Today is Thursday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2006. There are 318 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 16, 1945, American troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.
On this date:
In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates.
In 1862, during the Civil War, some 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered at Fort Donelson, Tenn. (Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's victory earned him the nickname ``Unconditional Surrender Grant.'')
In 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized in New York City.
In 1918, Lithuania proclaimed its independence.
In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen's recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt.
In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.
In 1968, the nation’s first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated, in Haleyville, Ala.
In 1977, Janani Luwum, the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and two other men were killed in what Ugandan authorities said was an automobile accident.
In 1994, at least 217 people were killed when a powerful earthquake shook Indonesia's Sumatra island.
In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus A-300-600R trying to land in fog near Taipei, Taiwan, crashed, killing all 196 people on board and six people on the ground.
Ten years ago: Eleven people were killed in a fiery collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a Maryland commuter train in Silver Spring, Md. Former California Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 90. World chess champion Garry Kasparov won for the second time against IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue” in the fifth game of their match in Philadelphia (Kasparov had drawn twice and lost once).
Five years ago: The United States and Britain staged air strikes against radar stations and air defense command centers in Iraq. President Bush met with Mexican President Vicente Fox on the first foreign trip of Bush's presidency. Dr. William H. Masters, who with his partner and future wife Virginia Johnson, pioneered research in the field of human sexuality, died in Tucson, Ariz., at age 85.
One year ago:
The NHL canceled what was left of its decimated schedule after a round of last-gasp negotiations failed to resolve differences over a salary cap - the flash-point issue that led to a lockout. Israel’s parliament gave the final approval to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Patty Andrews is 88. Kim Jong Il, the president of North Korea, is 64. Actor Jeremy Bulloch is 60. Actor Pete Postlethwaite is 60. Actor William Katt is 55. Actor James Ingram is 50. Actor LeVar Burton is 49. Actor-rapper Ice-T is 48. Actress Lisa Loring is 48. Tennis Hall of Fame player John McEnroe is 47. Rock musician Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) is 45. Rock musician Taylor Hawkins (Foofighters) is 34. Singer Sam Salter is 28.
Thought for Today: “There are two ways to slice easily through life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.” — Alfred Korzybski, Polish-American linguist (1879-1950).