February 17

1753. On this date the conversion of the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian takes effect in Sweden, resulting in the instant jump from February 17 to March 1 of that year. Therefore the dates February 18-28, 1753 never existed in Sweden.

:D

Less important to the conversion of the Swedish calendar on February 17:

1621. Myles STandings is appointed leader of the Plymouth Colony.

1819. The House of Representatives passes the controversial "Missouri Compromise"

1865. Columbia, South Carolina is burned as Confederate forces flee from the coming onslaught of Sherman's Union troops. The question of who is responsible for the burning of the largest city in South Carolina remains controversial.

1867. The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.

1958. Pope Pius XII declares St. Claire of Assisi (~1193-1235) the patron saint of television. (is this for real? This is weird!)

I would've guessed Sally Field.

Saint Isidore, who wrote one of the first Encyclopedias in the middle ages, is often considered the patron saint of the internet.

February 18.

1861. With the unification of Italy almost complete, King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia proclaims himself King of Italy.

1885. Mark TWain publishes the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

1929. The first Academy Awards are announced.

1943. Goebbels gives the Sportspalast speech, calling for total war.

1954. The first Chuch of Scientology opens in California.

Hey, I'm caught up!

February 19

1807. Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason. He was ultimately acquitted.

1847. The Donner Party is rescued. This amazing tale of a large group of wagon trains heading to California that gets caught in a snowstorm, with some members resorting to cannibalism to survive, gains nationwide attention. The travails of the Donner Party, however, ease the way for migration during the soon-to-occur gold rush, as California funds relief teams that save many lives. Of the 87 original pioneers of the Donner Party, 39 died and 48 survived.

1861. Russia abolishes serfdom.

1878. Edison patents the phonograph.

1942. President Roosevelt signs an executive order allowing Japanese-Americans to be relocated to internment camps.

1943. The Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. This was teh first meeting of United States army forces against German forces, and the result was a thorough mauling by the Germans. Subsequently, the US realigns its forces and commanders.

February 20. A rather dull one.

1872. The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.

1943. Hollywood executives agree to allow censorship by the Office of War Information.

1962. While aboard Friendship 7, part of the Mercury Program, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the EArth.

February 21.

1848. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.

1916. The Battle of Verdun begins in France during World War I. Fought until December of that year, it was ultimately a French victory, but the exorbitant cost left a deep impression on the French and Germans of teh horrific cost of war. On both sides there were at least a quarter million soldiers killed, and half a million wounded.

1947. Edwin Land introduces the first instant camera -- the "Polariod Land Camera".

1948. NASCAR is incorporated.

1965. Malcolm X is assassinated.

1972. Nixon goes to China to normalize Sino-American relations.

Feb 22

Halfcan was born- a truely Historic day!!

February 22.

1632. Galileo publishes Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, discussing the Copernican versus the Ptolemiac systems. This ends up on the Vatican's forbidden books list and, less publicly known, as a result, so did everything Galileo had written or would ever write.

1942. President Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philllipines.

1980. The "Miracle on Ice" occurs at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

1994. CIA employee Aldrich Ames is charged with spying for the Soviet Union. An analyst in the CIA's Europe Division/Counterintelligence branch, he had high level access to information relating to US agents spying against the Soviets. His leaks were believed to result in comrpomising over 100 US agents, and resulting in the execution of at least 10. Unfortunate and stunning was teh CIA's complete ignorance in not noticing that he had bought a half million dollar home in Virginia with no mortgage, and was driving a Jaguar, and wore tailored-freaking suits to WORK on his relatively modest $60,000 CIA salary. Altogther, Ames was paid $4.6 million by the Soviets.

Recruitment of new Soviet agents also came to almost a complete halt by 1990.

By the early 1990s, unable to identify the mole that they by now knew they had, the CIA swallowed their pride and turned to the FBI to help ferret out the mole. The FBI quickly identifed Ames as a prime suspect, and watched him closely. When Ames was scheduled to visit Moscow on official duty in 1994, the FBI, concerned that he would defect, moved in and made the arrest.

To this day, there is a balance of over $2 million in a Soviet bank account held for Ames' benefit. The Soviets refuse to provide information relating to the bank account to American authorities, asserting that the money was earned and belongs to Ames. It is unclear how he or his heirs will inherit.

Less well known is that their sequel four years later, The Communist Womanifesto, was a much greater commercial success. The novel, subtitled, "To each according to their yearning need, from each according to their burning desire" was a soft-porn novel centering on the formation of a government by a group of female collective workers stranded alone on a desert island.

oh and a guy named George Washington.

Who dat?

February 23. Just a few items today. Insignificant really...

1455. This is the date generally understood to be the date on which the first Gutenberg Bible was published. The method of printing, by moveable type, is quite possibly the most important discovery of teh second millenium given that it led to the profileration of books.

1778. Prussian office Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge and agrees to join the Continental Army. His drilling techniques are critical in saving the undisciplined army in the coming months and years, and his drill manual remains the standard American drill manual for over 30 years until the War of 1812.

1836. The Battle of the Alamo.

1847. The United States crushes the numerically superior Mexicans in the Battle of Buena Vista, one of the more important battles of the Mexican-American war.

1903. Cuba leases Guantanomo Bay to the United States in perpetuity.

1917. The February Revolution begins in St. Petersburg, the first of Russia's cities to experience revolutionary uprisings which will directly lead to the overthrow of the Romanov Dynasty and the fall of the Tsarist system. By October of the same year, a second wave of revolutionary uprisings (the October Revolution) sweeps the Communists into power.

1919. Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy.

1945. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reaches the top of Mount Suribachi and raises the American flag there. The photograph goes on to win the Pulitzer Prize and becomes an enduring symbol in America. It is possibly the most reproduced photograph in history.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ag_raising.jpg

1947. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.

1954. The first mass innoculation of children against polio is begun.

February 24.

1582. Pope Gregory XIII issues the papal bull Inter gravissimas introducing the Gregorian calendar system. Non-Catholic countries refuse to recognize the new system for quite some time (some into the 20th century) resulting in 300 years of occassional confusion and difficulties in coordinating dates among various countries. Further, despite the adoption of the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, Orthodox countries still use the Julian calendar for religious purposes, resulting in such oddities as different dates for Christmas and Easter among different Christian countries, except, of course, for the Finnish Orthodox Church, which apparently realizing that the rest of the Orthodox Churches are just being juvenile, has in fact adopted the Gregorian calendar.

1803. The United States Supreme Court issues what is quite probably its most important ruling ever in Marbury v. Madison, establishing the concept of judicial review.

1917. The US Ambassador to Great Britian is given the Zimmerman Telegram. This famous telegram was published in full in the United States, and caused a public furor and contributed to the declaration of war by the United States against Germany and its allies on April 6th of that same year. Teh Zimmerman telegram was named after the Foreign Minister of the Imperial German governmnet, who sent the telegram to Mexico offering an alliance with Mexico in the event of the US declaring war against Germany. In return, Germany offered financial support and support for teh return of territories lost in the Mexican-American War.