| The committee brought their recommendation of Robert Morris’ proposal to Congress. On Thursday, February 21, 1782, the Continental Congress approved the following resolution: Resolved, That Congress approve of the establishment of a mint; and, that the Superintendent of finance be, and hereby is directed to prepare and report to Congress a plan for establishing and conducting the same. |  |
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| In 1804, the first self-propelling steam engine or steam locomotive was tested at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks on its normally horse-drawn tramline. The machine was designed by Richard Trevithick. The railway engine at Pen-y-Darren was able to pull a load of 15 tons at a speed of about 5 mph. However, adhesion was a problem as the iron wheels slipped on the iron rails. Further, the cast-iron rails of the tramways of those days were not strong enough to support the weight of his new machine and the experiment was soon abandoned. |
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| In 1842, the first U.S. patent on record for a sewing machine was issued to John J. Greenough of Washington, DC. as "A Machine for Sewing or Stitching all Kinds of Straight Seams." The needle was gradually tapered to a point at each end, with an eye in the middle. It used pairs of pinchers, one on each side of the work to alternately draw the thread back and forth. It did not use thread from a bobbin of thread. Instead, the lengths of thread were inserted in the needle, similar in length to those used in hand sewing. |
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| Sarah G. Bagley, the first woman to enter telegraphy as a profession, had already achieved recognition as a writer, organizer, and founder of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association when she was appointed operator and superintendent of the Lowell office of the New York and Boston Magnetic Telegraph Company in 1846. This was less than two years after Samuel Morse first demonstrated his invention in 1844. She exemplified the high degree of literacy and working class background that typified women who would later enter the field. |
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| On February 21, 1853 the Act was authorized to start the minting of the Three dollar gold pieces. This coin never was very famous among the public after the first coin was struck in 1854. The $3 gold piece was sometimes called the “rich mans three-cent piece”. It was originally used to purchase sheets of 100 postage stamps at a time. From 1854 through 1889 (when postage rates rose) the $3 Gold piece was struck. |
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| The coinage law passed by Congress on February 21, 1857 gave him the means to do so. In addition to abolishing the half cent, the law also specified that the new cents would weigh 72 grains and be composed of 88% copper and 12% nickel. Furthermore, they were redeemable for the old copper cents and half cents. When the Flying Eagle cents were first released on May 25, 1857, more than a thousand people wound around the mint building to convert their old Spanish coins and large coppers. Within the mint's courtyard was erected a temporary, wooden structure with two teller windows. Above each window was a sign reading, respectively, "cents for cents" and "cents for silver." |
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| It was Mint Director James R. Snowden's desire to see all foreign coins driven out of the channels of commerce in the United States. The coinage law passed by Congress on February 21, 1857 gave him the means to do so. But the most important provision as far as Snowden was concerned was the one that permitted the Mint and the Treasury Department to redeem Spanish double-reales, reales and medios at the rate of 25, 12-1/2, and 6-1/4 cents, respectively, for the new cents. All other government offices would only convert these three denominations at the rate of 20, 10, and 5 cents. With such a powerful profit motive, banks were very desirous of exchanging as many of the foreign silver coins as possible for the new "nicks," as the Flying Eagle cents were called. |
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| Edwin T. Holmes of Boston began to sell electric burglar alarms. Unfortunately, Holmes' attempts to sell his security system in Boston failed. He blamed New England's relative tranquillity, and in 1859, he relocated to New York City where, he believed, most of the nation's burglars "did their business." However, his attempts at promotion met with significant obstacles, largely because no one yet regarded electricity as viable. By his own account, people refused to believe that "a bell mounted in the attic would sound an alarm when a basement window was opened." |
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| Deere believed that a different design would solve the farmers' problem and designed a prototype that used highly polished steel. The different metal wasn't the only difference, however, since he made the plow clean itself of soil while it was moving. Interest was so great that he started manufacturing large quantities of plows and traveling the countryside to sell them to the locals. |
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| On February 21, 1878, the world's first telephone directory came out, a single paper of only fifty names. George Williard Coy and a group of investors in the New Haven District Telephone Company at 219 Chapel Street produced it. It was followed quickly by the listing produced by the oddly named Boston Telephone Despatch Company. |
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| By 1848, the Washington National Monument Society had collected $230,000 for the project and the cornerstone was laid on July 4th of that year. In 1854, the monument had reached a height of 153 feet, but further work was halted due to scarce funding and a controversy over a stone donated by Pope Pius IX. In 1876 Congress appropriated sufficient funds for completion of the project. The monument was finally dedicated on February 21, 1885. It opened to the public more than 3 years later, in October 1888. |
