NASCAR
1959 1st Daytona 500 auto race-Lee Petty wins (135.521 MPH).
WAR!
1862 Jefferson Davis, already the provisional president of the Confederacy, was inaugurated for a six-year term as president following his election the previous November.
1915 Germany begins "unrestricted" submarine war.
1967 More than 25,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border.
1991 Bush & US Gulf War allies give Iraq 24 hours to begin Kuwait withdrawal.
2007 Britain's Ministry of Defense announced that Prince Harry, a second lieutenant in the British army, would be deployed to Iraq. (Officials later reversed the decision because of insurgent threats.)
TERRORISM
1935 It became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.
1948 Arabs bomb attack in Jerusalem, 50 die.
1989 US authors demonstrate against Iranian death treats against Salman Rushdee, author of "Satanic Rituals".
2007 The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Iran had ignored a Security Council ultimatum to freeze uranium enrichment, and instead had expanded its program by setting up hundreds of centrifuges.
AHHHHH!
1989 Finland ministry of Public health installs sex vacation to thwart stress.
WAGERS
1861 On a bet Edward Weston leaves Boston to walk to Lincoln's inauguration.
SPUNKY
1920 1st artificial rabbit used at a dog race track (Emeryville CA).
NANNY STATE
1872 1st national convention of the Prohibition Party (Columbus OH).
FIVE & DIME
1879 1st 5¢ & 10¢ store opened by Frank W Woolworth in Utica NY.
FUR
1923 1st successful chinchilla farm in US (Los Angeles CA).
WOUNDED
1932 Purple Heart award re-instituted.
ESPANOL
1989 1st Spanish commercial on network TV (Pepsi-Cola-CBS Grammy Award).
NYC MAYORS
1982 NYC Mayor Koch announces he will run for New York governor (unsuccessful).
MARRIAGE
1992 Ed McMahon, 69, weds Pamela Hurn, 37.
1992 Rockers Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) & Courtney Love (Hole), wed.
1991 Actor Bill Bixby (57) weds Laura Michael (32).
FRIENDLY FIRE
1940 German air force sinks 2 German destroyers, killing 578.
1944 US 8th Air Force bombs Enschede, Arnhem & Nijmegen by mistake/800+ die.
POPCORN
1630 Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn.
UNREST
1983 Hindus kill 3000 Moslems in Assam, India.
1995 Algiers police kill at least 99 prison rioters.
SUICIDE
1998 Sandy Hume correspondent (Fox News), commits suicide at 28.
GOP
1854 1st meeting of the Republican Party, Michigan.
1856 1st national meeting of the Republican Party (Pittsburgh).
MISTAKES
2003 Jesica Santillan, the teenager who'd survived a botched heart-lung transplant long enough to get a second set of donated organs, died two days after the second transplant at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.
POLITICS
1819 Spain agreed to cede Florida to the United States under the Adams-Onis Treaty.
1865 Tennessee adopted a new constitution that included the abolition of slavery.
1889 President Cleveland signed an omnibus bill to admit the Dakotas, Montana and Washington state to the Union.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1924 President Coolidge delivered the first radio broadcast from the White House as he addressed the country over 42 stations.
SOCCER
1956 1st British soccer match at Kunstlicht Portsmouth vs Newcastle United.
ASSASSINATION
1913 Francisco Indalecio Madero Mexican President at 39, and Suarez, Mexican vice President, assassinated in a military coup.
JEWS
1656 New Amsterdam granted a Jewish burial site.
1775 Jews expelled from outskirts of Warsaw Poland.
1941 I G Farben decides building Buna-Werke in Auschwitz Concentration Camp; Nazi SS begin rounding up Jews of Amsterdam.
MIRACLES
1980 the U.S. Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y., 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)
BEHEADED
1943 Hans Scholl German resistance fighter (White Rose), beheaded at 24. Sophie Scholl German resistance fighter (Die Weisse Rose), beheaded.
CRICKET
1993 Vinod Kambli scores 224 vs England at Bombay, 411 balls, 23 fours.
BORN
1732 The first president of the United States, George Washington, was born at his parents' plantation in the Virginia Colony.
1788 Arthur Schopenhauer Germany, philosopher (Great Pessimist).
1810 Frédéric F Chopin Polish/French pianist/composer.
1891 "Chico" Marx New York NY, actor/comedian (Marx Brothers, Animal Crackers).
BIRTHDAYS
Announcer Don Pardo is 90. Actor Paul Dooley is 80. Hollywood "ghost singer" Marni Nixon is 78. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., is 76. Movie director Jonathan Demme is 64. Actor John Ashton is 60. Actress Miou-Miou is 58. Actress Julie Walters is 58. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving is 58. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 49. Actress-comedian Rachel Dratch is 42. Actress Jeri Ryan is 40. Actor Thomas Jane is 39. Actress Tamara Mello is 38. Actress-singer Lea Salonga is 37. Actor Jose Solano is 37. Tennis player Michael Chang is 36. Actress Drew Barrymore is 33. Actress Liza Huber is 33. Singer James Blunt is 31. Actor Daniel E. Smith is 18.
DEATH
1998 Abraham A. Ribicoff, the former Connecticut governor and senator who served as President Kennedy's secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, died in Riverdale, N.Y., at age 87.
February 22, the 53rd day of 2008. There are 313 days left in the year.
compiled by Mondoreb
image: fireballroberts
Source:
* Today in History
* Today in history
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.