Fun On this date in history...

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 20th:

In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office.

In 1816, Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville” premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. Years later, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Tom & Jerry, Tex Avery and Alfalfa would all provide interesting interpretations of this work.

In 1862, William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.

In 1872, in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened.

In 1877, Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” received its première performance at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, by a 7-2 vote, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public's health.

In 1906, actor Gale Gordon was born in New York City. He’s best-known for memorably blowing his stack at Lucille Ball, Phil Harris, Dennis Mitchell, Connie Brooks and Fibber McGee.

In 1912, author Pierre Boule was born in Avignon, France. He’s probably best-known for writing a book about monkeys that a Chuck Heston movie was based on.

In 1915, the Panama Pacific International Exposition opened in San Francisco (the fair lasted until December).

In 1926, author/screenwriter Richard Matheson, well-known for his suspense, horror & science-fiction works, was born in Allendale, NJ. He’d later write a book about vampires that a Chuck Heston movie was based on.

In 1932, the controversial drama/horror film “Freaks”, directed by Tod Browning, was released in the U.S.

In 1936, the science fiction movie “Things to Come”, written by H.G. Wells, premiered in London.

In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

In 1942, Lt. Edward O'Hare became America's first World War II flying ace when he single-handedly attacked a group of nine Japanese heavy bombers approaching the carrier Lexington, shooting down or damaging several of them.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. strategic bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."

Also in 1944, during World War II, the United States took Eniwetok Island.

In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Rabinowitz, ruled 5-3 that authorities making a lawful arrest did not need a warrant to search and seize evidence in an area that was in the "immediate and complete control" of the suspect.

In 1958, “Le Fatiche di Ercole” (a.k.a. “Hercules”), starring Steve Reeves, was released in Italy. It would reach the U.S. the following year.

In 1960, actor/writer/comedian/Gizmocrat Joel Hodgson was born in Stevens Point, WI.

In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury's Friendship 7 spacecraft.

In 1965, America's Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon, as planned, after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.

In 1968, the TV-movie “Prescription: Murder” was broadcast on NBC. It featured the first appearance of Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo, and served as the pilot for the later “Columbo” series.

In 1971, the National Emergency Warning Center in Colorado erroneously ordered U.S. radio and TV stations off the air; some stations heeded the alert, which was not lifted for about 40 minutes.

In 1985, the Irish government approved the sale of contraceptives, over the objections of the Catholic Church.

Also in 1985, the Terry Gilliam film “Brazil” was released in France. It would be released in the U.K. two days later, but wouldn’t have a U.S. release until the following December.

In addition in 1985, voice actor Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, died in Glendale, CA at age 80.

In 1986, the Soviet Union launched its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.

In 1987, a bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright.

In 1998, Tara Lipinski of the U.S. won the ladies' figure skating gold medal at the Nagano Olympics; Michelle Kwan won the silver.

In 2003, a fire sparked by pyrotechnics broke out during a concert by the group Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.

In 2009, Conan O'Brien made his last appearance as host of "Late Night."

 

The Chronicle’s front page from Feb. 20, 1915, marks the opening of San Francisco’s grandest party, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

Anticipation for the world’s fair had reached a crescendo, and it was time for San Francisco to show the globe that it had risen from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake and fire and grown into a bigger, better city that would become a world-class hub of innovation.

And, wow, were people excited.
“This is the morning of realization,” The Chronicle wrote. “The day of anticipation and preparation passes; and the words of prediction are lost in the Big Noise that heralds the opening hour of the greatest of world expositions.

“San Francisco becomes the host city of the world this morning, and offers its guests amusement, enlightenment and beauty.
“Everyone is an optimist today.”

