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Jeanne Calment

Jeanne Calment

Jeanne Louise Calment (February 21 1875 – August 4 1997) has the longest confirmed lifespan (122 years and 164 days) for any human being in history. Her lifespan has been thoroughly documented by scientific study; more records have been produced to verify her age than for any other case. She was 14 when the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, and had an extremely active life, taking up fencing at age 85, and was still riding a bicycle at age 100. Her brother lived to the age of 97, her father 94, and her mother lived to the age of 86. She married her second cousin Fernand Calment in 1896, and survived him (he died in 1942, four years before their 50th wedding anniversary), her daughter (Yvonne, who died 1934) and her grandson (who died 1963 in a motorcycle accident). In 1965, with no living heirs, Jeanne Calment signed a deal, common in France, to sell her condominium apartment "en viager" to lawyer François Raffray, then 47. Raffray agreed to pay a monthly sum until she passed away, an agreement sometimes called a "reverse mortgage". She was then 90, and the value of the apartment was equal to ten years of payments. Unfortunately for Raffray, not only did she survive more than thirty years, but he died first, in December 1995 at the age of 77. His widow had to continue the payments. In 1985, Calment moved into a nursing home, after living on her own until age 110. However, she did not gain international fame until 1988, when the centenary of Van Gogh's visit to Arles provided an occasion to meet reporters. She said that in her younger years, she met Vincent van Gogh, later describing him as "dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable." Soon after this interview, Calment was given the Guinness "world's oldest person" title at age 113 (first mentioned in Guinness World Records 1989, new claims at the end). In 1989 the title was taken back and given to Carrie C. White (1874 or 1888 to February 14, 1991). Subsequent census research suggests that Guinness may have been right the first time. Calment was to regain her title officially on February 14, 1991, a week shy of 116. By late 1991 Calment was recognized as the oldest female supercentenarian on record--a record she would extend for six more years. On October 17, 1995 Calment reached 120 years 238 days to become the Guinness "oldest person ever," surpassing Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan (whose claim to 120 years 237 days is subject to some doubt). At the age of 114, she appeared briefly in the film Vincent and Me as herself, making her the oldest actress ever. A French-language documentary film about her life, entitled Beyond 120 Years with Jeanne Calment, was released in 1995. In 1996, the nursing home where she lived released a CD Time's Mistress. It featured her reminiscing, set to rap and other tunes. She also was a smoker and only quit when she was 117 years old. She was the last recognized surviving person of the 1870s. Following her death, Marie-Louise Meilleur of Canada became the oldest recognized person in the world.

Quotes


- "J'ai été oubliée par le Bon Dieu." "I've been forgotten by our Good Lord."
- "I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I'm very lucky."
- "I've only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."
- "Wine, I'm in love with that."

See also


- Ageing
- Senescence
- Camille Louiseau Chadal, presently the oldest woman in France.

References


- Allard, Michel. 1998. Jeanne Calment: from Van Gogh's time to ours, 122 extraordinary years. New York: WH Freeman. ISBN 0716732513.
- Robine, Jean-Marie and Michel Allard. 1999. "Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life", in Validation of Exceptional Longevity, Bernard Jeune and James W. Vaupel, eds. Odense University Press. ISBN 87-7838-466-4 Calment,Jeanne Calment, Jeanne Calment, Jeanne ja:ジャンヌ・カルマン

February 21

February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 313 days remaining, 314 in leap years.

