February 20th: This Day in History

 

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

On this day in 1472, Orkney and Shetland were given by Norway to Scotland as a dowry payment for Margaret of Denmark. In 1525 on this day, Swiss & German mercenaries deserted Francois I's army. On this day in 1547, King Edward VI of England was enthroned following the death of Henry VIII. Gerard Reynst was appointed Dutch Governor-General of the East-Indies on this day in 1613. On this day in 1653 was the defeat of Dutch fleet under Admiral Van Tromp by Admiral Blake off Portsmouth. The first recorded wine auction was held in London on this day in 1673. Johan Willem Friso became Viceroy of Groningen, Netherlands, on this day in 1710. George F Handel's opera "Giulio Cesare in Egitto," premiered in London on this day in 1724. On this day in 1725, ten sleeping Native Americans were scalped by whites in New Hampshire for £100 a scalp bounty. Estates of Holland ratified the Treaty of Vienna on this day in 1732. In 1737 on this day, French Minister of Finance Germain Louis Chauvelin resigned in disgrace following disputes with Spain. On this day in 1792, President George Washington signed legislation renewing the United States Post Office as a cabinet department led by the postmaster general, guaranteeing inexpensive delivery of all newspapers, stipulating the right to privacy and granting Congress the ability to expand postal service to new areas of the nation. On this day in 1832, British botanist and author Charles Darwin visited Fernando Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean. On this day in 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in NYC. In 1962,  an American, John Hershel Glenn Jr., orbited the Earth for the first time, doing it aboard the Friendship 7. In a highly controversial vote on this day in 1985, the Irish government defied the powerful Catholic Church and approved the sale of contraceptives. In 1986 on this day, official plans to develop the Chunnel, the underground tunnel connecting Britain with France (and mainland Europe) were announced. On this day in 2003, a massive fire quickly engulfed a nightclub during a show for rock band Great White. On this day in 2003, during a rock concert for Great White in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display suddenly set the club ablaze, ultimately killing 100 and injuring over 300 others.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

• On this day in 1472, Orkney and Shetland were given by Norway to Scotland as a dowry payment for Margaret of Denmark.

• In 1525 on this day, Swiss & German mercenaries deserted Francois I's army. 

• On this day in 1547, King Edward VI of England was enthroned following the death of Henry VIII. 

• Gerard Reynst was appointed Dutch Governor-General of the East-Indies on this day in 1613.

•  On this day in 1653 was the defeat of Dutch fleet under Admiral Van Tromp by Admiral Blake off Portsmouth. 

• The first recorded wine auction was held in London on this day in 1673.

• Johan Willem Friso became Viceroy of Groningen, Netherlands, on this day in 1710. 

Bust of German-British composer George Friedrich Handel

• George F Handel's opera "Giulio Cesare in Egitto," premiered in London on this day in 1724.

• On this day in 1725, ten sleeping Native Americans were scalped by whites in New Hampshire for £100 a scalp bounty. Estates of Holland ratified the Treaty of Vienna on this day in 1732.

• In 1737 on this day, French Minister of Finance Germain Louis Chauvelin resigned in disgrace following disputes with Spain.

• 1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlies troops occupy Fort Augustus, Scotland

• 1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness

• 1768 - 1st American chartered fire insurance company opens (Penn)

Statue of George Washington in Paramus, NJ (above) and in Morristown, NJ (Below)

• On this day in 1792, President George Washington signed legislation renewing the United States Post Office as a cabinet department led by the postmaster general, guaranteeing inexpensive delivery of all newspapers, stipulating the right to privacy and granting Congress the ability to expand postal service to new areas of the nation.    William Goddard, a Patriot printer frustrated that the royal postal service was unable to reliably deliver his Pennsylvania Chronicle to its readers or deliver critical news for the paper to Goddard, laid out a plan for the Constitutional Post before the Continental Congress on October 5, 1774. Congress waited to act on the plan until after the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Benjamin Franklin promoted Goddard's plan and served as the first postmaster general under the Continental Congress beginning on July 26, 1775, nearly one year before the Congress declared independence from the British Crown. Franklin's son-in-law, Richard Bache, took over the position on November 7, 1776, when Franklin became an American emissary to France.    Franklin had already made a significant contribution to the postal service in the colonies while serving as the postmaster of Philadelphia from 1737 and as joint postmaster general of the colonies from 1753 to 1774, when he was fired for opening and publishing Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson's correspondence. While postmaster, Franklin streamlined postal delivery with properly surveyed and marked routes from Maine to Florida (the origins of Route 1), instituted overnight postal travel between the critical cities of New York and Philadelphia and created a standardized rate chart based upon weight and distance.    Samuel Osgood held the postmaster general's position in New York City from 1789, when the U.S. Constitution came into effect, until the government moved to Philadelphia in 1791. Timothy Pickering took over and, about a year later, the Postal Service Act gave his post greater legislative legitimacy and more effective organization. Pickering continued in the position until 1795, when he briefly served as secretary of war, before becoming the third U.S. secretary of state. The postmaster general's position was considered a plum patronage post for political allies of the president until the Postal Service was transformed into a corporation run by a board of governors in 1971. Postage was 6 cents or 12 cents, depending on the distance.

• 1798 - Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.

• 1809 - Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than any state

• 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, executed.

• 1811 - Austria declares bankruptcy

• 1816 - Rossini's opera "Barber of Seville" premieres in Rome

• 1823 - English Capt James Weddell reaches 74°15' S, 1520 km from S pole

• 1831 - Polish revolutionaries defeat Russians in battle of Growchow

British Botanist Charles Darwin

• On this day in 1832, British botanist and author Charles Darwin visited Fernando Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean.

Flag of Chile

• 1835 - Concepcion, Chile destroyed by earthquake; 5,000 die

• 1839 - Congress prohibits dueling in District of Columbia

1846 - British occupy Sikh citadel of Lahore

1856 - John Rutledge, Liverpool-NY steamer, hits iceberg; many die

1861 - Dept of Navy of Confederacy forms

1861 - Steeple of Chichester Cathedral blown down during a storm

A statue in Flemington, New Jersey, honoring veterans of the American Civil War.

• 1864 - Civil War battle of Olustee, Florida

1865 - M I T forms 1st US collegiate architectural school

1869 - Tenn Gov W C Brownlow declares martial law in Ku Klux Klan crisis

1872 - Hydraulic electric elevator patented by Cyrus Baldwin

1872 - Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures paper bags

 

New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art

• On this day in 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York City.

1872 - Silas Noble & JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine

1873 - University of California gets its 1st Med School (UC/SF)

1877 - 1st cantilever bridge in US completed, Harrodsburg, Kentucky

1877 - International Association (minor baseball league) organizes

1887 - 1st minor league baseball association organizes (Pittsburgh)

• 1887 - Germany, Austria-Hungary & France end Triple Alliance

• 1890 - Amsterdam Theater destroyed by fire

Bust of Abolitionist Frederick Douglass

• 1895 Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, author, and orator, died. 

1895 - Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorodo

1899 - Ill Tel & Tel granted franchise for Chicago freight tunnel system

1901 - 1st territorial legislature of Hawaii convenes

1902 - Heavy surf breaks over Seal Rocks & damages Sutro Baths, SF

1903 - Nick Young remains as NL president as AG Spalding ends challenge

1909 - Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.

1912 - Argentina beat the MCC in their inaugural cricket 1st-class fixture

1913 - King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.

