Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 is an iconic NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) event that takes place…
History
21 February 1848
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto. “The Communist Manifesto” is a political pamphlet written by the German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich…
20 February 1877
Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. “Swan Lake” is one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s most famous ballets, composed…
19 February 1949
Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University. The Bollingen Prize in Poetry is a prestigious…
18 February 1954
The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles. The Church of Scientology is a controversial religious organization founded in the 1950s by science…
17 February 2006
A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126. Mudslides, also known as debris flows or mudflows, are…
16 February 1985
Hezbollah is founded. Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon. Its name, which means “Party of Allah” or “Party…
15 February 1952
King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. King George VI, born Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor, was…
14 February 1989
Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster. The Bhopal disaster, which occurred…
13 February 1880
Thomas Edison observes Thermionic emission. Thermionic emission is a phenomenon where electrons are emitted from a heated surface or material. This emission occurs when the…