This Week in History

HISTORY, 15 Feb 2016

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

TWH logo history

Feb 15-21

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.” – Johnny Carson

FEBRUARY 15

2013  A meteor explodes over Russia, injuring 1,500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks buildings. This happens unexpectedly only hours before the expected closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid 2012 DA14.

2003  Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between eight million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.

2001  The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.

2000  Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails.

1999  Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), is arrested in Kenya.

1996  At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing many people.

1992  Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison.

1991  The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.

1989  Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.

Departure of the Soviet Army from Afghanistan:

Afghan War (1978-1992):

Relations between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union:

Foreign Relations of Afghanistan:

Afghanistan and the United Nations:

Afghanistan:

History of Afghanistan:

Economy of Afghanistan:

1988  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1979  Don Dunstan resigns as Premier of South Australia, ending a decade of sweeping social liberalization.

1976  The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by national referendum.

Constitution of Cuba of 1976:

1972  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

For some more pertinent information, see “1988 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site,” mentioned above.

1972  José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.

The 1972 Military Coup in Ecuador:

Ecuador and Military Coups:

Ecuador:

History of Ecuador:

Economy of Ecuador:

1972  Sound recordings are granted US federal copyright protection for the first time.

1962  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

For some more pertinent information, see “1988 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site,” mentioned above.

1961  Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team along with several of their coaches and family members.

1954  Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.

1953  Parliamentary elections held in Liechtenstein.

1949  Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls.

1946  ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

1945  World War II: Third day of bombing in Dresden.

1944  World War II: The Narva Offensive begins.

1944  World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.

1942  World War II: Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.

1933  In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate US President-elect Franklin D Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.

1925  The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska.

1923  Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.

1921  Kingdom of Romania establishes its legation in Helsinki.

1898  The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing 274. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.

1879  Women’s rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

History of Women’s Rights in the United States:

Women’s Rights in General:

Women’s Suffrage and Its History:

1835  The first constitutional law in modern Serbia is adopted.

1804  The Serbian Revolution begins.

1798  The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.

1690  Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire.

 

 

FEBRUARY 16

2015  A federal U.S. judge orders a halt to an executive order issued by President Barack Obama that allows approximately 5 million illegal immigrants to remain in the country; Obama expects to overcome this hurdle to implement the order as planned.

2013  A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town in Quetta, Pakistan kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others.

2006  The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

2005  The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.

Kyoto Protocol:

Summary of the Kyoto Protocol:

Problems of the Kyoto Protocol:

1999  Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.

1999  In Uzbekistan, a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islom Karimov.

1998  China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and seven more on the ground.

1991  Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.

1987  The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed “Ivan the Terrible” in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.

1986  The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

1985  Hezbollah is founded.

Hezbollah and Its History:

1983  The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.

1979  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

1978  The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).

1977  USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan, USSR.

1968  The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).

1961  The DuSable Museum of African American History is chartered.

1961  Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.

1960  The US Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.

1959  Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.

Cuba and the United States:

Fidel Castro:

Cuba or the “Republic of Cuba” (Repúlica de Cuba):

Foreign Relations of Cuba:

Cuba and USSR/Russia:

History and Culture of Cuba:

Economy of Cuba:

1945  World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.

1943  World War II: Insertion of Operation Gunnerside, Norway.

1943  World War II: Red Army troops re-enter Kharkov.

1940  World War II: Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.

1940  World War II: Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.

1937  Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.

1936  Elections bring the Popular Front to power in Spain.

1934  The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund.

1923  Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

1918  The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.

Independence of Lithuania:

History and Social Issues of Lithuania:

Russia and the Baltic States:

1874  Silver Dollar becomes legal US tender.

1866  Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British Secretary of State for War.

1862  American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

1852  Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.

1804  First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.

1742  Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.

1699  First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.

1646  Battle of Torrington, Devon – the last major battle of the first English Civil War.

 

 

FEBRUARY 17

2011  Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.

Bahrain Bloody Thursday of February 2011:

Libya under Muammar Gaddafi:

History of Libya:

Economy of Libya:

2008  Kosovo declares independence as the Republic of Kosovo.

Independence of Kosovo:

Kosovo Conflict:

Kosovo Liberation Army:

The United States, NATO and the Kosovo Conflict:

History of Kosovo:

2006  A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.

2003  The London congestion charge is introduced.

1996  NASA‘s Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

1996  In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.

1995  The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.

Genepa War:

Historical Background of Ecuador-Peru Dispute:

Peru-Ecuador Relations:

1992  Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradağlı.

