Today in History

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023

Today is Thursday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2023. There are 311 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 23, 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000students were vaccinated. On this date:

In 1685, composer George Frideric Handel was born in present-day Germany.

In 1822, Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.

In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.

In 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, following word of a possible assassination plot in Baltimore.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States.

In 1942, the first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage. In 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised two American flags (the second flagraising was captured in the iconic Associated Press photograph.) In 1998, 42people were killed, some 2,600homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, by tornadoes in central Florida.

In 2007, a Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955slaying of Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was beaten and shot after being accused of whistling at a white woman, declining to indict the woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, for manslaughter.

In 2011, in a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

In 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-yearold Black man, was fatally shot on a residential Georgia street; a white father and son had armed themselves and pursued him after seeing him running through their neighborhood. (Greg and Travis Mcmichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of murder, aggravated assault and other charges and were sentenced to life in prison.) In 2021, golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured when his SUV crashed into a median and rolled over several times on a steep road in suburban Los Angeles.

Ten years ago: Some 30NASCAR fans were injured when rookie Kyle Larson’s car was propelled by a crash into the fence at Daytona International Speedway, and large chunks of debris flew into the grandstands. The Ultimate Fighting Championship held its first women’s bout as Ronda Rousey beat Liz Carmouche on an armbar, her signature move, with 11 seconds left in the first round of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 157 in Anaheim, California.

Five years ago: Rick Gates, a former senior adviser to Donald Trump’s election campaign, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges, becoming a cooperating witness in the probe of Trump’s campaign and Russia’s election interference. Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced plans to put more armed guards in schools and make it harder for young adults and some with mental illness to buy guns. Teachers and staff returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for the first time since the shooting that left 17people dead. Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team failed to reach the final at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, losing to Germany 4-3 in the semifinals.

One year ago: The Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for military assistance to help fend off Ukrainian “aggression” while Ukraine declared a nationwide state of emergency amid growing fears of an all-out invasion by Russian troops. (The invasion would become a reality a day later.) Gary Brooker, the Procol Harum frontman who sang one of the 1960s’ most enduring hits, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” died at age 76. Today’s birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff is 80. Author John Sandford is 79. Actor Patricia Richardson is 72. Former NFL player Ed “Too Tall” Jones is 72. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 71. Singer Howard Jones is 68. Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 61. Country singer Dusty Drake is

59. Actor Kristin Davis is 58. Former tennis player Helena Sukova is 58. Actor Marc Price is 55. TV personality/businessman Daymond John (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 54. Actor Niecy Nash is 53. Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 52. Country singer Steve Holy is 51. Rock musician Lasse Johansson (The Cardigans) is 50. Film and theater composer Robert Lopez is 48. Actor Kelly Macdonald is 47. Rapper Residente (Calle 13) is 45. Actor Josh Gad is

42. Actor Emily Blunt is 40. Actor Aziz Ansari is 40. Actor Tye White (TV: “Greenleaf”) is 37. Actor Dakota Fanning is 29.

Friday, Feb. 24, 2023

Today is Friday, Feb. 24, the 55th day of 2023. There are 310 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 24, 1942, the SS Struma, a charter ship attempting to carry nearly 800Jewish refugees from Romania to British-mandated Palestine, was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea; all but one of the refugees perished. On this date:

In 1803, in its Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supreme Court established judicial review of the constitutionality of statutes.

In 1868, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson by a vote of 126-47 following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.

In 1981, a jury in White Plains, New York, found Jean Harris guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of “Scarsdale Diet” author Dr. Herman Tarnower. (Sentenced to 15years to life in prison, Harris was granted clemency by New York Gov. Mario Cuomo in December 1992.) In 1986, the Supreme Court struck down, 6-3, an Indianapolis ordinance that would have allowed women injured by someone who had seen or read pornographic material to sue the maker or seller of that material. In 1988, in a ruling that expanded legal protections for parody and satire, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $150,000award that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had won against Hustler magazine and its publisher, Larry Flynt.

In 1989, a state funeral was held in Japan for Emperor Hirohito, who had died the month before at age 87. In 1993, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (muhl-roo’-nee) resigned after more than eight years in office.

In 2002, the Salt Lake City Olympics came to a close, the same day Canada won its first hockey gold in 50 years (the U.S. won silver) and three cross-country skiers were thrown out of the games for using a performance-enhancing drug. In 2008, Cuba’s parliament named Raul Castro president, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel. In 2011, Discovery, the world’s most traveled spaceship, thundered into orbit for the final time, heading toward the International Space Station on a journey marking the beginning of the end of the shuttle era.

In 2015, the Justice Department announced that George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin in a 2012 confrontation, would not face federal charges.

In 2020, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted in New York on charges of rape and sexual assault involving two women. (Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in state prison.)

Ten years ago: Pope Benedict XVI bestowed the final Sunday blessing of his pontificate on a cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square. At the Academy Awards, “Argo” won best picture while Ang Lee was named best director for “Life of Pi”; Daniel Day-lewis won best actor for “Lincoln” while Jennifer Lawrence received the best actress award for “Silver Linings Playbook.” Jimmie Johnson won his second Daytona 500, beating his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who made a late move to finish second. Danica Patrick, the first woman to win the pole, finished eighth.

