1751- the first hospital to open in the United States was the Pennsylvania Hospital, opened in Philadelphia, PA, through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. A temporary hospital was erected in 1751 in a private house on High ( now Market ) Street before the permanent building opened on February 11,1752.  This was the first hospital to give free treatment to the poor and to offer humane treatment to the insane.
    1790 -- Pennsylvania Society of Friends petition Congress to emancipate slaves.
    1801- President elected by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives started debating who would be president.. After the election of 1800, the electoral vote stood as follows: Thomas Jefferson 72, Aaron Burr 73, John Adams 65, Charles Cotesworht Pinckney 64, and John Jay 1. It was quite a debate, with Alexander Hamilton working behind the scenes to elected Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton detested Burr and his principals, who's dislike for each other led Aaron Burr to challenge him to a pistol duel on July 11, 1804. There were 35 ballots, all deadlocked as each state had one vote. On the 36th ballot, February 17, barely two weeks before a new president was to be inaugurated, Jefferson was elected President. Delaware and South Carolina cast blank ballots, with the result that the vote was 10 states for Jefferson and 4 for Burr. Aaron Burr was elected vice-president.
    1805 --Sacajawea gives birth to Jean-Baptist Charbonneau while leading Lewis & Clark Expedition . Mother and son both were invaluable to the expedition. As hoped, Sacagawea's services as a translator played a pivotal role in securing horses from the Shoshone. Jean Baptiste's presence also proved unexpectedly useful by helping to convince the Indians the party encountered that their intentions were peaceful-no war party, the Indians reasoned, would bring along a mother and infant. When the Corps of Discovery returned east in 1805, Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and Jean Baptiste resumed the fur-trading life. Little is known of Sacagawea's subsequent fate, though a fur trader claimed she died of a "putrid fever" in 1812 at a Missouri River trading post. True to a promise he had made to Sacagawea during the expedition, Clark paid for Jean Baptiste's education at a St. Louis Catholic academy and became something of an adoptive father to the boy. A bright and charismatic young man, Jean Baptiste learned French, German, and Spanish, hunted with noblemen in the Black Forest of Germany, traveled in Africa, and returned to further explore the American West. He died in 1866 en route to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana.
   1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimentally burned anthracite coal to keep his Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania home warm on this winter day. He showed how cleanly and cheaply the coal burned as heating fuel. As a result, that area of northeast Pennsylvania would become an important coal mining area for generations. Those who came to the area to work the coal mines were called ‘coal crackers'.
    1811- President Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war. The young Nation was not prepared to fight; its forces took a severe trouncing. The British entered Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. But a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson's triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been gloriously successful. An upsurge of nationalism resulted. The New England Federalists who had opposed the war--and who had even talked secession--were so thoroughly repudiated that Federalism disappeared as a national party.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm4.html
http://courses.smsu.edu/ftm922f/Documents/madBritdoctrine.htm
    1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signed a law changing the state's electoral boundaries to ensure a Republican majority. One grotesquely shaped new district, described as looking like a salamander, results in the coining of the word gerrymander. The move gave rise to the term "gerrymandering."
     1836--- Mount Holyoke Seminary, the first woman's college in the U.S. is chartered at South Hadley, Massachusetts.
    1847-Birthday of Thomas Edison, American inventive genius and holder of more than 1,200 patents ( including the incandescent electric lamp, phonograph, electric dynamo and key parts of many now-familiar devices such as the movie camera, telephone transmitter, etc. ) Edison said, “ Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” His birthday is now widely observed as Inventor's Day. Born at Milan, Oh, and died at Menlo Park, NJ. Oct. 18, 1931.
    1854-San Francisco Gas Company turned on first coal gas lamps tonight. The occasion was celebrated at a grand banquet at the Oriental Hotel. The gas illuminated 86 lamps and also the Metropolitan Theatre.
    1856 - President Franklin Pierce warns "border ruffians' and the Free State men in Kansas to stop fighting. In May 1854 the Missouri Compromise, which ad stated that slavery would not extend above the 36'30" line was repealed in favor of Stephen Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska. Compromise which held that popular sovereignty in each territory would decide the slavery issue. Pro-slavery Missourians flooded into Kansas nd eventually there were two governments in Kansas Territory, each outlawing the other.
    1861 - The US House unanimously passed a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state. 
    1882-Birthday of Joe Jordan, piano player, songwriter, Cincinnati, OH
http://www.jass.com/jordan.html 
http://www.trachtman.net/ragtime/classicpianorags.htm
    1889-First Woman Episcopal Bishop. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Edmond L. Browning, consecrated the reverend Barbara Clementine Harris a bishop of the Episcopal Church.
