TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS ASH WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14,
the 45th day of 2018. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1918, Russia converted from the Old Style Julian calendar to the New Style Gregorian calendar, “losing” 13 days in the process (for Russians, the day before was Jan. 31). The musical “Sinbad,” starring Al Jolson and featuring the song “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody,” opened on Broadway.
In 1663,
New France (Canada) became a royal province under King Louis XIV.
In 1778,
the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France.
In 1849,
President James K. Polk became the first U.S. chief executive to be photographed while in office as he posed for Matthew Brady in New York City.
In 1859,
Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state.
In 1903,
the Department of Commerce and Labor was established. (It was divided into separate departments of Commerce and Labor in 1913.)
In 1912,
Arizona became the 48th state of the Union as President William Howard Taft signed a proclamation.
In 1929,
the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone’s gang were gunned down.
In 1949,
Israel’s Knesset convened for the first time.
In 1962,
first lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House in a videotaped special that was broadcast on CBS and NBC. (ABC aired the program several nights later.)
In 1979,
Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout between his abductors and police.
In 1988,
Broadway composer Frederick Loewe, who wrote the scores for “Brigadoon,” ‘’My Fair Lady” and “Camelot,” died in Palm Springs, Calif., at age 86.
In 1990,
92 people were killed when an Indian Airlines passenger jet crashed while landing at a southern Indian airport.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
TV personality Hugh Downs is 97. Actor Andrew Prine is 82. Country singer Razzy Bailey is 79. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is 76. Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 75. Movie director Alan Parker and journalist Carl Bernstein are 74. Former Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is 71. TV personality Pat O’Brien and magician Teller (Penn and Teller) are 70. Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet (Beausoleil) is 67. Actor Ken Wahl is 61. Opera singer Renee Fleming is 59. Actress Meg Tilly and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Kelly are 58. Singerproducer Dwayne Wiggins is 57. Actress Sakina Jaffey is 56. Actor Enrico Colantoni is 55. Actors Zach Galligan and Valente Rodriguez are 54. Rock musician Ricky Wolking (The Nixons) is 52. Tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 51. Actor Simon Pegg is 48. Rock musician Kevin Baldes (Lit), rock singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) and former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe are 46. Actor Matt Barr and actress Stephanie Leonidas are 34. Actor Jake Lacy and actress Tiffany Thornton are 32. Actor Brett Dier is 28. Actor Freddie Highmore is 26.