The season of Pre-Lent, once marked by the Roman Catholic Church, developed in the seventh century and included the three Sundays before the beginning of Lent. These Sundays are Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima—roughly 70, 60, and 50 days before Easter. The Ordinary Form of the Mass (Novus Ordo), introduced in 1969, does not officially celebrate Pre-Lent. However, these Pre-Lent Sundays are still included in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (Traditional Latin Mass or Tridentine Mass). These three Sundays are also celebrated by certain other Christian denominations.
Daily Calendar for Sunday, February 20, 2028
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Daily Calendar
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Sunday, February 20, 2028
Died
- Frederick Douglass (abolitionist) –
- Walter Winchell (journalist) –
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth (last surviving child of Teddy Roosevelt) –
- Rene Dubos (environmentalist, microbiologist) –
- Dick York (actor) –
- Gene Siskel (American film critic Gene Siskel died at age 53 in Evanston, Illinois.) –
- Sandra Dee (actress) –
- John Raitt (actor) –
- Hunter S. Thompson (journalist and author who unleashed the concept of gonzo journalism” in books like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) –
Born
- Ansel Adams (photographer) –
- Sidney Poitier (actor) –
- Phil Esposito (hockey player) –
- Charles Barkley (basketball player) –
- Cindy Crawford (model) –
- Lili Taylor (actress) –
- Trevor Noah (television host, comedian) –
- Rihanna (singer) –
- Olivia Rodrigo (singer) –
Events
- George Washington signed the Postal Act, creating the Federal Postal System with a per-mile rate structure –
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York City –
- Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake premiered –
- An auto-airplane combination, Arrowbile, completed for testing –
- V-2 rocket launched fruit flies to 68-mile altitude –
- Carolyn Cummins gave birth to the first of her five children. The second was born in 1953, 3rd in 1956, 4th in 1961 and the 5th in 1966. All five children have the same birthday. –
- Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. He made 3 trips around the earth in his Mercury-Atlas spacecraft, Friendship 7, in just under 5 hours –
- U.S.S.R.’s Mir space station launched –
- The Station nightclub experienced the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200. The fire started when pyrotechnics set off by Great White, the rock band playing that night, lit flammable soundproofing foam behind the stage –
- Billy Watson, from Landsdale, Pennsylvania, caught a New Jersey state record-setting 12-lb., 13-oz. red hake while bottom fishing at the Mud Hole, approximately 20 miles ESE of Manasquan, New Jersey. –
- Regeneration of Silene stenophylla from 30,000-year-old fruit tissue announced –
Weather
- A tornado tracked 15 miles from Shreveport to Abner, Louisiana, killed 8 people, and injured 50 –
- The temperature in Los Angeles, California, hit 95 degrees F, a record high for the month of February –