By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Monday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2021. There are 312 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On Feb. 22, 1980, the ìMiracle on Iceî 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.)

On this date:

In 1732 (New Style date), the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.

In 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed an enabling act paving the way for the Dakotas, Montana and Washington to become states.

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 1984, David Vetter, a 12-year-old Texas boy whoíd spent most of his life in a plastic bubble because he had no immunity to disease, died 15 days after being removed from the bubble for a bone-marrow transplant.

In 1987, pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at age 58.

In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named ìDolly.î (Dolly, however, was later put down after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.)

In 2004, consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced he was running again for president, this time as an independent.

In 2005, Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth II would not attend the civil marriage ceremony of her son Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles — but that her absence should not be interpreted as a snub.

In 2010, Najibullah Zazi (nah-jee-BOOí-lah ZAHí-zee), accused of buying beauty supplies to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. (Zazi faced up to life in prison but spent nearly a decade after his arrest helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists; he was given a 10-year sentence followed by supervised release.)

In 2017, the Trump administration lifted federal guidelines that said transgender students should be allowed to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their chosen gender identity.

In 2019, a California couple pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them. (The couple would be sentenced to up to life in prison.) Producers of the Fox TV show ìEmpireî announced that actor Jussie Smollettís character would be removed from the final two episodes of the season after his arrest on charges that he staged a racist, anti-gay attack on himself.

Ten years ago: A magnitude-6.1 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, killed 184 people.

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