TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2023.
Today’s highlight in history
On Feb. 28, 1993, a gunbattle erupted at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh on weapons charges; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.
On this date
In 1844, a 12-inch gun aboard the U.S. Navy screw steam warship Princeton exploded as the ship was sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others.
In 1849, the California gold rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.
In 1911, President William Howard Taft nominated William H. Lewis to be the first Black assistant attorney general of the United States.
scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered
In 1953,
the double-helix structure of DNA.
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai issued the Shanghai Communique, which called for normalizing relations between their countries.
In 1996, Britain’s Princess Diana agreed to divorce Prince Charles.
In 2014, delivering a blunt warning to Moscow, President Barack Obama expressed deep concern over reported military activity inside Ukraine by Russia and warned “there will be costs” for any intervention.
In 2018,
Walmart announced that it would no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21 and would remove items resembling assault-style rifles from its website. Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would stop selling assault-style rifles and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21.
In 2020, the number of countries touched by the coronavirus climbed to nearly 60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week 12.4 percent lower in the market’s worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis.
Ten years ago:
Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign, ending an eight-year pontificate. Chelsea Manning, the Army private arrested in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history, pleaded guilty to 10 charges involving illegal possession or distribution of classified material. (Manning was sentenced to up to 35 years in prison after being convicted of more charges in a court-martial, but had her sentence commuted in 2017 by President Barack Obama.) Five years ago: Students and teachers returned under police guard to Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as classes resumed for the first time since a shooting that killed 17 people.
One year ago:
Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s secondlargest city, rocking a residential neighborhood, and closed in on the capital, Kyiv, in a 17-mile convoy of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles.
Today’s birthdays
Architect Frank Gehry is 94. Singer Sam the Sham is 86. Actor-dancer Tommy Tune is 84. Auto racer Mario Andretti is 83. Actor Kelly Bishop is 79. Actor Stephanie Beacham is 76. Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 75. Actor Bernadette Peters is 75. Actor Ilene Graff is 74. NBA star Adrian Dantley is 68. Actor John Turturro is 66. Singer Cindy Wilson is 66. Actor Rae Dawn Chong is 62. Singer Pat Monahan is 54. Author Daniel Handler (aka “Lemony Snicket”) is 53. Actor Tasha Smith is 52. Actor Ali Larter is 47. Singer Jason Aldean is 46. Actor Geoffrey Arend is 45. MLB pitcher Aroldis Chapman is 35.