Today in History

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009

Today is Thursday, February 19, the 50th day of 2009. There are 315 days left in the year. 1807 _ Vice President Aaron Burr arrested in Alabama for treason; later found innocent 1861 _ Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom 1878 _ Thomas A. Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph) 1881 _ Kansas becomes first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages 1927 _ General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai 1942 _ FDR orders detention and internment of all West-coast Japanese-Americans 1944 _ 823 British bombers attack Berlin 1945 _ U.S. 5th Fleet (30,000 US Marines) launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese 1953 _ William Inge's ``Picnic" premieres in New York City 1955 _ South East Asia Collective Defense Treaty goes into effect

Feb 18, 2009

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2009

Today is Wednesday, February 18, the 49th day of 2009. There are 316 days left in the year. 3102 B.C. _ Origin of Kali Era (India) 1503 _ Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII) 1678 _ John Bunyan's ``The Pilgrim's Progress" is published 1688 _ Quakers conduct first formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pa. 1841 _ First continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11 1885 _ Mark Twain's ``Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published 1909 _ Boston Red Sox trade Cy Young, at 41, to Cleveland Naps 1932 _ Japan declares Manchuria Independent 1970 _ U.S. President Nixon launches ``Nixon-doctrine" 1979 _ Snow falls in the Sahara Desert

Feb 17, 2009

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2009

Today is Tuesday, February 17, the 48th day of 2009. There are 317 days left in the year. 1568 _ Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay annual tribute to Sultan for peace 1598 _ Boris Godunov chosen tsar of Russia 1776 _ First volume of Gibbon's ``Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire" published 1867 _ First ship passes through Suez Canal 1904 _ Giacomo Puccini's opera ``Madam Butterfly" premieres in Milan 1913 _ First minimum wage law in U.S. takes effect (Oregon) 1949 _ Chaim Weizman elected first President of Israel 1972 _ British Parliament votes to join European Common Market 1972 _ President Nixon leaves Washington D.C. for China 1979 _ China invades Vietnam

Feb 16, 2009

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2009

Today is Monday, February 16, the 47th day of 2009. There are 318 days left in the year. 600 _ Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying ``God bless You" is the correct response to a sneeze 1741 _ Benjamin Franklin's ``General Magazine" (second U.S. magazine) begins publishing 1854 _ Franz Liszts symphony ``Orpheus" premieres 1878 _ Silver dollar became U.S. legal tender 1887 _ First newspaper convention (Rochester, N.Y.) 1950 _ Writers fail to elect anyone to Baseball's Hall of Fame 1956 _ Britain abolishes the death penalty 1959 _ Fidel Castro named himself Cuba's premier after overthrowing Batista 1963 _ Beatles top British rock charts with ``Please, Please Me" 1980 _ Continuous traffic jam extends 176 km north of Lyons, France

Feb 15, 2009

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009

Today is Saturday, February 14, the 45th day of 2009. There are 320 days left in the year. 1076 _ Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV 1349 _ 2,000 Jews burned at the stake in Strasbourg France 1894 _ Venus is both a morning star and evening star 1924 _ IBM Corporation founded by Thomas Watson 1929 _ St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago IL, seven gangsters killed 1945 _ 8th Air Force bombs Dresden 1946 _ Bank of England nationalized 1956 _ Khrushchev denounces Stalin at USSR Communist Party Conference 1967 _ Aretha Franklin records ``Respect" 1971 _ Richard Nixon installs secret taping system in White House

Feb 13, 2009

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009

Today is Friday, February 13, the 44th day of 2009. There are 321 days left in the year. 1633 _ Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that Earth revolves around the Sun 1689 _ British Parliament adopts Bill of Rights 1861 _ Abraham Lincoln declared President 1866 _ Jesse James holds up his first bank, Liberty, Mo. ($15,000) 1867 _ Johann Strauss' ``Blue Danube" waltz premieres in Vienna 1920 _ League of Nations recognizes perpetual neutrality of Switzerland 1973 _ U.S. dollar devalues 10 percent 1981 _ Longest sentence published by New York Times _ 1,286 words 1988 _ European Community plans removal of inner boundaries on Jan. 1, 1992 1990 _ U.S., England, France and England give Germany the OK to re-unify

Feb 12, 2009

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Today is Thursday, February 12, the 43rd day of 2009. There are 322 days left in the year. 1502 _ Granada Moslems forced to convert to Catholicism 1528 _ Treaty of Dordrecht between emperor and ecclesiastical power 1912 _ Last Ch'ing (Manchuria) emperor of China, Henry Pu-i, abdicates 1921 _ Winston Churchill becomes British Minister of Colonies 1924 _ George Gershwin's ``Rhapsody In Blue" premieres at Carnegie Hall in New York City 1950 _ Albert Einstein warns against hydrogen bomb 1955 _ President Eisenhower sends first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam 1955 _ Soviets decides space center built in Baikonur, Kazachstan 1991 _ North and South Korea form a joint team for table tennis competition 1998 _ Intel unveils its first graphics chip i740

Feb 11, 2009

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Today is Wednesday, February 11, the 42nd day of 2009. There are 323 days left in the year. 0660 B.C. _ Traditional founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu Tenno 1808 _ Anthracite coal first burned as fuel, experimentally, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1810 _ Napoleon marries Marie-Louise of Austria 1812 _ Massachusetts Gov. Gerry signs a redistricting bill _ the first ``gerrymander" 1814 _ Norway's independence proclaimed 1896 _ Oscar Wildes ``Salome" premieres in Paris 1963 _ Beatles tape 10 tracks for their first album, including ``Please, Please Me" 1975 _ Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for Conservative leadership 1991 _ UNPO, Unrepresented Nations & People Organization forms in Hague Netherlands 1999 _ Pluto is once again the farthest planet from the sun in our solar system

Feb 10, 2009

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009

Today is Tuesday, February 10, the 41st day of 2009. There are 324 days left in the year. 1749 _ 10th (final) volume of Fielding's ``Tom Jones" is published 1870 _ YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) is founded (New York NY) 1881 _ Jacques Offenbach's opera ``Les Contes d'Hoffman" premieres in Paris 1897 _ New York Times begins using slogan ``All the News That's Fit to Print" 1904 _ Japan and Russia declares war after Japan's surprise attack on Russian fleet at Port Arthur disabled seven Russian warships 1940 _ ``In The Mood" by Glenn Miller hits No. 1 1947 _ WWII peace treaties signed 1949 _ Arthur Miller's ``Death of a Salesman" opens at Morosco Theater, NYC 1956 _ Elvis Presley records ``Heartbreak Hotel" for RCA 1996 _ IBM's Deep Blue defeats chess champion Gary Kasparov

Feb 9, 2009

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2009

Today is Monday, February 9, the 40th day of 2009. There are 325 days left in the year. 1674 _ English re-conquer New York from Netherlands 1885 _ First Japanese arrive in Hawaii 1886 _ President Cleveland declares a state of emergency in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence 1904 _ Japan declares war on Russia 1942 _ Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in U.S. 1969 _ World's largest airplane, Boeing 747, makes first commercial flight 1972 _ British government declares state of emergency after month-long miners' strike 1985 _ Madonna's ``Like a Virgin" album goes No. 1 for 3 weeks 1990 _ Galileo flies by Venus 1997 _ Fox cartoon series ``Simpsons" airs 167th episode the longest-running animated series in cartoon history

Feb 8, 2009

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