This Day in History
In Alaska
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• In 1915, the Alaska-Gastineau Mining Co. ore reduction mills began operation. The Red Salmon Co. cannery at Ugashik burned down.
• In 1967, Anchorage's main post office lobby closed its all- night doors to curb vandalism. It was known as the city's best "winter dormitory."
• In 1969, a resolution was introduced in the State House calling for more emphasis on Alaskan history. All members signed on as sponsors.
In the nation
• In 1764, the city of St. Louis was established by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau.
• In 1879, President Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
• In 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain.
• In 1933, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak; gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed more than four weeks later, on March 20.
• In 1997, 14-year-old Tara Lipinski upset Michelle Kwan at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville, Tenn., becoming the youngest gold medalist at nationals.
• In 2002, President Bush approved Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the site for long-term disposal of thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste. Skating and Olympics officials awarded Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier a gold medal, while letting the Russian pair, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, keep their gold medal, as a way to resolve a judging controversy that had dominated the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
• In 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney accepted blame for accidentally shooting a hunting companion, calling it "one of the worst days of my life," but was defiantly unapologetic in a Fox News Channel interview about not publicly disclosing the accident until the next day.
In the world
• In 1942, the British colony Singapore surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
• In 1961, 73 people, including an 18-member U.S. figure skating team en route to Czechoslovakia, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium.
• In 1965, Canada's new maple-leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa.
• In 1986, the Philippines National Assembly proclaimed Ferdinand E. Marcos president for another six years, following an election marked by allegations of fraud. (Marcos ended up being ousted from power.)
• In 1989, the Soviet Union announced that the last of its troops had left Afghanistan, after more than nine years of military intervention.
• In 1997, North Korean defector Lee Han-young was shot and mortally wounded in South Korea, three days after another North Korean defected in Beijing.