 Today's highlight in history:On Feb. 24, 1942, the SS Struma, a charter ship attempting to carry
Jewish refugees from Romania to Palestine during World War II, was
torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet submarine after being towed and
abandoned in the Black Sea by Turkish authorities; all but one of
the 769 refugees on board perished.
On this date:
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, or edict, outlining
his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in
general use today.)
In 1711, the opera "Rinaldo" by George Frideric Handel premiered in
London.
In 1803, in its Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supreme Court
established judicial review of the constitutionality of statutes. In 1821, Mexican rebels proclaimed the "Plan de Iguala," their
declaration of independence from Spain.
In 1868, the House of Representatives impeached President Andrew
Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin
M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.
In 1912, the American Jewish women's organization Hadassah was
founded in New York City.
In 1918, Estonia issued its Declaration of Independence.
In 1920, the German Workers Party, which later became the Nazi
Party, met in Munich to adopt its platform.
In 1946, Argentinian men went to the polls to elect Juan D. Peron
their president.
In 1961, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the
nation's first full-scale trial of pay television in Hartford, Conn.
In 1981, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Britain's
Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.
In 1992, Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain married Hole lead vocalist
Courtney Love in Hawaii.
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Ten years ago: 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.
Five years ago: A suicide truck bomber struck worshippers
leaving a Sunni mosque in Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad,
killing at least 52 people. The Virginia General Assembly passed a
resolution expressing "profound regret" for the state's role in
slavery. Denver Broncos running back Damien Nash, 24, collapsed and
died after a charity basketball game he'd hosted in suburban St.
Louis.
One year ago: 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.
Today's birthdays: Actor Abe Vigoda is 91. Actor Steven Hill
is 90. Actor-singer Dominic Chianese (kee-uh-NAY'-see) is 81. Movie
composer Michel Legrand is 80. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., is
70. Actor Barry Bostwick is 67. Actor Edward James Olmos is 65.
Singer-writer-producer Rupert Holmes is 65. Rock singer-musician
George Thorogood is 62. Actress Debra Jo Rupp is 61. Actress Helen
Shaver is 61. News anchor Paula Zahn is 56. Country singer Sammy
Kershaw is 54. Actor Mark Moses is 54. Singer Michelle Shocked is
50. Movie director Todd Field is 48. Actor Billy Zane is 46. Actress
Bonnie Somerville is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brandon Brown (Mista)
is 29. Rock musician Matt McGinley (Gym Class Heroes) is 29. Actor
Wilson Bethel is 28.
Thought for today: "It is my feeling that Time ripens all
things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of
truth." -- Francois Rabelais, 16th century French writer and
physician
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
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