Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday, Feb. 29, the 60th day of 2016. There are 306 days left in the year. This is Leap Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 29, 1916, singer, actress and TV personality Dinah Shore was born Frances Rose Shore in Winchester, Tennessee. (Shore, who claimed March 1, 1917 as her birthdate, died in 1994 just days before she would have turned 78.)
On this date:
In 1504, Christopher Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his fourth voyage to the West, used a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew.
In 1796, President George Washington proclaimed Jay’s Treaty, which settled some outstanding differences with Britain, in effect.
In 1892, the United States and Britain agreed to submit to arbitration their dispute over seal-hunting rights in the Bering Sea. (A commission later ruled in favor of Britain.)
In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a seven-member commission to facilitate completion of the Panama Canal.
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a second Neutrality Act as he appealed to American businesses not to increase exports to belligerents.
In 1940, “Gone with the Wind” won eight Academy Awards, including best picture of 1939; Hattie McDaniel won for best supporting actress, the first black performer so honored.
In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced he would seek a second term of office. Serial killer Aileen Wuornos was born in Rochester, Michigan (she was executed by the state of Florida in 2002).
In 1960, the first Playboy Club, featuring waitresses clad in “bunny” outfits, opened in Chicago. Serial killer Richard Ramirez was born in El Paso, Texas (he died in 2013 while awaiting execution in California).
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) warned that racism was causing America to move “toward two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal.” The discovery of a “pulsar,” a star which emits regular radio waves, was announced by Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell in Cambridge, England.
In 1980, former Israeli foreign minister Yigal Allon, who had played an important role in the Jewish state’s fight for independence, died at age 61.
In 1984, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau announced he was stepping down after more than 15 combined years in power.
In 1996, Daniel Green was convicted in Lumberton, North Carolina, of murdering James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan, during a 1993 roadside holdup. (Green and an accomplice, Larry Martin Demery, were sentenced to life in prison.) A Peruvian Boeing 737 crashed on approach to Arequipa, killing all 123 people on board.
Twelve years ago (2004): Facing rebellion, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (zhahn behr-TRAHN’ ahr-ihs-TEED’) resigned and left for exile in the Central African Republic. (Aristide returned to Haiti in March 2011.) “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards, including best picture; Sean Penn took the best-actor prize for “Mystic River” and Charlize Theron won best actress for portraying Aileen Wuornos in “Monster.”
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Saturday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2016. There are 308 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 27, 1991, Operation Desert Storm came to a conclusion as President George H.W. Bush declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated,” and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight, Eastern time.
On this date:
In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
In 1891, broadcasting pioneer David Sarnoff was born in present-day Belarus.
In 1911, inventor Charles F. Kettering demonstrated his electric automobile starter in Detroit by starting a Cadillac’s motor with just the press of a switch, instead of hand-cranking.
In 1922, the Supreme Court, in Leser v. Garnett, unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.
In 1933, Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag (RYKS’-tahg), was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.
In 1939, the Supreme Court, in National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., effectively outlawed sit-down strikes. Britain and France recognized the regime of Francisco Franco of Spain.
In 1943, during World War II, Norwegian commandos launched a raid to sabotage a German-operated heavy water plant in Norway. The U.S. government began circulating one-cent coins made of steel plated with zinc (the steel pennies proved unpopular, since they were easily mistaken for dimes).
In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.
In 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)
In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the hamlet of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. (The occupation lasted until May.)
In 1986, the U.S. Senate approved telecasts of its debates on a trial basis.
In 1997, divorce became legal in Ireland.
Ten years ago: “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown was accused in Britain’s High Court of taking material for his blockbuster conspiracy thriller from a 1982 book about the Holy Grail. (The court ruled in favor of Brown’s publisher, Random House, the actual target of the breach-of-copyright lawsuit.) Former Newark Eagles co-owner Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Retired Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott, author of “God Is My Co-Pilot,” died in Warner Robins, Georgia, at age 97. Former Los Angeles Times publisher Otis Chandler died at age 78.
Five years ago: “The King’s Speech” won four Academy Awards, including best picture; Colin Firth won best actor for his portrayal of Britain’s King George VI. Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I who’d also survived being a civilian prisoner of war in the Philippines in World War II, died in Charles Town, West Virginia, at age 110. Duke Snider, 84, the Baseball Hall of Famer who helped the Dodgers bring their only World Series crown to Brooklyn, died in Escondido, California.
– – –
Thought for Today: “I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.” – Edward Gibbon, English historian (1737-1794).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, Feb. 26, the 57th day of 2016. There are 309 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 26, 1916, actor-comedian Jackie Gleason was born in Brooklyn, New York.
On this date:
In 1616, astronomer Galileo Galilei met with a Roman Inquisition official, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who ordered him to abandon the “heretical” concept of heliocentrism, which held that the earth revolved around the sun, instead of the other way around.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the Island of Elba and headed back to France in a bid to regain power.
In 1904, the United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to undertake efforts to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional act establishing Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
In 1945, authorities ordered a midnight curfew at nightclubs, bars and other places of entertainment across the nation.
In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.
In 1966, South Korean troops sent to fight in the Vietnam War massacred at least 380 civilians in Go Dai hamlet.
In 1970, National Public Radio was incorporated.
