Today in History

Today is Thursday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2020. There are 308 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Feb. 27, 1922, the Supreme Court, in Leser v. Garnett, unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.

On this date:

In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.

In 1814, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93, was first performed in Vienna.

In 1933, Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.

In 1939, the Supreme Court, in National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., effectively outlawed sit-down strikes.

In 1943, during World War II, Norwegian commandos launched a successful raid to sabotage a German-operated heavy water plant in Norway. An explosion inside a coal mine near Bearcreek, Montana, killed 74 miners and one rescue worker. The U.S. government, responding to a copper shortage, began circulating one-cent coins made of steel plated with zinc (the steel pennies proved unpopular, since they were easily mistaken for dimes).

In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.

In 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)

In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the hamlet of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. (The occupation lasted until the following May.)

In 1982, Wayne Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period. (Williams, who was also blamed for 22 other deaths, has maintained his innocence.)

In 1991, Operation Desert Storm came to a conclusion as President George H.W. Bush declared that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight, Eastern time.

In 1998, with the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's House of Lords agreed to end 1,000 years of male preference by giving a monarch's first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as any first-born son.

In 2002, at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Alicia Keys won five prizes, including song of the year for "Fallin"'; Irish rockers U2 won four Grammys, including record of the year for "Walk On"; album of the year went to the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack.

Ten years ago: In Chile, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed 524 people, caused $30 billion in damage and left more than 200,000 homeless. Steven Holcomb drove USA-1 to the Olympic gold medal in four-man bobsledding in Vancouver, ending a 62-year drought for the Americans in the event.

Five years ago: Actor Leonard Nimoy, 83, world famous to "Star Trek" fans as the pointy-eared, purely logical science officer Mr. Spock, died in Los Angeles. In Tyrone, Missouri, Joseph Jesse Aldridge, 36, a man who authorities said might have been unhinged by the death of his ailing mother, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after apparently killing seven people in a house-to-house shooting rampage. Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down near the Kremlin.

One year ago: President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un projected optimism as they opened high-stakes talks in Vietnam about curbing Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons. In testimony to a House panel, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, cast Trump as a racist and a con man who had used his inner circle to cover up politically damaging allegations about sex, and who had lied during the election campaign about his business interests in Russia. The House approved a measure requiring federal background checks for all firearms sales and transfers, as a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in the first major gun control legislation considered by Congress in nearly 25 years. (The legislation was not taken up by the Senate.)

Today's Birthdays: Actress Joanne Woodward is 90. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 86. Actress Barbara Babcock is 83. Actor Howard Hesseman is 80. Actress Debra Monk is 71. Rock singer-musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 66. Rock musician Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) is 63. Actor Timothy Spall is 63. Rock musician Paul Humphreys (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) is 60. Country singer Johnny Van Zant (Van Zant) is 60. Rock musician Leon Mobley (Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals) is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer James Worthy is 59. Actor Adam Baldwin is 58. Actor Grant Show is 58. Rock musician Mike Cross (Sponge) is 55. Actor Noah Emmerich is 55. Actor Donal Logue is 54. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chilli (TLC) is 49. Rock musician Jeremy Dean (Nine Days) is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Roderick Clark is 47. Country-rock musician Shonna Tucker is 42. Chelsea Clinton is 40. Actor Brandon Beemer is 40. Rock musician Cyrus Bolooki (New Found Glory) is 40. Rock musician Jake Clemons (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bobby Valentino is 40. Singer Josh Groban is 39. Banjoist Noam Pikelny is 39. Rock musician Jared Champion (Cage the Elephant) is 37. Actress Kate Mara is 37. TV personality JWoww (AKA Jenni Farley) is 34. Actress Lindsey Morgan is 30.

Thought for Today: "I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes." -- Edward Gibbon, English historian (1737-1794).

Copyright 2020, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.