Events


- 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria
- 1431 - The trial of Joan of Arc begins.
- 1440 - The Prussian Confederation is formed.
- 1543 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.
- 1613 - Mikhail I is elected unanimously as Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia .
- 1743 - The premiere in London of George Frideric Handel's oratorio, "Samson".
- 1804 - The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks in Wales.
- 1842 - John J. Greenough patents the sewing machine.
- 1848 - Karl Marx publishes the Communist Manifesto.
- 1874 - The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first newspaper.
- 1875 - Jeanne Calment was born, going on to live for 122 years 164 days, the longest confirmed lifespan for any human being in history.
- 1878 - The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
- 1885 - The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
- 1893 - Thomas Edison receives two U.S. patents for a "Cut Out for Incandescent Electric Lamps" and for a "Stop Device"
- 1916 - World War I: In France the Battle of Verdun begins.
- 1925 - The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
- 1937 - Initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman's Arrowbile
- 1937 - The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
- 1947 - In New York City Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
- 1948 - NASCAR is incorporated.
- 1952 - Language Martyrs' Day, marking language-revolution in the then East Pakistan (currently, the independent state of People's Republic of Bangladesh)
- 1952] - The government of Winston Churchill abolishes Identity Cards in the UK to "set the people free".
- 1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson discover the structure of the DNA molecule.
- 1960 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba.
- 1965 - Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.
- 1970 - Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.
- 1971 - The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- 1972 - President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
- 1972 - The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
- 1973 - Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down a Libyan Airlines jet killing 108.
- 1974 - The long-running Japanese comic strip "Sazae-san]"] publishes its final installment in the [[Asahi Shimbun]].
- 1974 - The last [[Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal in carrying out a truce with Egypt.
- 1975 - Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
- 1986 - The Legend of Zelda was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan.//Metallica released their 3rd album Master of Puppets.
- 1988 - Jimmy Swaggart, on his own televangelism program being taped in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, confesses that he is guilty of an unspecified sin and will be temporarily leaving the pulpit.
- 1995 - Serkadji prison mutiny in Algeria; 4 guards and 96 prisoners killed in a day and a half.
- 1995 - Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
- 2000 - David Letterman returns to The Late Show over a month after having an emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery.
- 2003 - Over 100 concert goers die in a fire during a performance of the rock band Great White.
- 2004 - The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.

Births


- 1484 - Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg (d. 1535)
- 1556 - Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)
- 1621 - Rebecca Nurse, American accused witch (d. 1692)
- 1675 - Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (d. 1750)
- 1688 - Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
- 1705 - Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer (d. 1781)
- 1721 - John McKinly, American physician and President of Delaware (d. 1796)
- 1723 - Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808)
- 1728 - Tsar Peter III of Russia, husband of Catherine the Great (d. 1762)
- 1791 - Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (d. 1857)
- 1801 - John Henry Newman, English Catholic cardinal (d. 1890)
- 1821 - Charles Scribner, American publisher (d. 1871)
- 1836 - Léo Delibes, French composer (d. 1891)
- 1844 - Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (d. 1937)
- 1865 - John Haden Badley, English author and school founder (d. 1967)
- 1867 - Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire and benefactor (d. 1934)
- 1880 - Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (d. 1952)
- 1885 - Sacha Guitry, Russian dramatist, writer, director, and actor (d. 1957)
- 1893 - Celia Lovsky, Russian-born actress (d. 1979)
- 1893 - Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)
- 1895 - Carl Peter Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)
- 1903 - Fairfax M. Cone, American advertising executive (d. 1977)
- 1903 - Anaïs Nin, French writer (d. 1977)
- 1907 - W. H. Auden, English poet (d. 1973)
- 1910 - Douglas Bader, British pilot (d. 1982)
- 1910 - Carmine Galante, Italian-born gangster (d. 1979)
- 1915 - Ann Sheridan, American actress (d. 1967)
- 1917 - Lucille Bremer, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1925 - Sam Peckinpah, American director (d. 1984)
- 1924 - Robert Mugabe first President of Zimbabwe
- 1927 - Erma Bombeck, American humorist (d. 1996)
- 1927 - Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer
- 1933 - Nina Simone, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1934 - Rue McClanahan, American actress
- 1936 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (d. 1996)
- 1937 - King Harald V of Norway
- 1937 - Gary Lockwood, American actor
- 1941 - James Wong, Hong Kong composer (d. 2004)
- 1942 - Margarethe von Trotta, French actor, film director, and writer
- 1943 - David Geffen, American record producer
- 1946 - Tyne Daly, American actress
- 1946 - Anthony Daniels, British actor
- 1946 - Alan Rickman, English actor
- 1947 - Olympia Snowe, American politician
- 1949 - Jerry Harrison, American musician
- 1953 - Christine Ebersole, American actress
- 1953 - William Petersen, American actor
- 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, American actor
- 1958 - Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer
- 1958 - Alan Trammell, baseball player and manager
- 1961 - Davey Allison, American race car driver (d. 1993)
- 1961 - Christopher Atkins, American actor
- 1961 - Martha Hackett, American actress
- 1961 - Chuck Palahniuk, American writer
- 1963 - William Baldwin, American actor
- 1967 - Leroy Burrell, American sprinter
- 1969 - Eric Wilson, American musician (Sublime)
- 1970 - Michael Slater, Australian cricketer
- 1972 - Seo Taiji, Korean musician
- 1974 - Ivan Campo, Spanish footballer
- 1974 - Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist
- 1975 - Affirmed, American race horse (d. 2001)
- 1977 - Kevin Rose, American television host
- 1979 - Pascal Chimbonda, French footballer
- 1979 - Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer
- 1983 - Braylon Edwards, American football player
- 1986 - Charlotte Church, Welsh singer