Besides the grandiose prose, the front page featured a photo of Princess Ah-Tra-Ah-Saun (top right), a nurse who would “appear in the century-old dress of her royal Indian ancestors, the Klamaths,” in the exposition’s opening parade. To the left of the princess’s photo are two shots of headdresses that would be featured in a Humboldt County Indian exhibit. The photographer of the headdresses was Emma B. Freeman; her photo appears at the bottom of the centerpiece package.
The city, and The Chronicle, were ready. The exposition was here. The coverage of the opening would come a day later.

 

The front page from Feb. 21, 1915, covers the opening of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. It was the city’s most anticipated event in its short history, and the frenzy and promotional blitz that accompanied it put this year’s Super Bowl circus to shame.

“For over five years San Franciscans gave their money and their time without stint that this dream and ambition should be realized, as it was realized yesterday, magnificently, superbly and with credit and honor to the city and state,” C.A. Horne wrote in an opus that served as the only story on the front page.

The newspaper put out a special souvenir edition that featured photos of the opening, but this page was dedicated to glorifying “the men who made the exposition.” The faces of 29 men, and only men, are showcased below a San Francisco Chronicle nameplate that strayed from the classic Gothic lettering for the day’s edition.
Chronicle founder M.H. de Young is among those honored, and the entangling of business and editorial interests, no matter how worthy the endeavor, would provoke walkouts in today’s newsroom.

The Pan-Pacific exposition was a showcase for a city that had rebuilt from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake and fire, and The Chronicle was there to help push for the world’s fair and cover the “story of how ‘San Francisco spirit’ won and built it.”

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 21st:

In 1804, the first self-propelling steam locomotive made its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.

In 1848, former President John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. (He died two days later.)

Also in 1848, “The Communist Manifesto”, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, was published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League.

In 1878, the first telephone directory was issued, by the District Telephone Co. of New Haven, CT.

In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.

In 1893, actress Celia Lovsky, best-known for playing T’Pau on the original series “Star Trek”, was born in Vienna, Austria.

In 1910, RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader was born in St. John’s Wood, London. He was a fighter ace, and later a POW, during World War II, despite having lost both legs in a plane crash in 1931.

In 1916, The World War I Battle of Verdun began in France.

In 1925, The New Yorker magazine made its debut.

Also in 1925, writer/director Sam Peckinpah was born in Fresno, CA.

In 1927, author/humorist Erma Bombeck was born in Dayton, OH.

In 1937, actor Gary Lockwood was born in Van Nuys, CA. One of his characters would later be Jim Kirk’s first on-screen kill, and another one would be HAL 9000’s first on-screen kill.

In 1944, the horror movie “Voodoo Man” was released in the U.S. It starred Bela Lugosi, George Zucco and John Carradine. It would be decades before Rifftrax got ahold of it.

In 1945, Japanese kamikaze planes sank the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damaged the USS Saratoga.

Also in 1945, athlete/missionary Eric Liddell died at the Weihsein Internment Camp in China at age 43.

In 1946, actor Anthony Daniels was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. And the possibility of my not including this in this entry is approximately 3,720 to 1.

In 1947, Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds.

In 1948, the National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) was officially incorporated.

In 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X, age 39, was shot to death by three assassins as he gave a speech in New York.

In 1968, the sci-fi movie “The Power”, starring George Hamilton and produced by George Pal, was released in the U.S.

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China.

In 1973, Israeli fighter planes shot down a Libyan Airlines jet over the Sinai Desert, killing more than 100 people.

In 1975, Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up.

In 1981, on “Doctor Who”, part four of “The Keeper of Traken” was broadcast on BBC 1. The closing moments of the episode featured the first appearance of Anthony Ainley in the role of the Master.

Also in 1981, composer Ron Grainer, best-known for composing the themes to “Doctor Who” and “The Prisoner”, died in Cuckfield, Sussex, England at age 58.

In 1988, TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart tearfully confessed to his congregation in Baton Rouge, LA., that he was guilty of an unspecified sin, and said he was leaving the pulpit temporarily. (Reports linked Swaggart to a prostitute.)

In 1994, CIA operative Aldrich Ames was arrested for selling secrets to the Soviet Union.

