Historical Events
1849 – 1st regular steamboat service to California starts (or 02/28)
1915 – Germany begins a blockade of Britain
1930 – Luigi Pirandello’s “Come Tu Mi Vuoi” premieres in Milan
1951 – Netherlands Radio School forms
1960 – VIII Winter Olympic Games open in Squaw Valley, California
1973 – Belgian Emiel Puttemans runs 3,000m indoor record 7:39.2
Famous Birthdays
1920 – Bill Cullen, Pitts, TV game show host (over 20 different games)
1925 – Marcel Barbeau, Quebec artist
1934 – Skip Battin, American singer-songwriter (The Byrds), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2003)
1946 – Michael Buerk, British newsreader
1954 – John Travolta, American actor (Grease, Pulp Fiction), born in Englewood, New Jersey
1970 – Susan Egan, American actress, born in Seal Beach, California
Famous Deaths
1745 – Nicola Fago, Italian baroque composer, dies at 67
1788 – John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist, dies at 75
1906 – John Batterson Stetson, American hat manufacturer, dies at 75
1993 – Edward S “Ted” Haworth, US set designer (Sayonara, Marty), dies at 76
1997 – Eric Fenby, English composer and president (Delius Society), dies at 90
2008 – Mickey Renaud, Canadian professional ice hockey player (b. 1988)