A Day In History - February   

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Events and birthdays around the world on this day . . .

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In 1901 Clark Gable, actor (didn't give a damn about Scarlet O'Hara)
In 1920 The first armored car is introduced.
In 1951 First telecast of atomic explosion.
In 1951 First X-ray moving picture process demonstrated.
In 1952 Rick James, musician
In 1965 Princess Stephanie of Monaco
In 1968 Lisa Marie Presley, actress
In 1976 Sonny and Cher resumes on TV despite real life divorce.

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In 1754 Talleyrand, French statesman and diplomat, born.
In 1848 First shipload of Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco, CA.
In 1848 Mexico sells U.S. Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona.
In 1876 National Baseball League formed with 8 teams.
In 1880 S.S. Strathleven arrives in London with first successful shipment of frozen mutton from Australia.
In 1882 James Joyce, writer, born.
In 1935 Lie detector first used in court at Portage, WI.
In 1947 Farrah Fawcett-Major (in Texas), actress (Charlie's Angels), born.
In 1954 Christie Brinkley, model, born.
In 1962 8 of the 9 planets aligned for the first time in 400 years.
In 1981 "Late Night with David Letterman" premiers.

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In 1811 Horace Greeley, editor (told young men to go west), born.
In 1815 World's first commercial cheese factory is established in Switzerland.
In 1874 Gertrude Stein, writer, born.
In 1894 Norman Rockwell, artist, born.
In 1907 James Michener, writer, born.
In 1945 Yalta Conference agreed that Russia would enter WWII against Japan.
In 1950 Morgan Fairchild (in Dallas, TX), actress, born.
In 1964 "Meet the Beatles" goes gold.
In 1966 Luna 9, first lunar landing.
In 1984 Tenth Space Shuttle Mission - Challenger 4 is launched.

In 1824 J.W. Goodrich introduces rubber galoshes to the public.
In 1861 At Montgomery, Alabama, the Confederate States are organized.
In 1902 Charles A. Lindburgh, 'Lucky Lindy', born.
In 1932 First Winter Olympics held at Lake Placid, NY.
In 1936 First radioactive substance produced synthetically (radium E).
In 1945 Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin began a conference at Yalta.
In 1947 Dan Quayle, U.S. Vice-president (1989-1992), alleged twit, born.
In 1948 Alice Cooper, musician, born.
In 1948 Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) gains independence from Britain.
In 1973 The Reshef - Israel's missile boat - is unveiled.
In 1980 Abolhassan Bani-Sadr was installed as president of Iran.

In 1825 Hannah Lord Montague of New York grabs her scissors and creates the first detachable collar on one of her husband's shirts, in order to reduce her laundry load.
In 1837 Dwight Lyman Moody, evangelist, born.
In 1840 John Boyd Dunlop, developed the pneumatic rubber tire, born.
In 1848 Belle Starr, entertainer of the wild west, born.
In 1878 Andre-Gustave Citroen, French automaker, born.
In 1887 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premiers.
In 1900 Adlai E. Stevenson, statesman, born.
In 1919 Red Buttons, comedian, actor, born.
In 1921 N.Y. Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx for Yankee Stadium.
In 1937 FDR proposes enlarging Supreme Court, plan failed because critics feared it would allow "court packing" in his favor.
In 1946 Charlotte Rampling (in England), actress, born.
In 1948 Barbara Hershey (in Atlanta, Georgia), actress, born.
In 1969 Bobby Brown, singer, married to Whitney Houston, born.
In 1983 After being expelled from Bolivia, former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie was brought to Lyon, France to stand trial for alleged war crimes.

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In 1840 New Zealand Day
In 1861 English Admiral Robert Fitzroy issues storm warnings for ships putting out to sea, creating the first "weather forecast."
In 1895 George Herman 'Babe' Ruth, born.
In 1900 Spanish-American War ends.
In 1911 Ronald Reagan, 40th President (1981-1989), born.
In 1919 Zsa Zsa Gabor (in Budapest), actress, ex-con, born.
In 1940 Tom Brokaw, journalist, born.
In 1950 Natalie Cole (in Los Angeles, CA), singer, born.
In 1952 Elizabeth II becomes queen of Great Britain.
In 1986 Jean-Claude "Papa Doc" Duvalier is forced to leave Haiti.

