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SATURDAY
Associated Press
Feb. 20 is the 51st day of 2021. There are 314 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Feb. 20, 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public's health.
On this date:
In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department.
In 1839, Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.
In 1933, Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to repeal Prohibition.
In 1942, Lt. Edward "Butch" O'Hare became the U.S. Navy's first flying ace of World War II by shooting down five Japanese bombers while defending the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific.
In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury's Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.
In 1965, America's Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon, as planned, after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.
In 1987, a bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright. Soviet authorities released Jewish activist Josef Begun.
In 1998, Tara Lipinski of the U.S. won the ladies' figure skating gold medal at the Nagano Olympics; Michelle Kwan won the silver.
In 1999, movie reviewer Gene Siskel died at a hospital outside Chicago at age 53.
In 2003, a fire sparked by pyrotechnics broke out during a concert by the group Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.
In 2007, in a victory for President George W. Bush, a divided federal appeals court ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees could not use the U.S. court system to challenge their indefinite imprisonment.
In 2010, Alexander Haig, a soldier and statesman who'd held high posts in three Republican administrations and some of the U.S. military's top jobs, died in Baltimore at 85.
Ten years ago: Security forces loyal to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi unleashed heavy gunfire as thousands marched in the rebellious eastern city of Benghazi, cutting down mourners trying to bury victims. Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 in only his second Sprint Cup start. Kobe Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star game MVP award, scoring 37 points and propelling the West to a 148-143 victory over the East in the NBA All-Star game.
Five years ago: Donald Trump barreled to victory in South Carolina's Republican primary; Hillary Clinton pulled out a crucial win over Bernie Sanders in Nevada's Democratic caucuses. A funeral Mass was held for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
One year ago: Japan's Health Ministry said two passengers who'd been taken off a quarantined cruise ship after being infected with the new coronavirus had died; both were in their 80s and had pre-existing diseases. Sixteen Americans who'd been brought to the U.S. from the cruise ship were in hospitals, either because delayed test results showed that they had the virus or because they had shown symptoms. A poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found more Americans expressing some concern about catching the flu than about catching the coronavirus. Trump loyalist Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison for crimes including lying to Congress and obstructing the House's inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (Trump would commute the sentence just days before Stone was to report for detention; he then gave Stone a full pardon in December 2020.) Morgan Stanley announced that it was buying E-Trade Financial for $13 billion in stock.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Sidney Poitier is 94. Racing Hall of Famer Bobby Unser is 87. Racing Hall of Famer Roger Penske is 84. Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is 80. Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito is 79. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is 79. Movie director Mike Leigh is 78. Actor Brenda Blethyn is 75. Actor Sandy Duncan is 75. Actor Peter Strauss is 74. Rock musician Billy Zoom (X) is 73. Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is 67. Actor Anthony Head is 67. Country singer Leland Martin is 64. Actor James Wilby is 63. Rock musician Sebastian Steinberg is 62. Comedian Joel Hodgson is 61. Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is 58. Rock musician Ian Brown (Stone Roses) is 58. Actor Willie Garson is 57. Actor French Stewart is 57. Actor Ron Eldard is 56. Model Cindy Crawford is 55. Actor Andrew Shue is 54. Actor Lili Taylor is 54. Actor Andrea Savage is 48. Singer Brian Littrell is 46. Actor Lauren Ambrose is 43. Actor Jay Hernandez is 43. Actor Chelsea Peretti is 43. Country musician Coy Bowles is 42. Actor Michael Zegen is 42. Actor-singer Jessie Mueller is 38. MLB All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander is 38. Comedian Trevor Noah is 37. Actor Jake Richardson is 36. Actor Daniella Pineda is 34. Actor Miles Teller is 34. Singer Rihanna is 33.
SUNDAY
Associated Press
Feb. 21 is the 52nd day of 2021. There are 313 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Feb. 21, 1965, minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem's Audubon Ballroom in New York by assassins identified as members of the Nation of Islam. (Three men were convicted of murder and imprisoned; all were eventually paroled.)
On this date:
In 1862, Nathaniel Gordon became the first and only American slave-trader to be executed under the U.S. Piracy Law of 1820 as he was hanged in New York.
In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.
In 1916, the World War I Battle of Verdun began in France as German forces attacked; the French were able to prevail after 10 months of fighting.
In 1945, during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea was sunk by kamikazes with the loss of 318 men.
In 1964, the first shipment of U.S. wheat purchased by the Soviet Union arrived in the port of Odessa.
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing.
In 1973, Israeli fighter planes shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 over the Sinai Desert, killing all but five of the 113 people on board.
In 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up (each ended up serving a year and a-half).
In 1995, Chicago adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean by balloon, landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada.
In 2005, President George W. Bush, in Belgium for a NATO summit, scolded Russia for backsliding on democracy and urged Mideast allies to take difficult steps for peace.
In 2010, a mistaken U.S. missile attack killed 23 civilians in Afghanistan. (Four American officers were later reprimanded.) The United States stunned Canada 5-3 to advance to the Olympic men's hockey quarterfinals in Vancouver. Bode Miller finally captured his elusive gold medal, winning the super-combined for his third medal in three events.
In 2018, the Rev. Billy Graham, a confidant of presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, died at his North Carolina home; he was 99. A week after the Florida school shooting, President Donald Trump met with teen survivors of school violence and parents of slain children; Trump promised to be "very strong on background checks" and suggested he supported letting some teachers and other school employees carry weapons.
Ten years ago: Deep cracks opened in Moammar Gadhafi's regime, with Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigning, air force pilots defecting and a major government building ablaze after clashes in the capital of Tripoli. Yemen's embattled leader, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, rejected demands that he step down, calling demonstrations against his regime unacceptable acts of provocation and offering to begin a dialogue with protesters.
Five years ago: Bombings claimed by the Islamic State group in the Syrian cities of Damascus and Homs killed nearly 130 people. Pope Francis, speaking at the Vatican, urged Catholic leaders to show "exemplary" courage by not allowing executions "in this Holy Year of Mercy." Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500, edging Martin Truex Jr. by inches at the finish line.
One year ago: Health officials said at least 18 Americans who'd returned home from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan were infected with the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the U.S. to at least 35. Italy reported its first coronavirus death as the number of confirmed cases in Italy more than quadrupled. A temporary truce between the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan took effect, setting the stage for the two sides to sign a peace deal the following week. Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3 billion to settle criminal and civil investigations into a long-running practice in which employees opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts in order to meet sales goals.
Today's Birthdays: Movie director Bob Rafelson is 88. Actor Gary Lockwood is 84. Actor-director Richard Beymer is 82. Actor Peter McEnery is 81. Film/music company executive David Geffen is 78. Actor Tyne Daly is 75. Actor Anthony Daniels is 75. Tricia Nixon Cox is 75. Rock musician Jerry Harrison (The Heads) is 72. Actor Christine Ebersole is 68. Actor William Petersen is 68. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 66. Country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 63. Actor Kim Coates is 63. Actor Jack Coleman is 63. Actor Christopher Atkins is 60. Actor William Baldwin is 58. Rock musician Michael Ward is 54. Actor Aunjanue Ellis is 52. Blues musician Corey Harris is 52. Country singer Eric Heatherly is 51. Rock musician Eric Wilson is 51. Rock musician Tad Kinchla (Blues Traveler) is 48. Singer Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops) is 44. Actor Jennifer Love Hewitt is 42. Comedian-actor Jordan Peele is 42. Actor Brendan Sexton III is 41. Singer Charlotte Church is 35. Actor Ashley Greene is 34. Actor Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page) is 34. Actor Corbin Bleu is 32.