Today in history

Published 12:01 am Sunday, February 13, 2011

Today is Sunday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2011. There are 321 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On Feb. 13, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was officially declared winner of the 1860 presidential election as electors cast their ballots.

On this date:

In 1542, the fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.

In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.

In 1935, a jury in Flemington, N.J. found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-slaying of the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was later executed.)

In 1945, during World War II, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden. The Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans.

In 1960, France exploded its first atomic bomb, in the Sahara Desert.

In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In 1988, the 15th winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials said 500 civilians were killed.

Today’s Birthdays: Former test pilot Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager is 88. Actress Kim Novak is 78. Actor George Segal is 77. Actress Carol Lynley is 69. Singer-musician Peter Tork (The Monkees) is 69. Actress Stockard Channing is 67. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 67. Actor Bo Svenson is 67. Singer Peter Gabriel is 61. Actor David Naughton is 60. Rock musician Peter Hook is 55. Actor Matt Salinger is 51. Singer Henry Rollins is 50. Actress Mena Suvari is 32.

Thought for Today: “The world has no sympathy with any but positive griefs; it will pity you for what you lose, but never for what you lack.” — Anne Sophie Swetchine, Russian-French author (1782-1857).

Associated Press