On this day in history

On this day in history
February 24, 2009

On Feb. 24, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, or edict, outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian Calendar is the calendar in general use today.)

In 1803, in Marbury vs. Madison, the Supreme Court ruled itself the final interpreter of constitutional issues.

In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

In 1836 painter Winslow Homer was born in Boston.

In 1863 Arizona was organized as a territory.

In 1868 the House impeached President Andrew Johnson after his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.

In 1874 Hall of Fame baseball player Honus Wagner was born in present-day Carnegie, Pa.

In 1903 the United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

In 1920 a fledgling German political party held its first meeting of importance in Munich; it became known as the Nazi Party, and its chief spokesman was Adolf Hitler.

In 1942 the Voice of America went on the air.

In 1945 American soldiers liberated Manila from Japanese control during World War II.

In 1967 the Nizam of Hyderabad, who had 1,200 bodyguards and was one of the world's wealthiest people, died in India at 81.

In 1975 the U.S. government announced it would begin an airlift to Phnom Penh, the besieged capital of Cambodia.

In 1980 the U.S. hockey team defeated Finland 4-2 to clinch the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In 1981 Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Britain's Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. Also in 1981 a jury in White Plains, N.Y., found Jean Harris guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of "Scarsdale Diet" author Dr. Herman Tarnower.

In 1988, in a ruling that expanded legal protections for parody and satire, the Supreme Court overturned a $200,000 award that Rev. Jerry Falwell had won against Hustler magazine and publisher Larry Flynt.

In 1989 a state funeral was held in Japan for Emperor Hirohito, who had died the month before at age 87.

In 1990 magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes died in Far Hills, N.J.; he was 70.

In 1991 the United States and its Gulf War allies launched a large-scale ground assault against Iraqi troops.

In 1994 entertainer Dinah Shore died in Beverly Hills, Calif.; she was 76.

In 2000 after Gov. George W. Bush refused to intervene, the state of Texas executed Betty Lou Beets, 62, by injection for murdering her fifth husband.

In 2001 mathematician and computer scientist Claude Shannon, whose theories about binary code became the basis for modern mass communications networks, died in Medford, Mass.; he was 84.

In 2002 the Salt Lake City Olympics came to a close, the same day Canada won its first hockey gold in 50 years and three cross-country skiers were thrown out of the Games for using a performance-enhancing drug.

In 2003 seeking UN approval for war against Iraq, the United States, Britain and Spain submitted a resolution to the Security Council declaring that Saddam Hussein had missed "the final opportunity" to disarm peacefully.

In 2004 a 6.5-magnitude earthquake devastated a region of northern Morocco, killing more than 600 people.

In 2006 death claimed actors Don Knotts in Los Angeles and Dennis Weaver in Ridgway, Colo.; both were 81.