Today’s Highlights

On Feb. 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members.

On this date

1879: President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a law allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

1933: President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami that mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak.

1950: Walt Disney’s animated film “Cinderella” premiered in Boston.

1961: 73 people, including all 18 members of the U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia, were killed in an airline crash.

1978: Boxer Leon Spinks scored a massive upset as he defeated Muhammad Ali by split decision to become the world heavyweight champion.

2005: Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced in Boston to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges.

2013: A meteor exploded in Russia’s western Siberian sky, injuring nearly 1,500 people.

2022: The families of nine victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting agreed to a $73 million settlement of a lawsuit against Remington Arms.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Claire Bloom is 94. Songwriter Brian Holland is 84. Jazz musician Henry Threadgill is 81. Composer John Adams is 78. Cartoonist Art Spiegelman is 77. Actor Jane Seymour is 74. Singer Melissa Manchester is 74. Actor Lynn Whitfield is 72.