Today in History


February 25

1751 First performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1cent)

1793 First cabinet meeting (At George Washington's home)

1837 First US electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport

1859 First use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence

1870 Hiram Revels, Ms, is sworn in as first black member of Congress (Sen)

1901 US Steel Corp organizes under directorship of J.P. Morgan

1913 16th Amendment ratified, authorizing income tax

1933 First aircraft carrier "USS Ranger" launched

1988 Bruce Springsteen "Tunnel of Love Tour," begins in Worcester Mass


February 26

1848 Marx & Engels publish "The Communist Manifesto"

1870 First NYC subway line opens (pneumatic powered)

1944 First female US Navy Captain, Sue Dauser of nurse corps, appointed

1975 First televised kidney transplant (Today Show)

1990 Moscow begins pulling 73,000 troops out of Czechoslovakia

1991 Kuwaiti resistance leaders declare they have control of their capital


February 27

1801 Washington DC placed under Congressional jurisdiction

1864 Near Andersonville GA, rebels open a new POW camp "Camp Sumpter"

1922 Supreme Court unanimously upheld 19th amendment concerning women's right to vote

1927 For second Sunday in a row golfers in SC arrested for violating Sabbath

1933 Nazis set fire to German parliament, blame it on communists

1951 22nd amendment ratified, limiting president to two terms

1991 US led allied 6 week war with Iraq ends


February 28

1827 First commercial railroad in US, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) chartered

1942 Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies

1956 Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory

1979 Mr. Ed talking horse, dies

1990 US 65th manned space mission STS 36 (Atlantis 6) launches into orbit

1991 US & allied forces grant Iraq a sieze fire


March 1

1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrested for witchcraft (Salem, MA)

1780 Pennsylvania becomes first US state to abolish slavery

1910 Three passenger trains buried at Steven's Pass in Cascade Range 118 die. Worst avalanche in US history

1932 Charles Lindbergh Jr kidnapped in NJ; found dead May 12

1954 US explodes a hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll

1961 President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corp

1982 Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus, sends back data


March 2

1776 Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston

1899 President McKinley signs bill creating Mt. Rainier National Park (5th in US)

1931 Mikhail S Gorbachev born, Soviet leader (1985-91)

1958 First surface crossing of Antarctic continent is completed

1972 Pioneer 10 launched for Jupiter flyby

1991 UN votes in favor of US resolutions on cease fire with Iraq


March 3

1634 First tavern in Boston opens

1847 Alexander Graham Bell born, inventor (telephone)

1842 First US child labor law regulating working hours passed, Mass

1863 First US wartime military conscription bill enacted

1863 Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences

1931 "Star Spangled Banner" officially became US national anthem

1942 First combat flight for Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane

1969 Apollo 9 launched into 151 Earth orbits (10 days)

1991 Iraqi generals & Gen Schwarzkopf meet to discuss the cease fire

1991 LA Police severely beat Rodney King captured on amateur video



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