| When Congress arrived to take up residence in the new capital city in 1801, they passed the Organic Acts of 1801, which first disenfranchised the people living in the District of Columbia. The Act no longer permitted residents of the District of Columbia to continue to vote in the states from which the District had been created. |
Close this window |
| In 1813 Congress passed an act to encourage vaccination and appointed a federal agent, Dr. James Smith of Baltimore, Maryland, to distribute smallpox vaccine throughout the country. This act created one of the first public health programs in the United States. The wisdom of Dr. Smith's method, however, came into question when in November of 1821 he inadvertently mailed an envelope of live smallpox scabs instead of vaccine to Dr. John Ward in Tarboro, N. C. The contents of the envelope began an epidemic. As a result of this accident, Congress passed a law repealing the 1813 Vaccination Act, and thereby abdicated its role in combating smallpox. |
Close this window |
| Carnival is still observed in many American cities but certainly not with the glamour and grandeur that is attendant to the New Orleans carnival which had its birth in 1827, when a group of students, recently returned from school in Paris, donned strange costumes and danced their way through the streets. The students got the idea for their Mardi Gras revelry from the celebrations they had experienced in Paris. |
Close this window |
| The first match of American baseball ever played in England takes place at the Kennington Oval Cricket Field in London. The match is arranged by Mr. C. Alcock, the cricket editor of the London Sportsman, and the participants include several well-known cricketers. Mr. Spalding and Mr. Briggs, of the Beacon Club of Boston, choose up sides and play a 6-inning game. |
Close this window |
| On February 27th, 1883, the first practical cigar-rolling machine was patented. It was invented by Oscar Hammerstein (1846-1919), an immigrant who made a fortune from his invention and became an opera impresario. Now he is perhaps best known as the grandfather of the lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II." |
Close this window |
| Hippocrates realized that juice from willow tree bark killed pain. Scientists in the 19th century realized it was the salicylic acid in the willow that made the painkiller work, but it was hard on stomachs and had to be buffered. In 1899, Hoffmann rediscovered an old formula from a French chemist, and he spent time on developing and testing aspirin to promote its use. |  |
Close this window | |
| The Supreme Court of the United States to-day [Feb. 27] upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives women the right to vote equally with men, when it handed down its decision in the test suit brought by the City of Baltimore. The Maryland State Legislature twice failed to ratify the Amendment, and when it was adopted by a majority of the States, a number of Baltimore male voters challenged the right of Cecilia Waters and Mary B. Randolph to register as accredited voters on account of their sex. |
Close this window |
| The first observation of radio emission from the sun was made in 1942, by J.S. Hey. Hey was working with the British Army Operational Research Group analyzing all occurrences of jamming of Army radar sets. A system for observing and recording jamming was organized. This eventually led Hey to conclude that the sun was radiating intense radio emission. |
Close this window |
| This typical Bob Hope & Bing Crosby ‘road’ comedy naturally also features Dorothy Lamour. This time, the trio are in Alaska with a map to a gold mine. The map had been stolen from Lamour’s father by two well known thugs from the region. Hope & Crosby impersonate the two but are eventually found out by crooked business owner Ace Larson, who uses his employees to get the map from the boys while he cons Lamour into thinking he's helping her. |
 |
Close this window |
| This amendment set a term limit for the President of the United States, providing that "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." The United States Congress proposed the amendment on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 27, 1951. |
Close this window |
| "Secret Love" was used in the film “Calamity Jane,” in which Doris Day played the title lead opposite the late Howard Keel. It won the 1953 Academy Award winner for Best Song. Doris Day recorded this in less than 15 minutes. The liner notes from her A Day at the Movies compilation tell how she rode her bicycle to the studio, did one take. |  |
Close this window | |
| "Heartbreak Hotel" became a hit after Elvis performed it on The Dorsey Brothers TV show in 1956. It was his third appearance on the show. This was Elvis' first #1 hit on the US Billboard pop charts. |  |
Close this window | |
| Xavier Cugat who starred in a twice-weekly, fifteen minute musical series “The Xavier Cugat Show” on NBC. Cugat also appeared on the musical programs “The Voice Of Firestone” and “America’s Greatest Bands.” Desi Arnaz formerly worked with the Xavier Cugat orchestra soon after he emigrated to Miami from Cuba in 1933. Cugat’s show featured his (much younger) wife, singer Abbe Lane. |  |
Close this window | |