In 1997, the Special Edition version of “Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back” was released in the U.S. The resulting fan arguments were somewhat less than the ones for “Episode IV- A New Hope”.

In 2018, minister/evangelist Billy Graham died in Montreat, NC at age 99.

 

The Chronicle’s front page from Feb. 22, 1911, covers a state Supreme Court ruling in the case of Abe Ruef, the pre-eminent San Francisco political boss who for years wielded nearly unlimited power in the city but ended up disgraced and behind bars at San Quentin State Prison.

Chronicle contributor and historian Gary Kamiya summarized the environment surrounding the graft scandal in a 2015 column:

“Just six months after the 1906 catastrophe, San Francisco was jolted by an equally devastating political earthquake,” Kamiya wrote. “By the time the last aftershock had subsided, the city’s powerful boss, Abe Ruef, its mayor, Eugene Schmitz, and all 18 members of the Board of Supervisors had toppled as dramatically as the old City Hall.”
​

By February 1911, Ruef was staring down a long prison sentence, but the California Supreme Court had granted him a new hearing on appeal. State Attorney General Ulysses S. Webb was arguing against this decision, calling it illegal. The case had garnered so much attention that courtroom proceedings like this grabbed front-page headlines.

The real attention-grabber on the page, however, is the illustration that shows Webb arguing in front of the “seven justices of that tribunal.” It resembles something you might find on the comics pages, which seems fitting given the strangeness of this case.

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 22nd:

In 1732, George Washington, the first President of the United States, was born in the Westmoreland in what was the British colony of Virginia.

In 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

In 1862, Jefferson Davis was formally inaugurated as president of the Confederacy.

In 1865, Tennessee adopted a new constitution abolishing slavery.

In 1879, Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first five-cent store in Utica, N.Y.

In 1899, actor Dwight Frye, best-known for playing Renfield opposite Bela Lugosi as Dracula, was born in Salina, KS.

In 1918, TV & radio announcer Don Pardo was born in Westfield, MA.

In 1924, Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.

In 1925, author/illustrator Edward Gorey was born in Chicago, IL.

In 1930, actress/singer Marni Nixon was born in Altadena, CA. You might not recognize her name, but if you’ve watched “The King & I”, “West Side Story”, “My Fair Lady” or “Mulan”, you might recognize her voice.

In 1932, politician Edward M. Kennedy was born in Boston.

In 1934, the comedy “It Happened One Night”, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, premiered in New York City.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered Gen. Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines, as the American defense of the islands collapsed.

In 1957, the movie “The Incredible Shrinking Man” premiered in New York City.

In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held in Daytona Beach, FL, with Lee Petty winning.

In 1967, with the completion of principal photography for the episode “Operation: Annihilate!”, filming for the first season of the original series “Star Trek” wrapped.

In 1968, actress Jeri Ryan was born in Munich, West Germany. Her tenure on the Voyager would come later.

In 1970, producer Edward Selzer, best-known for his work with the Warner Bros. animation department, died in Los Angeles at age 77.

In 1980, the U.S. hockey team beat the Soviets 4-3 in a stunning upset at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In 1981, screenwriter/animator Michael Maltese, best-known for his work with the Warner Bros. animation department, died in Los Angeles at age 73.

In 1993, “The Gathering”, the original pilot episode of “Babylon 5” was broadcast over PTEN.

In 1997, in Roslin, Scotland, scientists announced that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.

In 2001, a U.N. war crimes tribunal convicted three Bosnian Serbs on charges of rape and torture in the first case of wartime sexual enslavement to go before an international court.

In 2002, animator/screenwriter/producer/director Chuck Jones, best-known for his work with the Warner Bros. animation department, died in Corona Del Mar, CA at age 89.

In 2006, insurgents destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines, the Askariya mosque in Samarra, setting off a spasm of sectarian violence.

