Today is Monday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2022. There are 306 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 28, 1993, a gun battle erupted at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh on weapons charges; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.
On this date:
In 1849, the California gold rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.
In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
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 1996, Britain’s Princess Diana agreed to divorce Prince Charles. (Their 15-year marriage officially ended in August 1996; Diana died in a car crash in Paris a year after that.)
In 2009, Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation’s most familiar voices, died in Phoenix at age 90.
In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign, ending an eight-year pontificate. (Benedict was succeeded the following month by Pope Francis.)
In 2014, delivering a blunt warning to Moscow, President Barack Obama expressed deep concern over reported military activity inside Ukraine by Russia and warned “there will be costs” for any intervention.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Sam the Sham is 85. Actor-director-dancer Tommy Tune is 83. Hall of Fame auto racer Mario Andretti is 82. Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 74. Actor Bernadette Peters is 74. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is 69. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 67. Basketball Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley is 67. Actor John Turturro is 65. Rock singer Cindy Wilson is 65. Actor Rae Dawn Chong is 61. Country singer Jason Aldean is 45. MLB relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman is 34.