In 1986, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author Robert Penn Warren was named the first poet laureate of the United States by Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin.
In 1993, a truck bomb built by terrorists exploded in the parking garage of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
In 2012, Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he’d acted in self-defense. (Zimmerman was subsequently acquitted of second-degree murder.)
Ten years ago: On the final day of the Turin Winter Olympics, Sweden beat Finland 3-2 to win the men’s hockey gold. Germany finished first in overall medals with 29 and golds with 11, while the Americans won 25 medals overall, nine of them gold. Drew Lachey leaped to victory with professional partner Cheryl Burke on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
Five years ago: In a statement, President Barack Obama said Moammar Gadhafi had lost his legitimacy to rule and urged the Libyan leader to leave power immediately. Space shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station, making its final visit before being parked at a museum.
One year ago: Internet activists declared victory over the nation’s big cable companies after the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to impose the toughest rules yet on broadband service to prevent companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T from creating paid fast lanes and slowing or blocking web traffic. “Jihadi John,” the masked knife-wielding Islamic State militant seen in execution videos, was identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a London-raised university graduate known to British intelligence for more than five years. Theodore Hesburgh, 97, a Catholic priest who transformed the University of Notre Dame into a school known almost as much for academics as football and who championed human rights around the globe, died in South Bend, Indiana.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Thursday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2016. There are 310 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 25, 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.
On this date:
In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.
In 1905, the Upton Sinclair novel “The Jungle” was first published in serial form by the Appeal to Reason newspaper.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox.
In 1922, French serial killer Henri Landru, convicted of murdering 10 women and the son of one of them, was executed in Versailles (vehr-SY’).
In 1940, a National Hockey League game was televised for the first time by New York City station W2XBS as the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, at Madison Square Garden.
In 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.
In 1964, Eastern Airlines Flight 304, a DC-8, crashed shortly after taking off from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 58 on board. Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) became world heavyweight boxing champion as he defeated Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.
In 1973, the Stephen Sondheim musical “A Little Night Music” opened at Broadway’s Shubert Theater.
In 1983, playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead in his New York hotel suite; he was 71.
In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
In 1994, American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers.
In 1996, blasts set off by suicide bombers in Jerusalem and Ashkelon killed at least 27 people. A 12-mile tether connecting a half-ton satellite to space shuttle Columbia broke as it was almost completely unreeled. Cambodian activist Dr. Haing S. Ngor, who’d won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1984 movie “The Killing Fields,” was shot to death outside his Los Angeles apartment. (Three gang members were later convicted of murder.)
Ten years ago: In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner in the central African country’s first multiparty election in 25 years. Apolo Anton Ohno upset favored South Korean Ahn Hyun-soo to win the gold in the 500-meter short track speedskating event at the Winter Games in Turin. Actor Darren McGavin died in Los Angeles at age 83.
Five years ago: Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure in the small hours before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening. (The vote sent the bill on to the Wisconsin Senate, where minority Democrats had fled to Illinois to prevent a vote.) The Obama White House broke decades of tradition, naming Jeremy Bernard the first man to ever serve as social secretary in the female-dominated East Wing.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 24, the 55th day of 2016. There are 311 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 24, 1868, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.
On this date:
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued an edict outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in general use today.)
In 1803, in its Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supreme Court established judicial review of the constitutionality of statutes.
In 1912, the American Jewish women’s organization Hadassah was founded in New York City.
In 1920, the German Workers Party, which later became the Nazi Party, met in Munich to adopt its platform.
In 1938, the first nylon bristle toothbrush, manufactured by DuPont under the name “Dr. West’s Miracle Toothbrush,” went on sale.
In 1946, Argentinian men went to the polls to elect Juan D. Peron their president.
In 1955, the Cole Porter musical “Silk Stockings” opened at the Imperial Theater on Broadway.
In 1966, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, was overthrown in a military coup while he was visiting Beijing; he was replaced by Joseph Arthur Ankrah.
In 1975, the Congressional Budget Office, charged with providing independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues, began operating under its first director, Alice Rivlin.
In 1986, the Supreme Court struck down, 6-3, an Indianapolis ordinance that would have allowed women injured by someone who had seen or read pornographic material to sue the maker or seller of that material.
In 1988, in a ruling that expanded legal protections for parody and satire, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $150,000 award that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had won against Hustler magazine and its publisher, Larry Flynt.
In 1996, Cuba downed two small American planes operated by the group Brothers to the Rescue that it claimed were violating Cuban airspace; all four pilots were killed.
Ten years ago: Suicide bombers attempted to drive explosive-packed cars into the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, but were foiled by guards who opened fire, detonating both vehicles; al-Qaida claimed responsibility. Julia Mancuso won gold in the women’s giant slalom at the Turin Olympics. Death claimed actors Don Knotts and Dennis Weaver.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2016. There are 312 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 23, 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.
On this date:
In 1848, the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, died in Washington, D.C., at age 80.
In 1863, British explorers John H. Speke and James A. Grant announced they had found the source of the Nile River to be Lake Victoria.
In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.
In 1934, Leopold III succeeded his late father, Albert I, as King of the Belgians.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised a pair of American flags (the second flag-raising was captured in the iconic Associated Press photograph.)