Also in 2006, a gang of at least six men, some of them armed, stole £53 million from the Securitas bank depot in Kent, Great Britain. It was the largest such theft in British history.

In 2011, a magnitude-6.1 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, killed 184 people.

Also in 2011, Somali pirates shot to death four Americans taken hostage on their yacht several hundred miles south of Oman.

In addition in 2011, actor Nicholas Courtney, best-known for playing Brig. Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart on “Doctor Who”, died in London at age 81.

In 2016, award-winning cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, OBE died in London at age 103. His credits included the original “Rollerball” and the first three Indiana Jones movies.

 

(sorry, I had to)

 

Feb. 23, 1966

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 23rd:

In 1455, according to tradition, the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type, was published.

In 1685, composer George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, Holy Roman Empire.

In 1778, Prussian-born Inspector Gen. Baron von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge, PA to help to train the Continental Army.

In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.

In 1848, John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States, died in Washington, D.C., at age 80, two days after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1863, British explorers John H. Speke and James A. Grant announced they had found the source of the Nile River to be Lake Victoria.

In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.

In 1896, the Tootsie Roll was invented.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States.

In 1904, screenwriter/director/editor Terrence Fisher, best-known for his work with Hammer Films, was born in Maida Vale, London.

In 1915, Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets, best-known as the pilot of the bomber Enola Gay, which dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima during World War II, was born in Quincy, IL.

In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1930, screenwriter Gerry Davis, co-creator of both the sci-fi series “Doomwatch” and the Cybermen from “Doctor Who”, was born.

In 1932, actress/producer Majel Barrett was born in Cleveland, OH. She’d sign on the Enterprise some years later.

In 1941, Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.

In 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag.

Also in 1945, the capital of the Philippines, Manila, was liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.

In 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.

In 1955, author/voice actor/radio host Tom Bodett was born in Campaign, IL. He’d later assure us that they’d leave the light on for us.

In 1965, actor/writer/director Stan Laurel died in Santa Monica, CA at age 74.

Also In 1965, filming began in the Bahamas for “Help!”, the Beatles’ second feature film.

In 1965, the horror anthology film “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors” was released in London. It was produced by Amicus Productions, and starred Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Donald Sutherland.

In 1970, Guyana became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

In 1980, on “The Muppet Show”, the guests included Peter Mayhew (as Chewbacca), Anthony Daniels (as Threepio), Artoo (as himself), and Mark Hamill. Mark’s well-dressed cousin Luke Skywalker also made an appearance.

In 1983, on “Doctor Who”, part four of “Terminus” was broadcast. It featured the last regular appearance of Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

In 1984, on “Doctor Who”, part one of “Planet of Fire” was broadcast. It featured the first appearance of Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.

In 1991, during the First Gulf War, ground troops crossed the Saudi Arabian border and entered Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.

In 1995, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 4,000 mark for the first time, ending the day at 4,003.33.

In 2012, a series of attacks across Iraq left at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 24th:

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued an edict outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in general use today.)

In 1803, in its Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supreme Court established judicial review of the constitutionality of statutes.

In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

In 1863, Arizona was organized as a territory.

In 1864, the first Union prisoners arrived at the Confederates' Andersonville prison camp in Georgia. (During its 14 months of existence, the overcrowded camp ended up holding some 45,000 men, more than four times its intended capacity; nearly 13,000 prisoners perished from disease, starvation or exposure.)

In 1868, the House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.

In 1885, Adm. Chester Nimitz, CinCPac during World War II, was born in Fredericksburg, TX.

In 1917, during World War I, the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom was given the “Zimmerman Telegram”, in which Germany pledged to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the United States.

In 1920, a fledgling German political party held its first meeting of importance in Munich; it became known as the Nazi Party, and its chief spokesman was Adolf Hitler.

In 1922, actor Steven Hill, best-known for playing D.A. Adam Schiff on “Law & Order”, was born in Seattle, WA. Fans of “Mission: Impossible” remember him for playing team leader Dan Briggs in the program’s first season.

