TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, FEB. 22, the 53rd day of 2021. There are 312 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” took place in Lake Placid, New York, as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets, 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)
In 1732 (New Style date), the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony. In 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed an enabling act paving the way for the Dakotas, Montana and Washington to become states.
In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was run. Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, but the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty.
In 1967, more than 25,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border. (Although the communists were driven out, they later returned.)
In 1984, David Vetter, a 12-year-old Texas boy who’d spent most of his life in a plastic bubble because he had no immunity to disease, died 15 days after being removed from the bubble for a bone marrow transplant.
In 1987, pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at age 58.
In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named “Dolly.” (Dolly, however, was later put down after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.)
In 2004, consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced he was running again for president, this time as an independent. In 2005, Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth II would not attend the civil marriage ceremony for her son Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles — but that her absence should not be interpreted as a snub.
In 2010, Najibullah Zazi, accused of buying beauty supplies to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. (Zazi faced up to life in prison, but he spent nearly a decade after his arrest helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists; he was given a 10-year sentence followed by supervised release.)
In 2017, the Trump administration lifted federal guidelines that said transgender students should be allowed to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their chosen gender identity.
In 2019, a California couple pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them. (The couple was sentenced to up to life in prison.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Paul Dooley is 93. Actor James Hong is 92. Actor John Ashton is 73. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving is 71. Actor Ellen Greene is 70. Former Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is 69. Former White House adviser David Axelrod is 66. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 62. World Golf Hall-of-Famer Vijay Singh is 58. Actorcomedian Rachel Dratch is 55. Actor Paul Lieberstein is 54. Actor Jeri Ryan is 53. Actor Thomas Jane and TV host Clinton Kelly are 52. Actor Tamara Mello is 51. Actor-singer Lea Salonga and actor Jose Solano are 50. International Tennis Hall-of-Famer Michael Chang is 49. Rock musician Scott Phillips is 48. Singer James Blunt is 47. Actors Drew Barrymore and Liza Huber are 46. Rock singer Tom Higgenson (Plain White T’s) is 42. Rock musician Joe Hottinger (Halestorm) is 39. Actor Zach Roerig is 36. Actor Daniel E. Smith is 31.