In 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.
In 1965, film comedian Stan Laurel, 74, died in Santa Monica, California.
In 1970, Guyana became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
In 1989, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 11-9 along party lines to recommend rejection of John Tower as President George H.W. Bush’s defense secretary. (Tower’s nomination went down to defeat in the full Senate the following month.)
In 1995, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 4,000 mark for the first time, ending the day at 4,003.33.
Ten years ago: The snow-covered roof of a Moscow market collapsed, killing 66 people. A United Arab Emirates company volunteered to postpone its takeover of significant operations at six major U.S. seaports, giving the White House more time to convince skeptical lawmakers the deal posed no increased risks from terrorism. Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa (shih-ZOO’-kuh ah-rah-KAH’-wah) stunned favorites Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya (sloot-SKY’-yah) of Russia to claim the ladies’ figure skating gold medal at the Turin Winter Olympics.
Five years ago: In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
One year ago: A jury in New York found the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization liable for their roles in terrorist attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004 in which Americans were killed or injured; the Palestinians said later they would appeal the ruling. Tapping the anxieties of aging baby boomers, President Barack Obama called for tougher standards on brokers who manage retirement savings accounts. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald apologized for misstating during a “CBS Evening News” segment that he had served in the military’s special forces.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Peter Fonda is 76. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff is 73. Author John Sandford is 72. Country-rock musician Rusty Young is 70. Actress Patricia Richardson is 65. Former NFL player Ed “Too Tall” Jones is 65. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 64. Singer Howard Jones is 61. Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 54. Country singer Dusty Drake is 52. Actress Kristin Davis is 51. Tennis player Helena Sukova is 51. Actor Marc Price is 48. TV personality/businessman Daymond John (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 47. Actress Niecy Nash is 46. Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 45. Country singer Steve Holy is 44. Rock musician Lasse (loss) Johansson (The Cardigans) is 43. Actress Kelly Macdonald is 40. Actor Josh Gad is 35. Actress Emily Blunt is 33. Actor Aziz Ansari is 33. Actress Dakota Fanning is 22.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2016. There are 313 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 22, 1732 (New Style date), the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.
On this date:
In 1784, a U.S. merchant ship, the Empress of China, left New York for the Far East to trade goods with China.
In 1862, Jefferson Davis, already the provisional president of the Confederacy, was inaugurated for a six-year term following his election in Nov. 1861.
In 1865, Tennessee amended its constitution to abolish slavery.
In 1909, the Great White Fleet, a naval task force sent on a round-the-world voyage by President Theodore Roosevelt, returned after more than a year at sea.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first radio broadcast from the White House as he addressed the country over 42 stations. In 1935, it became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.
In 1940, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was enthroned at age four in Lhasa, Tibet.
In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held; although Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty.
In 1967, more than 25,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border. (Although the communists were driven out, they later returned.)
In 1974, Pakistan officially recognized Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan).
In 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” took place in Lake Placid, New York, as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets, 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)
In 1996, the space shuttle Columbia blasted into orbit on a mission to unreel a satellite on the end of a 12.8-mile tether. (The cord broke just before being extended to its full length.)
Ten years ago: Insurgents destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines, the Askariya mosque in Samarra, setting off an unprecedented spasm of sectarian violence. Thieves stole $96 million from a Bank of England cash depot 30 miles southeast of London in Britain’s largest cash robbery. (Six men were later caught and almost half of the money was recovered.) Eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant came forward to claim a $365 million Powerball jackpot.
Five years ago: A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed to fight to his “last drop of blood” and roared at supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime. A magnitude-6.1 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, killed 184 people. Somali pirates shot to death four Americans taken hostage on their yacht several hundred miles south of Oman. Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago.
One year ago: At the 87th Academy Awards, “Birdman” won best picture; Julianne Moore received the best actress Oscar for “Still Alice” while Eddie Redmayne was recognized as best actor for “The Theory of Everything.” Joey Logano won his first career Daytona 500 after taking the lead following a restart with 19 laps remaining.
Thought for Today: “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” – President George Washington (1732-1799).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Saturday, Feb. 20, the 51st day of 2016. There are 315 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 20, 1816, the opera buffa “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome under its original title, “Almaviva, or the Useless Precaution.” (Although Rossini’s opera received a hostile reception from the audience the first night, it fared much better at its next performance.)
On this date:
In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office.
In 1862, William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.
In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.
In 1915, the Panama Pacific International Exposition opened in San Francisco (the fair lasted until December).
In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. strategic bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as “Big Week.”
In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Rabinowitz, ruled 5-3 that authorities making a lawful arrest did not need a warrant to search and seize evidence in an area that was in the “immediate and complete control” of the suspect.
In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft.
In 1971, the National Emergency Warning Center in Colorado erroneously ordered U.S. radio and TV stations off the air; some stations heeded the alert, which was not lifted for about 40 minutes.
In 1986, the Soviet Union sent up the core module of space station Mir (Peace), which would serve as a permanently manned base for the next generation in space.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Friday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2016. There are 316 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 19, 1986, the U.S. Senate approved, 83-11, the Genocide Convention, an international treaty outlawing “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” nearly 37 years after the pact had first been submitted for ratification.
