Today In History
Today is Friday, Feb. 24, the 55th day of 2017. There are 310 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1582: Pope Gregory XIII issued an edict outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in general use today.)
ON THIS DATE
› 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.
› 1912: The American Jewish women’s organization Hadassah was founded in New York City.
› 1938: The first nylon bristle toothbrush, manufactured by DuPont under the name “Dr. West’s Miracle Toothbrush,” went on sale.
› 1955: The Cole Porter musical “Silk Stockings” opened at the Imperial Theater on Broadway.
› 1975: The Congressional Budget Office, charged with providing independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues, began operating under its first director, Alice Rivlin.
› 1983: A congressional commission released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a “grave injustice.”
› 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.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor-singer Dominic Chianese is 86. Movie composer Michel Legrand is 85. Opera singer-director Renata Scotto is 83. Singer Joanie Sommers is 76. Former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., is 75. Actor Barry Bostwick is 72. Actor Edward James Olmos is 70. Singer-writer-producer Rupert Holmes is 70. Rock singer-musician George Thorogood is 67. Actress Debra Jo Rupp is 66. News anchor Paula Zahn is 61. Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray is 61. Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 59. Actor Mark Moses is 59. Actress Beth Broderick is 58. Singer Michelle Shocked is 55. Movie director Todd Field is 53. Actor Billy Zane is 51. Rhythm and blues singer Brandon Brown (Mista) is 34. Rock musician Matt McGinley (Gym Class Heroes) is 34. Actor Wilson Bethel is 33. Actor Alexander Koch is 29. Rapper-actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. is 26.