President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods on suspected terrorists.
President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" during a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Orlando, Fla.
1979
The compact disc is presented to the public. The CD was developed by Philips and Sony. The companies later collaborated to produce a standard format and CD players.
The first episode of the radio comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is broadcast. Douglas Adams' radio play was a major success with BBC Radio 4 listeners. The book version consisting of five novels - A Trilogy in Five Parts - became a worldwide success.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army undertakes its first operation in Great Britain, planting four car bombs in London; 10 members of PIRA are arrested at Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the country.
Russian "February Revolution" begins in earnest with protests celebrating International Woman's Day and riots in St Petersburg over food rations and conduct of the war [OS=Feb 23].
Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman with a pilot's license. The French aviatrix was also the first woman to fly solo. She died at the age of 36 when her experimental plane crashed at Le Crotoy airfield in northern France.