1915 - Panama-Pacific International Exposition opens in SF

1917 - Ammunitions ship explodes in Archangelsk harbor, about 1,500 die

1917 - Kern, Bolton & Wodehouse's musical "Oh, Boy!," premieres in NYC

• 1919 - French premier Clemenceau injured during assassination attempt

1921 - Riza Khan Pahlevi seizes control of Iran

1922 - Marc Connelly & George Kaufman's "To the Ladies," premieres in NYC

1922 - Vilinus, Lithuania, agrees to separate from Poland

1922 - WOR-AM in New York City begins radio transmissions

1923 - Christy Mathewson becomes pres of Boston Braves

• 1929 - American Samoa organizes as territory of US

• 1931 - Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge

1932 - Japanese troops occupy Tunhua China

1933 - Curom, Curacaose Broadcast System starts: Princess Juliana's speech

1933 - House of Reps completes congressional action to repeal Prohibition

1933 - Sidney Howard's "Alien Corn," premieres in NYC

1934 - Virgil Thomson's opera "4 Saints in 3 Acts" opens in NYC

1935 - Karoline Mikkelson is 1st woman on Antarctica

1937 - 1st automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica, Ca

British Prime Minister Neville ChamberlainBritish Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 1938 - UK Foreign Sec Eden resigns, says PM Chamberlain appeased Germany

1940 - Larry Clinton & his Orchestra record "Limehouse Blues"

1941 - 1st transport of Jews to concentration camps leave Plotsk Poland

1941 - Nazis order Polish Jews barred from using public transportation

1941 - Romania breaks relations with Netherlands

1942 - Lt E H O'Hare single-handedly shoots down 5 Japanese heavy bombers

1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

1943 - Allied troops occupy Kasserine pass in Tunisia

1943 - New volcano Paracutin erupts in farmer's corn patch (Mexico)

1943 - Phil Wrigley & B Rickey charter All-American Girls Softball League

1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

• 1944 - Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers

• 1944 - US takes Eniwetok Island

Statue of an American Soldier at the World War II Memorial in Trenton, New Jersey

• 1944 - World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

• 1947 - Chemical mixing error causes explosion that destroys 42 blocks in LA

• 1947 - Lord Mountbatten appointed as last viceroy of India

• 1947 - State of Prussia ceases to exist.

• 1948 - Czechoslovakia's non-communist minister resigns

1949 - 1st International Pancake Race held (Liberal Ks)

1950 - Dylan Thomas arrives in NYC for his 1st US poetry reading tour

1950 - WOL-AM in Washington DC swaps calls with WWDC

1952 - "African Queen" opens at Capitol Theater in NYC

1952 - 1st black umpire in organized baseball certified (Emmett Ashford)

1953 - August A Busch buys the Cards for $3.75 million

1953 - US Court of Appeals rules that Organized Baseball is a sport & not a business, affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling

1954 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open

1954 - General Zahedi wins election in Persia

1955 - Fay Crocker wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open

1956 - WOSU TV channel 34 in Columbus, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting

1957 - Hughie Tayfield takes 9-113 v England, 13 wkts for match

1958 - Jockey Eddie Arcaro rides his 4,000th winner

1958 - LA Coliseum Comm approves 2-yr pact allows Dodgers to use facility

1959 - The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

• 1960 - Jimi Hendrix, rock and roll guitarist, plays his first gig.

 

Photo courtesy of DonkeyHotey Flickr Page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/6143809369

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

• In 1962,  an American, John Hershel Glenn Jr., orbited the Earth for the first time, doing it aboard the Friendship 7.  From Cape Canaveral, Florida, John Hershel Glenn Jr. is successfully launched into space aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut.    Glenn, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, was among the seven men chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1959 to become America's first astronauts. A decorated pilot, he flew nearly 150 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. In 1957, he made the first nonstop supersonic flight across the United States, flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes.    Glenn was preceded in space by two Americans, Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and two Soviets, Yuri A. Gagarin and Gherman S. Titov. In April 1961, Gagarin was the first man in space, and his spacecraft Vostok 1 made a full orbit before returning to Earth. Less than one month later, Shepard was launched into space aboard Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight. In July, Grissom made another brief suborbital flight aboard Liberty Bell 7. In August, with the Americans still having failed to make an orbital flight, the Russians sprinted further ahead in the space race when Titov spent more than 25 hours in space aboard Vostok 2, making 17 orbits. As a technological power, the United States was looking very much second-rate compared with its Cold War adversary. If the Americans wanted to dispel this notion, they needed a multi-orbital flight before another Soviet space advance arrived.    It was with this responsibility in mind that John Glenn lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral at 9:47 a.m. on February 20, 1962. Some 100,000 spectators watched on the ground nearby and millions more saw it on television. After separating from its launching rocket, the bell-shaped Friendship 7 capsule entered into an orbit around Earth at a speed of about 17,500 miles per hour. Smoothing into orbit, Glenn radioed back, "Capsule is turning around. Oh, that view is tremendous."    During Friendship 7's first orbit, Glenn noticed what he described as small, glowing fireflies drifting by the capsule's tiny window. It was some time later that NASA mission control determined that the sparks were crystallized water vapor released by the capsule's air-conditioning system. Before the end of the first orbit, a more serious problem occurred when Friendship 7's automatic control system began to malfunction, sending the capsule into erratic movements. At the end of the orbit, Glenn switched to manual control and regained command of the craft.  Toward the end of Glenn's third and last orbit, mission control received a mechanical signal from the spacecraft indicating that the heat shield on the base of the capsule was possibly loose. Traveling at its immense speed, the capsule would be incinerated if the shield failed to absorb and dissipate the extremely high reentry temperatures. It was decided that the craft's retrorockets, usually jettisoned before reentry, would be left on in order to better secure the heat shield. Less than a minute later, Friendship 7 slammed into Earth's atmosphere.    During Glenn's fiery descent back to Earth, the straps holding the retrorockets gave way and flapped violently by his window as a shroud of ions caused by excessive friction enveloped the spacecraft, causing Glenn to lose radio contact with mission control. As mission control anxiously waited for the resumption of radio transmissions that would indicate Glenn's survival, he watched flaming chunks of retrorocket fly by his window. After four minutes of radio silence, Glenn's voice crackled through loudspeakers at mission control, and Friendship 7 splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. He was picked up by the USS destroyer Noa, and his first words upon stepping out of the capsule and onto the deck of the Noa were, "It was hot in there." He had spent nearly five hours in space.  Glenn was hailed as a national hero, and on February 23 President John F. Kennedy visited him at Cape Canaveral. He later addressed Congress and was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City.    Out of a reluctance to risk the life of an astronaut as popular as Glenn, NASA essentially grounded the "Clean Marine" in the years after his historic flight. Frustrated with this uncharacteristic lack of activity, Glenn turned to politics and in 1964 announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Ohio and formally left NASA. Later that year, however, he withdrew his Senate bid after seriously injuring his inner ear in a fall. In 1970, following a stint as a Royal Crown Cola executive, he ran for the Senate again but lost the Democratic nomination to Howard Metzenbaum. Four years later, he defeated Metzenbaum, won the general election, and went on to win reelection three times. In 1984, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president.    In early 1998, NASA announced it had approved Glenn to serve as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery. On October 29, 1998, nearly four decades after his famous orbital flight, the 77-year-old Glenn became the oldest human ever to travel in space. During the nine-day mission, he served as part of a NASA study on health problems associated with aging. In 1999, he retired from his U.S. Senate seat after four consecutive terms in office, a record for the state of Ohio.  

