Under Saturday, February 26, the book of history records, among other things:
212: Emperor Caracalla has his brother and fellow ruler Geta murdered and becomes sole ruler in the Roman Empire.
1752: Maria Theresa establishes the “number lottery”, today’s small lottery.
1937: The crime film “His Best Friend” with Harry Piel premieres in Berlin.
1947: The National Council passes the Collective Bargaining Agreement Act.
1947: Beginning of the high treason trial against the corporate state foreign minister Guido Schmidt because of the July agreement with Nazi Germany from 1936. He is acquitted.
1952: Prime Minister Churchill announces that Britain has its own atomic bomb.
1962: The US Supreme Court has ruled that racial segregation on public transportation is unconstitutional.
1972: The ascent portion of the Luna-20 probe, launched on February 14, returns to Earth with soil samples from the Moon.
1972: After a dam burst at Buffalo Creek (West Virginia), 118 people died in the floods.
1977: The German news magazine “Der Spiegel” uncovers an eavesdropping by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution against nuclear physicist Klaus Traube.
1987: Serious riots broke out on the occasion of the visit of the Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss to the opera ball and against the nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf.
1987: Afghan planes bomb two Pakistani border villages, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 200.
1992: The National Council passes the amendment to the 1992 ban law. The aim of the amendment to the constitutional law is to make the ban law more efficient for courts and security authorities as Austria’s protective norm against Nazi activities.
2007: Martin Scorsese becomes the hero of the 79th Academy Awards. He won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, for his mafia epic The Departed. Helen Mirren is honored as “Best Actress” for her role in “The Queen”, the Oscar for “Best Actor” goes to Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland”.
birthdays: Victor Hugo, French poet (1802-1885); Charles Monroe Sheldon, US writer (1857-1946); Pierre Mac Orlan, French writer (1882-1970); Vercors, French writer/publisher (1902-1991); Rolf Badenhausen, German theater scholar (1907-1987); Kurt Rudolf Fischer, Austria. philosopher (1922-2014); Johnny Cash, US country singer (1932-2003); Eduardo Arroyo, Spanish painter (1937-2018); Sandie Shaw, British singer (1947).
days of death: Max Taut, German architect (1884-1967); Nuccio Bertone, Italian designer and car constructor (1914-1997); Hans Friedrich Kühnelt, Austria. poet and playwright (1919-1997); Hazy Osterwald, Switzerland. musician (1922-2012); Knut Frydenlund, Norway. politician (1927-1987); Helmar Dumbs, Austria. Journalist (1978-2017).
name days: Mechthild, Alexander, Ulrich, Edelbert, Gotthard, Gotthilf, Ottokar, Dionysius.