Today In History

Today is Shrove (preceding Ash Wednesday) Tuesday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2016. There are 326 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1943: the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.

ON THIS DATE

1825: The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

1861: Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America at a congress held in Montgomery, Alabama.

1870: The U.S. Weather Bureau was established.

1942: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II. Daylight-saving “War Time” went into effect in the United States, with clocks turned one hour forward.

1964: The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” broadcast from New York by CBS.

1971: The crew of Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man’s third landing on the moon.

1984: Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov, 69, died 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev; he was followed by Konstantin U. Chernenko.

1986: During its latest visit to the solar system, Halley’s Comet came closest to the sun (its next return will be in 2061).

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Television journalist Roger Mudd is 88. Actress Janet Suzman is 77. Actress-politician Sheila James Kuehl (TV: “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”) is 75. Singer-songwriter Carole King is 74. Actor Joe Pesci is 73. Actress Mia Farrow is 71. Singer Joe Ely is 69. Actress Judith Light is 67. Rhythm-and-blues musician Dennis “DT” Thomas (Kool & the Gang) is 65. Actor Charles Shaughnessy is 61. Jazz musician Steve Wilson is 55. Country singer Travis Tritt is 53. Actress Julie Warner is 51. Actor-producer Charlie Day is 40. Rock singer Chad Wolf (Carolina Liar) is 40. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Irina Slutskaya is 37. Actor David Gallagher is 31. Actor Michael B. Jordan is 29. Actress Rose Leslie is 29. Actress Marina Malota is 28. Actress Camille Winbush is 26. Actor Jimmy Bennett is 20.