TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Sunday, Feb. 26, the 57th day of 2017. There are 308 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History
On Feb. 26, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional act establishing Mount McKinley National Park (now Denali National Park) in the Alaska Territory.
On this date
1815 — Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the Island of Elba and headed back to France in a bid to regain power. 1904 — The United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to undertake efforts Thought for today to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus. 1919 — President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional act establishing Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. 1929 — President Calvin Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 1945 — Authorities ordered a midnight curfew at nightclubs, bars and other places of entertainment across the nation. 1952 — Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb. 1962 — After becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, astronaut John Glenn told a joint meeting of Congress, “Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge have always paid dividends in the long run.” 1970 — National Public Radio was incorporated. 1987 —The Tower Commission, which investigated the Iran-Contra affair, issued a report rebuking President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff. 1992 — Armenian forces attacked the village of Khodzhaly, resulting in the deaths of 613 Azerbaijanis, according to Azerbaijani authorities. (Armenia does not deny the attack, but calls the reported death toll exaggerated.) 1993 — A truck bomb built by terrorists exploded in the parking garage of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
‘Nothing is more frightful than laughter when it comes to jealousy.’ Francoise Sagan French author (1935-2004)
Five years ago
Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he acted in self-defense. (Zimmerman was later acquitted of second-degree murder.)
Today’s Birthdays
Game show host Tom Kennedy is 90. Singer Fats Domino is 89. Actress Marta Kristen (TV: “Lost in Space”) is 72. Rock musician Jonathan Cain (Journey) is 67. Singer Michael Bolton is 64. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is 63. Actor Greg Germann is 59. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is 59. Bandleader John McDaniel is 56. Rock musician Tim Commerford (Audioslave) is 49. Singer Erykah Badu is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rico Wade (Society of Soul) is 45. Actor Greg Rikaart is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 38. Country singer Rodney Hayden is 37. Pop singer Nate Ruess (fun.) is 35. Tennis player Li Na is 35. Latin singer Natalia Lafourcade is 33. Actor Alex Heartman is 27. Actress Taylor Dooley is 24.