2015-02-21

1173 Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury
1431 England begins trial against Joan of Arc
1564 Philip II routes cardinal Granvelle to Franche-Comté
1574 Spanish garrison of Middelburg Netherlands surrenders
1583 Groningen Netherlands begins using Gregorian calendar
1598 Boris Godunov crowned tsar
1613 Michael Romanov, son of the Patriarch of Moscow, elected Russian tsar
1673 Michiel A de Ruyter appointed Lieutenant-Admiral-General of Dutch fleet
1675 Prince Willem III appointed viceroy of Gelderland
1764 John Wilkes thrown out of English House of Commons for “Essay on Women”
1777 English ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting US flag
1782 US congress resolves the establishment of a US mint
1792 Congress passes Presidential Succession Act
1795 Freedom of worship established in France under constitution
1797 Trinidad, West Indies surrenders to the British
1804 1st locomotive, Richard Trevithick’s, runs for 1st time, in Wales
1828 1st American Indian newspaper in US, Cherokee Phoenix (weekly), Georgia
1842 1st known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington DC
1846 1st US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley, Lowell MA
1853 US authorizes minting of $3 gold pieces
1857 US issues flying eagle cents
1857 Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US
1858 Edwin T Holmes installs 1st electric burglar alarm (Boston MA)
1861 Navaho Indians elect Herrero Grande as chief
1862 Texas Rangers win Confederate victory at Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico
1862 Confederate Constitution & Presidency are declared permanent
1864 1st US Catholic parish church for blacks dedicated, Baltimore MD
1864 Battle at Okolonam MS
1866 Lucy B Hobbs (Taylor) becomes 1st US woman to earn a DDS degree
1874 Oakland Daily Tribune begins publication
1874 Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Gladstone as English premier
1878 1st telephone directory (with 50 names) issued (New Haven CT)
1882 NYC’s 24 hour race begins, winner with most mileage in 24 hours
1883 2nd French government of Ferry begins
1885 Washington Monument dedicated (Washington DC)
1887 Oregon becomes 1st US state to make Labor Day a holiday
1887 1st US bacteriology laboratory opens (Brooklyn)
1895 North Carolina Legislature, adjourns for day to mark death of Frederick Douglass
1902 Dr Harvey Cushing, 1st US brain surgeon, does his 1st brain operation
1903 Cornerstone laid for US army war college, Washington DC
1904 National Ski Association formed, Ishpeming MI
1907 SS Berlin sinks off Hoek van Holland Netherlands (142 dead)
1909 John Galsworthy’s “Strife” premieres in London
1910 John Galsworthy’s “Justice” premieres in London
1911 Gustav Mahler conducts his last concerto (Berceuse élégique)
1914 White Wolf troops attack Zhanjiang China
1915 20th Russian Army corps surrenders
1916 Battle of Verdun (WWI) begins (1 million casualties)
1917 British Mendi sinks off Isle of Wight, 627 die
1917 Train near Chirurcha Romania catches fire & explodes; 100s die
1918 Australians chase Turkish troop out of Jericho, Dutch Palestine
1919 German National Meeting accepts Anschluss incorporation of Austria
1919 Revolutionary strike in Barcelona
1920 Darius Milhaud & Jean Cocteau’s ballet, “Le Train Bleu” premieres in Paris
1922 WHK-AM in Cleveland OH begins radio transmissions
1922 Airship Rome explodes at Hampton Roads Virginia; 34 die
1922 Great Britain grants Egypt independence
1923 André Charlot’s musical “Rats” premieres in London
1925 1st issue of “New Yorker” magazine published
1925 Mass meeting of SPD’s Reichsbanner Black-Red-Gold in Magdeburg
1927 Franz Lehr’s opera “Zarewitsch” premieres
1930 Marc Connelly’s “Green Pastures” premieres in New York NY
1931 Alka Seltzer introduced
1931 Chicago White Sox & New York Giants play 1st exhibition night game
1932 Camera exposure meter patented, WN Goodwin
1932 André Tardieu becomes premier of France
1934 Nicaraguan patriot Augusto Cesar Sandino assassinated by National Guard
1939 Belgian government of Pierlot forms
1941 US Senate accepts Omar Bradley’s demotion to Brigadier-General
1942 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jane Vaughn
1942 US male Figure Skating championship won by Bobby Specht
1943 Dutch Roman Catholic bishops protest against persecution of Jews
1943 German offensive at Western Dorsalgebergte Tunisia
1944 "The War As It Happens" news show premieres on NBC (NYC only)
1945 Archbishop De Jong calls for help with war casualties
1945 British Army captures Goch
1945 US 10th Armour division overthrows Orscholz line
1946 Anti-British demonstrations in Egypt
1947 1st instant developing camera demonstrated in NYC, by E H Land
1947 1st broadcast of 1st US TV soap opera “A Woman to Remember”
1947 Whipper Billy Watson beats Bill Longson, to become wrestling champion
1950 WOI TV channel 5 in Ames-Des Moines IA (ABC/PBS) begins broadcasting
1951 South Carolina House urges “Shoeless Joe” Jackson be reinstated
1952 Bangladesh Martyrs Day (martyrs of Bengali Language Movement)
