Today In History: February

Saigon Execution

February 1st

  • 1901: Langston Hughes Is Born
  • 1953: The North Sea Flood Devastates Europe
  • 1959: Nine Die In The Dyatlov Pass Incident
  • 1968: The "Saigon Execution" Photo Is Taken

Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen

February 2nd

  • 962 C.E.: Otto I Is Crowned Emperor Of The Romans
  • 1626: Charles I Becomes King Of England
  • 1882: James Joyce Is Born
  • 1925: Balto Arrives In Nome, Alaska
  • 1943: The Battle Of Stalingrad Ends
  • 1979: Sid Vicious Dies
  • 2014: Philip Seymour Hoffman Dies

Buddy Holly Portrait

February 3rd

  • 1468: Johannes Gutenburg, Inventor Of The Printing Press, Dies
  • 1894: Norman Rockwell Is Born
  • 1945: The Battle Of Manila Begins
  • 1948: The First News Story About The SS Ourang Medan Is Published
  • 1959: Buddy Holly Dies In A Plane Crash
  • 1998: Karla Faye Tucker Is Executed

Franz Reichelt

February 4th

  • 1520: Mary Boleyn, "The Other Boleyn Girl" Gets Married
  • 1787: Shays' Rebellion Flounders
  • 1899: Philippine-American War Begins
  • 1912: Franz Reichelt Dies While Testing His Homemade Flying Suit
  • 1913: Rosa Parks Is Born
  • 1968: Neal Cassady Dies
  • 1974: Patty Hearst Is Kidnapped
  • 2004: Facebook Is Founded

Belle Starr

February 5th

  • 146 B.C.E.: The Punic Wars End
  • 1848: Belle Starr Is Born
  • 1917: The Mexican Constitution Is Approved
  • 1922: Reader's Digest Publishes Its First Issue
  • 1934: Hank Aaron Is Born

Dalton Gang

February 6th

  • 1778: France Recognizes U.S. Independence
  • 1891: The Dalton Gang Commits Its First Train Robbery
  • 1895: Babe Ruth Is Born
  • 1919: The Weimar Republic Is Formed
  • 1952: King George VI Dies

The Beatles Arrive In America

February 7th

  • 1478: Sir Thomas More Is Born
  • 1643: Europeans Land On Tristan da Cunha For The First Time
  • 1783: The Siege Of Gibraltar Is Lifted
  • 1812: Charles Dickens Is Born
  • 1812: Largest Earthquake In The Contiguous U.S. Strikes Along New Madrid Fault
  • 1964: The Beatles Arrive In America
  • 2000: Big Pun Dies

James Dean

February 8th

  • 1587: Mary, Queen of Scots Is Beheaded
  • 1887: The Dawes Act Passes
  • 1904: The Russo-Japanese War Begins
  • 1910: The Boy Scouts Of America Is Founded
  • 1921: Lana Turner Is Born
  • 1926: Neal Cassady Is Born
  • 1931: James Dean Is Born
  • 1943: Lepa Radíc Is Executed By The Nazis
  • 1974: 'Good Times' Premieres On CBS
  • 2023: The First Published Study Of Kumimanu fordycei Is Published

Carole Ann Boone With Ted Bundy

February 9th

  • 1773: William Henry Harrison Is Born
  • 1895: Volleyball Is Invented
  • 1960: Adolph Coors Is Kidnapped
  • 1980: Ted Bundy Marries Carole Ann Boone
  • 1999: Hae Min Lee's Body Is Discovered
  • 2004: Maura Murray Disappears

George Washington On Horseback

February 10th

  • 1763: The French And Indian War Ends
  • 1840: Queen Victoria Marries Prince Albert
  • 1846: Brigham Young Leaves Illinois
  • 1986: The Largest Mafia Trial In History Begins
  • 1996: Garry Kasparov Plays The Computer 'Deep Blue'
  • 2012: Israel Keyes Abducts His Last Victim, Samantha Koenig

