Today in History - History - February 20th

1974Gordie Howe comes out of retirement for $1M from Houston Aeros, WHA

1994Pope John Paul II demands juristic discrimination of homosexuals

1997SF Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9M 2 year contract

1963Willie Mays (SF Giants) signs a record $100,000 per year contract

1810Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, executed.

1975Margaret Thatcher elected leader of British Conservative Party

1959The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

1986Mike Tyson sexually harasses a woman in Albany NY

19784th People's Choice Awards: John Wayne & Barbra Streisand win (Motion Picture) and James Garner & Mary Tyler Moore win (TV)

1832Charles Darwin visits Fernando Noronha in Atlantic Ocean

1942Phil Esposito, Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, NHL center/GM (Bruins, Rangers)

1887Vincent Massey, Toronto Ontario, Governor General of Canada

1963Charles Barkley, Leads Alabama, NBA forward (Phoenix, Rockets, Oly-gold-96)

1988Rihanna, Barbadian singer

1951Gordon Brown, Giffnock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, British Labour Prime Minister (2007—10)

1967Kurt Cobain, Aberdeen Washington, rock vocalist (Nirvana)

1968Comedian John Cleese (Monty Python) marries actress Connie Booth

1989Police violence victim Rodney King (23) weds Crystal Lynnette Waters

1895Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, anti-slavery leader, dies at 77

1907Henri Moissan [Ferdinand-Frederic-], chemist (Nobel 1906), dies at 54