1952 Dick Button performs 1st figure skating triple jump in competition
1952 Liz Taylor’s 2nd marriage (Michael Wilding)
1953 Longest collegiate basketball game (6 OTs) Niagara beats Siena 88-81
1953 "Maggie" closes at National Theater NYC after 5 performances
1953 F Crick & J Watson discover structure of DNA-molecule
1957 Dodgers (Ft Worth) & Cubs (Los Angeles) “trade” minor league franchises
1958 "Portotino" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 3 performances
1958 Egypt-Syria as UAR elect Nasser President (99.9% vote)
1960 Fay Crocker wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open
1961 Mercury-Atlas 2 reentry test reaches 172 km
1961 Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s “Die Physiker” premieres in Zürich
1961 Gabon adopts constitution
1962 Minister De Pous confirms natural gas reserves in Groningen Netherlands
1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 UK flies 24,000 rolls of Beatle wallpaper to US
1966 Indonesia’s President Sukarno fires General Nasution
1968 Baseball announces a minimum annual salary of $10,000
1968 150,000 demonstrate against leftist students in West-Berlin
1969 1st launching of heavy N-1 rocket at Baikonur Kazachstan (explodes)
1969 Ted Williams signs 5-year contract to manage Washington Senators
1970 Jackson 5 make TV debut on “American Bandstand”
1970 Pathet Lao conquerors Xieng Khuang & Muong Suy
1971 Series of tornadoes cuts through Mississippi & Louisiana killing 117
1971 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Sears Women’s World Golf Classic
1972 Richard Nixon becomes 1st US President to visit China
1972 Michael Weller’s “Moonchildren” premieres in New York NY
1973 Chicago Black Hawks, record 262nd NHL game without being shut-out
1974 Silver hits record $5.96½ an ounce in London
1974 Israeli forces leave western Suez
1974 Yugoslavia adopts constitution
1975 John Lennon’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” album is released
1975 John Mitchell, H R Haldeman & John D Ehrlichman sentenced to 2½-8 years
1976 "Rockabye Hamlet" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 7 performances
1976 Cardinal Willebrands installed as archbishop of Utrecht
1977 74 Unification Church couples wed in New York NY
1979 2 Iowa girls High School basketball teams play 4 scoreless quarters; the game was won 4-2 in the 4th overtime period
1979 Japan launches Hakucho x-ray satellite & Corsa-B (550/580 km)
1980 Hanni Wenzel is 1st Liechtensteiner to win Olympics gold (giant slalom)
1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 1500 meter in 1 55.44
1981 Japan launches Hinotori satellite to study solar flares (580/640 k)
1981 NASA launches Comstar D-4
1981 "Yorkshire Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe, murderer of 13 women, captured
1982 "Ain’t Misbehavin’" closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 1604 performances
1982 "Little Me" closes at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC after 36 performances
1982 Beth Daniel wins LPGA Bent Tree Ladies Golf Classic
1983 Donald Davis runs 1 mile backwards in 6 minutes 7.1 seconds
1983 NBA San Diego Clippers begin a 29 game road losing streak
1985 Largest NBA crowd to date 44,970 (Atlanta at Detroit)
1985 Evert van Benthem wins 13th Friese 11 city skating race
1985 Tim Raines is awarded a $12 million salary for 1985 by arbitrator
1986 Tennis star Jimmy Connors fined $20,000 & suspended for 10 weeks
1986 AIDS patient Ryan White returns to classes at Western Middle School
1987 Cindy Rarick wins LPGA Tsumura Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open
1987 Syrian army marches into Beirut
1988 Actor Dudley Moore marries actress Brogan Lane
1988 During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart (age 52) admitted to visiting a prostitute, then announced he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time. (Defrocked in April by the Assemblies of God, he was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returned after only three months)
1988 Gustafson skates world record 10 km (13:48.20)
1989 US bust Chinese heroin ring, capture record 820 lbs heroin ($1 billion street value)
1989 Pete Rose meets with Commissioner Ueberroth to discuss his gambling
1990 32nd Grammy Awards Wind Beneath My Wings, Nick of Time win
1991 Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” premieres at Richard Rodgers Theater in New York NY for 780 performances
1991 USSR announces Iraq agrees to a proposal to end Persian Gulf War US calls the plan unacceptable
1992 Kristi Yamaguchi of US wins Olympics gold medal in women’s fig skating
1993 43rd NBA All-Star Game West beats East 135-132 (OT) at Salt Lake City
1993 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.15 meters)
1995 CFL’s Sacramento Gold Miners become San Antonio Texans
1995 RAF-pilot Jo Salter is 1st woman to fly in a tornado
1996 Soyuz TM-23, launched into orbit
1997 "Empire Strikes Back, special edition" premieres
1997 STS 82 (Discovery 22) lands
1998 Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open 

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