Deaths


- 1437 - King James I of Scotland (b. 1394)
- 1471 - John of Rokycan, Czech Catholic archbishop
- 1513 - Pope Julius II (b. 1443)
- 1543 - Ahmed Gragn, Sultan of Adal
- 1554 - Hieronymus Bock, German botanist
- 1595 - Robert Southwell, English poet
- 1668 - John Thurloe, English Puritan spy (b. 1616)
- 1677 - Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (b. 1632)
- 1715 - Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Governor of the Province of Maryland (b. 1637)
- 1788 - Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (b. 1723)
- 1824 - Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon's wife, Josephine (b. 1781)
- 1846 - Emperor Ninko of Japan, (b. 1800)
- 1862 - Justinus Kerner, German poet (b. 1786)
- 1926 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
- 1938 - George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (b. 1868)
- 1941 - Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1891)
- 1944 - Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (b. 1873)
- 1945 - Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (b. 1902)
- 1965 - Malcolm X, American black activist (b. 1925)
- 1967 - Charles Beaumont, American writer (b. 1929)
- 1968 - Howard Walter Florey, Australian-born pharmocologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1898)
- 1974 - Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (b. 1905)
- 1984 - Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1991 - Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)
- 1994 - Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1948)
- 1996 - Morton Gould, American composer (b. 1913)
- 1999 - Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1918)
- 2002 - John Thaw, English actor (b. 1942)
- 2004 - John Charles, Welsh footballer (b. 1931)
- 2004 - Guido Molinari, Canadian artist (b. 1933)
- 2005 - Ara Berberian, American opera singer (b. 1930)
- 2005 - Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban novelist (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Eugene Scott, American religious broadcaster (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances


- Language Martyrs' Day - A day celebrated by Bengali speaking people for gaining right of mother tongue.
- International Mother Language Day (UNESCO)
- Catholicism - Feast day of St Peter Damian.
- Presidents' Day in the United States (2005)
- Family Day in Alberta (2005)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/21 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050221.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 20 - February 22 - January 21 - March 21 -- listing of all days ko:2월 21일 ms:21 Februari ja:2月21日 simple:February 21 th:21 กุมภาพันธ์

August 4

August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining.

Events


- 1265 - The Battle of Evesham of the Second Barons' War is fought in Worcestershire, with the army of future King Edward I of England defeating the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and killing de Montfort and many of his allies. This is sometimes considered the death of chivalry in England.
- 1578 - Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir - Moroccans defeat Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is defeated and killed in North Africa, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
- 1693 - Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of Champagne.
- 1704 - During the War of the Spanish Succession an Anglo-Dutch force seizes the rock of Gibraltar.
- 1735 - Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he published was true.
- 1753 - George Washington, then a young Virginia planter, becomes a Master Mason, the highest basic rank in the secret fraternity of Freemasonry.
- 1789 - The feudal system is abolished in France.
- 1790 - A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).
- 1821 - Atkinson & Alexander publish the Saturday Evening Post for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
- 1824 - Battle of Cos fought between Turks and Greeks.
- 1854 - The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
- 1873 - Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, clash for the first time with the Sioux (near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed).
- 1892 - The family of Lizzie Borden is found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home.
- 1902 - Greenwich foot tunnel under the River Thames opens.
- 1914 - World War I: Germany invaded Belgium; in response, the United Kingdom declares war on Germany. The United States proclaims neutrality.
- 1944 - Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family.
- 1947 - The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
- 1964 - American civil rights movement: Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.
  - Vietnam War: United States destroyers USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy are attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. Air support from the carrier USS Ticonderoga sinks two, possibly three North Vietnamese gunboats.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, US representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
- 1975 - The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages included the U.S. consul and the Swedish charge d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.
- 1977 - US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
- 1983 - Thomas Sankara becomes president of Upper Volta.
- 1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield accidentally killed a seagull during a baseball game and was charged by police for his "act of cruelty to animals". His manager Billy Martin quipped, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man."
- 1984 - The African republic Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.
- 1985 - In one of the most exciting days in sports, Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox won his 300th game and Rod Carew of the California Angels picked up his 3000th hit. It marked the only day in which two men reached baseball's three biggest milestones in the same day.
- 1987 - The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues.
- 1991 The Greek cruise ship Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa.
- 1993 - A federal judge sentences LAPD officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.
- 1995 - Operation Storm begins in Croatia.
- 1997 - 185,000 Teamsters union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
- 2005 - Prime Minister Paul Martin announces that Michaëlle Jean will be Canada's 27th — and first black — Governor General.