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| In 1902, Dr. Harvey Cushing, the first US brain surgeon, performed his first brain operation. Cushing’s clinical contributions are legendary: the use of x-rays in surgical practice, physiological saline for irrigation during surgery, the discovery of the pituitary as the master hormone gland, founding the clinical specialty of endocrinology, the anesthesia record, the use of blood pressure measurement in surgical practice, and the physiological consequences of increased intracranial pressure. |
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| The College was founded by Secretary of War Elihu Root and formally established by General Order 155 on November 27, 1901. Theodore Roosevelt attended the Masonic laying of the cornerstone on February 21, 1903. The first president of the college was Gen. Tasker H. Bliss. |  |
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| The New Yorker debuted on February 17, 1925, with the February 21 issue. It was founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, a New York Times reporter. Ross wanted to create a sophisticated humor magazine—in contrast to the corniness of other humor publications such as Judge, where he had worked, or Life. |  |
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| Hub Beardsley, the president of Miles Laboratories, during a severe flu epidemic in winter 1928, had visited a local newspaper in Elkhart, Indiana where he learned from the editor, Tom Keene, that the staff seemed to be resistant to the illness. Keene explained that at the first sign of illness, he treated staff members with a combination of aspirin and baking soda. Beardsley asked his chief chemist, Maurice Treneer, to develop an effervescent tablet with aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) and sodium bicarbonate as the main ingredients. It was introduced in 1931, with heavy radio promotion. |
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| The Chicago White Sox and New York Giants met for the first major league night game (at Buffs Stadium, Houston Texas) on February 21. Both teams combined to collect twenty-three hits during the ten-inning exhibition. |
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| Edwin H. Land first demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, the first used self-developing film, at a meeting of the Optical Society of America in New York City. It produced a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds, using developer and fixer chemicals sandwiched in pods with the photographic paper and film. After exposure, developing was initiated by turning a knob that squeezed open the pod of chemicals. |  |
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| The annual event, scheduled each year on Shrove Tuesday, pits the women of Liberal against the women of Olney, Bucks, England. Wearing dresses and aprons, their heads covered in scarves, the women run a 415-yard, ‘S’ shaped course. Each woman also carries a pancake in a skillet and must toss the pancake three times. The fastest pancake carrier ran the race in 58.5 seconds in 1975. This record was set by Liberal’s Sheila Turner. |
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| During 1952-1953, Patti Page scored two more huge hits with "I Went to Your Wedding" and "The Doggie in the Window," both of which spent more than two months at number one. She gained her own television program, The Patti Page Show, in 1955 and moved into full-lengths with “In the Land of Hi Fi” and “Manhattan Tower.” |  |
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| The first U.S. submarine to circumnavigate the world returned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After leaving the harbour on July 8, 1957, the Gudgeon (SS 567) had spent 228 days travelling about 25,000 miles while visiting ports in Asia, Africa and Europe. The 269-foot-long submarine and its crew of 83 were under the command of LCDR John O. Coppedge. |  |
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| Price recorded his version at the request of Dick Clark. "Stagger Lee" was the first Rock 'n' Roll record to hit #1 despite being censored. There were two versions of this. The first had Stagger Lee and Billy gambling (Stagger Lee shot Billy at the end), the second, rushed out by ABC-Paramount after hearing complaints from radio listeners, had Stagger Lee and Billy arguing over a girlfriend, who goes back to Stagger at the end. |
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| On October 7, 1969, the Jackson 5 released their first single, "I Want You Back," a Corporation composition that had originally been intended for Gladys Knight. It was an instant smash, hitting number one on both the pop and RB charts. So did their next two singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save" (both from their second album, ABC), which solidified the group's so-called bubblegum-soul sound and certified them as pop sensations. |
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| Sly Stone wrote "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" because he was upset that people were not listening to the messages in his songs even though the band was more popular then ever. They were an integrated band and tried to spread the message of racial harmony, but Stone thought that message was getting lost. The lyrics are scathing and mostly directed at Sly himself, but once again, many people lost the message in the powerful groove. |
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| The group known as Climax received a gold record for their one and only hit, "Precious and Few." The LA-based group was led by Sonny Geraci, formerly of the The Outsiders (of "Time Won’t Let Me" fame). |
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| President Richard Nixon has arrived in China at the start of a week-long summit aimed at ending 20 years of frosty relations between the two countries. His visit began with an unexpected audience with Chairman Mao Zedong at the leader's home. |  |