1963 - End of the Test Cricket careers of Neil Harvey & Alan Davidson

1963 - Willie Mays (SF Giants) signs a record $100,000 per year contract

    

• 1965 - Beatles record "That Means a Lot"

1965 - Ranger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon, returns photos, other data

1965 - Turkish government of Uerguplu forms

1966 - Author Valery Tarsis banished in USSR

1968 - State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstration at Alcorn A & M

1971 - Bruin Phil Esposito is NHL's quickest to score 50 goals in a season

1971 - General Idi Amin Dada appointed president of Uganda

1971 - Maj General Idi Amin Dada appoints himself president of Uganda

1971 - Natl Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio & TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasn't resolved for 30 minutes

1972 - 1st time Cleveland Cavaliers beat NY Knicks (111-109)

1972 - Ard Schenk becomes world champ skater

1972 - Sicco Mansholt becomes chairman of European Committee

1973 - 10th time Islanders shut-out-4-0 vs Penguins

1974 - Cher files for separation from husband Sonny Bono

1974 - Gordie Howe comes out of retirement for $1M from Houston Aeros, WHA

1975 - Leonard Baichan scores 105* on Test Cricket debut, v Pakistan Lahore

British Prime Minister Margaret ThatcherBritish Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 1975 - Margaret Thatcher elected leader of British Conservative Party

1975 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1976 - Muhammad Ali KOs Jan Pierre Coopman in 5 for heavyweight boxing title

1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.

1977 - "My Fair Lady" closes at St James Theater NYC after 384 performances

1977 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic

1978 - 4th People's Choice Awards: Star Wars, Carol Burnett & Bob Hope win the major awards

1978 - Bob Backland beats Billy Graham in NY, to become WWF wrestling champ

• 1978 - Egypt announces it is pulling its diplomats out of Cyprus

1979 - "Comin' Uptown" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 45 performances

1981 - Flight readiness firing of Columbia's main engines; 20 seconds

1981 - James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec)

1982 - NY Islanders wins then NHL record 15th straight game

1983 - Japan launches Tenma satellite to study x-rays (450/570 km)

Entertainer Bob HopeEntertainer Bob Hope 1983 - Roland Liboton becomes world champ cross-country cycling

1985 - After defending his WBC flyweight championship, Sot Chitalada's check for $104,000 is stolen by a ringside pickpocket

• In a highly controversial vote on this day in 1985, the Irish government defied the powerful Catholic Church and approved the sale of contraceptives.    Up until 1979, Irish law prohibited the importation and sale of contraceptives. In a 1973 case, McGee v. The Attorney General, the Irish Supreme Court found that a constitutional right to marital privacy covered the use of contraceptives. Pressured by strong conservative forces in Irish society, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, the government was slow to change the law to reflect the court's decision, and a number of proposed bills failed before reaching the books.    In 1979, the Irish health minister, Charles Haughey, introduced a bill limiting the legal provision of contraceptives to "bona fide family planning purposes." Signed into law in November 1980, the Health (Family Planning) Act ensured that contraceptives could be sold by a registered pharmacist to customers with a valid medical prescription. Still, many people saw the law as too strict. Over the next several years, a movement began to make contraceptives more easily available, causing bitter divisions inside and outside of the Dail, Ireland's main house of Parliament.    As the government debated the changes, Catholic Church leaders railed against them, warning that increased access to contraceptives would encourage the moral decay of Ireland, leading to more illegitimate children and increased rates of abortion and venereal disease. On the eve of the vote in early 1985, the Dublin archbishop claimed the legislation would send Ireland down a "slippery slope of moral degradation." Some politicians were even threatened with violence if they voted for the legislation.    On February 20, 1985, a coalition of the Fine Gael and Labour parties led by Dr. Garret FitzGerald defeated the opposition of the conservative Fianna Fail party by an 83-80 vote. The new legislation made non-medical contraceptives (condoms and spermicides) available without prescriptions to people over 18 at pharmacies; it also allowed for the distribution of these contraceptives at doctors' offices, hospitals and family planning clinics. Though it was still illegal to advertise contraceptives and use of the birth control pill remained restricted, the vote marked a major turning point in Irish history--the first-ever defeat of the Catholic Church in a head-to-head battle with the government on social legislation.

• In 1986 on this day, official plans to develop the Chunnel, the underground tunnel connecting Britain with France (and mainland Europe) were announced.  Attempts to dig a channel tunnel between Britain and France date back to 1883, and Napoleon drew blueprints for a tunnel in 1802. Yet not until February 20, 1986, were France and Britain able to announce that a tunnel would soon become a reality. Trains, cars and buses would be able to speed through the tunnel in less than half an hour. Construction began in December 1987 and the "chunnel" was finally completed in 1994.     

1986 - Mike Tyson sexually harasses a woman in Albany NY

• 1987 - Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by computer store in Salt Lake City

1987 - David Hartman quits ABC's "Good Morning America," after 11 years

1988 - 500 die in heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro Brazil

1988 - Andre Hoffmann skates world record 1500m (1:52.06)

1988 - Brian Boitano wins Olympic gold medal in figure skating

1988 - Cornelia Oschkenat hurdles indoor world record 50m (6.58 sec)

1988 - Kelly Hrudy's 5th Islander shut-out win-Hartford 3-0

1988 - Peter Kalikow purchases NY Post from Rupert Murdoch for $37.6 million

1988 - Rob Druppers runs world record indoor 1000m (2:16.2)

1988 - Stefka Kostadinova high jumps indoor world record (2.06 m)

1989 - Members of 1949 Oklahoma football team cancelled an April reunion because of deplorable conduct of Oklahoma players

Media Mogul Rupert MurdochMedia Mogul Rupert Murdoch 1989 - An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill, England

1991 - "Taking Steps" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 78 performances

1991 - 33rd Grammy Awards: Another Day in Paradise, Mariah Carey

1991 - A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time dictator, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital, Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters.

1992 - "Private Lives" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 37 performances

1992 - Orthodox patriarch Shenouda III visits Netherlands

1992 - Ross Perot says he'll run for President on Larry King Show

1993 - Florida Marlins open their 1st spring training camp

1993 - Lisa Walters wins LPGA Itoki Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open

1993 - NY Islanders retire Billy Smith's number 31

1994 - 3 Afghans take 70 Pakistani children hostage

1994 - Johann Olav Koss skates world record 10 km (13:30.55)

1994 - Pope John Paul II demands juristic discrimination of homosexuals

1997 - "Stanley" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC

1997 - SF Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9M 2 year contract

264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 1998 - Tara Lipinski wins Olympic figure skating gold medal

• 1998 - UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan lands in Baghdad, for peace negotiations

• 1998 - US movie box office hits quickest $1 billion for year (51 days)

• 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.

