Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 February 26

John F. Bolt (1921–2004) was a United States Marine Corps aviator and a decorated flying ace who served during World War II and the Korean War. After dropping out of the University of Florida for financial reasons in 1941, he joined the Marine Corps at the height of World War II. Sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations, he flew an F4U Corsair during the campaigns in the Marshall Islands and New Guinea, claiming six victories against Japanese A6M Zeros. Bolt continued his service through the Korean War, entering combat through an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force in late 1952. Over a period of several weeks in mid-1953, he led flights of F-86 Sabres into combat with MiG-15s of the Chinese Air Force, scoring six victories during fights along the northern border of North Korea, commonly known as "MiG Alley," giving him a total of 12 career victories. Bolt stayed in the Marine Corps until 1962, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel and serving as an analyst and instructor in his later career. In retirement, he qualified as a lawyer in Florida. He remains the only US Marine to achieve ace status in two wars and was also the only Marine jet fighter ace. (Full article...)

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• The Winter Olympics close with host nation Russia winning the most gold medals and most medals overall.
• Following widespread demonstrations and civil unrest, the Ukrainian parliament restores the 2004 constitution and frees Yulia Tymoshenko, while Oleksandr Turchynov (pictured) becomes acting President.
• Matteo Renzi is sworn in as the Italian Prime Minister.
• Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, is arrested.

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February 26: Ayyám-i-Há begins (Bahá'í calendar); Liberation Day in Kuwait (1991); Saviours' Day (Nation of Islam)

• 364 – Following the death of the Roman emperor Jovian, officers of the army at Nicaea in Bithynia selected Flavius Valentinianus to succeed him.
• 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba, an island off the coast of Italy where he had been exiled after the signing of the Treaty of Fontainebleau one year earlier.
• 1917 – New Orleans' Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded "Livery Stable Blues", the first jazz single ever released.
• 1936 – Over 1400 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army staged a coup d'etat in Japan, occupying Tokyo, and killing Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo (pictured) and several other leading politicians.
• 1995 – Barings Bank, the oldest merchant bank in London, collapsed after its head derivatives trader in Singapore, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million while making unauthorized speculative trades on futures contracts.

More anniversaries: February 25 – February 26 – February 27

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