On this date:
In 1881, Kansas prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
In 1915, during World War I, British and French warships launched their initial attack on Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles, a strait in northwestern Turkey. (The Gallipoli Campaign that followed proved disastrous for the Allies.)
In 1934, a blizzard began inundating the northeastern United States, with the heaviest snowfall occurring in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, clearing the way for the U.S. military to relocate and intern people of Japanese ancestry (including U.S.-born citizens) during World War II.
In 1945, Operation Detachment began during World War II as some 30,000 U.S. Marines began landing on Iwo Jima, where they commenced a successful month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.
In 1959, an agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence.
In 1963, “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan was first published by W.W. Norton & Co.
In 1976, calling the issuing of Executive Order 9066 “a sad day in American history,” President Gerald R. Ford issued a proclamation confirming that the order had been terminated with the formal cessation of hostilities of World War II.
In 1984, the Winter Olympics closed in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died at age 92.
In 2001, President George W. Bush opened a museum dedicated to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Movie producer-director Stanley Kramer died in Woodland Hills, California, at age 87.
In 2008, an ailing Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency after nearly a half-century in power; his brother Raul was later named to succeed him.
Ten years ago: A gas explosion in northern Mexico killed 65 miners. Israel halted the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money to the Palestinians after Hamas took control of the Palestinian parliament. Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500. The East rallied from 21 points down for a 122-120 victory over the West in the NBA All-Star Game.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Thursday, Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2016. There are 317 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 18, 1516, Mary Tudor, the Queen of England who came to be known as “Bloody Mary” for her persecution of Protestants, was born in Greenwich.
On this date:
In 1546, Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, died in Eisleben.
In 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as provisional president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.
In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the first time (after being published in Britain and Canada).
In 1913, Mexican President Francisco I. Madero and Vice President Jose Maria Pino Suarez were arrested during a military coup (both were shot to death on Feb. 22).
In 1930, photographic evidence of Pluto (now designated a “dwarf planet”) was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2016. There are 318 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 17, 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue,” winning a six-game match in Philadelphia (however, Kasparov lost to Deep Blue in a rematch in 1997).
On this date:
In 1815, the United States and Britain exchanged the instruments of ratification for the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
In 1863, the International Red Cross was founded in Geneva.
In 1865, during the Civil War, Columbia, South Carolina, burned as the Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in.
In 1904, the original two-act version of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly” received a poor reception at its premiere at La Scala in Milan, Italy.
In 1913, the Armory Show, a landmark modern art exhibit, opened in New York City.
In 1925, the first issue of The New Yorker magazine (bearing the cover date of Feb. 21) was published.
In 1933, Newsweek magazine was first published under the title “News-Week.”
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. forces invaded Eniwetok Atoll, encountering little initial resistance from Imperial Japanese troops. (The Americans secured the atoll less than a week later.) In 1959, the United States launched Vanguard 2, a satellite which carried meteorological equipment.
In 1964, the Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders, ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon departed the White House with his wife, Pat, on a historic trip to China.
In 1986, Johnson & Johnson announced it would no longer sell over-the-counter medications in capsule form, following the death of a woman who had taken a cyanide-laced Tylenol capsule.
Ten years ago: Ten U.S. service members died when a pair of Marine Corps helicopters crashed off the coast of Africa.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2016. There are 319 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 16, 1968, the nation’s first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, Alabama.
On this date:
In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates during the First Barbary War.
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee ended as some 12,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered; Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory earned him the nickname “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”
In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized in New York City.
In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter.
In 1937, Dr. Wallace H. Carothers, a research chemist for Du Pont who’d invented nylon, received a patent for the synthetic fiber.
In 1945, American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.
In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a-half after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista. In 1961, the United States launched the Explorer 9 satellite.
In 1977, Janani Luwum, the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and two other men were killed in what Ugandan authorities said was an automobile accident.
In 1988, seven people were shot to death during an office rampage in Sunnyvale, California, by a man obsessed with a co-worker who was wounded in the attack. (The gunman, Richard Farley, is on death row.)
In 1996, 11 people were killed in a fiery collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a Maryland commuter train in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2016. There are 319 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 16, 1968, the nation’s first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, Alabama.
On this date:
In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates during the First Barbary War.
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee ended as some 12,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered; Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory earned him the nickname “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”
In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized in New York City.
In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter.
In 1937, Dr. Wallace H. Carothers, a research chemist for Du Pont who’d invented nylon, received a patent for the synthetic fiber.
In 1945, American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.
In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a-half after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista. In 1961, the United States launched the Explorer 9 satellite.
In 1977, Janani Luwum, the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and two other men were killed in what Ugandan authorities said was an automobile accident.
In 1988, seven people were shot to death during an office rampage in Sunnyvale, California, by a man obsessed with a co-worker who was wounded in the attack. (The gunman, Richard Farley, is on death row.)
In 1996, 11 people were killed in a fiery collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a Maryland commuter train in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Monday, Feb. 15, the 46th day of 2016. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Presidents Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain.
On this date:
In 1764, the site of present-day St. Louis was established by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau.
In 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak; gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed more than four weeks later.
In 1944, Allied bombers destroyed the monastery atop Monte Cassino (MAWN’-tay kah-SEE’-noh) in Italy.
