TODAY HISTORY LESSON: FEBRUARY 28
202 BC Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty’s rule over China
1066 Westminster Abbey, the most famous church in England, opens its doors.
1574 On the orders of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, two Englishmen and an Irishman are burnt for heresy.
1646 Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church
1704 Indians attack Deerfield, Mass. killing 40 and kidnapping 100.
1784 John Wesley issues “Deed of Declaration” formally establishing the Methodist Church.
1794 US Senate voids Pennsylvania’s election of Abraham Gallatin
1847 Colonel Alexander Doniphan and his ragtag Missouri Mounted Volunteers ride to victory at the Battle of Sacramento, during the Mexican War.
1849 Regular steamboat service to California via Cape Horn arrived in San Francisco for the first time. The SS California had left New York Harbor on October 6, 1848. The trip took 4 months and 21 days.
1854 The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, WI. About 50 slavery opponents began the new political group.
1859 Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery
1861 The U.S. territory of Colorado was organized.
1900 After a 119-day siege by the Boers, the surrounded British troops in Ladysmith, South Africa, are relieved.
1916 Haiti becomes the first U.S. protectorate.
1924 U.S. troops are sent to Honduras to protect American interests during an election conflict.
1940 The first televised basketball game was shown. The game featured Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh from Madison Square Gardens in New York.
1947 February 28 Massacre: Anti-government uprising in Taiwan is violently put down by Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang-led Republic of China government with the loss of 18,000-28,000 lives. Marks the beginning of the White Terror.
1953 James Watson and Francis Crick described their theory that two DNA strands were coiled in a double helix.
1967 In Mississippi, 19 are indicted in the slayings of three civil rights workers.
1969 A Los Angeles court refuses Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan’s request to be executed.
1983 The final episode of M*A*S*H aired. It was the most watched television program in history.
1986 Swedish prime minister Olof Palme is assassinated. Even though over 130 people have confessed to the murder, the case has never been solved.
1991 Gulf War ends after Iraq accepts a ceasefire following their retreat from Kuwait
1993 U.S. Federal agents raided the compound of an armed religious cult in Waco, TX. The ATF had planned to arrest the leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, on federal firearms charges. Four agents and six Davidians were killed and a 51-day standoff followed.
1997 FBI agent Earl Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Russia
2002 In Ahmadabad, India, Hindus set fire to homes in a Muslim neighborhood. At least 55 people were killed in the attack.
2007 NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made a gravitational slingshot against Jupiter to change the planned trajectory towards Pluto.
2013 Pope Benedict XVI resigns. The pope whose birth name is Joseph Ratzinger was the first leader of the Catholic Church to resign since 1415.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
