From left, President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, stand outside the White House during a ceremony to honor the 500,000 Americans that died from COVID-19, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 in Washington.
The Biden administration's nominee for Secretary of Interior, Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., speaks at The Queen Theater in Wilmington Del., Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020.
In 1942, the first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised two American flags (the second flag-raising was captured in the iconic Associated Press photograph.)
In 1981, an attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (However, the attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)
In 2006, Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa (shih-ZOO’-kuh ah-rah-KAH’-wah) stunned favorites Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya (sloot-SKY’-yah) of Russia to claim the ladies’ figure skating gold medal at the Turin Winter Olympics.
In 2007, a Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was beaten and shot after being accused of whistling at a white woman, declining to indict the woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, for manslaughter.
Ten years ago: In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
One year ago: Japan reported the third fatality from among those who’d been aboard a quarantined cruise ship. Iran raised its death toll to eight, the highest toll outside China; Italy reported 152 cases, the largest number outside of Asia, including three deaths. Italian authorities said they would shut down Venice’s famed Carnival events in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
One year ago: Chinese President Xi Jinping defended the Communist Party’s response to the coronavirus as “timely and effective,” but warned that the epidemic was still “grim and complex.”
1938 — Joe Louis knocks out Nathan Mann in the third round to defend his world heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Heavyweight champion Joe Louis, during training on June 21, 1938, at his Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, training camp for his fight with Max Schmeling at the Yankee Stadium in New York on June 22. (AP Photo)
1960 — Figure skater Carol Heiss captures the first gold medal for the U.S. in the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics.
Carol Heiss comes out of a spin during the figure skating competition of the VIII Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley, Ca. on Feb. 23, 1960. She won America's first gold medal of the 1960 Winter Games. (AP Photo)
1968 — Wilt Chamberlain becomes first player to score 25,000 points in the NBA.
Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers watches his 25,000th career point start through the hoop with 1:51 left on the score board in the second quarter of the basketball game with the Detroit Pistons in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 23, 1968. Chamberlain made the shot on a free throw. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)
1980 — Eric Heiden wins his fifth gold medal and shatters the world record by six seconds in 10,000-meter speed skating at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.
Eric Heiden, of Madison, Wis. speeds past banner waving fans,, Saturday, Feb. 23, 1980 as he is on way to a new world record in the 10,000 meter speed skating event, which he finished in 14:28.13. (AP Photo)
1985 — Indiana coach Bob Knight is ejected five minutes into the Hoosiers’ 72-63 loss to Purdue when he throws a chair across the court. Knight, after two fouls called on his team, is hit with his first technical. While Purdue was shooting the technical, Knight picks up a chair from the bench area and throws it across the court, earning his second technical.
This Feb. 23, 1985, file photo shows Indiana coach Bob Knight winding up and pitching a chair across the floor during Indiana's 72-63 loss to Purdue, in Bloomington, Ind. Knight and Ralph Sampson are among the eight members of the Class of 2011 of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
2006 — Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa, the 2004 world champion, stuns favorites Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya of Russia to claim the women’s figure skating gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
Shizuka Arakawa, of Japan, performs during the Women's Free Skate in Turin, Italy during the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
2007 — Tiger Woods’ winning streak on the PGA Tour, which began in July, comes to a shocking end. Woods fails to notice a ball mark in the line of his 4-foot birdie putt that would have won his third-round match against Nick O’Hern. Woods misses, then loses in 20 holes when O’Hern saves par with a 12-foot putt at the Accenture Match Play Championship.
Tiger Woods reacts after missing a birdie putt on the sixth hole during his third round match against Nick O'Hern at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz., Friday Feb. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt York)
2010 — Dutch skater Sven Kramer loses the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics when his coach Gerard Kemkers sends him the wrong way on a changeover during the 25 laps of the 10,000-meter speedskating race. Kramer had not lost a 10,000 in three years.
Netherlands's Sven Kramer throws his glasses away after being disqualified for he forgot to switch a lane during the men's 10,000 meter speed skating race at the Richmond Olympic Oval at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010. At right is his coach Gerard Kemkers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
2012 — National League MVP Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension is overturned by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, the first time a baseball player successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance.
This July 10. 2008 file photo shows Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun (8) celebrating with teammates after scoring a run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Hanisch, File)
2013 — Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche makes history just by stepping into the UFC cage. Rousey wins the UFC’s first women’s bout, beating Carmouche on an armbar, her signature move, with 11 seconds left in the first round of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 157.
