Historical Events
1905 – US Forest Service forms
1917 – First major strike of the Russian “February Revolution” starts at the giant Putilov factory in Petrograd [OS=Feb 18]
1942 – 1st combat flight for Canadian British-built Avro Lancaster bomber
1981 – NY Islanders and Edmonton Oilers play to an 8-8 tie
1992 – Charges are filed in Florida against NY Mets Darryl Boston, Vince Coleman and Dwight Gooden of rape (dropped in April)
2021 – Great apes at San Diego Zoo reported given experimental COVID-19 vaccine designed for animals after earlier outbreak among the gorillas (San Diego, California)
Famous Birthdays
1814 – Charles Kensington Salaman, British pianist and synagogue music composer, born in London, England (d. 1901)
1880 – Florence Auer, American actress (Eradicating Aunty), born in Albany, New York (d. 1962)
1893 – Beatrice Wood, American artist, ceramist and editor (The Blind Man, inspiration for Titanic film character Rose), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1998)
1913 – Roger Caillois, French writer and scholar (Les Jeux et les Hommes), born in Reims, France (d. 1978)
1920 – Julius Boros, American golfer (PGA C’ship 1968, US Open 1952, 63), born in Fairfield, Connecticut (d. 1994)
1945 – Farooq Hamid, cricketer (1-107 in Test, Pakistan v Australia 1964)
Famous Deaths
1459 – Ausiàs March, Catalan poet of Valencian literature, dies at 59
1927 – J.G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh motor-racing driver (b. 1884)
1973 – Vera Panova, Russian author and journalist (Sputniki), dies at 67
1996 – Ludwig Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, German journalist, dies at 76
2000 – Toni Ortelli, Italian composer (“La Montanara” (The Song of the Mountains), conductor, and alpinist, dies at 95
2004 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (b. 1958)