    1899 - Perhaps the greatest of all arctic outbreaks commenced on this date. The temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. At the same time a "Great Eastern Blizzard" left a blanket of snow from Georgia to New Hampshire. The state of Virginia took the brunt of the storm, with snowfall totals averaging 30 to 40 inches.
    1890 - President Benjamin Harrison orders 11 million acres of Sioux Reservation territory open for settlement. This will eventually lead to a revitalization movement known as the "Ghost Dance" that sprang up among the Sioux Indians of the western plains. These rituals held that an Indian Spirit soon would destroy the whites and return stolen lands. Federal troops will confront a band of Sioux-a non-violent group who had left the reservation fearful of being caught up in the Indian awakening-at Wounded Knee in the Dakota badlands. In this last battle waged on December 29, 1890, the U.S. Army massacred 150 Sioux men, women, and children; only 25 soldiers were killed. With the battle of Wounded Knee and the final distribution of Indian lands, the frontier era of American history had finally passed. 
    1899 -15ºF (-26ºC), Washington DC (district record) 
    1899 -61ºF (-52ºC), Montana (record low temperature in this century, lowest to date, January 20,     1954: -70 degrees, Rogers Pass) Perhaps the greatest of all arctic outbreaks commenced on this date. The temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. At the same time a "Great Eastern Blizzard" left a blanket of snow from Georgia to New Hampshire. The state of Virginia took the brunt of the storm, with snowfall totals averaging 30 to 40 inches.
1908-Birthday of Philip Dunne, American screenwriter and director Phillip Dunne, born at New York, NY. In 1947, he joined directors John Huston and William Wyler to found the Committee for the First Amendment which campaigned against the committee for the First Amendment, which campaigned against the “blacklisting” in Hollywood of anyone suspected of being a communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was also a founder of the Screen Writers Guild. Dunne died June 2, 1992 at Malibu, CA.
    1910-Birthday of singer, guitarist, arranger John Mills, Jr. (Mills Brothers ) Piqua, OH
http://www.themillsbrothers.com/
http://www.themillsbrothers.com/phototour.htm
http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/productm.jsp?
product=3184022&template=dec6
    1911—Emma Goldman is arrested in New York for distributing information on family planning (birth control.)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb11.html
    1913 -- IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) leads rubber strike in Akron, Ohio. The Akron Rubber Workers will do it again in 1936-37, at the General Tire Company of Akron, scene of the first sit-down strike in rubber. The first major strike, in 1913, represented an end of innocence. The action, which included workers from all of Akron's rubber shops, began after the introduction of machinery that made tires easier to build and resulted in lower piece rates for the workers. The strike was loosely directed by the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical group nicknamed the "Wobblies." It lasted more than five weeks. The workers made no gains -- they didn't even manage to shut down the rubber shops. The strike served chiefly to disillusion company executives.
    1914-Birthday of guitarist Josh White, Greenville, SC
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAwhiteJ.htm
http://www.folkways.si.edu/40081.htm
http://www.umass.edu/umpress/fall_00/wald.html
(he was one of my late father's favorite folksingers along with “Leadbelly” that I can remember his playing when I was very small, maybe five years old.)
    1914-Birthday of song writer Matt Dennis. Wrote “Angel Eyes,” “Everything Happens to Me,” “Will You Still Be Mine?”
http://www.melbay.com/authors/denn.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056314/
ref=pd_sxp_f/102-2783041-0221764
    1916 -- Black feminist & civil-rights activist Flo Kennedy is born in Kansas City, Missouri. As a lawyer, Kennedy represented Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and H. Rap Brown. In 1966, she founded the Media Workshop to confront racism in media & advertising. In 1972 she forms the Feminist Party and files an Internal Revenue Service complaint alleging that the Catholic Church violates tax-exempt requirements by spending money to influence political decisions. Kennedy describes herself (quote)"I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady . . .and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me." Died December 22,2000
http://rwor.org/a/v22/1090-99/1095/flo_kennedy.htm
http://www.writetools.com/women/stories/kennedy_flo.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131523716/avse
    1916- Emma Goldman, noted anarchist, is arrested for publically speaking about birth control. A New York state code forbade discussions of health matters in public... and doctors refused to do it in private.
