Today is Thursday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2020. There are 308 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 27, 1922, the Supreme Court, in Leser v. Garnett, unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.
On this date:
In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
In 1933, Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.
In 1943, during World War II, Norwegian commandos launched a successful raid to sabotage a German-operated heavy water plant in Norway. An explosion inside a coal mine near Bearcreek, Montana, killed 74 miners and one rescue worker. The U.S. government, responding to a copper shortage, began circulating one-cent coins made of steel plated with zinc (the steel pennies proved unpopular, since they were easily mistaken for dimes).
In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.
In 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)
In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the hamlet of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. (The occupation lasted until the following May.)
In 1991, Operation Desert Storm came to a conclusion as President George H.W. Bush declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated,” and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight, Eastern time.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Joanne Woodward is 90. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 86. Actress Barbara Babcock is 83. Actor Howard Hesseman is 80. Actress Debra Monk is 71. Rock singer-musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 66. Rock musician Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) is 63. Actor Timothy Spall is 63. Rock musician Paul Humphreys (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) is 60. Country singer Johnny Van Zant (Van Zant) is 60. Rock musician Leon Mobley (Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals) is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer James Worthy is 59. Actor Adam Baldwin is 58. Actor Grant Show is 58.
Thought for Today: “I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.” — Edward Gibbon, English historian (1737-1794).
