Updated February 28, 2012, 1:28 pm
On Feb. 29, 1968, President Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) warned that racism was causing America to move “toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.”
Go to article »On Feb. 29, 1840, John Philip Holland the Irish-American inventor known as the father of the modern submarine, was born. Following his death on Aug. 12, 1914, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1781 The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation. 1790 Congress authorized the first U.S. census. 1845 President John Tyler signed a congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas. 1867 Nebraska became the 37th state. 1872 Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park. 1922 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem. 1940 The novel “Native Son” by Richard Wright was published. 1954 Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen. 1961 President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps. 1968 Country musicians Johnny Cash and June Carter were married. 1974 Former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman and former Attorney General John Mitchell were indicted on obstruction of justice charges related to the Watergate break-in. 1981 Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. (He died 65 days later.) 1990 The Seabrook, N.H., nuclear power plant won federal permission to go on line after two decades of protests and legal struggles. 2003 Suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents near Islamabad. 2005 BTK serial killer Dennis Rader was charged in Wichita, Kan., with 10 counts of first-degree murder. (He later pleaded guilty and received multiple life sentences.) 2005 A closely divided Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals. 2010 Jay Leno returned as host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) turns 43 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Singer Justin Bieber turns 18 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
1926 Robert Clary, Actor (“Hogan’s Heroes”), turns 86 1927 Harry Belafonte, Singer, turns 85 1927 Robert H. Bork, Former U.S. solicitor general, turns 85 1935 Robert Conrad, Actor, turns 77 1944 Roger Daltrey, Rock singer (The Who), turns 68 1945 Dirk Benedict, Actor, turns 67 1947 Alan Thicke, Actor (“Growing Pains”), turns 65 1954 Catherine Bach, Actress (“The Dukes of Hazzard”), turns 58 1954 Ron Howard, Actor, director, turns 58 1956 Tim Daly, Actor (“Wings”), turns 56 1963 Ron Francis, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 49 1966 John David Cullum, Actor, turns 46 1967 George Eads, Actor (“CSI”), turns 45 1973 Chris Webber, Basketball player, turns 39
Historic Birthdays
John Philip Holland 2/29/1840 – 8/12/1914 Irish-bn. American “father of the modern submarine”.Go to obituary »
81 Paul III 2/29/1468 – 11/10/1549
Italian noble and last Renaissance Pope48 Ann Lee 2/29/1736 – 9/8/1784
English-bn. American religious leader84 Karl Ernst Baer 2/29/1792 – 11/28/1876
Prussian-Estonian embryologist76 Gioacchino Rossini 2/29/1792 – 11/13/1868
Italian operatic composer69 Herman Hollerith 2/29/1860 – 11/17/1929
American inventor of a tabulating machine70 Augusta Savage 2/29/1892 – 3/26/1962
American sculptor and educator99 Morarji Desai 2/29/1896 – 4/10/1995
Prime Minister of India (1977-79)53 Jimmy Dorsey 2/29/1904 – 6/12/1957
American musician and orchestra leader63 Fyodor Abramov 2/29/1920 – 5/14/1983
Russian writer, academic and literary critic
