February 16th
Today in America's Present Past
1741 | Founding: Benjamin Franklin begins publication of a “general magazine and historical chronicle” for the colonies.
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 | Barbury Wars: Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor, counterattacking Islamic pirates.
1812 | Politician Henry Wilson was born.
1815 | War of 1812: The U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
1838 | Author Henry Brooks Adams was born.
1840 | Explorer Charles Wilkes discovers the Shackleton Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
1852 | The Studebaker Brothers Wagon Company is formed.
1857 | Explorer Elisha Kent Kane died.
1861 | POTUS: President Lincoln, en route via train to Washington, stops his train in Westfield, Indiana, to thank an 11-year-old girl who advised him to grow a bird to win more votes.
1862 | Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson.
1880 | American Society of Mechanical Engineers is formed.
1883 | “Ladies Home Journal” begins publication.
1896 | The New York Journal publishes the first newspaper cartoon strip, “The Yellow Kid.”
1900 | The first daily U.S. Chinese newspaper begins publication in San Francisco, California.
1928 | Actor Eddie Foy Sr. died.
1932 | James Markam receives a patient for a peach tree.
1935 | Musician Sonny Bono was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1936 | Entrepreneur Carl Icahn was born.
1945 | WWII: U.S. forces land on Corregidor.
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 publishes “The Banality of Evil.”
1968 | Haleyville, Alabama, launches the nation’s first 911 phone system.
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.