In 1932, actor John Vernon was born in Zehner, Saskatchewan, Canada. Years later, one of his characters would impose the rare & unusual step of Double Secret Probation.

In 1942, the Voice of America went on the air for the first time.

Also in 1942, The Battle of Los Angeles occurred, when a false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25th. The incident would later be loosely adapted in Speven Spielberg’s movie “1941”.

In 1955, inventor/entrepreneur Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Inc., was born in San Francisco.

In 1961, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the nation’s first full-scale trial of pay television in Hartford, CT.

In 1979, on “Doctor Who”, part six of “Armageddon Factor” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the concluding episode of the “Key to Time” series, and featured the last appearance of Mary Tamm as Romana.

In 1980, the U.S. hockey team defeated Finland, four goals to two, to clinch the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In 1982, Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scored his 77th goal of the season to break the NHL record of 76 held by Phil Esposito.

In 1983, a congressional commission released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a “grave injustice.”

In 1986, filming began on “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”.

In 1988, in a ruling that expanded legal protections for parody and satire, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $150,000 award that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had won against Hustler magazine and publisher Larry Flynt.

In 1989, a state funeral was held in Japan for Emperor Hirohito, who had died the month before at age 87.

Also in 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offered a $3,000,000 bounty for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses”.

In 1996, on “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, the movie “The Incredible Melting Man” was broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. The episode’s host segments featured a merciless parody of the studio-caused problems Best Brains had in making “Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie”.

In 2008, Fidel Castro retired as the President of Cuba and the Council of Ministers after 32 years. He remained as head of the Communist Party for another three years.

In 2011, the Space Shuttle Discovery was launched on its final mission.

In 2014, actor/comedian/writer/director/producer Harold Ramis died in Glencoe, IL at age 69.

 

Feb. 26, 1986

 

If I (belatedly) may...

ON FEBRUARY 25th:

In 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.

In 1870, Hiram Revels, a Mississippi Republican, was sworn in as the first black member of the U.S. Senate.

In 1901, United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan (no relation, so far as I know).

Also in 1901, actor/comedian/theatrical agent/inventor/engineer Zeppo Marx was born in New York City.

In 1910, journalist/politician/diplomat Millicent Fenwick was born in New York City. She’d later go on to serve as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from NJ, and was, in my Mom’s words, “a grand old lady”.

In 1913, The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect.

Also in 1913, actor Jim Backus was born in Cleveland, OH. One of his characters would later take an ill-fated three-hour tour.

In addition in 1913, actor Gert Frobe was born in Saxony, German Empire. The whole Fort Knox thing would come later.

In 1919, Oregon placed a one cent per gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.

In 1940, the first televised hockey game was broadcast over station W2XBS, New York City. The NY Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2.

In 1943, musician/singer/songwriter/producer/Beatle George Harrison was born in Liverpool.

In 1948, Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia.

In 1950, the variety series "Your Show of Shows" debuted on NBC-TV.

In 1957, Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded "That'll Be the Day," their first and only number one hit.

Also in 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that baseball was the only professional sport exempt from antitrust laws.

In 1964, Cassius Clay (who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali) became the world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.

In 1968, during the Vietnam War, one hundred thirty-five unarmed citizens of Hà My village in South Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province were killed and buried en masse by South Korean troops in what would come to be known as the Ha My massacre.

In 1970, “Hercules in New York”, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first feature film starring role, went into general release in the U.S.

In 1977, the comedy “Slap Shot”, starring Paul Newman, was released in the U.S.

In 1986, President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election. Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.

In 1987, Southern Methodist University’s football program was the first college football program to receive the “death penalty” by the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. It was revealed that athletic officials and school administrators had knowledge of a “slush fund” used to make illegal payments to the school's football players as far back as 1981.

In 1989, Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, fired head coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career.

In 1990, Nicaraguans voted in an election that led to victory for opponents of the ruling Sandinistas.

