TODAY HISTORY LESSON: FEBRUARY 22
1349 Jews are expelled from Zurich, Switzerland
1371 Robert II succeeded to the throne of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
1630 Quadequine introduced popcorn to English colonists at their first Thanksgiving dinner.
1632 Galileo’s “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” is published
1797 The last invasion of Britain takes place when some 1,400 Frenchmen land at Fishguard in Wales.
1819 Spain signs a treaty with the United States ceding eastern Florida.
1825 Russia and Britain establish the Alaska/Canada boundary.
1854 1st meeting of the Republican Party, Michigan
1855 The U.S. Congress voted to appropriate $200,000 for continuance of the work on the Washington Monument. The next morning the resolution was tabled and it would be 21 years before the Congress would vote on funds again. Work was continued by the Know-Nothing Party in charge of the project.
1856 1st national meeting of the Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
1859 U.S. President Buchanan approved the Act of February 22, 1859, which incorporated the Washington National Monument Society “for the purpose of completing the erection now in progress of a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government.”
1872 Labor Reform Party formed at Columbus OH
1879 Frank Winfield Woolworth’s ‘nothing over five cents’ shop opens at Utica, New York. It is the first chain store.
1900 Hawaii became a US territory
1902 A fistfight breaks out in the Senate. Senator Benjamin Tillman suffers a bloody nose for accusing Senator John McLaurin of bias on the Philippine tariff issue.
1909 The Great White Fleet returns to Norfolk, Virginia, from an around-the-world show of naval power.
1920 The American Relief Administration appeals to the public to pressure Congress to aid starving European cities.
1924 U.S. President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.
1926 Pope Pius rejects Mussolini’s offer of aid to the Vatican.
1935 All plane flights over the White House are barred because they are disturbing President Roosevelt’s sleep.
1942 President Franklin Roosevelt orders Gen. Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philippines.
1948 Czechoslovakia becomes a communist state following a coup d’etat
1963 Moscow warns the U.S. that an attack on Cuba would mean war.
1979 Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Primate & Cat Building is dedicated
1980 In a major upset, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets 4–3 at Lake Placid, N.Y.
1984 The U.S. Census Bureau statistics showed that the state of Alaska was the fastest growing state of the decade with an increase in population of 19.2 percent.
1984 Britain and the U.S. send warships to the Persian Gulf following an Iranian offensive against Iraq.
1986 The People Power Revolution begins in the Philippines. The nonviolent campaign resulted in the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of the country’s democracy.
1991 Bush & US Gulf War allies give Iraq 24 hours to begin Kuwait withdrawal
1994 The U.S. Justice Department charged Aldrich Ames and his wife with selling national secrets to the Soviet Union. Ames was later convicted to life in prison. Ames’ wife received a 5-year prison term.
2010 A copy of “Action Comics #1” sold at auction for $1 million. The comic featured the introduction of Superman.
2011 185 people are killed during an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
