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On Feb. 12, 1983, composer and pianist Eubie Blake, who wrote such songs as "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Memories of You," died in Brooklyn, New York, at 96.
On this date:
In 1554, Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the throne of England for nine days, and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were beheaded after being condemned for high treason.
In 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in a log cabin in Hardin (now LaRue) County, Kentucky.
In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP, was founded.
In 1912, Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, abdicated, marking the end of the Qing Dynasty.
In 1914, groundbreaking took place for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (A year later on this date, the cornerstone was laid.)
In 1973, Operation Homecoming began as the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.
In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.
In 2000, Charles M. Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, died in Santa Rosa, California, at age 77.
In 2002, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic went on trial in The Hague, accused of war crimes (he died in 2006 before the trial could conclude).
In 2006, figure skater Michelle Kwan effectively retired from competition as she withdrew from the Turin Olympics due to injury (she was replaced on the U.S. team by Emily Hughes).
In 2012, Adele emerged as the top winner at the Grammy Awards, winning six trophies, including record and song of the year for "Rolling in the Deep" and album of the year for "21," in a ceremony shadowed by the death of Whitney Houston the day before.
In 2013, the manhunt for a rogue ex-Los Angeles cop Christopher Dorner, who was seeking revenge for his firing, came to an end with his apparent suicide in a mountain cabin following a gunbattle with law enforcement; authorities blamed him for killing four people, including two officers.