TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, FEB. 16, the 47th day of 2017. There are 318 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee ended as some 12,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered; Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory earned him the moniker “Unconditional Surrender Grant.” In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates during the First Barbary War. In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized in New York City.

In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter.

In 1937, Du Pont research chemist Dr. Wallace H. Carothers, inventor of nylon, received a patent for the synthetic fiber, described as “linear condensation polymers.”

In 1945, American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.

In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a half after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

In 1961, the United States launched the Explorer 9 satellite.

In 1968, the nation’s first 911 telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, Ala.

In 1987, John Demjanjuk was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity as “Ivan the Terrible,” a guard at the Treblinka Nazi concentration camp. (The conviction was later reversed by the Israeli Supreme Court.)

In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus A300600R trying to land in fog near Taipei, Taiwan, crashed, killing all 196 people on board, plus six on the ground.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Jazz/pop singer/actress Peggy King is 87. Actor William Katt is 66. Rhythm-and-blues singer James Ingram is 65. Actor LeVar Burton is 60. Actor-rapper Ice-T and actress Lisa Loring are 59. International Tennis Hall-of-Famer John McEnroe is 58. Rock musician Andy Taylor is 56. Rock musician Dave Lombardo (Slayer) is 52.