| On this date in: |
| 1861 |
Texas voted to secede from the Union. |
| 1862 |
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” a poem by Julia Ward Howe, was published in the Atlantic Monthly. |
| 1896 |
Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” premiered in Turin, Italy. |
| 1920 |
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was established. |
| 1946 |
Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations. |
| 1960 |
Four black college students began a sit-in protest at a lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., where they’d been refused service. |
| 1968 |
During the Vietnam War, Saigon’s police chief, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. |
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| AP Photo/Eddie Adams |
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| 1979 |
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile. |
| 1982 |
“Late Night with David Letterman” premiered on NBC. |
| 1999 |
Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky gave a vidotaped deposition for senators weighing impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton. |
| 2004 |
Singer Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed during the Super Bowl halftime show. |
| 2009 |
The Pittsburgh Steelers won their record sixth Super Bowl with a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. |
| 2011 |
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he would not run for a new term but rejected protesters’ demands he step down immediately. |
