Communication
- 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
- 1564, Christopher Marlowe (d.1593), English, poet, dramatist, was baptized. His work included "Doctor Faustus," "Tamburlaine," "The Jew of Malta," and other plays. He was murdered at 29 in a Deptford tavern and was suspected of being a spy to the Continent on behalf of the Crown. In 1993 Anthony Burgess had a novel published posthumously about Marlowe titled "A Dead Man in Deptford." (WSJ, 4/28/95, p.A-8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe)
- 1802, Victor Hugo (d.1885), French novelist and poet, was born in Besancon. In 1998 Graham Robb published the biography: “Victor Hugo.” "Initiative is doing the right thing without being told." (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16)(HN, 2/26/98)(AP, 6/13/99)
- 1877, Carel S. Adama van Scheltema, Dutch poet, writer (socialism), was born. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1893, Ivor Armstrong Richards (I.A. Richards), writer, critic and teacher (Meaning of Meaning), was born. (HN, 2/26/01)(SC, 2/26/02)
- 1918, Theodore [Hamilton] Sturgeon, US sci-fi author (Starshine, A Way Home, Hugo, Caviar), was born. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1986, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author Robert Penn Warren was named the first poet laureate of the US by Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin. Warren was awarded the post of US poet laureate consultant to the Library of Congress as the name was changed from consultant in poetry. (SSFC, 7/13/03, p.A27)(AP, 2/26/06)
Entrepreneurship
- 1852, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (d.1943) was born. He was 24 years old when he became staff physician at the Battle Creek Sanitarium--a position he held for 62 years. Dr. Kellogg, a respected abdominal surgeon, ran "the San" as a health institute where the wealthy could rejuvenate themselves with Kellogg's offbeat cures. Illness was caused, Kellogg believed, by poor eating habits that left poisons in the intestinal tract. Among Kellogg's solutions to the dietary dilemma were "fletcherizing," or chewing food hundreds of times before swallowing, and a vegetarian diet high in bran. It was the bowels, however, that received Kellogg's undivided attention. Patients at the San were subjected to regimens of "cleansing enemas" that cured "ulcers, diabetes, schizophrenia, acne...and premature old age." In 1895, Kellogg's search for the perfect food led to the development of breakfast food flakes made of wheat called Granose. Will Keith Kellogg, John's brother, improved on the Granose idea and founded the W.K. Kellogg Company. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/9840/kellogg.html (HNPD, 2/26/99)
- 1965, Spoony Singh Sundher (1922-2006), Indian-born entrepreneur, opened his Hollywood Wax Museum on Hollywood Blvd. close to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. He charged $1.50 admittance. (www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct21/0,4670,ObitSingh,00.html)
International Studies
- 1832, The Polish constitution was abolished by Czar Nicholas I. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1848, Karl Marx and Frederich Engels published "The Communist Manifesto". (HN, 2/26/98)
- 1871, France and Prussia signed a preliminary peace treaty at Versailles. (HN, 2/26/99)
- 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
- 1952, The U.S. signed a military aid pact with Ecuador. (HN, 2/26/98)
- 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, died of injuries. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1993, The parking garage of the 107-story World Trade Center was bombed in NYC by terrorists. The bombing killed 6 and injured over 1000 people. 4 Islamic extremists were convicted and each sentenced to 240 years in prison. Militant Muslims Ramzi Yousef and Eyad Ismoil fled the country. Yousef was captured in Pakistan in 1995 and Ismoil was picked up in Jordan. The two were convicted in 1997 of conspiracy. In 1998 Yousef was sentenced to life plus 240 years in prison after declaring: "I am a terrorist and I am proud of it." Ismoil was sentenced to 240 years in prison. In 2000 Laurie Mylroie authored "Study of Revenge," an investigation of the bombing. (WSJ, 10/24/96, p.A16)(SFC, 1/9/98, p.A2)(AP, 2/26/98)(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A3)(WSJ, 10/24/01, p.A20)
- 1995, The United States and China averted a trade war by signing a comprehensive agreement. (AP, 2/26/00)
- 2004, Mikhail Saakashvili, the new president of Georgia, said he is ready to negotiate full autonomy for the separatist Abkhazia region to end the decade-long conflict. (AP, 2/26/04)
- 2006, In the Philippines a challenge to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's state of emergency ended peacefully after disgruntled marine officers ended a five-hour standoff that started when their commander was relieved of duties. (AP, 2/26/06)
- 2009, Venezuela condemned a US State Department report on human rights problems in the South American country, saying Washington has no right to pass judgment on its record. (AP, 2/26/09)
- 2010, Australia warned Japan that "diplomacy comes to an end this year" on whaling, after presenting a bold plan to phase out the controversial hunts in the Southern Ocean. (AFP, 2/26/10)
- 2012, In Russia thousands of protesters held hands to form a 16-km (10-mile) human chain encircling central Moscow to keep up the pressure on PM Vladimir Putin as he prepares to extend his rule for six more years. (AP, 2/26/12)
Theology
- 1732, The 1st mass celebrated in American Catholic church was at St Joseph's Church, Philadelphia. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1954, William R. Inge (93), English theologist, philosopher, died. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 2000, Pope John Paul II visited the 6th century St. Catherine's monastery in Egypt, built on the reputed site where Moses encountered the burning bush. He met with Greek Orthodox Archbishop Damianos and held a short prayer service in an olive garden outside the monastery.(SFEC, 2/27/00, p.A20)
- 2004, Two church-sanctioned studies documenting sex abuse by U.S. Roman Catholic clergy said that about 4 percent of clerics had been accused of molesting minors since 1950 and blamed bishops' "moral laxity" in disciplining offenders for letting the problem worsen. (AP, 2/26/05)
- 2006, In Canada, 19 Catholic priests singed an open letter in Montreal’s La Presse newspaper denouncing Vatican opposition to gay marriage and having homosexuals into the priesthood.(AP, 3/1/06)
Science
- 1842, Camille Flammarion, Mars researcher and popularizer of astronomy, was born. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1870, New York City's first pneumatic-powered subway line was opened to the public. The tunnel was only a block long, and the line had only one car. (AP, 2/26/07)
- 1895, Michael Owens of Toledo, OH., patented a glass-blowing machine. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1914, New York Museum of Science and Industry was incorporated. (SC, 2/26/02)1931, Otto Wallach (83), German chemist (Nobel 1910), died. (SC, 2/26/02)
- 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
- 1976, US performed a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.(www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/tests/USA-ntests3.html)
- 1979, A total solar eclipse cast a moving shadow 175 miles wide from Oregon to North Dakota before moving into Canada. This was the last total solar eclipse of the 20th century for the continental US. (AP, 2/26/99)(SC, 2/26/02)
- 1987, NASA launched GOES-H (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite). It carried experimental search and rescue equipment. (http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/timeline.html)
- 2004, It was reported that scientists had identified a protein, TRIM5-alpha, that shields rhesus monkeys from the AIDS virus. (WSJ, 2/26/04, p.D4)
- 2005, Japan put a weather satellite into space for the first time since a humiliating failure 15 months ago in hopes of entering the launch market. (SSFC, 2/27/05, p.A3)
- 2010, Health officials in Puerto Rico declared an epidemic of dengue fever. Health Secretary Lorenzo Gonzalez says 210 cases have been confirmed for January, more than triple the number in the same month of 2007. (AP, 2/26/10)
Sources:
February 26
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_26
Today in History
http://www.timelines.ws/days/02_26.HTML