| "Theme From A Summer Place" was part of the score for the 1959 movie A Summer Place, which starred Troy Donahue and was set on an island in Maine. In the US, this was the top selling single of 1960. It won the 1960 Grammy for Record Of The Year. Faith was a composer who arranged songs for a variety of artists, including Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis. |  |
Close this window | |
| In 1960, however, he recorded "The Twist," a cover of a 1958 Hank Ballard the Midnighters B-side; Checker's rendition de-emphasized the original's overtly sexual overtones, focusing instead on the song's happy-go-lucky charms.A song called "Pony Time" was written in 1960 by Don Covay and John Berry and was released on the tiny Arnold label by a group called "The Goodtimers". When the song began to take off locally, it was brought to Chubby Checker's attention, and he covered it right away. Chubby's version went all the way to number one and stayed on the charts for sixteen weeks in 1961. |
 |
Close this window |
| "This Diamond Ring" was originally offered to, but rejected by, Bobby Vee. Al Kooper co-wrote the song. Gary Lewis and the Playboys had 7 Top-10 hits in two years (1964-66) before breaking up as a result of Gary being drafted into the army. |  |
Close this window | |
| Even as the home of the Beatles the Cavern became a victim of changing trends and bad financial management. The need to carry out major renovation to comply with health and safety regulations was the last straw. The costs were out of Ray McFall’s reach and the club had to close. Despite vain attempts by Bob Wooler, groups and fans, the Cavern closed for the first time on February 27, 1966. |
 |
Close this window |
| Initially known as the Osmond Brothers, they recorded the catchy "One Bad Apple", which topped the US charts for five weeks. Before long, they became a national institution, and various members of the family including Donny Osmond, Marie Osmond and Little Jimmy Osmond enjoyed hits in their own right. |  |
Close this window | |
| Released in the spring of 1982, “Tug of War “received the best reviews of any McCartney record since Band on the Run and spawned the number one single "Ebony and Ivory," a duet with Stevie Wonder that became McCartney's biggest American hit. In 1983. At its most simple level, the song is about the ebony and ivory keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial harmony on a deeper level. |  |
Close this window | |
| "Centerfold" is about a guy who had a crush on a sweet, innocent girl in his homeroom in high school. Years later, he's looking through a girly magazine and sees his homeroom crush as the centerfold. |  |
Close this window | |
| "Father Figure" is an effective R&B ballad with gospel-tinged chorus sung by George Michael and Shirley Lewis. Another #1 hit for him. |  |
Close this window | |
| The Newton was an early line of personal digital assistants developed, manufactured and marketed by Apple Computer from 1993 to 1998. The original Newtons were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor, and featured handwriting recognition. |  |
Close this window | |
 |
|||
0837 15th recorded perihelion passage
of Halley's Comet
1801 Washington, DC placed under Congressional
jurisdiction
More ...
1813 First federal vaccination legislation enacted
More ...
1813 Congress authorizes use of steamboats to
transport mail
1827 First Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans
LA
More ...
1861 US Congress authorizes first stamped newspaper
wrappers for mailing
1874 Baseball first played in England, at Lord's
Cricket Grounds
More ...
1883 Oscar Hammerstein patents first cigar-rolling
machine
More ...
1900 Felix Hoffman patented acetyl salicylic acid
--aspirin
More ...
1901 NL Rules Committee decrees that all fouls
are to count as strikes except after two strikes
1908 Sacrifice fly adopted (repealed in 1931,
reinstated 1954)
1922 Supreme Court unanimously upheld 19th amend
woman's right to vote
More ...
1942 J S Hey discovers radio emissions from the
Sun
More ...
1946 4th "Road" film, "Road to
Utopia" premieres
More ...
1950 The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
was ratified
More ...
1954 "Secret Love" by Doris Day topped
the charts
More ...
1955 "Billboard" announced that seven-inch,
45-rpm singles were outselling 78-rpm singles for the first time in the U.S.
1956 Elvis Presley's releases "Heartbreak
Hotel"
More ...
1957 "Xavier Cugat Show" premieres on NBC
More ...
1959 Boston Celtic Bob Cousy sets NBA record with
28 assists Boston Celtics score 173 points against Minneapolis Lakers
1960 Theme from "A Summer Place" by
Percy Faith topped the charts
More ...
1961 "Pony Time" by Chubby Checker topped
the charts
More ...
1963 Mickey Mantle of New York Yankees sign a
baseball contract worth $100,000
1965 "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis
& the Playboys topped the charts
More ...
1966 Cavern Club (Beatles hangout) in Liverpool
closes
More ...
1971 "One Bad Apple" by the Osmonds
topped the charts
More ...
1974 "People" magazine begins sales
1981 Greatest passenger load on a commercial airliner-610
on Boeing 747
1981 Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder record
"Ebony & Ivory"
More ...
1982 Dan Issel (NBA-Nuggets), hits on 63rd consecutive
free throw
1982 "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band
topped the charts
More ...
1987 NCAA cancels SMU's entire 1987 football schedule
for gross violations of NCAA rules regarding athletic corruption
1988 "Father Figure" by George Michael
topped the charts
More ...
1998 Apple discontinues developing Newton computer
More ...