Today in History: Feb. 17

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: February 17, 2012

Feb. 17, 1972 President Richard M. Nixon left the White House with his wife, Pat, on a historic trip to China, which he called "a journey for peace."

1801 The U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, electing Jefferson president; Burr became vice president.

1865 Columbia, S.C., burned as the Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in. (It is not clear which side set the blaze.)

1897 The forerunner of the National PTA, the National Congress of Mothers, convened its first meeting in Washington.

1947 The Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union.

1964 In Wesberry v. Sanders, the Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.

1986 Johnson & Johnson said it would no longer sell over-the-counter medications in capsule form, after the death of a woman who had taken a cyanide-laced Tylenol capsule.

1988 Lt. Col. William Higgins, a Marine Corps officer serving with a U.N. truce-monitoring group, was kidnapped in southern Lebanon by Iranian-backed terrorists. (He was later slain by his captors).

1992, Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison. (He was beaten to death by a fellow inmate in November 1994).

Ten years ago The new Transportation Security Administration took over supervision of aviation security from the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Five years ago Senate Republicans foiled a Democratic bid to repudiate President George W. Bush's deployment of 21,500 additional combat troops to Iraq.

One year ago A group of Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers blocked passage of a sweeping anti-union bill, refusing to show up for a vote and then abruptly leaving the state in an effort to force Republicans to negotiate.

Thought for today "Wounded vanity knows when it is mortally hurt; and limps off the field, piteous, all disguises thrown away. But pride carries its banner to the last; and fast as it is driven from one field unfurls it in another." — Helen Hunt Jackson, American author (1831-1885)

The Associated Press