TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Sunday, Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2024. There are 317 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 18, 2001, auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a crash at the Daytona 500; he was 49.
On this date:
In 1564, Michelangelo died in Rome.
In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the first time (after being published in Britain and Canada).
In 1970, the “Chicago Seven” defendants were found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention; five were convicted of violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 (those convictions were later reversed).
In 1984, Italy and the Vatican signed an accord under which Roman Catholicism ceased to be the state religion of Italy.
In 2003, an arson attack involving two South Korean subway trains in the city of Daegu claimed 198 lives. (The arsonist was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2004.)
In 2012, a star-studded funeral service was held for pop singer Whitney Houston at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, a week after her death at age 48.
In 2018, “Black Panther,” the Marvel superhero film from the Walt Disney Co., blew past expectations to take in $192 million during its debut weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters.
In 2023, former President Jimmy Carter entered home hospice care. The charity created by the 98-year-old former president said that after a series of short hospital stays, Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.” (Carter remains alive a year later).
Today’s birthdays: Today’s Birthdays: Singer Yoko Ono is 91. Singer-songwriter Bobby Hart is 85. Singer Herman Santiago (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) is 83. Actor Jess Walton is 78. Singer Dennis DeYoung is 77. Actor Cybill Shepherd is 74. Actor John Travolta is 70. Actor John Pankow is 69. Game show host Vanna White is 67. Actor Matt Dillon is 60. Rapper Dr. Dre is 59. Actor Molly Ringwald is 56. Actor Sarah Brown is 49. Rock-singer musician Regina Spektor is 44. Opera singer Isabel Leonard is
42. Roots rock musician Zac Cockrell (Alabama Shakes), actor Shane Lyons and actor Sarah Sutherland are 36.