• On this day in 2003, during a rock concert for Great White in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display suddenly set the club ablaze, ultimately killing 100 and injuring over 300 others. The most famous contract rider in rock-and-roll history may be the one Van Halen used that stipulated that "There will be no brown M&M's in the backstage area, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation." The most tragic contract rider in history, on the other hand, was the one sent ahead to the small bars and nightclubs on the 2003 tour of  "Jack Russell's Great White," the touring remnant of the group behind late-80s hits like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." That rider led, in a very direct way, to the deaths of 100 concert-goers in The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, on this day in 2003.    Even in its heyday, Great White was no Van Halen. Yet one can be sure that the contract rider enumerating their onstage and backstage needs circa 1988 must have looked rather different from the one they were using 15 years later. The latter document was a model of restraint. Beverages? Bottled water, orange juice, coffee, tea and a few Red Bulls. Lunch? Something from the venue kitchen, or sandwiches from Subway. The rider specified gel colors for the lights and dimensions for the merchandise table, but in the detailed stage diagram it made no mention of three pyrotechnic devices—spark fountains called "gerbs"—that the band's tour manager liked to set off just as Jack Russell's Great White tore into their opening number. Those devices would start the fourth deadliest fire in American history, killing 100 patrons of The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, on the night of February 20, 2003.    It was an awful combination of bad decisions by multiple parties that led to the disastrous loss of life at The Station, from the local fire authorities' decision not to require sprinklers at the club, to the club owners' dangerous and illegal decision to use cheap, flammable packing foam around the stage area rather than fire-retardant soundproofing. Nevertheless, if there had been no sparks from the unplanned-for pyrotechnic devices, there would have been no fire in the first place. This highlights the importance of strict adherence to contract riders by performers and concert venues—the very point Van Halen was making with their famous M&M provision. As David Lee Roth explained in his autobiography, "When I would walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl...we'd line-check the entire production. Guaranteed you're going to arrive at a technical error. They didn't read the contract. Guaranteed you'd run into a problem. Sometimes it would threaten to just destroy the whole show. Something like, literally, life-threatening."               

Flag of Spain

• 2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.

• 2010 - In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.

• 2012 - Scientists successfully regenerate Silene stenophylla from a 31,800 year old piece of fruit, greatly surpassing the previous record of 2,000 years

• 2012 - South Korea angers North Korea as it proceeds with live fire drills in disputed Korean sea borders

• 2013 - Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars

• 2013 - Kepler-37b, the smallest known exoplanet, is discovered

  1809 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government was greater than that of any individual state.   1815 - The USS Constitution, under Captain Charles Stewart fought the British ships Cyane and Levant. The Constitution captures both, but lost the Levant after encountering a British squadron. The Constitution and the Cyane returned to New York safely on May 15, 1815. The Cyane was purchased and became the USS Cyane.   1839 - The U.S. Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.   1872 - Luther Crowell received a patent for a machine that manufactured paper bags.      1872 - Silas Noble and J.P. Cooley patented the toothpick manufacturing machine.   1873 - The University of California got its first Medical School.   1880 - The American Bell Company was incorporated.   1901 - The first territorial legislature of Hawaii convened.   1921 - The motion picture "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" was released starring Rudolph Valentino.   1931 - The U.S. Congress allowed California to build the Oakland Bay Bridge.   1933 - The U.S. House of Representatives completed congressional action on the amendment to repeal Prohibition.   1944 - "Big Week" began as U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers during World War II.   1952 - Emmett L. Ashford became the first black umpire in organized baseball. He was authorized to be a substitute in the Southwestern International League.   1952 - "The African Queen" opened at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.   1958 - Racing jockey Eddie Arcaro got win number 4,000, as he rode the winner at Santa Anita race track in Southern California.   1962 - John Glenn made space history when he orbited the world three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes. He was the first American to orbit the Earth. He was aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule.   1965 - Ranger 8 crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of its surface.   1987 - After 11 years, David Hartman left ABC’s "Good Morning America."   1987 - A bomb exploded in a computer store in Salt Lake City, UT. The blast was blamed on the Unabomber.   1993 - Two ten-year-old boys were charged by police in Liverpool, England, in the abduction and death of a toddler. The two boys were later convicted.   1998 - American Tara Lipinski, at age 15, became the youngest gold medalist in winter Olympics history when she won the ladies' figure skating title at Nagano, Japan.   2001 - FBI Agent Robert Phillip Hanssen was arrested and charged with spying for the Russians for 15 years.   2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire raced through a train killing at least 370 people and injuring at least 65.   2003 - In West Warwick, RI, 99 people were killed when fire destroyed the nightclub The Station. The fire started with sparks from a pyrotechnic display being used by Great White. Ty Longley, guitarist for Great White, was one of the victims in the fire.

1792 President George Washington signed the Post Office Act, establishing a permanent Post Office Department. 1809 The Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state. 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. 1998 Tara Lipinski won the Olympic figure skating gold medal. 2003 A fire in a nightclub in Warwick, R.I., killed 100 and injured over 150.

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb20.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

A Startling Number of Americans Believed That Joan of Arc Noah's Wife

 

Pictures of the Joan of Arc statue in Paris, near the Louvre

Every now and then, we keep hearing information of polls which show just why Americans have frankly earned a reputation for being astonishingly ignorant, given that this is still for the moment the wealthiest and most advanced nation in the world. Indeed, Americans have "earned" a reputation for knowing next to nothing about countries outside of our precious American borders. Talk to some people here, and you can understand why. Far too many Americans literally feel like the world before the United States came around was hardly worth mentioning, and that now, the rest of the world should be thankful for this country, and for Americans.

We have elected a president who embodies both this ignorance and this arrogance, this false sense of entitlement. He demands that the rest of the world basically worship Americans. Recently, during the infamous Davos economic summit, .Trump spoke in a predominately German-speaking country about how thankful Europe should be for Americans, otherwise they would be speaking German right now. This is ignorance (and arrogance) on a not only astonishing level, but plain wrong on several levels, as well. After all, Americans and other allies launched the D-Day invasions to open the western front in Europe almost a year and a half after the Soviet Red Army had crushed the Germans at Stalingrad, which turned the tide of the war. Any halfway decent historical atlas, or history book, or perusing through period newspapers, would make that clear enough. The Germans were already in full retreat and being forcibly backed up to the borders of the Reich by that time. It was clear that Hitler and Nazi Germany was heading towards catastrophe. We know now that there was no secret weapon, that they were well on their way to defeat. So no, the Germans would not still be ruling over Europe right now, if not for Americans. 

But I digress...

More than a decade ago - just before the political rise of Trump, in fact - there was a poll which illustrated the often astonishing ignorance that Americans have come to be known for among advanced nations. This poll showed that 12% of Americans polled thought that Joan of Arc was the wife of Noah, who built the Arc in the Bible. 

Yikes.

Do we need further proof of how Trump's rise in the United States was possible to begin with?

Frankly, these kinds of things reveal astonishing levels of ignorance. And this is frankly inexcusable for a country as advanced as the United States has long been now. Especially since Americans so loudly and proudly claim to be the best country in the world, the "leaders of the free world." the "Shining city on the hill," and "last best hope for mankind," as well as "God's country." When you want to pat yourself on the back so damn much and so relentlessly, at least set your bar a bit higher, so that the rest of the world is not literally laughing at you, as they are these days.

Frankly, this is the reason why I for one do not believe, as many Americans do, that Trump is the problem, and if you remove him, all is good again. Trump reached the Oval Office for a reason. And while these kinds of headlines underscore just how someone like Trump could get so powerful, this level of ignorance not only seems to persist, but seems to be gaining momentum. I shudder to think of where this country might be in twenty of thirty years, if things don't change in a hurry. 

Dark days. 

