History Notes this week of Feb 1

In 1468, Johannes Gutenberg, the German inventor whose movable-type printing press revolutionized the spread of knowledge, died in Mainz.

In 1488, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, opening a sea route from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

In 1606, Guy Fawkes was executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, the failed attempt to blow up England’s Parliament.

In 1637, the Dutch tulip market reached its speculative peak before collapsing in what became known as Tulip Mania, one of history’s earliest financial bubbles.

In 1756, Aaron Burr, the future U.S. vice president who would fatally duel Alexander Hamilton, was born in Newark, New Jersey.

In 1794, revolutionary France abolished slavery in its overseas territories, extending the ideals of the French Revolution to its colonies.

In 1812, Russian colonists established Fort Ross in present-day Northern California as part of their Pacific fur-trading network.

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was named General-in-Chief of Southern forces, while President Abraham Lincoln approved the resolution sending the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution to the states for ratification.

In 1869, the massive “Welcome Stranger,” the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, was discovered in Victoria, Australia.

In 1885, Belgium’s King Leopold II established the Congo Free State, later notorious for widespread human rights abuses under colonial rule.

In 1887, the first official Groundhog Day celebration was held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, featuring Punxsutawney Phil.

In 1895, baseball legend Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore.

In 1899, fighting began in the Philippine–American War following U.S. annexation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.

In 1902, aviator Charles Lindbergh, who would complete the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight, was born in Detroit.

In 1905, novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1913, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama; the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing the federal income tax, was ratified.

In 1917, the United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany as World War I tensions escalated. Spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor were also born.

In 1919, film pioneers including Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin founded the independent studio United Artists.

In 1924, former President Woodrow Wilson died in Washington at age 67.

In 1930, 3M began marketing Scotch tape, which became a household and office staple.

In 1936, the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame was inducted in Cooperstown, New York.

In 1952, Britain’s King George VI died, bringing his daughter to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1953, the North Sea Flood of 1953 devastated the Netherlands, killing more than 1,800 people.

In 1958, a U.S. Air Force bomber accidentally dropped a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Georgia; the weapon was never recovered.

In 1959, rock ’n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa — later memorialized as “The Day the Music Died.”

In 1969, horror film icon Boris Karloff died in England at age 81.

In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts landed on the Moon during NASA’s third successful lunar mission.

In 1974, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet made its first flight.

In 1993, tennis champion and humanitarian Arthur Ashe died of AIDS-related complications at age 49.

In 2008, meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died in the Netherlands at age 90.

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Wayne Creed

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