TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – FEB 3
1160 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa hurtles prisoners, including children, at the Italian city of Crema, forcing its surrender.
1238 The Mongols take over Vladimir, Russia.
1377 Mass execution of population of Cesena Italy
1451 Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire
1690 The first paper money in America is issued in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1809 Territory of Illinois organizes (including present-day Wisconsin)
1836 Whig Party holds its 1st national convention (Albany NY)
1870 US state of Iowa ratifies the 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution allowing suffrage for all races & colour
1882 Circus owner PT Barnum buys his world famous elephant Jumbo
1887 To avoid disputed national elections, Congress creates Electoral Count Act
1904 Colombian troops clash with U.S. Marines in Panama.
1908 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that union-sponsored boycotts are illegal, and applies the Sherman Antitrust Act to labor as well as capital.
1912 New U.S. football rules are set: field shortened to 100 yds.; touchdown counts six points instead of five; four downs are allowed instead of three; and the kickoff is moved from midfield to the 40 yd. line.
1913 The 16th Amendment, establishing federal income tax, was ratified.
1927 President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission to regulate the airwaves.
1928 Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names ‘Sinanthropus pekinensis’ (now known as ‘Homo erectus’)
1941 Supreme Court upheld Federal Wage & Hour law, sets minimum wages & maximum ho
1959 Rock singers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Big Bopper died in a plane crash.
1962 President John F. Kennedy bans all trade with Cuba.
1965 105 USAF cadets resigned for cheating on exams
1966 Soviet Luna 9 achieves soft landing on the moon.
1969 The Palestine National Congress appointed Yasir Arafat head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1971 OPEC decides to set oil prices without consulting buyers.
1972 The deadliest snowstorm in history kills 4000 The Iran Blizzard lasted a week and left whole villages without survivors.
1973 President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
1984 The Environmental Protection Agency orders a ban on the pesticide EDB for grain products.
1989 Paraguay’s dictator, Alfredo Stroessner, is overthrown
1994 President Bill Clinton lifts US trade embargo against Vietnam
1995 Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the space shuttle when the Discovery blasted off.
1998 US military plane clips cable car lines in northern Italy, kills 20
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