Nagorno-Karabakh War:

Massacre in Qaradağlı of 1992:

1989  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

1983  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1980  Mount Everest, 1st Winter Ascent by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.

1979  The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.

Sino-Vietnam War:

1978  The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.

1972  Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.

1965  Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the “Sea of Tranquility” would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

1964  Gabonese president Léon M’ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.

1959  Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.

1949  Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.

1944  World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan’s main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.

1944  World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

1933  Newsweek magazine is first published.

1933  The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.

1919  The Ukrainian People’s Republic asks Entente and the US for help fighting the Bolsheviks.

History of Ukraine:

1913  The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.

1904  Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.

1871  The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.

1863  A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

1854  The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.

1838  Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.

1814  War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormans.

1621  Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.

1600  The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive, for heresy, at Campo de’ Fiori in Rome.

 

 

FEBRUARY 18

2013  Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.

2007  Terrorist bombs explode on the Samjhauta Express in Panipat, Haryana, India, killing 68 people.

2004  Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur in Iran when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.

2003  Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.

2001  Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Indonesia, that will ultimately result in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.

2001  FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

1991  The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.

Terrorism at Paddington Station and Victoria Station on 19 February 1991:

IRA’s Terrorism:

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA):

History of the IRA:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1983  Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.

1979  Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.

1978  The first Ironman Triathlon competition takes place on the island of Oahu and is won by Gordon Haller.

1977  The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden “flight” on top of a Boeing 747.

1972  The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state’s death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.

1970  The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

1965  The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

The Gambia:

Foreign Relations of the Gambia:

Gambia-British Relations Today:

Gambia-British Relations in History:

History of the Gambia:

Economy of the Gambia:

1957  Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.

Capital Punishment in New Zealand:

Some Arguments and Information on the Capital Punishment:

1957  Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.

Dedan Kimathi:

History of Kenya:

Kenya:

Foreign Relations of Kenya:

Economy of Kenya:

1955  Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.

Operation Teapot:

Nuclear Tests at the Nevada Site:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1954  The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.

1947  First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to mountains.

First Indochina War:

1946  Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors

1943  Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.

Joseph Goebbels:

Sportpalast Speech:

1943  The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.

1942  World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.

1938  During the Nanking Massacre the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed “Nanking International Rescue Committee” and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.

Battle of Nanking (Nanjing):

Nanking (Nanjing) Massacre:

Double Tenth Incident of October 1943 – One of the Main Atrocities:

Nanjing Massacre Denial:

1932  The Empire of Japan (EOJ) declares Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.

Manchuria:

History of Manchuria (1):

History of Manchuria (2): Japanese Invasion of Manchuria:

1930  Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.

1930  While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.

1913  Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country.

1911  The first official flight with air mail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.

1900  Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.

Battle of Paardeberg:

Second Boer War:

1885  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.

1873  Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.

1861  With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.

1814  Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.

1797  French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.

1781  Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).

 

 

FEBRUARY 19

2003  An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.

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

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

1986  Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in the eastern province of Sri Lanka.

1985  Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.

1985  William J Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave hospital.

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

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

For some more pertinent information, see “1984 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR,”, mentioned above.

1978  Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.

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.

Executive Order 9066 and the Internment of Japanese Americans:

President Gerald Ford’s Proclamation 4417:

1972  The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.

1965  Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm attempted a coup against the military junta of Nguyễn Khánh.

1963  The publication of Betty Friedan‘s The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.

1960  China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.

1959  The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.

1953  Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.

1949  Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.

1948  The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.

1945  World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.

1943  World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.

1942  World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps.

1942  World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.

1937  Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.

1915  World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.

Naval Operations in the Dardanelles Campaign:

1884  More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history.

1878  Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.

1861  Serfdom is abolished in Russia.

1859  Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the first time this defense is successfully used in the United States.

1847  The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.

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

1726  The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.

1674  England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.

1649  The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil.

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

 

 

FEBRUARY 20

Today is the WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE:

2014  Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters died in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, many reportedly killed by snipers.

