February 28
NATIONAL Tooth Fairy Day
NATIONAL Public Sleeping Day [I really like this one!]
NATIONAL Chocolate Souffle Day
NATIONAL Floral Design Day
NATIONAL Rare Disease Day [last day in February]
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1066 England's Westminster Abbey opens its doors.
1784 John Wesley issues “Deed of Declaration” formally establishing the Methodist Church.
1849 The steamship California landed in San Francisco, bringing the first East Coasters to the Gold Rush.
1954 The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public.
1969 A Los Angeles court refuses Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan’s request to be executed.
1983 M*A*S*H, the cynical situation comedy about doctors behind the front lines of the Korean War, airs its final episode on this day in 1983, after 11 seasons. The last episode drew 77 percent of the television viewing audience [including me, I skipped out of a college class to watch this episode], the largest audience ever to watch a single TV show up to that time.
2013 United States v. Manning: Bradley Manning pleads guilty to 10 counts out of 22 against him for leaking classified material in the WikiLeaks case.
February 27
NATIONAL No Brainer Day
NATIONAL Polar Bear Day
NATIONAL Strawberry Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1782 In England, the House of Commons votes against waging any further war in America. On 5 March, Parliament enacts legislation empowering the English Crown to negotiate peace with the United States.
1827 The first Mardi-Gras celebration is held in New Orleans.
1844 The Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti.
1939 The US Supreme Court outlaws sit-down strikes.
1973 The US Supreme Court rules that a Virginia pool club can’t bar residents because of color.
1986 The US Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
1991 Coalition forces liberate Kuwait after seven months of occupation by the Iraqi army.
February 26
NATIONAL Tell a Fairy Tale Day
NATIONAL Pistachio Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1891 The first buffalo was purchased for Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. A pair of bison, named Benjamin Harrison and Sarah Bernhardt, were settled in Golden Gate Park following reports that only 1000 were left in the US.
1919 Grand Canyon National Park was established
1924 US steel industry claims an eight-hour work day increases efficiency and employee relations
1933 Ground is broken for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
1935 Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) was first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt
1951 The 22nd Amendment is added to the Constitution limiting the Presidency to two terms
1968 Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa
1977 The first flight of Space Shuttle atop a Boeing 747 took place
1993 A bomb explodes in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people were killed and more than one thousand were injured. The buildings themselves, once the world’s tallest, were nearly toppled by the bomb. An underground restraining wall came precariously close to breaking and allowing the Hudson River to spill into the World Trade Center’s support area.
February 25
WORLD Sword Swallowers Day
NATIONAL Chocolate Covered Nut Day
NATIONAL Clam Chowder Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1791 President George Washington signs a bill creating the Bank of the United States
1793 The department heads of the US government met with President Washington at his Mt. Vernon home for the first Cabinet meeting on record
1804 Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus
1836 Samuel Colt patents the first revolving cylinder multi-shot firearm (revolver)
1862 The US Congress passes the Legal Tender Act, authorizing the use of paper notes to pay the government’s bills
1870 Hiram Revels became the first black United States senator, taking over the term of Jefferson Davis
1901 J.P. Morgan formed US Steel Corporation, the first billion-dollar corporation in the world
1913 The 16th Amendment to the constitution is adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax
1919 Oregon introduces the first state tax on gasoline at one cent per gallon, to be used for road construction
1964 Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight boxing champion for the first time by knocking out Sonny Liston in Miami Beach
1976 The US Supreme Court rules that states may ban the hiring of illegal aliens
February 24
NATIONAL Tortilla Chip Day
NATIONAL Skip the Straw Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1803 In Marbury vs. Madison, the Supreme Court ruled itself the final interpreter of constitutional issues, ruling that any act of Congress which conflicts with the Constitution is null and void
1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain
1868 The US House of Representatives votes 11 articles of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine of which cite Johnson’s removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first president to be impeached in US history.
