February 20
1792 - President George Washington signed the Post Office Act, establishing a permanent Post Office Department.
1809 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state.
1839 - Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.
1862 - William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.
1895 - Frederick Douglas, abolitionist, author and orator, died.
1905 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.
1933 - Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to repeal Prohibition.
1938 - British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigned in protest over Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
1942 - Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare became the U.S. Navy’s first flying ace of World War II by shooting down five Japanese bombers while defending the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific.
1944 - During World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."
1962 - John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.
1965 - The Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.
1999 - Movie reviewer Gene Siskel died at a hospital outside Chicago at age 53.
2003 - A fire in a nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island killed 100 and injured 150.
2007 - In a victory for President George W. Bush, a divided federal appeals court ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees could not use the U.S. court system to challenge their indefinite imprisonment.
2020 - Trump loyalist Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison for crimes including lying to Congress and obstructing the House’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (Trump would commute the sentence just days before Stone was to report for detention; he then gave Stone a full pardon in December 2020.)
2020 - Morgan Stanley announced that it was buying E-Trade Financial for $13 billion in stock.
Birthdays
27 - Skye Wheatley (reality star)
32 - Jack Falahee (actor)
33 - Rihanna (singer)
33 - Tracy Spiridakos (actress)
34 - Miles Teller (actor)
34 - Daniella Pineda (actress)
36 - Jake Richardson (actor)
37 - Trevor Noah (comedian/TV host)
38 - Justin Verlander (baseball player)
38 - Jessie Mueller (actress/singer)
40 - Jocko Sims (actor)
42 - Michael Zegen (actor)
43 - Chelsea Peretti (actress)
43 - Jay Hernandez (actor)
43 - Lauren Ambrose (actress)
46 - Brian Littrell (singer)
48 - Andrea Savage (actress)
54 - Lili Taylor (actress)
54 - Andrew Shue (actor)
55 - Cindy Crawford (model)
56 - Ron Eldard (actor)
57 - French Stewart (actor)
57 - Willie Garson (actor)
58 - Ian Brown (musician)
58 - Charles Barkley (basketball player)
61 - Joel Hodgson (comedian)
63 - James Wilby (actor)
64 - Leland Martin (country singer)
67 - Anthony Head (actor)
70 - John Voldstad (actor)
72 - Ivana Trump (ex-wife of President Donald Trump)
74 - Peter Strauss (actor)
75 - Sandy Duncan (actress)
75 - Brenda Blethyn (actress)
79 - Phil Esposito (hockey player)
84 - Roger Penske (race car driver)
87 - Bobby Unser (race car driver)
94 - Sidney Poitier (actor)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - February 20
1887 - The first minor league baseball association was organized in Pittsburgh.
1930 - Clint Benedict (Montreal Maroons) became the first goalie to wear a mask in the NHL. Benedict wore the mask temporarily during an injury.
1943 - Phil Wrigley and Branch Rickey chartered the All-American Girls Softball League.
1963 - Willie Mays becomes the highest-paid player in baseball history, singing the first $100,000-a-year contract with the San Francisco Giants.
1971 - Phil Esposito (Boston Bruins) became the quickest NHL player to reach 50 goals in a season.
1974 - Gordie Howe came out of retirement to play for the Houston Aeros with his two sons.
1993 - The New York Islanders retired Billy Smith's #31.
1997 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) signed a record contract worth $22.9 million over 2 years.
1998 - American Tara Lipinski won the gold medal in ladies figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan at the age of 15, becoming the youngest gold medal winner in Winter Olympics history.
2000 - Country music star Garth Brooks began spring training camp with the New York Mets.
2005 - Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.
2011 - Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 in only his second Sprint Cup start, becoming the youngest ever winner of the Daytona 500.
2011 - Kobe Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star game MVP award, scoring 37 points and propelling the West to a 148-143 victory over the East in the NBA All-Star game.
2016 - Lindsey Vonn clinched a record 20th World Cup crystal globe title in La Thuile (lah tweel), Italy, surpassing Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
1792 - President George Washington signed the Post Office Act, establishing a permanent Post Office Department.