Births


- 1222 - Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, English soldier (d. 1262)
- 1290 - Duke Leopold I of Austria (d. 1326)
- 1521 - Pope Urban VII, (d. 1590)
- 1604 - François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French writer (d. 1676)
- 1701 - Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (d. 1757)
- 1719 - Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German minerologist and geologist (d. 1767)
- 1721 - Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician (d. 1803)
- 1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (d. 1822)
- 1805 - William Rowan Hamilton, Irish mathematician (d. 1865)
- 1834 - John Venn, British mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1840 - Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (d. 1902)
- 1859 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)
- 1899 - Ezra Taft Benson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1994)
- 1900 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
- 1901 - Louis Armstrong, American musician (d. 1971)
- 1904 - Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (d. 1969)
- 1906 - Eugen Schuhmacher, German zoologist (d. 1973)
- 1908 - Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (d. 1994)
- 1909 - Glenn Cunningham, American politician (d. 2004)
- 1910 - William Schuman, American composer (d. 1992)
- 1912 - Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and mountaineer (d. 1999)
- 1912 - Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat
- 1913 - Robert Hayden, American poet (d. 1980)
- 1921 - Maurice Richard, Canadian hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1927 - Jess Thomas, American tenor (d. 1993)
- 1929 - Yasser Arafat, Palestine leader (d. 2004)
- 1929 - Kishore Kumar, Indian singer and actor (d. 1987)
- 1936 - Assia Djebar, Algerian writer and filmmaker
- 1937 - David Bedford, English musician
- 1942 - David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2005)
- 1943 - Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper
- 1944 - Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian
- 1947 - Klaus Schulze, German composer
- 1955 - Billy Bob Thornton, American actor and writer
- 1958 - Mary Decker, American athlete
- 1960 - Dean Malenko, American professional wrestler
- 1960 - José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
- 1961 - Barack Obama, American politician
- 1962 - Roger Clemens, baseball player
- 1967 - Mike Marsh, American athlete
- 1968 - Marcus Schenkenberg, Swedish model
- 1970 - Michael DeLuise, American actor
- 1971 - Jeff Gordon, American race car driver
- 1972 - Stefan Brogren, Canadian actor
- 1974 - Cristian González, Argentine footballer
- 1977 - Luis Boa Morte, Portuguese footballer
- 1978 - Kurt Busch, American race car driver
- 1992 - Dylan and Cole Sprouse twin actors

Deaths


- 1060 - King Henry I of France (b. 1008)
- 1265 - Killed in the Battle of Evesham:
  - Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer (b. 1223)
  - Henry de Montfort (b. 1238)
  - Peter de Montfort
  - Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (b. 1208)
- 1306 - King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (b. 1289)
- 1338 - Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, son of Edward I of England (b. 1300)
- 1526 - Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish explorer (b. 1476)
- 1578 - King Sebastian of Portugal (b. 1554)
- 1578 - Thomas Stucley, English adventurer
- 1598 - William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English statesman (b. 1520)
- 1612 - Hugh Broughton, English scholar (b. 1549)
- 1639 - Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican dramatist
- 1727 - Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (b. 1647)
- 1741 - Andrew Hamilton, American lawyer
- 1784 - Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (b. 1706)
- 1792 - John Burgoyne, British general (b. 1723)
- 1795 - Timothy Ruggles, American-born Tory politician (b. 1711)
- 1875 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer (b. 1805)
- 1938 - Pearl White, American actress (b. 1889)
- 1957 - Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, President of Brazil (b. 1869)
- 1976 - Roy Herbert Thomson, Lord Thomson of Fleet, Canadian publisher (b. 1894)
- 1977 - Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- 1981 - Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1998 - Yuri Artyukhin, cosmonaut (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Victor Mature, American actor (b. 1915)
- 2001 - Lorenzo Music, American actor, writer, and producer (b. 1937)
- 2003 - Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances


- Roman Catholicism - Saint John Vianney – Patron Saint of Priests
- Burkina Faso - Anniversary of the Revolution
- Cook Islands - Constitution Day (celebrations begin on the last Friday in July and last up to 2 weeks.)
- El Salvador - Transfiguration Bank Holiday
- Ancient Egypt - Jubilation of the Heart of Re

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/4 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050804.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- August 3 - August 5 - July 4 - September 4 -- listing of all days ko:8월 4일 ja:8月4日 simple:August 4 th:4 สิงหาคม

1997

1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Designations

International organizations, including the United Nations, designated 1997 as the International Year of the Reef.

Events

January


- January 5 - NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time
- January 8 - Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore found alive five days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean
- January 16 - Ennis Cosby, the only son of actor Bill Cosby, is killed by a gunman while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California
- January 18 - In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
- January 19 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city
- January 20 - Bill Clinton starts his second term as President of the United States
- January 21 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct
- January 22 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first female secretary of state after confirmation by the United States Senate.
- January 23 - Mir Aimal Kasi receives the death sentence for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three others.
- January 27 - It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by Nazis.
- January 28 - Clive Davis receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

February


- February 4
  - O. J. Simpson is found in civil court to be liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims
  - On their way to Lebanon two Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide killing 73
  - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections
- February 5
  - The so-called "Big Three" banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families
  - Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
- February 6 - British Diane Blood wins the right to use the sperm of her dead husband to have a child
- February 9 - The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time animated series.
- February 10 - The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct
- February 10 - Australian newspapers publish stories that the government of Papua New Guinea has brought mercenaries onto Bougainville - the Sandline affair goes public
- February 11 - Bill Parcells becomes head coach of New York Jets.
- February 13
  - Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Discovery
  - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for the first time gaining 60.81 to 7,022.44.
- February 19 - The last of the People's Republic of China's major revolutionaries, Deng Xiaoping dies at 92, this was followed by weeks of mourning for the leader.
- February 22 - In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned and was born in July 1996.
- February 23 - A large fire occurred in the Russian Space station, Mir.

March


- March 1 - Osaka Dome opens in Chiyozaki, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Japan.
- March 4 - United States President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning.
- March 6 - Picasso's Tete de Femme is stolen from a London gallery (it was recovered a week later).
- March 6 - In Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers overrun a military base and kill more than 200
- March 9 - Rap legend Notorious B.I.G. is murdered in Los Angeles, just six months after the killing of Tupac Shakur.
- March 10 - The main office of Fuji TV moves from Kawadacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan to Odaiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
- March 11 - An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
- March 12 - Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.
- March 13 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.
- March 16 - Sandline affair - On Bougainville, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International
- March 18 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash killing all 50 on board and later the grounding of all An-24s.
- March 21 - In Zaire, Etienne Tshiksekedi is appointed new prime minister - he ejects supporters of Mobutu Sese Seko from his cabinet
- March 21 - Mercenaries of Sandline International withdraw from Papua New Guinea
- March 22 - 14 year, 10 month old Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.
- March 24 - Roberto Sanchez Vilella, the second Democratically Elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 84.
- March 26
  - Thirty-nine bodies found in Heaven's Gate cult suicide.
  - Survey of a claimed gold site of Bre-X Minerals in Indonesia reveals it is worthless; Bre-X complains and accuses Internet rumours.
- March 26 - Julius Chan resigns as a prime minister of Papua New Guinea - the Sandline affair ends.
- March 30 - The UK's fifth terrestrial television channel, Channel Five begins broadcasting at 6pm

