Today in History -- Saturday, Feb. 14 (Enrico Colantoni/Keith Mars on
VM)

Also from Just Shoot Me, Flashpoint and Galaxy Quest.

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2009. There are 320 days
left in the year. This is Valentine's Day.

Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 14, 1859, Oregon was admitted
to the Union as the 33rd state.

On this date: In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently
adopted Star and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it
arrived in France.

In 1895, Oscar Wilde's final play, "The Importance of Being Earnest,"
opened at the St. James's Theatre in London.

In 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor was established.

(It was divided into separate departments of Commerce and Labor in
1913.) In 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union.

In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago; its first
president was Maud Wood Park.

In 1929, the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" took place in a Chicago
garage as seven rivals of Al Capone's gang were gunned down.

In 1962, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of
the White House in a videotaped special that was broadcast on CBS and
NBC (and several nights later on ABC).

In 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was
kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout
between his abductors and police.

In 1984, six-year-old Stormie Jones became the world's first heart-
liver transplant recipient at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (she
lived until November 1990).

In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini (hoh-MAY'-nee) called on Muslims
to kill Salman Rushdie (ROOSH'-dee), author of "The Satanic Verses,"
a novel condemned as blasphemous.

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton, accompanied by his wife,
Hillary, began a quick visit to Mexico to encourage its struggle
against narcotics and government corruption, and grow its markets for
U.S. products. John D. Ehrlichman, President Nixon's domestic affairs
adviser who was disgraced and imprisoned for his role in the
Watergate cover-up, died in Atlanta at age 73.

Five years ago: Guerrillas overwhelmed a police station west of
Baghdad, killing 23 people and freeing dozens of prisoners.

Twenty-eight people were killed when the glass-and-concrete roof of
an indoor water park in Moscow collapsed.

One year ago: A former student dressed in black walked onto the stage
of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opened fire on
a packed science class; Steven Kazmierczak (kaz-MUR'-chek) killed
five students before committing suicide. Republican campaign dropout
Mitt Romney endorsed John McCain for the party's presidential
nomination.

Today's Birthdays: TV personality Hugh Downs is 88. Actress-singer
Florence Henderson is 75. Country singer Razzy Bailey is 70.

Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 66. Movie director Alan Parker is 65.
Journalist Carl Bernstein is 65. Senator Judd Gregg, R-NH, is 62. TV
personality Pat O'Brien is 61. Magician Teller (Penn and Teller) is 61.

Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet (doo-SAY') (Beausoleil) is 58.
Actor Ken Wahl is 52. Opera singer Renee Fleming is 50.

Actress Meg Tilly is 49. Singer-producer Dwayne Wiggins is 48. Actor
Enrico Colantoni is 46. Actor Zach Galligan is 45. Actor Valente
Rodriguez is 45. Rock musician Ricky Wolking (The Nixons) is 43.
Tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 42.

Actor Simon Pegg is 39. Rock musician Kevin Baldes (Lit) is 37. Rock
singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) is 37.

Actor Freddie Highmore is 17.

Thought for Today: "I am living on hope and faith ... a pretty good
diet when the mind will receive them." Edwin Arlington Robinson,
American poet (1869-1935).



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