1916 A film version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York
1928 The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley, its first show to feature a black artist
1968 The discovery of a pulsar was announced
1980 The US hockey team defeated Finland to win the gold medal at the Lake Placid Olympics
1987 Coast Guard attorney LCDR Robert W. Bruce, Jr., became the first member of the armed forces to argue a case in uniform before the Supreme Court when he represented the Coast Guard in Solorio vs. United States on 24 February 1987
1991 Ground Phase of Operation Desert Storm begins, resulting in the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation within 100 hours
2015 Eddie Ray Routh is found guilty of the 2013 murder of United States Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend Chad Littlefield in Texas. Routh is automatically sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
February 23
INTERNATIONAL Dog Biscuit Day
NATIONAL Banana Bread Day
NATIONAL Toast Day
NATIONAL Chili Day [Fourth Thursday in February]
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1822 Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city
1836 The Alamo is besieged by Santa Anna
1846 The Liberty Bell tolls for the last time, to mark George Washington’s birthday. A hairline fracture had developed since 1817 and a failed attempt to repair it resulted in the crack.
1861 Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union
1870 Mississippi readmitted to the Union
1896 Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirschfield. Tootsie rolls are still found in some of today’s MREs.
1903 Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”
1904 US acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million
1919 USS 'Osmond Ingram' (DD-255) launched, the first US Navy ship named for an enlisted man
1921 An airmail plane sets a record of 33 hours and 20 minutes from San Francisco to New York
1940 Woody Guthrie dated his song “This Land Is Your Land” to this day. His original title was “God Bless America.”
1942 A Japanese submarine shells an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, the first Axis bombs to hit American soil
1954 Mass inoculation begins as Salk’s polio vaccine is given to children for first time
1960 Whites join Negro students in a sit-in at a Winston-Salem NC Woolworth store
1998 Osama bin Laden declared a holy war on the US
February 22
NATIONAL Be Humble Day
NATIONAL Single Tasking Day
NATIONAL Cook a Sweet Potato Day
NATIONAL Margarita Day [I'll drink to that]
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1879 Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first "Five Cent Store" in Utica New York
1900 Hawaii became a US territory
1932 Adolf Hitler is the Nazi Party candidate for the presidential elections in Germany
1935 All plane flights over the White House are barred because they are disturbing President Roosevelt‘s sleep
1980 In a major upset, the US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets 4–3 at Lake Placid NY
February 21
NATIONAL Sticky Bun Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1775 As troubles with Great Britain increase, colonists in Massachusetts vote to buy military equipment for 15,000 men
1848 Publication of "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx & Engels
1862 Confederate Constitution & presidency were declared permanent
1878 The world’s first telephone book is issued by the New Haven Connecticut Telephone Company containing the names of its 50 subscribers
1885 The Washington Monument is dedicated in Washington, DC
1940 The Germans begin construction of a concentration camp at Auschwitz
1945 The Bismarck Sea was the last US Navy aircraft carrier to be sunk in combat during World War II
1947 Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera in NYC. It could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds.
1956 A grand jury in Montgomery Alabama indicts 115 in a Negro bus boycott
1965 El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcom X) is assassinated in front of 400 people
1972 Richard Nixon arrives in Beijing, China, becoming the first US president to visit a country not diplomatically recognized by the US
1975 Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2-1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up
1995 Steve Fossett became the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean solo in a balloon
1996 The Space Telescope Science Institute announced that photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope confirmed the existence of a “black hole” equal to the mass of two billion suns in a galaxy some 30 million light-years away
February 20
Presidents Day [Third Monday in February]
NATIONAL Cherry Pie Day
NATIONAL Love Your Pet Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1792 The US Postal Service is created
1809 The US Supreme Court rules that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state in the Union
1839 Congress prohibits dueling in the District of Columbia
1959 The FCC applies the equal time rule to TV newscasts of political candidates
1962 Mercury astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth
1971 Young people protest having to cut their long hair in Athens Greece
2003 A fire in The Station nightclub in Warwick, RI, killed 100 and injured over 150
2007 The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules 2-1 to uphold an act of the 109th Congress removing the right of Guantánamo Bay detainees to challenge their detention in lower federal courts
February 19
NATIONAL Chocolate Mint Day
NATIONAL Eyelash Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1807 Vice President Aaron Burr is arrested in Alabama for treason. He is later acquitted.
