1998 – A federal judge rules that golfer Casey Martin, who suffers from a circulatory condition making it hard to walk, is covered by the American with Disabilities Act. Under the ADA, Martin should be allowed to use a golf cart when he competes in PGA tournaments.
0660 BC – Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
0055 – Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome. This clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
1531 – Henry VIII of England recognized as supreme head of the Church of England
1573 – First European, Francis Drake sees the Pacific (from Panama)
1659 – The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses
1752 – Benjamin Franklin helps establish the Pennsylvania Hospital the nation’s first hospital.
1766 – Stamp Act declared unconstitutional in Virginia
1768 – Samuel Adams letter, circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes
1778 – Some 300 people visit Voltaire following his return to Paris. Voltaire had been in exile for 28 years
1790 – Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.
1808 – Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.
1811 – President Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years
1812 – The term “gerrymandering” had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.
1858 – A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.
1869 – Patrick James Whelan hanged in a snowstorm before a crowd of 5,000 people for the murder of Thomas D’Arcy McGee
1902 – Police assault universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels.
1903 – US Congress adopts the Expedition Act, which authorizes the Attorney General to ‘expedite’ anti-trust cases through the courts, reflecting growing popular support for President Theodore Roosevelt’s “trust busting” campaign
1916 – Emma Goldman arrested for lecturing on birth control
1922 – US intervention army leaves Honduras
1929 – The Lateran Treaty was signed. Italy now recognized the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
1936 – Pumping began the process to build San Francisco’s Treasure Island.
1937 – General Motors agreed to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union, which ended the current sit-down strike against them.
1938 – The BBC broadcasts Karel Čapek’s “R.U.R.”, the world’s first science fiction TV program, The Czech play whose abbreviated title stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots” introduced the word “robot” to the English language.
1941 – Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli
1943 – General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1945 – During World War II, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
1957 – The NHL Players Association was formed in New York City.
1958 – Ruth Carol Taylor was the first black woman to become a stewardess by making her initial flight.
1960 – Jack Paar walked off while live on the air on the “Tonight Show” with four minutes left. He did this in response to censors cutting out a joke from the show the night before.
1963 – CIA Domestic Operations Division created
1968 – The new 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden officially opened in New York. This was the fourth Garden.
1969 – In Montreal Quebec Canadian and West Indian student demonstrators destroy $1.4 million computer and set fire to data centre at Sir George Williams University
1971 – Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
1972 – McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish an autobiography of Howard Hughes. The work turned out to be fake.
1975 – Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1979 – Nine days after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran (after 15 years in exile) power was seized by his followers.
1981 – 100,000 gallons (380 m) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers.
1982 – France nationalized five groups of major industries and 39 banks.
1986 – Iran begins Fajr-8 offensive against Iraq
1989 – Rev. Barbara C. Harris became the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church.
1990 – Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa
1993 – Janet Reno was appointed to the position of attorney general by U.S. President Clinton. She was the first female to hold the position.
1998 – A federal judge rules that golfer Casey Martin, who suffers from a circulatory condition making it hard to walk, is covered by the American with Disabilities Act. Under the ADA, Martin should be allowed to use a golf cart when he competes in PGA tournaments.
1999 – Pluto is once again the farthest planet from the sun in our solar system
2000 – Great Britain suspended self-rule in Northern Ireland after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) failed to begin decommissioning (disarming) by a February deadline.
2006 – In Texas, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a quail hunt.
2007 – In Portugal, a national referendum dictates non-therapeutic abortion to become legal when requested by the woman during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy
2008 – In East Timor, assassination attempts were made on Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta. Both failed.
2012 – Israeli Air Force conducts four air strikes in Gaza Strip
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation from February 28, the first pope to resign since 1415
2015 – Francesco Schettino, Captain of the Costa Concordia that ran aground 2012, is convicted of manslaughter in Grosseto and sentenced to 16 years in jail
2016 – Last of Oregon militia occupying Malheur wildlife refuge surrenders to authorities after 41 days
2020 – US Attorney General, William Barr recommends cutting suggested sentence of Roger Stone, prompting prosecutors to resign
2021 – US President Joe Biden rescinds the national emergency order used by Donald Trump to fund the border wall with Mexico
2022 – Australia lists the koala as endangered for the first time in Queensland, New South Wales and ACT after a steep decline in numbers
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
