Updated February 17, 2012, 1:28 pm
On Feb. 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Ala.
On Feb. 18, 1848, Louis Comfort Tiffany, a craftsman and designer who made significant advancements in the art of glassmaking, was born. Following his death on Jan. 17, 1933, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1546 Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, died in Eiselben, Germany. 1564 The artist Michelangelo died in Rome. 1885 “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain was published. 1930 Photographic evidence of Pluto was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. 1960 The eighth Winter Olympic Games opened in Squaw Valley, Calif. 1970 Five of the Chicago Seven defendants were found guilty of intent to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic national convention. (The convictions were later overturned.) 1972 The California Supreme Court struck down the state’s death penalty. 1977 The space shuttle Enterprise, sitting atop a Boeing 747, went on its maiden flight above the Mojave Desert. 1988 Anthony M. Kennedy was sworn in as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. 2001 Auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr., 49, died from injuries suffered in a crash at the Daytona 500. 2001 Veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years. (Hanssen pleaded guilty and is serving life in prison without parole.) 2006 American Shani Davis won the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating in Turin, becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history. 2006 A Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament was sworn in. 2010 Software engineer A. Joseph Stack III crashed his single-engine plane into a building containing IRS offices in Austin, Texas, killing one person besides himself.. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Artist-singer Yoko Ono turns 79 years old today.
AP Photo/Joel Ryan
Actor John Travolta turns 58 years old today.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
1922 Helen Gurley Brown, Author, editor, turns 90 1925 George Kennedy, Actor, turns 87 1927 John Warner, Former U.S. senator, R-Va., turns 85 1931 Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize winning author, turns 81 1932 Milos Forman, Director, turns 80 1941 Herman Santiago, Singer (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers), turns 71 1941 Irma Thomas, Soul singer, turns 71 1947 Dennis DeYoung, Rock singer (Styx), turns 65 1948 Sinead Cusack, Actress, turns 64 1950 Cybill Shepherd, Actress, turns 62 1952 Juice Newton, Singer, turns 60 1957 Vanna White, Game show host (“Wheel of Fortune”), turns 55 1960 Greta Scacchi, Actress, turns 52 1964 Matt Dillon, Actor, turns 48 1965 Dr. Dre, Rapper, turns 47 1968 Molly Ringwald, Actress (“Pretty in Pink, “The Breakfast Club”), turns 44
Historic Birthdays
Louis Comfort Tiffany 2/18/1848 – 1/17/1933 American painter, decorator and designerGo to obituary »
42 Mary (Mary I) Tudor 2/18/1516 – 11/17/1558
English queen (1553-58)82 Alessandro Volta 2/18/1745 – 3/5/1827
Italian physicist and inventor65 James Biddle 2/18/1783 – 10/1/1848
American career naval officer50 Ramakrishna 2/18/1836 – 8/16/1886
Hindu religious leader63 Max Klinger 2/18/1857 – 7/5/1920
German painter, sculptor and engraver77 Charles M. Schwab 2/18/1862 – 9/18/1939
American entrepreneur who pioneered Bethlehem Steel52 Wendell Willkie 2/18/1892 – 10/8/1944
American Republican presidential candidate25 George Gipp 2/18/1895 – 12/14/1920
American football player (“The Gipper”)90 Enzo Ferrari 2/18/1898 – 8/14/1988
Italian automobile manufacturer, designer and racing-car driver85 Sir Arthur Bryant 2/18/1899 – 1/2/1985
English historian and biographer84 Wallace Stegner 2/18/1909 – 4/13/1993
American author
