Today’s highlight

On Feb. 22, 2021, the number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On this date

1630: English colonists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony first sampled popcorn brought to them by a Native American named Quadequina for their Thanksgiving celebration.

1732: The first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.

1935: It became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

1967: More than 25,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border. (Although the communists were driven out, they later returned.)

1987: Pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at age 58.

2016: The City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina, voted 7-4 to pass a new law allowing transgender people to choose public bathrooms that corresponded to their gender identity.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Paul Dooley is 95. Actor James Hong is 94. Actor John Ashton is 75. Actor Miou-Miou is 73. Actor Julie Walters is 73. Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving is 73. Actor Ellen Greene is 72. Former Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is 71. Former White House adviser David Axelrod is 68. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 64. World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh is 60. Actor-comedian Rachel Dratch is 57. Actor Paul Lieberstein is 56.

Actor Jeri Ryan is 55. Actor Thomas Jane is 54. TV host Clinton Kelly is 54. Actor Tamara Mello is 53. Actor-singer Lea Salonga is 52. Actor Jose Solano is 52. International Tennis Hall of Famer Michael Chang is 51. Rock musician Scott Phillips is 50. Singer James Blunt is 49. Actor Drew Barrymore is 48. Actor Liza Huber is 48. Rock singer Tom Higgenson (Plain White T’s) is 44. Rock musician Joe Hottinger (Halestorm) is 41. Actor Zach Roerig is 38.

The Associated Press