In 1952, a funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain’s King George VI, who had died nine days earlier.
In 1961, 73 people, including an 18-member U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium. In 1971, Britain and Ireland “decimalised” their currencies, making one pound equal to 100 new pence instead of 240 pence.
In 1982, 84 men were killed when a huge oil-drilling rig, the Ocean Ranger, sank off the coast of Newfoundland during a fierce storm.
In 1986, the Philippines National Assembly proclaimed Ferdinand E. Marcos president for another six years, following an election marked by allegations of fraud. (Marcos ended up being ousted from power.)
In 1989, the Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan, after more than nine years of military intervention.
In 1995, the FBI arrested Kevin Mitnick, its “most wanted hacker,” and charged him with cracking security for some of the nation’s most protected computers. (Mitnick ended up serving five years behind bars.)
In 2002, a private funeral was held at Windsor Castle for Britain’s Princess Margaret, who had died six days earlier at age 71.
Ten years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney accepted blame for accidentally shooting a hunting companion, calling it “one of the worst days of my life,” but was defiantly unapologetic in a Fox News Channel interview about not publicly disclosing the incident until the next day. Testifying before the Senate, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledged delayed aid and fumbled coordination in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
Five years ago: Protesters swarmed Wisconsin’s capitol after Gov. Scott Walker proposed cutbacks in benefits and abolishing bargaining rights for most public employees. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was ordered to stand trial on charges he’d paid a 17-year-old Moroccan girl for sex and then used his influence to cover it up. (Berlusconi was found guilty, but had his conviction overturned.)
Thought for Today: “Like all dreamers I confuse disenchantment with truth.” – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher (1905-1980).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Saturday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2016. There are 322 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 13, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was officially declared winner of the 1860 presidential election as electors cast their ballots.
On this date:
In 1542, the fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.
In 1766, English economist and demographer Thomas Robert Malthus was born in Surrey.
In 1914, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, also known as ASCAP, was founded in New York.
In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.
In 1935, a jury in Flemington, New Jersey, found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-slaying of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was later executed.)
In 1945, during World War II, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden. The Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans.
In 1960, France exploded its first atomic bomb in the Sahara Desert.
In 1975, a late-night arson fire set by a disgruntled custodian broke out on the 11th floor of the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center; the blaze spread to six floors, but caused no direct casualties.
In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, New York.
In 1988, the 15th Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials said 500 civilians were killed.
In 1996, the rock musical “Rent,” by Jonathan Larson, opened off-Broadway.
Ten years ago: Auditors reported that millions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina disaster aid had been squandered, paying for such items as a $450 tattoo and $375-dollar-a-day beachfront condos. Joey Cheek won the men’s 500 meters, giving the United States its second speedskating gold medal of the Turin Games. Hannah Teter won gold and Gretchen Bleiler won silver in the halfpipe. Tatiana Totmianina (taht-YAH’nah toht-MYEH’-ni-nuh) and Maxim Marinin won the gold medal in pairs figure skating.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, Feb. 12, the 43rd day of 2016. There are 323 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in present-day Larue County, Kentucky.
On this date:
In 1554, Lady Jane Grey, who’d claimed the throne of England for nine days, and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were beheaded after being condemned for high treason.
In 1818, Chile officially proclaimed its independence, more than seven years after initially renouncing Spanish rule.
In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded.
In 1914, groundbreaking took place for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 1915, the cornerstone was laid for the Lincoln Memorial.
In 1924, George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered in New York.
In 1940, the radio play “The Adventures of Superman” debuted with Bud Collyer as the Man of Steel.
In 1959, the redesigned Lincoln penny – with an image of the Lincoln Memorial replacing two ears of wheat on the reverse side – went into circulation.
In 1963, a Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 720 broke up during severe turbulence and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 43 people aboard.
In 1973, Operation Homecoming began as the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.
In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.
In 2000, Charles M. Schulz, creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip, died in Santa Rosa, California, at age 77. Hall-of-Fame football coach Tom Landry, who’d led the Dallas Cowboys to five Super Bowls, died in Irving, Texas, at age 75. Michelle Kwan won her third straight U.S. Figure Skating Championships crown, while Michael Weiss successfully defended the men’s title.
Ten years ago: A record 26.9 inches of snow fell in New York’s Central Park over a two-day period. Figure skater Michelle Kwan effectively retired from competition as she withdrew from the Turin Olympics due to injury (she was replaced on the U.S. team by Emily Hughes). Snowboarder Shaun White beat American teammate Danny Kass to win the Olympic gold medal.
Five years ago: Thousands of Algerians defied government warnings and dodged barricades in their capital, demanding democratic reforms; demonstrations continued in Yemen as well. Death claimed actress Betty Garrett, 91, and actor Kenneth Mars, 75.
One year ago: European leaders agreed on a truce to halt fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatist rebels.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Franco Zeffirelli is 93. Actor Louis Zorich is 92. Baseball Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Joe Garagiola is 90. Movie director Costa-Gavras is 83. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell is 82. Actor Joe Don Baker is 80. Author Judy Blume is 78. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is 74. Country singer Moe Bandy is 72. Actress Maud Adams is 71. Actor Cliff DeYoung is 70.
