# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/462 "2017-02-14T09:28:08Z")
**February 14, 1924:** The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/463 "2017-02-15T04:42:33Z")
**February 14, 1884:** Teddy Roosevelt’s wife and mother die hours apart. Worst Valentine’s Day ever! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/464 "2017-02-16T08:36:56Z")
\*\*February 16, 1968: \*\* In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/465 "2017-02-17T04:34:05Z")
**February 16, 1659:** The first known check is written, for 400 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/466 "2017-02-17T06:41:04Z")
**February 17, 1957** : 72 die in the [Warrenton Missouri Nursing Home Fire](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/Feb/20070218News017.asp&ved=0ahUKEwij8KCWwZbSAhVHOCYKHUDZBMMQFggpMAU&usg=AFQjCNEsDu-_1W1olGH68tgSnSaSGUt9Pg&sig2=tlnHU7deELu8T_B7P_Ro7Q). Afterwards, basic safety standard regulations for nursing homes would be signed into law in Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/467 "2017-02-17T10:19:05Z")
**February 17, 1913:** The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/468 "2017-02-18T07:00:13Z")
**February 18, 1930** : Pluto is discovered. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/469 "2017-02-18T10:15:38Z")
**February 18, 1930:** Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/470 "2017-02-19T05:29:33Z")
**February 18, 1856:** The American Party, aka the Know-Nothings, convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/471 "2017-02-19T06:06:49Z")
**February 19, 1884** : [The Enigma Tornado Outbreak](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/stormstalker.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/the-enigma-outbreak/amp/&ved=0ahUKEwj34uLru5vSAhWMKyYKHSzKCxoQFghpMAg&usg=AFQjCNEbu1lCyMetZSjXbaennwvCjB3hhQ&sig2=co9rF-ZVATR7YUQYizrP0A) kills anywhere from 178 to 1200 in the Southeastern United States. The enigma name is appropriate. No one knows how many died or how many tornadoes occurred that day. It was certainly one of the worst, if not the worst, tornado outbreak in US history. Poor news coverage and a very limited understanding of tornadoes at the time keep this event very much of an enigma. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/472 "2017-02-19T10:19:46Z")
**February 19, 1942:** President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps. and _34 years_ later, **February 19, 1976:** Executive Order 9066 is rescinded by President Gerald Ford. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/473 "2017-02-19T20:32:14Z")
**February 19, 1807:** Former Vice President Aaron Burr is arrested in Alabama for treason but later acquitted. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/474 "2017-02-20T08:50:23Z")
**February 20, 1962:** John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/475 "2017-02-22T03:47:29Z")
**February 21, 1945** : [The USS Bismarck Sea](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rxTRVRJM5tA), the last US aircraft carrier to be sunk in World War II, is hit by two Japanese kamikaze planes. Over 300 die. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/476 "2017-02-22T05:43:42Z")
**February 21, 1858:** Edwin Holmes installs the first electric burglar alarm, in Boston, Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/477 "2017-02-22T10:59:47Z")
February 22, 1997: Scottish scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned. (That was TWENTY years ago?!?!) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/478 "2017-02-22T15:33:17Z")
February 22, 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/479 "2017-02-22T16:36:41Z")
Feb. 22, 1732 - George Washington is born on the Pope’s Creek Estate near present-day Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/480 "2017-02-22T23:11:15Z")
**February 22, 1901** : [_The SS City of Rio de Janerio_](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/nat1988002394.asp&ved=0ahUKEwjB2bLH5qTSAhXDSCYKHZkbAiMQFgh5MBU&usg=AFQjCNG6dOXnJyB4_pAePKJyTI7EGbd7_Q&sig2=RDiSalMIXt0mj2griAmy0Q) strikes a rocks in the dense fog at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. The passenger ship sinks killing 130. It is the deadliest shipwreck ever at the Golden Gate. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/481 "2017-02-23T05:10:25Z")
**February 23, 1898:** Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing “J’accuse”, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=25)