Today in History

Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2023. There are 306 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 28, 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.

On this date:

In 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. In 1849, the California gold rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.

In 1911, President William Howard Taft nominated William H. Lewis to be the first Black Assistant Attorney General of the United States.

In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

In 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.

In 1975, 42 people were killed in London’s Underground when a train smashed into the end of a tunnel.

In 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.) In 2009, Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation’s most familiar voices, died in Phoenix at age 90.

In 2014, delivering a blunt warning to Moscow, President Barack Obama expressed deep concern over reported military activity inside Ukraine by Russia and warned “there will be costs” for any intervention. In 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.

In 2020, the number of countries touched by the coronavirus climbed to nearly 60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week 12.4% lower in the market’s worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis.

Ten years ago: In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600years to resign, ending an eight-year pontificate. (Benedict was succeeded the following month by Pope Francis.) Chelsea Manning, the Army private arrested in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history, pleaded guilty at Fort Meade, Maryland, to 10 charges involving illegal possession or distribution of classified material. (Manning was sentenced to up to 35 years in prison after being convicted of additional charges in a court-martial, but had her sentence commuted in 2017 by President Barack Obama.)

Five years ago: Students and teachers returned under police guard to Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as classes resumed for the first time since a shooting that killed 17 people. President Donald Trump called for substantial changes to the nation’s gun laws, criticizing lawmakers for being fearful of the National Rifle Association. Political leaders paid tribute to the Rev. Billy Graham as his casket rested in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

One year ago: Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s second-largest city, rocking a residential neighborhood, and closed in on the capital, Kyiv, in a 17-mile convoy of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles. Talks aimed at stopping the fighting yielded only an agreement to keep talking. A Texas man charged with storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun on his waist became the first Jan. 6 defendant to go on trial.

Today’s birthdays:

Architect Frank Gehry is 94. Singer Sam the Sham is 86. Actor-director-dancer Tommy Tune is 84. Hall of Fame auto racer Mario Andretti is 83. Actor Kelly Bishop is 79. Actor Stephanie Beacham is 76. Writer-director Mike Figgis is 75. Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 75. Actor Bernadette Peters is 75. Former Energy Secretary Steven Chu is 75. Actor Ilene Graff is 74. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley is 68. Actor John Turturro is 66. Rock singer Cindy Wilson is 66. Actor Rae Dawn Chong is 62. Actor Maxine Bahns is 54. Actor Robert Sean Leonard is 54. Rock singer Pat Monahan is 54. Author Daniel Handler (aka “Lemony Snicket”) is 53. Actor Tasha Smith is 52. Actor Rory Cochrane is 51. Actor Ali Larter is 47. Country singer Jason Aldean is 46. Actor Geoffrey Arend is 45. Actor Melanie Chandra (TV: “Code Black”) is 39. Actor Michelle Horn is 36. MLB relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman is 35. Actor True O’brien is 29. Actor Madisen Beaty is 28. Actor Quinn Shephard is 28. Actor Bobb’e J. Thompson is 27.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Today is Wednesday, March 1, the 60th day of 2023. There are 305 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 1, 1974, seven people, including former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, former Attorney General John Mitchell and former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian, were indicted on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the Watergate break-in. (These four defendants were convicted in January 1975, though Mardian’s conviction was later reversed.)

On this date:

In 1815, Napoleon, having escaped exile in Elba, arrived in Cannes, France, and headed for Paris to begin his “Hundred Days” rule. In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state as President Andrew Johnson signed a proclamation.

In 1893, inventor Nikola Tesla first publicly demonstrated radio during a meeting of the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis by transmitting electromagnetic energy without wires.

In 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-monthold son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, New Jersey. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.)

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, back from the Yalta Conference, proclaimed the meeting a success as he addressed a joint session of Congress. In 1954, four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the spectators’ gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five members of Congress. In 1966, the Soviet space probe Venera 3 impacted the surface of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to reach another planet; however, Venera was unable to transmit any data, its communications system having failed.

In 1971, a bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol; the radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast. In 2005, Dennis Rader, the churchgoing family man accused of leading a double life as the BTK serial killer, was charged in Wichita, Kansas, with 10 counts of first-degree murder. (Rader later pleaded guilty and received multiple life sentences.) A closely divided Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals. In 2010, Jay Leno returned as host of NBC’S “The Tonight Show.”

In 2015, tens of thousands marched through Moscow in honor of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who had been shot to death on Feb. 27. In 2020, state officials said New York City had its first confirmed case of the coronavirus, a woman in her late 30s who had contracted the virus while traveling in Iran. Health officials in Washington state, announcing what was believed at the time to be the second U.S. death from the coronavirus, said the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in the Seattle area.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama, still deadlocked with Republican congressional leaders, formally enacted $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts a few hours before the midnight deadline required by law. In Bangladesh, protesters clashed with police for a second day and the death toll rose to at least 44 from violence triggered by a death sentence given to an Islamic party leader for crimes linked to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war.

Five years ago: President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, escalating tensions with China and other trading partners and raising the prospect of higher prices for Americans. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects winners of the peace prize, announced that someone using a stolen identity nominated Trump for the award. The committee leader said it appeared the same person was responsible for forging nominations in 2017, as well.

One year ago: Russian forces escalated their attacks on crowded urban areas, bombarding the central square in Ukraine’s secondbiggest city and Kyiv’s main TV tower in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a blatant campaign of terror. In his first State of the Union address, President Joe Biden aimed to rally the American public to bear the costs of supporting Ukraine’s fight to stave off the massive Russian invasion. He also outlined his plans to combat soaring inflation.

Today’s birthdays:

Singer/actor Harry Belafonte is 96. Rock singer Mike D’abo (Manfred Mann) is 79. Former Sen. John Breaux, D-LA., is 79. Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 79. Actor Dirk Benedict is 78. Actor-director Ron Howard is 69. Country singer Janis Oliver (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 69. Actor Catherine Bach is 68. Actor Tim Daly is 67. Singermusician Jon Carroll is 66. Rock musician Bill Leen is 61. Actor Bryan Batt is 60. Actor Maurice Benard is 60. Actor Russell Wong is 60. Actor Chris Eigeman is 58. Actor George Eads is 56. Actor Javier Bardem is 54. Actor Jack Davenport is 50. Rock musician Ryan Peake (Nickelback) is 50. Actor Mark-paul Gosselaar is 49. Singer Tate Stevens is 48. Actor Jensen Ackles is 45. TV host Donovan Patton is 45. Actor Joe Tippett is 41. Actor Lupita Nyong’o is 40. Pop singer Kesha (formerly Ke$ha) is 36. R&B singer Sammie is 36. Pop singer Justin Bieber is 29.