Thought for Today: “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.” – President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Thursday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2016. There are 324 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 11, 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law favoring his Democratic-Republican Party – giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.”
On this date:
In 660 B.C., tradition holds that Japan was founded as Jimmu ascended the throne as the country’s first emperor.
In 1858, a French girl, Bernadette Soubirous (soo-bee-ROO’), reported the first of 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in a grotto near Lourdes. (The Catholic Church later accepted that the visions were of the Virgin Mary.)
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson began in Tennessee. (Union forces led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captured the fort five days later.)
In 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed, with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
In 1937, a six-week-old sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.
In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement, in which Stalin agreed to declare war against Imperial Japan following Nazi Germany’s capitulation.
In 1963, American author and poet Sylvia Plath was found dead in her London flat, a suicide; she was 30.
In 1972, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what had turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
In 1986, Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky was released by the Soviet Union after nine years of captivity as part of an East-West prisoner exchange.
In 1990, South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.
In 2012, pop singer Whitney Houston, 48, was found dead in a hotel room in Beverly Hills, California.
In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation during a routine morning meeting of Vatican cardinals. (The 85-year-old pontiff was succeeded by Pope Francis.)
Ten years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded Harry Whittington, a companion during a weekend quail-hunting trip in Texas. American Chad Hedrick won the 5,000 meters in speedskating at the Olympics in Turin, Italy. “Jaws” author Peter Benchley died in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 65.
Five years ago: Egypt exploded with joy after pro-democracy protesters brought down President Hosni Mubarak, whose resignation ended three decades of authoritarian rule.
One year ago: Vowing that Islamic State forces were “going to lose,” President Barack Obama urged Congress to authorize military action while ruling out large-scale U.S. ground combat operations reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan. Little League International stripped Jackie Robinson West of the national title after an investigation revealed it had falsified boundaries to field ineligible players; Mountain Ridge Little League was awarded the title.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2016. There are 325 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 10, 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost the first game of a match in Philadelphia against an IBM computer dubbed “Deep Blue.” (Kasparov ended up winning the match, 4 games to 2; he was defeated by Deep Blue in a rematch the following year.)
On this date:
In 1763, Britain, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War in North America).
In 1840, Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
In 1936, Nazi Germany’s Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority exempt from any legal review.
In 1949, Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” opened at Broadway’s Morosco Theater with Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman.
In 1959, a major tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and causing heavy damage.
In 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States. Republican George W. Romney announced his ultimately successful candidacy for governor of Michigan.
In 1966, the Jacqueline Susann novel “Valley of the Dolls” was published by Bernard Geis Associates.
In 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, was ratified as Minnesota and Nevada adopted it.
Thought for Today: “People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born British actress (1929-1993).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Shrove (preceding Ash Wednesday) Tuesday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2016. There are 326 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 9, 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.
On this date:
In 1773, the ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison, was born in Charles City County, Virginia.
In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.
In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America at a congress held in Montgomery, Alabama.
In 1870, the U.S. Weather Bureau was established.
In 1942, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II. Daylight-saving “War Time” went into effect in the United States, with clocks turned one hour forward.
In 1950, in a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charged the State Department was riddled with Communists.
In 1964, The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” broadcast from New York by CBS.
In 1971, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in California’s San Fernando Valley claimed 65 lives. The crew of Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man’s third landing on the moon.
In 1984, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov, 69, died 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev; he was followed by Konstantin U. Chernenko (chehr-NYEN’-koh).
In 1986, during its latest visit to the solar system, Halley’s Comet came closest to the sun (its next return will be in 2061).
In 2001, a U.S. Navy submarine, the USS Greeneville, collided with a Japanese fishing boat, the Ehime Maru (eh-hee-mee mah-roo), while surfacing off the Hawaiian coast, killing nine men and boys aboard the boat.
In 2002, Britain’s Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died in London at age 71.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush defended U.S. surveillance efforts, saying spy work helped thwart terrorists plotting to use shoe bombs to hijack an airliner and crash it into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast. Kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a video aired on a private Kuwaiti TV station, appealing for her supporters to do whatever it took to win her release “as quickly as possible.” (She was freed on March 30, 2006.) British entrepreneur Sir Freddie Laker died in Hollywood, Florida, at age 83.
Five years ago: Thousands of workers went on strike across Egypt, adding a new dimension to the uprising as public rage turned to the vast wealth President Hosni Mubarak’s family reportedly amassed while close to half the country struggled near the poverty line. Rep. Christopher Lee, R-N.Y., abruptly resigned with only a vague explanation of regret after gossip website Gawker reported that the married congressman had sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman on Craigslist. Lindsay Lohan pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles to felony grand theft of a $2,500 necklace. (Lohan later pleaded no contest to taking the necklace without permission and served 35 days of house arrest.)
One year ago: President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting at the White House, rallied behind efforts to reach a long-shot diplomatic resolution in Ukraine. More than 2 feet of fresh snow piled up in parts of New England, breaking records set during the Blizzard of 1978. Ed Sabol, the NFL Films founder who revolutionized sports broadcasting, died in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 98.
Today’s Birthdays: Television journalist Roger Mudd is 88. Actress Janet Suzman is 77. Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee is 76. Actress-politician Sheila James Kuehl (kyool) is 75.
