Feb. 17th, this day in history The first "Trial of the Century", 1906

LEAD STORY

Madame Butterfly premieres, 1904

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

French and British battle in the Indian Ocean, 1782

AUTOMOTIVE

Beetle overtakes Model T as world's best-selling car, 1972

CIVIL WAR

Union troops sack Columbia, South Carolina, 1865

COLD WAR

Voice of America begins broadcasts to Russia,1947

CRIME

The first "Trial of the Century", 1906

DISASTER

Ferry sinks near Haiti,1993

GENERAL INTEREST

Deadlock over presidential election ends, 1801

Gromyko becomes foreign minister, 1957

China invades Vietnam,1979

HOLLYWOOD

Lee Strasberg dies, 1982

LITERARY

Dave Eggers’ Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius debuts, 2000

MUSIC

Brian Wilson rolls tape on "Good Vibrations," take one, 1966

OLD WEST

Senate passes Missouri Compromise, 1820

PRESIDENTIAL

Thomas Jefferson is elected, 1801

SPORTS

Kasparov defeats chess-playing computer, 1996

VIETNAM WAR

Taylor testifies on Operation Rolling Thunder, 1966

U.S. casualty rate reaches record high,1968

WORLD WAR I

Zeppelin L-4 crashes into North Sea, 1915

WORLD WAR II

U.S. troops land on Eniwetok atoll, 1944