2007 Astro-nut NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak is arrested for attempted kidnapping after driving from Houston to Orlando and confronting another female astronaut who was dating her ex-boyfriend. Her travel supplies included adult diapers, a black wig, rubber tubing, gloves, BB-pistol, and plastic bags.

1988 Manuel Noriega is indicted by a Miami grand jury on charges of accepting $4,600,000 in bribes from major drug dealers.

1974 Patty Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. They demanded a ransom of $70 for every needy person in California. She later participated in a bank robbery with them for which she was convicted.

1974 First Close-up Images of Venus Returned by NASA's Mariner 10.

1972 Screening of airline passengers and luggage becomes mandatory in the U.S.

1932 First educational TV station W2XAB of New York.

1918 Russian Orthodox Church formally separates from Russia following the Bolshevik Revolution.

1869 World's largest gold nugget The Welcome Stranger, weighing more than 2,250 troy ounces, is found in Victoria, Australia.

1850 First push-key adding machine is patented, by Du Bois Parmelee.

1682 Gregorian calendar is adopted by Alsace (part of France at the time): Today's date became February 16.

1631 Roger Williams arrives in the colonies. He founded Providence, Rhode Island (1636) and established the first Baptist Church in the colonies.

1943 Nolan Kay Bushnell American businessman, created Pong (1971) the first coin-operated video game and founded the video game company Atari (1972) and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theaters.

1942 Roger Staubach American Football Hall of Fame quarterback.

1934 Hank Aaron (Henry Louis Aaron), American Baseball Hall of Famer. He holds the major league record of 755 home runs.

1919 Red Buttons d. 2006 (Aaron Chwatt), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Sayonara (1957, Oscar).

1914 William S. Burroughs d. 1997 American author, Naked Lunch (1959).  He is credited with being the first to use "heavy metal" to describe something hip.

1906 John Carradine d. 1988 (Richmond Reed Carradine), American actor.

1878 Andre Gustave Citroën d. 1935 French automaker, industrialist. He brought Henry Ford's mass production to the European auto industry. In 1915, during the lead up to WWI, he built a munitions plant that had a capacity of 55,000 shells a day. After the war he converted his munitions plant to produce the small, inexpensive Citroën automobile (1919).

1848 Belle Starr d. 1889 (Myra Belle Shirley), American outlaw, horse thief, "The Bandit Queen." Her 18-year-old son, Eddie Reed, is believed by some historians to be the one who killed her while she was riding in Montana.

1840 John Boyd Dunlop d. 1921 Scottish veterinarian, patented the pneumatic tire (1888).

1788 Sir Robert Peel d. 1850 English statesman, founder of the metropolitan police in London (c1829). The term "bobbie" is derived from his first name.

1995 Doug McClure b. 1935 American actor. TV: The Virginian (Trampas).

1993 Joseph L. Mankiewicz b. 1909 American Oscar-winning screenwriter, director. Film: A Letter to Three Wives (1949, Oscar) and All About Eve (1950, Oscar). He coined the phrases "my little chickadee" for W.C. Fields and "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night!" for Bette Davis.

1984 Charles "Chuck" Cooper b. 1926 American basketball player. He was the first black drafted by the NBA (1950, Boston Celtics).

1946 George Arliss b. 1868 (George Augustus Andrews), British Oscar-winning actor. Film: Disraeli (1929, Oscar).

1888 Anton Mauve b. 1838 Dutch painter, for whom the color "mauve" is named.

1823 Jean Laffite b. 1780 French pirate, leader of a band of adventurers off the coast of Louisiana. He served with the U.S. in the War of 1812 in which he help Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British.

1818 Charles XIII b. 1748 King of Sweden (1809-18) and Norway (1814-18).

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