2013  The smallest extrasolar planet, Kepler-37b is discovered.

Kepler-37b:

2009  Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a suicide attack.

Tamil Tigers:

Sri Lankan Civil War:

History of the Sri Lankan Civil War:

History of Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka:

Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka:

Economy of Sri Lanka:

2006  In South Korea the United Liberal Democrats, the three top political parties was merged into Grand National Party.

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.

Spain’s Referendum on the Proposed Constitution:

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

Enver Hoxha:

History of Albania:

1989  An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill, England.

IRA’s Attack on Ternhill Barracks of 20 February 1989:

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Republican Army (PIRA):

History of the IRA:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1988  The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast:

Nagorno-Karabakh War:

History of Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijan:

History of Armenia:

Armenia:

Foreign Relations of Armenia:

Economy of Armenia:

1987  Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, a bomb explodes in a computer store.

1986  The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.

1978  The last Order of Victory is bestowed upon Leonid Brezhnev.

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

1971  The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.

1965  Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.

1962  Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.

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

1956  The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.

1952  Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.

1944  World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.

1944  World War II: The “Big Week” began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

1943  The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell‘s Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt‘s 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.

1943  The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico.

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

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

1935  Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.

1933  Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party‘s upcoming election campaign.

Hitler and the German Industrialists:

1933  The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution that will end Prohibition in the United States.

1931  The Congress of the United States approves the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.

1921  The Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia is founded.

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

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

1901  The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.

History of Hawaii:

1877  Tchaikovsky‘s ballet Swan Lake receives its première performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

1873  The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco.

1872  In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.

1865  End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.

1846  Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.

 

 

FEBRUARY 21

Today is the INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY:

2015  Turkey sends troops to Syria to rescue 40 guards and relocate remains from the tomb of Sulayman Shah, which is now surrounded by ISIS militants; the site is internationally recognized as Turkish territory.

2014  President Obama meets with the Dalai Lama for the third time despite protests from China and warnings that the meeting could threaten diplomatic relations.

1995  Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

1975  Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.

Haldeman and Ehrlichman in the Watergate Scandal:

Watergate Scandal:

Watergate Tapes:

1974  The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.

Yom Kippur War:

Yom Kippur War and the US Policy:

Yom Kippur War and the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Timeline of the Yom Kippur War:

1972  Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108.

1972  The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.

1972  United States President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.

Nixon’s Visit to People’s Republic of China:

Sino-US Relations:

1971  The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

1965  Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

Malcolm X:

Assassination of Malcolm X:

1963  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1958  The peace symbol, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.

Peace Symbol:

1952  The Bengali Language Movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

1952  The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to “set the people free”.

Identity Cards and the UK:

1948  NASCAR is incorporated.

1947  In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first “instant camera“, the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.

1945  World War II: Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga.

1937  The League of Nations bans foreign national “volunteers” in the Spanish Civil War.

1921  The New Yorker publishes its first issue.

1921  Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup

1921  Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country’s first constitution.

Democratic Republic of Georgia and Its First Constitution:

History of Georgia (country):

Democracy and Georgia:

Georgia:

Foreign Relations of Georgia:

Economy of Georgia:

1919  German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.

1918  The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.

1916  World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.

Battle of Verdun:

1913  Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.

Ioannina:

Greek State:

Modern History of Greece:

Balkan Wars:

First Balkan War:

Second Balkan War:

1896  An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fought an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically took place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.

1885  The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.

1848  Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.

The Communist Manifesto:

Karl Marx:

Friedrich Engels:

1808  Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia.

1804  The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.

1613  Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.

1543  Battle of Wayna Daga – A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeats a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.

1440  The Prussian Confederation is formed.

_________________________________

Satoshi Ashikaga, having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, prefers a peaceful and prudent life, especially that in communion with nature.  His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, remind him of the invaluableness of peace.  His interest and/or expertise includes international affairs, international law, jurisprudence, economic and business affairs, project/operations or organizational management, geography, history, the environmental/ecological issues, science and technology, visual/audio documentation of nature and culture, and more. Being a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, he is currently compiling This Week in History on TMS.

(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/february_15   to_february_21; http://www.historyorb.com/events/february/15   to february/21; http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/february_15.html   to February_21.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace” through peace journalism.

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 15 Feb 2016.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

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