This Day In History: February 25, 1601 On February 25, 1601, the last great favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, the 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, was beheaded at the Tower of London on Tower Green for high treason. His inevitable trip to the block had been brewing for quite some time. Queen Elizabeth first met the tall, handsome and […]

This Day In History: February 24, 1807 Just a few days before Christmas 1806, a 34 year-old woman named Elizabeth Godfrey rented a room in a house of ill-repute (tsk-tsk) in the Marylebone section of London. Living next door was a coachman named Richard Price, who resided with a woman named Emily Bisset. Elizabeth was very angry at Richard, apparently […]

This Day In History: February 23, 1954 On February 23, 1954, a group of children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania helped make history by being the first inoculated with the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. The children were first, second, and third grade students attending local public and parochial schools. In the 1950s, Poliomyelitis was still an extremely contagious disease. […]

This Day In History: February 20, 1985 Amid a storm of controversy, the Irish government won initial approval for the sale of contraceptives on February 20, 1985. The bill, which narrowly passed by a vote of 83-80, was actively opposed by the Roman Catholic Church, a powerful conservative force in Ireland. The decision was described as the first defeat ever […]

This Day In History: February 19, 1910 On February 19, 1910 “Typhoid Mary” regained her freedom, albeit briefly. After years of being forced to live in isolation, Mary gladly agreed to never work as a cook again if she was allowed to live among the public. Mary signed an affidavit stating that she “is prepared to change her occupation (that […]

This Day In History: February 18, 1885 “Sequels aren’t inherently bad-remember that Huckleberry Finn was a sequel to Tom Sawyer. But Twain understood what modern storytellers seem to have forgotten-a compelling sequel offers consumers a new perspective on the characters, rather than just more of the same.” -Henry Jenkins On February 18, 1885, Mark Twain’s celebrated yet controversial book The […]

This Day In History: February 17, 1986 “When one loses the deep intimate relationship with nature, then temples, mosques and churches become important.” – Krishnamurti Death came peacefully to the 90 year-old Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, who passed away on February 17, 1986 at his home in Ojai, California. Always a reluctant guru, his final wish was that the several […]

This Day In History: February 16, 600 C.E. “Bless You!” is the knee-jerk response of most of us in the Western world when someone sneezes. We say it without thought or hesitation, and sometimes dozens of times a day during flu or allergy season. And every time we do, we’re obeying the edict a pope made on February 16, 600 […]

This Day In History: February 13, 1961 On February 13, 1961, legendary singer Frank Sinatra unveiled his recording label, Reprise. Unhappy with the limitations he felt Capital Records had placed on his creativity, “Ol’ Blue Eyes” had the means and the clout in the business to strike out on his own, and the result was some of the best music […]

This Day In History: February 12, 1789 Ethan Allen, Vermont’s beloved but elusive folk hero, died on February 12, 1789. The manner of his death was an enigma; some say he suffered a stroke crossing Lake Champlain as he was heading to his Winooski River homestead; others contend his death was caused by falling from his sleigh in a drunken […]

This Day In History: February 11, 1858 Marie-Bernarde (known as Bernadette) Soubirous was a barely literate 14-year-old girl from a poverty stricken family in the small town of Lourdes, France. On February 11, 1858, she had gone to collect firewood with her sister and a friend. When they reached a small stream near a grotto, her companions removed their shoes […]

This Day In History: February 10, 1840 “I felt so happy when the ring was put on, and by my precious Albert.” – From the diary of Queen Victoria February 10, 1840 dawned cold and rainy in London, but this did not dampen the spirits of the crowds gathering to witness the spectacle of their young Queen’s wedding procession. It […]

This Day In History: February 9, 1964 “Congratulations on your appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and your visit to America. We hope your engagement will be a successful one and your visit pleasant. Give our best to Mr. Sullivan. Sincerely, Elvis & The Colonel.” – Telegram the Beatles received pre-show The build-up to the Beatles appearance on the Ed […]

This Day In History: February 6, 1928 On February 6, 1928, an attractive young woman arrived in New York on the ocean liner Berengaria. She held a press conference before she disembarked, explaining she had come to the United States to have her jaw reset. She alleged she had been injured by a Bolshevik soldier at Ekaterinburg, Russia, in July […]

This Day In History: February 5, 1897 It all began when the gay literary critic Jean Lorrain accused author Marcel Proust (also thought to have been gay) of having a homosexual relationship with the son of one M. Alphonse Daudet, Lucien Daudet (pictured right). Proust demanded satisfaction for the accusation that he had a tryst with Daudet, and challenged Lorrain […]

Today in History: February 4, 1902 “There were times in an aeroplane when it seemed I had escaped mortality to look down on Earth like a God.” – Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh, the celebrated aviator who made the first solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight, was born on February 4, 1902 in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up on his family’s farm […]

This Day In History: February 3, 1998 On February 3, 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas. She was the first woman to receive the death penalty in the state since the Civil War. Over one thousand demonstrators and 200 hundred members of the press gathered outside the prison. Emotions ran high. Even those that […]

This Day In History: February 2, 1886 For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, So far will the snow swirl until the May. On February 2, 1887, the first official Groundhog Day featuring a rodent meteorologist at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania occurred. According to long-standing tradition, if on this day a groundhog pops out of his hole and […]