February in History

Tue, Feb 17, 2015

1st. 1790 US Supreme Court held first meeting

1902 Langston Hughes born Feb 1, 1902, Joplin, Mo; d. May 22, 1967, NY, New York. African American writer known especially for his poetry and for his use of black vernacular English, black cultural references and black musical rhythms in his writings.{{more}}

1917 Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare

1957 Dennis Brown born Feb 1, 1957, Kingston, Ja; —- d. July 1, 1999 Kingston Ja. Jamaican reggae singer who began recording as a child and eventually released more than 75 albums. His sweet voice and lively style earned him the title “Crown Prince of Reggae”

1958 Egypt merged with Syria in the United Arab Republic.

2nd. 1808 Rome occupied French Forces

1972 Mob burnt down British embassy in Dublin.

3rd

1821 Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, first English woman doctor, born

1924 Woodrow Wilson, died.

1932 Stuart Hall b. Feb 3, 1932, Kingston, Ja. Intellectual working in Great Britain who helped found the New left by prioritizing culture, race and identity, thus giving birth to cultural studies.

1966 First soft landing on the moon by Soviet spacecraft Luna 9

4th. 1874 Battle of Kumasi ended the Ashanti War, In the Gold Coast, (now Ghana.)

1948 Sri Lanka became independent (formerly Ceylon)

1952 The UN Disarmament Commission first meets

1976 More than 23,000 dead in Guatemala earthquake

1980 Camara Laye born Jan 1, 1928, Kouroussa, French Guinea, (now Guinea); d. Feb 4, 1980, Senegal. Guinean writer considered a pioneer of modern West African Literature

5th. 1920 The Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, founded

6th. 1913 Mary Douglas Nicol Leakey b. Feb 6, 1913, London, England; d. Dec 9, 1996, Nairobi, Kenya. British paleoanthropologist noted for her discoveries of fossil remains that greatly advanced the study of human evolution.

1945 Bob Marley b. Feb 6, 1945, Rhoden Hall, Ja; d. May 11, 1981, Miami, Florida, USA. Jamaican singer and songwriter whose name invoked reggae music, the tenets of Rastafarianism, and, more broadly, the struggle of the economically and politically oppressed.

1952 George II, King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland died

1952 Queen Elizabeth II succeeded to the British throne

7th. 1812 Charles Dickens, novelist, born

1941 Benquzi (in Libya) captured by the British.

1974 Grenada became independent.

8th. 1884 Cetshwayo born 1826? Eshowe, Zululand, (now in South Africa); d. Feb 8, 1884, Eshowe. The last independent Zulu King (1872-1879)

1861 The Confederate States of America formed

1964 The outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.

1910 The Boy Scouts of America formally incorporated

9th. 1870 The U.S Weather Service established.

1906 Paul Laurence Dunbar b. June 27, 1872, Dayton, Ohio; d. Feb 9, 1906 Dayton Ohio. African-

American poet, often remembered for his dialect poetry

1991 James Edward Cleveland. B. Dec 3, 1931, Chicago, Ill; d. Feb 9, 1991, Los Angeles, California. African-American gospel singer and composer known as the Crown Prince of Gospel

10th. 1763 The Peace of Paris ceded Canada, also St Vincent and the Grenadines, to Britain

1940 Roberta Flack born Feb 10, 1940. Black Mountain, North Carolina. African American singer known for a style that combines jazz, soul, blues and pop.

1992 Alexander Palmer (Alex) Haley born Aug 11, 1921, Ithaia, NY; died Feb 10, 1992, Seattle, Wash. African American writer and journalist who authored two of the most influential books in the history of African-American scholarship.