Ronda Rousey fights Liz Carmouche during their UFC 157 women's bantamweight championship mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Rousey won by tapout in the first round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
2014 — Jason Collins becomes the first openly gay athlete in the United States four major pro leagues, playing 10 scoreless minutes with two rebounds and five fouls in the Brooklyn Nets' 108-102 victory of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins looks on from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Health workers take data from a woman before testing her for COVID-19, at the Escuela Militar de Ingenieria in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021.(AP Photo/Juan Karita)
President Joe Biden leaves after a virtual event with the Munich Security Conference in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Water to be loaded into vehicles is stacked at a City of Houston water distribution site Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Houston. The drive-thru stadium location was setup to provide bottled water to individuals who need water while the city remains on a boil water notice or because they lack water at home due to frozen or broken pipes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Adolfo Rivera poses in the plane he is making in the garage of his apartment building in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Rivera, a 70-year-old mechanical engineer, and university professor is making the wooden, two-seater aircraft for eight years now with government permission and estimates he has spent about 5,500 Euros ($6,660). (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
An Indian police officer comforts the wailing relative of a colleague during a wreath laying ceremony in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Anti-India rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed two police officers in an attack Friday in the disputed region's main city, officials said. Elsewhere in the Himalayan region, three suspected rebels and a policeman were killed in two gunbattles. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
Police officers and a doorman stand outside the King Edward VII Hospital in London, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Buckingham Palace said the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, 99-year-old Prince Philip was admitted to the private King Edward VII Hospital on Tuesday evening after feeling unwell. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Smoke billows from the Mt Etna volcano as seen from Riposto, Sicily, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Europe's most active volcano remains active scattering ashes around a vastly populated area on its slopes. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Demonstrators march during a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Violent street protests over the imprisonment of a rapper have erupted for a fourth straight night in Spain. Police in the northeastern region of Catalonia said some protesters pelted officers with bottles, stones, fireworks and paint on Friday. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A man points to a picture of victim Vili Viorel Paun who was killed one year ago on the parking lot in front of a kiosk were several were killed in Hanau, Germany, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before shooting himself. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Cleveland Cavaliers' Cedi Osman, left, fouls Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in a cage in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. Two trials against Navalny are being held Moscow City Court one considering an appeal against his imprisonment in the embezzlement case and another announcing a verdict in the defamation case. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A man grabs a tree to keep from being swept away by flood water through a flooded neighborhood following heavy rains in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. Heavy downpours combined with poor city sewage planning often causes heavy flooding in parts of greater Jakarta. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Traffic cones line around the empty parking lot of Dodger Stadium, a mass COVID-19 vaccination in Los Angeles, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. California has closed some vaccination centers and delayed appointments following winter storms elsewhere in the country that hampered the shipment of doses. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Police charge forward to disperse protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. Security forces in Myanmar ratcheted up their pressure against anti-coup protesters Saturday, using water cannons, tear gas, slingshots and rubber bullets against demonstrators and striking dock workers in Mandalay, the nation's second-largest city. (AP Photos)
Japan's Naomi Osaka serves to United States' Jennifer Brady during the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Hamish Blair)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes during a women's slalom, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Pro-democracy protesters hold posters with slogans denouncing the prime minister during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. The protesters are calling for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to step down hours after he survived a no-confidence vote in parliament amid allegations that his government mismanaged the economy, bungled the provision of COVID-19 vaccines, abused human rights and fostered corruption.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Japan's Naomi Osaka holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup aloft after defeating United States Jennifer Brady in the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
Edmonton Oilers' Adam Larsson (6) checks Calgary Flames' Sean Monahan (23) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Torino's Andrea Belotti, right, and Cagliari's Nahitan Nández vie for the ball during a Serie A soccer match between Cagliari and Torino, in Cagliari’s Sardegna Arena stadium, Italy, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. (Alessandro Tocco/LaPresse via AP)
A United Airlines plane with smoke trailing from its right side is seen heading east towards Denver International Airport, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 in Broomfield, Colo . Debris from a United Airlines plane fell onto Denver suburbs during an emergency landing Saturday, with one very large piece that appears to be part of the engine narrowly missing a home. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP)
Bystanders react at the scene of a multiple fatality shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, La., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. A suspect fatally shot two people at a gun store in a suburb of New Orleans on Saturday afternoon, and the shooter also died during gunfire as others engaged the suspect both inside and outside the outlet, authorities said. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
A goose is startled as Northup Grumman's Antares rocket lifts off the launch pad at NASA's Wallops Island flight facility in Wallops Island, Va., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. The rocket is delivering cargo to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic kisses the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021.(AP Photo/Mark Dadswell)
