TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – FEB 7
1238 The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir
1783 The Siege of Gibraltar, which was pursued by the Spanish and the French since July 24, 1779, is finally lifted.
1795 11th Amendment to US Constitution ratified, affirms power of states
1818 The first successful U.S. educational magazine, Academician, begins publication in New York City.
1839 Henry Clay declares in Senate “I had rather be right than president”
1882 American pugilist John L. Sullivan becomes the last of the bare-knuckle world heavyweight champions with his defeat of Patty Ryan in Mississippi City.
1904 Disastrous fire destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in downtown Baltimore.
1926 Negro History Week, originated by Carter G. Woodson, is observed for the first time.
1936 A flag is authorized for the Vice President
1940 Walt Disney’s 2nd feature-length movie, “Pinocchio”, premieres (New York NY)
1950 The United States recognizes Vietnam under the leadership of Emperor Bao Dai, not Ho Chi Minh who is recognized by the Soviets.
1950 Senator Joe McCarthy finds “communists” in US Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1963 The Mona Lisa is put on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
1964 The British band The Beatles are greeted by 25,000 fans upon their arrival in the United States at JFK Airport.
1964 Cassius Clay becomes a Muslim & adopts the name Muhammad Ali
1968 North Vietnamese use 11 Soviet-built light tanks to overrun the U.S. Special Forces camp at Lang Vei at the end of an 18-hour long siege.
1978 Ethiopia mounts a counter attack against Somalia.
1979 Neptune becomes farthest planet from the sun in our solar system (will remain that way for 20 years)
1983 Iran opens an invasion in the southeast of Iraq.
1986 Haiti’s president, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, flees the country, ending 28 years of family rule
1991 The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
1992 Maastricht Treaty signed by 12 countries from the European Community (EC) to create the European Union (EU)
2002 President George W. Bush introduced faith-base initiative plans. He proposed a plan which would encourage faith-based organizations to provide more social services without breaching the separation of church and state.
2008 Congress has approved the $168 billion economic stimulus program, and sent it to President Bush for signature. From this, it is safe to assume that millions of Americans will be receiving government checks in the mail. The House gave its final approval to the package by a vote of 380 to 34..
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
