Today in History

Today is Wednesday, February 22, 2012.

Events

896 Pope Formosa crowned king Arnulf of Karinthie/French emperor
1071 Battle of Cassel-Robert I the Frisian defeats Arnulf III/I
1281 Simon de Brion elected Pope Martinus IV
1288 Girolamo Masci elected Pope Nicolas IV
1300 Pope Boniface VIII delegates degree
1349 Jews are expelled from Zurich Switzerland
1495 French King Charles VIII enters Naples to claim crown
1561 William of Orange appointed viceroy of Burgundy/Charolais
1630 Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn, at Thanksgiving
1656 New Amsterdam granted a Jewish burial site
1744 Battle at Toulon: English-French & Spanish fleet
1746 French troops conquer Brussels
1746 Jakobijnse troops vacate Aberdeen
1774 English House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright
1775 1st US joint stock company (to make cloth) offers shares at ś10
1775 Jews expelled from outskirts of Warsaw Poland
1784 1st US ship to trade with China, "Empress of China," sails from NY
1819 Spain renounces claims to Oregon Country, Florida (Adams-Onˇs Treaty)
1821 Spain sells (east) Florida to United States for $5 million
1825 Russia & Britain establish Alaska-Canada boundary
1828 Russia & Persia sign Peace of Turkmantsjai
1835 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leave Valdivia Chile
1836 Dutch garrison evacuates fort Du Bus New Guinea
1847 Battle of Buena Vista: US troops beat Mexican army
1854 1st meeting of Republican Party (Michigan)
1856 1st national meeting of Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
1858 Dion Boucicault's "Jessie Brown," premieres in NYC
1860 Organized baseball played in SF for 1st time
1860 Shoe-making workers of Lynn Ms, strike successfully for higher wages
1861 On a bet Edward Weston leaves Boston to walk to Lincoln's inauguration
1864 -27] Battle at Dalton Georgia
1864 2nd/last day of Battle of Okolona, MS
1864 Skirmish at Calfkiller Creek (Sparta) Tennessee
1865 Battle of Wilmington, NC (Fort Anderson) occupied by Federals
1865 Tennessee adopts a new constitution abolishing slavery
1872 1st national convention of Prohibition Party (Columbus Ohio)
1876 Johns Hopkins University opens
1878 Greenback Labor Party forms (Toledo Ohio)
1879 1st 5› & 10› store opened by Frank W Woolworth (Utica NY)
1882 With 120 miles James Saunders wins NYC's 24 hour race & $100 prize
1887 Union Labor Party organized in Cincinnati
1888 John Reid of Scotland demonstrates golf to Americans (Yonkers NY)
1889 Dakotas, Montana & Washington admitted to union
1889 Pres Cleveland signs bill to admit Dakotas, Montana & Washington state
1892 "Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde premieres at St James (London)
1892 Manitoba Rugby Football Union forms
1898 Black postmaster lynched, his wife & 3 daughters shot in Lake City SC
1900 Battle at Wynne's Hill, South-Africa (Boers vs British army)
1900 Hawaii became a US territory
1903 Due to drought the US side of Niagara Falls runs short of water
1906 Black evangelist William J Seymour arrives in LA Calif
1907 1st cabs with taxi meters begin operating in London
1907 Leonid N Andreyev's "Zhizn Cheloveka," premieres in St Petersburg
1909 Great White Fleet, 1st US fleet to circle the globe, returns to Va
1912 J Vedrines makes 1st airplane flight over 100 mph-161.29 kph
1913 Lowell HS, SF opens (on it's 1st campus)
1915 Germany begins "unrestricted" submarine war
1917 German Navy torpedoes 7 Dutch ships
1918 Germany claims Baltic states, Finland & Ukraine from Russia
1920 1st artificial rabbit used at a dog race track (Emeryville Calif)
1922 Congress authorizes Grant Memorial $1 gold coin
1923 1st successful chinchilla farm in US (LA Calif)
1923 Transcontinental airmail service begins
1924 1st presidential radio address (Calvin Coolidge)
1927 ARC soccer team forms in Alphen on the Rhine
1927 Baruch Spinosa's house of mourning opened as a museum
1928 1st solo England to Australia flight lands (Bert Hinkler)
1932 Purple Heart award reinstituted
1933 G”ring forms SA/SS-police, shoots 40-50
1934 "It Happened One Night," opens at NY's Radio City Music Hall
1935 Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House
1936 Construction on Ypenburg Neth airport begins
1939 Netherlands recognizes Franco-regime in Spain
1940 Finnish troops vacate Koivisto island
1940 German air force sinks 2 German destroyers, killing 578
1941 Arthur T "Bomber" Harris becomes British Air Marshal
1941 German assault on El Agheila Libya
1941 IG Farben decides building Buna-Werke in Auschwitz Concentration Camp
1941 Nazi SS begin rounding up Jews of Amsterdam
1941 Paul Creston's 1st Symphony, premieres
1941 Roy Harris' "Ballad of a Railroad Man," premieres
1944 US 8th Air Force bombs Enschede, Arnhem & Nijmegen by mistake/800+ die
