10 years ago

From the Journal Tribune: “Five snowmobiles and one sport utility vehicle went through the ice on Northeast Pond during snowmobile races Sunday. Rescue personnel said no one was hurt in the mishaps. The annual ice races, which had a late start due to thin ice, brought hundreds of people to Northeast Pond Sunday, said Jason Cole, assistant rescue chief in Lebanon.”

50 years ago

From the Biddeford-Saco Journal: “It was back to the shovels and plows today for local residents as the latest major storm of the winter left upwards of 17 inches in the area. Several motorists found the heavy snowfall too much for them and abandoned cars to the tow trucks. Biddeford Police Chief Edgar Sevigny said about 25 cars which were blocking snow removal were towed away and warned any others will be hailed off if they are left on streets to hamper the work of street crews.”

100 years ago

From the Biddeford Daily Journal: “The Biddeford high boys’ debating team defeated the Westbrook high team in a spirited and interesting discussion at the Congregational church in Westbrook last night. The decision of the judges was two to one in favor of the negative, which side was supported by the local aggregation. It was the first debate in Bowdoin Interscholastic Debating league, and by winning this contest, Biddeford high becomes a competitor in the contest for the silver loving cup to be held early in the Spring.”

— Krysteana Scribner

Today in History

Today is Friday, Feb. 26, the 57th day of 2016. There are 309 days left in the year.

On this date: In 1616, astronomer Galileo Galilei met with a Roman Inquisition official, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who ordered him to abandon the “heretical” concept of heliocentrism, which held that the earth revolved around the sun, instead of the other way around. In 1904, the United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to undertake efforts to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus. In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. In 1993, a truck bomb built by terrorists exploded in the parking garage of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. In 2012, Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he’d acted in self-defense. (Zimmerman was subsequently acquitted of second-degree murder.)

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 26, 1916, actor-comedian Jackie Gleason was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Ten years ago On the final day of the Turin Winter Olympics, Sweden beat Finland 3-2 to win the men’s hockey gold. Germany finished first in overall medals with 29 and golds with 11, while the Americans won 25 medals overall, nine of them gold. Drew Lachey leaped to victory with professional partner Cheryl Burke on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Five years ago In a statement, President Barack Obama said Moammar Gadhafi had lost his legitimacy to rule and urged the Libyan leader to leave power immediately. Space shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station, making its final visit before being parked at a museum.

One year ago Theodore Hesburgh, 97, a Catholic priest who transformed the University of Notre Dame into a school known almost as much for academics as football and who championed human rights around the globe, died in South Bend, Indiana.