By The Associated Press

                - Today is Friday, Feb. 26, the 57nd day of 1999. There are 308 days
                  left in the year.

                - On Feb. 26, 1919, Congress established Grand Canyon National
                  Park in Arizona.
                - In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Island of Elba to
                  begin his second conquest of France.
                - In 1848, the Second French Republic was proclaimed.
                - In 1929, President Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand
                  Teton National Park.
                - In 1945, a midnight curfew on night clubs, bars and other places
                  of entertainment was set to go into effect across the nation.
                - In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain
                  had developed its own atomic bomb.
                - In 1979, a total solar eclipse cast a moving shadow 175 miles
                  wide from Oregon to North Dakota before moving into Canada.
                - In 1987, the Tower Commission, which probed the Iran-Contra
                  affair, issued a report that rebuked President Reagan for failing
                  to control his national security staff.
                - In 1991, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad
                  Radio that he had ordered his forces to withdraw from Kuwait.
                - In 1993, a bomb built by a group of Islamic extremists exploded
                  in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six
                  people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
                - Ten years ago: President Bush's visit to China was marred by the
                  refusal of Chinese authorities to allow dissident Fang Lizhi to
                  attend a banquet hosted by Bush. Defense Secretary-designate John
                  Tower, dogged by questions about a possible drinking problem,
                  publicly pledged not to drink any alcohol during his term of office
                  if confirmed by the Senate.
                - Five years ago: A jury in San Antonio acquitted 11 followers of
                  David Koresh of murder, rejecting claims they had ambushed federal
                  agents; five were convicted of manslaughter.
                - One year ago: A jury in Amarillo, Texas, rejected an $11 million
                  lawsuit brought by Texas cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey's talk
                  show for a price fall after a segment on food safety that included
                  a discussion about mad-cow disease.

                *** Today's Birthdays

                - Actor Mason Adams is 80.
                - Actor Tony Randall is 79.
                - Actress Betty Hutton is 78.
                - Singer Fats Domino is 71.
                - Political columnist Robert Novak is 68.
                - Singer Johnny Cash is 67.
                - Country-rock musician Paul Cotton (Poco) is 56.
                - Actor-director Bill Duke is 56.
                - Singer Mitch Ryder is 54.
                - Singer Michael Bolton is 46.
                - Actress Jennifer Grant is 33.
                - Singer Erykah Badu is 28.