1945 Arab League froms (Cairo)
1945 British troops take Ramree Island, Burma
1945 Canadian 3rd Division occupies Moyland
1948 Arabs bomb attack in Jerusalem, 50 die
1950 Brockway & Weinstock publish "Men of Music" (rev ed)
1955 British aircraft carrier Ark Royal sets sail
1956 1st British soccer match at Kunstlicht: Portsmouth vs Newcastle United
1956 Elvis Presley's 1st hit in Billboard's top 10: "Heartbreak Hotel"
1957 Jockey Ted Atkinson, 3,500th win
1957 Walter O'Malley says Dodgers may play 10 exhibitions in Calif in 1958
1958 "Portotino" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 3 performances
1958 Australian swimmer Jon Konrads sets 6 world records in 2 days
1958 Egypt & Syria form United Arab Republic (UAR)
1958 Indonesian air force bombs Padang, Sumatra/Menado, Celebes
1959 1st Daytona 500 auto race-Lee Petty wins (135.521 MPH)
1962 Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA record with 34 free throw attempts
1963 Beatles begin their own music publishing company (Northern Songs)
1964 Beatles arrive back in England after their 1st US visit
1965 USSR launches Kosmos 57 into earth orbit (Voskhod Test)
1966 Soviets launch Kosmos 110 with Veterok & Ugolek, 1st 2-dog crew
1967 Barbara Garson's "MacBird," premieres in NYC
1967 Sling-shot goal post & 6' wide border around field are standard in NFL
1967 25,000 US & S Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, offensive to smash Viet Cong stronghold near Cambodian border
1968 Rock group Genesis release their 1st record "Silent Sun"
1969 Barbara Jo Rubin becomes 1st female jockey to win at a major US track
1970 "Charles Aznavour" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 23 perfs
1971 Lt Gen Hafiz al-Assad becomes President of Syria
1972 Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani becomes Amir & Prime Minister of Qatar
1972 President Nixon, meets with Chinese Premier Chou En-Lai in Beijing
1973 US & China agree to establish liaison offices in Beijing & Wash DC
1974 Ethiopian police shoot at demonstrators
1976 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Bent Tree Golf Classic
1978 2 tankers with propane gas explode killing 15 at Waverly, Tenn
1979 Billy Martin named manager of Oakland A's
1979 Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Primate & Cat Building is dedicated
1979 St Lucia gains independence from Britain
1980 Afghanistan declares martial law
1980 USA beats USSR in Olympic hockey 4-3 en route to a gold medal
1981 Amy Alcott wins LPGA Bent Tree Ladies Golf Classic
1982 NYC Mayor Koch announces he will run for NY governor (unsuccessful)
1983 Harold Washington wins Chicago's Democratic mayoral primary
1983 Hindus kill 3000 Moslems in Assam, India
1983 Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) sets 1500m free style swimming record
1984 Brothers Anton & Peter Stastny score 8 pts each for NHL Qu‚bec
1987 Bruno Marie-Rose runs world record 200m indoor (20.36 sec)
1988 Bonnie Blair skates world record 500m (39.10 sec)
1989 Fins ministry of Public health installs sex vacation to thwart stress
1989 NY Lotto pays $26.9 million to one winner (#s are 1-5-12-19-44-50)
1989 UK physicist Stephen Hawking calls Star Wars a "deliberate fraud"
1989 US authors demonstrate against Iranian death treats against Salman Rushdee, author of "Satanic Rituals"
1989 31st Grammy Awards: Don't Worry Be Happy, Faith, Tracy Chapman
1989 1st Spanish commercial on network TV (Pepsi-Cola-CBS Grammy Award)
1990 1st day India v NZ cricket at Auckland NZ 5-78 at lunch, 9-387 stumps
1991 Actor Bill Bixby (57) weds Laura Michael (32)
1991 Bush & US Gulf War allies give Iraq 24 hrs to begin Kuwait withdrawal
1991 Kelli McCarty, 21, (Kansas), crowned 40th Miss USA
1991 Test Cricket debut of Sanath Jayasuriya, vs NZ at Hamilton
1992 "Park Your Car in Harvard Yard" closes at Music Box NYC
1992 Barry Diller resigns as CEO of Fox
1992 Ed McMahon, 69, weds Pamela Hurn, 37
1992 Lisa Walters wins LPGA Itoki Hawaiian Ladies Open Golf Tournament
1992 Rockers Kurt Corbin (Nirvana) & Courtney Love (Hole), wed
1993 Vinod Kambli scores 224 v England at Bombay, 411 balls, 23 fours
1994 "Les Miserables," opens at Chunichi Theatre, Nagoya
1995 Algiers police kill at least 99 prison rioters
1995 Steve Fossett completes 1st air balloon over Pacific Ocean (9600 km)
1996 "Bus Stop" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 29 performances
1996 Actress Halle Berry files for divorce from David Justice
1996 STS 75 (Columbia 19), launches into orbit
1997 Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open
1998 "King & I," closes at Neil Simon Theater NYC after 781 performances
1998 18th Winter Olympic games close at Nagano Japan

That's all for today.