On This Day in History - February 22nd - Almanac

Today is Sunday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2015 with 312 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Mercury and Saturn. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include George Washington, first president of the United States, in 1732; German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in 1788; poet/diplomat/editor James Lowell in 1819; Englishman Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, in 1857; German physicist Heinrich Hertz, discoverer of radio waves, in 1857; Hall of Fame baseball umpire Bill Klem in 1874; poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in 1892; actor/TV producer Sheldon Leonard in 1907; Robert Pershing Wadlow, at 8 ft. 11.1 inches tall, the tallest person in recorded history, in 1918; actor Robert Young in 1907; actor John Mills in 1908; television announcer Don Pardo in 1918; actor Paul Dooley in 1928 (age 87); U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., in 1932; baseball Hall of Fame member George "Sparky" Anderson in 1934; filmmaker Jonathan Demme in 1944 (age 75); author Richard North Patterson in 1947 (age 68); three-time Formula 1 driving champion Niki Lauda in 1949 (age 66); basketball Hall of Fame member Julius "Dr. J" Erving in 1950 (age 65); actor Julie Walters in 1950 (age 65); "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin in 1962; golfer Vijay Singh in 1963 (age 52); actor Kyle MacLachlan in 1959 (age 56); actor Rachel Dratch in 1966 (age 49); actor Jeri Ryan in 1968 (age 47); actor Drew Barrymore in 1975 (age 40); singer/songwriter James Blunt in 1974 (age 41).

On this date in history:

In 1819, a treaty with Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

In 1855, Pennsylvania State University was founded in State College, Pa. It was originally called the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania.

In 1862, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1879, Woolworth, the first chain store, opened in Utica, N.Y.

In 1889, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington were admitted into the United States.

In 1959, the Daytona 500 was run for the first time. Lee Petty won the race.

In 1973, Israeli fighter planes shot down a Libyan commercial airliner, killing 108 of the 113 people aboard. The military apparently believed the airliner was a security threat in Israeli-controlled airspace. (Israel's defense minister later said there was an "error in judgment" by the military. Israel paid reparations to the families of the victims.)

In 1980, in one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympics history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of collegians and second-tier professional players, defeated the defending champion Soviet team, regarded as the world's finest, 4-3, at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In 1987, artist Andy Warhol died of heart failure at age 58.

In 2004, rebels attacked a refugee camp in northern Uganda, killing at least 192 people.

In 2005, a powerful earthquake struck Iran, killing more than 500 people.

In 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his plan for a healthcare reform bill.

In 2011, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, killing 185 people and injuring as many as 2,000.

In 2014, Ukraine's Parliament ousted President Viktor Yanukovych following a period of violence that killed scores of people. In Italy, Matteo Renzi, 39, was sworn in as the youngest prime minister in the country's history

A thought for the day: "One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. -- Eleanor Roosevelt