1902 – Heavy surf breaks over Seal Rocks and damages Sutro Baths in San Francisco.
1909 – The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded in Detroit, Michigan by retail titan Joseph L. Hudson and other investors.
1917 – Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse’s musical “Oh, Boy!” opens at the Princess Theatre in New York City. It runs for 463 performances.
1923 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson becomes president and owner of the Boston Braves. He buys the team for $300,000 with New York attorney Judge Emil Fuchs and Bostonian James McDonough.
1931 – Congress allows California to build Oakland Bay Bridge.
1940 – Larry Clinton and his Orchestra record “Limehouse Blues.”
1944 – Batman and Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers.
1944 – World War II: The “Big Week” began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
1952 – “African Queen” film directed by John Hudson, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, is released.
1962 – John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7.
1963 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays becomes the highest paid player in Major League Baseball, signing a record $100,000 contract with the San Francisco Giants.
1971 – National Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio and TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasn’t resolved for 30 minutes.
1977 – 19th Daytona 500: Cale Yarborough wins his 2nd Great American Race. Janet Guthrie, the first female NASCAR Cup Series driver, finishes 12th.
1987 – Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by a computer store in Salt Lake City.
1992 – Ross Perot says on “Larry King Live” that he’ll run for president.
1998 – US movie box office hits quickest $1 billion for year in 51 days.
2005 – 54th NBA All-Star Game, Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado: East beats West 125-115. Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson is named Most Valuable Player.
2014 – Marie-Philip Poulin scores in overtime to lead Canada to a 3-2 win over the United States and a fourth consecutive Olympic women’s ice hockey gold medal at the Sochi Winter Games.
2016 – US primary elections: South Carolina Republican Primary – Donald Trump wins with 32.5%.
2021 – President Joe Biden declares a major disaster in Texas as the state struggles to cope with the aftermath of a crippling winter storm.
2023 – President Joe Biden makes a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine.
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