Today in history:
On February 17, 2013, Danica Patrick won the pole in the Daytona 500, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for a Sprint Cup race.
Also on this date:
In 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives severed the electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr and elected Jefferson president; Burr became vice president.
In 1863, five appointees of the Public Welfare Society of Geneva announced the creation of an “International Committee for the Relief of Wounded Combatants,” which would later be renamed the International Committee of the Red Cross.In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union ship USS Housatonic was rammed and sunk in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, by the Confederate hand-operated submarine HL Hunley, in the first naval attack of its kind; the Hunley also sank.
In 1897, the National Congress of Mothers, the predecessor to the National Parent Teacher Association, held its first meeting in Washington with more than 2,000 in attendance.
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Wesberry v. Sanders that congressional districts within each state must be approximately equal in population.
In 1992, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of fifteen counts of first-degree murder.
In 1995, Colin Ferguson was convicted of six murders in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings; he was later sentenced to 315 years in prison.
In 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia.
In 2014, Jimmy Fallon made his debut as host of NBC’s ‘Tonight Show’, taking over the role from Jay Leno.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor Brenda Fricker is 81.
- Actor Rene Russo is 72.
- Actor Richard Karn is 70.
- Olympic gold medalist and television commentator Rowdy Gaines is 67.
- Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 64.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan is 63.
- Film director Michael Bay is 61.
- Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille is 60.
- Olympic skiing gold medalist Tommy Moe is 56.
- Actor Denise Richards is 55.
- Musician Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) is 54.
- Actor Jerry O’Connell is 52.
- Actor Jason Ritter is 46.
- Media personality Paris Hilton is 45.
- Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is 45.
- Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is 35.
- Actor Jeremy Allen White is 35.
- Tennis player Madison Keys is 31.
- Actor Sasha Pieterse is 30.
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