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UPI Almanac for Friday, Feb. 12, 2016

The first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is laid, North Vietnam releases first group of POWs ... on this date in history.

By United Press International
President Bill Clinton listens to a question from CNN's White House Correspondent Wolf Blitzer during a news conference. The United States Senate acquitted U.S. President Bill Clinton of impeachment charges on February 12, 1999. File Photo by Ian Wagreich/UPI
1 of 10 | President Bill Clinton listens to a question from CNN's White House Correspondent Wolf Blitzer during a news conference. The United States Senate acquitted U.S. President Bill Clinton of impeachment charges on February 12, 1999. File Photo by Ian Wagreich/UPI | License Photo

Today is Friday, Feb. 12, the 43rd day of 2016 with 323 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include French architect Etienne-Louis Boullee in 1728; philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1791; Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, in 1809; biologist Charles Darwin in 1809; labor leader John L. Lewis in 1880; Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in 1881; U.S. Army Gen. Omar Bradley in 1893; actor Lorne Greene in 1915; actor Forrest Tucker in 1919; Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli in 1923 (age 93); baseball player and sports commentator Joe Garagiola in 1926 (age 90); Charles Van Doren, subject of U.S. TV quiz scandals, in 1926 (age 90); former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., in 1930; basketball Hall of Fame member Bill Russell in 1934 (age 82); actor Joe Don Baker in 1936 (age 80); author Judy Blume in 1938 (age 78); musician Ray Manzarek (The Doors) in 1939; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 1942 (age 74); actor Maud Adams in 1945 (age 71); actor Joanna Kerns in 1953 (age 63); former talk show host Arsenio Hall in 1956 (age 60); actor Josh Brolin in 1968 (age 48); singer Chynna Phillips in 1968 (age 48); actor Christina Ricci in 1980 (age 36); football quarterback Robert Griffin III (nicknamed "RG3") in 1990 (age 26).

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On this date in history:

In 1541, Santiago, Chile, was founded.

In 1733, the American colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe.

In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell's new invention, the telephone, was publicly demonstrated with a hookup between Boston and Salem, Mass.

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded by Moorfield Storey, Mary White Ovington and W. E. B. Du Bois.

In 1914, a dedication ceremony was held and the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial was laid. It took eight years to complete the monument honoring the 16th president.

In 1973, 116 prisoners of war were flown from Hanoi to the Philippines in the first release of U.S. POWs in North Vietnam.

In 1993, about 5,000 demonstrators marched on Atlanta's Capitol to protest the Confederate symbol on the Georgia state flag.

In 1999, the U.S. Senate acquitted U.S. President Bill Clinton of impeachment charges.

In 2000, Charles Schulz, creator of the popular comic strip "Peanuts" and the world of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, died of colon cancer at age 77.

In 2001, a NASA spacecraft landed on the asteroid Eros.

In 2004, South Korean scientists announced they had created the world's first mature cloned human embryos.

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In 2008, General Motors, which offered buyouts to its 74,000 unionized employees, reported a loss of $38.7 billion for 2007, the largest ever for an automaker.

In 2012, Israeli officials announced the end of a nationwide general strike aimed at improving worker conditions, which paralyzed the public sector for four days.

In 2013, North Korea said it safely tested its third nuclear device underground, drawing condemnation from the U.N. Security Council.

In 2014, U.S. comedian Sid Caesar, one of TV's first big stars, died after a brief illness at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 91.


A thought for the day: "The trouble with telling a good story is that it invariably reminds the other fellow of a dull one." -- Sid Caesar

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