303 – 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued by Emperor Diocletian
484 – King Huneric removes the Christian bishops from their offices and banished some to Corsica. A few are martyred, including former proconsul Victorian along with Frumentius and other merchants. They are killed at Hadrumetum after refusing to become Arians.
1303 – Battle of Roslin, of the First War of Scottish Independence.
1510 – Pope Julius II excommunicates the republic of Venice
1525 – Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V’s troops beat the French. French King Francois I captured, 15,000 killed/wounded
1530 – 1st Imperial coronation by a Pope, Charles V crowned by Clement V
1563 – Francois Guise, French general/duke, assassinated at 44
1582 – With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.
1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1786 – Wilhelm Karl Grimm, Hanau Germany, story teller (Grimm’s Fairy Tales) Born
1803 – US Supreme Court 1st rules a law unconstitutional (Marbury v Madison) The landmark decision helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the American form of government. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, there were a number of references to judicial review. Fifteen delegates made statements about the power of the federal courts to review the constitutionality of laws, with all but two of them supporting the idea.
The opponents to ratification, known as Anti-federalists, agreed that the federal courts would have the power to declare statutes unconstitutional, but were concerned that this would give the federal courts too much power. Robert Yates argued: “The supreme court then have a right, independent of the legislature, to give a construction to the constitution and every part of it, and there is no power provided in this system to correct their construction or do it away. If, therefore, the legislature pass any laws, inconsistent with the sense the judges put upon the constitution, they will declare it void.”
1807 – 17 die & 15 wounded in a crush to witness execution of Holloway, Heggerty & Elizabeth Godfrey in England
1821 – Mexico gains independence from Spain
1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.
1855 – US Court of Claims forms for cases against government
1863 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
1868 – 1st US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile Alabama)
1868 – Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.
1874 – Honus Wagner, Chartiers Pennsylvana, HOF shortstop (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1900-17) Born
1876 – Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” premieres in Oslo
1888 – Louisville, Ky, becomes 1st government in US to adopt Australian ballot (i.e. secret ballot on standard voting forms)
1895 – Cuban war for independence begins
1908 – In ‘Muller v Oregon’, the US Supreme Court favors an Oregon law limiting maximum hours a woman may work and denies that it curtails ‘liberty of contract’
1909 – The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.
1911 – Japan and the US conclude a treaty that continues restrictions on Japanese laborers
1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
1920 – The Nazi Party is founded.
1921 – 1st transcontinental flight in 24 hrs flying time arrives Florida
1921 – Abe Vigoda, actor (Barney Miller, Fish), born in NYC, New York – Born
1923 – Mass arrests in US of mafia
1924 – Greek parliament proclaims republic
1924 – Mahatma Gandhi released from jail
1925 – Thermite explosive 1st used to break up ice jam, Waddington, NY
1931 – Dominic Chianese, American actor (Sopranos) Born
1933 – League of Nations tells Japanese to pull out of Manchuria
1938 – Phil Knight, American businessman, co-founded Nike, Inc. was born.
1940 – The song “When You Wish Upon a Star” is recorded by Frances Langford. It becomes a major hit and it is still one of the most recognizable songs today
1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles, one of the largest documented UFO sightings in history; the event lasted into the early hours of February 25.
1942 – An order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all “persons of Japanese racial origin”.
1942 – Joe Lieberman, American politician was birthed.
1942 – Paul Jones, England, rocker (Manfred Mann-Mighty Quinn) Born
1942 – The Voice of America goes on the air for the first time under the Office of War Information with news programs aimed at Japan, the south Pacific, and to areas of Europe and North Africa under the occupation of Nazi Germany.
1944 – Barry Bostwick, San Mateo Ca, actor (Rocky Horror Show, Megaforce) Born
1945 – Egypt & Syria declare war on nazi-Germany
1945 – Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.
1946 – Juan Peron elected President of Argentina
1947 – Edward James Olmos, Cal, actor (Miami Vice, Stand & Deliver, Triumph) born
1948 – Communist Party seizes complete control of Czechoslovakia
1949 – Israel & Egypt sign an armistice agreement
1949 – V-2/WAC-Corporal 1st rocket to 5x speed of sound at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico
1950 – George Thorogood, Wilmington, Delaware, American singer and guitarist (The Delaware Destroyers-Bad to the Bone) Born
1954 – Sid Meier, Canadian-American game designer and programmer, created the Civilization series was born.
1955 – Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founded Apple Inc. and Pixar (d. 2011) was born.
1965 – Beatles begin filming “Help” in Bahamas
1966 – Billy Zane, actor (Orlando, Memphis Belle, Millions, Titanic) Born
1968 – Discovery of 1st pulsar announced (CP 1919 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish)
1969 – Mariner 6 launched for Mars flyby to study planet’s atmosphere
1971 – Algeria nationalizes 51 percent of French oil concessions
1973 – Chris Fehn, American drummer (Slipknot / known by his number #3,and Will Haven) was born.
1974 – Mike Lowell, Puerto Rican baseball player (Boston Red Sox) Born
1976 – Eric Griffin, American rock guitarist (horror punk band – Murderdolls ) Born
1977 – Bronson Arroyo, American baseball pitcher (Boston Red Sox) Born
1977 – Pres Carter announces US foreign aid will consider human rights
1977 – Floyd Mayweather, Jr., American boxer was born.
1976 – Cuba: national Constitution is proclaimed.
1980 – The United States Olympic Hockey team completes their Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal.
1983 – A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.
1984 – Iraq resumes air attack on Iran
1984 – Tyrone Mitchell perpetrates the 49th Street Elementary School shooting in Los Angeles, killing two children and injuring 12 more.
1988 – Supreme Ct votes 8-0 Jerry Falwell cannot collect for Hustler parody
1989 – 150-million-year-old fossil egg (oldest dinosaur embryo) found
1989 – Margaret Ray found in David Letterman’s home, claims to be his wife
1989 – US Boeing 747 loses parts of roof over Pacific, 9 die
1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.
1990 – Johnnie Ray, singer (Cry), dies of liver failure at 61
1990 – Malcolm Forbes, CEO (Forbes Publishing), dies of a heart attack at 70
1990 – Tony Conigliaro, baseball player (Red Sox), dies of pneumonia at 45
1991 – George Gobel, Chicago, comedian (George Gobel Show), dies at 71
1994 – Dinah Shore, singer (Chevrolet), dies of cancer at 76
1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
1996 – The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church.
1997 – Qatar inaugurates the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporting facility and formally launches Qatar Liquefied Gas Co.
1998 – Henny Youngman, comedian (Take my wife please), dies at 92
1998 – Elton John Knighted
1998 – Clara Fraser, American activist, co-founded Radical Women (b. 1923) died.
1999 – The U.S. state of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national convicted of murder during a botched bank robbery, in spite of Germany’s legal action to attempt to save him.
2006 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
2006 – Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924) died.
2006 – Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924) Dies
2006 – John Martin, Canadian broadcaster, co-founded MuchMusic (b. 1947) died.
2008 – 80th Academy Awards – “No Country for Old Men”, Daniel Day-Lewis & Marion Cotillard win
2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.
2010 – Europe risks a double-dip recession after bad results emerge from France, Germany and Italy, it is reported today; the Eurozone only grew by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2009
2011 – Final Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103).
2012 – Jan Berenstain, American author and illustrator (b. 1923) died.
2014 – Pope Francis creates a second Secretariat with the power to audit any Vatican agency at any time
2014 – A 4.4 billion-year-old Crystal is discovered to be the oldest known fragment from the earth’s crust
2014 – Harold Ramis, American actor & director, dies from vasculitis at 69