TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, FEB. 27, the 58th day of 2017. There are 307 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1942, the Battle of the Java Sea began during World War II; Imperial Japanese naval forces scored a decisive victory over the Allies. In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
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, was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.
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, responding to a copper shortage, 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, Calif. (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 the following May.) In 1986, the U.S. Senate approved
telecasts of its debates on a trial basis.
In 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.
In 1997, a jury in Fayetteville, N.C., convicted former Army paratrooper James N. Burmeister of murdering Jackie Burden and Michael James, a black couple, so he could get a skinhead tattoo. (Burmeister, sentenced to life, died at a federal prison hospital in Missouri in 2007.) Divorce became legal in Ireland.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Joanne Woodward is 87. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 83. Opera singer Mirella Freni is 82. Actress Barbara Babcock is 80. Actor Howard Hesseman is 77. Actress Debra Monk is 68. Rock singer-musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 63. Rock musician Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and actor Timothy Spall are 60. Rock musician Paul Humphreys (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) and country singer Johnny Van Zant (Van Zant) are 57. Rock musician Leon Mobley (Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals) and Basketball Hall-of-Famer James Worthy are 56. Actors Adam Baldwin and Grant Show are 55. Rock musician Mike Cross (Sponge) and actor Noah Emmerich are 52. Actor Donal Logue is 51. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chilli (TLC) is 46. Rock musician Jeremy Dean (Nine Days) is 45. Rhythmand-blues singer Roderick Clark is 44. Country-rock musician Shonna Tucker (Drive-By Truckers) is 39. Chelsea Clinton, actor Brandon Beemer, rock musicians Cyrus Bolooki (New Found Glory) and Jake Clemons (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band), and rhythm-and-blues singer Bobby Valentino are all 37. Singer Josh Groban and banjoist Noam Pikelny are 36.