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What happened in history on this day: February 21?
On February 21 in ...
- 1777 - English ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting US flag.
- 1782 - US congress authorizes the establishment of a US mint.
- 1792 - US Congress passes Presidential Succession Act.
- 1828 - First American Indian newspaper in US, Cherokee Phoenix (weekly), in Georgia.
- 1842 - First known sewing machine is patented in US, to John Greenough of Washington DC.
- 1848 - John Quincy Adams suffers a stroke and collapses on the floor of the House of Representatives.
- 1853 - US Mint Act amendment authorizes $3 gold coin, sets maximum legal tender value of US silver coins at $5.
- 1857 - US Mint Act provides for a cent composed of 12 percent nickel and 88 percent copper, weighing 72 grains, measuring 0.75 inch diameter; also ends the striking of half cents, and removes legal tender status of foreign coins in the United States except Spanish pillar dollar and Mexican dollar.
- 1858 - Edwin T Holmes installs first electric burglar alarm (Boston, Massachusetts, USA).
- 1861 - Allan Pinkerton informs US president-elect Abraham Lincoln of plan he discovered for his assassination in Baltimore in two days' time.
- 1861 - Navaho Indians elect Herrero Grande as chief.
- 1862 - Texas Rangers win Confederate victory at Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico, USA.
- 1864 - Jeffery Forrest, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle.
- 1864 - Battle at Okolona, Mississippi.
- 1878 - First telephone directory (with 50 names) is issued (New Haven, Connecticut).
- 1885 - The Washington Monument is dedicated, in Washington, D.C. Its height is 555 feet and 5 1/8 inches.
- 1887 - First US bacteriology laboratory opens (Brooklyn, New York).
- 1887 - Oregon becomes first US state to make Labor Day a holiday.
- 1899 - Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi is established as a national historic site.
- 1902 - Dr Harvey Cushing, first US brain surgeon, does his first brain operation.
- 1903 - Cornerstone laid for US army war college, Washington DC.
- 1904 - National Ski Association formed in Ishpeming, Michigan.
- 1922 - Airship Rome explodes at Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA; 34 die.
- 1925 - First issue of New Yorker magazine published.
- 1933 - President Franklin Roosevelt selects William Woodin as Treasury Secretary.
- 1941 - US Senate accepts Omar Bradley's demotion to Brigadier-General.
- 1944 - The War As It Happens televised news show premieres on NBC (New York City only).
- 1945 - US 10th Armour division overthrows Orscholz line.
- 1945 - The US 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team liberates Corregidor, Philippines.
- 1947 - First instant developing camera demonstrated in New York City, by E H Land.
- 1961 - Mercury-Atlas 2 reentry test reaches 172 km.
- 1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1965 - In New York City, New York, USA, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Nation of Islam members while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity.
- 1970 - Jackson Five make TV debut on American Bandstand.
- 1971 - Series of tornadoes cuts through Mississippi and Louisiana killing 117.
- 1972 - US President Richard Nixon becomes first US President to visit China.
- 1975 - John Mitchell, former Chief of Staff Harry R Haldeman, and John D Ehrlichman sentenced to 2.5-8 years.
- 1982 - Ain't Misbehavin' closes at Longacre Theater in New York City after 1604 performances.
- 1984 - Timex withdraws from the home computer business. Timex introduced the British Sinclair Research ZX81 computer to North America as the Timex/Sinclair 1000 in 1982. Priced at $100, then dropped to $50, a lack of software and physical size and memory size limitations dampened initial public enthusiasm.
- 1988 - During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart confesses to an unspecified sin, then announces he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time.
- 1989 - US bust Chinese heroin ring, capture record 820 pounds heroin ($1 billion street value).
- 1991 - USSR announces Iraq agrees to a proposal to end Persian Gulf War; US calls the plan unacceptable.
- 2008 - In Belgrade, Serbia, rioters storm the US embassy and set it on fire. British, German, Croatian, and Turkish embassies are also attacked.
- 2008 - Monaco Rare Coins of California sells one of two known US 1861 gold $20 coins with Paquet reverse, graded MS-61 by PCGS, for $2.5 million in a private transaction.
- 2013 - American scientists use a 3D printer to create a living lab-grown ear from collagen and animal ear cell cultures.
- 2022 - After 25 seasons on PBS, animated children's TV show Arthur ends.
Births on February 21
- 1880 - Birth of Frank Orth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Boston Blackie, The Brothers).