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| A highly successful tour resulted in "Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin'," which featured several Simon And Garfunkel standards. This flurry of creativity in 1975 culminated in the chart-topping "Still Crazy After All These Years" which generated two Grammy Awards (Album Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance). The wry "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover," taken from the album, provided Simon with his first US number 1 single as a soloist, while "My Little Town" featured a tantalizing duet with Garfunkel. |
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| In the mid-seventies, Parton’s musical style grew closer to pop music, but fans responded as "Here You Come Again" spent five weeks at No. 1 in 1978. She also grew more interested in movies, starring in 1980's "9 to 5," the title song earned her an Oscar nomination, and 1982's "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Taken from the Whorehouse soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You" reached No. 1 again in 1982. A Bee Gees-written duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream," topped the country charts in 1983. |
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| "Livin' on a Prayer" tells the story of Tommy and Gina, 2 kids working to make it on their own despite constant hardships. It struck a chord with America's youth, especially the ones from New Jersey. The characters in the song relate to the working class fans Bon Jovi played to. "Tommy" works on the docks, while "Gina" works in a diner. This was the follow up to "You Give Love A Bad Name," which was also a US #1 hit. |
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| Reds manager Pete Rose met with Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and Commissioner-elect Bart Giamatti to discuss his gambling habits. "You can read anything you want into it," says Rose. "But I don't see anything bad." |  |
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| Fossett departed Seoul, Korea on February 17 and landed in Mendam, Saskatchewan on the 21st, a distance of 5,435.82 statute miles. |  |
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| Imagine being in control of 25 million pounds of screaming metal flying just above the ground - decisions have to be immediate, reflexes lightning fast. For Jo Salter, this was just the day job when she became Britain’s first female fighter pilot flying the Tornado GR1, then one of 5 women fighter pilots in the world. |  |
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| The Empire Strikes Back was re-released to theaters in 1997 as part of the "Special Edition" of the original trilogy. Lucas took this opportunity to make several minor enhancements to the film. These changes include explicitly showing the Wampa creature on Hoth in full form rather implying it impressionistically; creating more details for the Falcon's approach to Cloud City; digitally inserting windows with vistas of Bespin into the original bland white interior walls of Cloud City; and replacing certain lines of dialogue. |
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1782 US congress resolves the establishment
of a US mint
More ...
1804 First locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs
for first time, in Wales
More ...
1842 First known sewing machine patented in US,
John Greenough, Washington DC
More ...
1846 First US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley,
Lowell MA
More ...
1853 US authorizes minting of $3 gold pieces
More ...
1857 US issues flying eagle cents
More ...
1857 Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal
tender in US
More ...
1858 Edwin T Holmes installs first electric burglar
alarm (Boston, MA)
More ...
1865 John Deere received a patent for ploughs
More ...
1878 First telephone directory (with 50 names)
issued (New Haven, CT)
More ...
1882 NYC's 24 hour race begins, winner with most
mileage in 24 hours
1885 The Washington Monument was dedicated
More ...
1902 Dr Harvey Cushing, first US brain surgeon,
does his first brain operation
More ...
1903 Cornerstone laid for US army war college,
Washington, DC
More ...
1925 First issue of "New Yorker" magazine
published
More ...
1931 Alka Seltzer introduced
More ...
1931 Chicago White Sox & New York Giants play
first exhibition night game
More ...
1932 William N. Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey
patented the camera exposure meter
1947 First instant developing camera demonstrated
in NYC, by E H Land
More ...
1950 The first International Pancake Race was
held in Liberal, Kansas
More ...
1953 Longest collegiate basketball game (6 OTs)
Niagara beats Siena 88-81
1953 "The Doggie in the Window" by Patti
Page topped the charts
More ...
1958 Submarine circumnavigation
More ...
1959 "Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price topped
the charts
More ...
1968 Baseball announces a minimum annual salary
of $10,000
1970 Jackson 5 make TV debut on "American
Bandstand"
More ...
1970 "Thank You" by Sly & the Family
Stone topped the charts
More ...
1972 Climax' "Precious and Few"
strikes gold
More ...
1972 Richard Nixon becomes first US President
to visit China
More ...
1976 "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by
Paul Simon topped the charts
More ...
1979 Two Iowa girls High School basketball teams
play 4 scoreless quarters; the game was won 4-2 in the 4th overtime period
1981 "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton topped
the charts
More ...
1982 "Ain't Misbehavin'" closes at Longacre
Theater NYC after 1604 performances
1983 Donald Davis runs 1 mile backwards in 6 minutes
7.1 seconds
1987 "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
topped the charts
More ...
1989 Pete Rose meets with Commissioner Ueberroth
to discuss his gambling
More ...
1995 Chicago stockbroker Steve Fossett solos the
Pacific
More ...
1995 RAF-pilot Jo Salter is first woman to fly
in a Tornado GR1
More ...
1997 "Empire Strikes Back, special edition"
premieres
More ...