Joan of Arc is NOT Noah's wife CBC Radio · Tapestry Posted: May 08, 2015 3:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 8, 2015

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/religion-and-horror-soul-mates-in-popular-culture-1.3065296/joan-of-arc-is-not-noah-s-wife-1.3065328

Joan of Arc is NOT Noah's wife | CBC Radio

Lindsey Graham Urges NATO Allies To Get Over Their Anxieties Over Greenland

Days ago, Senator Lindsey Graham suggested that it was time for European nations and Canada to basically get over Trump's threats to take over Greenland ever since he was elected to a second term. Remember, it was only last month when Trump seemed to talk about little else but taking over Greenland, before NATO allies managed to get him to back down at the Davos conference.

Now, quite conveniently, Trump bootlicker Graham is saying it's all good. 

"Greenland is behind us," said the South Carolina Republican Friday at the Munich Security Conference. “I think everybody's hugging it out and we'll live to fight another day."  

Graham evidently suggested that the pressure that Trump put on Europe, which included his "small ask" of obtaining Greenland, ultimately got NATO to band together more tightly and seriously than it years. That is why European nations now seem to be increasing defense spending and doubling down on their support for Ukraine. 

It was a bit of a bizarre and, frankly, disingenuous take on Europe's reaction to Trump's desire for land grabs, particularly Greenland (but also Venezuela). 

“Everybody loves NATO,” Graham said. “Well, I love it because people are doing more.”  

Graham basically suggested that he did not care who owned Greenland.

Hey, Lindsey! Maybe you should try to convince your boss of that. After all, nobody seemed to be worried or to feel a need to up defense spending until Trump made all of these things an issue. Remember, when he threatened to take over Greenland, and refused to rule out military force, until a unified group of NATO nations (note that I am not calling them American allies any longer, because it seems to me that Trump's America no longer values allies) forced Graham's boss to back down. 

It seems that Graham is taking an overly relaxed approach towards Trump's very alarming desire to obtain new territories. Remember, Trump invaded and took over Venezuela, even listing himself as President of that country. Then he was threatening to take over Greenland, claiming urgency. He repeatedly, relentlessly referred to Canada as the "51st state" and has made a point of trying to undermine Canada's sovereignty at every turn, suggesting how "beautiful" it would be if Canada joined the United States. Trump also warned that Colombia might be next, that Cuba was ready to fall. In the past, he threatened to take over Panama and Gaza, and military action in Mexico. 

Why would anyone be puzzled as to why our apparently former allies (pre-Trump) now are looking on in horror and viewing the United States with increasing alarm and distrust? The whole world seems to be viewing us in that light.

Again, maybe it's time for Graham to actually find a backbone and tell Trump some of these things, instead of taking the easy way out, which has been his political trademark.

Lindsey Graham to allies: Get over Greenland The South Carolina Republican offered a fairly optimistic take on a NATO alliance that's been battered by the dispute over Greenland. Avatar of Joe Gould By: Joe Gould | 02/13/2026 11:

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/02/lindsey-graham-greenland-00780269

POLITICO Pro | Article | Lindsey Graham to allies: Get over Greenland

Legendary Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus Was Born on This Day in 1473

 

Statue of Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473- May 24, 1543) was a gift to humanity, in terms of our ever-widening understanding of our universe, and how the world works. Copernicus was born on this day in 1473 in Torun, a city in north-central Poland on the Vistula River. He lived his life in what was then Royal Prussia. This was an autonomous state, but it was ruled by the Polish king dating back to 1466, a few years before Copernicus was born. 

He was an exceptional Polish astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. Also, he was a physician, polyglot, a a politician (numerous titles), a scholar of classical antiquity, translator, and even an economist, although he did not earn or possess a degree in all of these fields. Nevertheless, Copernicus developed an economic theory of quantity in 1517, two years before it became popularized by Thomas Gresham in what is now known as Gresham's Law (which effectively can be summed up as "bad money drives out good money"). 

While Copernicus was obviously a man of many talents, he is most famous for his theory of heliocentrism, where he formulated the heliocentric model of our solar system, famously (and dangerously) suggesting that the planets - including the Earth - revolve around the Sun. This marked a massive departure from the previously prevailing geocentric viewpoint, which had the Earth as the center of the universe. 

His most famous work was "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). It was published posthumously in 1543, underscoring the dangerous nature of his findings. This was the work in which he presented his heliocentric theory. He suggested that the Earth rotates on its axis and orbits the Sun, offering mathematical calculations and other observations which served as solid proof.

Nevertheless, Copernicus's work initially received skepticism. Perhaps people just were not ready to challenge what had been the accepted wisdom of the time before these findings by Copernicus.

In time, however, the work of Copernicus championing a heliocentric model of the solar system began to be more accepted and even admired over time. In fact, perhaps ironically, it took as a central role in a scientific revolution which advanced our knowledge and understanding of the world and the solar system, even the universe. 

Today, I wanted to take some time to honor the memory of Copernicus, and his now legendary work. 

From  the World Science Festival a few years ago:

https://www.facebook.com/worldsciencefestival/photos/a.234698156550699/1097429526944220/

February 19th: This Day in History

 

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

On this day in 197, Lucius Septimius Severus' army defeated Clodius Albinus at Lyon. In 356 on this day, Emperor Constantius II shut down all heathen temples. Boniface III began his reign as Catholic Pope on this day in 607. In 842 on this day, the Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended as a council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of icons in the churches. On this day in 1473, noted Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, often regarded as the father of modern astronomy, was born in Torun, a city in north-central Poland on the Vistula River. He was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun, altering our understanding of the solar system and Earth's place in it.  On this day in 1777, the Continental Congress voted to promote Thomas Mifflin; Arthur St. Clair; William Alexander, Lord Stirling; Adam Stephen; and Benjamin Lincoln to the rank of major general. Although the promotions were intended in part to balance the number of generals from each state, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold felt slighted that five junior officers received promotions ahead of him and, in response, threatened to resign from the Patriot army.  On this day in 1878, Thomas Alva Edison patented the gramophone (phonograph).  On this day in 1942, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal of all people from military areas. Coming just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it specifically targeted Americans of Japanese background. On this day in 1945, Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines' invasion of Iwo Jima, with 30,000 US Marines landing on the island. On this day in 1959, Cyprus was granted its independence with the signing of an agreement between Britain, Turkey and Greece. On this day in 1986, the U.S. Senate approved the ratification of the UN's anti-genocide convention 37 years after the fact. The USSR launched the Mir space station into Earth orbit on this day in 1986. On this day in 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the leader of China died at the age of 92. He was the last of China's major revolutionaries. In 2008 on this day, Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba after 49 years in power. Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother, succeeded him as president.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

• On this day in 197, Lucius Septimius Severus' army defeated Clodius Albinus at Lyon. 

• In 356 on this day, Emperor Constantius II shut down all heathen temples. 

• Boniface III began his reign as Catholic Pope on this day in 607. 

• In 842 on this day, the Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ended as a council in Constantinople formally reinstated the veneration of icons in the churches.

