 Today's
highlight in history:
On Feb. 14, 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union as
President William Howard Taft signed a proclamation.
On this date:
In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars
and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in
France.
In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state.
In 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a proclamation
making Arizona a Confederate territory.
In 1876, inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray applied
separately for patents related to the telephone. (The U.S. Supreme
Court eventually ruled Bell the rightful inventor.)
In 1895, Oscar Wilde's final play, "The Importance of Being
Earnest," opened at the St. James's Theatre in London.
In 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor was established. (It
was divided into separate departments of Commerce and Labor in
1913.)
In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago; its
first president was Maud Wood Park.
In 1929, the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" took place in a Chicago
garage as seven rivals of Al Capone's gang were gunned down.
In 1949, Israel's Knesset convened for the first time.
In 1962, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of
the White House in a videotaped special that was broadcast on CBS
and NBC (and several nights later on ABC).
In 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was
kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout
between his abductors and police.
In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman
Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses," a novel condemned as
blasphemous.
Ten years ago: Launching his defense against war crimes
charges, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic (sloh-BOH'-dahn
mee-LOH'-shuh-vich) justified his actions as a "struggle against
terrorism" and said he was a victim of twisted facts and "terrible
fabrication." Enron executive Sherron Watkins told a House
subcommittee it was common knowledge at the company that
partnerships were used improperly to hide debt and inflate profits.
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Five years ago: Challenged on the accuracy of U.S.
intelligence, President George W. Bush told a news conference there
was no doubt the Iranian government was providing armor-piercing
weapons to kill American soldiers in Iraq, and he said he would
fight any attempt by the Democratic-controlled Congress to cut off
money for the war. ConAgra recalled all Peter Pan and Great Value
peanut butter made at a Georgia plant because of a salmonella
outbreak.
One year ago: President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.7 trillion
budget plan that would freeze or reduce some safety-net programs for
the nation's poor but turn aside Republican demands for more drastic
cuts to shrink the government to where it was before he took office.
Protesters took to the streets in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, inspired
by the popular uprising in Egypt that brought down President Hosni
Mubarak. The TV game show "Jeopardy!" began airing the first of
three episodes pitting human players Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings
against an IBM computer named "Watson." (Watson ended up winning
with a cumulative total of $77,147 versus $24,000 for Jennings and
$21,600 for Rutter.)
Today's birthdays: TV personality Hugh Downs is 91.
Actress-singer Florence Henderson is 78. Actor Andrew Prine is 76.
Country singer Razzy Bailey is 73. New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg is 70. Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 69. Movie director
Alan Parker is 68. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 68. Former Sen. Judd
Gregg, R-N.H., is 65. TV personality Pat O'Brien is 64. Magician
Teller (Penn and Teller) is 64. Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet
(doo-SAY') (Beausoleil) is 61. Actor Ken Wahl is 55. Opera singer
Renee Fleming is 53. Actress Meg Tilly is 52. Pro Football Hall of
Famer Jim Kelly is 52. Singer-producer Dwayne Wiggins is 51. Actor
Enrico Colantoni is 49. Actor Zach Galligan is 48. Actor Valente
Rodriguez is 48. Rock musician Ricky Wolking (The Nixons) is 46.
Tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 45. Actor Simon Pegg is 42. Rock
musician Kevin Baldes (Lit) is 40. Rock singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox
Twenty) is 40. Actor Matt Barr is 28. Actress Tiffany Thornton is
26. Actor Freddie Highmore is 20.
Thought for today: "We are effectively destroying ourselves
by violence masquerading as love." -- R.D. Laing, Scottish
psychiatrist (1927-1989)
[Associated Press]
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