Thought for Today: “You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person.” – Alec Waugh, English author (1898-1981).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2016. There are 327 days left in the year. This is the Chinese New Year of the Monkey.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 8, 1966, during the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson and South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Cao Ky (nuh-WEN’ kow ky) concluded their meetings in Hawaii by issuing the “Declaration of Honolulu,” which asserted the resolve of their countries to defeat the Communists.
On this date:
In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, ended in victory for Union forces led by Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside.
In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.
In 1915, D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking as well as controversial silent movie epic about the Civil War, “The Birth of a Nation,” premiered in Los Angeles under its original title, “The Clansman.” In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.
In 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces began invading Singapore, which fell a week later.
In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed her accession to the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI.
Thought for Today: “Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.” – Robert Quillen, American journalist (1887-1948).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2016. There are 327 days left in the year. This is the Chinese New Year of the Monkey.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 8, 1966, during the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson and South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Cao Ky (nuh-WEN’ kow ky) concluded their meetings in Hawaii by issuing the “Declaration of Honolulu,” which asserted the resolve of their countries to defeat the Communists.
On this date:
In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, ended in victory for Union forces led by Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside.
In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.
In 1915, D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking as well as controversial silent movie epic about the Civil War, “The Birth of a Nation,” premiered in Los Angeles under its original title, “The Clansman.” In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.
In 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces began invading Singapore, which fell a week later.
In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed her accession to the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI.
Thought for Today: “Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.” – Robert Quillen, American journalist (1887-1948).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Saturday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2016. There are 329 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Ill.
On this date:
In 1778, the United States won official recognition from France with the signing of a Treaty of Alliance in Paris.
In 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1899, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.
In 1933, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the so-called “lame duck” amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson. In 1952, Britain’s King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II. In 1959, the United States successfully test-fired for the first time a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile from Cape Canaveral.
In 1978, Muriel Humphrey took the oath of office as a United States senator from Minnesota, filling the seat of her late husband, former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
In 1991, comedian and television performer Danny Thomas died in Los Angeles at age 79.
In 1992, 16 people were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Evansville, Ind.
In 1996, a Turkish-owned Boeing 757 jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from the Dominican Republic, killing 189 people, mostly German tourists.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush submitted a $2.77 trillion budget blueprint for fiscal 2007. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the Bush administration’s eavesdropping program before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Terrorist conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui (zak-uh-REE’-uhs moo-SOW’-ee) disrupted the opening of his sentencing trial in Alexandria, Va., and was tossed out of court. Hundreds of protesters hurled stones and fire bombs at the Danish Embassy in Tehran to denounce published caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada’s 22nd prime minister. Isabelle Dinoire, the Frenchwoman who’d received the world’s first partial face transplant, showed off her new features at a news conference.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Friday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2016. There are 330 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 5, 1811, George, the Prince of Wales, was named Prince Regent due to the mental illness of his father, Britain’s King George III.
On this date:
In 1631, the co-founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and his wife, Mary, arrived in Boston from England.
In 1783, Sweden recognized the independence of the United States.
In 1887, Verdi’s opera “Otello” premiered at La Scala.
In 1911, Missouri’s second Capitol building in Jefferson City burned down after being struck by lightning. Opera singer Jussi Bjoerling was born in Borlange, Dalarna, Sweden.
In 1917, Congress passed, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, an immigration act severely curtailing the influx of Asians. Mexico’s constitution was adopted.
In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices; critics accused Roosevelt of attempting to “pack” the court. (The proposal failed in Congress.)
In 1940, Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded “Tuxedo Junction” for RCA Victor’s Bluebird label.
In 1958, Gamal Abdel Nasser was formally nominated to become the first president of the new United Arab Republic (a union of Syria and Egypt).
In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell stepped onto the surface of the moon in the first of two lunar excursions.
In 1989, the Soviet Union announced that all but a small rear-guard contingent of its troops had left Afghanistan.
Ten years ago: Jacob Robida, suspected of an attack at a Massachusetts gay bar, the killing of an Arkansas officer and the slaying of a mother of three, was mortally wounded in a shootout with authorities. Thousands of protesters in Beirut, Lebanon, enraged over Danish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, torched the Danish mission. Iran ended all voluntary cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Pittsburgh Steelers won a record-tying fifth Super Bowl with a 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Actor Franklin Cover (“The Jeffersons”) died in Englewood, New Jersey, at age 77.
– – –
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Thursday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2016. There are 331 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 4, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.
On this date:
In 1783, Britain’s King George III proclaimed a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.
In 1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
In 1861, delegates from six southern states that had recently seceded from the Union met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Confederate States of America.
In 1919, Congress established the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal and the Navy Cross.
In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.
In 1941, the United Service Organizations (USO) came into existence.
In 1962, a rare conjunction of the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurred.
In 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, 19, was kidnapped in Berkeley, California, by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army.
In 1976, more than 23,000 people died when a severe earthquake struck Guatemala with a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In 1983, pop singer-musician Karen Carpenter died in Downey, California, at age 32.
In 1987, pianist Liberace died at his Palm Springs, California, home at age 67.