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In 1804 John Deere, pioneer manufacturer of agricultural implements, born.
In 1812 Charles Dickens (in England), author, born.
In 1827 Ballet introduced to the U.S. at Bowery Theatre, New York City.
In 1882 Last bare knuckle champion John L. Sullivan KOs Paddy Ryan in Miss.
In 1944 The assault on Anzio begins.
In 1962 Garth Brooks, C&W singer, born.
In 1977 Soyuz 24 is launched.

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In 1587 Mary Queen of Scots executed.
In 1828 Jules Verne (in France), author who pioneered what later became science fiction, born.
In 1883 Louis Waterman begins experiments that invent the fountain pen.
In 1906 Chester F. Carlson, invented xerography, born.
In 1914 Gypsy Rose Lee (in Seattle, WA), stripper, born.
In 1920 Lana Turner (in Wallace, Idaho), actress, born.
In 1922 Radio arrives in the White House.
In 1925 Jack Lemmon, actor, born.
In 1931 James Dean, actor (Rebel Without a Cause), born.
In 1940 Nick Nolte, actor, born.
In 1945 Mia Farrow (in Los Angeles, CA), actress, born.
In 1968 Gary Coleman, actor, born.
In 1974 Skylab 4's astronauts land.
In 1984 Soyuz T-10 is launched.

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In 1670 Christian V became King of Denmark and Norway.
In 1904 Russian cruisers Variag and Korietz sunk off Korean coast by Japanese.
In 1914 (USA) Gypsy Rose Lee, stripper, born.
It's also The Feast of St. Apollonia, patron saint of Dentists, invoked against Toothache

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In 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War.
In 1775 Charles Lamb (in England), writer, born.
In 1870 YWCA is founded in New York City.
In 1893 Jimmy Durante, comedian, born.
In 1898 Bertolt Brecht, born.
In 1930 Robert Wagner, actor, born.
In 1940 Roberta Flack (in North Carolina), singer, born.
In 1942 Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" goes gold.
In 1950 Mark Spitz, swimmer, born.
In 1955 Greg Norman, golfer, born.

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In 1847 Thomas Alva Edison (in New Jersey), inventor who lit up your life, born.
In 1854 Major streets lit by coal gas for first time.
In 1921 Eva Gabor (Budapest, Hungary), actress (Green Acres), born.
In 1929 Vatican City (world's Smallest Country) is made an enclave of Rome.
In 1936 Pumping begins to build Treasure Island, San Francisco.
In 1936 Burt Reynolds, actor, born.
In 1941 Sergio Mendes, artist, born.
In 1984 Tenth Space Shuttle Mission - Challenger 4 returns to Earth.

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In 1541 Santiago, Chile founded.
In 1802 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (1861-1865), born.
In 1809 Charles Darwin, evolutionist, born.
In 1908 First New York to Paris auto race (via Alaska and Siberia) begins. George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel.
In 1915 Lorne Greene, actor (Bonanza, Battlestar Galactica), born.
In 1915 Cornerstone laid for Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
In 1924 Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premieres in Carnegie Hall.
In 1946 Maud Adams (in Sweden), born.
In 1953 Joanna Kerns, actress, born.

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In 1867 "Blue Danube" waltz premiers in Vienna.
in 1933 Emanuel Ungaro, fashion designer, born.
In 1934 George Segal, actor, banjo player, born.
In 1937 "Prince Valiant" comic strip appears; known for historical detail and fine detail drawing. Thanks Hal.
In 1944 Stockard Channing (in New York), born.
In 1955 Israel acquires 4 of the 7 dead sea scrolls.

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In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell files an application for a patent for the telephone.
In 1882 John Barrymore, actor, born.
In 1894 Benjamin Kubelski (AKA Jack Benny), actor, comedian, born.
In 1913 James Pike, clergyman, born.
In 1913 Jimmy Hoffa, missing labor leader, born.
In 1918 USSR calendar conversion.
In 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, 7 gangsters killed by rivals disguised as cops (The Night Chicago Died).
In 1934 Florence Henderson (in Indiana), actress (Alice in The Brady Bunch), born.
In 1946 Gregory Hines, actor, dancer, born.
In 1961 Element 103, lawrencium, first produced in Berkeley, California lab.
In 1962 Mrs. Kennedy gives the TV audience a tour of the White House.
In 1972 John and Yoko guest-host The Mike Douglas Show for the entire week.

