972 with Belarus, Kazakstan, the Ukraine and Russia to allow
flexibility for the development of short range systems.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In Algeria
militants attacked the village of El Hadj and killed 15 people.
   (SFC, 9/30/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In Bosnia
political broadcasts began in Banja Luka under an agreement by rival
factions to share the airwaves on alternate days.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A26)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, A German court
convicted Nikola Jorgic, a Bosnian Serb, for leading a death squad
that killed 22 Muslims in Grapska during the war.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, An Indonesian
Garuda Air A-300 crashed while approaching Medan Airport in north
Sumatra and all 234 passengers were killed. Low visibility from the
areas fires were thought to have contributed the tragedy.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/29/97, p.A1)(AP,
9/26/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In Italy Bob Dylan
performed at a religious congress in Bologna before a crowd 200,000
and Pope John Paul II.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Two earthquakes
hit central Italy east of Umbria and at least 11 people were killed.
The basilica of Assisi, St. Mary of the Angels, built on the site
where St. Francis died, was severely damaged. 4 people were killed
while assessing damage from the first quake. An estimated 100,000
buildings in the Umbria and Marche regions were damaged.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/1/99, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In Sicily a court
convicted 24 mobsters for the 1992 bombing of the top anti-mafia
prosecutor. Salvatore "Toto" Riina, the reputed "boss of bosses" was
among those convicted for having plotted the assassination of
Giovanni Falcone.
   (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, The space shuttle
Atlantis, docked with the problem-plagued Russian Mir station to
drop off American David Wolf and pick up Michael Foale.
   (AP, 9/27/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In Algeria
witnesses said armed men killed 11 female teachers at Ain Adden
School in Sfisef while shouting "Blood, blood, blood, destruction,
destruction, destruction," the rallying cry of the Armed Islamic
Group.
   (SFC, 9/30/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In Indonesia two
cargo ships collided in the strait of Malacca and at least 28 crew
members were missing. Smog from fires impacted visibility.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In Hong Kong
lawmakers approved an election law that reduced the number of people
who could vote and increased the power of big business.
   (SFC, 9/29/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In North Korea Kim
Jong Il ordered the establishment of the "9-27" camps for orphaned
and homeless children to "normalize" the country.
   (SFC, 9/30/98, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In Thailand the
parliament passed a constitution intended to fight government
corruption and rejected a no-confidence motion against Prime
Minister Chavilit.
   (WSJ, 9/29/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Mark McGwire of
the St. Louis Cardinals hit his 58th home run on the final day of
the regular season as his team beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1.
   (AP, 9/28/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Newscaster David
Brinkley, 74, retired after 54 years in broadcasting.
   (http://tinyurl.com/7dxec)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In California a
wildfire killed livestock and forced the evacuation of some 1500
people in Yuba County. Scores of homes were burned.
   (SFC, 9/29/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, From LA it was
reported that Cirildo Chacarito, a 52-year-old Mexican Indian
tribesman, won a 100-mile endurance run along mountain trails in 19
1/2 hours.
   (SFC, 9/29/97, p.A23)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In Indonesia an
earthquake measuring 6.0 hit Sulawesi island and at least 7 people
were killed.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A21)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Swiss voters
overwhelmingly endorsed their government's liberal drug policies,
including the controversial state distribution of heroin to hardened
addicts.
   (AP, 9/28/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Maxine Hong
Kingston, American writer, was scheduled to receive a National
Humanities Medal from Pres. Clinton. Her best known is: "The Woman
Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts."
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.D7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Oklahoma City
bombing defendant Terry Nichols went on trial in the same courtroom
in Denver where Timothy McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to die.
Nichols was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and
conspiracy, but acquitted of murder and weapons-related counts; he
was sentenced to life in prison.
   (AP, 9/29/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, A 10,000 gallon
oil spill occurred off the coast of Santa Barbara from an undersea
pipeline to an offshore oil platform.
   (SFC, 10/1/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Roy Lichtenstein
(b. 10/28/23), American pop artist, died at age 73 in New York.
   (SFC, 9/30/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, In Algeria some 15
armed attackers killed 52 members of one extended family in Chebil
and kidnapped 5 young women.
   (SFC, 10/1/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, In Chile a fire
killed 30 children in a home for retarded children in northern
Santiago.
   (SFC, 9/30/97, p.A13)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, The French oil
company Total signed a $2 billion contract to explore for gas in
Iran despite warnings from the Clinton administration.
   (SFC, 9/30/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Iranian warplanes
bombed anti-Tehran rebel bases inside Iraq.
   (WSJ, 9/30/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, It was reported
that Jordan shut down 13 weekly newspapers for allegedly failing to
maintain assets and cash to $430,000.
   (SFC, 9/29/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, It was reported
that Swiss voters backed the continuation of a 3-year experiment in
more lenient drug laws that included free heroin to hard-core
addicts to cut crime.
   (WSJ, 9/29/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Turkish planes
attacked Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq and drove the
guerrillas toward the Iran border.
   (WSJ, 9/30/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, The Rolling Stones
album "Bridges to Babylon" was scheduled for release.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, DB p.35)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, Hooters agreed to
pay $2 million in discrimination suits.
