Today's Puzzle
How do you spell "blind pig" in two letters?
What Happened On
The Kiss Heard Round the World
February 19, 1972
Sammy Davis, Jr. kisses Carroll O'Connor's character Archie Bunker on the TV sitcom All in the Family. For decades this was considered the longest studio audience laugh in television history and became known as "The Kiss Heard Round the World."
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945
U.S. troops land on Iwo Jima. With more than 7,000 U.S. troops killed, it was one of the costliest battles of World War II. The famous raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi would take place four days later. The battle lasted till March 26th.
First Arrest of a U.S. Vice-President
February 19, 1807
Former Vice-President Aaron Burr is arrested for treason against the U.S. He had organized an armed militia of about 60 men; the exact purpose of which has never been determined. President Thomas Jefferson ordered his arrest. Burr has served as vice president under Jefferson. He was accused of trying to create an independent country in the center of North America including the Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. Burr claims he was just trying to farm 40,000 acres (160 km2) in the Texas Territory that had been leased to him by the Spanish Crown. He had organized an armed militia of about 60 men. Historians still debate Burr's true intentions. He was eventually acquitted.
During his vice-presidency in 1804, Burr killed former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
I See That You Have Made Three Spelling Mistakes
February 19, 1790
Upon reading his death sentence, the Marquis de Favras remarked, "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes." He was a French aristocrat and a supporter of the House of Bourbon during the French Revolution and was executed on February 19, 1790 for his plot to rescue the King, Queen, and their children and take them out of the country. The plot also included using a force of 30,000 soldiers to encircle Paris, starving the occupants into submission by cutting off their food supplies.
5½-Year Horseback Ride
February 19, 1988
Two men begin a horseback journey from the southern tip of South America to the Arctic Circle, completing the voyage in September of 1993.
First Statewide Teachers Strike in the U.S.
February 19, 1968
The first statewide teachers strike in the U.S. begins, when more than half of Florida's public school teacher walk out protesting poor pay and inadequate funding of education.
First Bollingen Prize for Poetry
February 19, 1949
First Bollingen Prize for Poetry is awarded, Ezra Pound for Pisan Cantos.
Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming
Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming
World War II - Internment of Japanese Americans
February 19, 1942
110,000 Japanese-Americans are ordered by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to relocate in U.S. prison camps. Two-thirds of these people were citizens.
Bhagat Singh Thind in his U.S. Army Uniform (1918)
Bhagat Singh Thind in his U.S. Army Uniform (1918)
Asian Indians Not Eligible for U.S. Citizenship
February 19, 1923
The U.S. Supreme Court decides that Asian Indians are not eligible for U.S. citizenship through naturalization because they are not Caucasian. The Naturalization Act of 1906 allowed only "free white persons" and "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent" to become U.S. citizens by naturalization. Bhagat Singh Thind, an Indian Sikh man who identified as a "high caste Aryan, of full Indian blood," while serving in the U.S. Army during World War I applied for and was granted U.S. citizenship. However, Thind's citizenship was revoked four days later on the grounds that Thind was not a "white man".
The following year, he applied again and was granted citizenship for a second time. The Bureau of Naturalization appealed the decision to grant him citizenship and the case made its way up to the Supreme Court. On February 19, 1923 the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous opinion denying citizenship to Indians and his citizenship was again revoked. The justices wrote that since the "common man's" definition of "white" did not include Indians, they could not be naturalized.
In 1935, Congress passed the Nye-Lea Act, which made World War I veterans eligible for naturalization regardless of race. Thind then applied for naturalization a third time. This time, due to his military service, he was granted citizenship.
Family listening to the radio
Family listening to the radio
First Radio Stage Show
February 19, 1922
Ed Wynn stars in The Perfect Fool on WJZ of Newark, New Jersey.
Gregorian Calendar Adopted by Denmark and Norway
February 19, 1700
Today's date became March 1.
Gregorian Calendar Adopted by Strassburg, Germany
February 19, 1682
Today's date became March 1.
Birthdays
Invented the Windshield Wiper
Mary Anderson
Born February 19, 1866 d. 1953
American entrepreneur. She invented the automotive windshield wiper (1903).
In 1902, while visiting New York City on a frosty winter day, Anderson was riding the trolley. She noticed that the trolley driver, in order to see through the sleet on the windshield, had to either lean out of the window to see or stop and go outside to clear the window with his hands. Recognizing an opportunity, she designed a hand-operated device to keep a windshield clear and in 1903 was granted a patent for the windshield wiper.
Anderson's device consisted of a lever inside the vehicle that controlled a rubber blade on the outside of the windshield. The lever could be operated to make a spring-loaded arm move back and forth across the windshield, thus clearing it. A counterweight was used to ensure contact between the wiper and the window.
However she never profited from her invention, because in the early 1900s cars were not very popular and by 1922, when Cadillac became the first car manufacturer to adopt wipers as standard equipment, her patent had already expired.
Copernicus' View of Universe
Copernicus' View of Universe
Nicolaus Copernicus
Born February 19, 1473 d. 1543
Polish astronomer. He developed the model of the universe with the Sun as the center of the universe.
Justine Bateman
Born February 19, 1966
American actress. TV: Family Ties (1982-89, Mallory Keaton).
