TODAY is Thursday, February 21, the 52nd day of 2008. There are 314 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE

In 1907, poet W.H. Auden was born in York, England.

In 1916, the First World War Battle of Verdun began in France as German forces attacked; the French were able to prevail after ten months of fighting.

In 1925, The New Yorker magazine made its debut.

In 1972, President Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Shanghai.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

"There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action." — Adlai E. Stevenson, American politician and diplomat (1900-1965).