  Â
(www.spcnetwork.com/mii/1997/971004.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/7n8v9)
1997 Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In Waterbury,
Conn., Todd Joseph Rizzo (18), recently discharged from the Marines,
bludgeoned to death Stanley Edwards IV (13) to see what it felt like
to kill. In 1999, a jury sentenced him to die. In 2003, the state
Supreme Court overturned that sentence because Judge William Holden
had not properly instructed the jury.
    (SFC, 10/3/97,
p.A6)(www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1407662/posts)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In Louisiana the
Flamingo riverboat casino closed. It was the last riverboat casino
in downtown New Orleans and the 4th to open and close in the last 4
years. One floating casino was left on Lake Pontchartrain.
   (SFC, 10/4/97, p.A4)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In an
unprecedented act of repentance, France's Roman Catholic Church
apologized for its silence during the systematic persecution and
deportation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime.
   (AP, 9/30/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In Serbia Zoran
Djindjic, mayor of Belgrade, was ousted in a coup by nationalist
extremists and some former allies. The city assembly voted to oust
Djindjic and the TV editors. Some 20,000 demonstrators protested in
downtown Belgrade. Senior editors of Studio B television, the only
opposition to Milosevic’s state television, were also ousted.
   (SFC, 10/2/97, p.A10)(SFC, 10/2/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, On St. Kitts
island Leyoca Browne (20) and her mother, Violet (36), were murdered
by Bertil Fox, a former Mr. Universe bodybuilder. He was found
guilty and sentenced to death on 5/23/98.
   (SFC, 5/26/98, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In Thailand the
cabinet officially scrapped the $3.2 billion rail and road system
under construction by Hopewell Holdings. The Bangkok Elevated Rail
and Transport System known as Berts was one fifth built and several
years behind schedule.
   (WSJ, 10/1/97, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, "The Riverside
Records Story, " a 4 CD label overview on Fantasy Records was
released along with "Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years," a
3 CD collection on Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Records label.
   (SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, The US releasedÂ
the one ounce Platinum Eagle coin with $100 face value. The coin was
valued around $390.
   (WSJ, 11/10/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Steve Jobs was named
interim CEO of Apple Corp. Jobs dropped the term interim in 2000.
   (SFC, 1/24/04, p.A12)(Econ, 6/9/07, p.80)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Tyrone, Pa., Devon
Capital Management under John Gardner Black was shut down by the
SEC. Mr. Black was charged with fraud after losing millions in
high-risk bonds and derivatives and then trying to cover up the
losses. Some $70 million was lost from the investments of 64
cash-strapped school districts in the state.
   (WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Dallas, Texas, the
Walt Whitman Community School began classes as the nation’s first
private high school for gay students.
   (SFC, 5/11/98, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, MIT student Scott
Krueger fell into a coma and died following a drinking binge at the
Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. In 1998 the fraternity was charged with
homicide.
   (SFC, 9/18/98, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Isaiah Berlin
(b.1909) died. He had just published "The Sense of Reality: Studies
in Ideas and Their History." It was his 11th book and was unified by
the theme of the impact of belief and loss of belief that events
obey discoverable laws. "Most of life transpires at deeper strata,
within a complicated network of relationships involving every form
of human intercourse, more and more insusceptible to tidy
classification, more and more opaque to the theorist’s vision." In
1998 his collection of essays "The Proper Study of Mankind" was
published. In 2002 his 1952 BBC lectures were published under the
title: "Freedom and its Betrayal." It was a portrait of 6 thinkers:
Helvetius, Rousseau, Fichte, Hegel, Saint-Simon and Maistre as
"enemies of human liberty."
   (SFEC, 5/25/97, BR p.9)(WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A16)(WSJ,
9/3/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 3/20/02, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Adolfo Scilingo, a
former Argentine navy officer, had his face slashed by unknown
assailants in a Buenos Aires street. He and Horatio Verbitsky wrote
"El Vuelo," (The Flight), a best -seller about the death flights
during the "dirty war."
   (SFC, 1/1/98, p.A18)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In England a 13-foot
high painting titled "Myra" by Marcus Harvey was displayed at the
Royal Academy of Arts show "Sensation." It was created from
children’s handprints and based on a mug shot of Myra convicted of
murdering children in 1966. It was part of a show from the
collection of Charles Saatchi of the "Brit Art gang." The show was
deemed by many as very offensive.
   (SFC, 9/18/97, p.E5)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In India 30 people
organizing lower-caste villagers were killed by a rival group.
   (SFC, 12/3/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Iraq some military
intelligence officials were caught plotting a coup against Saddam
Hussein and at least half a dozen officers were executed.
   (SFC, 2/21/98, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Chiapas, Mexico,
gunmen demanded a "war tax" of $1.25 from villagers every couple
weeks and threatened them if they refused. It was reported that the
PRI had distributed guns to allies in villages around Puebla.
   (SFC,12/30/97, p.B1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Poland Col.
Ryszard Kuklinski was cleared of spy charges after a military court
ruled that he acted in Poland’s best interests. He had served as a
US CIA spy and reported on activities from 1972-1981.
   (SFC, 4/28/98, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Sri Lanka Tamil
guerrillas sank a ship in the Trincomalee area. By 1999 leakage of
the 700 tons of oil in the ship was threatening the coastline.
   (SFC, 2/19/99, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, In Sudan Gen. Omar
Bashir accepted a 3-year-old proposal to hold direct negotiations
with the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
   (SFC,10/30/97, p.A12)
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