At a glance
Register for the Film Columbus Teen Screenwriting Workshop and Competition, March 6 and 20, by visiting eventbrite.com. The event is free.
Today is Sunday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2021. There are 306 days left in the year.
On this date in:
1784: John Wesley, the co-founder of Methodism, chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States in Leesburg, Virginia.
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.
1849: The California gold rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.
1972: President Richard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai issued the Shanghai Communique, which called for normalizing relations between their countries, at the conclusion of Nixon’s historic visit to China.
1975: 42 people were killed in London’s Underground when a train smashed into the end of a tunnel.
1983: The long-running TV series “MA-S-H” ended after 11 seasons on CBS with a special 2½-hour finale that was watched by an estimated 121.6 million people.
1988: The 15th Olympic Winter Games held its closing ceremony in Calgary, Alberta.
1993: A gun battle erupted at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh on weapons charges; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.
1996: Britain’s Princess Diana agreed to divorce Prince Charles. (Their 15-year marriage officially ended in August 1996; Diana died in a car crash in Paris a year after that.)
2005: In Santa Maria, California, the prosecution and defense gave opening statements in the sexual molestation trial of Michael Jackson, who was later acquitted.
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.)
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.
Actor Gavin Macleod is 90. Singer Sam the Sham is 84. Actor-directordancer Tommy Tune is 82. Actor Frank Bonner (“WKRP in Cincinnati”) is 79. Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 73. Actor Bernadette Peters is 73. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 66. Actor John Turturro is 64. Singer Cindy Wilson of The B-52’s is 64. Actor Rae Dawn Chong (“The Color Purple”) is 60. Actor Robert Sean Leonard (“House, M.D.”) is 52. Singer Pat Monahan of Train is 52. Author Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler) is 51. Actor Tasha Smith (“Empire”) is 50. Actor Rory Cochrane (“24,” “CSI: Miami”) is 49. Actor Ali Larter is 45. Country singer Jason Aldean is 44. Actor Geoffrey Arend (“Madam Secretary”) is 43.
The latest list from the American Booksellers Association:
NONFICTION
1. “Caste,” Isabel Wilkerson
2. “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,”
Charlie Mackesy
3. “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need,” Bill Gates
4. “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,” Heather Mcghee
5. “Four Hundred Souls,” Ibram X. Kendi, Keisha N. Blain (editors)
6. “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,” George Saunders
7. “Keep Sharp,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta 8. “A Promised Land,” Barack Obama 9. “Untamed,” Glennon Doyle
10. “Let Me Tell You What I Mean,” Joan Didion
FICTION
1. “The Four Winds,” Kristin Hannah
2. “A Court of Silver Flames,” Sarah J. Maas
3. “The Midnight Library,” Matt Haig 4. “The Vanishing Half,” Brit Bennett 5. “Hamnet,” Maggie O’farrell
6. “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue,” V.E. Schwab
7. “The Paris Library,” Janet Skeslien Charles
8. “Anxious People,” Fredrik Backman
9. “No One Is Talking About This,” Patricia Lockwood
10. “My Year Abroad,” Chang-rae Lee