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Other Notable Events, February 20

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Published in History & Quotes

In 1809, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government was no greater than that of any individual state of the Union.

In 1816, The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini opened in Rome.

In 1848, Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto was published in London by a group called the Communist League.

In 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York.

In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as Britain's foreign secretary to protest the appeasement policy of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain toward Nazi Germany.

In 1962, U.S. astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. He landed safely after three orbits in a Mercury spacecraft.

In 1991, U.S. troops penetrated Iraq, capturing as many as 500 Iraqi soldiers.

Also in 1991, the United States approved a $400 million loan guarantee to Israel for housing Soviet Jewish immigrants but banned use of the money in the occupied territories.

In 1992, Israeli armored ground forces withdrew from Lebanese villages following a one-day assault. Israel defended the incursion as necessary but the U.N. secretary-general protested the action.

In 1998, Tara Lipinski, 15, of the United States became the youngest person to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating.

In 2003, 100 people were killed when fire broke out during a rock concert at a West Warwick, R.I., nightclub.

Also in 2003, the Pentagon announced that 1,700 U.S. troops would be sent to the Philippines to take on an extremist Muslim group.

 

In 2004, conservatives won the majority of seats in the Iraqi parliamentary election.

Also in 2004, a San Francisco judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order that would have halted the city's same-sex marriages.

In 2006, the Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons of Muslim Prophet Muhammad and triggered widespread, angry and often deadly protests ran a full-page apology in Saudi papers.

In 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have no challenge rights in U.S. courts.

In 2008, a U.S. missile interceptor, launched from a U.S. Navy ship, knocked down a dying satellite 130 miles over the Pacific Ocean. Officials said the satellite contained 1,000 pounds of frozen toxic fuel.

In 2009, an explosion killed more than 30 people at a Shiite funeral in Pakistan, touching off a wave of violence. About 75 others were injured in what officials said was a suicide bombing attack.

In 2010, a minaret and part of the roof fell into a historic 18th-century mosque during services killing at least 38 people and injuring 71 more in the ancient city of Meknes, Morocco.

Also in 2010, the Netherlands' ruling coalition collapsed over disagreement on extending troop deployment in Afghanistan.

In 2011, anti-government protesters in Libya battled back against gunfire from the forces of Moammar Gadhafi as his son warned the country of a possible civil war. Some reports placed the weeklong protester death toll at 200.

Also in 2011, 10 disabled orphans were killed in a fire at an Estonia orphanage.

In 2012, poachers in search of ivory in northern Cameroon were reported to have slaughtered about 300 elephants for their tusks since mid-January.


Copyright 2013 by United Press International

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