A North Metro firefighter walks past a large piece of an airplane engine in the front yard of a home on Elmwood Street near E. 13th Avenue, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, in Broomfield, Colo. Debris from a United Airlines plane fell onto Denver suburbs during an emergency landing Saturday after one of its engines suffered a catastrophic failure and rained pieces of the engine casing on a neighborhood where it narrowly missed a home. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP)
Italy's Luna Rossa team celebrate after defeating Britain's INEOS Team UK in race eight of the Prada Cup on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb.21, 2021. Italian challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will race defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th match for the America's Cup after beating Britain's Ineos Team UK in two races Sunday to seal a 7-1 win in the best-of-13 race challengers series final. (Alex Burton/NZ Herald via AP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic falls as he celebrates after defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021.(AP Photo/Mark Dadswell)
The Olympic Stadium is illuminated as the sun sets after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hertha BSC Berlin and RB Leipzig in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. Leipzig defeated Berlin by 3-0. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Crowds attend the 10th anniversary memorial service of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Today marked a decade since the quake struck, killing 185 people. (George Heard/NZ Herald via AP)
Media take images as a man throws a bottle agains a national police station during clashes following a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. Protests in support of a jailed rapper turned violent for a sixth consecutive night in Barcelona on Sunday with clashes between police and groups of mostly angry youths in the center of the Spanish city. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Monaco's Axel Disasi, fights for the ball with PSG's Layvin Kurzawa, top, during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Monaco, at the Parc des Princes stadium, in Paris, France, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Anti-coup protesters gather outside the Hledan Centre while the flag of the National League for Democracy party is waved from an overhead roadway in Yangon, Myanmar Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Protesters gathered in Myanmar's biggest city Monday despite the ruling junta's thinly veiled threat to use lethal force if people answered a call for a general strike opposing the military takeover three weeks ago.(AP Photo)
Anti-coup protesters raise their hands with clenched fists during a rally near the Mandalay Railway Station in Mandalay, Myanmar, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. A call for a Monday general strike by demonstrators in Myanmar protesting the military's seizure of power has been met by the ruling junta with a thinly veiled threat to use lethal force, raising the possibility of major clashes. (AP Photo)
Anti-coup protesters fill the main road during a rally in Mandalay, Myanmar Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. A call for a Monday general strike by demonstrators in Myanmar protesting the military's seizure of power has been met by the ruling junta with a thinly veiled threat to use lethal force, raising the possibility of major clashes.(AP Photo)
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. Let’s get caught up.
These headlines are in the news this morning: Deb Haaland will aim to “strike the right balance” if confirmed to lead Interior; security officials to testify today about Jan. 6 Capitol attack; and Biden leads nation in mourning of 500,000 Americans lost to pandemic.
Read on for these stories, other top headlines, celebrity birthdays and more.
Top stories
Interior nominee Haaland vows ‘balance’ on energy, climate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil and natural gas will continue to play a major role in America for years to come, even as the Biden administration seeks to conserve public lands and address climate change, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Interior Department pledges.
Deb Haaland, a New Mexico congresswoman named to lead the Interior Department, said she is committed to “strike the right balance” as the agency manages energy development and seeks to restore and protect the nation’s sprawling federal lands.
Haaland, 60, would be the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency. The Laguna Pueblo member and two-term congresswoman often draws on her experience as a single mother and the teachings of her ancestors as a reminder that action the U.S. takes on climate change, the environment and sacred sites will affect generations to come. Read more:
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Security officials to answer for Jan. 6 failures at Capitol
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is set to hear from former U.S. Capitol security officials for the first time about the massive law enforcement failures on Jan. 6, the day a violent mob laid siege to the building and interrupted the presidential electoral count.
Three of the four scheduled to testify Tuesday before two Senate committees resigned under pressure immediately after the deadly attack, including the former head of the Capitol Police. Read more:
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Biden mourns 500,000 dead, balancing nation’s grief and hope
WASHINGTON (AP) — With sunset remarks and a national moment of silence, President Joe Biden on Monday confronted head-on the country’s once-unimaginable loss — half a million Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic — as he tried to strike a balance between mourning and hope.
Addressing the “grim, heartbreaking milestone” directly and publicly, Biden stepped to a lectern in the White House Cross Hall, unhooked his face mask and delivered an emotion-filled eulogy for more than 500,000 Americans he said he felt he knew. Read more:
In other news today …
NASA on Monday released the first high-quality video of a spacecraft landing on Mars, a three-minute trailer showing the enormous orange and white parachute hurtling open and the red dust kicking up as rocket engines lowered the rover to the surface.
President Joe Biden’s pick for health secretary, Xavier Becerra, faces two days of contentious Senate hearings. Republicans are portraying the Californian as unfit, but Democrats are unfazed, accusing the GOP of playing politics despite the coronavirus pandemic.
A judge plans to hear arguments Tuesday in a dispute over whether Flint water prosecutors charged a former Michigan governor in the wrong county.
Facebook said on Tuesday it will lift its ban on Australians sharing news after it struck a deal with Australia’s government on legislation that would make digital giants pay for journalism.
A relative of Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced Tuesday to 10 months in prison for sexually assaulting a woman at his ancestral castle in Scotland.
The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested Monday in the United States and accused of helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar cartel and plot his audacious escape from a Mexican prison in 2015.
Actor Shailene Woodley confirmed that she’s engaged to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Click on the links below for full versions of these stories and scroll further for a look at today in history and celebrity birthdays.
