Today in HistoryToday is Ash Wednesday, February 21, the 52nd day of 2007. There are 313 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.

In 1916, the First World War battle of Verdun began in France. The epic battle lasted until December 18, causing 434,000 German and 543,000 French casualties.

In 1944, in the Second World War, Japanese Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama was replaced as Chief of the Imperial Army General Staff by Gen. Hideki Tojo, the prime minister.

In 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X (Malcolm Little), 39, was shot to death in New York by assassins identified as Black Muslims.

In 1989, Czech dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was jailed by Prague’s communist authorities for incitement and obstruction. After the fall of communism, he became his country’s president.

In 1997, a bomb exploded at a gay and lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, injuring five people. Eric Rudolph later admitted targeting the club and is serving multiple life sentences.

>THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“You owe it to us all to get on with what you’re good at.” — W.H. Auden (1907-1973).