This Day in History

[Gravdigr]

February 17

Today is Random Act Of Kindness Day, so do something nice for someone.


Events

364 – Roman Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.

1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.

1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr, Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.

1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.

1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva, Switzerland founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.

1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.

1933 – Newsweek magazine is first published.

1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins: The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.

1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

1972 – Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.

1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.

1980 – First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.

1989 - David Coverdale married actress Tawny Kitaen (known for her provocative appearances in Whitesnake's music videos 'Here I Go Again, 'Is This Love' and 'Still of the Night'). The couple divorced in 1991.

1996 – In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.

Births

1844 – Aaron Montgomery Ward; 1877 – André Maginot (Maginot Line); 1910 – Marc Lawrence; 1914 – Arthur Kennedy; 1916 – Raf Vallone; 1924 – Margaret Truman (author, only child of Harry & Bess Truman); 1925 – Hal Holbrook; 1930 – Ruth Rendell; 1931 – Buddy Ryan; 1934 – Barry Humphries (played Dame Edna Everage); 1935 – Christina Pickles; 1936 – Jim Brown; 1937 – Mary Ann Mobley(Miss America 1959); 1940 – Gene Pitney♪ ♫; 1942 – Huey P. Newton (co-founded the Black Panther Party); 1950 – Rickey Medlocke(Blackfoot, Lynyrd Skynyrd); 1954 – Lou Ann Barton♪ ♫; 1954 – Rene Russo; 1956 – Richard Karn ('Al Borland' on Home Improvement); 1959 – Rowdy Gaines; 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips; 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy ("Git r done!"); 1963 – Michael Jordan; 1965 – Michael Bay; 1970 – Dominic Purcell; 1971 – Denise Richards; 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong♪ ♫(Green Day); 1972 – Taylor Hawkins(Foo Fighters, Alanis Morissette); 1974 – Jerry O'Connell; 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock From The Sun, Looper); 1981 – Paris Hilton (famous for being famous); 1989 – Chord Overstreet (Glee); 1991 – Ed Sheeran♪ ♫

Deaths

364 – Jovian; 1909 – Geronimo; 1961 – Nita Naldi; 1982 – Thelonious Monk; 1982 – Lee Strasberg; 1994 – Randy Shilts; 2005 – Dan O'Herlihy; 2006 – Bill Cowsill♪ ♫(The Cowsills); 2010 – Kathryn Grayson♪ ♫; 2012 – Michael Davis(MC5); 2013 – Mindy McCready♪ ♫; 2014 – Bob Casale(Devo)