• On Feb. 5, 1922, DeWitt and Lila Wallace self-published and marketed the first Reader’s Digest magazine, designed to provide abridged articles on a wide variety of subjects for easy reading. It eventually gained a circulation of more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and is still believed to be the best-selling consumer magazine in the country.
• On Feb. 6, 1911, Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. Reagan spent 30 years as an entertainer in radio, film and television before winning the California governor’s seat in 1966. Elected as America’s 40th president in 1980, he survived an assassination attempt and became the most popular president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• On Feb. 7, 1301, King Edward I of England gave his son Edward (later King Edward II) the title of Prince of Wales. Edward I had conquered Wales and ordered the execution of David III, the last native Prince of Wales, in 1283. To this day the title “Prince of Wales” is reserved exclusively for the heir apparent to the British throne.
• On Feb. 8, 1983, a 5-year-old thoroughbred stallion named Shergar was stolen from a stud farm owned by the Aga Khan in County Kildare, Ireland. Worth a stunning $13.5 million and commanding stud fees of approximately $100,000, the animal was never seen again. No ransom was paid and the case was never solved.
• On Feb. 9, 2008, Turkey’s parliament approved two constitutional amendments easing the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in universities. While the government claimed the ban would result in many girls being denied an education, the secular establishment saw it as a step in allowing a more prominent Islamic influence on the state.
• On Feb. 10, 1942, Glenn Miller became the first artist to win a gold record award, for his single “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” The tune was featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996.
• On Feb. 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from a South African prison after serving 27 years of a life sentence on charges of attempting to overthrow the apartheid government.
Four years later, he was elected president in the country’s first all-race elections.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
