This Week in History
by Dianne Hermann
“In the summer of 1776 our Founding Fathers sought to
secure our independence and our liberties that remain the
foundation of our nation today.” Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Feb 9-15, 2026
February 9
1870 – The U.S. Army established the U.S. National Weather Service.
1909 – The first federal legislation prohibiting narcotics outlawed the drug opium.
1942 – Daylight Savings War Time went into effect in the U.S. during WWII. The war ended 81 years ago.
1960 – The first star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was for Joanne Woodward. There are now 2,827 stars.
1964 – The Beatles make their first of four appearances of on the “Ed Sullivan Show” to 3.7 million viewers. Watch the four lads on their last of three appearances.
1971 – Satchel Paige became the first Negro League player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1947, at age 42, Paige became the oldest rookie in Major League Baseball history. In 1965, at age 59, he became the oldest baseball player to play in a game and pitched three scoreless innings for the Kansas City Athletics. Paige died in 1982 at age 75.
2001 – The submarine USS Greenville accidentally struck and sunk a Japanese civilian training vessel off the coast of Hawaii during a ballast-blow maneuver. Nine people on the vessel were killed. Greenville Commander Scott Waddle was forced to retire after the findings of a court of inquiry were released.
2016 – In the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Republican Donald Trump won (35%) over John Kasich (16%) and Bernie Sanders (60%) defeated Hillary Clinton (38%) in Democrat race.
February 10
1855 – U.S. citizenship laws were amended so all children of U.S. parents born abroad are granted U.S. citizenship.
1942 – Glenn Miller was awarded the very first gold record for selling 1 million copies of his song “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” Miller died in 1944 at age 40 when his plane went down over the English Channel. The plane was never found.
1967 – The 25th Amendment (Presidential Disability and Succession) went into effect. It states that the vice president will become president in case of the removal of the president from office or in case of his death or resignation.
1989 – To gain deregulation, the World Wrestling Federation admitted in a New Jersey court that pro wrestling is an exhibition and not a sport.
1993 – “Michael Jackson Talks to Oprah Winfrey” aired on ABC and drew an astounding 39.3 rating/56 share, about 90 million people. Jackson died in 2009 at age 50. Watch part of the interview.
2002 – Kobe Bryant was named MVP of the 51st NBA All-Star game. Bryant and eight others, including his daughter, were killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
February 11
1752 – The Pennsylvania Hospital opened as the first hospital in the U.S.
1809 – Robert Fulton, an accomplished artist and portrait painter, patented the steamboat.
1812 – Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting bill, leading to the term “gerrymandering.” When the state adopted new constitutionally-mandated electoral district boundaries, the Republican-controlled legislature created boundaries designed to enhance their control during elections. Gov. Gerry signed the legislature creating the oddly shaped districts. A local newspaper said that one looked like a salamander and published a political cartoon calling it a “Gerry”mander. He was also James Madison’s vice president.
1916 – Emma Goldman was arrested for lecturing on birth control. She was convicted and served 15 days in jail rather than pay the $100 fine. Goldman became a mentor to future Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. Goldman’s arrests spanned more than 25 years from 1893 until she was deported back to Lithuania in 1919. She died in 1940 at age 70.
1953 – President Eisenhower denied the clemency appeal for the Rosenberg couple, who were convicted of spying. They were executed on June 19, 1953.
1960 – Jack Paar walked off the set while live on the air on the “Tonight Show” with four minutes left. He did this in response to censors cutting out a joke from the show the night before.
1969 – Diane Crump, age 20, became the first U.S. woman jockey to ride against male jockeys. The following year she became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Watch an interview with Crump about thoroughbreds.
2002 – The six stars on NBC’s “Friends” sign a deal for $22 million each for the ninth and final season of the series.
2006 – While quail hunting in Texas, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots and wounds Harry Wittington. Wittington died in 2023 at age 95. Cheney died in 2025 at age 84.
February 12
1793 – The first U.S. fugitive slave law was passed, requiring the return of escaped slaves. The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 were not repealed until 1864.
1876 – Al Spalding opened his first sporting goods shop with his brother Walter. Al was a baseball player, manager, owner, and entrepreneur. He also published the first official rule guide for baseball in 1878. Spalding died in 1915 at age 65.
1908 – The New York City to Paris great auto race began. The route included Albany, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Valdez (Alaska), Vladivostok, Omsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and finally Paris. George Schuster won behind the wheel of his Thomas Flyer, covering three continents and over 22,000 miles in 169 days. The feat has never been duplicated or equaled. Schuster died in 1972 at age 99.
1955 – President Eisenhower sent the first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam. The first combat troops were sent to Vietnam in 1965. The Vietnam Conflict officially ended in 1975.
1973 – The first U.S. POWs in North Vietnam were released – 116 of the 456 POWs were flown to the Philippines. There are still almost 1,600 MIAs (Missing In Action) from the Vietnam War.
1984 – Cale Yarborough became the first Daytona 500 qualifier to reach more than 200 MPH, and wins his fourth Daytona 500. He won in 1968, 1977, 1983, and 1984, making him second among winning drivers behind Richard Petty (7 wins). Yarborough died in 2023 at age 84.
1999 – President Clinton was acquitted by the Senate, by a vote of 55 to 45, on the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice during his impeachment trial. Clinton had been impeached in the House of Representatives on the same charges on December 19, 1998.
2001 – The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker spacecraft, launched in 1996, touched down on 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
2004 – Mattel announced that “Barbie” and “Ken” are breaking up. The dolls met on the set of their first television commercial together in 1961. Russell Arons, VP of Mattel marketing, said that Ken and Barbie “feel it’s time to spend quality time – apart,” suggesting that the split was partially due to Ken’s reluctance to get married. Watch the original 1961 commercial.
February 13
1795 – The University of North Carolina opened, becoming the first state university in the U.S.
1866 – Jesse James robbed his first bank, the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri, netting $60,000. James was killed in 1882 at age 34 when he was shot in the back of the head at his home by fellow gang member Robert Ford. Ford was shot to death 10 years later at age 30.
1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. Jewish social worker Henry Moskowitz, Ph.D was the co-founder, and Moorefield Storey, a white lawyer, served as its first president.
1935 – Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering the 20-month-old Lindbergh baby during “The Trial of the Century.” Hauptman was executed in the electric chair in 1936.
1957 – The Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized in New Orleans. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. served as its first president.
1984 – Six-year-old Stormie Jones of Texas received the first successful heart and liver transplant. Jones died in 1990 at age 13.
1997 – The Space Shuttle Discovery captured the Hubble Space Telescope to make repairs. Watch Discovery astronauts repair the telescope.
2000 – The final “Peanuts” comic strip appeared in newspapers. Its creator, Charles M. Schulz, died the day before at age 77. The comic strip was launched by Schulz in January of 1950.
2002 – Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.
February 14
1803 – Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall declared that any act of the U.S. Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void.
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray applied separately for telephone patents. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that Bell was the rightful inventor.
1929 – Seven gangsters were killed in Chicago, allegedly on Al Capone’s orders, in what became known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
1978 – The first “micro on a chip” was patented by Texas Instruments. It was designed by Gary Boone and Michael Cochran.
1989 – The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) were placed into Earth’s orbit.
1990 – Space probe Voyager 1, launched in 1977, took a photograph of our entire solar system. It carried a gold-plated audio-visual disc containing photos of Earth life forms, scientific information, music, and sounds of the Earth in the event it was found by intelligent life forms. Voyager’s mission is expected to continue collecting and sending back scientific data until 2025, when it won’t have enough power to operate its instruments. It is 15 billion miles from Earth.
2002 – The House of Representatives passed the Shays-Meehan bill. The bill banned millions of dollars of unregulated money that went to the national political parties. John McCain and Russ Feingold pushed a similar bill in the Senate.
2005 – The video-sharing website YouTube was activated. Watch the first video ever uploaded on YouTube.
2011 – Barbie and Ken got back together after they split up in 2004.
February 15
1903 – The first Teddy Bear, named for President Theodore Roosevelt, was made by Morris and Rose Michtom.
1932 – George Burns and Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on the “Guy Lombardo Show” on the radio. Gracie Allen died in 1964 at age 69 and George Burns died in 1996 at age 100.
1932 – U.S. Olympian Eddie Eagan became the only athlete to win gold medals in both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. He won gold in 1920 in boxing and gold in 1932 in the four-man bobsled. Egan died in 1995 at age 65. Watch a bio of the impressive career of Eagan.
1961 – The entire 18 member U.S. figure skating team died in a plane crash en route to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. One of the skaters who died was 16-year-old Laurence Owen, who won the U.S. Figure Skating Championship in January. She appeared on the February 13th cover of Sports Illustrated. Watch Owen skate just one month before her death.
1992 – Jeffrey Dahmer was found sane and subsequently convicted of killing 15 boys and sentenced to 15 life terms in prison. Dahmer was murdered in prison in 1994 at age 34 by then 25-year-old Christopher Scarver.
2002 – Investigators found 339 uncremated bodies disposed of in the woods and buildings at the Tri-State Crematory in LaFayette, Georgia. It was one of the worst incidents of abuse in the funeral service industry. Ray Brent Marsh, the founder’s son, eventually plead guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The conditions of his probation included writing a letter of apology to each of the designated representatives for each of the identified remains.
Image from: edsulllivan.com
