John F. Enders(scientist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954)β
Bertolt Brecht(dramatist)β
Lon Chaney, Jr.(actor)β
Leontyne Price(opera singer)β
Robert Wagner, Jr.(actor)β
Roberta Flack(singer)β
Adrienne Clarkson(Canadian Governor General)β
Mark Spitz(Olympic gold medal swimmer)β
Greg Norman(golfer)β
George Stephanopoulos(political consultant & commentator)β
Victor Davis(Olympic swimmer)β
Laura Dern(actress)β
Emma Roberts(actress)β
Makenzie Vega(actress)β
Died
Laura Ingalls Wilder(author)β
Billy Rose(composer & bandleader)β
Alex Haley(author)β
Jim Varney(actor)β
Retired Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters(ambassador to the UN and Germany)β
Arthur Miller(playwright)β
Roy Scheider(actor)β
Shirley Temple Black(actress)β
Events
Edmond Halley became second Astronomer Royal of Englandβ
Treaty of Paris is signed, formally ending the French and Indian War
β
France ceded Canada to England at the Treaty of Paris, ending the French and Indian Warβ
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gothaβ
Act of Union merged Upper and Lower Canadaβ
Showman P. T. Barnum staged the wedding of General Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren (both little people) in New York. They had to stand on a piano to greet their guests.β
Alanson Crane patented a fire extinguisher systemβ
Ontario’s first free public library opened, in Guelphβ
German government informed the U.S. that after March 1, 1916, armed merchantmen would be treated as warships and attacked without warning (WW I)β
New Delhi became the capital of Indiaβ
The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduced the first singing telegramβ
The first gold record was awarded for sales of over one million copies. It was Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo Chooβ on RCAββ
Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman premiered in NYβ
Soviets released U.S. U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in Berlin in exchange for convicted Soviet agent Rudolf Abelβ
The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, providing a contingency plan for presidential successionβ
Peggy Fleming won an Olympic Gold medal in figure skatingβ
Arab terrorists killed 1 Israeli and wounded 11 others in an attack at the Munich, West Germany, airportβ
Bonnie Blair became the first U.S. medal winner at the Winter Olympics in Albertville in the women’s 500-meter speed skating. Also the first woman in Olympic history to win consecutive Winter Olympic gold medalsβ
Garry Kasparov began chess match against computer Deep Blueβββ
Brett Hull scored his 700th NHL goalβ
Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics sank his 2,561st 3-pointer, breaking the NBA record set by Reggie Millerβ
Weather
Early morning tornado at Albany, Georgia, caused over $3 million lossβ
Thundersnow (heavy snow accompanied by thunder and lightning) in northern New Hampshireβ
A rare February tornado in southern Oklahoma killed at least 9 peopleβ