In 1820, The Missouri Compromise was enacted allowing Missouri to join the United States a slave state but leaving the rest of the northern part of the
Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.
In 1836, Mexican forces captured the Alamo in San Antonio killing the last of 187 defenders who had held out in the fortified mission for 13 days. Famous
frontiersman Davy Crockett was among those killed on the final day.
In 1853, “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi premiered in Venice, Italy.
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling that black slave Dred Scott could not sue for his freedom in a federal court, even though
his white owner had died in a “free” state.
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers flying from Britain began the first daytime attacks on Berlin.
In 1967, Svetlana Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin’s daughter, defected to the United States.
In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off from the “CBS Evening News” for the final time after 19 years at the anchor’s desk.
In 1982, an Egyptian court sentenced five Muslim fundamentalists to death for the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. Seventeen others drew prison
terms.
In 1987, an earthquake and flood in northeastern Ecuador killed more than 300 people and ruptured a main oil pipeline.
Also in 1987, the British car ferry The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off Zeebrugge, Belgium, killing at least 189 of some 540 people aboard.
In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared the Persian Gulf War over.
In 2000, a federal jury convicted three New York City police officers of covering up the 1997 assault on prisoner Abner Louima in a police station men’s
room.
In 2002, Robert Ray, who succeeded Kenneth Starr as special prosecutor, said there was sufficient evidence to convict U.S. President Bill Clinton of perjury
and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinski case. But, he said Clinton had agreed to admit he gave false testimony under oath, thus avoiding prosecution.
In 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States could lead a coalition of nations that would disarm Iraq even without U.N. authority.
Also in 2003, the U.S. Senate approved a U.S.-Russian agreement whereby each country would reduce deployed nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200
by 2012.
In 2006, South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds signed into law a measure outlawing all abortions except when necessary to save a woman’s life. Opponents hoped
a challenge would put the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Also in 2006, officials said the 2005 hurricane season was the costliest disaster in U.S. history with Congress considering another $20 billion in relief.
The federal government already had committed $88 billion to help areas devastated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
In 2007, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of lying to FBI agents and to a grand jury in the investigation
of who leaked the name of a covert CIA agent to the media.
In 2008, in the deadliest attack on Israeli citizens in two years, a Palestinian gunman fired hundreds of rounds of automatic weapons fire at the Mercaz
Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, killing eight students.
Also in 2008, at least 68 people died in a series of coordinated bombings in a mostly Shiite shopping district in Baghdad.
In 2009, U.S. unemployment hit 8.1 percent of the work force in February, the highest point since 1983. The figure represented the loss of 651,000 jobs.
Also in 2009, the White House said President Barack Obama planned to reverse former President George W. Bush’s policy limiting federal funding for stem-cell
research.
