What Happened On
Hayes 300 Baud Smartmodem
Photo Credit: Michael Pereckas
Hayes 300 Baud SmartmodemPhoto Credit: Michael Pereckas
First Computer Bulletin Board System
February 16, 1978
The first BBS is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois). It opened to the public the following year. It connected 253,301 callers before its shutdown.
BBS systems were the forerunner to the Internet. They allowed users to upload/download files, chat, and play games with one another.
The simplicity of the 300 baud external Hayes Smartmodem simplified BBS creation and access, helping to popularize BBS use.
At 300 baud, it would take over 7.5 hours to transmit a 1MB file.
A modern 10 Mbps cable modem can do it in less than a second.
Castro on visit to U.S. after becoming prime minister of Cuba
Castro on visit to U.S. after becoming prime minister of Cuba
Castro Becomes Prime Minister of Cuba
February 16, 1959
Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after forcing President Fulgencio Batista into exile.
The U.S. initially recognized the new Cuban dictator but withdrew support after Castro nationalized U.S. assets on the island and declared a Marxist government.
Photo Credit: Erik Liljeroth, Nordiska museet
Photo Credit: Erik Liljeroth, Nordiska museet
Nylon Patented
February 16, 1937
Nylon is patented, by Dr. Wallace Carothers of the E.I. du Pont Co. Its first commercial use was in 1938 for toothbrush bristles. Nylon stockings went on sale in 1939.
Photo Credit: Roland Unger
Photo Credit: Roland Unger
King Tutankhamen
February 16, 1923
The boy king's burial chamber is unsealed by archaeologist Howard Carter. There he found King Tutankhamen's sarcophagus. Carter had discovered the tomb the previous November. Several weeks after discovering the tomb, Carter and Lord Carnarvon, who financed the excavation, looked into the tomb. Lord Carnarvon died five months later due to an infected mosquito bite, leading many to speculate, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes), that his death was caused by protections created by Tutankhamen's priests to guard the royal tomb.
Miranda as seen by Voyager 2 in 1986
Miranda as seen by Voyager 2 in 1986
Uranus' Moon Miranda
February 16, 1948
Gerald Peter Kuiper discovers Uranus' fifth moon. Kuiper named it Miranda after the character in William Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
February 16, 1938
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation is established by the U.S. Congress, to protect wheat growers against crop losses due to natural causes.
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
February 16, 1868
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.
First U.S. School of Higher Education for the Deaf
February 16, 1857
Congress passed legislation giving the Kendall School a charter as the Columbia Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind. Now known as Gallaudet University, it was co-founded by former United States postmaster general Amos Kendall. After he became aware of several deaf and blind children in Washington, D.C., who were not receiving proper care, Kendall had the courts declare the children to be his wards and then donated his home and 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land for the school's use.
Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine
February 16, 1741
The first issue of Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine. It was the second magazine published in America.
Gregorian Calendar Adopted by Alsace
February 16, 1682
The Gregorian calendar is adopted by Alsace (part of France at the time): Today's date would have been February 5.
Birthdays
Bono with Cher
Bono with Cher
Sonny Bono (Salvatore Bono)
Born February 16, 1935 d. 1998
American singer with Cher, mayor of Palm Springs (1988-92), and U.S. Representative (California, 1995-98).
Bono was killed when he hit a tree while skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California.
Music: I Got You Babe (1965, #1). TV: The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971-74) and The Sonny and Cher Show (1976-77).
Richard "Dick" J. McDonald
Born February 16, 1909 d. 1998
American restaurateur. He and his brother Maurice "Mac" McDonald started the McDonald's hamburger chain in 1940. He also created the Golden Arches logo. They were bought out by Ray Kroc, one of their franchisees, who then took over the business.
The McDonald brothers introduced the "Speedee Service System" in 1948. The original McDonald's mascot was a chef hat on top of a hamburger called "Speedee".
Bergen with dummy Charlie McCarthy
Bergen with dummy Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen (Edgar John Berggren)
Born February 16, 1903 d. 1978
American ventriloquist with Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy. In 1938, Charlie McCarthy was given a degree of Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback by the School of Speech of Northwestern University, Illinois.