Five years ago: The U.N. Security Council unanimously demanded a 30-day cease-fire across Syria to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate the wounded, as the death toll reached 500from a Syrian bombing campaign in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus. (The cease-fire failed to take hold.) The body of the Rev. Billy Graham arrived at the library bearing his name in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Graham would lie in repose for two days. At the Winter Olympics in South Korea, American men won the gold medal in curling in a decisive upset of Sweden; it was only the second curling medal in U.S. history.

One year ago: Russia began a fullscale invasion of Ukraine, launching airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending troops and tanks from multiple directions. Ukraine’s government pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee the violence. World leaders condemned the attack and many promised sanctions. Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights by depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 91⁄2 minutes as the 46-yearold Black man was handcuffed and facedown on the street.

Today’s birthdays: Actor-singer Dominic Chianese is 92. Opera singer-director Renata Scotto is 89. Singer Joanie Sommers is 82. Actor Jenny O’hara is 81. Former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-conn., is 81. Actor Barry Bostwick is 78. Actor Edward James Olmos is 76. Singer-writerproducer Rupert Holmes is 76. Rock singer-musician George Thorogood is 73. Actor Debra Jo Rupp is 72. Actor Helen Shaver is 72. News anchor Paula Zahn is 67. Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray is 67. Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 65. Actor Mark Moses is 65. Actor Beth Broderick is 64. Actor Emilio Rivera is 62. Singer Michelle Shocked is 61. Movie director Todd Field is 59. Actor Billy Zane is 57. Actor Bonnie Somerville is 49. Jazz musician Jimmy Greene is 48. Former boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 46. Rock musician Matt Mcginley (Gym Class Heroes) is 40. Actor Wilson Bethel is 39. Actor Alexander Koch is 35. Actor Daniel Kaluuya (Film: “Get Out”) is 34. Actor O’shea Jackson Jr. is 32.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023

Today is Saturday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2023. There are 309 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 25, 1964, Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) became world heavyweight boxing champion as he defeated Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. On this date:

In 1901, United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox. In 1919, Oregon became the first state to tax gasoline, at one cent per gallon.

In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser became Egypt’s prime minister after the country’s president, Mohammed Naguib, was effectively ousted in a coup.

In 1957, the Supreme Court, in Butler v. Michigan, overturned a Michigan statute making it a misdemeanor to sell books containing obscene language that would tend to corrupt “the morals of youth.”

In 1973, the Stephen Sondheim musical “A Little Night Music” opened at Broadway’s Shubert Theater.

In 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after 20years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.

In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

In 1994, American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers. In 1997, a jury in Media, Pennsylvania, convicted chemical fortune heir John E. du Pont of third-degree murder, deciding he was mentally ill when he shot and killed world-class wrestler David Schultz. (Du Pont died in prison in December 2010while serving a 13- to 30-year sentence; he was 72.)

In 2010, in Vancouver, the Canadian women beat the United States 2-0for their third straight Olympic hockey title.

In 2020, U.S. health officials warned that the coronavirus was certain to spread more widely in the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to be prepared. President Donald Trump, speaking in India, said the virus was “very well under control” in the U.S.

Ten years ago: A high-stakes civil trial started in New Orleans to assign blame and help figure out exactly how much more BP and other companies should pay for the 2010 Gulf oil spill. (U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled in September 2014that BP acted with “gross negligence”; BP ended up reaching a recordsetting $20billion settlement with the federal government and five Gulf states.) Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, 96, died in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Five years ago: China’s official news agency said the country’s ruling Communist Party had proposed scrapping term limits for China’s president, appearing to lay the groundwork for Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023. (China’s rubber-stamp lawmakers approved that change on March 11.) Students at the Florida high school where 17 classmates and staff members were killed returned to gather belongings that had been abandoned in panic during the shooting. The Winter Olympics in South Korea came to an end as officials from North and South Korea shared a VIP box at the closing ceremonies with U.S. presidential adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump.

One year ago: President Joe Biden nominated federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman selected to serve on it. (She would be confirmed by the Senate on April 7.) Russian troops bore down on Ukraine’s capital, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Ann Mccrea is 92. Actor Tom Courtenay is 86. Former CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 86. Actor Diane Baker is

85. Actor Karen Grassle is 81. Former talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 81. Former professional wrestler Ric Flair is 74. Humorist Jack Handey is 74. Movie director Neil Jordan is

73. Rock singer-musician/actor John Doe (X) is 70. Rock musician Dennis Diken (The Smithereens) is 66. Rock singer-musician Mike Peters (The Alarm; Big Country) is 64. Comedian Carrot Top is 58. Model and actor Veronica Webb is 58. Actor Alexis Denisof is 57. Actor Tea Leoni is 57. Actor Lesley Boone is 55. Actor Sean Astin is 52. Singer Daniel Powter is

52. Latin singer Julio Iglesias Jr. is

50. R&B singer Justin Jeffre is 50. Actor Anson Mount is 50. Comedianactor Chelsea Handler is 48. Actor Rashida Jones is 47. Country singer Shawna Thompson (Thompson Square) is 45. Actor Justin Berfield is 37. Actors James and Oliver Phelps (“Harry Potter” movies) are 37. Actor Jameela Jamil is 37. Rock musician Erik Haager (Carolina Liar) is 36.