TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22, the 53rd day of 2023. There are 312 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 2021, the number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In 1630, English colonists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony first sampled popcorn brought to them by a Native American named Quadequina for their Thanksgiving celebration.

In 1784, a U.S. merchant ship, the Empress of China, left New York for the Far East to trade goods with China. In 1935, it became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

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 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 was later put down after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.

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 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 2016, the City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina, voted 7-4 to pass a new law allowing transgender people to choose public bathrooms that corresponded to their gender identity.

In 2020, Bernie Sanders scored a resounding win in Nevada’s presidential caucuses, cementing his status as the Democrats’ front-runner.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Basketball Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving is 73. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 64. World Golf Hall-of-Famer Vijay Singh is 60. Actorcomedian Rachel Dratch is 57. Actor Drew Barrymore is 48.