gripe from a lurker

[chuck grandgent]

I've been on the ADS list quietly for a while now,

but I can't contain myself any longer, and the ADS crowd seems the right
place to complain.

Which of the following quotes from semi-fictional news stories are valid usage ?

1) "the flood last week was of historical proportions."
2) "last night a five-alarm fire destroyed an historical building in the
heart of the theater district."
3) "Abraham Lincoln was an historical person."
4) "Abraham Lincoln was an historic person."

2) and 3) I think actually are OK (I hope I'm not embarrassed here),
though the meaning is different in each case,
but I'm tired of hearing with what it seems like increasing frequency things like
1) and 2), where it would seem "historic" and "historical" are synonymous,
whereas I don't think they are at all.

Chuck Grandgent,   chuck at chuckg.com