Today's Highlight in History:
On February third, 1959, a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, claimed the lives of rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

On this date:
In 1690, the first paper money in America was issued by the colony of Massachusetts. (The currency was used to pay soldiers fighting a war against Quebec.)

In 1783, Spain recognized US independence.

In 1809, the territory of Illinois was created.

In 1865, President Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast. (The talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy.)

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.

In 1916, Canada's original Parliament Buildings, in Ottawa, burned down.

In 1917, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

In 1924, the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington at age 68.

In 1930, the chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft, resigned for health reasons.

In 1989, Alfredo Stroessner, president of Paraguay for more than three decades, was overthrown in a military coup.

Ten years ago: The parliament of Bulgaria elected economist Andrei Lukanov to replace a hard-line Communist as premier.

Five years ago: The space shuttle "Discovery" blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, in the pilot's seat for the first time in NASA history. At the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles, prosecution witness Denise Brown wept on the stand as she described the humiliation and abuse of her sister, Nicole Brown Simpson, at the hands of the former football star.

One year ago: The Clinton administration told Congress a NATO-led peacekeeping force could be needed in Kosovo for three to five years and might include up to 4,000 American troops.

每日格言

"The path of civilization is paved with tin cans."

-- Elbert Hubbard, American author and publisher (1856-1915).