Today’s Highlight in History:
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a game against the New York Knicks, an NBA record that still stands. (Philadelphia won, 169-147.)
On this date:
In 1861, the state of Texas, having seceded from the Union, was admitted to the Confederacy.
In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.
In 1917, actor, producer, director and bandleader Desi Arnaz was born in Santiago de Cuba.
In 1932, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which moved the date of the presidential inauguration from March 4 to Jan. 20, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
In 1933, “King Kong” film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Fay Wray premieres at Radio City Music Hall and RKO Roxy in NYC.
In 1939, John Ford’s classic Western “Stagecoach,” starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne, opened in New York.
In 1943, the three-day Battle of the Bismarck Sea began in the southwest Pacific during World War II; U.S. and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on an Imperial Japanese convoy.
In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks’ famous act of defiance, Claudette Colvin, a Black high school student in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger.
In 1985, the government approved a screening test for AIDS that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply.
In 1989, representatives from the 12 European Community nations agreed to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), the synthetic compounds blamed for destroying the Earth’s ozone layer, by the end of the 20th century.
In 1990, more than 6,000 drivers went on strike against Greyhound Lines Inc. (The company, later declaring an impasse in negotiations, fired the strikers.)
In 1995, the Internet search engine website Yahoo! was incorporated by founders Jerry Yang and David Filo.
In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled, 8-1, that a grieving father’s pain over mocking protests at his Marine son’s funeral had to yield to First Amendment protections for free speech in a decision favoring the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.
Ten years ago: Some 40 people were killed by tornadoes that struck Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Major League Baseball expanded its playoff format to 10 teams, adding a second wild card in each league.
Five years ago: Under intensifying pressure, Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly agreed to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian meddling in America’s 2016 presidential election, acting after revelations he twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress. The Senate confirmed retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be energy secretary.
One year ago: FBI Director Chris Wray told senators that the attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump was “domestic terrorism”; Wray warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism. Thirteen people were killed when an SUV carrying 25 people collided with a semitruck on a California highway near the U.S.-Mexico border. (A Mexican man was charged with organizing a smuggling run in which the SUV drove through a hole in a border fence.) Texas became the biggest state to lift its mask rule, joining a growing movement to loosen COVID-19 restrictions despite pleas from health officials not to do so. The business responsible for preserving the legacy of children’s author Dr. Seuss said six of his books would no longer be published because of racist and insensitive imagery. Bunny Wailer, the last surviving founding member of the legendary reggae group The Wailers, died in his native Jamaica at 73.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor John Cullum is 92. Former Soviet President and Nobel peace laureate Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 91. Actor Barbara Luna is 83. Author John Irving is 80. Actor Cassie Yates is 71. Actor Laraine Newman is 70. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is 69. Former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is 67. Singer Jay Osmond is 67. Pop musician John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 66. Former tennis player Kevin Curren is 64. Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 63. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 60. Blues singer-musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 59. Actor Daniel Craig is 54. Actor Richard Ruccolo is 50. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 45. Actor Heather McComb is 45. Actor Rebel Wilson is 42. Actor Bryce Dallas Howard is 41. Former NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 40. Actor Robert Iler is 37. Actor Nathalie Emmanuel is 33.
Country singer Luke Combs is 32. Singer-rapper-actor Becky G is 25.
