Today is Sunday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 1999. There are 306 days left in the
  year.

  - 1827: The first U.S. railroad chartered to carry passengers and
    freight, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, was incorporated.
  - 1844: A 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded, killing
    Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer
    and several others.
  - 1861: The Territory of Colorado was organized.
  - 1940: The first televised college basketball games were broadcast
    by New York City station W2XBS. Pittsburgh defeated Fordham, 57-37,
    and New York University beat Georgetown, 50-27, at Madison Square
    Garden.
  - 1951: The Senate committee headed by Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn.,
    issued a preliminary report saying at least two major crime
    syndicates were operating in the US.
  - 1974: The U.S. and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a
    seven-year break.
  - 1983: "M*A*S*H" ended after 11 seasons on CBS with a special 2
    1/2-hour finale that was watched by an estimated 121.6 million
    people.
  - 1986: Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme was shot to death in central
    Stockholm while walking from a movie theater with his wife, Lisbeth.
  - 1993: A gun battle erupted at a compound near Waco, Texas, when
    Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve
    warrants on the Branch Davidians; four agents and six Davidians
    were killed as a 51-day standoff began.

  *Happy Birthday*
  ----------------
  - Mario Andretti, 58, auto racer
  - Stephanie Beacham, 51, actress
  - Frank Bonner, 56, actor, "WKRP in Cincinnati"
  - Rae Dawn Chong, 37, actress
  - Robert Sean Leonard, 29, actor, "Dead Poets Society"
  - Gavin MacLeod, 67, actor, "The Love Boat," "The Mary Tyler Moore
    Show"
  - Bernadette Peters, 50, actress/singer
  - Mercedes Ruehl, 50, actress, "The Fisher King"
  - "Bubba" Smith, 53, NFL tackle/actor
  - Tommy Tune, 59, actor/dancer
  - John Turturro, 40, actor, "Quiz Show"