History for February 20

History for February 20 - On-This-Day.com:
William Prescott 1726 - American Revolutionary soldier, known for the quote "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.", Ansel Adams 1902 - Artist, Sidney Poitier 1927 - Actor ("Lilies of the Field", "To Sir With Love")


Robert Altman 1925 - Director ("M*A*S*H"), Roger Penske 1937 - Race car owner/driver, Charles Barkley 1963 - Basketball player


1792 - U.S. President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act that created the U.S. Post Office.


1809 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government was greater than that of any individual state.


1872 - Luther Crowell received a patent for a machine that manufactured paper bags.


1962 - John Glenn made space history when he orbited the world three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes. He was the first American to orbit the Earth. He was aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule. Glenn witnessed the Devil's Cigarette Lighter while in flight.


1987 - A bomb exploded in a computer store in Salt Lake City, UT. The blast was blamed on the Unabomber.


1993 - Two ten-year-old boys were charged by police in Liverpool, England, in the abduction and death of a toddler. The two boys were later convicted.


1998 - American Tara Lipinski, at age 15, became the youngest gold medalist in winter Olympics history when she won the ladies' figure skating title at Nagano, Japan.


2003 - In West Warwick, RI, 100 people were killed and more than 230 were injured when fire destroyed the nightclub The Station. The fire started with sparks from a pyrotechnic display being used by Jack Russel's Great White. Ty Longley, guitarist for the band, was one of the victims in the fire.