1809 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state.
1839 - Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.
1862 - William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.
1895 - Frederick Douglas, abolitionist, author and orator, died.
1905 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.
1933 - Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to repeal Prohibition.
1938 - British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigned in protest over Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
1942 - Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare became the U.S. Navy’s first flying ace of World War II by shooting down five Japanese bombers while defending the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific.
1944 - During World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."
1962 - John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.
1965 - The Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.
1999 - Movie reviewer Gene Siskel died at a hospital outside Chicago at age 53.
2003 - A fire in a nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island killed 100 and injured 150.
2007 - In a victory for President George W. Bush, a divided federal appeals court ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees could not use the U.S. court system to challenge their indefinite imprisonment.
2020 - Trump loyalist Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison for crimes including lying to Congress and obstructing the House’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (Trump would commute the sentence just days before Stone was to report for detention; he then gave Stone a full pardon in December 2020.)
2020 - Morgan Stanley announced that it was buying E-Trade Financial for $13 billion in stock.
Birthdays
27 - Skye Wheatley (reality star)
32 - Jack Falahee (actor)
33 - Rihanna (singer)
33 - Tracy Spiridakos (actress)
34 - Miles Teller (actor)
34 - Daniella Pineda (actress)
36 - Jake Richardson (actor)
37 - Trevor Noah (comedian/TV host)
38 - Justin Verlander (baseball player)
38 - Jessie Mueller (actress/singer)
40 - Jocko Sims (actor)
42 - Michael Zegen (actor)
43 - Chelsea Peretti (actress)
43 - Jay Hernandez (actor)
43 - Lauren Ambrose (actress)
46 - Brian Littrell (singer)
48 - Andrea Savage (actress)
54 - Lili Taylor (actress)
54 - Andrew Shue (actor)
55 - Cindy Crawford (model)
56 - Ron Eldard (actor)
57 - French Stewart (actor)
57 - Willie Garson (actor)
58 - Ian Brown (musician)
58 - Charles Barkley (basketball player)
61 - Joel Hodgson (comedian)
63 - James Wilby (actor)
64 - Leland Martin (country singer)
67 - Anthony Head (actor)
70 - John Voldstad (actor)
72 - Ivana Trump (ex-wife of President Donald Trump)
74 - Peter Strauss (actor)
75 - Sandy Duncan (actress)
75 - Brenda Blethyn (actress)
79 - Phil Esposito (hockey player)
84 - Roger Penske (race car driver)
87 - Bobby Unser (race car driver)
94 - Sidney Poitier (actor)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - February 20
1887 - The first minor league baseball association was organized in Pittsburgh.
1930 - Clint Benedict (Montreal Maroons) became the first goalie to wear a mask in the NHL. Benedict wore the mask temporarily during an injury.
1943 - Phil Wrigley and Branch Rickey chartered the All-American Girls Softball League.
1963 - Willie Mays becomes the highest-paid player in baseball history, singing the first $100,000-a-year contract with the San Francisco Giants.
1971 - Phil Esposito (Boston Bruins) became the quickest NHL player to reach 50 goals in a season.
1974 - Gordie Howe came out of retirement to play for the Houston Aeros with his two sons.
1993 - The New York Islanders retired Billy Smith's #31.
1997 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) signed a record contract worth $22.9 million over 2 years.
1998 - American Tara Lipinski won the gold medal in ladies figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan at the age of 15, becoming the youngest gold medal winner in Winter Olympics history.
2000 - Country music star Garth Brooks began spring training camp with the New York Mets.
2005 - Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.
2011 - Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 in only his second Sprint Cup start, becoming the youngest ever winner of the Daytona 500.
2011 - Kobe Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star game MVP award, scoring 37 points and propelling the West to a 148-143 victory over the East in the NBA All-Star game.
2016 - Lindsey Vonn clinched a record 20th World Cup crystal globe title in La Thuile (lah tweel), Italy, surpassing Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.