In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica, California, found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
In 2004, the Massachusetts high court declared that gay couples were entitled to nothing less than marriage, and that Vermont-style civil unions would not suffice. The social networking website Facebook had its beginnings as Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched “Thefacebook.”
In 2005, Actor and civil rights activist Ossie Davis died in Miami Beach, Florida, at age 87.
In 2010, the first National Tea Party Convention opened in Nashville.
Ten years ago: Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of the prophet Muhammad torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. In Gaza, Palestinians marched through the streets, storming European buildings and burning German and Danish flags. A stampede at a Manila stadium resulted in 74 deaths. Thousands of mourners poured into the Georgia Capitol rotunda to pay tribute to civil rights activist Coretta Scott King. Feminist author Betty Friedan died on her 85th birthday in Washington, D.C. Troy Aikman, Reggie White, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, John Madden and Rayfield Wright were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama appealed to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to focus on his legacy and begin an orderly process to relinquish the power he’d held for 30 years; however, Obama stopped short of calling for Mubarak’s immediate resignation.
Thought for Today: “Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.” – Edith Wharton, American author (1862-1937).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2016. There are 332 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 3, 1959, rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
On this date:
In 1783, Spain formally recognized American independence.
In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast; the talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.
In 1924, the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington, D.C., at age 67.
In 1930, the chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft, resigned for health reasons. (He died just over a month later.)
In 1943, during World War II, the U.S. transport ship Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo; of the more than 900 men aboard, only some 230 survived.
In 1959, An American Airlines Lockheed Electra crashed into New York’s East River, killing 65 of the 73 people on board.
In 1966, the Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon.
In 1971, New York City police officer Frank Serpico, who had charged there was widespread corruption in the NYPD, was shot and seriously wounded during a drug bust in Brooklyn.
In 1991, the rate for a first-class postage stamp rose to 29 cents.
In 1994, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft.
In 1998, Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker, 38, for the pickax killings of two people in 1983; she was the first woman executed in the United States since 1984. A U.S. Marine plane sliced through the cable of a ski gondola in Italy, sending the car plunging hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.
In 2005, Alberto Gonzales won Senate confirmation as attorney general.
Ten years ago: An Egyptian passenger ferry sank in the Red Sea during bad weather, killing more than 1,000 passengers.
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 2, the 33rd day of 2016. There are 333 days left in the year. This is Groundhog Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 2, 1914, Charles Chaplin made his movie debut as the comedy short “Making a Living” was released by Keystone Film Co.
On this date:
In 1653, New Amsterdam – now New York City – was incorporated.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, was signed.
In 1887, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, held its first Groundhog Day festival.
In 1925, the legendary Alaska Serum Run ended as the last of a series of dog mushers brought a life-saving treatment to Nome, the scene of a diphtheria epidemic, six days after the drug left Nenana.
In 1932, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra recorded “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” for Brunswick Records.
In 1942, a Los Angeles Times column by W.H. Anderson urged security measures against Japanese-Americans, arguing that a Japanese-American “almost inevitably … grows up to be a Japanese, not an American.”
In 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.
In 1964, Ranger 6, a lunar probe launched by NASA, crashed onto the surface of the moon as planned, but failed to send back any TV images.
In 1971, Idi Amin, having seized power in Uganda, proclaimed himself president.
In 1980, NBC News reported the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as “Abscam,” a codename protested by Arab-Americans.
In 1990, in a dramatic concession to South Africa’s black majority, President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.
In 1992, longtime “Miss America” emcee Bert Parks died in La Jolla (HOY’-uh), Calif., at age 77.
Thought for Today: “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” – James Joyce (1882-1941).
Almanac
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday, Feb. 1, the 32nd day of 2016. There are 334 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 1, 1960, four black college students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they’d been refused service.
On this date:
In 1790, the U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time in New York. (However, since only three of the six justices were present, the court recessed until the next day.)
In 1861, Texas voted to leave the Union at a Secession Convention in Austin.
In 1865, during the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman began the Carolinas Campaign as they invaded South Carolina. Abolitionist John S. Rock became the first black lawyer admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1896, Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” premiered in Turin.
In 1922, in one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries, movie director William Desmond Taylor was shot to death in his Los Angeles home; the killing has never been solved.
In 1943, one of America’s most highly decorated military units, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up almost exclusively of Japanese-Americans, was authorized.
In 1946, Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie (TRIHG’-vuh lee) was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations.
In 1968, during the Vietnam War, South Vietnam’s police chief (Nguyen Ngoc Loan) executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. Richard M. Nixon announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (hoh-MAY’-nee) received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.
In 1988, actress Heather O’Rourke, who’d co-starred in the 1982 movie “Poltergeist,” died in San Diego at age 12.
In 1995, British rock performer Richey Edwards, 27, disappeared after last being seen in London; his fate has never been determined.
In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven of its crew members.
Ten years ago: In his first case on the Supreme Court, new Justice Samuel Alito split with the court’s conservatives, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection. French and German newspapers republished caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in what they called a defense of freedom of expression, sparking fresh anger from Muslims.
Thought for Today: “It is the tragedy of the world that no one knows what he doesn’t know – and the less a man knows, the more sure he is that he knows everything.” – Joyce Cary, English author (1888-1957).