TODAY IN HISTORY

FEB 16TH

1804-U.S. frigate Philadelphia, captured and held by Barbary pirates at Tripoli during the Tripolitan War, was set fire to and destroyed by a small group of men led by Stephen Decatur.

1918-Lithuania proclaimed its independence from Russia.

1923-The tomb of King Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922, was opened.

1937-Nylon was patented.

1959-Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba after having ousted the right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista.

1968-The country's first 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, Ala.

1999-Turkish commandos captured Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah OcalanKurds. in Kenya, sparking seizures of embassies in Europe by