Nelson Mandela Released From Prison

February 11th

  • 600 B.C.E.: Japan Is Founded
  • 1531: King Henry VIII Becomes Supreme Head Of The Church Of England
  • 1805: Sacagawea Gives Birth
  • 1962: Sylvia Plath Dies By Suicide
  • 1965: Maureen Starkey Marries Ringo Starr
  • 1990: Nelson Mandela Is Released From Prison
  • 1992: Johnny Frank Garrett Is Executed

Execution Of Jane Grey

February 12th

  • 1554: Lady Jane Grey Is Beheaded
  • 1771: King Adolf Fredrick Of Sweden Dies
  • 1809: Abraham Lincoln Is Born
  • 1909: The NAACP Is Established
  • 1909: The First Newspaper Report Of The Snallygaster Is Published
  • 1912: The Last Emperor Of China Abdicates
  • 1949: Hassan al-Banna Is Assassinated
  • 1976: Actor Sal Mineo Is Murdered
  • 1993: Robert Thomas And Jon Venables Kidnap And Murder James Bulger

Dresden Destruction

February 13th

  • 1542: Catherine Howard Is Beheaded
  • 1692: The Massacre Of Glencoe Takes Places
  • 1866: Jesse James Commits First Bank Robbery
  • 1945: Dresden Is Firebombed
  • 2017: The Delphi Murders Take Place
  • 2017: Kim Jong-Nam Is Assassinated

Valentines Day Massacre

February 14th

  • 270 C.E.: Saint Valentine Is Beheaded
  • 1400: King Richard II Dies
  • 1779: Captain James Cook Is Killed
  • 1920: The League Of Women Voters Is Established
  • 1929: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre Takes Place
  • 1965: Malcolm X's Home Is Firebombed
  • 1990: The Pale Blue Dot Image Is Taken

Uss Maine Explosion

February 15th

  • 1564: Galileo Galilei Is Born
  • 1898: The U.S.S. Maine Explodes
  • 1903: The First Teddy Bear Goes On Sale
  • 1939: "Butcher Baker" Serial Killer Robert Hansen Is Born
  • 1965: The Maple Leaf Becomes Canada's Official Flag

Howard Carter At Tuts Tomb

February 16th

  • 1834: Ernst Haeckel Is Born
  • 1923: Tutankhamun's Tomb Is Opened
  • 1926: Margot Frank Is Born
  • 1959: Fidel Castro Becomes The Prime Minister of Cuba
  • 1981: Arne Cheyenne Johnson Kills His Landlord And Says The "Devil" Made Him Do It
  • 2009: Travis The Chimp Attacks

Geronimo Portrait

February 17th

  • 1801: Thomas Jefferson Is Elected President
  • 1815: The War Of 1812 Comes To An End
  • 1909: Apache Chief Geronimo Dies
  • 1963: Michael Jordan Is Born
  • 2014: Breck Bednar Is Murdered

Billy The Kid Portrait

February 18th

  • 1294: Kublai Khan Dies
  • 1516: Queen Mary I Is Born
  • 1878: The Lincoln County War Begins
  • 1919: Nerissa Bowes-Lyon Is Born
  • 1932: Manchukuo Is Established
  • 1949: Gary Ridgway Is Born
  • 1954: The First Church Of Scientology Is Established
  • 1973: Frank Costello Dies

Internment Camp

February 19th

  • 1473: Nicolaus Copernicus Is Born
  • 1847: Rescuers Reach The Donner Party
  • 1942: Executive Order 9066 Orders Japanese-Americans Into Internment Camps
  • 1980: AC/DC Frontman Bon Scott Dies
  • 2013: The Body Of Elisa Lam Is Discovered

