Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 1, the 32nd day of 2017. There are 333 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 1, 1942, during
World War II, the Voice of America broadcast its first program to
Europe, relaying it through the facilities of the British Broadcasting
Corp. in London. 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 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 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 1959, men in Switzerland rejected giving women
the right to vote by a more than 2-1 referendum margin. (Swiss women
gained the right to vote in 1971.) In 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. 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 in a scene captured by
news photographers. 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 1982, "Late Night with David
Letterman" premiered on NBC (airing at 11:35 p.m. Central time, 12:35
a.m. Feb. 2 in the Eastern time zone). In 1992, Ron Carey was sworn in
as the first Teamsters president elected by the union's rank-and-file.
Federal judge Irving R. Kaufman, who sentenced Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg to death, died in New York at age 81. In 2003, the space
shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven of its
crew members. Ten years ago: The departing top U.S. commander in Iraq,
Gen. George Casey, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that
improving security in Baghdad would take fewer than half as many extra
troops as President George W. Bush had chosen to commit. President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd) launched anniversary
celebrations for Iran's Islamic Revolution with a defiant promise to
push ahead with the country's controversial nuclear program. Pulitzer
Prize-winning opera composer Gian Carlo Menotti died in Monaco at age
95. Five years ago: Facebook, the Internet social network, announced
plans to go public with a stock offering. A Southern California woman
who filed a small-claims action against Honda won her lawsuit when a
judge ruled that the automaker had misled her about the potential fuel
economy of her hybrid car. (However, another judge overturned the
nearly $10,000 small claims judgment in May 2012.) In Port Said
(sy-EED'), Egypt, 74 people were killed after soccer fans rushed the
field following an upset victory by the home team over Egypt's top
club. Don Cornelius, 74, creator of "Soul Train," died in Los Angeles
of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Boxing trainer Angelo
Dundee died in Tampa, Florida, at age 90. One year ago: Texas Sen. Ted
Cruz swept to victory in Iowa's Republican caucuses, overcoming
billionaire Donald Trump and a stronger-than-expected showing by
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; among Democrats, Bernie Sanders rode a wave
of voter enthusiasm to a virtual tie with Hillary Clinton. The World
Health Organization declared a global emergency over the explosive
spread of the Zika (ZEE'-kuh) virus, which was linked to birth defects
in the Americas, calling it an "extraordinary event" that posed a
public health threat to other parts of the world. Today's Birthdays:
Actor Stuart Whitman is 89. Folk singer Bob Shane (The Kingston Trio)
is 83. Singer Don Everly is 80. Actor Garrett Morris is 80. Singer Ray
Sawyer (Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) is 80. Bluegrass singer Del
McCoury is 78. TV personality-singer Joy Philbin is 76.
Comedian-actor-director Terry Jones is 75. Political commentator Fred
Barnes is 74. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is 73. Opera singer Carol Neblett
is 71. Rock musician Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is
67. Blues singer-musician Sonny Landreth is 66. Actor-writer-producer
Bill Mumy (MOO'-mee) is 63. Rock singer Exene Cervenka is 61. Actor
Linus Roache is 53. Princess Stephanie of Monaco is 52. Country
musician Dwayne Dupuy (Ricochet) is 52. Actress Sherilyn Fenn is 52.
Lisa Marie Presley is 49. Comedian-actor Pauly Shore is 49. Actor Brian
Krause is 48. Jazz musician Joshua Redman is 48. Rock musician Patrick
Wilson (Weezer) is 48. Actor Michael C. Hall is 46. Rock musician Ron
Welty is 46. Rapper Big Boi (Outkast) is 42. Roots rocker Jason Isbell
is 38. Country singer Julie Roberts is 38. Actor Jarrett Lennon is 35.
Rock singer-musician Andrew VanWyngarden is 34. TV personality Lauren
Conrad is 31. Actress-singer Heather Morris is 30. Actress and mixed
martial artist Ronda Rousey is 30. Rock singer Harry Styles (One
Direction) is 23. Thought for Today: "Happiness is a by-product. You
cannot pursue it by itself. Sam Levenson, American humorist
(1911-1980).
