Today in History
Today in History Today is Tuesday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2016. There
are 319 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb.
16, 1968, the nation's first 911 emergency telephone system was
inaugurated in Haleyville, Alabama. On this date: In 1804, Lt. Stephen
Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy
frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates during
the First Barbary War. In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson
in Tennessee ended as some 12,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered;
Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's victory earned him the nickname
"Unconditional Surrender Grant. In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks was organized in New York City. In 1923, the burial
chamber of King Tutankhamen's recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in
Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter. In 1937, Dr. Wallace H.
Carothers, a research chemist for Du Pont who'd invented nylon,
received a patent for the synthetic fiber. In 1945, American troops
landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War
II. In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a-half
after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista. In 1961, the United States
launched the Explorer 9 satellite. In 1977, Janani Luwum, the Anglican
archbishop of Uganda, and two other men were killed in what Ugandan
authorities said was an automobile accident. In 1988, seven people were
shot to death during an office rampage in Sunnyvale, California, by a
man obsessed with a co-worker who was wounded in the attack. (The
gunman, Richard Farley, is on death row.) In 1996, 11 people were
killed in a fiery collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a
Maryland commuter train in Silver Spring, Maryland. Former California
Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown died in Beverly Hills, California, at
age 90. In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus A300-600R trying to land in
fog near Taipei, Taiwan, crashed, killing all 196 people on board, plus
six on the ground. Ten years ago: The U.S. Army said goodbye to its
last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, handing over equipment from the
MASH unit to doctors and nurses in Pakistan, the scene of an Oct. 2005
earthquake. President George W. Bush said he was satisfied with Vice
President Dick Cheney's explanation about his shooting accident; Texas
authorities said they had closed their investigation without filing any
charges. Rene Preval was declared the winner of Haiti's presidential
election. Russia's Evgeni Plushenko beat world champion Stephane
Lambiel of Switzerland by 27.12 points to win the gold medal in men's
figure skating at the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. Five years ago:
Bookstore chain Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and
said it would close nearly a third of its stores. (Borders closed all
of its remaining stores in September 2011.) Huge crowds called for a
political overhaul in Bahrain, and leaders appeared to shift tactics
after attempts to crush the uprising stoked protesters' rage. One year
ago: Egyptian warplanes struck Islamic State targets in Libya, hours
after the extremist group released a grisly video showing the beheading
of Egyptian Coptic Christians it had held hostage for weeks.
Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore, 68, died in New York. Lorena Rojas, 44,
a popular Mexican soap opera and movie actress, died in Miami. Today's
Birthdays: Actor Jeremy Bulloch is 71. Actor William Katt is 65.
Rhythm-and-blues singer James Ingram is 64. Actor LeVar Burton is 59.
Actor-rapper Ice-T is 58. Actress Lisa Loring is 58. International
Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe is 57. Rock musician Andy Taylor is
55. Rock musician Dave Lombardo (Slayer) is 51. Actress Sarah Clarke is
45. Rock musician Taylor Hawkins (Foofighters) is 44. Olympic gold
medal runner Cathy Freeman is 43. Actor Mahershala Ali is 42. Singer
Sam Salter is 41. Electronic dance music artist Bassnectar is 38.
Rapper Lupe Fiasco is 34. Actress Chloe Wepper is 30. Pop-rock singer
Ryan Follese (FAHL'-eh-say) (Hot Chelle (SHEL) Rae) is 29. Rock
musician Danielle Haim (HYM) is 27. Actress Elizabeth Olsen is 27.
Actor Mike Weinberg is 23. Thought for Today: "I am content to define
history as the past events of which we have knowledge and refrain from
worrying about those of which we have none until, that is, some
archaeologist digs them up. Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian
(1912-1989).
