Those born on this date include:
- Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus in 1473
- Suffrage leader Anna Howard Shaw in 1847
- Comedian Jack Benny in 1894
- Broadcaster Hugh Downs in 1921 (age 89)
- Actress/singer Florence Henderson in 1934 (age 77)
- Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala in 1941 (age 68)
- Journalist Carl Bernstein in 1944 (age 67)
- Dancer/actor Gregory Hines in 1946
- Magician Teller, of Penn and Teller, in 1948 (age 62)
- Actor Ken Wahl in 1956 (age 55) – Actress Meg Tilly in 1960 (age 50)

In 1778, the Stars and Stripes was carried to a foreign port, in France, for the first time. It was aboard the American ship Ranger.

In 1779, James Cook was killed in Hawaii.

In 1803, Moses Coats received a patent on the apple parer.

In 1849, the first photograph of a U.S. President, while in office, was taken by Matthew Brady in New York City. President James Polk was the subject of the picture.

In 1859, Oregon became the 33rd member of the Union.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell filed an application for a patent for the telephone. It was officially issued on March 7, 1876.

1879, The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.

In 1889, in Los Angeles, CA, oranges began their first trip to the east.

In 1895, Oscar Wilde’s final play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” opened at the St. James’ Theatre in London.

In 1899, the U.S. Congress approved voting machines for use in federal elections.

In 1900, Russia imposed tighter imperial control over Finland in response to an international petition for Finland’s freedom.

Also, in 1900, in South Africa, British Gen. Roberts invaded Orange Free State with 20,000 troops.

In 1903, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor was established.

In 1912, the first diesel engine submarine was commissioned in Groton, CT .

In 1912, Arizona was admitted as the 48th U.S. state.

In 1918,The motion picture “Tarzan of the Apes” was released.

In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago. The first president of the organization was Maude Wood Park.

In 1929, the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in Chicago, IL. Seven gangsters who were rivals of Al Capone were killed.

In 1932, the U.S. won the first bobsled competition at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, NY.

In 1940, The first porpoise born in captivity arrived at Marineland in Florida.

In 1945, Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador joined the United Nations.

In 1946, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was unveiled. The device, built at the University of Pennsylvania, was the world’s first general
purpose electronic computer.

In 1954, the TV show “Letter to Loretta” changed its name to “The Loretta Young Show.” The show premiered on September 20, 1953.

In 1957, Lionel Hampton’s only major musical work, “King David,” made its debut at New York’s Town Hall.

In 1961, Lawrencium, element 103, was first produced in Berkely, CA.

In 1962, U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave a tour of the White House on television.

In 1966, Rick Mount of Lebanon, IN, became the first high school, male athlete to be pictured on the cover of “Sports Illustrated”.

In 1966, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers set a National Basketball Association (NBA) record as he reached a career high of 20,884 points after seven seasons.

In 1968, the fourth Madison Square Gardens opened.

In 1979, twenty-year-old rookie, Don Maloney, of the New York Rangers, scored his first goal in the National Hockey League. It came on his first NHL shot.

Also, in 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists. He was killed in a shootout between his abductors and police.

In 1980, Walter Cronkite announced his retirement from the “CBS Evening News.”

In 1983, a 6-year-old boy became the first person to receive a heart and liver transplants in the same operation.

In 1985, Cable News Network reporter Jeremy Levin was freed. He had been being held in Lebanon by extremists.

In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie because of his novel “The Satanic Verses.”

Also, in 1989, the first satellite of the Global Positioning System was placed into orbit around Earth.

And, in 1989, Union Carbide agreed to pay $470 million to the government of India. The court-ordered settlement was a result of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster.

In 1997, astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery began a series of spacewalks that were required to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope.

In 1998, U.S. authorities officially announced that Eric Rudolph was a suspect in a bombing of an abortion clinic in Alabama.

In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Shays-Meehan bill. The bill, if passed by the U.S. Senate, would ban millions of unregulated money that goes to the national political parties.

In 2002, Sylvester Stallone filed a lawsuit against Kenneth Starr. The suit alleged that Starr had given bad advice about selling Planet Hollywood stock.

In 2003, in Madrid, Spain, a ceramic plate with a bullfighting motif painted by Pablo Picasso in 1949 was stolen from an art show. The plate was on sale for $12,400.

Also, in 2003, Dolly, the cloned sheep, was euthanized by the Scottish scientists who brought her to controversial life six years earlier.

In 2004, at least 25 people died and 100 others were injured when a giant glass roof collapsed at the largest city water park in Moscow. Authorities suspected
faulty construction.

Also in 2004, Iraqi insurgents overwhelmed a police station west of Baghdad, killing 23 people and freeing dozens of prisoners.

In 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated. Eleven others died with him.

Also in 2005, a gas explosion inside a Chinese mine killed 214 people, the worst reported Chinese mining disaster since the 1949 communist revolution.

And, an estimated 59 people were killed and some 210 people were injured during a fire at a mosque in Iran.

In 2006, a senior Iranian nuclear official confirmed the country had resumed enriching uranium, considered a first step in nuclear production.

In 2007, U.S. Department of Defense records showed the number of U.S. Army recruits with criminal backgrounds had risen 65 percent in the past three years.

In 2008, a former student at Northern Illinois University opened fire in a lecture hall at the school, killing six students and wounding 15 others before
killing himself.

In 2009, in a reversal to previous testimony in the Ron Blagojevich impeachment proceedings, Roland Burris, chosen by Blagojevich to succeed President
Barack Obama in the Senate, admitted the former Illinois governor’s brother asked him for campaign funds.