Today is Saturday, February 20, the 51st day of 2021. There are 314 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history
February 20, 1905: The United States Supreme Court, Jacobson v. Massachusetts maintained, 7-2, mandatory vaccination laws designed to protect public health.
On this date
In 1792: President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office.
In 1839: Congress prohibited the duel in the District of Columbia.
1933: Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution to repeal Prohibition.
In 1942: Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare became the first flying ace of the United States Navy in World War II by shooting down five Japanese bombers while defending the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific.
In 1962: astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth while flying aboard the Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times on a flight that lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before diving safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.
In 1965: America’s Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed onto the moon, as planned, after sending thousands of photos of the lunar surface.
In 1987: a bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright. Soviet authorities released Jewish activist Josef Begun.
In 1998: Tara Lipinski, from the United States, won the gold medal in female figure skating at the Nagano Olympics; Michelle Kwan won the silver.
In 1999: film critic Gene Siskel died in a hospital outside Chicago at age 53.
In 2003: a fire caused by pyrotechnics broke out during a Great White concert at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.
In 2007: In a victory for President George W. Bush, a divided federal appeals court ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees could not use the US judicial system to contest his indefinite arrest.
In 2010: Alexander Haig, a soldier and statesman who held senior positions in three Republican administrations and some of the top US military positions, died in Baltimore at the age of 85.
Ten years ago: Security forces loyal to Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi fired heavy shots as thousands marched in the rebellious eastern city of Benghazi, eliminating the mourners who were trying to bury the victims. Trevor Bayne, 20, won the Daytona 500 in just his second start in the Sprint Cup. Kobe Bryant won his fourth MVP award in an All-Star game, which broke the record, scoring 37 points and leading the West to a victory by 148-143 on the East in the NBA All-Star game.
Five years ago: Donald Trump achieved victory in South Carolina’s Republican primaries; Hillary Clinton won a crucial victory over Bernie Sanders on the Democratic benches in Nevada. A funeral mass was held for Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Lindsey Vonn set a 20th world record for the crystal globe in La Thuile, Italy, surpassing the great Swede Ingemar Stenmark.
A year ago: Japan’s Ministry of Health said that two passengers who had been removed from a quarantined cruise ship after being infected with the new coronavirus died; both were in their 80s and had pre-existing illnesses. Sixteen Americans who were brought from the cruise ship to the United States were in hospitals, either because delays in test results showed that they had the virus or because they had symptoms. A survey by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that more Americans expressed some concern about getting the flu than getting the coronavirus. Trump legalist Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison for crimes, including lying to Congress and obstructing the House’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. (Trump would commute the sentence just days before Stone reporting for detention; he then gave Stone a full pardon in December 2020.) Morgan Stanley announced that it was buying E-Trade Financial for $ 13 billion in shares.