Today in History for 2nd March 2017:
Historical Events
1121 – Dirk VI becomes count of Holland
1899 – Pres McKinley signs bill creating Mt Rainier National Park (5th in US)
1917 – Jones Act: Puerto Rico territory created, US citizenship granted
1934 – Union Pacific tests light-weight high-speed passenger train, Omaha
1976 – Holgate, Kemp and Lopez’ musical premieres in NYC
1986 – 1st million-dollar purse for a handicap race won at Santa Anita
Famous Birthdays
1901 – Willem Bruynzeel, Dutch timber-merchant
1913 – Georgy Nikolaevich Flerov, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Physicist (nuclear fission)
1938 – Simon Estes, Centerville Iowa, bass/baritone (Wonton, Don Carlos)
1940 – Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, chairman (South African Prog Fed Party, 1979-86)
1971 – Elizabeth Lackey, American actress
1983 – Glen Perkins, American baseball player
Famous Deaths
1758 – Johann Baptist Zimmermann, German stucco worker, buried at 78
1829 – Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, conspirator and supporter of the Mexican War of Independence (b. 1768)
1943 – Alexandre Yersin, Swiss bacteriologist (bacteria plague), dies at 79
1956 – Fred Merkle, American baseball figure (b. 1888)
1995 – Vladislav Listyev, TV journalist, dies at 48
2007 – Clem Labine, American baseball player (b. 1926)