February 15th
Today in America's Present Past
1726 | Founding: Abraham Clark was born.
1763 | European countries signed the Treaty of Hubertusburg, ending the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Year’s War.
1768 | Manufacturing of mustard in America begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1790 | SCOTUS: Justice John Rutledge is sworn in.
1799 | Pennsylvania prints the nation’s first paper ballots.
1804 | Civil Rights: New Jersey becomes the first northern state to abolish slavery.
1809 | Entrepreneur Cyrus McCormick was born.
1812 | Entrepreneur Charles Lewis Tiffany was born.
1820 | Founding: William Ellery died.
1820 | Suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony was born.
1835 | General Alexander Stuart Webb was born.
1845 | Diplomat Elihu Root was born.
1862 | Civil War: General Grant launches an attack on Fort Donelson, Tennesee.
1870 | Near Duluth, Minnesota, the Northern Pacific Railway construction begins.
1879 | POTUS: Women are authorized to practice before the Supreme Court.
1882 | Actor John Barrymore was born.
1884 | Entrepreneur Alfred Carlton Gilbert was born.
1898 | U.S.S. Maine explodes in the harbor of Havana, Cuba.
1903 | Morris & Rose Michtom introduce America’s first “Teddy Bear” for sale.
1905 | Novelist Lew Wallace died.
1907 | Actor Cesar Romero was born.
1918 | WWI: U.S. Army troop ship is sunk by Germany off of Ireland.
1919 | The American Legion is formed in Paris, France.
1922 | Politician John B. Anderson was born.
1928 | Cartoonist Norman Bridwell was born.
1933 | POTUS: An attempted assassination of President-elect Franklin Roosevelt missed by killing nearby Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in Miami, Florida.
1935 | Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1943 | WWII: Propaganda poster “We Can We Do It!” Is published by J. Howard Miller is responsible for manufacturing plants in the Midwest.
1945 | Author Douglas Hofstadter was born.
1954 | Cartoonist Matt Groening was born.
1964 | Actor Chris Farley was born.
1965 | Musician Nat King Cole died.
1972 | Copyright protection is extended to sound recordings in the U.S.
1978 | Escaped murderer Ted Bundy is recaptured.
1984 | Ethel Merman died.
1992 | Murder Jeffrey Dahmer found guilty.
1998 | Physicist Richard Feynman died.
2011 | Poet Maya Angelou is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
2022 | Columnist P.J. O’Rourke died.
2023 | Actress Raquel Welch died.