Today’s highlight in history
On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in a log cabin in Hardin (now LaRue) County, Ky.
On this date
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. (A year later on this date, the cornerstone was laid.)
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 1973, Operation Homecoming began as the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam War took place.
In 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.
In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Ten years ago: General Motors reported losing $38.7 billion in 2007, a record annual loss in automotive history, and offered buyouts to 74,000 hourly workers.
Five years ago: IOC leaders dropped wrestling for the 2020 Games in a surprise decision to scrap one of the oldest sports on the Olympic program.
One year ago: Grammy-winning jazz singer and Milwaukee native Al Jarreau, 76, died at a Los Angeles hospital, just days after announcing his retirement from touring because of exhaustion.