Today in History

Today is Saturday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2024. There are 332 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 3, 1959, which would become known as “the day the music died,” rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

On this date:

• In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.

• In 1943, during World War II, the U.S. transport ship SS Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo in the Labrador Sea; of the more than 900 men aboard, only some 230 survived.

• In 1966, the Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon.

• In 1994, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft.

• In 1995, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, in the pilot’s seat for the first time in NASA history.

• In 1998, a U.S. Marine plane sliced through the cable of a ski gondola in Italy, causing the car to plunge hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.

• In 2006, an Egyptian passenger ferry sank in the Red Sea during bad weather, killing more than 1,000 passengers.

• In 2009, Eric Holder became the first Black U.S. attorney general as he was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden.

Today’s birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 83. Actor Blythe Danner is 81. Singer-guitarist Dave Davies (The Kinks) is 77. Actor Morgan Fairchild is 74. Actor Nathan Lane is 68. Rock musician/author Lol Tolhurst (The Cure) is 65. Actor-director Keith Gordon is

63. Actor Michele Greene is 62. Country singer Matraca Berg is 60. Actor Maura Tierney is 59. Actor Warwick Davis is 54. Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee is 48.