Today in History
Today in History Today is Wednesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2016.
There are 318 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On
Feb. 17, 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM
supercomputer "Deep Blue," winning a six-game match in Philadelphia
(however, Kasparov lost to Deep Blue in a rematch in 1997). On this
date: In 1815, the United States and Britain exchanged the instruments
of ratification for the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. In
1863, the International Red Cross was founded in Geneva. In 1865,
during the Civil War, Columbia, South Carolina, burned as the
Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in. In 1904, the original
two-act version of Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" received
a poor reception at its premiere at La Scala in Milan, Italy. In 1913,
the Armory Show, a landmark modern art exhibit, opened in New York
City. In 1925, the first issue of The New Yorker magazine (bearing the
cover date of Feb. 21) was published. In 1933, Newsweek magazine was
first published under the title "News-Week. In 1944, during World War
II, U.S. forces invaded Eniwetok Atoll, encountering little initial
resistance from Imperial Japanese troops. (The Americans secured the
atoll less than a week later.) In 1959, the United States launched
Vanguard 2, a satellite which carried meteorological equipment. In
1964, the Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders, ruled that
congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in
population. In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon departed the White
House with his wife, Pat, on a historic trip to China. In 1986, Johnson
& Johnson announced it would no longer sell over-the-counter
medications in capsule form, following the death of a woman who had
taken a cyanide-laced Tylenol capsule. Ten years ago: Ten U.S. service
members died when a pair of Marine Corps helicopters crashed off the
coast of Africa. A federal jury in New Orleans cleared Merck and Co. in
the death of a 53-year-old Florida man who'd taken the painkiller
Vioxx. A mudslide in the Philippines killed more than 1,000 people.
Tanja Frieden of Switzerland won the Olympic women's snowboardcross,
speeding past American Lindsey Jacobellis, who'd fallen on her
next-to-last jump before the finish line. William Cowsill, lead singer
of the family band The Cowsills, died in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at
age 58. Five years ago: A group of Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers
blocked passage of a sweeping anti-union bill, refusing to show up for
a vote and then abruptly leaving the state in an effort to force
Republicans to the negotiating table. Iowa high school wrestler Joel
Northrup defaulted on his first-round state tournament match rather
than face Cassy Herkelman, one of the first girls ever to qualify for
the event, saying that wrestling a girl would conflict with his
religious beliefs. One year ago: Vice President Joe Biden opened a
White House summit on countering extremism and radicalization, saying
the United States needed to ensure that immigrants were fully included
in the fabric of American society to prevent violent ideologies from
taking root at home. Today's Birthdays: Actor Hal Holbrook is 91.
Singer Bobby Lewis is 83. Actor-comedian Barry Humphries (aka "Dame
Edna") is 82. Country singer-songwriter Johnny Bush is 81. Actress
Christina Pickles is 81. Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown is 80.
Actress Brenda Fricker is 71. Actress Rene Russo is 62. Actor Richard
Karn is 60. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer
Michael Jordan is 53. Actor-comedian Larry, the Cable Guy is 53. TV
personality Rene Syler is 53. Movie director Michael Bay is 52. Singer
Chante Moore is 49. Rock musician Timothy J. Mahoney (311) is 46. Actor
Dominic Purcell is 46. Olympic gold and silver medal skier Tommy Moe is
46. Actress Denise Richards is 45. Rock singer-musician Billie Joe
Armstrong (Green Day) is 44. Actor Jerry O'Connell is 42. Country
singer Bryan White is 42. Actress Kelly Carlson is 40. Actor Ashton
Holmes is 38. Actor Jason Ritter is 36. TV personality Paris Hilton is
35. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is 35. TV host Daphne Oz (TV: "The
Chew") is 30. Actor Chord Overstreet is 27. Singer-songwriter Ed
Sheeran is 25. Actress Meaghan Martin is 24. Actress Sasha Pieterse is
20. Thought for Today: "Wounded vanity knows when it is mortally hurt;
and limps off the field, piteous, all disguises thrown away. But pride
carries its banner to the last; and fast as it is driven from one field
unfurls it in another. Helen Hunt Jackson, American author (1831-1885).
