Today’s highlight

On Feb. 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.

On this date

1792: President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department.

1905: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.

1933: Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to repeal Prohibition.

1965: America’s Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon, as planned, after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.

Today’s birthdays

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is 81. Actor Sandy Duncan is 77. Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is 69. Actor Anthony Head is 69. Country singer Leland Martin is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is 60. Model Cindy Crawford is 57. Singer Brian Littrell is 48. Actor Jocko Sims is 42. Singer-musician Chris Thile is 42. Actor-singer Jessie Mueller is 40. MLB All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander is 40. Comedian Trevor Noah is 39. Actor Daniella Pineda is 36. Actor Miles Teller is 36. Singer Rihanna is 35. Actor Jack Falahee is 34.

The Associated Press