Kurt Cobain

February 20th

  • 1792: The U.S. Post Office Department Is Founded
  • 1895: Frederick Douglass Dies
  • 1939: Isadore Greenbaum Storms A Nazi Rally At Madison Square Garden
  • 1967: Kurt Cobain Is Born
  • 1985: Ireland Begins Allowing The Sale Of Contraceptives

Death Of Malcolm X

February 21st

  • 1613: Mikhail Romanov Becomes Tsar Of Russia
  • 1848: The Communist Manifesto Is Published
  • 1878: The World's First Phone Book Is Issued
  • 1885: The Washington Monument Is Dedicated
  • 1910: Carmine Galante Is Born
  • 1965: Malcolm X Is Assassinated
  • 1978: Workers In Mexico City Stumble On The Coyolxāuhqui Stone At Templo Mayor

Keith Sapsford Featured

February 22nd

  • 1732: George Washington Is Born
  • 1918: Robert Wadlow Is Born
  • 1945: Battle Of Ramree Island Ends
  • 1946: First Attack In The Texarkana Moonlight Murders
  • 1956: Rosa Parks' Mugshot Is Taken
  • 1962: Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" Is Born
  • 1970: Keith Sapsford Falls To His Death
  • 1980: The "Miracle On Ice" Occurs During The Winter Olympics
  • 1987: Andy Warhol Dies

Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima Featured

February 23rd

  • 303 C.E.: Roman Emperor Diocletian Orders The Persecution Of Christians
  • 1868: W.E.B. DuBois Is Born
  • 1945: The "Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima" Photo Is Taken
  • 1954: The First Polio Vaccines Are Administered
  • 1957: The Boy In The Box Is Found
  • 1996: William Bonin Is Executed

Emaciated Prisoners Featured

February 24th

  • 1500: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V Is Born
  • 1864: First Union Prisoners Of War Arrive At Andersonville Prison
  • 1895: The Cuban War Of Independence Begins
  • 1955: Steve Jobs Is Born
  • 2010: SeaWorld Trainer Dawn Brancheau Is Killed By An Orca

Battle Of Los Angeles Featured

February 25th

  • 1570: Pope Pius V Excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I
  • 1601: Robert Devereux Is Beheaded
  • 1841: Pierre-Auguste Renoir Is Born
  • 1942: The "Battle Of Los Angeles" Takes Place
  • 1964: Muhammad Ali Wins His First Title
  • 1988: Cameron Hooker Is Sentenced For The Abduction And Rape Of Colleen Stan

1993 Wtc Bombing Featured

February 26th

  • 1815: Napoleon Bonaparte Escapes From Exile
  • 1846: "Buffalo Bill" Cody Is Born
  • 1901: Boxer Rebellion Leaders Are Publicly Executed
  • 1913: Hans Schmidt Marries Anna Aumuller
  • 1993: The World Trade Center Is Bombed
  • 1994: Monika Fritzl Is Born

Elizabeth Taylor Featured

February 27th

  • 1827: The First New Orleans Mardi Gras Celebration Takes Place
  • 1844: The Dominican Republic Declares Independence
  • 1932: Elizabeth Taylor Is Born
  • 1961: Joe Gallo Kidnaps Members Of The Profaci Crime Family
  • 1962: The Presidential Palace In Saigon Is Bombed
  • 2012: T.J. Lane Perpetrates The Chardon High School Shooting

Cuauhtemoc Featured

February 28th

  • 1525: Cuauhtémoc Is Executed
  • 1906: Bugsy Siegel Is Born
  • 1953: James Watson And Francis Crick Discover The Double Helix Of DNA
  • 1991: Persian Gulf War Ends
  • 1993: Federal Agents Raid The Branch Davidian Compound

Hattie Mcdaniel Featured

February 29th

  • 46 B.C.E.: The First Leap Day Is Recognized
  • 1692: The Salem Witch Trials Begin
  • 1940: Hattie McDaniel Wins An Oscar
  • 1960: Richard Ramirez Is Born
  • 2000: Katherine Knight Kills John Price