April


- April 3 - Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
- April 11 - Fire damages Turin Cathedral in Italy
- April 14
  - Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, seven miles form Mecca - 343 dead
  - Former SS captain Erich Priebke is retried. On July 22 he is sentenced for five years in prison
- April 16 - Houston, Texas socialite Doris McGowen Beck Angleton is murdered in her River Oaks home. Roger Nicholas Angleton admits to the crime in the suicide note. Despite being found innocent of the crime by a Texas jury, he later gets arrested by the Department of Justice for similar charges.
- April 18 - The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing 2 billion USD in damage.
- April 21 - First space burial, carrying the remains of 24 people on a Pegasus rocket into earth orbit.
- April 22 - Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
- April 22 - A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru ends after government commandos storm and capture the building rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, two soldiers are killed from rebel fire and all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain
- April 22 - France supports new transitional government for Zaire, withdrawing its support of Zaire
- April 22 - In Lima, Peru, after four-month standoff, government troops storm the Japanese ambassador's residence - they release 71 hostages and kill one hostage and 14 captors
- April 23 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
- April 27 - Andrew Cunanan murders Jerffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and terminate with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
- April 31 - Mobutu and Laurent Kabila meet aboard South African warship Outenigus with Nelson Mandela and United Nations envoy Mohammad Sahnoun. They do not reach agreement

May

Mohammad Sahnoun on May 2, 1997]]
- May 1
  - Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality
  - The UK's Labour Party end 18 years of Conservative rule in the 1997 UK general election
  - HM Prison Pentridge in Melbourne, Australia is officially closed
- May 2 - Tony Blair appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- May 10 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400
- May 11 - IBM's Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a chess World champion in a match.
- May 12
  - Barnes and Noble Inc. filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com, a day before Amazon launched its initial public offering.
  - The Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty signed.
- May 14 - The Star Alliance is formed between Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International and United Airlines
- May 14 - Laurent Kabila does not attend a second meeting with Mobutu
- May 16- Mobutu Sese Seko leaves Kinshasa (eventually settles in Morocco)
- May 16 - US President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and their families, 25 years after the 40 year "study" was exposed by reporter Jean Heller.
- May 17 - Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa
- May 22 - Women in the military: Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial
- May 25
  - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months)
  - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
- May 27 - A strong tornado hits in Jarrell, Texas killing 27 people. It was the second deadliest tornado of the 1990s (see Jarrell Tornado).
- May 31 - Official opening of the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge spanning ice covered waters.

June


- June - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
- June 2 - Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- June 5 - Kim Hyun Chul, son of Kim Young Sam, president of South Korea, is charged with bribery and corruption related to the awarding of government contracts
- June 6 - Melissa Drexler kills her newborn baby in a toilet
- June 7 - A computer user known as "_eci" published his Microsoft C source code on a Windows 95 and Windows NT exploit, which would later become WinNuke. The source code gets wide distribution across the internet, and Microsoft is forced to release a security patch.
- June 7 - The Detroit Red Wings sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 games in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 10 - Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen's family members before Pol Pot flees his northern stronghold (the news did not reach outside Cambodia for three days)
- June 11 - The British House of Commons votes for a total ban on handguns
- June 12 - The United States Department of the Treasury unveils a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant
- June 13 - A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to the death penalty for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- June 16 - Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; some 50 people killed.
- June 19 - Fast food chain McDonald's won a partial victory in its libel trial, known as the McLibel case, against two environmental campaigners. The judge decided it was true that McDonald's targeted its advertising at children, who pestered their parents into visiting company's restaurants.
- June 25 - An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian Space station, Mir.

July

Mir.]]
- July 1 - The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China
- July 4 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
- July 5 - In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup
- July 8 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage
- July 8 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999
- July 10 - In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago
- July 13 - The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial alongside some of his other comrades
- July 15 - Serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida residence.
- July 16 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88. It is the Dow's first close above 8,000. The Dow has doubled its value in 30 months.
- July 17 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business
- July 21 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years
- July 22 - The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
- July 23 - Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel
- July 25 - K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalits caste to hold this office.
- July 27 - Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.

August


- August 1 - Boeing and McDonnell Douglas complete merger.
- August 2 - Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver is rescued as the sole survivor from the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia, in which 18 lives were lost.
- August 3 - Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
- August 4
  - 185,000 Teamsters union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
  - The first chapter of the manga One Piece is printed in Japan's Shonen Jump
- August 6 - Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
- August 13 - The animated American TV series South Park is aired.
- August 13 - In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Cruzeiro wins Sporting Cristal of Peru by 1-0 and are Copa Libertadores de América champions by second time.
- August 20 - Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.
- August 26 - Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
- August 26 - The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning set up in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.
- August 29 - Rais massacre in Algeria; over 98 (and possibly up to 400) people killed.
- August 29 - Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky is bludgeoned to death by serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz. Angel also rapes and beats Christopher's girlfriend, who survives. This is the first of a string of murders that Angel commits.
- August 31 - Diana, Princess of Wales is taken to a hospital after a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 the next morning.