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In 1564 Galileo Galilei, astronomer, born.
In 1645 English standing army first founded.
In 1797 Henry Engelhard Steinway, piano maker, born.
In 1820 Susan B. Anthony, Woman's suffaregette, born.
In 1882 John Barrymore, actor, born.
In 1903 First Teddy Bear introduced in America. Made by Morris and Rose Michtom, Russian immigrants.
In 1907 Cesar Romero, actor who played the Joker in the TV version of Batman, born.
In 1912 Yuan Shik-K'ai elected the first President of the Republic of China.
In 1927 Harvey Korman, actor, born.
In 1951 Jane Seymour [Joyce Frankenberg], Middlesex England, actress (Dr Quinn, East of Eden, Lassiter), born.
In 1955 Production announced-first pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds.

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In 1823 Li Hung Chang, chinese statesman, born.
In 1883 Ladies Home Journal begins publication.
In 1884 Robert Flaherty, father of the documentary film, born.
In 1914 First airplane flight to Los Angeles from San Francisco.
In 1923 Howard Carter finds the Pharoah Tutankhamun.
In 1923 First radio-telescope news messages transmitted from U.S. to England.
In 1937 Nylon patented by W. H. Carothers.
In 1945 US forces land on Corregidor (complete conquest on March 3).
In 1946 First commercially designed helicopter tested at Bridgeport, CT.
In 1956 James Ingram. actor, born.
In 1959 Fidel Castro became Premier of Cuba.
In 1959 John McEnroe, tennis player, brat, born.
In 1961 Andy Taylor, guitarist with Duran Duran, born.
In 1961 First all solid propellant rocket put into orbit from Wallops Island, VA.
In 1964 Beatles second appearance on Ed Sullivan.

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In 1387 Heathen religions banned in Poland.
In 1673 Moliere, French Dramatist, died
In 1854 Frederick Krupp, Arms manufacturer, born
In 1857 Samuel S. McClure, organizer of the first news syndicate, born
In 1876 Sardines were first canned, in Eastport, Maine.
In 1878 First telephone exchange in San Francisco opens with 18 phones.
In 1909 Geronimo, Apache Indian Chief, died
In 1944 Battle of Eniwetok Atoll (U.S. victory on Feb 22).
In 1958 St. Clare of Assissi declared patron saint of television.
In 1925 Hal Holbrook, actor, born.
In 1934 Alan Bates, actor, born.
In 1945 Pat Morrow (in Los Angeles), actor (Peyton Place), born.
In 1962 Lou Diamond Philips, actor, born.
In 1963 Michael Jordan, gravity-defying hoopster, born.

 

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In 1516 Queen Mary I, first reigning queen of Great Britain, born.
In 1745 Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, invented the electric battery, born.
In 1848 Louis Comfort Tiffany, glassmaker, born.
In 1861 C.S.A. President Jefferson Davis is inaugurated at Montgomery, AL.
In 1894 Andres Segovia, guitarist, born.
In 1920 Jack Palance, actor (Believe It......Or Not), born.
In 1922 Helen Gurly Brown in Portland Maine, publisher (Cosmopolitan), born.
In 1930 Planet Pluto discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh.
In 1930 A cow is flown (and milked in flight) for first time. Her milk was sealed in paper containers and dropped by parachute over St. Louis, MO. I knew you'd want to know ...
In 1933 Yoko Ono (in Tokyo, Japan), singer, wife of John Lennon, born.
In 1933 Kim Novak (in Chicago, Illinois), actress, born.
In 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition opens on Treasure Island (built for the occasion) in San Francisco Bay.
In 1950 Cybill Shepherd (in Memphis, TN), actress (Moonlighting, Sybil), born.
In 1953 Premier of first 3-D feature film, "Bwana Devil", at NY city.
In 1954 John Travolta, actor, born.
In 1957 Vanna White (in South Carolina), game show hostess (Wheel of Fortune), born.
In 1964 Matt Dillon, actor, born.
In 1965 Gambian National Day
In 1968 Molly Ringwald (in Los Angeles, CA), actress (Pretty in Pink), born.

