TODAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 17TH

1781 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826) is born.

1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr, Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.

1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.

1844 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913) is born.

1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.

1905 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1815) dies.

1908 – Red Barber, American sportscaster (d. 1992) is born.

1909 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829) dies.

1933 – Newsweek magazine is first published.

1936 – Jim Brown, American football player, Cleveland Browns, and actor is born.

1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989) is born.

1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.

1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.

1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.

1972 – Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.

1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, actress, and singer is born.

1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer is born.

1996 – In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.

1996 – NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

2015 – 18 people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.