KALWSunrise in San Francisco: 7:02 a.m. Sunset: 5:46 p.m.
Day Length: 10 hours, 43+1/2-minutes
Moonrise: 8:07 a.m. Moonset: 8:48 p.m.
Today is: Mardi Gras! (Fat Tuesday) Laissez les bon temps roulez!
On this date in history ...
1541 - The city of Santiago, Chile was founded.
1554 - Lady Jane Grey was beheaded after being charged with treason. She had claimed the throne of England for only nine days.
1733 - Savannah, GA, was founded.
1870 - In the Utah Territory, women gained the right to vote.
1878 - Frederick W. Thayer patented the baseball catcher’s mask.
1879 - The first artificial ice rink opened in North America. It was at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY.
1880 - The National Croquet League was organized in Philadelphia, PA.
1892 - In the U.S., President Lincoln's birthday was declared to be a national holiday.
1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded.
1915 - The cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, DC.
1924 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge made the first presidential political speech on radio.
1924 - "The Eveready Hour" became radio’s first sponsored network program. The National Carbon Company was the first sponsor of a network show.
1934 - The Export-Import Bank was incorporated.
1940 - Mutual Radio presented the first broadcast of the radio play "The Adventures of Superman."
1968 - "Soul on Ice" by Eldridge Cleaver was published for the first time.
1971 - James Cash (J.C.) Penney died at the age of 95. The company closed for business for one-half day as a memorial to the company's founder.
1973 - The State of Ohio went metric, becoming the first in the U.S. to post metric distance signs.
1973 - American prisoners of war were released for the first time during the Vietnam conflict.
1998 - A U.S. federal judge declared that the presidential line-item veto was unconstitutional.
1999 - U.S. President Clinton was acquitted by the U.S. Senate on two impeachment articles. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice.
2001 - The space probe NEAR landed on the asteroid Eros. It was the first time that any craft had landed on a small space rock.
2002 - Kenneth Lay, former Enron CEO, exercised his constitutional rights and refused to testify to the U.S. Congress about the collapse of Enron.
2004 - Mattel announced that "Barbie" and "Ken" were breaking up. The dolls had met on the set of their first television commercial together in 1961.
Birthdays: (if Feb. 12 is your special day, you share it with:)
Abraham Lincoln (U.S.) 1809 - Sixteenth President of the United States
Charles Darwin 1809
Ted Mack (William Maguiness) 1904
Tex (Gordon) Beneke 1914
Lorne Green 1915
Dom DiMaggio 1917 - Baseball player
Forrest Tucker 1919
Mel Powell 1923
Franco Zeffirelli 1923 - Movie director
Joe Garagiola 1926 - Baseball broadcaster
Bill Russell 1934 - Basketball player
Gene McDaniels 1935
Joe Don Baker 1936 - Actor
Judy Blume 1938 - Author of books for children and young adults.
Raymond Manzarek 1939 - Musician (The Doors)
Moe Bandy 1944
Charles Pasarell 1944
Maud Adams 1945
Cliff DeYoung 1945 - Actor, musician
Joe Schermie 1948 - Musician (Three Dog Night)
Michael Ironside 1950
Steve Hackett 1950 - Musician (Genesis)
Michael McDonald 1952 - Musician (Doobie Brothers)
Simon MacCorkindale 1952
Joanna Kerns 1953 - Actress ("Growing Pains")
Arsenio Hall 1955 - Actor, comedian , talk show host
Christine Elise 1965 - Actress ("Beverly Hills 90210")
Josh Brolin 1968 - Actor ("No Country for Old Men")
Jim Creeggan (Barenaked Ladies)1970
Keri Lewis 1971 - Musician (Mint Condition)
Christina Ricci 1980 - Actress