Today in history

On Feb. 27, 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.

In1922 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the1 9th Amendment, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.

In1933 Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, caught fire. (The Nazis, blaming the Communists, used the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties.)

In 1939 the U. S. Supreme Court outlawed sit-down strikes.

In 1972 President Richard Nixon and Premier Chou En-lai issued the Shanghai Comm unique at the conclusion of Nixon’s visit to China.

In 1982 Wayne Williamswas found guilty of slaying two of 28 young blacks found dead over a two-year period in the Atlanta area.

In 1986 the U.S. Senate approved telecasts of its debates on a trial basis.

In 1991 President George H.W. Bush declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated,” and announced that

the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight. In1997 divorce became legal in Ireland.

In 2004 a study on the Roman Catholic Church’s sexualabuse scandal, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was released; church bishops and seminaries are excoriated for their “shameful” handling of allegations leveled at more than 4,000priests from1950 to 2002.

In 2014 President Barack O ba ma launched My Brother’ s Keeper, a federal initiative aimed at helping black and Latino young men succeed.