    1918-Birthday of country music publisher Wesley Rose. Wesley and his father Fred are credited with demolishing the barriers between pop and country music by successfully selling the songs of Hank Williams in the pop market. When Williams wrote "Cold, Cold Heart," Wesley Rose traveled from Nashville to New York to try to sell the song. The only person who would listen to him was Mitch Miller, director of pop music at Columbia Records. Miller gave the song to an aspiring young singer named Tony Bennett. Bennett's 1951 recording of "Cold, Cold Heart" sold a million copies. Wesley Rose died on April 26th, 1990.
    1919 -- Seattle General Strike ends. Harvey O'Connor's sympathetic Revolution in Seattle remains the best book on this event.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0939306018/inktomi-bkasin-20/002-5861649-1425657
Another perspective: Howard Zinn's People's History of the U.S. Seattle General Strike
http://free.freespeech.org/americanstateterrorism/books/PeoplesHistory.html
http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/strike/ 
http://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/curcan/main.html
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/hist_texts/seattle1919.html
    1935-Birthday of singer Gene Vincent, whose full name was Vincent Eugene Craddock, born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was signed by Capitol Records as an answer to Elvis Presley, and his career was launched in 1957 with "Be Bop a Lula." Vincent is supposed to have written the song after reading a Little Lulu comic book. He had only two major hits, then began drinking heavily. A comeback attempt in the late '60s failed, and Gene Vincent died of a bleeding ulcer in October 1971. He was only 36.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/index2.html
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/gvbebop.html
http://www.cybernemo.com/les-claviers/partoches/Gene%20Vincent.doc
http://www.webspawner.com/users/GeneVincent/
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rockin.paul/gene.htm
    1937 --United Auto Workers sit-down victory in Flint, Michigan, forcing General Motors to recognize them. The 40-day action at Fisher Body Plant Number One is the longest sit-down strike in history. Employees inside are protected by 5,000 armed workers circling the plant. After police tear-gas attacks, workers fight back with fire hoses. Gunfire wounds 13 workers, but the police are driven back. By the time the National Guard arrives, the strike spreads to GM plants across the nation.
http://community-2.webtv.net/uhhuhdotcom/diaryofasitdowner/page5.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/tygiel/Hist427/1930sphotos/flintsitdownstrike.htm
http://www.uaw2166.org/flint.html
    1938-Larry Clinton Band with Bea Wain records “Martha.”
    1939-Birthday of pop songwriter Gerry Goffin was born in New York City. Goffin has been the lyricist for dozens of pop, rock and soul hits, many of them written with Carole King, his former wife. Among the hits the duo wrote were "The Locomotion" for Little Eva, "Up on the Roof" for the Drifters and "One Fine Day" for the Chiffons. A note for trivia buffs - Little Eva was Goffin and King's babysitter at the time of her hit, 1963.  
    1940-Birthday of singer Bobby (Boris) Pickett, whose novelty "Monster Mash" was a number-one hit in 1962. 
http://www.classicbands.com/boris.html
http://www.themonstermash.com/mmdex.html
http://www.themonstermash.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi?cart_id=K90m3W.a4873*Ho5ewWHj7
sHz.a4873*3C1zVI&product=Music
    1941-Birthday of Brazilian musician and singer Sergio Mendes.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/mendes.htm
    1943 - General Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
    1944-Birthday of drummer Martin Drew, Northampton, England
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/martin%20drew.html
http://homepages.tesco.net/~martindrew/
http://www.p2c2e.freeserve.co.uk/mdbiog.html
http://www.317x.com/albums/m/sergiomendes/card.html
    1945-Yalta Agreement singed: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed an agreement at Yalta, a Soviet city of the Black Sea in the Crimea. The agreement contained plans for new blows at the heart of Germany and for occupying Germany at the end of the war. It also called for a meeting in San Francisco to draft a charter for the United Nations.
