Today in History

Today’s highlight:

On Feb. 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven of its crew members: commander Rick Husband; pilot William Mccool; payload commander Michael Anderson; mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel

Clark; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon, the first

Israeli in space.

On this date:

1790: The U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time in New York. However, since only three of the six justices were present, the court recessed until the next day.

1862: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” a poem by Julia Ward Howe, was published in the Atlantic

Monthly.

1942: During World War II, the Voice of America broadcast its first program to Europe, relaying it through the facilities of the British Broadcasting Corp. in London.

1943: During World War II, one of America’s most highly decorated military units, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up almost exclusively of Japanese-americans, was authorized.

1960: Four black college students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they’d been refused service.

1962: The Ken Kesey novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” was first published by Viking Press.

1968: During the Vietnam War, South Vietnam’s police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head in a scene captured by news photographers. Richard M. Nixon announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

1979: Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.

1991: Thirty-four people were killed when an arriving USAIR jetliner crashed atop a commuter plane on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

1994: Jeff Gillooly, Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to racketeering for his part in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in exchange for a 24-month sentence (he ended up serving six) and a $100,000 fine.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama unveiled a multitrillion-dollar spending plan, pledging an intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion.

One year ago: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker joined the 2020 presidential race with a call for Americans to unite in a time of bitter polarization.