In 1991, an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 Americans during the Persian Gulf War.

Also in 1991, The Warsaw Pact was declared disbanded.

In 1994, American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers.

In 1999, a jury in Jasper, Texas, sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., an African-American man.

In 2004, Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” was released in the U.S. on Ash Wednesday.

In 2015, producer/screenwriter/executive Harve Bennett, well-known for his work on the “Star Trek” movies, died in Medford, OR at age 84.

In 2017, actor/director Bill Paxton died at age 61.

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 26th:

In 1616, Galileo Galilei was formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the Earth orbits the sun.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the Island of Elba and headed back to France in a bid to regain power.

In 1904, the United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to undertake efforts to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus.

In 1908, director/animator Tex Avery was born in Taylor, TX. He’d later do legendary work at Termite Terrace, and later for MGM.

In 1909, Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, was first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.

How sweet it is! In 1916, actor Jackie Gleason was born in Brooklyn.

In 1917, The Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional act establishing Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

In 1920, actor/producer/director Tony Randall was born in Tulsa, OK. He’d later help provide an answer to the question, “Can two divorced men share an apartment, without driving each other crazy?”

In 1928, pianist/singer/songwriter Fats Domino was born in New Orleans.

In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

In 1932, singer/songwriter/musician Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, AR.

In 1935, Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1940, the United States Air Defense Command was created.

In 1945, authorities ordered a midnight curfew at nightclubs, bars and other places of entertainment across the nation.

In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.

In 1960, the sci-fi movie “Der schweigende Stern” was released in East Germany. Years later, under the title “First Spaceship on Venus”, it would be shown to the S.O.L. crew.

In 1962, after becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, astronaut John Glenn told a joint session of Congress, "Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge have always paid dividends in the long run."

In 1966, NASA launched the unmanned AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn 1B rocket.

Also in 1966, the ROK Capital Division of the South Korean Army massacred 380 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam.

In 1970, National Public Radio was incorporated.

In 1971, U.N. Secretary Gen. U Thant signed a U.N. proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

In 1980, Egypt and Israel established full diplomatic relations.

In 1984, “Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope” premiered on commercial TV over CBS.

In 1987, the Tower Commission, which had probed the Iran-Contra affair, issued its report, which rebuked President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.

In 1988, the sci-fi adventure “Alien from L.A.”, starring Kathy Ireland, was released in the U.S. It also would be memorably MSTed.

In 1993, a truck bomb built by terrorists exploded in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

In 1995, Barings PLC, Britain's oldest investment banking firm, collapsed after Nick Leeson, a 28-year-old securities dealer, lost over $1.4 billion by gambling on Tokyo stock prices.

In 2005, a fragment of granite bearing the name "John" — all that remained of a memorial to the six people killed in the 1993 terror attack on the World Trade Center — was installed as the central piece of a new post-9/11 memorial.

In 2012, Trayvon Martin, age 17, was shot to death in Sanford, FL, during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he'd acted in self-defense. (Zimmerman was subsequently acquitted of second-degree murder.)

 

Feb. 27, 1904: Going all in on the Russo-Japan War.

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 27th:

In 1782, the British House of Commons voted against further war in America.

In 1801, pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.

In 1900, the British Labour Party was founded.

In 1902, during the Second Boer War, Australian soldiers Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock were executed in Pretoria for war crimes.

In 1922, a challenge to the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, was rebuffed by the Supreme Court in Leser v. Garnett.

In 1932, actress Elizabeth Taylor was born in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.

In 1933, Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, was set on fire, apparently by the Communists.

In 1934, actor Van Williams, best-known for playing Britt Reid on the TV series “The Green Hornet”, was born in Ft. Worth, TX.

In 1939, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sit-down strikes violated property owners' rights and were therefore illegal.

In 1942, during World War II, during the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force was defeated by a Japanese task force.

In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, was ratified.

In 1960, writer/actress/comedienne Mary Jo Pehl was born in Circle Pines, MN. Her persecution of a certain hapless temp worker would come later.