    1945--DAHLGREN, EDWARD C. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant (then Sergeant), U.S. Army, Company E, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Oberhoffen, France, 11 February 1945. Entered service at: Portland, Maine. Birth: Perham, Maine. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He led the 3d Platoon to the rescue of a similar unit which had been surrounded in an enemy counterattack at Oberhoffen, France. As he advanced along a street, he observed several Germans crossing a field about 100 yards away. Running into a barn, he took up a position in a window and swept the hostile troops with submachine gun fire, killing 6, wounding others, and completely disorganizing the group. His platoon then moved forward through intermittent sniper fire and made contact with the besieged Americans. When the 2 platoons had been reorganized, Sgt. Dahlgren continued to advance along the street until he drew fire from an enemy-held house. In the face of machine pistol and rifle fire, he ran toward the building, hurled a grenade through the door, and blasted his way inside with his gun. This aggressive attack so rattled the Germans that all 8 men who held the strongpoint immediately surrendered. As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machinegun fire drove him to cover. He secured rifle grenades, stepped to an exposed position, and calmly launched his missiles from a difficult angle until he had destroyed the machinegun and killed its 2 operators. He moved to the rear of the house and suddenly came under the fire of a machinegun emplaced in a barn. Throwing a grenade into the structure, he rushed the position, firing his weapon as he ran; within, he overwhelmed 5 Germans. After reorganizing his unit he advanced to clear hostile riflemen from the building where he had destroyed the machinegun. He entered the house by a window and trapped the Germans in the cellar, where he tossed grenades into their midst, wounding several and forcing 10 more to surrender. While reconnoitering another street with a comrade, he heard German voices in a house. An attack with rifle grenades drove the hostile troops to the cellar. Sgt. Dahlgren entered the building, kicked open the cellar door, and, firing several bursts down the stairway, called for the trapped enemy to surrender. Sixteen soldiers filed out with their hands in the air. The bold leadership and magnificent courage displayed by Sgt. Dahlgren in his heroic attacks were in a large measure responsible for repulsing an enemy counterattack and saving an American platoon from great danger. 
    1946—Top Hits
Symphony - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Clyde Rogers)
I Can't Begin to Tell You - Bing Crosby with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra
Let It Snow - Vaughn Monroe
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
    1948- U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'We ask Thee not for tasks more suited to our strength, but for strength more suited to our tasks.'
    1950-- "Rag Mop" by The Ames Brothers hit #1
http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?sid=PK©'DK7f
http://www.dirtywater.com/a2z/a/amesbros/
http://www.singers.com/jazz/vintage/ames.html
    1953-Chris Connor, with the Stan Kenton Band, cuts “And the Bull Walked Around, Ole.”
    1954—Top Hits
Oh! My Pa-Pa - Eddie Fisher
Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford
Young-at-Heart - Frank Sinatra
Bimbo - Jim Reeves
1956-- For his third appearance on CBS' Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, Elvis Presley is finally permitted to perform "Heartbreak Hotel." 
    1956-Birthday of jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, Calais, France
http://www.ejn.it/mus/lockwood.htm
http://www.jazzvalley.com/musician/didier.lockwood
    1958-The first African-American Woman hired as a flight attendant was Ruth Carol Taylor, a graduate nurse from Ithaca, NY, who made her first flight from Ithaca, New York City on Mohawk Airlines.
    1960-Water Closet Incident: Jack Paar, then host of “The Tonight Show,” walked out of his late-night TV show on this date. The incident was prompted by NBC's censoring of a slightly off-color “water closet” joke the previous night. After a meeting with the network officials, Paar agreed to return to the show on March 7.
    1961- Robert C Weaver sworn in as Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency with then highest federal post by a black
    1962-Birthday of singer Sheryl Crow.
http://www.sherylcrow.com/
    1962—Top Hits
Peppermint Twist - Joey Dee & The Starliters
Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
Norman - Sue Thompson
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke
    1963-The Beatles record "I Saw Her Standing There," "Boys," "Do You Want to Know a Secret," "There's a Place," "Twist and Shout" and other songs for their first British album, "Please Please Me" at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London. The session lasts 14 hours despite John Lennon's cold.
    1964-- Fresh from their first appearance on CBS' Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles leave for Washington, DC in a snow storm in order to give their first US live performance at the Washington Coliseum, with opening acts Tommy Roe, the Caravelles, and the Chiffons. Yet another press conference is given before the show. The performance -- "Roll Over Beethoven," "From Me to You," "I Saw Her Standing There," "This Boy," "All My Loving," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Please Please Me," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Twist and Shout," and "Long Tall Sally" -- is also filmed by CBS for closed-circuit broadcast; because of the stage setup, the band is forced to move its equipment three separate times in order to give everyone in the audience a chance to see them. Afterwards, the group head to a masked ball at the city's British Embassy and then back to their rooms at the Shoreham Hotel. During the party, an unidentified woman cuts off a lock of Ringo's hair without asking him. (Meanwhile, British PM Sir Alec Douglas-Home decides to cancel his trip to the ball for fear of being upstaged by the group.) 
   1966 - Willie Mays became the highest-paid baseball player in both leagues when he signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants for an estimated salary of $130,000 a year.