- 1888 - Birth of Florence Bates in Texas, USA; actress (Moon and Sixpence, Love Crazy, San Antonio).
- 1914 - Birth of Arnold S Denker in New York, USA; US chess champion (1944-46).
- 1915 - Birth of Ann Sheridan in Denton, Texas, USA; actress (Dodge City, Good Sam, Pistols n' Petticoats TV show, Another World TV show).
- 1922 - Birth of Murray "the K" Kaufman in New York City; DJ (5th Beatle).
- 1925 - Birth of Al Fann in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; actor (Alvin - He's the Mayor).
- 1925 - Birth of Sam Peckinpah in Fresno, California, USA; film director (The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs).
- 1927 - Birth of Erma Bombeck in Dayton, Ohio, USA; humorist (The Grass is Always Greener...).
- 1927 - Birth of Patricia Benoit in Fort Worth, Texas, USA; actress (As the World Turns, Nancy - Mr Peepers).
- 1933 - Birth of Nina Simone [Eunice Waymon] in Tyron, North Carolina, USA; singer/pianist ("I Loves You Porgy").
- 1934 - Birth of Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Oklahoma, USA; actress (Maude, Golden Girls).
- 1936 - Birth of Barbara Jordan in Houston, Texas, USA; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Texas, 1972-78).
- 1937 - Birth of Gary Lockwood in Van Nuys, California, USA; actor (2001, Survival Zone, The Lieutenant, Follow the Sun).
- 1943 - Birth of David Geffen in Brooklyn, New York, USA; record producer (Geffen, Asylum, Dreamworks SKG).
- 1944 - Birth of Kitty Winn in Washington DC, USA; actress (Beacon Hill).
- 1946 - Birth of Tyne Daly in Madison, Wisconsin, USA; actress (Cagney and Lacey, Angel Unchained).
- 1948 - Birth of Larry Ragland in Richmond, Virginia, USA; comedian (Keep on Truckin').
- 1949 - Birth of Jerry Harrison in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; rock keyboardist (Talking Heads - "And She Was").
- 1953 - Birth of Christine Ebersole in Park Forest, Illinois, USA; actress (Saturday Night Live, Barbara - Valerie, My Favorite Martian, Tootsie, Rachel Gunn RN).
- 1956 - Birth of Woody Brown in Dayton, Ohio, USA; actor (Cliff - Facts of Life, Flamingo Road, Dominion).
- 1958 - Birth of Alan Trammell in Garden Grove, California, USA; infielder (Detroit Tigers).
- 1958 - Birth of Jack Coleman in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Steven Carrington - Dynasty, Heroes).
- 1958 - Birth of Mary-Chapin Carpenter in Princeton, New Jersey, USA; country singer ("This Shirt", "Shooting Straight in the Dark").
- 1961 - Birth of Christopher Atkins in Rye, New York, USA; actor (Peter - Dallas, Blue Lagoon, Rock 'n' Roll Summer Action).
- 1963 - Birth of Michael Gostigian in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA; pentathlete (Olympics-16th-1988, 1992, 1996).
- 1964 - Birth of Mark E Kelly in Orange, New Jersey, USA; Lieutenant US Navy/astronaut.
- 1964 - Birth of Scott J Kelly in Orange, New Jersey, USA; Lieutenant US Navy/astronaut.
- 1967 - Birth of Leroy Russel Burrell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; long jumper (Olympics-1996).
- 1970 - Birth of Javier De La Hoya; Mexican/US baseball pitcher (Florida Marlins).
- 1971 - Birth of Jeff Schmidt; US baseball pitcher (California Angels).
- 1973 - Birth of Brian Rolston in Flint, Michigan, USA; NHL left wing (Olympics-1994, New Jersey Devils).
- 1973 - Birth of Les Gutches in Medford, Oregon, USA; 180.5 pounds freestyle wrestler (Olympics-1996).
- 1979 - Birth of Jennifer Love Hewitt in Waco, Texas, USA; American actress and singer (Party of Five, Time of Your Life, The Audrey Hepburn Story, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Ghost Whisperer).
Deaths on February 21
- 1864 - Jeffery Forrest, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle.
- 1965 - In New York City, New York, USA, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Nation of Islam members while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity.
- 1980 - Death of Janet Vogel at age 38 by suicide in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; singer (Skyliners - "Since I Don't Have You" (1959)).
- 1991 - Death of John Sherman Cooper, a U.S. Republican senator.
- 1999 - Death of Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1918).
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