1831 The first practical US coal-burning locomotive made its trial run in Pennsylvania
1847 Rescuers finally reach the ill-fated Donner Party in the Sierras
1866 Congress passes the New Freedman’s Bureau bill, providing for military trials for people accused of depriving African-Americans of their civil rights
1878 Thomas Edison patented the gramophone (phonograph)
1942 FDR orders the internment of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast
1942 Port Darwin, on the northern coast of Australia, was bombed by about 150 Japanese warplanes
1968 The first nationwide broadcast of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood aired on PBS
1976 Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese-Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford’s Proclamation 4417
1987 New York Governor Mario Cuomo declares that he will not run for president in the next election
2002 NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system
2008 Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba after 49 years in power. Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother, succeeded him as president.
2013 NASA loses direct contact with the International Space Station due to an equipment failure. Communications are restored three hours later.
February 18
NATIONAL Battery Day
NATIONAL Crab Stuffed Flounder Day
NATIONAL Drink Wine Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1841 The first continuous filibuster in the US Senate began, and lasted until March 11
1846 “It having been represented to the (Navy) Department, that confusion arises from the use of the words 'Larboard' and 'Starboard,' in consequence of the similarity of sound, the word 'Port' is hereafter to be substituted for 'Larboard.' -- Navy Department General Order
1885 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is published in New York.
1930 Pluto, generally the ninth most distant planet from the sun, is discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh
1945 US Marines storm ashore at Iwo Jima
Click here and watch this video. It's awesome.
1953 The first 3-D movie, Bwana Devil, opened in New York
1972 The California Supreme Court voids the death penalty
February 17
NATIONAL Random Act of Kindness Day
NATIONAL Cabbage Day
NATIONAL Caregiver Day [third Friday in February]
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1801 The House of Representatives breaks an electoral college tie and chooses Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr
1817 Baltimore became the first US city lit by gas
1865 Columbia South Carolina is destroyed by fire as Major General William Tecumseh Sherman marches through
1870 Mississippi became the 9th state readmitted to the US after the Civil War
1925 The first issue of Harold Ross’ magazine, The New Yorker, hits the stands, selling for 15 cents a copy
1933 The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States. The 21st Amendment reverses the 18th.
1945 US Navy "frogmen" clearing beaches at Iwo Jima take heavy losses
1947 With the words, “Hello! This is New York calling,” the US Voice of America (VOA) begins its first radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union
1959 The United States launches its first weather station in space, Vanguard II
1975 Art by Cezanne, Gauguin, Renoir, and van Gogh, valued at $5 million, is stolen from the Municipal Museum in Milan
1996 Chess champion Garry Kasparov beat the IBM computer, Deep Blue, winning the six-game match
February 16
Today is my first day at a new job. Still a trial attorney practicing in real estate, landlord/tenant, business organization, creditor bankruptcy, and estate planning, primarily representing property owners, but this job is a little closer to home.
NATIONAL Do a Grouch a Favor Day
NATIONAL Almond Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1923 The tomb of King Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922, was opened
1937 Dupont patents a new thread, nylon, which will replace silk in a number of products and reduce costs
1952 The FBI arrests 10 members of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina
1957 A US flag flies over an outpost in Wilkes Land, Antarctica
1959 Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba
1965 Four persons are held in a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, and Washington Monument
1968 The country's first 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, Alabama
1990 Former President Reagan began two days of giving a videotaped deposition in Los Angeles for the Iran-Contra trial of former national security adviser John Poindexter
2006 The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army. The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) refers to a United States Army medical unit serving as a fully functional hospital in a combat area of operations. The successor to the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is the Combat Support Hospital. [M*A*S*H was one of my favorite TV shows growing up.]
February 15
NATIONAL Gum Drop Day
NATIONAL Singles Awareness Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1798 The first serious fist fight occurs in Congress
1804 New Jersey becomes the last northern state to abolish slavery
1838 In defiance of the new “gag rule” adopted 19 December 1837, Representative John Quincy Adams introduces 350 petitions against slavery into the House. The petitions are tabled.
