1588 – John Winthrop, English-American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1649) was born.
1822 – Étienne Lenoir, French engineer, designed the internal combustion engine (d. 1900) was born.
1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.
1908 – A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
1912 – President William Howard Taft requested a sum of $5 Million Dollars from Congress. The purpose of this money was for the completion of the Panama Canal
1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress.
1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote.
1920 – James L. Farmer, Jr., American activist, co-founded Congress of Racial Equality (d. 1999) was born.
1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as Major League Baseball’s first commissioner.
1923 – Ira Hayes, American marine, who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima (d. 1955) was born.
1926 – Original Sam ‘n’ Henry aired on Chicago, Illinois radio later renamed Amos ‘n’ Andy in 1928.
1926 – Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013) was born.
1930 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1974) was born.
1932 – Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
1939 – William Lee Golden, American singer (The Oak Ridge Boys) was born.
1940 – The Shep Fields Orchestra goes to the top of Billboard’s Pop Chart with their song “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way).”
1941 – Long John Baldry, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and voice actor (Blues Incorporated, The Steampacket, and Bluesology) (d. 2005) was born.
1942 – New Victories Experienced by Chinese Offensive In Chungking, China and surrounding areas, Chinese armies were victorious over Japanese enemy forces. The attacks by the Chinese took place while the Japanese were involved in other wars in the Phillippines, Malaya, and Dutch East.
1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
1951 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer was born.
1954 – Howard Stern, American radio host, actor, and author was born.
1962 – Vietnam War: Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the war, takes place.
1964 – Cigarette stock had lowered value during this time, as in other times during which it was made public that cigarettes were a health hazard. The lowering of cigarette stocks actually started in June of 1954, when two doctors had reported that the death rate in certain ages of men who smoke was higher than those who do not. However, there was a period of time when cigarette stocks rose considerably again. Then, in 1962, they began to plummet again.
1965 – Rob Zombie, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director (White Zombie) was born.
1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
1967 – Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
1970 – Zack de la Rocha, American singer-songwriter (Rage Against the Machine, One Day as a Lion, and Inside Out) was born.
1971 – The Harrisburg Seven: Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
1971 – All in the Family The famous situation comedy premieres on CBS
1976 – The United Nations Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
1991 – Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
1995 – Qubilah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, was arrested for being a part of a conspiracy to kill King Louis Farrakhan. Shabazz’s defense was that she believed the king was responsible for the killing of her father in 1995.
1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
2003 – Maurice Gibb, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Bee Gees) (b. 1949) died.
2006 – A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
2010 – The 2010 Haiti earthquake occurs killing an estimated 316,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince.
2012 – The North Korean government announced that the body of former leader Kim Jong-il would lie in state permanently next to his father Kim Il-sung at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang. The state media also announced the February 16, the former leader’s birthday, was to be known as the “Day of the Shining Star”.
2013 – The US government has responded to a petition to build the Death Star and superlaser from the Star Wars movies, providing a humorous response stating that the United States does not support blowing up planets and that the $850 quadrillion price tag was just too high.