This day in history

[February 17, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2011. There are 317 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Feb. 17, 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, electing Jefferson president; Burr became vice president.

On this date:

In 1809, the Ohio legislature voted to establish Miami University in present-day Oxford. (The school opened in 1824.)

In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union ship USS Housatonic was rammed and sunk in Charleston Harbor, S.C., by the Confederate hand-cranked submarine HL Hunley, which also sank.

In 1865, Columbia, S.C., burned as the Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in. (It's not clear which side set the blaze.)

In 1897, the forerunner of the National PTA, the National Congress of Mothers, convened its first meeting, in Washington.

In 1904, the original two-act version of Giacomo Puccini's (JAH'-koh-moh poo-CHEE'-neez) opera "Madama Butterfly" was poorly received at its premiere at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

In 1947, the Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union.

In 1959, the United States launched Vanguard 2, a satellite which carried meteorological equipment on board.

In 1964, the Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders, ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon departed on his historic trip to China.

In 1986, Johnson & Johnson announced it would no longer sell over-the-counter medications in capsule form, following the death of a woman who had taken a cyanide-laced Tylenol capsule.

Ten years ago: Former Nation of Islam official Khalid Abdul Muhammad, known for his harsh rhetoric about Jews and whites, died at a hospital in Marietta, Ga., at age 53.

Five years ago: Ten U.S. service members died when a pair of Marine Corps helicopters crashed off the coast of Africa. Harry Whittington, the lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney while quail hunting, left a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital, saying "accidents do and will happen." A federal jury in New Orleans cleared Merck and Co. in the death of a 53-year-old Florida man who'd taken the painkiller Vioxx. A mudslide in the Philippines killed more than 1,000 people. William Cowsill, lead singer of the family band The Cowsills, died in Calgary, Alberta at age 58.

One year ago: President Barack Obama marked the one-year anniversary of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saying it had staved off another Great Depression and kept up to 2 million people on the job. Eight American missionaries charged with child kidnapping in Haiti were released after nearly three weeks in a Haitian jail. Americans Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso captured gold and silver, respectively, in the women's Olympic downhill. Actress Kathryn Grayson, 88, died in Los Angeles.

Today's birthdays: Bandleader Orrin Tucker is 100. Actor Hal Holbrook is 86. Mystery writer Ruth Rendell is 81. Singer Bobby Lewis is 78. Comedian Dame Edna (AKA Barry Humphries) is 77. Country singer-songwriter Johnny Bush is 76. Actress Christina Pickles is 76. Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown is 75. Actress Mary Ann Mobley is 72. Actress Brenda Fricker is 66. Actress Rene Russo is 57. Actor Richard Karn is 55. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 49. Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan is 48. Actor-comedian Larry, the Cable Guy is 48. TV personality Rene Syler is 48. Movie director Michael Bay is 46. Singer Chante Moore is 44. Rock musician Timothy J. Mahoney (311) is 41. Actor Dominic Purcell is 41. Olympic gold medal skier Tommy Moe is 41. Actress Denise Richards is 40. Rock singer-musician Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) is 39. Actor Jerry O'Connell is 37. Country singer Bryan White is 37. Actress Kelly Carlson is 35. Actor Ashton Holmes is 33. Actor Jason Ritter is 31. TV personality Paris Hilton is 30. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is 30. Actress Meaghan Martin is 19.

Thought for today: "People show their character by what they laugh at." -- German proverb

[Associated Press]

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