Today in History
Today is Saturday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2016. There are 322 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 13, 1861,
Abraham Lincoln was officially declared winner of the 1860 presidential
election as electors cast their ballots. On this date: In 1542, the
fifth wife of England's King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed
for adultery. In 1766, English economist and demographer Thomas Robert
Malthus was born in Surrey. In 1914, the American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers, also known as ASCAP, was founded in New York.
In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of
Switzerland. In 1935, a jury in Flemington, New Jersey, found Bruno
Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-slaying
of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh.
(Hauptmann was later executed.) In 1945, during World War II, Allied
planes began bombing the German city of Dresden. The Soviets captured
Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans. In 1960, France exploded its first
atomic bomb in the Sahara Desert. In 1975, a late-night arson fire set
by a disgruntled custodian broke out on the 11th floor of the north
tower of New York's World Trade Center; the blaze spread to six floors,
but caused no direct casualties. In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics
opened in Lake Placid, New York. In 1988, the 15th Winter Olympics
opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 1991, during Operation Desert
Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad
that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials
said 500 civilians were killed. In 1996, the rock musical "Rent," by
Jonathan Larson, opened off-Broadway. Ten years ago: Auditors reported
that millions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina disaster aid had been
squandered, paying for such items as a $450 tattoo and
$375-dollar-a-day beachfront condos. Joey Cheek won the men's 500
meters, giving the United States its second speedskating gold medal of
the Turin Games. Hannah Teter won gold and Gretchen Bleiler won silver
in the halfpipe. Tatiana Totmianina (taht-YAH'nah toht-MYEH'-ni-nuh)
and Maxim Marinin won the gold medal in pairs figure skating, extending
Russia's four-decade dominance of the event. Five years ago: Egypt's
military leaders dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and
promised elections in moves cautiously welcomed by protesters who'd
helped topple President Hosni Mubarak. Lady Antebellum was the big
winner at the Grammys with five awards, including record and song of
the year for the band's yearning crossover ballad "Need You Now," but
rockers Arcade Fire won the biggest prize, album of the year, for their
highly acclaimed "The Suburbs. One year ago: Calling cyberspace the new
"Wild West," President Barack Obama told the private sector during a
White House cybersecurity summit at Stanford University that it needed
to do more to stop cyberattacks aimed at the U.S. every day. Oregon
Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, resigned amid suspicions his fiancee
had used her relationship with him to land contracts for her
green-energy consulting business. Today's Birthdays: U.S. Air Force
Maj. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager (ret.) is 93. Actress Kim Novak is
83. Actor George Segal is 82. Actor Bo Svenson is 75. Actress Carol
Lynley is 74. Singer-musician Peter Tork (The Monkees) is 74. Actress
Stockard Channing is 72. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 72. Sen.
Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is 70. Singer Peter Gabriel is 66. Actor
David Naughton is 65. Rock musician Peter Hook is 60. Actor Matt
Salinger is 56. Singer Henry Rollins is 55. Actor Neal McDonough is 50.
Singer Freedom Williams is 50. Actress Kelly Hu is 48. Rock singer Matt
Berninger (The National) is 45. Rock musician Todd Harrell (3 Doors
Down) is 44. Drummer Scott Thomas (Parmalee) is 43. Singer Robbie
Williams is 42. Singer-songwriter Feist is 40. Rhythm-and-blues
performer Natalie Stewart is 37. Actress Mena Suvari (MEE'-nuh
soo-VAHR'-ee) is 37. Rock musician Dash Hutton (Haim (hym)) is 31.
Actress Katie Volding is 27. Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (also known as
Prince Michael Jackson I) is 19. Thought for Today: "An explanation of
cause is not a justification by reason. C.S. Lewis, English author
(1898-1963).
