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TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is the 53rd day of 2020. There are 313 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 22, 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” took place in Lake Placid, N.Y., as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets, 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)

On this date:

In 1732, the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.

In 1857, Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, was born in London.

In 1862, Jefferson Davis, already the provisional president of the Confederacy, was inaugurated for a six-year term following his election in November 1861.

In 1909, the Great White Fleet, a naval task force sent on a round-the-world voyage by President Theodore Roosevelt, returned after more than a year at sea.

In 1924, Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.

In 1935, it became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

In 1984, David Vetter, a 12-year-old Texas boy who’d spent most of his life in a plastic bubble because he had no immunity to disease, died 15 days after being removed from the bubble for a bone-marrow transplant.

In 1987, pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at age 58.

In 1995, actor Ed Flanders, 60, died at his own hand in Denny, Calif.

In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named “Dolly.” (Dolly, however, was later put down after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.)

In 2018, the U.S. women’s hockey team won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, beating Canada 3-2 after a shootout tiebreaker.

Ten years ago: Najibullah Zazi, accused of buying beauty supplies to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways, pleaded guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support for a terrorist organization. (Zazi spent nearly a decade after his arrest helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists.) New York City police officer Richard Kern, accused of sodomizing a drug suspect in a subway station, was acquitted.

Five years ago: At the 87th Academy Awards, “Birdman” won best picture; Julianne Moore received the best actress Oscar for “Still Alice” while Eddie Redmayne was recognized as best actor for “The Theory of Everything.”

One year ago: R&B star R. Kelly was charged in Chicago with aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. (Kelly is being held without bond in Chicago; he is facing a variety of charges in three states.) Police in Jupiter, Fla., said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft faced charges of soliciting a prostitute after he was twice videotaped in a sex act at a shopping-center massage parlor. (Kraft has pleaded not guilty but issued a written apology.) A California couple pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them. .

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Paul Dooley is 92. Actor James Hong is 91. Actor John Ashton is 72. Actress Julie Walters is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving is 70. Actress Ellen Greene is 69. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 61. Actress-comedian Rachel Dratch is 54. Actor Paul Lieberstein is 53. Actress Jeri Ryan is 52. Actor Thomas Jane is 51. Actress Tamara Mello is 50. Actor Jose Solano is 49. Rock musician Scott Phillips is 47. Singer James Blunt is 46. Actress Drew Barrymore is 45. Rock singer Tom Higgenson (Plain White T’s) is 41.

Thought for Today: “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” — President George Washington (1732-1799).

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