History of 22 February
1630 – Quadequine introduced popcorn to English colonists at their first Thanksgiving dinner.
1784 – “Empress of China”, a U.S. merchant ship, left New York City for the Far East.
1819 – Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
1855 – The U.S. Congress voted to appropriate $200,000 for the continuance of the work on the Washington Monument. The next morning the resolution was tabled and it would be 21 years before the Congress would vote on funds again. Work was continued by the Know-Nothing Party in charge of the project.
1859 – U.S. President Buchanan approved the Act of February 22, 1859, which incorporated the Washington National Monument Society “for the purpose of completing the erection now in progress of a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government.”
1860 – Organized baseball’s first game was played in San Francisco, CA.
1865 – In the U.S., Tennessee adopted a new constitution that abolished slavery.
1879 – In Utica, NY, Frank W. Woolworth opened his first 5 and 10-cent store.
1885 – The Washington Monument was officially dedicated in Washington, DC. It opened to the public in 1889.
1892 – “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, by Oscar Wilde, was first performed.
1920 – The first dog race track to use an imitation rabbit opened in Emeryville, CA.
1923 – The first successful chinchilla farm opened in Los Angeles, CA. It was the first farm of its kind in the U.S.
1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.
1954 – ABC radio’s popular “Breakfast Club” program was simulcast on TV for the first time.
1969 – Barbara Jo Rubin became the first woman to win a U.S. thoroughbred horse race.
1973 – The U.S. and Communist China agreed to establish liaison offices.
1984 – The U.S. Census Bureau statistics showed that the state of Alaska was the fastest growing state of the decade with an increase in the population of 19.2 percent.
1994 – The U.S. Justice Department charged Aldrich Ames and his wife with selling national secrets to the Soviet Union. Ames was later convicted to life in prison. Ames’ wife received a 5-year prison term.
1997 – Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut and colleagues announced that an adult sheep had been successfully cloned. Dolly was actually born on July 5, 1996. Dolly was the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell.
2002 – In the Philippines, An MH-47E Chinook helicopter crashed into the ocean. All 10 men aboard were killed.
2010 – A copy of “Action Comics #1” sold at auction for $1 million. The comic featured the introduction of Superman.
2010 – Walmart announced it was acquiring the video streaming company Vudu, Inc.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
- 1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
- 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
- 1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
- 1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
- 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer
- 1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
- 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
- 1987 – Han Hyo-Joo, South Korean actress and model
- 1987 – Sergio Romero, the Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
- 1989 – Franco Vázquez, the Argentinian footballer
- 1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
