Moments in Time – February 1, 2023

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• On Feb. 19, 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Poland to a prosperous merchant family. Originally designed for a career in church law, he is considered the father of modern astronomy and was the first European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.
• On Feb. 16, 1894, gunslinger John Wesley Hardin was pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Reputed to have fatally shot one man merely for snoring, Hardin likely killed more than 40 people, and while he became an attorney after his release, the following year he took a bullet in the back himself in a revenge shooting.
• On Feb. 18, 1937, severe dust storms hit five western states, resulting in a dozen deaths within a few days. Citizens were advised to plug their windowsills and door jambs and hang wet sheets over their doors and windows. They could taste dirt and dust in their food, and the clouds of it were so thick that they blocked the sun.
• On Feb. 15, 1953, 17-year-old Tenley Albright, of Boston, became the first American female to win the world figure skating championship at an outdoor rink in Davos, Switzerland, with all seven judges giving her a first-place vote. Three years later, at the Winter Olympics, she also became America’s first female skating gold medalist.
• On Feb. 14, 1962, Jacqueline Kennedy led a virtual tour of the White House’s state rooms, which she had recently refurbished. Wearing a red wool dress and pearls, she described the mansion’s antiques, furnishings and historic portraits to a wide TV audience at home, earning both critical praise and an honorary Emmy.
• On Feb. 13, 1974, the Symbionese Liberation Army, which had kidnapped 19-year-old heiress Patricia Hearst, demanded a ransom in the form of $70 worth of food to be given to every needy Californian – an exchange that could cost as much as $400 million.
• On Feb. 17, 2007, customs officers in Sydney, Australia, freed Sylvester Stallone after holding him for several hours and confiscating items from his staff members’ suitcases. Officials claimed X-rays revealed banned products but refused to give any further details, and Stallone called the incident “a misunderstanding.” The actor was in Australia to promote his Rocky Balboa character.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.