Today in History
Today is Monday, Feb. 1, the 32nd day of 2016. There are 334 days left
in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 1, 1960, four black
college students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth's lunch counter
in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they'd been refused service. On
this date: In 1790, the U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time
in New York. (However, since only three of the six justices were
present, the court recessed until the next day.) In 1861, Texas voted
to leave the Union at a Secession Convention in Austin. In 1865, during
the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman began
the Carolinas Campaign as they invaded South Carolina. Abolitionist
John S. Rock became the first black lawyer admitted to the bar of the
U.S. Supreme Court. In 1896, Giacomo Puccini's opera "La Boheme"
premiered in Turin. In 1922, in one of Hollywood's most enduring
mysteries, movie director William Desmond Taylor was shot to death in
his Los Angeles home; the killing has never been solved. In 1943, one
of America's most highly decorated military units, the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team, made up almost exclusively of Japanese-Americans, was
authorized. In 1946, Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie (TRIHG'-vuh lee)
was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations. In
1968, during the Vietnam War, South Vietnam's police chief (Nguyen Ngoc
Loan) executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head.
Richard M. Nixon announced his bid for the Republican presidential
nomination. In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (hoh-MAY'-nee)
received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of
exile. In 1988, actress Heather O'Rourke, who'd co-starred in the 1982
movie "Poltergeist," died in San Diego at age 12. In 1995, British rock
performer Richey Edwards, 27, disappeared after last being seen in
London; his fate has never been determined. In 2003, the space shuttle
Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven of its crew
members. Ten years ago: In his first case on the Supreme Court, new
Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservatives, refusing to
let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.
French and German newspapers republished caricatures of the Prophet
Muhammad in what they called a defense of freedom of expression,
sparking fresh anger from Muslims. United Airlines left bankruptcy
after a painful restructuring that lasted more than three years. Five
years ago: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he would not run
for a new term in September elections but rejected protesters' demands
he step down immediately and leave the country, vowing to die on
Egypt's soil, after a dramatic day in which a quarter-million Egyptians
staged their biggest protest to date calling on him to go. One year
ago: An interception at the goal line by rookie Malcom Butler preserved
a 28-to-24 win by the New England Patriots over the Seattle Seahawks in
the Super Bowl. Today's Birthdays: Actor Stuart Whitman is 88. Folk
singer Bob Shane (The Kingston Trio) is 82. Singer Don Everly is 79.
Actor Garrett Morris is 79. Singer Ray Sawyer (Dr. Hook and the
Medicine Show) is 79. Bluegrass singer Del McCoury is 77. TV
personality-singer Joy Philbin is 75. Comedian-actor-director Terry
Jones is 74. Political commentator Fred Barnes is 73. Sen. Mike Enzi,
R-Wyo., is 72. Opera singer Carol Neblett is 70. Rock musician Mike
Campbell (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 66. Blues singer-musician
Sonny Landreth is 65. Actor-writer-producer Bill Mumy (MOO'-mee) is 62.
Rock singer Exene Cervenka is 60. Actor Linus Roache is 52. Princess
Stephanie of Monaco is 51. Country musician Dwayne Dupuy (Ricochet) is
51. Actress Sherilyn Fenn is 51. Lisa Marie Presley is 48.
Comedian-actor Pauly Shore is 48. Actor Brian Krause is 47. Jazz
musician Joshua Redman is 47. Rock musician Patrick Wilson (Weezer) is
47. Actor Michael C. Hall is 45. Rock musician Ron Welty is 45. Rapper
Big Boi (Outkast) is 41. Roots rocker Jason Isbell is 37. Country
singer Julie Roberts is 37. Actor Jarrett Lennon is 34. Rock
singer-musician Andrew VanWyngarden is 33. TV personality Lauren Conrad
is 30. Actress-singer Heather Morris (TV: "Glee") is 29. Actress and
martial arts champion Ronda Rousey is 29. Rock singer Harry Styles (One
Direction) is 22. Thought for Today: "It is the tragedy of the world
that no one knows what he doesn't know and the less a man knows, the
more sure he is that he knows everything. Joyce Cary, English author
(1888-1957).
