Today is Thursday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2016. There are 310 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 25, 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.
On this date:
In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.
In 1905, the Upton Sinclair novel “The Jungle” was first published in serial form by the Appeal to Reason newspaper.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox.
In 1922, French serial killer Henri Landru, convicted of murdering 10 women and the son of one of them, was executed in Versailles (vehr-SY’).
In 1940, a National Hockey League game was televised for the first time by New York City station W2XBS as the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, at Madison Square Garden.
In 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.
In 1964, Eastern Airlines Flight 304, a DC-8, crashed shortly after taking off from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 58 on board. Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) became world heavyweight boxing champion as he defeated Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.
In 1973, the Stephen Sondheim musical “A Little Night Music” opened at Broadway’s Shubert Theater.
In 1983, playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead in his New York hotel suite; he was 71.
In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
In 1994, American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers.
In 1996, blasts set off by suicide bombers in Jerusalem and Ashkelon killed at least 27 people. A 12-mile tether connecting a half-ton satellite to space shuttle Columbia broke as it was almost completely unreeled. Cambodian activist Dr. Haing S. Ngor, who’d won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1984 movie “The Killing Fields,” was shot to death outside his Los Angeles apartment. (Three gang members were later convicted of murder.)
Ten years ago: In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner in the central African country’s first multiparty election in 25 years. Apolo Anton Ohno upset favored South Korean Ahn Hyun-soo to win the gold in the 500-meter short track speedskating event at the Winter Games in Turin. Actor Darren McGavin died in Los Angeles at age 83.
Five years ago: Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure in the small hours before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening. (The vote sent the bill on to the Wisconsin Senate, where minority Democrats had fled to Illinois to prevent a vote.) The Obama White House broke decades of tradition, naming Jeremy Bernard the first man to ever serve as social secretary in the female-dominated East Wing. Suze Rotolo, artist and girlfriend of singer Bob Dylan, who was his lyrical muse when he came to prominence in the early 1960s, died in New York at age 67.
One year ago: Secretary of State John Kerry fielded dozens of questions from House Foreign Affairs Committee members worried about what Iran could get in a deal being negotiated to block its ability to make an atomic weapon.
Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Ralph Stanley is 89. Actor Tom Courtenay is 79. Former CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 79. Actress Diane Baker is 78. Actress Karen Grassle is 74. Humorist Jack Handey is 67. Movie director Neil Jordan is 66. Rock musician Dennis Diken (The Smithereens) is 59. Rock singer-musician Mike Peters (The Alarm; Big Country) is 57. Actress Veronica Webb is 51. Actor Alexis Denisof is 50. Actress Tea (TAY’-ah) Leoni is 50. Comedian Carrot Top is 49. Actress Lesley Boone is 48. Actor Sean Astin is 45. Singer Daniel Powter is 45. Latin singer Julio Iglesias Jr. is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Justin Jeffre is 43. Rock musician Richard Liles is 43. Actor Anson Mount is 43. Comedian-actress Chelsea Handler is 41. Actress Rashida Jones is 40. Country singer Shawna Thompson (Thompson Square) is 38. Actor Justin Berfield is 30. Actors Oliver and James Phelps (“Harry Potter” movies) are 30. Rock musician Erik Haager (Carolina Liar) is 29.
Thought for Today: “Hero-worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom.” — Herbert Spencer, British philosopher (1820-1903).
