TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Feb. 9, 1964

The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” broadcast from New York on CBS.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1825

The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

1861

Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America at a congress held in Montgomery, Alabama.

1942

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II. Daylight-saving “War Time” went into effect in the United States, with clocks moved one hour forward.

1943

The World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.

1950

In a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists.

1960

Adolph Coors Co. chairman Adolph Coors III, 44, was shot to death in suburban Denver during a botched kidnapping attempt.

1964

The G.I. Joe action figure was introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York.

1971

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake in California’s San Fernando Valley claimed 65 lives. The crew of Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man’s third landing on the moon.

1984

Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov, 69, died 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev; he was followed by Konstantin U. Chernenko.

2002

Britain’s Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died in London at age 71.