TVC E. Today is Saturday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2016. There are 322 days left in the year.
On Feb. 13, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was officially declared winner of the 1860 presidential election as electors cast their ballots.
In 1542, the fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.
In 1766, English economist and demographer Thomas Robert Malthus was born in Surrey.
In 1914, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, also known as ASCAP, was founded in New York.
In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.
In 1935, a jury in Flemington, New Jersey, found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-slaying of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was later executed.)
In 1945, during World War II, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden. The Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans.
In 1960, France exploded its first atomic bomb in the Sahara Desert.
In 1975, a late-night arson fire set by a disgruntled custodian broke out on the 11th floor of the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center; the blaze spread to six floors, but caused no direct casualties.
In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, New York.
In 1988, the 15th Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials said 500 civilians were killed.
In 1996, the rock musical “Rent,” by Jonathan Larson, opened off-Broadway.
Ten years ago: Auditors reported that millions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina disaster aid had been squandered, paying for such items as a $450 tattoo and $375-dollar-a-day beachfront condos. Joey Cheek won the men’s 500 meters, giving the United States its second speedskating gold medal of the Turin Games. Hannah Teter won gold and Gretchen Bleiler won silver in the halfpipe. Tatiana Totmianina (taht-YAH’nah toht-MYEH’-ni-nuh) and Maxim Marinin won the gold medal in pairs figure skating, extending Russia’s four-decade dominance of the event.
Five years ago: Egypt’s military leaders dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and promised elections in moves cautiously welcomed by protesters who’d helped topple President Hosni Mubarak. Lady Antebellum was the big winner at the Grammys with five awards, including record and song of the year for the band’s yearning crossover ballad “Need You Now,” but rockers Arcade Fire won the biggest prize, album of the year, for their highly acclaimed “The Suburbs.”
One year ago: Calling cyberspace the new “Wild West,” President Barack Obama told the private sector during a White House cyber security summit at Stanford University that it needed to do more to stop cyber attacks aimed at the U.S. every day. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, resigned amid suspicions his fiancee had used her relationship with him to land contracts for her green-energy consulting business.
Today’s Birthdays: U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager (ret.) is 93. Actress Kim Novak is 83. Actor George Segal is 82. Actor Bo Svenson is 75. Actress Carol Lynley is 74. Singer-musician Peter Tork (The Monkees) is 74. Actress Stockard Channing is 72. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 72. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is 70. Singer Peter Gabriel is 66. Actor David Naughton is 65. Rock musician Peter Hook is 60. Actor Matt Salinger is 56. Singer Henry Rollins is 55. Actor Neal McDonough is 50. Singer Freedom Williams is 50. Actress Kelly Hu is 48. Rock singer Matt Berninger (The National) is 45. Rock musician Todd Harrell (3 Doors Down) is 44. Singer Robbie Williams is 42. Singer-songwriter Feist is 40. Rhythm-and-blues performer Natalie Stewart is 37. Actress Mena Suvari (MEE’-nuh soo-VAHR’-ee) is 37. Rock musician Dash Hutton (Haim (hym)) is 31. Actress Katie Volding is 27. Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (also known as Prince Michael Jackson I) is 19.
Thought for Today: “An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.” — C.S. Lewis, English author (1898-1963).
