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Today in history: February 22

Celebrity birthdays, highlights in history, plus more facts about this day
/ Source: The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2006. There are 312 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 22, 1732, the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born at his parents’ plantation in the Virginia Colony.

On this date:
In 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

In 1879, Frank Winfield Woolworth opened a 5 cent store in Utica, N.Y.

In 1889, President Cleveland signed a bill to admit the Dakotas, Montana and Washington state to the Union.

In 1892, “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” by Oscar Wilde, was first performed, at London’s St. James’s Theater.

In 1924, Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.

In 1935, it became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

In 1973, the United States and Communist China agreed to establish liaison offices.

In 1980, the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y., 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)

In 1984, a 12-year-old Houston boy known publicly only as “David,” who’d spent most his life in a plastic bubble because he had no immunity to disease, died 15 days after being removed from the bubble for a bone-marrow transplant.

In 1987, pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at age 58.

Ten years ago: The space shuttle Columbia blasted into orbit on a mission to unreel a satellite on the end of a 12.8-mile cord. President Clinton announced he would nominate Alan Greenspan to a third term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Russia and the head of the International Monetary Fund reached a deal for a loan of more than $10 billion to back up free-market reforms.

Five years ago: President Bush held his first full-fledged presidential news conference, in which he defended his tax-cutting and budget-tightening plans and gave FBI director Louis Freeh a vote of confidence following the arrest of veteran agent Robert Hanssen on spying charges. A U.N. war crimes tribunal convicted three Bosnian Serbs standing trial on charges of rape and torture in the first case of wartime sexual enslavement to go before an international court.

One year ago: A powerful earthquake struck central Iran, killing more than 600 people. A Virginia man was charged with plotting with al-Qaida to kill President Bush. (Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted on all counts in November 2005.) Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth III would not attend the civil marriage ceremony of her son Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles — but that her absence should not be interpreted as a snub.

Today’s Birthdays: Announcer Don Pardo is 88. Actor Paul Dooley is 78. Hollywood “ghost singer” Marni Nixon is 76. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., is 74. Movie director Jonathan Demme is 62. Actor John Ashton is 58. Actress Ellen Greene is 56. Actress Miou-Miou is 56. Actress Julie Walters is 56. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving is 56. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 47. “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin is 44. Actress-comedian Rachel Dratch is 40. Actress Jeri Ryan is 38. Actor Thomas Jane is 37. Actress-singer Lea Salonga is 35. Actor Jose Solano is 35. Tennis player Michael Chang is 34. Actress Drew Barrymore is 31. Actress Liza Huber is 31. Actor Daniel E. Smith is 16.

Thought for Today: “The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease.” — Marianne Moore, American poet (1887-1972).