Statue of Nicolaus Copernicus

• On this day in 1473, noted Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, a city in north-central Poland on the Vistula River. The father of modern astronomy, he was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.    Copernicus was born into a family of well-to-do merchants, and after his father's death, his uncle--soon to be a bishop--took the boy under his wing. He was given the best education of the day and bred for a career in canon (church) law. At the University of Krakow, he studied liberal arts, including astronomy and astrology, and then, like many Poles of his social class, was sent to Italy to study medicine and law.    While studying at the University of Bologna, he lived for a time in the home of Domenico Maria de Novara, the principal astronomer at the university. Astronomy and astrology were at the time closely related and equally regarded, and Novara had the responsibility of issuing astrological prognostications for Bologna. Copernicus sometimes assisted him in his observations, and Novara exposed him to criticism of both astrology and aspects of the Ptolemaic system, which placed Earth at the center of the universe.    Copernicus later studied at the University of Padua and in 1503 received a doctorate in canon law from the University of Ferrara. He returned to Poland, where he became a church administrator and doctor. In his free time, he dedicated himself to scholarly pursuits, which sometimes included astronomical work. By 1514, his reputation as an astronomer was such that he was consulted by church leaders attempting to reform the Julian calendar.    The cosmology of early 16th-century Europe held that Earth sat stationary and motionless at the center of several rotating, concentric spheres that bore the celestial bodies: the sun, the moon, the known planets, and the stars. From ancient times, philosophers adhered to the belief that the heavens were arranged in circles (which by definition are perfectly round), causing confusion among astronomers who recorded the often eccentric motion of the planets, which sometimes appeared to halt in their orbit of Earth and move retrograde across the sky.    In the second century A.D., the Alexandrian geographer and astronomer Ptolemy sought to resolve this problem by arguing that the sun, planets, and moon move in small circles around much larger circles that revolve around Earth. These small circles he called epicycles, and by incorporating numerous epicycles rotating at varying speeds he made his celestial system correspond with most astronomical observations on record.    The Ptolemaic system remained Europe's accepted cosmology for more than 1,000 years, but by Copernicus' day accumulated astronomical evidence had thrown some of his theories into confusion. Astronomers disagreed on the order of the planets from Earth, and it was this problem that Copernicus addressed at the beginning of the 16th century.    Sometime between 1508 and 1514, he wrote a short astronomical treatise commonly called the Commentariolus, or "Little Commentary," which laid the basis for his heliocentric (sun-centered) system. The work was not published in his lifetime. In the treatise, he correctly postulated the order of the known planets, including Earth, from the sun, and estimated their orbital periods relatively accurately.    For Copernicus, his heliocentric theory was by no means a watershed, for it created as many problems as it solved. For instance, heavy objects were always assumed to fall to the ground because Earth was the center of the universe. Why would they do so in a sun-centered system? He retained the ancient belief that circles governed the heavens, but his evidence showed that even in a sun-centered universe the planets and stars did not revolve around the sun in circular orbits. Because of these problems and others, Copernicus delayed publication of his major astronomical work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi, or "Six Books Concerning the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs," nearly all his life. Completed around 1530, it was not published until 1543--the year of his death.    In the work, Copernicus' groundbreaking argument that Earth and the planets revolve around the sun led him to make a number of other major astronomical discoveries. While revolving around the sun, Earth, he argued, spins on its axis daily. Earth takes one year to orbit the sun and during this time wobbles gradually on its axis, which accounts for the precession of the equinoxes. Major flaws in the work include his concept of the sun as the center of the whole universe, not just the solar system, and his failure to grasp the reality of elliptical orbits, which forced him to incorporate numerous epicycles into his system, as did Ptolemy. With no concept of gravity, Earth and the planets still revolved around the sun on giant transparent spheres.    In his dedication to De revolutionibus--an extremely dense scientific work--Copernicus noted that "mathematics is written for mathematicians." If the work were more accessible, many would have objected to its non-biblical and hence heretical concept of the universe. For decades, De revolutionibus remained unknown to all but the most sophisticated astronomers, and most of these men, while admiring some of Copernicus' arguments, rejected his heliocentric basis. It was not until the early 17th century that Galileo and Johannes Kepler developed and popularized the Copernican theory, which for Galileo resulted in a trial and conviction for heresy. Following Isaac Newton's work in celestial mechanics in the late 17th century, acceptance of the Copernican theory spread rapidly in non-Catholic countries, and by the late 18th century it was almost universally accepted.     

• 1512 - French troops under Gaston de Foix occupy Brescia

• 1537 - Weavers of Leiden Neth strike

• 1539 - Jews of Tyrnau Hungary (then Trnava Czech), expelled

• 1574 - Spanish troops plunder Krommenie, Wormerveer & Jisp Neth

• 1582 - Francis of Valois becomes duke of Brabant

• 1594 - Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.

• 1600 - The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.

• 1619 - Trial against Johan van Oldenbarnevelt begins in The Hague

• 1634 - Battle at Smolensk: Polish king Wladyslaw IV beats Russians [NS=Mar 1]

• 1674 - Netherlands & England sign Peace of Westminster (NYC becomes English)

• 1700 - Last day of Julian calendar in Denmark

• 1736 - George Frideric Handel's "Alexander's Feast," premieres

• 1771 - Messier adds M46-M49 to his catalog (galactic clusters in Puppis & Hydra & galaxy in Virgo)

• On this day in 1777, the Continental Congress voted to promote Thomas Mifflin; Arthur St. Clair; William Alexander, Lord Stirling; Adam Stephen; and Benjamin Lincoln to the rank of major general. Although the promotions were intended in part to balance the number of generals from each state, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold felt slighted that five junior officers received promotions ahead of him and, in response, threatened to resign from the Patriot army.    In a letter dated April 3, 1777, General George Washington wrote to Arnold from his headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey, and confessed that he was surprised, when I did not see your name in the list of Major Generals. Thinking that the omission of Arnold's name was an error, Washington discouraged the disappointed Arnold from taking any hasty Step.    To Arnold's dismay, he soon learned that his commander in chief was wrong, and he submitted his resignation to the Congress in July 1777, but withdrew it at Washington's urging. Despite having the support of George Washington, Arnold continued to feel unjustly overlooked by his superiors. Finally, in 1780, Arnold betrayed his country by offering to hand over the Patriot-held fort at West Point, New York, to the British. With West Point in their control, the British would have controlled the critical Hudson River Valley and separated New England from the rest of the colonies. His wife, Margaret, was a Loyalist and would not have objected to his plans. However, his plot was foiled, and Arnold, the hero of Ticonderoga and Saratoga, became the most famous traitor in American history. He continued to fight on the side of the British in the Revolution and, after the war, returned to Britain, where he died destitute in London in 1801.         

• 1797 - 1/3 of papal domain ceded to France

• 1803 - Congress accepts Ohio's constitution, statehood not ratified till 1953

Composer George Friedrich HandelComposer George Friedrich Handel 1807 - British squadron under Adm Duckworth forces passage of Dardanelle

• 1807 - VP Aaron Burr arrested in Alabama for treason; later found innocent

• 1819 - British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.