Photo Credit: Northern Ireland Office
Photo Credit: Northern Ireland Office
Prince Andrew
Born February 19, 1960
Duke of York.
Karen Silkwood
Born February 19, 1946 d. 1974
American labor union activist. She died in a car crash while investigating irregularities at her employer's Kerr-McGee nuclear fuels plant. Many suspect foul play and that a folder containing her evidence was removed from the crash. Her estate was awarded $10.5 million in a negligence suit against Kerr-McGee Corp. for radiation contamination. They eventually settled for $1.38 million. The film Silkwood is based on her experiences.
Smokey Robinson (William Robinson, Jr.)
Born February 19, 1940
American singer, with The Miracles. Music: Shop Around (1961) and The Tears of a Clown (1970, #1).
Lee Marvin
Born February 19, 1924 d. 1987
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Cat Ballou (1965, Oscar) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). TV: M Squad (Lt. Frank Ballinger).
Eddie Arcaro
Born February 19, 1916 d. 1997
American Hall of Fame jockey. He was the first jockey to win the Triple Crown twice (1941, 1948), and he is a 5-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. He won a record-setting earnings of over $30 million.
Selden Rodman
Born February 19, 1909 d. 2002
American author. He edited One Hundred American Poems (1948), which became the first paperback published by Signet Books.
Creator of Rhythm Tap
John Bubbles (John William Sublett)
Born February 19, 1902 d. 1986
American tap dancer, creator of Rhythm Tap. Known for his role as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess (1935).
Sven Hedin
Born February 19, 1865 d. 1952
Swedish explorer, scientist. His explorations (1899-1902) provided the first substantial knowledge of Tibet to the rest of the world.
William III
Born February 19, 1817 d. 1890
King of Holland (1849-90). In 1862, he decreed the end of slavery in the Dutch West Indies.
Deaths
First edition cover and back cover photo of Harper Lee
First edition cover and back cover photo of Harper Lee
Harper Lee (Nelle Harper Lee)
Died February 19, 2016 b. 1926
American author. Writings: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960, Pulitzer).
For a Christmas gift in 1956, Harper Lee's friends gave her a year's wages with the note, "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas." The following spring she delivered a manuscript titled Go Set a Watchman. This was edited into To Kill a Mockingbird, which became an instant best-seller.
Marquis de Favras (Thomas de Mahy, marquis de Favras)
Died February 19, 1790 b. 1744
French aristocrat. Upon reading his death sentence, he remarked, "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes."
He was a supporter of the House of Bourbon during the French Revolution and was executed for his plot to rescue the King, Queen, and their children and take them out of the country. The plot included using a force of 30,000 soldiers to encircle Paris, starving the occupants into submission by cutting off their food supplies.
Johnny Paycheck
Died February 19, 2003 b. 1938
American singer. Music: Eleven Months and Twenty-nine Days (the time he spent in jail), and Take This Job And Shove It.
Stanley Kramer
Died February 19, 2001 b. 1913
American Oscar-winning film producer, director. His was the first permanent star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Film: High Noon (1952), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
Grandpa Jones (Louis Marshall Jones)
Died February 19, 1998 b. 1913
American Country Music Hall of Famer (1978). TV: Hee Haw ("Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?")
Georges Watin
Died February 19, 1994 b. 1922
Algerian-born French nationalist. In 1962, he fired at French President Charles de Gaulle's limousine as it drove through a Paris suburb. The incident was the basis of Frederick Forsyth's famous novel The Day of the Jackal (1971)
Adolfo Celi
Died February 19, 1986 b. 1922
Italian actor. Film: Thunderball (1965, one-eyed SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo).
Inventor of the Pap Smear
George Papanikolaou
Died February 19, 1962 b. 1883
Greek-born American physician. Inventor of the Pap Smear test for cervical cancer.
André Gide
Died February 19, 1951 b. 1869
French author, winner of Nobel Prize for literature (1947). The Catholic Church placed his works on the Index of Forbidden Books (1952).
Quote: "The color of truth is gray."
William "Billy" Mitchell
Died February 19, 1936 b. 1879
American brigadier general. His persistent lobbying for a strong air force was ridiculed by military leaders and led to his being busted to private.
Ernst Mach
Died February 19, 1916 b. 1838
Austrian physicist. The unit of measure of speed "Mach" is named for him.
161-Year-Old Ex-Slave Was George Washington's Nurse
Joice Heth
Died February 19, 1836 b. circa 1756
African American slave woman who claimed to be a 161-year-old ex-nurse of George Washington. She was part of P. T. Barnum's show. Her advertisements claimed, "Joice Heth is unquestionably the most astonishing and interesting curiosity in the World! She was the slave of Augustine Washington, (the father of Gen. Washington) and was the first person who put clothes on the unconscious infant, who, in after days, led our heroic fathers on to glory, to victory, and freedom. To use her own language when speaking of the illustrious Father of this Country, 'she raised him'. Joice Heth was born in the year 1674, and has, consequently, now arrived at the astonishing age of 161 years".
When Heth died, Barnum set up a public autopsy in front of 1,500 spectators, with Barnum charging fifty cents admission. When the autopsy revealed that she was only about 80 years old, Barnum insisted that the autopsy victim was another person, and that Heth was alive, on a tour to Europe. Years later, Barnum admitted to the hoax.