February 22
Today in America's Present Past
1732 | POTUS: President George Washington was born. Under the “New Style” (Gregorian) calendar, this is his birthday. (He was born on Feb 11 under the “Old Style”).
1761 | Composer Jacob Kimball was born.
1767 | Benedict Arnold wed Margaret Mansfield in New Haven. After her death in 1775, he later married the more famous (and loyalist-leaning) Peggy Shippen.
1770 | Christopher Seider became the first “martyr” of the U.S. War of Independence. The 11-year-old was shot by a customs loyalist during a protest. His funeral was a massive event for the Sons of Liberty, setting the stage for the Boston Massacre two weeks later.
1777 | Politician Archibald Bulloch died.
1778 | Painter Rembrandt Peale was born.
1784 | First American ship to trade with China, “Empress of China” departed New York City’s harbor.
1798 | General Charles Mynn Thruston was born.
1810 | Novelist Charles Brockden Brown.
1819 | Novelist James Russell Lowell was born.
1819 | POTUS: The Adams-Onis Treaty between the U.S. and Spain was signed. It gave the U.S. Florida and defined the boundary between the U.S. and New Spain (Mexico) all the way to the Pacific.
1827 | Painter Charles Willson Peale died.
1839 | Activist Octavius Catto was born.
1850 | Entrepreneur Isaac Rice was born.
1854 | The first meeting of the “Republican Party.” While a meeting in Jackson, Michigan, was the first formal “under the oaks” convention (July 1854), the very first local meeting to suggest the name and party formation occurred in Ripon, Wisconsin.
1860 | Civil Rights: Shoe makers strike in Lynn, Massachusetts, for better wages.
1864 | Civil War: The Battle of Dalton, Georgia.
1864 | Civil War: The Battle of Dug Hill, Tennessee.
1865 | Civil War: The Battle of Wilmington, North Carolina. The fall of Wilmington was the “last nail in the coffin” for the Confederacy, as it closed their final major port for blockade runners.
1865 | Civil Rights: Tennessee adopted a new state constitution banning slavery.
1872 | The first national convention of the “Prohibition Party” convened in Columbus, Ohio.
1876 | John Hopkins University opened.
1876 | Activist and author Zitkala-Sa was born.
1878 | The “Greenback Labor Party” formed.
1879 | Entrepreneur Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first store. This first “Great Five Cent Store” in Utica, New York, failed. He successfully reopened in Lancaster, PA, a few months later.
1884 | Boxer Abe Attell was born.
1887 | The “Union Labor Party” was formed in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1889 | POTUS: Democrat President Cleveland signed the Enabling Act authorizing the entry of ND, SD, MT, and WA.
1890 | Entrepreneur John Jacob Aster III died.
1891 | Author Charles Brockden Brown died.
1892 | Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was born.
1901 | SCOTUS: Justice Charles Evans Whittaker was born.
1911 | Poet Frances Harper died.
1915 | WWI: Germany sank American merchant ship Carib.
1917 | Author Jane Bowles was born.
1922 | Economist William J. Baumol was born.
1923 | Transcontinental airmail service begins. This was the first time mail was flown across the country in both directions (NY to SF) including night flying, which cut delivery time from 70+ hours to 26 hours.
1925 | Poet Gerald Stern was born.
1932 | Politician Ted Kennedy was born.
1935 | The airspace over the White House became restricted.
1942 | WWII: Democrat President Roosevelt ordered the retreat of U.S. forces from the Philippines to Australia. MacArthur famously promised, “I shall return.”
1950 | Basketball Pro Julius Erving was born.
1952 | Politician Bill Frist was born.
1965 | SCOTUS: Justice Felix Frankfurter died.
1967 | Vietnam War: U.S. forces launched Operation Junction City. This was the largest airborne operation of the War and the only major combat jump of the conflict.
1973 | Entrepreneur and politician Winthrop Rockefeller died.
1975 | Actress Drew Barrymore was born.
1978 | Author Phyllis McGinley died.
1980 | At the Lake Placid Winter Olympics, the U.S. hockey team beat the Soviet team in the “Miracle on Ice.” The U.S. amateur team, coached by Herb Brooks, defeated the “invincible” Soviet team 4-3 in the medal round. (They went on to win the gold by beating Finland two days later).
1987 | Artist Andy Warhol died.
1997 | Labor leader and creator of “charter schools,” Albert Shanker, died.
1999 | Super sniper USMC Carlos Hathcok died.
2002 | Journalist Daniel Pearl was murdered.
2024 | Spaceship Odysseus becomes the first non-government craft to land on the moon and the first U.S. craft since 1972.