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Patrick Francis Healy (February 27, 1834 – January 10, 1910) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit. While Healy was one-sixteenth black and considered himself to be white, he was posthumously recognized as the first black American to become a Jesuit, to earn a PhD, and to become the president of a predominantly white university. Born in Georgia, Healy was legally considered a slave by birth and was sent north by his father to be educated alongside his brothers. After studying in Massachusetts, Healy entered the Society of Jesus and eventually earned his doctorate in Belgium. Healy was named the chair of philosophy at Georgetown University in 1866 and became its president in 1873. He aimed to transform the institution into a modern university by expanding courses in the sciences, raising standards at the medical school, and growing the law school. He also had constructed the university's flagship building, Healy Hall. For this, he became known as Georgetown's "second founder". (Full article...)

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Simulated surface-level view of Louth's ice mound

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... that Bianca Baptiste was Tottenham Hotspur's top goal scorer during their promotion—and then they dropped her from the team?
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On this day

February 27: Feast day of Saint Gregory of Narek (Catholicism)

Mary of Guise

380 – Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire as a consequence of the Edict of Thessalonica.
1560 – The Treaty of Berwick was signed, setting the terms under which an English fleet and army could enter Scotland to expel French troops defending the regency of Mary of Guise (pictured).
1962 – Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bombed the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate President Ngo Dinh Diem.
1982 – The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, known for its performances of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas, gave its final performance.
2002 – Violent riots, perceived to have been instigated by a train fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims, broke out in the Indian state of Gujarat, killing at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, over three days.

Pietro Gnocchi (b. 1689)
Ellen Terry (b. 1847)
Tina Strobos (d. 2012)

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Today's featured picture

Phyllidia elegans is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch in the family Phyllidiidae. It occurs in shallow water in the Red Sea and the tropical Indo-Pacific region.

Photograph credit: Rickard Zerpe

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