In 1963, the Dominican Republic received its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.

In 1973, activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied Wounded Knee, SD.

In 1985, in a highly-controversial move, the BBC announced that “Doctor Who” would be placed on an 18-month broadcast hiatus. Originally, the series had been fully cancelled, but widespread protests led to the change to a hiatus.

In 1986, the U.S. Senate allowed its debates to be televised on a trial basis.

In 2003, minister/educator/TV host Fred Rogers died in Pittsburgh, PA at age 74.

In 2004, the initial version of the John Jay Report, with details about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the U.S., was released.

In 2010, the horror movie “Birdemic: Shock and Terror” premiered in Los Angeles. The guys at Rifftrax would take it on some time later.

In 2014, author/game designer Aaron Allston, best-known for his books in the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe series, died in Springfield, MO at age 53.

In 2015, actor/producer/director/author Leonard Nimoy died in Bel Air, CA at age 83.

 

If I may...

ON FEBRUARY 28th:

In 1784, minister/theologian John Wesley chartered the Methodist Church.

In 1844, a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded as the ship was sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others.

In 1861, the Territory of Colorado was organized.

In 1867, seventy years of Holy See/United States relations were ended by a Congressional ban on federal funding of diplomatic envoys to the Vatican. (They were restored on January 10, 1984.)

In 1885, The American Telephone and Telegraph Company was incorporated in New York as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.)

In 1915, actor/comedian Zero Mostel was born in Brooklyn, NY.

In 1935, DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invented nylon.

In 1940, the first televised college basketball games were broadcast by New York City station W2XBS as Pittsburgh defeated Fordham, 57-37, and New York University beat Georgetown, 50-27, at Madison Square Garden.

In 1942, the heavy cruiser USS Houston and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth were attacked by Japanese forces during the World War II Battle of Sunda Strait; both were sunk shortly after midnight.

Also in 1942, musician/songwriter Brian Jones, founding member of the Rolling Stones, was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

In 1944, Corrie Ten Boom and members of her family were arrested by the Nazis for sheltering refugee Jews in their home in Haarlem in the Netherlands.

In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

In 1958, a school bus in Floyd County, KY hit a wrecker truck and plunged down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children died in what remains one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.

In 1960, a day after defeating the Soviets at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California, the United States won its first Olympic hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia, 9-4.

In 1966, astronauts Elliot See, Jr., age 38, and Charles Bassett II, age 34, the primary crew for Gemini 9, were killed when their T-38 jet crashed at the McDonnell Aircraft complex in St. Louis, MO.

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai issued the Shanghai Communique, which called for normalizing relations between their countries, at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China.

In 1975, 42 people were killed in London's Underground when a train smashed into the end of a tunnel.

In 1977, actor/comedian Eddie “Rochester” Anderson died in Los Angeles at age 71.

In 1981, on “Doctor Who”, part one of “Logopolis” was broadcast on BBC 1. It featured the first appearance of Janet Fielding as Tegan.

In 1983, the final episode of “M*A*S*H” was broadcast on CBS-TV. It attracted the biggest TV audience of any program to that date.

In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death in central Stockholm. (The killing remains unsolved.)

In 1993, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the Branch Davidian church compound in Waco, TX with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four ATF agents and five Davidians died in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

Also in 1993, director Ishiro Honda, best-known for his work on the “Godzilla” series, died in Tokyo at age 81.

In 1997, the North Hollywood shootout took place, resulting in the injury of 19 people and the deaths of both perpetrators.

In 1998, actor/comedian Dermot Morgan, best-known for playing the title role in the Brit-com “Father Ted”, died in Hounslow, London at age 45. He died the day after taping the series’ final episode.

In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI resigned as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since 1415.

In 2016, actor/singer/writer Frank Kelly, best-known for playing Father Jack in the Brit-com “Father Ted”, died at age 77.