1858 A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.
1892 Pike's Peak (Colorado) is set aside as a forest preserve.
1922 Insulin is discovered by Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best.
1937 General Motors agreed to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union, thereby ending the current sit-down strike against them.
1942 The comic book, "Archie" makes its debut.
1945 During World War II, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
1960 Jack Paar walked off while live on the air on the "Tonight Show," with four minutes left. He did this in response to censors cutting out a four-minute joke from the show the night before.
1968 The new 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden officially opened in New York. This was the fourth Garden.
1975 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female leader of a British political party when she is elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1979 Nine days after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran (after 15 years in exile) power was seized by his followers.
1984 The tenth Space Shuttle mission returned to Earth safely.
1990 After 27 years in prison, South African opposition leader Nelson Mandela is released.
1993 Janet Reno was appointed to the position of attorney general by U.S. President Clinton. She was the first female to hold the position.
2000 The space shuttle Endeavor took off. The mission was to gather information for the most detailed map of the earth ever made.
2000 Great Britain suspended self-rule in Northern Ireland after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) failed to begin decommissioning (disarming) by a February deadline.
2002 The six stars on NBC's "Friends" signed a deal for $24 million each for the ninth and final season of the series.

Famous Birthdays
Actress Brandy Norwood born 1979
Actress Jennifer Aniston born 1969
Singer Sheryl Crow born 1963
Actor Burt Reynolds born 1936