February 16
Today in America's Present Past
1741 | Benjamin Franklin begins publication of a “general magazine and historical chronicle” for the colonies. It was America’s second magazine, following Andrew Bradford’s American Magazine launched three days previously.
1760 | Indian Wars: Native American hostages are killed at Fort Prince George, South Carolina.
1784 | Founding: Ethan Allen weds Frances Montresor Brush Buchanan.
1786 | POTUS: President James Monroe wed Elizabeth Kortnight.
1804 | Barbary Wars: Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor, counterattacking Islamic pirates and recapturing the U.S.S. Philadelphia. Admiral Horatio Nelson famously called it “the most bold and daring act of the age.”
1812 | Politician Henry Wilson was born.
1815 | War of 1812: The U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. While the treaty was signed in December 1814, it required Senate ratification to become law.
1838 | Author Henry Brooks Adams was born.
1840 | Explorer Charles Wilkes discovers the Shackleton Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
1852 | The Studebaker Brothers Wagon Company was formed. Henry and Clement Studebaker opened their blacksmith shop in South Bend, Indiana. They became the world’s largest producer of horse-drawn vehicles before successfully transitioning to automobiles.
1857 | Explorer Elisha Kent Kane died.
1861 | POTUS: President Lincoln, en route via train to Washington, stops his train in Westfield, New York, to thank an 11-year-old girl who advised him to grow a bird to win more votes. She wrote him, “because “all the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you.”
1862 | Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Donelson. This is the day Grant earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant. After the Confederate commander asked for terms, Grant replied, “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” The victory opened the way for the Union to seize Nashville.
1880 | American Society of Mechanical Engineers was formed.
1883 | “Ladies Home Journal” begins publication.
1896 | The New York Journal published the first newspaper cartoon strip, “The Yellow Kid.” Richard F. Outcault’s character popularized the use of speech bubbles. The strip’s popularity was so immense it led to the term “Yellow Journalism” to describe the sensationalist tactics of the Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers.
1900 | The first daily U.S. Chinese newspaper begins publication in San Francisco, California.
1928 | Actor Eddie Foy Sr. died.
1932 | James Markam received a patient for a peach tree. This was Plant Patent No. 7, for a “thoroughly dependable” variety of peach. This followed the 1930 Plant Patent Act which allowed for the patenting of asexually reproduced plants.
1935 | Musician Sonny Bono was born.
1936 | Entrepreneur Carl Icahn was born.
1945 | WWII: U.S. forces land on Corregidor. In an audacious move, the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team dropped onto “The Rock” (Corregidor Island) to reclaim the fortress lost to the Japanese in 1942.
1945 | WWII: U.S. forces bomb airfields near Tokyo, Japan.
1951 | Civil Rights: NYC passes a law prohibiting racism in city-assisted housing.
1955 | Poet Guy Gallo was born.
1958 | Entertainer “Ice-T’ was born.
1959 | Tennis professional John McEnroe was born.
1963 | Hannah Arendt published “The Banality of Evil.” The New Yorker began serializing Arendt’s report on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, which introduced this chilling and controversial philosophical concept.
1968 | Haleyville, Alabama, launched the nation’s first 911 phone system. Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite made the first 911 call from the Haleyville City Hall to U.S. Representative Tom Bevill (D-AL4) at the police station.
1969 | Wrestler David Heath, a.k.a., “Gangrel” was born.
1969 | Singer Tammy Wynette weeds George Jones.
1970 | San Francisco Police Department bombing in California.
1974 | Actor Mahershala Ali was born.
1988 | U.S. military forces engage in combat activities in El Salvador.
1989 | Actress Jane Fonda divorced Tom Hayden.
1990 | Artist Keith Haring died.
1995 | Entrepreneur John Everett Allen died.