On this day

[Henry M]

 In 211, Lucius Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor responsible for
 making the empire's government a military monarchy, died.  

 In 1746, Tadeusz Andrezei Bonawentura Kosciuszko, the Polish soldier
 and patriot, was born. As well as battling the Russians at home, he
 fought in the American War of Independence.  (Makes a great mustard, 
but lousy highways - ed.)

 In 1787, Shays' Rebellion, an uprising of Massachusetts farmers led
 by Daniel Shays, ended with defeat at Petersham.  

 In 1789, presidential electors met and chose George Washington as
 America's first president.  

 In 1861, America's 25-year-long Apache wars began with the arrest of
 the Apache Chief Cochise.  

 In 1874, the Battle of Kumasi ended the Ashanti War between Britain
 and Ghana.  

 In 1902, Charles Lindbergh, the U.S. aviator and the first person to
 make a solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927, was born.  

 In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began when Japan laid siege to Port
 Arthur.  

 In 1924, Mahatma Gandhi was released after spending two years in 
jail in Bombay.  

1926: John Gila of New York set a record when he danced THE 
CHARLESTON for 22 and a half hours.

 In 1927, British driver Malcolm Campbell broke the world land speed
 record in his car Bluebird, driving at 174.224 miles per hour.  
(3/5's of a mile in ten seconds?- ed.)

 In 1938, Adolf Hitler became Germany's war minister and Joachim von
 Ribbentrop took over foreign affairs.  

 In 1945, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met
 at Yalta in the Crimea to discuss plans for the defeat of the Axis
 powers and to decide on the post-war future.  

1971: The OSMONDS received their  first gold record for "One Bad 
Apple"

 In 1974, Patricia Hearst, the grand-daughter of the late William
 Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.  

1976: An earthquake registering 7.5 on the Richter scale struck 
Guatemala, killing more than 22,000 people

 In 1987, Liberace, the U.S. pianist and showman, died.        

Former VP Dan Quayle is 50

Betty Friedan is 76

Rosa Parks is 84

Today President Clinton delivers his State of the Union address to a 
joint session of Congress.  

while

 Iranian dissident Ayatollah Ganjei visits Copenhagen, Denmark today; 
he is expected to address parliament where he will argue that the 
fatwa against Salman Rushdie is theologically invalid.

AsB4
Keep cool, but care. -- TRP
Moderation in moderation. -- Husky Mariner