Today In History

Today is Monday, Feb. 12, the 43rd day of 2018. There are 322 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1809: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in a log cabin in Hardin (now LaRue) County, Kentucky.

ON THIS DATE

› 1554: Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the throne of England for nine days, and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were beheaded after being condemned for high treason.

› 1818: Chile officially proclaimed its independence, more than seven years after initially renouncing Spanish rule.

› 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded.

› 1914: Groundbreaking took place for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (A year later on this date, the cornerstone was laid.)

› 1924: George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered in New York.

› 1940: The radio play “The Adventures of Superman” debuted with Bud Collyer as the Man of Steel.

› 1959: The redesigned Lincoln penny — with an image of the Lincoln Memorial replacing two ears of wheat on the reverse side — went into circulation.

› 1963: A Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 720 broke up during severe turbulence and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 43 people aboard.

› 1973: Operation Homecoming began as the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.

› 1980: The FBI announced that about $5,800 of the $200,000 ransom paid to hijacker “D.B. Cooper” before he parachuted from a Northwest Orient jetliner in 1971 had been found by an 8-year-old boy on a riverbank of the Columbia River in Washington state.

› 1993: In a crime that shocked and outraged Britons, two 10-year-old boys lured 2-year-old James Bulger from his mother at a shopping mall near Liverpool, England, then beat him to death.

› 1999: The Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.

› 2008: Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain won their respective parties’ primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. General Motors reported losing $38.7 billion in 2007, a record annual loss in automotive history, and offered buyouts to 74,000 hourly workers. Character actor David Groh died in Los Angeles at age 68. Uno became the first beagle named Westminster’s best in show.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Movie director Franco Zeffirelli is 95. Movie director Costa-Gavras is 85. Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell is 84. Actor Joe Don Baker is

82. Author Judy Blume is

80. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is

76. Country singer Moe Bandy is 74. Actress Maud Adams is 73. Actor Cliff DeYoung is 72. Actor Michael Ironside is 68. Rock musician Steve Hackett is 68. Rock singer Michael McDonald is 66. Actress Joanna Kerns is

65. Actor-talk show host Arsenio Hall is 62. Actor John Michael Higgins is 55. Actress Christine Elise is 53. Actor Josh Brolin is 50. Singer Chynna Phillips is 50. Rock musician Jim Creeggan (Barenaked Ladies) is

48. Rhythm and blues musician Keri Lewis is 47. Actor Jesse Spencer is 39. Rapper Gucci Mane is 38. Actress Sarah Lancaster is 38. NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III is 28. Actress Jennifer Stone is

25. Actresses Baylie and Rylie Cregut (TV: “Raising Hope”) are 8.