September

Paris from Kensington Palace.]]
- September 3 - Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
- September 4 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird for three years rolls off the assembly line.
- September 5
  - Beni-Messous massacre in Algeria; over 87 killed.
  - The IOC picks Athens to be the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics
  - Death of Mother Teresa
- September 6 - The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place at Westminster Abbey, watched by over 1 billion people worldwide.
- September 7 - First test flight of the F/A-22 Raptor.
- September 11 - Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England
- September 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: An Iraqi military officer attacks an UNSCOM weapons inspector on board an UNSCOM helicopter while the inspector was attempting to take photographs of unauthorized movement of Iraqi vehicles inside a site designated for inspection
- September 15 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
- September 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: While waiting for access to a site, UNSCOM inspectors witness and videotape Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and dumping waste cans into a nearby river
- September 18 - Wales votes in favour of devolution and the formation of a National Assembly
- September 19 - Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria; 53 killed.
- September 21 - The AIS, the FIS' armed wing, declares a unilateral ceasefire in Algeria.
- September 22 - Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
- September 25 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspector Dr. Diane Seaman catches several Iraqi men sneaking out the back door of an inspection site with log books for the creation of prohibited bacteria and chemicals.
- September 26 - 234 die in air crash in Indonesia. Probable cause is the smoke rising from numerous forest fires in the area

October


- October 1 - The main office of Kansai TV moves from Nishi-Temma, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan to Ogimachi, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. Luke Woodham walked into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi and opened fire killing two girls, after earlier in the morning killing his mother.
- October 2 – UK scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge with their colleagues independently show that the new variant form of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is the same disease as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad-cow disease"
- October 4 - One million men gather for Promise Keepers' Stand in the Gap event in Washington DC.
- October 12 - Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock.
- October 15 - Andy Green sets the first supersonic land speed record for the ThrustSSC team, led by Richard Noble of the United Kingdom. ThrustSSC goes through the flying mile course at Black Rock Desert, Nevada at an average speed of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph).
- October 17 - The remains of Che Guevara were laid to rest with full military honours in a specially built mausoleum in the city of Santa Clara, where he had won the decisive battle of the Cuban Revolution thirty-nine years before
- October 27 - Stock markets around the world crash because of a global economic crisis scare. The Dow Jones Industrial Average follows suit and plummets 554.26, or 7.18%, to 7,161.15. The points loss exceeds the loss from Black Monday. Officials at the New York Stock Exchange for the first time invoke the "circuit breaker" rule to stop trading (this was a very controversial move and prompted a quick change in the rule; trading stops will only occur when the DJIA drops at least 10 or 20 percent) (see October 27, 1997 mini-crash).
- October 28 - The bulls come running back as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 to 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.
- October 29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq says it will begin shooting down U-2 surveillance planes being used by UNSCOM inspectors
- October 30 - British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.

November


- November 3 - In France, striking truck drivers blockade ports during a dispute over pay
- November 10
  - Telcoms WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a US$37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom (the largest merger in US history).
  - A jury in Fairfax, Virginia finds Mir Aimal Kasi guilty of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993.
- November 11
  - Mary McAleese is elected the eighth President of Ireland
  - The last Pentium 586 MMX cpu (233 MHz) made. (until the Pentium II)
- November 12 - Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
- November 16 - After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons.
- November 17 - In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut (police killed the assailants)
- November 19 - In Carlisle, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive.
- November 20 - Boeing 727 of Portuguese TAP airline crashes just before landing in Funchal airport in Madeira - 123 dead
- November 27 - Second Souhane massacre in Algeria; 25 killed.

December


- December 1 - Michel Carneal fires at students in West Paducah, Ky - 3 dead, five wounded.
- December 3 - In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
- December 16 - An episode of Pokemon (called Electric Soldier Porygon) in Japan caused 685 children to have epileptic seizures.
- December 24 - Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria; 50-100 villagers killed.
- December 27 - Loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, inside Long Kesh prison.
- December 29 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
- December 30 - In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres of December 30, 1997, 400 people are killed from four villages in the wilaya of Relizane: Khrouba (176 deaths), Sahnoun (113 deaths), El-Abadel (73 deaths), and Ouled-Tayeb (50 deaths). Six days later they would be followed by another s