On Feb. 9, 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president.

In 1943, the battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.

In 1950, in a speech, Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists.

In 1964, the Beatles made their first live American television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” broadcast from New York on CBS.

In 1986, during its latest visit to the solar system, Halley’s Comet came closest to the sun (its next return will be in 2061).

In 2002, Britain’s Princess Margaret died in London.

In 2020, “Parasite,” from South Korea, won the best picture Oscar, becoming the first foreign-language film to take home the biggest honor in film.