1869 Charges of treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped
1879 President Rutherford Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court
1898 USS Maine blew up in Havana harbor, touching off the Spanish-American War
1946 ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
1965 Canada adopts maple leaf flag
1974 US gas stations threaten to close because of federal fuel policies
1999 Coast Guard recruiting ads began appearing on World Wrestling Federation cable television programs
February 14
Valentine's Day
NATIONAL Ferris Wheel Day
NATIONAL Library Lovers' Day [I qualify as this!]
NATIONAL Cream Filled Chocolates Day
NATIONAL Organ Donor Day
NATIONAL Safer Internet Day [second Tuesday in February]
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1859 Oregon is admitted as the 33rd state in the Union
1899 Congress approved, and President McKinley signed, legislation authorizing states to use voting machines for federal elections.
1912 Arizona is admitted as the 48th state in the Union
1920 The League of Women Voters is formed in Chicago in celebration of the imminent ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.
1924 Thomas Watson founds International Business Machines Corp [IBM, where my father worked from about age 20 until he retired at age 50]
1929 Chicago gang war between Al Capone and George “Bugs” Moran culminates with several Moran confederates being gunned down in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
1939 Germany launches the battleship Bismarck.
1989 Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini charges that Salman Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses, is blasphemous and issues an edict (fatwa) calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie.
1990 Space probe Voyager 1 took photographs of entire solar system.
February 13
NATIONAL Get a Different Name Day
NATIONAL Tortellini Day
NATIONAL Clean Out Your Computer Day [second Monday in February]
WORLD Radio Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1635 The oldest public school in the United States, the Boston Public Latin School, was founded
1795 The University of North Carolina became the first US state university to admit students with the arrival of Hinton James, who was the only student on campus for two weeks
1865 The Confederacy approves the recruitment of slaves as soldiers, as long as the approval of their owners is gained.
1866 Jesse James robs his first bank, in Liberty Missouri
1914 The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is founded
1920 The League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland
1936 First social security checks are put in the mail
1950 A B-36 bomber on a routine training exercise developes engine trouble and jetisons a 30-kiloton Mark 4 (Fat Man) nuclear bomb into the Pacific
1970 General Motors is reportedly redesigning automobiles to run on unleaded fuel
1989 The judge in the Iran-Contra trial of Oliver North sent the jury home amid a continuing disagreement between the prosecution and defense over protecting classified materials
1997 Discovery’s astronauts hauled the Hubble Space Telescope aboard the shuttle for a one billion mile tune up to allow it to peer even deeper into the far reaches of the universe
February 12
NATIONAL Plum Pudding Day
NATIONAL Darwin Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded
1924 President Calvin Coolidge made the first presidential radio speech
1980 The Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid New York
1999 The US Senate fails to pass two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. He had been accused of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives. President Clinton was acquitted by the Senate 55-45 on a perjury charge and 50-50 on an obstruction of justice charge.
February 11
NATIONAL Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
NATIONAL Make a Friend Day
NATIONAL Inventors Day
NATIONAL Peppermint Patty Day
NATIONAL Shut-in Visitation Day
NATIONAL White Shirt Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1752 Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the US, opens
1809 Robert Fulton patented the steam boat
1975 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the British Conservative Party
February 10
NATIONAL Umbrella Day
NATIONAL Cream Cheese Brownie Day
NATIONAL Home Warranty Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1855 US citizenship laws were amended to include all children of US parents born abroad
1942 Ford stops civilian car production because of WWII
1966 Protestor David Miller is convicted of burning his draft card
1967 The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, dealing with succession to the presidency and establishing procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president, as well as responding to presidential disabilities, is ratified
1996 IBM's computer, Deep Blue, beat the world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, in the first game of their match
February 9
NATIONAL Toothache Day [there's a national day for this????]
NATIONAL Bagel Day
NATIONAL Pizza Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1825 No presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824. The US House of Representatives votes to elect John Quincy Adams, who won fewer votes than Andrew Jackson in the popular election, as president of the United States.