Father of the Film Documentary
Robert Joseph Flaherty
Born February 16, 1884 d. 1951
American filmmaker, father of the film documentary. Film: Nanook of the North (1922), which was the first commercially successful feature length documentary.
Henry Wilson (Jeremiah Jones Colbath)
Born February 16, 1812 d. 1875
American politician. 18th U.S. Vice-President (1873-75, under President Ulysses S. Grant). He was having an affair with the Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow and was accused of leaking to her plans of the Civil War's first major battle, the First Battle of Bull Run (1861). The Union, expecting a quick victory, was routed by Confederate forces.
He died in office making Thomas W. Ferry the acting Vice-President.
Photo Credit: Welcome Collection
Photo Credit: Welcome Collection
Barbara van Beck (Barbara Ursler)
Born February 16, 1629 d. circa 1668
German hairy woman. She had hypertrichosis which caused her face and much of her body to be covered by hair. She traveled and became an international celebrity of her day.
Andy Taylor
Born February 16, 1961
English guitarist, singer, with Duran Duran. Music: Hungry Like the Wolf (1982), Rio (1982), Union of the Snake (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).
John McEnroe
Born February 16, 1959
American tennis player. Rated the number 1 player in the world four times (1981-84). He has won four U.S. Open singles titles (1979-81, 84) and three Wimbledons (1981, 83-84).
Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams
Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams
Lisa Loring (Lisa Ann DeCinces)
Born February 16, 1958 d. 2023
American actress. Lisa Loring is best known for her role as Wednesday Addams on the TV show The Addams Family (1964-66). She was married to adult film actor Jerry Butler from 1987 to 1992. She met Butler, who was in more than 500 adult films, in 1987 while she was working as a make-up artist on the set of an adult film he was in.
TV: As the World Turns (1981-83, Cricket Montgomery). Film: Blood Frenzy (1987) and Iced (1988).
Ice-T (Tracy Marrow)
Born February 16, 1958
American rap singer, actor, Cop Killer, New Jack City, Breakin', and Who's the Man.
LeVar Burton (Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr.)
Born February 16, 1957
actor. TV: Roots (1977, Kunta Kinte), Star Trek: The Next Generation (Lt. La Forge), Reading Rainbow (host).
Margaux Hemingway
Born February 16, 1954 d. 1996
American actress, supermodel, granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway. She appeared on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and TIME. She committed suicide by drug overdose. Film: They Call Me Bruce? (1982).
Kim Jong-il
Born February 16, circa 1941 d. 2011
North Korean Supreme Leader (1994-2011). It is claimed that his birth was foretold by a swallow, the appearance of a double rainbow over Mount Paekdu, and a new star in the heavens.
Ricou Browning
Born February 16, 1930 d. 2023
American actor, underwater cinematographer. Film: The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954, the creature in the underwater scenes - Ben Chapman played the monster on land). During the filming, Browning held his breath for up to four minutes.
Browning also worked as the underwater sequence director on Island of the Lost (1967), Thunderball (1965), and Never Say Never Again (1983).
Patty Andrews
Born February 16, 1918 d. 2013
American singer, with the Andrews Sisters.
Deaths
Henry Bacon
Died February 16, 1924 b. 1866
American architect. He designed the Lincoln Memorial (1922).
Jack Elrod
Died February 16, 2016 b. 1924
American cartoonist. Comics: Mark Trail (1978-2014, artist).
It's My Party
Lesley Gore (Lesley Sue Goldstein)
Died February 16, 2015 b. 1946
American singer. Music: It's My Party (1963, #1), which she recorded at the age of 16, working with Quincy Jones. In 1967, she appeared in the TV show Batman as Pussycat, one of Catwoman's minions.
William Howell Masters
Died February 16, 2001 b. 1915
American physician, obstetrician, sex therapist. He and his wife formed the Masters and Johnson sexuality research team.
Smiley Burnette (Lester Alvin Burnette)
Died February 16, 1967 b. 1911
American actor. Film: He was Gene Autry's comic partner in 81 Western films. TV: Petticoat Junction (train engineer Charlie Pratt).
Jay Cooke
Died February 16, 1905 b. 1821
American banker, "Financier of the Civil War." He sold over $2.5 billion in Union bonds during the war. The collapse of his bank led to the Panic of 1873.