Today in History

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023

Today is Sunday, Feb. 26, the 57th day of 2023. There are 308days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 26, 1993, a truck bomb built by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000others. (The bomb failed to topple the North Tower into the South Tower, as the terrorists had hoped; both structures were destroyed in the 9⁄11 attack eight years later.)

On this date:

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the Island of Elba and headed back to France in a bid to regain power.

In 1904, the United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to undertake efforts to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus.

In 1942, “How Green Was My Valley” won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1941, beating out nine other films, including “The Maltese Falcon” and “Citizen Kane.”

In 1945, authorities ordered a midnight curfew at nightclubs, bars and other places of entertainment across the nation. In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.

In 1966, South Korean troops sent to fight in the Vietnam War massacred at least 380civilians in Go Dai hamlet.

In 1987, the Tower Commission, which had probed the Irancontra affair, issued its report, which rebuked President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.

In 1998, a jury in Amarillo, Texas, rejected an $11 million lawsuit brought by Texas cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey’s talk show for a price fall after a segment on food safety that included a discussion about mad cow disease.

In 2005, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his country’s constitution changed to allow presidential challengers in an upcoming fall election. In 2012, Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he acted in self-defense. (Zimmerman was later acquitted of seconddegree murder.)

In 2014, Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill pushed by social conservatives that would have allowed people with sincerely held religious beliefs to refuse to serve gays.

In 2016, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stunned the Republican establishment by endorsing Donald Trump for president.

In 2017, At the 89th Academy Awards, “Moonlight,” an LGBT coming of age drama, won three Oscars, including best picture of 2016(in a startling gaffe, the musical “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as the best picture winner before the error was corrected).

In 2020, the World Health Organization reported that the number of new coronavirus cases outside China had exceeded the number of new infections in China for the first time.

Ten years ago: A deeply divided Senate voted, 58-41, to confirm Republican Chuck Hagel to be U.S. defense secretary. A hot air balloon burst into flames during a sunrise flight over the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor and then plummeted 1,000feet to earth, killing 19 tourists.

Five years ago: President Donald Trump, who had been highly critical of the law enforcement response to the Florida school shooting, told a roomful of governors at the White House that if he had been there, he would have rushed in, unarmed. Thousands of people from all walks of life, including former President George W. Bush and his wife, filed slowly past the casket of the Rev. Billy Graham in Charlotte, North Carolina. One year ago: Kyiv residents braced for another night sheltering underground, as Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital and skirmishes were reported on the outskirts. Ukraine’s leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, vowed to continue fighting the Russian assault as he appealed for more outside help. He accused Russia of hitting infrastructure and civilian targets. John Landy, an Australian runner who dueled with Roger Bannister to be the first person to run a four-minute mile, died at age 91.

Today’s birthdays: Actordirector Bill Duke is 80. Singer Mitch Ryder is 78. Actor Marta Kristen (TV: “Lost in Space”) is 78. Rock musician Jonathan Cain (Journey) is 73. Singer Michael Bolton is 70. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Reh’-jehp Ty’-ihp Ur’-doh-wahn), is 69. Actor Greg Germann is 65. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-VA., is 65. Bandleader John Mcdaniel is 62. Actormartial artist Mark Dacascos is

59. Actor Jennifer Grant is 57. Rock musician Tim Commerford (Audioslave) is 55. Singer Erykah Badu (Ehr’-ih-kah bah-doo’) is 52. Actor Maz Jobrani (TV: “Superior Donuts”) is 51. R&B singer Rico Wade (Society of Soul) is 51. Olympic gold medal swimmer Jenny Thompson is

50. R&B singer Kyle Norman (Jagged Edge) is 48. Actor Greg Rikaart is 46. Rock musician Chris Culos (O.A.R.) is 44. R&B singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 44. Pop singer Nate Ruess (fun.) is 41. Former tennis player Li Na is 41. Latin singer Natalia

Lafourcade is 39. Actor Teresa Palmer is 37.

Monday, Feb. 27, 2023

Today is Monday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2023. There are 307days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 27, 1922, the Supreme Court, in Leser v. Garnett, unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.

On this date:

In 1807, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine.

In 1933, Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.

In 1939, the Supreme Court, in National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., effectively outlawed sit-down strikes.

In 1942, the Battle of the Java Sea began during World War II; Imperial Japanese naval forces scored a decisive victory over the Allies.

In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.

In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the hamlet of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, the site of the 1890massacre of Sioux men, women and children. (The occupation lasted until the following May.)

In 1991, Operation Desert Storm came to a conclusion as 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, Eastern time.

In 1997, divorce became legal in Ireland.

In 1998, with the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s House of Lords agreed to end 1,000years of male preference by giving a monarch’s first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as any first-born son. In 2006, former Newark Eagles co-owner Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 2010, in Chile, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed 524people, caused $30 billion in damage and left more than 200,000 homeless. In 2020, U.S. stocks posted their worst one-day drop since 2011, as worldwide markets plummeted amid growing anxiety about the coronavirus; the Dow tumbled nearly 1,200 points. President Donald Trump declared that a widespread U.S. outbreak of the virus was not inevitable, even as top health authorities at his side warned that more infections were coming.

In 2021, the U.S. got a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that worked with just one dose instead of two.

Ten years ago: The Senate confirmed Jacob Lew to be Treasury secretary by a vote of 71-26. President Barack Obama unveiled a statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks at the U.S. Capitol. Van Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status, died in Fort Worth, Texas, at age 78.

Five years ago: It was revealed that security clearance of White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner had been downgraded, significantly reducing his access to classified information. (Kushner’s status was restored in May after the completion of his background check.) A fivehour truce ordered by Syria’s Russian allies to let civilians flee a besieged rebel-held enclave near Damascus failed to result in aid deliveries or medical evacuations, as deadly airstrikes and shelling continued. President Donald Trump named former digital adviser Brad Parscale as campaign manager for his 2020 re-election bid.

One year ago: President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-west tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert, while Ukraine’s embattled leader agreed to talks with Moscow as Putin’s troops and tanks drove deeper into the country. Citing “aggressive statements” by NATO, Putin issued a directive to increase the readiness of Russia’s nuclear weapons — a step that raised fears that the invasion of Ukraine could boil over into nuclear war. New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that a dramatic drop in coronavirus infections could lead to the lifting of vaccine mandates on restaurants, bars and theaters within days.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Joanne Woodward is 93. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 89. Actor Barbara Babcock is 86. Actor Debra Monk is 74. Rock singer-musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 69. Rock musician Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) is 66. Actor Timothy Spall is 66. Rock musician Paul Humphreys (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) is 63. Country singer Johnny Van Zant (Van Zant) is 63. Rock musician Leon Mobley (Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals) is 62. Basketball Hall of Famer James Worthy is 62. Actor Adam Baldwin is 61. Actor Grant Show is 61. Actor Noah Emmerich is 58. Actor Donal Logue is 57. R&B singer Chilli (TLC) is 52. Rock musician Jeremy Dean (Nine Days) is 51. Country-rock musician Shonna Tucker is 45. Chelsea Clinton is 43. Actor Brandon Beemer is

43. Rock musician Cyrus Bolooki (New Found Glory) is 43. Rock musician Jake Clemons (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) is 43. R&B singer Bobby V is 43. Singer Josh Groban is

42. Banjoist Noam Pikelny is 42. Rock musician Jared Champion (Cage the Elephant) is 49. Actor Kate Mara is 40. TV personality Jwoww (AKA Jenni Farley) is 37. Actor Lindsey Morgan is 33.