On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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China defuses five-week diplomatic crisis by sending senior North Korean defector Hwang Jang Yop to Philippines by special plane, where he is expected to stay for decent diplomatic interval before traveling to South Korea; Hwang, ideological mentor to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, is most senior member of his country's hard-line elite ever to defect; Hwang photo (M)
Technology stocks, high fliers of current bull market that many analysts predicted would be hottest sector of 1996, have reversed course as investors begin questioning high share prices and as speculators find other sectors to court; technology-heavy Nasdaq composite, which outperformed every other major index early in year, badly trails broader market, falling 1.7 percent for year (Market Place); chart (M)
Interview with Johnnie L Cochran Jr, famous Los Angeles lawyer who has been living in Manhattan four days a week working as moderator for Cochran & Grace, a nightly legal analysis show on Court TV; photo (L)
Novell Inc, struggling network software company, names Eric Schmidt, age 41, chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems Inc, chairman and chief executive, ending seven-month search; photo (M)
Gov George E Pataki reportedly plans to announce agreement on multibillion dollar state takeover of Long Island Lighting Co, including billions of dollars in debt from defunct Shoreham nuclear plant; move is expected to result in rate reductions of 20 percent or more for customers who pay highest energy rates in nation; under agreement, Long Island Power Authority will purchase transmission and distribution lines and retail service operations from Lilco and Brooklyn Union Gas, which has pending merger agreement with Lilco; deal also includes option for power authority to later purchase Lilco's power generation plants; state will assume billions in debt from Shoreham nuclear plant, which state will pay for with tax-free bond issue at rate much smaller than what Lilco is currently paying; deal must still clear several hurdles, which include obtaining approval of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Public Service Commission (M)
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of March 19, 1997, covering March 19, 1997.
U2
LeAnn Rimes
Celine Dion
Jewel
No Doubt
1997Willem de Kooning, Dutch-American painter and educator (born 1904)[†]
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter Elaine Fried.
1997Eugène Guillevic, French poet and author (born 1907)[†]
Eugène Guillevic was a French poet. Professionally, he went by the single name Guillevic.
In 1997, the world population was approximately 5,924,787,816 people[†]