TODAY IN HISTORY
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Today’s highlight:
On Feb. 28, 1993, a gun battle erupted at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, when B ureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to arrest Branch Dav id i an leader David Koresh on weapons charges; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.
On this date:
In 1844, a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded as the ship was sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others.
In 1849, the California gold rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seek- ers to San Francisco.
In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-he- lix structure of DNA.
In 1972, President Rich- ard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai issued the Shanghai Communique, which called for normaliz- ing relations between their countries, at the conclusion of Nixon’s historic visit to China.
In 1975, 42 people were killed in London’s Under- ground when a train smashed into the end of a tunnel.
In 2009, Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation’s most famil- iar voices, died in Phoenix at age 90.
In 2014, delivering a blunt warning to Moscow, President Barack Obama expressed deep concern over reported military activity inside Ukraine by Russia and warned “there will be costs” for any intervention.
In 2018, Walmart announced that it would no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21 and would remove items resembling assault-style rifles from its website. Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would stop selling assault-style rifles and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21.
In 2020, the number of countries touched by the coronavirus climbed to nearly 60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week 12.4% lower in the market’s worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis.
Ten years ago: In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign, ending an eight-year pontificate. (Benedict was succeeded the following month by Pope Francis.) Chelsea Manning, the Army private arrested in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history, pleaded guilty at Fort Meade, Maryland, to 10 charges involving illegal possession or distribution of classified material. (Manning was sentenced to up to 35 years in prison after being convicted of additional charges in a court-martial, but had her sentence commuted in 2017 by President Barack Obama.)
Five years ago: Students and teachers returned under police guard to Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as classes resumed for the first time since a shooting that killed 17 people.