A Blast from the Past

Today is Feb. 23.

Researchers in Scotland introduced Dolly the cloned lamb to the world on this date in 1997. She was the first mammal ever successfully cloned from a cell from an adult animal, leading to widespread speculation about the possibility of cloning humans.

In the first attack on the U.S. mainland, a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of California on this date in 1942 and fired 25 shells at an oil refinery near Santa Barbara. President Roosevelt was giving on of his fireside chats at the time of the attack, which caused only minor damage.

Three years later, in 1945, six members of the 5th Division of the U.S. Marines planted an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the Japanese-occupied Pacific island of Iwo Jima.

Two sons-in-law of Saddam Hussein, who'd fled Iraq to exile in Jordan, returned on this date in 1996 after being pardoned and told they'd be safe back home. The next day, Saddam proved himself a liar: the men were killed following an Iraqi government announcement that their wives, Saddam's daughters, had sought and been granted divorces.

No more "For 'Masterpiece Theater,' I'm Alistair Cooke." On this day in 1993, PBS announced that the new host of "Masterpiece Theater" would be New York Times columnist and best-selling humorist Russell Baker. Cooke was retiring after 22 years.

We now return you to the present, already in progress.