    1967--The Monkees saw their second album, "More of The Monkees" leap from position 122 to number 1. The Fabricated Four only provided the vocals and were backed by some of the finest studio musicians around, like Glen Campbell and Neil Sedaka. The L.P. contained the hits, "I'm a Believer" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" and was produced by Carole King, Carole Bayer Sager, Tommy Boyce and others. After being pressured by the press, The Monkees announced they'll play their own instruments on all future recordings.
    1967--The Turtles release their biggest hit, "Happy Together", which will reach #1 in the US in March. 
    1968-The Bubble Gum music craze gets its start when "Simon Says" by The 1910 Fruitgum Company enters the US record charts, where it will reach number 4. Over the next year and a half, the group will have four more Top 40 hits. 
    1968 -Peggy Fleming wins Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France.
http://espn.go.com/abcsports/wwos/peggyfleming.html
http://www.peggyfleming.net/
   1968 - In New York, the new 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden officially opened, making it the fourth arena to be named Madison Square Garden. The arena for sports and entertainment opened with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
    1969---BENNETT, THOMAS W. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry. Place and date: Chu Pa Region, Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, 9-11 February 1969. Entered service at: Fairmont, W. Va. Born: 7 April 1947, Morgantown, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Cpl. Bennett distinguished himself while serving as a platoon medical aidman with the 2d Platoon, Company B, during a reconnaissance-in-force mission. On 9 February the platoon was moving to assist the 1st Platoon of Company D which had run into a North Vietnamese ambush when it became heavily engaged by the intense small arms, automatic weapons, mortar and rocket fire from a well fortified and numerically superior enemy unit. In the initial barrage of fire, 3 of the point members of the platoon fell wounded. Cpl. Bennett, with complete disregard for his safety, ran through the heavy fire to his fallen comrades, administered life-saving first aid under fire and then made repeated trips carrying the wounded men to positions of relative safety from which they would be medically evacuated from the battle position. Cpl. Bennett repeatedly braved the intense enemy fire moving across open areas to give aid and comfort to his wounded comrades. He valiantly exposed himself to the heavy fire in order to retrieve the bodies of several fallen personnel. Throughout the night and following day, Cpl. Bennett moved from position to position treating and comforting the several personnel who had suffered shrapnel and gunshot wounds. On 11 February, Company B again moved in an assault on the well fortified enemy positions and became heavily engaged with the numerically superior enemy force. Five members of the company fell wounded in the initial assault. Cpl. Bennett ran to their aid without regard to the heavy fire. He treated 1 wounded comrade and began running toward another seriously wounded man. Although the wounded man was located forward of the company position covered by heavy enemy grazing fire and Cpl. Bennett was warned that it was impossible to reach the position, he leaped forward with complete disregard for his safety to save his comrade's life. In attempting to save his fellow soldier, he was mortally wounded. Cpl. Bennett's undaunted concern for his comrades at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army. 
    1970- 26.37 cm (10.38") of rainfall, Mt Washington, NH (state 24-hour record)
http://americasroof.com/nh.html
    1970—Top Hits
Venus - The Shocking Blue
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)/Everybody is a Star - Sly & The Family Stone
I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick
A Week in a Country Jail - Tom T. Hall
    1970 - "Variety" reported this day that Walt Disney had secretly taken its movie, "Song of the South", out of circulation back in 1958. Originally released in 1946, the live-action/animated flick featuring Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, Uncle Remus and kids, Johnny and Ginny, won an Academy Award in 1947 for the song, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". James Baskett won an Oscar for his Uncle Remus role. "Variety" said "Song of the South" was pulled because of ...racist attitudes reflected in the Negro roles in the film.
    1975 - The movie, "Shampoo", opened. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Jack Warden, Lee Grant (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), Tony Bill, William Castle and Howard Hesseman starred. And, making her film debut a year before "Star Wars" made her famous: Carrie Fisher.
    1977--Clifford Alexander Jr. becomes the first Black Secretary of the Army.
http://www.army.mil/CMH-PG/books/Sw-SA/Alexander.htm
http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/1004AlexanderClifford.asp?pic=none
http://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/alexanderc/
    1977- 20.2-kg lobster caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean in this century. Settlers in the United States report catching 25lb lobsters off the coast of Maine and Massachusetts as “common.”) The first thanksgiving with the Indians was mainly fish and shellfish. Lobster was so common it was considered poor man's food and served indentures servants until they rebelled that they did not want it more than three times a week.
