TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – FEB 25
303 Roman Emperor Diocletian begins his policy of persecuting Christians, razing the church at Nicomedia
0786 Pepin the Short of Gaul dies. His dominions are divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
1455 Johannes Gutenberg prints his first Bible (estimated date)
1803 Chief Justice John Marshall, by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch.
1836 Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo with its 182 Texan defenders.
1861 By popular referendum, Texas becomes 7th state to secede from US
1895 The Cuban War of Independence begins.
1896 The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield.
1898 French novelist Emile Zola was convicted of libel and sentenced to jail for writing his “J’accuse” letter accusing the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1903 Cuban state of Guantanamo leased to USA
1904 United States acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million
1912 Italy bombs Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.
1916 A film version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York.
1917 The February Revolution begins in Russia
1919 Benito Mussolini founds the Facist party of Italy
1927 President Coolidge creates Federal Radio Commission (FCC predecessor)
1928 The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley, its first show to feature a black artist.
1941 Glenn T. Seaborg and his team chemically identify Plutonium
1944 Merrill’s Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.
1945 US Marines raise American flag on top of Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Photo of which by Joe Rosenthall later became iconic, inspiring the Marine Corps War Memorial sculpture
1947 General Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170 million in aid for European Jews
1954 1st mass inoculation against polio with Salk vaccine (Pittsburgh)
1972 Hanoi negotiators walk out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.
1991 General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War.
1997 Scottish scientists announced the successful cloning of a sheep, Dolly.
1998 Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders
1998 Supreme Court lets Megan’s Law stand
2011 The Obama Administration determines that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
