Today is Friday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2013. There are 312 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On Feb. 22, 1732, the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.
On this date:
In 1784, a U.S. merchant ship, the Empress of China, left New York for the Far East to trade goods with China.
In 1862, Jefferson Davis, already the provisional president of the Confederacy, was inaugurated for a six-year term after his election in November 1861.
In 1865, Tennessee adopted a new constitution which included the abolition of slavery.
In 1909, the Great White Fleet, a naval task force sent on a round-the-world voyage by President Theodore Roosevelt, returned after more than a year at sea.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first radio broadcast from the White House over 42 stations.
In 1935, it became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.
In 1943, Pan Am Flight 9035, a Boeing 314 flying boat, crashed while attempting to land in Lisbon, Portugal. Twenty-five people were killed; 14 survived, including actress-singer Jane Froman.
In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held; although Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty.
In 1967, more than 25,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border. (The communists were driven out, but later returned.)
Associated Press
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