Today is Monday, Feb. 21, the 52nd day of 2022. There are 313 days left in the year. This is Presidents Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 21, 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 (each ended up serving 1 1/2 years).
On this date:
In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.
In 1965, minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York. (Three men identified as members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of murder and imprisoned; all were eventually paroled. The convictions of two of the men were dismissed in November 2021; prosecutors said new evidence had undermined the case against them.)
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing.
In 1973, Israeli fighter planes shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 over the Sinai Desert, killing all but five of the 113 people on board.
In 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States won the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating at the Albertville Olympics; Midori Ito of Japan won the silver, Nancy Kerrigan of the U.S. the bronze.
In 1995, Chicago adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean by balloon, landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada.
In 2018, the Rev. Billy Graham, a confidant of presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, died at his North Carolina home; he was 99.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Bob Rafelson is 89. Actor Gary Lockwood is 85. Film/music company executive David Geffen is 79. Actor Tyne Daly is 76. Actor Anthony Daniels is 76. Tricia Nixon Cox is 76. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 67. Country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 64. Actor Christopher Atkins is 61. Actor William Baldwin is 59. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is 58. Actor Jennifer Love Hewitt is 43. Singer Charlotte Church is 36.