• 1825 - Franz Grillparzer's "Konig Ottokars Gluck," premieres in Vienna

• 1831 - 1st practical US coal-burning locomotive makes 1st trial run, Penn

• 1846 - Texas state government formally installed in Austin

• 1852 - The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

• 1856 - Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio

• 1861 - Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom [NS=Mar 3]

• 1864 - Knights of Pythias form 1st lodge in Wash DC (12 members)

• 1869 - US Assay Office in Boise, Idaho authorized

Monuments to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park in Edison,  NJ 

• On this day in 1878, Thomas Alva Edison patented the gramophone (phonograph). The technology that made the modern music business possible came into existence in the New Jersey laboratory where Thomas Alva Edison created the first device to both record sound and play it back. He was awarded U.S. Patent No. 200,521 for his invention--the phonograph--on this day in 1878.    Edison's invention came about as spin-off from his ongoing work in telephony and telegraphy. In an effort to facilitate the repeated transmission of a single telegraph message, Edison devised a method for capturing a passage of Morse code as a sequence of indentations on a spool of paper. Reasoning that a similar feat could be accomplished for the telephone, Edison devised a system that transferred the vibrations of a diaphragm—i.e., sound—to an embossing point and then mechanically onto an impressionable medium—paraffin paper at first, and then a spinning, tin-foil wrapped cylinder as he refined his concept. Edison and his mechanic, John Kreusi, worked on the invention through the autumn of 1877 and quickly had a working model ready for demonstration. The December 22, 1877, issue of Scientific American reported that "Mr. Thomas A. Edison recently came into this office, placed a little machine on our desk, turned a crank, and the machine inquired as to our health, asked how we liked the phonograph, informed us that it was very well, and bid us a cordial good night."    The patent awarded to Edison on February 19, 1878, specified a particular method—embossing—for capturing sound on tin-foil-covered cylinders. The next critical improvement in recording technology came courtesy of Edison's competitor in the race to develop the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell. His newly established Bell Labs developed a phonograph based on the engraving of a wax cylinder, a significant improvement that led directly to the successful commercialization of recorded music in the 1890s and lent a vocabulary to the recording business—e.g., "cutting" records and "spinning wax"—that has long outlived the technology on which it was based.

• 1881 - Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages

• 1884 - Tornadoes in Miss, Ala, NC, SC, Tenn, Ky & In kill 800 people

• 1900 - British troops occupy Hlangwane Natal

• 1906 - WK Kellogg & Ch Bolin find Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co

1910 - English premiere of Richard Strauss' "Elektra"

1913 - 1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box

• 1913 - Mexican General V Huerta takes power with US support

1914 - Riccardo Zandonai's opera "Francesco da Rimini," premieres in Turin

1915 - British fleet fire on Dardanellen coast

1919 - Pan-African Congress, organized by W E B Du Bois (Paris)

• 1920 - Netherlands joins League of Nations

1922 - Ed Wynn becomes 1st talent to sign as a radio entertainer

1923 - Jean Sibelius' 6th Symphony, premieres

1923 - Philip Barry's "You & I," premieres in NYC

• 1927 - General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai

Flag of the Olympics

• 1928 - 2nd Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland

1928 - Canadian hockey team wins 3rd consecutive gold medal

1929 - Medical diathermy machine 1st used, Schenectady, NY

Author and Nobel Laureate William FaulknerAuthor and Nobel Laureate William Faulkner 1932 - William Faulkner completes his novel "Light in August"

1933 - Prussian minister Goering bans all Catholic newspapers

1934 - US contract air mail service canceled, replaced by US army for 6 mos

1935 - Clifford Odets' "Awake & Sing," premieres in NYC

1936 - Manuel Azaña becomes Spanish premier

1938 - Soviet arctic ice research station North Pole 1 evacuated, Denmark

1941 - Nazi police attacks & driven away from Koco Amsterdam (by young Jews)

1941 - Nazi raid Amsterdam & round up 429 young Jews for deportation

1942 - About 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin

1942 - Bill Longson beats Managoff & Sandor Szabo, to become wrestling champ

1942 - Dutch actors protest obligatory membership of Culture Chamber

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.

• On this day in 1942, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal, detention & internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans. The language suggested that all people viewed as a threat to national security from military areas. Coming just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it specifically targeted Americans of Japanese background. Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal of any or all people from military areas "as deemed necessary or desirable." The military in turn defined the entire West Coast, home to the majority of Americans of Japanese ancestry or citizenship, as a military area. By June, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were relocated to remote internment camps built by the U.S. military in scattered locations around the country. For the next two and a half years, many of these Japanese Americans endured extremely difficult living conditions and poor treatment by their military guards.    On December 17, 1944, U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issued Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that, effective January 2, 1945, Japanese-American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes. During the course of World War II, 10 Americans were convicted of spying for Japan, but not one of them was of Japanese ancestry. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill to recompense each surviving internee with a tax-free check for $20,000 and an apology from the U.S. government.

• 1942 - Japanese troop land on Timor

1942 - Tommy Dorsey & his orchestra recorded "I'll Take Tallulah"

1942 - NY Yankees annouce 5,000 uniformed soldiers admitted free at each of their upcoming home games

• 1942 - Approximately 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin.   

• 1943 - German tanks under brig gen Buelowius attack Kasserine Pass Tunesia

1944 - 823 British bombers attack Berlin

1944 - U-264 sinks off Ireland

• On this day in 1945, Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines' invasion of Iwo Jima, with 30,000 US Marines landing on the island. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime real estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing raids against Japan, only 660 miles away.    The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense of the island in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided the island for 74 days. It was the longest pre-invasion bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which the Japanese--21,000 strong--fortified the island, above and below ground, including a network of caves. Underwater demolition teams ("frogmen") were dispatched by the Americans just before the actual invasion. When the Japanese fired on the frogmen, they gave away many of their "secret" gun positions.    The amphibious landings of Marines began the morning of February 19 as the secretary of the navy, James Forrestal, accompanied by journalists, surveyed the scene from a command ship offshore. As the Marines made their way onto the island, seven Japanese battalions opened fire on them. By evening, more than 550 Marines were dead and more than 1,800 were wounded. The capture of Mount Suribachi, the highest point of the island and bastion of the Japanese defense, took four more days and many more casualties. When the American flag was finally raised on Iwo Jima, the memorable image was captured in a famous photograph that later won the Pulitzer Prize.

• 1945 - 900 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in 2 days

1945 - Brotherhood Day-1st celebrated

1945 - US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese

1946 - Giants outfielder Danny Gardella is 1st major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican League

1947 - CBS radio premiere of Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasilieras No 3"

1949 - "Inside USA" closes at Century Theater NYC after 339 performances

1949 - 1st Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Ezra Pound

1949 - Mass arrests of communists in India

• 1952 - French offensive at Hanoi

• 1953 - Georgia approves US 1st literature censorship board

1953 - William Inge's "Picnic," premieres in NYC

Poet Ezra PoundPoet Ezra Pound 1955 - South East Asia Collective Defense Treaty goes into effect

1956 - Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open

1958 - Carl Perkins leaves Sun Records for Columbia Records

• On this day in 1959, Cyprus was granted its independence with the signing of an agreement between Britain, Turkey and Greece.   

• 1959 - Gabon adopts its constitution

1959 - USAF rocket-powered rail sled attains Mach 4.1 (4970 kph), NM

1960 - Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuts

• 1960 - Protest strike in Poznan Poland

• 1961 - Albania disavows Chinese "Revisionism"

1961 - Henk van der Grift (Neth) becomes world champ all-round skater

1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• 1963 - Robert Frost wins Bollingen Prize

• 1963 - USSR informs JFK it's withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba

   

    

• 1964 - UK flies ½ ton of The Beatles wigs to the US

1968 - 1st US Teachers strike (Florida)

1969 - 1st Test flight of Boeing 747 jumbo jet

1970 - AL Cy Young winner Denny McLain suspended for bookmaking

1970 - USSR launches Sputnik 52 & Molniya 1-13 communications satellite

• 1971 - Paul McCartney releases "Another Day" in UK

1971 - Walt Wesley becomes 1st Cleve Cavalier to score 50 pts in a game

1972 - Glenn Turner carries his bat for 223* v WI at Kingston

1972 - The Asama-Sanso hostage standoff begins in Japan.