In 1473 Nicolaus Copernicus (in Poland), astronomer, born.
In 1878 Thomas Alva Edison patents the phonograph.
In 1911 Merle Oberon (in Tasmania), born.
In 1924 Lee Marvin, actor, born.
In 1940 Smokey Robinson, singer, born.
In 1945 Marines land on Iwo Jima.
In 1955 Margaux Hemingway (in Portland, Oregon), actress, daughter of Ernest, born.
In 1960 Prince Andrew, Second eldest son of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, born.
In 1962 Hana Mandlikova, tennis player, born.
In 1966 Justine Bateman (in Rye, NY), actress (Family Ties), born.
In 1977 President Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino ("Tokyo Rose").

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In 1898 Enzo Ferrari, car designer and manufacturer, born.
In 1902 Ansel Adams, knows how to handle a camera, born.
In 1904 Alexei Kosygin, Soviet Premier, born.
In 1924 Gloria Vanderbilt, fashion designer (Don't my jeans look great!), born.
In 1924 Sydney Poitier, actor, born.
In 1925 Robert Altman, director (M*A*S*H), born.
In 1934 Bobby Unser, auto racer, born.
In 1937 First automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica, Ca
In 1962 John Glenn aboard Friendship 7, is first American to orbit the Earth.
In 1963 Charles Barkley, Star player for the Pheonix Suns and Houston Rockets basketball teams, born.
In 1972 President Nixon visits China.
In 1985 Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, died.

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In 1804 First self-propelled locomotive on rails demonstrated, in Wales.
In 1858 First electric burglar alarm is installed in Boston, Mass.
In 1878 First Telephone book is issued, in New Haven, Conn.
In 1916 WW I Battle of Verdun begins.
In 1931 Larry Hagman, actor, born.
In 1932 Camera exposure meter patented, W. N. Goodwin.
In 1933 Nina Simone (in Tyron, NC), born.
In 1943 David Geffen, record company president, born.
In 1946 Tyne Daly (in Madison, WI), actress (Cagney and Lacey), born.
In 1947 First instant develop camera demonstrated in NY City by E. H. Land.
In 1965 Malcolm X assassinated.
In 1972 Richard Nixon first American president to visit China.
In 1981 Charles Rocket clearly says a four-letter word on Saturday Night Live.

In 1630 Popcorn is introduced by an Indian named Quadequina to the English colonists at their first Thanksgiving dinner.
In 1732 George Washington, father figure for U.S., President (1789-1796), born.
In 1749 Johann Nikolaus Forkel, musicologist and first biographer of Bach, born.
In 1784 Empress of China sets sail on first New York to China route.
In 1810 Frederic Chopin, composer, born.
In 1857 Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, born.
In 1892 Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet, born.
In 1900 Hawaii becomes a U.S. territory.
In 1950 Julius "Magic" Erving, basketball player, born.
In 1975 Drew Barrymore, actress, member of the Barrymore clan, born.
In 1980 USA beats the Russians in Olympic Hockey (4-3).

In 1584 Gutenberg Day
In 1685 George Frideric Handel, Baroque composer in Germany, born.
In 1836 Alamo is besieged by Santa Anna, entire garrison eventually killed.
In 1905 Rotary Club is founded by four men in Chicago.
In 1935 First rocket air mail flight, Greenwood Lake, NY.
In 1940 Peter Fonda, actor, son of Henry, born.
In 1945 US Marines raise flag on Iwo Jima, famous photo and statue.
In 1955 Howard Jones, musician, born.

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In 1786 Wilhelm Karl Grimm, story teller, born.
In 1885 Admiral Chester Nimitz, in charge of Pacific Fleet in WWII, born.
In 1949 First rocket to reach outer space launched at White Sands, NM.
In 1955 Steven Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer, born.
In 1964 Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship.
In 1980 USA beats Finland and wins the Olympic Gold Medal (4-2).
In 1986 Voyager 2, first Uranus flyby.
In 1989 Funeral for Japan's Emperor Hirohito costs his government $80-billion dollars, attracts all major world leaders.
In 1989 United Airlines 747 jet rips open in flight from Honolulu to New Zealand, 9 passengers sucked out of plane, many injuries.