1861 Tennessee votes against secession
1861 Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America
1942 Daylight Saving Time, called “war time", begins
1964 The Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show
1994 Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa
February 8
NATIONAL Kite Flying Day
NATIONAL Laugh and Get Rich Day
NATIONAL Boy Scouts Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1861 Delegates from the seceded states adopt a provisional Confederate Constitution
1870 National Weather Service established
1910 Boy Scouts of America begins in the US
February 7
NATIONAL Send a Card to a Friend Day
NATIONAL Fettuccine Alfredo Day
NATIONAL Periodic Table Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1795 The 11th Amendment to US Constitution was ratified [states have partial sovereign immunity from lawsuits]
1943 US begins rationing shoes
1964 The British band The Beatles are greeted by 25,000 fans upon their arrival in the United States at JFK Airport
February 6
NATIONAL Lame Duck Day [20th Amendment to Constitution became effective, establishing Inauguration Day on January 20]
NATIONAL Frozen Yogurt Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1788 Massachusetts became the sixth state to join the Union
1838 Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph
1935 Monopoly, the board game, was sold for the first time
1977 Queen Elizabeth marks her Silver Jubilee
February 5
NATIONAL Weatherman's Day
NATIONAL Chocolate Fondue Day
NATIONAL Shower with a Friend Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1778 South Carolina becomes the second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation
1917 Congress passed the Immigration Act, which restricted Asian immigration, over President Wilson's veto
1922 Reader’s Digest begins publication in New York
1937 FDR proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices—"packing" the court
1942 The United States declares war on Thailand
1952 New York adopts three-colored traffic lights
1972 US airlines began mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage
February 4
NATIONAL Create a Vacuum Day
NATIONAL Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day
NATIONAL Thank Your Mailman Day
NATIONAL Stuffed Mushroom Day
NATIONAL Homemade Soup Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1783 Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America
1789 George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, is unanimously elected the first president of the United States by all 69 presidential electors. John Adams is elected vice president.
1861 The Confederate States of America is established when the Provisional Congress convenes in Montgomery Alabama
2008 US district court judge Florence-Marie Cooper rules that President George W. Bush cannot exempt the US Navy from complying with environmental laws banning sonar training. Later in the year, the US Supreme Court overturns this ruling.
February 3
NATIONAL Day the Music Died
NATIONAL Carrot Cake Day
NATIONAL Women Physicians Day
NATIONAL Wear Red Day [first Friday in February]
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1690 The first paper money in America is issued in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to citizens regardless of race
1908 The US Supreme Court rules that union-sponsored boycotts are illegal, and applies the Sherman Antitrust Act to labor as well as capital
1912 New US football rules are set: field shortened to 100 yards, touchdown counts six points instead of five, four downs are allowed instead of three, and the kickoff is moved from midfield to the 40 yard line
1913 The Sixteenth Amendment, which authorized the federal income tax, was ratified
1959 Rock singers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Big Bopper died in a plane crash [the day the music died]
1994 The space shuttle Discovery lifted off, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a US spacecraft
February 2
Groundhog Day
NATIONAL Day of the Crepe
NATIONAL Play Your Ukelele Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1876 The National Baseball League is founded with eight teams
1887 People began gathering at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney Pennsylvania to witness the groundhog’s search for its shadow
1913 Grand Central Terminal in NY opens
1964 GI Joe debuted as a popular American toy
2002 The Bush administration approved a $700 million grant to help rebuild lower Manhattan after the September 11 terrorist attacks
February 1
NATIONAL Hula in the Coola Day
NATIONAL Work Naked Day [did you really think I'd have a photo for this one?]
NATIONAL Get Up Day
NATIONAL Serpent Day
Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
1790 The Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time, in New York City
1861 Texas is the 7th state to secede from the Union
1865 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery
1906 First federal penitentiary building completed in Leavenworth, Kansas
2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas during reentry, seven die
2004 Janet Jackson's famous "wardrobe malfunction" occurred at Super Bowl 38
