This Week in History: Feb. 14-20

Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day)– 1818: Abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass is born into slavery in Cordova, MD. 1876: American inventor Alexander Graham Bell files for a patent for his “improvement in telegraphy.” The telephone patent is approved three weeks later. 1929: Seven gangsters are shot and killed in Chicago, IL in what becomes known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.” Mob leader Al Capone had ordered the hit on a rival gang.

Feb. 15- 399 BCE: Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death by the city of Athens, Greece for “impiety.” 1820: Suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony is born in Adams, MA. Sadly, she dies in 1906, 14 years before women gain the right to vote. 1965: Canada officially adopts the maple leaf flag. 2005: The video-sharing site YouTube is launched, creating a new career goal for millions of future teenagers.

Feb. 16- 1861: The train carrying President-Elect Abraham Lincoln to Washington for his inauguration stops in Westfield, NY for him to personally thank Grace Bedell for her letter suggesting that he grow a beard. 1923: Archeologist Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian King Tut’s tomb, leading to discovery of his sarcophagus and untold ancient treasures. 2011: IBM’s computer named “Watson” after founder Thomas J. Watson, Sr. defeats past champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, winning the $1 million first prize.

Feb 17- 1938: First public demonstration of color television takes place in London, England.
1965: Basketball star Michael Jordan is born in Brooklyn, NY. 1972: Volkswagon’s “Beetle” overtakes Ford’s Model T as the bestselling car of all time. 2017: Existence of “8th Continent” known as Zealandia is announced in the Journal of the Geology Society of America.

Feb. 18- 1564: Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo dies in Rome, Italy at the age of 88.
1885: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by author Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) is published in the U.S. 1930: Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the planet Pluto. 2001: Race car driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. is killed in a crash at the Daytona 500 race in Florida.

Feb. 19- 1878: Inventor Thomas Edison receives a patent for a cylinder phonograph.
1968: “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” premieres on National Education Television (later named Public Broadcasting Service or PBS). 2016: “To Kill a Mockingbird” novelist Harper Lee dies in Monroeville, AL at the age of 89.

Feb. 20- 1877: Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” premieres at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia. 1927: American actor Sidney Poitier is born in Miami, FL. 1962: Astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth. 1974: Musicians and spouses Sonny and Cher Bono legally separate, perhaps singing “I (Don’t) Got You Babe.”