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## Monday, April 28, 1997

Today's events   
  
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* Turkey's President Suleyman Demirel is scheduled to visit Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. 
* The United Nations Committee on Torture is scheduled to begin its semi-annual meeting in Geneva where it will examine alleged abuses by seven states including Israel. 
* Iraqi President Saddam Hussein celebrates his 60th birthday. 
* The Presidential Summit for America's Future is scheduled to begin in Philadelphia. Speakers include U.S. President Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush, former first lady Nancy Reagan and talk show host Oprah Winfrey. 
* A court hearing is scheduled in Santa Monica, California, on a motion for a new trial in the O.J. Simpson civil suit.   
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On the horizon   
  

* On Tuesday, April 29, the official campaign period begins for Indonesian general elections. 
* On Wednesday, April 30, French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette visits Washington. 
* On Thursday, May 1, British general elections are held, as well as English local elections. 
* On Friday, May 2, the National Rifle Association opens its annual convention in Seattle. 
* On Saturday, May 3, Ireland is scheduled to host its 1997 Eurovision Song Contest.   
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On this day   
  

* In 1503, the French were defeated by the Spanish under Gonsalvo de Cordoba at the battle of Cerignola near Naples. 
* In 1770, Captain James Cook landed at Botany Bay in Australia. 
* In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state of the Union. 
* In 1789, on a return journey from Tahiti, crew members of the Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, staged a mutiny against Captain William Bligh who was cast adrift. He managed to reach Timor near Java on June 14 after sailing over 3,500 miles. 
* In 1944, exercise "Tiger" ended with 750 U.S. soldiers dead in a D-Day rehearsal after their convoy ships were attacked by German torpedo boats off Slapton Sands, on the southwest coast of England. 
* In 1945, Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator, was executed by partisans near Lake Como one day after his capture. 
* In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was relieved, at his own request, of the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe and replaced by General Matthew Ridgway. 
* In 1969, President De Gaulle of France resigned after the voters rejected major government reforms in a referendum. 
* In 1977, Andreas Baader and other members of the Baader-Meinhoff group were jailed for life after a trial lasting nearly two years in Stuttgart, Germany. 
* In 1980, U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned over the failed commando mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. 
* In 1989, Roy Medvedev, Soviet historian persecuted for exposing Josef Stalin's crimes in his study "Let History Judge," was re-admitted to the Communist Party after 20 years. 
* In 1989, Argentina, hit by hyper-inflation, ran out of money leaving thousands stranded without cash. 
* In 1989, Iran protested against the exhibition and sale of the novel "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie at the Geneva international book fair. 
* In 1992, the Afghan government formally ceded power to triumphant Islamic guerrillas in Kabul three days after mujahideen forces entered the capital, ending 14 years of armed resistance and civil war. 
* In 1992, the body of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov, heir to the vacant Russian throne, was returned to St. Petersburg to be buried in the city of his Tsar ancestors. He died in Miami on April 21. 
* In 1992, Italian President Francesco Cossiga formally resigned from office, plunging the country into its worst constitutional crisis since the end of World War Two. Giovanni Spadolini became interim-president. 
* In 1994, Aldrich Ames, former CIA officer, and his wife, Rosario, leaded guilty to spying for Moscow in one of the most damaging espionage cases in U.S. history. He was sentenced to life in prison. 
* In 1996, Martin Bryant shot dead 35 people when he ran amok in the tourist area of Port Arthur in Tasmania.   
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Newslink   
  
President Clinton threw down his crutches this weekend in an effort to promote broader volunteerism in America. More than just a photo opportunity, the event was a kick-off to the President's Summit for America's Future. To learn more, click here.  
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Holidays and more   
  

* Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Yugoslavia celebrate Easter Monday today. 
* Today is Sham El Nessim in Egypt. 
* It's Passover today in Israel. 
* Today is Carnival in the Netherlands Antilles. 
* It's the Independence Anniversary Day in Sierra Leone. 
* Today is Freedom Day in South Africa. 
* Actress Ann-Margret is 56. 
* Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 67. 
* Actor Bruno Kirby is 48. 
* Talk show host Jay Leno is 47. 
* Actress Madge Sinclair is 59. 
* Actress Marcia Strassman is 49. 
* Actor Chris Young is 26.   
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