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In 1838 A London pedestrian walks 20 miles backward and 20 miles forward in 8 hours.
In 1841 Renoir, painter, born.
In 1873 Enrico Caruso (in Italy), singer, born.
In 1933 First aircraft carrier "Ranger" launched.
In 1943 George Harrison, singer (Beatles), born.
In 1972 Paul McCartney releases "Give Ireland back to the Irish" single.
In 1977 Soyuz 24 returns to Earth.
In 1979 Soyuz 32 is launched.

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In 1802 Victor Hugo, French author, born.
In 1815 Napoleon escapes from Elba to begin second conquest of France.
In 1846 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (near Davenport, Iowa), frontiersman, born.
In 1848 Second French Republic was proclaimed.
In 1852 John Harvey Kellogg, English Corn Flake inventor.
In 1870 First New York City subway line was opened to the public.
In 1881 S.S. Ceylon begins first round-the-world cruise from Liverpool.
In 1916 Jackie Gleason, Comedian, born.
In 1919 U.S. Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
In 1920 Tony Randall, actor (The Odd Couple), born.
In 1928 Fats Domino, singer, born.
In 1932 Johnny Cash, singer, The Man in Black, born.
In 1933 Golden Gate Bridge ground-breaking ceremony held at Crissy Field.
In 1952 PM Winston Churchill announced that Britain had its own atomic bomb.
In 1954 First typesetting machine (photo engraving) used at Quincy, Mass.
In 1955 First aviator to bail out at supersonic speed - G. F. Smith.
In 1969 Levi Eshkol dies, Golda Meir becomes premier of Israel.
In 1970 Beatles release "Beatles Again" a.k.a. "Hey Jude" album.
In 1986 Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos flees in defeat, takes up residence in Hawaii with wife Imelda.
In 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. Islamic terrorists detonate a bomb in the World Trade Centre. 168 people killed in the first terrorist attack on United States soil.
In 1995 Barings Bank disaster. Nick Leeson loses billions of Pounds Sterling in offshore investments, ruining Barings Bank.

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In 1583 Constantine
In 1807 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (in Portland, Maine), poet, born.
In 1844 Dominican Republic gains it's independence.
In 1883 Oscar Hammerstein patents first practical cigar-rolling machine.
In 1902 John Steinbeck, writer, born.
In 1922 U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment (woman's right to vote).
In 1930 Joanne Woodward (in Thomasville, GA), actress, wife of Paul Newman, born.
In 1932 Elizabeth Taylor (in London, England), actress, had many husbands, born.
In 1933 Reichstag building in Berlin was set afire, Nazis blame Communists.
In 1949 Chaim Weizmann becomes the first Israeli president.
In 1972 President Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai issued the Shanghai Communique.
In 1973 American Indian Movement occupy Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

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In 1854 American Republican Party formed at Ripon, Wisconsin.
In 1883 First vaudeville theater opens.
In 1915 Zero Mostel, actor (Fiddler on the Roof), born.
In 1926 Svetlana Stalina, daughter of Josef Stalin, born.
In 1930 Gavin MacLeod, actor (Love Boat, Mary Tyler Moore Show), born.
In 1947 Stephane Beacham, actrss, born.
In 1948 Bernadette Peters (in Queens, New York), actress, Tony winner, born.
In 1956 Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory.
In 1983 The final episode of TV show "M*A*S*H."

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In 1288 It was made legal in Scotland for women to propose to men.
In 1468 Pope Paul III, born.
In 1584 Pope Hilarius, born.
In 1892 Britain and US signed treaty on seal hunting in Bering Sea.
In 1904 Jimmy Dorsey, bandleader, born.
In 1916 Howard Nemerov, poet, born.
In 1924 Al Rosen, baseball player and executive, born.
In 1944 English and Indian troops drove Japanese forces during W.W.II

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Note:  This date only occurs every four years!