On Feb. 28, 1993, a gun battle erupted near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day
standoff began.
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On Feb. 28, 1901, Linus Pauling, the American Nobel Prize-winning chemist and political activist, was born. Following his death on Aug. 19, 1994, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
| 1827 | The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. was incorporated. |
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| 1854 | About 50 slavery opponents met in Ripon, Wis., to call for creation of a new political group that became the Republican Party. |
| 1861 | The Territory of Colorado was organized. |
| 1940 | College basketball was televised for the first time as station W2XBS aired the Pittsburgh-Fordham and Georgetown-NYU games from Madison Square Garden in New York. |
| 1953 | Scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes, at Cambridge University. |
| 1960 | The U.S. Olympic hockey team won the gold medal, defeating Czechoslovakia 9-4 at Squaw Valley, Calif. |
| 1972 | President Richard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai issued the Shanghai Communique at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China, a step toward the eventual normalization of relations between the two countries. |
| 1974 | The United States and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a seven-year break. |
| 1983 | The album "War" by U2 was released. |
| 1991 | Allied and Iraqi forces suspended their attacks as Iraq pledged to accept all United Nations resolutions concerning Kuwait. |
| 1993 | A gun battle erupted at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants; four agents and six Davidians were killed and a 51-day standoff began. |
| 2005 | Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigned amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut. |
Historic Birthdays
Linus Pauling
2/28/1901 - 8/19/1994
American Nobel Prize-winning chemist.Go to obituary »
| 59 |
Michel de Montaigne 2/28/1533 - 9/23/1592 French writer of essays |
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| 71 |
Gabriele Rossetti 2/28/1783 - 4/24/1854 Italian poet, revolutionary, and scholar |
| 93 |
Sir John Tenniel 2/28/1820 - 2/25/1914 English illustrator and satirical artist |
| 78 |
Douglas McGarel Hogg 2/28/1872 - 8/16/1950 English lawyer and politician |
| 85 |
Geraldine Farrar 2/28/1882 - 3/11/1967 American operatic soprano |
| 70 |
Ben Hecht 2/28/1894 - 4/18/1964 American novelist, playwright, and newspaperman |
| 41 |
Bugsy Siegel 2/28/1906 - 6/20/1947 American gangster who started Las Vegas gambling |
| 81 |
Milton Caniff 2/28/1907 - 4/3/1988 American comic-strip artist |
| 86 |
Sir Stephen Spender 2/28/1909 - 7/16/1995 English poet and critic |
| 83 |
Vincente Minnelli 2/28/1903 - 7/25/1986 American film and stage director |
| 82 |
Denis Parsons Burkitt 2/28/1911 - 3/23/1993 English surgeon and medical researcher |
| 62 |
Zero Mostel 2/28/1915 - 9/8/1977 American actor, singer, and comedian |