Today in History

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 21, the 52nd day of 2023. There are 313days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 21, 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1⁄2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up (each ended up serving 11⁄2 years).

On this date:

In 1437, James I, King of Scots, was assassinated; his 6-year-old son succeeded him as James II.

In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated. In 1911, composer Gustav Mahler, despite a fever, conducted the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in what turned out to be his final concert (he died the following May).

In 1964, the first shipment of U.S. wheat purchased by the Soviet Union arrived in the port of Odessa.

In 1965, minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York. (Three men identified as members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of murder and imprisoned; all were eventually paroled. The convictions of two of the men were dismissed in November 2021; prosecutors said new evidence had undermined the case against them.) In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing. In 1973, Israeli fighter planes shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114over the Sinai Desert, killing all but five of the 113 people on board. In 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi (yah-mah-goo’-chee) of the United States won the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating at the Albertville Olympics; Midori Ito (mee-dohree ee-toh) of Japan won the silver, Nancy Kerrigan of the U.S. the bronze.

In 1995, Chicago adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean by balloon, landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada.

In 2019, teachers in Oakland, California, went on strike in the latest in a wave of teacher activism that had included walkouts in Denver, Los Angeles and West Virginia.

In 2020, a temporary truce between the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan took effect, setting the stage for the two sides to sign a peace deal the following week.

Ten years ago: Opposition activists said at least 31 people were killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy. Drew Peterson, the Chicago-area police officer who gained notoriety after his muchyounger fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in 2007, was sentenced to 38 years in prison for murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Five years ago: The Rev. Billy Graham, a confidant of presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, died at his North Carolina home at age

99. A week after the Florida school shooting, President Donald Trump met with teen survivors of school violence and parents of slain children; Trump promised to be “very strong on background checks” and suggested he supported letting some teachers and other school employees carry weapons. Thousands of protesters swarmed the Florida state Capitol, calling for changes to gun laws, a ban on assault-type weapons and improved care for the mentally ill. The NBA fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $600,000 for saying he had recently told some of his players that “losing is our best option.” (The Mavericks had one of the league’s worst records, putting them in position to land a high draft pick.)

One year ago: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered forces to “maintain peace” in separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, hours after the Kremlin recognized the area’s independence. The announcement raised fears that an invasion was imminent. (It would come three days later.) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrapped the last domestic coronavirus restrictions in England, including the requirement for people with COVID-19TO self-isolate. Italy’s Mount Etna roared back to spectacular action after months of relative quiet. Today’s birthdays: Actor Gary Lockwood is 86. Actordirector Richard Beymer is

84. Actor Peter Mcenery is 83. Film/music company executive David Geffen is 80. Actor Tyne Daly is 77. Actor Anthony Daniels is 77. Tricia

Nixon Cox is 77. Former Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-maine, is 76. Rock musician Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) is

74. Actor Christine Ebersole is 70. Actor William Petersen is 70. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 68. Singer/guitarist Larry Campbell is 68. Country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 65. Actor Kim Coates is 65. Actor Jack Coleman is 65. Actor Christopher Atkins is 62. Actor William Baldwin is 60. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-ariz., is 59. Rock musician Michael Ward is

56. Actor Aunjanue Ellis is

54. Blues musician Corey Harris is 54. Country singer Eric Heatherly is 53. Rock musician Eric Wilson is 53. Rock musician Tad Kinchla (Blues Traveler) is 50. Singer Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops) is 46. Actor Tituss Burgess is 44. Actor Jennifer Love Hewitt is

44. Comedian-actor Jordan Peele is 44. Actor Brendan Sexton III is 43. Singer Charlotte Church is 37. Actor Ashley Greene is 36. Actor Elliot Page is 36. Actor Corbin Bleu is 34. Actor Hayley Orrantia is 29. Actor Sophie Turner is 27.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2023. There are 312days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 22, 2021, the number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On this date:

In 1630, English colonists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony first sampled popcorn brought to them by a Native American named Quadequina for their Thanksgiving celebration.

In 1732, the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.

In 1784, a U.S. merchant ship, the Empress of China, left New York for the Far East to trade goods with China.

In 1935, it became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held; although Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty. In 1967, more than 25,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border. (Although the communists were driven out, they later returned.)

In 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” took place in Lake Placid, New York, as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets, 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)

In 1987, pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at age 58. In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named “Dolly.” (Dolly, however, was later put down after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.)

In 2010, Najibullah Zazi (nah-jee-boo’-lah Zah’zee), accused of buying beauty supplies to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. (Zazi faced up to life in prison but spent nearly a decade after his arrest helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists; he was given a 10-year sentence followed by supervised release.) In 2016, the City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina, voted 7-4to pass a new law allowing transgender people to choose public bathrooms that corresponded to their gender identity.

In 2020, Bernie Sanders scored a resounding win in Nevada’s presidential caucuses, cementing his status as the Democrats’ front-runner.

Ten years ago: The Justice Department joined a lawsuit against disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong alleging the former seven-time Tour de France champion had concealed his use of performance-enhancing drugs and defrauded his longtime sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service.

Five years ago: Defying his supporters in the National Rifle Association, President Donald Trump said the nation should keep assault rifles out of the hands of anyone under 21. Authorities announced that the armed officer who was on duty at the Parkland, Florida school where a shooter killed 17 people never went into the building to engage the gunman. The U.S. women’s hockey team won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, beating Canada 3-2 after a shootout tiebreaker.

One year ago: The Eastwest faceoff over Ukraine escalated dramatically, with Russian lawmakers authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks. (Russia would invade Ukraine two days later.) In Georgia, the three white men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting are found guilty of federal hate crimes for violating Arbery’s civil rights and targeting him because he was Black. U.S. women soccer players reached a landmark agreement with the sport’s American governing body to end a six-year legal battle over equal pay.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Paul Dooley is 95. Actor James Hong is 94. Actor John Ashton is 75. Actor Miou-miou is 73. Actor Julie Walters is 73. Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving is 73. Actor Ellen Greene is 72. Former Sen. Bill Frist, R-tenn., is 71. Former White House adviser David Axelrod is 68. Actor Kyle Maclachlan is 64. World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh is 60. Actor-comedian Rachel Dratch is 57. Actor Paul Lieberstein is 56. Actor Jeri Ryan is 55. Actor Thomas Jane is 54. TV host Clinton Kelly is 54. Actor Tamara Mello is 53. Actor-singer Lea Salonga is 52. Actor Jose Solano is 52. International Tennis Hall of Famer Michael Chang is 51. Rock musician Scott Phillips is 50. Singer James Blunt is 49. Actor Drew Barrymore is 48. Actor Liza Huber is 48. Rock singer Tom Higgenson (Plain White T’s) is 44. Rock musician Joe Hottinger (Halestorm) is 41. Actor Zach Roerig is 38.