By The Associated Press
                - Today is Monday, Feb. 22, the 53nd day of 1999. There are 312 days
                  left in the year.

                - On Feb. 22, 1732, the first U.S. president, George Washington, was
                  born at his parents' plantation in the Virginia Colony.
                - In 1784, a U.S. merchant ship, the "Empress of China," left New York
                  City for the Far East.
                - In 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the U.S.
                - In 1865, Tennessee adopted a new constitution abolishing slavery.
                - In 1879, Frank Winfield Woolworth opened a five-cent store in Utica,
                  N.Y.
                - In 1889, President Cleveland signed a bill to admit the Dakotas,
                  Montana and Washington state to the Union.
                - In 1892, "Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde was first performed,
                  at London's St. James's Theater.
                - In 1924, Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio
                  broadcast from the White House.
                - In 1973, the U.S. and Communist China agreed to establish liaison
                  offices.
                - In 1980, in a stunning upset, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated
                  the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y., 4-3.
                - In 1987, pop artist Andy Warhol died at a New York City hospital at
                  age 58.
                - Ten years ago: Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, who had sentenced author
                  Salman Rushdie to death, said economic sanctions would not change
                  his stance, and that publication of Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses"
                  was a sign from God that Iran should not reach out to the West.
                - Five years ago: The Justice Department charged 31-year CIA veteran
                  Aldrich Ames and his wife, Rosario, with selling national security
                  secrets to the Soviet Union. (Ames was later sentenced to life in
                  prison; his wife received a 5-year term.)
                - One year ago: Abraham A. Ribicoff, the former Connecticut governor
                  and senator who served as President Kennedy's secretary of Health,
                  Education and Welfare, died in Riverdale, N.Y., at age 87. The Czech
                  Republic defeated Russia 1-0 to win men's hockey as the Nagano
                  Winter Olympics came to a close.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Actor Sir John Mills is 91.
                - Announcer Don Pardo is 81.
                - Actor Paul Dooley is 71.
                - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., is 67.
                - Singer Ernie K-Doe is 63.
                - Movie director Jonathan Demme is 55.
                - Actress Ellen Greene is 49.
                - Actress Miou-Miou is 49.
                - Actress Julie Walters is 49.
                - Basketball Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving is 49.
                - Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 40.
                - Actress-singer Lea Salonga is 28.
                - Actor Jose Solano ("Baywatch") is 28.
                - Tennis player Michael Chang is 27.
                - Actress Drew Barrymore is 24.