TODAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 27TH

1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.

1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (d. 1882) is born.

1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.

1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.

1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.

1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.

1892 – Louis Vuitton, French businessman, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821) dies.

1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.

1932 – Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress, singer, and producer (d. 2011) is born.

1934 – Ralph Nader, American lawyer and politician is born.

1939 – United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes violate property owners' rights and are therefore illegal.

1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.

1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.

1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.

1959 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Van Zant) is born.

1973 – The American Indian Movement (AIM) occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

1981 – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor is born.

1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".

2004 – The initial version of the John Jay Report, with details about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States, is released.

2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and journalist, founded the National Review (b. 1925) dies.

2011 – Duke Snider, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1926) dies.

2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director (b. 1931) dies.

2015 – A gunman kills seven people then himself in a series of shootings in Tyrone, Missouri.