Today is Tuesday, Feb. 21, the 52nd day of 2017. There are 313 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight: On Feb. 21, 1947, inventor Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which used self-developing film to produce a black &white photograph in 60 seconds.
On this date:
In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.
In 1945, during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea was sunk by the Japanese with the loss of 318 men.
In 1965, black Muslim leader and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York by assassins identified as members of the Nation of Islam. (Three men were convicted of murder and imprisoned; all were eventually paroled.)
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing.
In 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2½ to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up (each ended up serving a year and a-half).
In 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States won the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating at the Albertville Olympics; Midori Ito of Japan won the silver, Nancy Kerrigan of the U.S. the bronze.
In 1997, a bomb exploded at The Otherside Lounge, a gay and lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, injuring five people. (Eric Rudolph later admitted targeting the club.)
Five years ago: The 17-nation eurozone approved a $170 billion bailout for Greece, which received the news with a mixture of relief and foreboding.
One year ago: Pope Francis, speaking at the Vatican, urged Catholic leaders to show “exemplary” courage by not allowing executions “in this Holy Year of Mercy.”
Associated Press
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