1974 - 1st American Music Award: Helen Reddy & Jim Croce win

1976 - Frente Polisario forms Democratic Republic of Sahara

1977 - 19th Grammy Awards: This Masquerade, Starland Vocal Band

1977 - A's sell pitcher Paul Lindblad to the Rangers for $400,000

1977 - Doug Walters scores 250 v NZ, 217 stand for 7th wicket w/Gilmour

• 1977 - Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album released

Musician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartneyMusician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartney 1977 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1977 - Shuttle Enterprise makes 1st Test flight atop a 747 jetliner

1978 - "On the 20th Century" opens at St James Theater NYC for 460 perfs

1978 - Brigitte Kraus runs world record 1000 m indoor (2:34.8)

1978 - Coleman, Comden & Green's musical premieres in NYC

1980 - Botham a century & 13 wickets in Jubilee Test Cricket at Bombay

1980 - Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 1000m in 1:15.18

1981 - George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for "subconscious plagiarism" "My Sweet Lord" with "He's So Fine"

1982 - Hanneke Jagersma installed as Neth's 1st Communist mayor

1982 - Sharie Langford, California, sets women's bowling series record of 853

1982 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1983 - Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration of $1 million

1983 - Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) sets 400 m free style swimming record

1984 - "Doonesbury" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 104 performances

1984 - 14th winter Olympic games close at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

1984 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1984 - 1st brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same event at Olympics (Phil & Steve Mahre-Slalom)

1985 - 150 killed when a Spanish jetliner crashed approaching Bilbao, Spain

1985 - ADM of Amsterdam declares bankruptcy

1985 - Canned & bottled Cherry Coke introduced by Coca-Cola

1985 - Mickey Mouse welcomed in China

1985 - William Schroeder is 1st artificial heart patient to leave hospital He spent 15 minutes outside Humana Hospital in Louisville, Ky

1986 - Jordanian King Hussein severs ties with PLO

• On this day in 1986, the U.S. Senate approved the ratification of the UN's anti-genocide convention 37 years after the fact.

 

•  USSR launched the Mir space station into Earth orbit on this day in 1986.

1987 - "Stardust" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 102 performances

1987 - Anti-smoking ad airs for 1st time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner

1987 - Less than a month after re-signing, A's pitcher Vida Blue retires

1987 - Minn sheriff office arrest FBI most wanted, Thomas G Harrelson

US President & Actor Ronald ReaganUS President & Actor Ronald Reagan 1987 - US President Reagan lifts trade boycott against Poland

1988 - Helga Arendt, Silke-Beate Knoll, Mechthild Kluth, Gisela Kinzel walk indoor female world record 4x200m (1:32.55)

1989 - "Legs Diamond" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 64 perfs

1989 - Edgar Bowers wins Bollingen Prize

1990 - Police kill 8 demonstrators for multi party system in Nepal

1990 - Soyuz TM-9 lands

1992 - "Crazy For You" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 1622 performances

1992 - Ken Ludwig's musical "Crazy for You," premieres in NYC

1992 - Peter Collins discovers nova Cygni 1992

1992 - Porn producer Jim Mitchell found guilty of killing his brother Artie

1993 - Kenya Moore, 22, (Michigan), crowned 42nd Miss USA

1994 - Marta Figueras-Dotti wins Cup o' Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open

1995 - 1st broadcast of "Woman of Independent Means" on NBC-TV

1995 - Irina Privalova runs indoor woman's European record 200m (22.10 sec)

1995 - Kenneth Koch wins Bollingen Prize

1995 - Linford Christie runs world record 200m indoor (20.25 sec)

1995 - Linford Christie runs European record 60m indoor (6.47 sec)

1995 - Michael Tippett's "Rose Lake," premieres

1996 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in York PA on WQXA 105.7 FM

• 1997 - FCC makes available 311 for non-emergency calls & 711 for hearing or speech-impaired emergency calls

• On this day in 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the leader of China died at the age of 92. He was the last of China's major revolutionaries.

1998 - Soyuz TM-26 lands

1998 - US hockey team destroys their rooms at Olympic village in Japan

2001 - An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

• 2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

• 2004 - Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity."

• 2007 - Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala.

• In 2008 on this day, Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba after 49 years in power. Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother, succeeded him as president.

• 2008 - Toshiba announces its formal recall of its HD DVD video formatting, ending the format war between it and Sony's Blu-Ray Disc

• 2012 - 44 people killed in prison brawl in Apocada, Mexico, between two rival drug cartels

• 2013 - 12 people are killed and 11 are injured after a Yemeni Air Force plane crashes in Sana'a

1807 - Former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested in Alabama. He was later tried and acquitted on charges of treason.   1846 - The formal transfer of government between Texas and the United States took place. Texas had officially become a state on December 29, 1845.   1856 - The tintype camera was patented by Professor Hamilton L. Smith.   1864 - The Knights of Pythias was founded in Washington, DC. A dozen members formed what became Lodge No. 1.   1878 - Thomas Alva Edison patented a music player (the phonograph).   1881 - Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.   1922 - Ed Wynn became the first big-name, vaudeville talent to sign on as a radio talent.   1942 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed an executive order giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.   1942 - The New York Yankees announced that they would admit 5,000 uniformed servicemen free to each of their home ball games during the coming season.   1942 - Approximately 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin.   1945 - During World War II, about 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima.   1949 - Bollingen Foundation and Yale University awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry ($5,000) to Ezra Pound.   1953 - The State of Georgia approved the first literature censorship board in the U.S. Newspapers were excluded from the new legislation.   1959 - Cyprus was granted its independence with the signing of an agreement with Britain, Turkey and Greece.   1963 - The Soviet Union informed U.S. President Kennedy it would withdraw "several thousand" of its troops in Cuba.   1981 - The U.S. State Department call El Savador a "textbook case" of a Communist plot.   1981 - Ford Motor Company announced its loss of $1.5 billion.   1985 - Mickey Mouse was welcomed to China as part of the 30th anniversary of Disneyland. The touring mouse played 30 cities in 30 days.   1985 - William Schroeder became the first artificial-heart patient to leave the confines of the hospital.   1985 - Cherry Coke was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company.   1986 - The U.S. Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide. The pact had been submitted 37 years earlier for ratification.   1986 - The Soviet Union launched the Mir space station.   1987 - A controversial, anti-smoking publice service announcement aired for the first time on television. Yul Brynner filmed the ad shortly before dying of lung cancer. Brynner made it clear in the ad that he would have died from cigarette smoking before ad aired.   1997 - Deng Xiaoping of China died at the age of 92. He was the last of China's major revolutionaries.   1999 - Dennis Franz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   2001 - The museum at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center was dedicated.   2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft began using its thermal emission imaging system to map Mars.   2004 - Former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was charged with fraud, insider trading and other crimes in connection with the energy trader's collapse. Skilling was later convicted and sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.   2005 - The USS Jimmy Carter was commissioned at Groton, CT. It was the last of the Seawolf class of attack submarines.   2008 - Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency. His brother Raul was later named as his successor.

1674 The Netherlands and England signed the Peace of Westminster, by which New Amsterdam passed to the English (and was renamed New York). 1807 Aaron Burr, vice president under Thomas Jefferson, was arrested for treason. He was later acquitted.  1942 President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that resulted in the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast. 1945 The U.S. Marines went ashore at Iwo Jima. 1959 Britain, Turkey, and Greece signed the agreement granting Cyprus independence. 1968 The first nationwide broadcast of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood aired on PBS. 1997 Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist leader, died. 2008 Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba after 49 years in power. Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother, succeeded him as president.

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb19.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory