FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731 – October 19, 1806) was a free African-American almanac author, surveyor, landowner and farmer who had knowledge of mathematics and natural history. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a free African-American woman and a former slave, Banneker had little or no formal education and was largely self-taught. He became known for assisting Major […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century and as one of […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to multiple presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African American community and of the contemporary black elite. Washington was from […]

 FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Series of Season Ticket Holder presales begin Tuesday; Remaining tickets to go on sale to the public Friday COLUMBUS, OHIO – Following the announcement that the State of Ohio approved a request of variance to allow 1,953 fans, or 10 percent of Nationwide […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Crispus Attucks (c.1723 – March 5, 1770) was an American stevedore of African and Native American descent, widely regarded as the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and thus the first American killed in the American Revolution. Historians disagree on whether he was a free man or an […]

Every Year INDEPENDENCE DAY (SAINT LUCIA) 1510s DIED 1512: AMERIGO VESPUCCI (EXPLORER) 1630s 1630: POPCORN WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO ENGLISH COLONISTS BY NATIVE AMERICANS 1730s BORN 1732: GEORGE WASHINGTON (1ST U.S. PRESIDENT) 1770s BORN 1778: REMBRANDT PEALE (ARTIST) 1810s 1819: “FLORIDA PURCHASE” TREATY SIGNED 1870s […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey; c. February 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, becoming famous for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Accordingly, he was described by abolitionists in his time […]

1790s 1792: GEORGE WASHINGTON SIGNED THE POSTAL ACT, CREATING THE FEDERAL POSTAL SYSTEM WITH A PER-MILE RATE STRUCTURE 1870s 1872: THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART OPENED IN NYC 1877: TCHAIKOVSKY’S BALLET SWAN LAKE PREMIERED 1890s DIED 1895: FREDERICK DOUGLASS (ABOLITIONIST) 1900s BORN 1902: ANSEL ADAMS […]

1470s BORN 1473: NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (ASTRONOMER) 1740s BORN 1743: LUIGI BOCCHERINI (COMPOSER) 1810s 1814: USS CONSTITUTION CAPTURED BRITISH BRIG HMS CATHERINE 1830s 1831: FIRST PRACTICAL U.S. COAL-BURNING LOCOMOTIVE (YORK) TESTED, YORK, PENNSYLVANIA 1840s BORN 1843: ADELINA PATTI (OPERA SINGER; NAMESAKE OF THE SONG YOU’RE THE […]

1510s BORN 1516: QUEEN MARY I OF ENGLAND 1840s BORN 1848: LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY (ARTIST) 1860s 1861: JEFFERSON DAVIS INAUGURATED AS PROVISIONAL PRESIDENT OF CONFEDERATE STATES 1862: FIRST SESSION OF CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 1870s 1879: AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI GRANTED DESIGN PATENT FOR STATUE OF LIBERTY […]

ASH WEDNESDAY The Christian season of Lent begins today, 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays). Many Christians attend church services on Ash Wednesday to receive ashes on their foreheads in the sign of the cross. (Ashes are a symbol of penance in the Old […]

MARDI GRAS/SHROVE TUESDAY Mardi Gras is French for “fat Tuesday”–the final feasting before the fasting of Lent, which begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, a name that comes from the practice of shriving–purifying oneself through confession–prior to Lent. Many of […]

PRESIDENTS’ DAY (U.S.) Though this day is commonly called Presidents’ Day, the federal holiday is still called “Washington’s Birthday,” contrary to popular belief. It is one of eleven permanent holidays established by Congress. George Washington’s actual birthday is February 22, but we observe federal holidays […]

ST. VALENTINE Although a Christian bishop named Valentine was martyred on February 14 in A.D. 271, there is nothing in this legend to account for the custom of choosing a sweetheart on this day.By the early 1600s, handmade valentines were customarily sent from admirers to […]

Every Year GET A DIFFERENT NAME DAY 1580s 1588: ASTRONOMER TYCHO BRAHE OUTLINED HIS SOLAR SYSTEM STRUCTURE 1860s 1866: JESSE JAMES ROBBED HIS FIRST BANK 1867: STRAUSS’S BLUE DANUBE PREMIERED IN VIENNA 1870s 1875: FIRST U.S. QUINTUPLETS BORN, IN WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN 1880s BORN 1885: BESS […]

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S BIRTHDAY The 16th president of the United States was born on the morning of Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a one-room, 16×18-foot, log cabin with a dirt floor. Called Sinking Spring Farm, the land was situated near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Abe’s father, Thomas, was […]

Every Year NATIONAL INVENTORS’ DAY (UNITED STATES) 1570s 1573: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE CLIMBED TREE AND SAW PACIFIC OCEAN FOR FIRST TIME, ISTHMUS OF PANAMA 1800s 1808: FIRST USE OF ANTHRACITE COAL AS A HOUSEHOLD FUEL 1830s 1836: MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY, THE FIRST U.S. COLLEGE FOR […]

1720s 1720: EDMOND HALLEY BECAME SECOND ASTRONOMER ROYAL OF ENGLAND 1760s 1763: FRANCE CEDED CANADA TO ENGLAND AT THE TREATY OF PARIS, ENDING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 1840s 1840: QUEEN VICTORIA OF THE UNITED KINGDOM MARRIED PRINCE ALBERT OF SAXE COBURG-GOTHA 1841: ACT OF […]

1770s BORN 1773: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON (9TH U.S. PRESIDENT) 1810s 1811: ROBERT FULTON RECEIVED PATENT FOR STEAMBOAT IMPROVEMENTS 1860s 1861: JEFFERSON DAVIS NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA BORN 1866: GEORGE ADE (HUMORIST) 1870s 1870: U.S. WEATHER BUREAU ESTABLISHED BY CONGRESS AS PART […]