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html
http://www.parl.ns.ca/projects/lobster/history.htm
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/society.html 1978—Top Hits
Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
(Love Is) Thicker Than Water - Andy Gibb
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love - Larry Gatlin with Brothers & Friends
   1978 -- "Longest Walk" begins, 300 Native Americans start march from Alcatraz, in San Francisco, California, to Washington D.C. Organized by American Indian Movement (Aim).
http://www.lovehaight.org/alcatraz.html
http://www.prisontourism.net/aboutalcatraz.html
    1978-Native Americans began The Longest Walk, a march from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay to Washington, D.C. The Walk was intended to be a reminder of the forced removal of American Indians from their homelands across the continent, and drew attention to the continuing problems plaguing the Indian community, particularly joblessness, lack of health care, education and adequate housing.
   1979- "Elvis," a biography of the late singer, was shown on ABC television. The program won the largest share of the audience in competition with the blockbuster films "Gone with the Wind" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" shown on the other networks.
    1979 -Birthday of Brandy Norwood (Grammy Award-winning singer: The Boy Is Mine [w/Monica: 1999]; I Wanna Be Down, Baby, Best Friend, Brokenhearted, Sittin' Up in My Room, Never S-A-Y Never, Top of the World, Have You Ever?, Almost Doesn't Count, U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To), What About Us?)
    1982 - ABC-TV's presentation of "The Winds of War", the miniseries, came to an end. The 18-hour miniseries totaled $40 million in production costs, and, to that time, was the most-watched television program in history; topping another ABC presentation, Alex Haley's "Roots". An estimated 140 million people watched one or more nights of the program.
    1983- the Rolling Stones documentary, "Let's Spend the Night Together," directed by Hal Ashby, opens in New York during the city's heaviest snow storm this century. The Middle Atlantic Coast States and southern New England were in the midst of a major snowstorm. In Pennsylvania, the storm produced 21 inches at Philadelphia, 24 inches at Harrisburg, and 25 inches at Allentown, establishing record 24 hour totals and single storm totals for those locations. New York City received 22 inches of snow, and 35 inches was reported at Glen Gary, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Windsor Locks CT received a record 19 inches of snow in 12 hours. The storm resulted in forty-six deaths, thirty-three of which occurred when a freighter capsized and sank off the Maryland/Virginia coast. Heavy snow was reported from northeastern Georgia to eastern Maine.
    1983--The Recording Industry Association of America awards Bob Seger his seventh consecutive US platinum award for the album, "The Distance"
    1983 - The Middle Atlantic Coast States and southern New England were in the midst of a major snowstorm. In Pennsylvania, the storm produced 21 inches at Philadelphia, 24 inches at Harrisburg, and 25 inches at Allentown, establishing record 24 hour totals and single storm totals for those locations. New York City received 22 inches of snow, and 35 inches was reported at Glen Gary, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Windsor Locks CT received a record 19 inches of snow in 12 hours. The storm resulted in forty-six deaths, thirty-three of which occurred when a freighter capsized and sank off the Maryland/Virginia coast. Heavy snow was reported from northeastern Georgia to eastern Maine.
    1985 - Kent Hrbek became the first Minnesota Twins player ever to sign a $1 million contract. As the Twins celebrated their 24th year as a franchise of the American League, the first baseman signed a five-year, $6-million pact.
    1986-The Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" is certified gold.
    1986—Top Hits
That's What Friends are For - Dionne & Friends
Burning Heart - Survivor
I'm Your Man - Wham!
Hurt - Juice Newton
    1987 - Denver, CO, reported only their third occurrence of record of a thunderstorm in February. Ten cities in the north central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Huron SD reported February temperatures averaging 19 degrees above normal. Williston ND reported readings averaging 24 degrees above normal for the month
    1988 - Bitter cold air gripped the north central U.S. Morning lows of 35 degrees below zero at Aberdeen SD, Bismarck ND and International Falls MN were records for the date. Bemidji MN was, officially, the cold spot in the nation with a low of 39 degrees below zero, however, a reading of 42 degrees below zero was reported at Gettysburg SD. In the Northern High Plains Region, Baker MT warmed from 27 degrees below zero to 40 above. 
    1988 - Bitter cold air gripped the north central U.S. Morning lows of 35 degrees below zero at Aberdeen SD, Bismarck ND and International Falls MN were records for the date. Bemidji MN was, officially, the cold spot in the nation with a low of 39 degrees below zero; however, a reading of 42 degrees below zero was reported at Gettysburg SD. In the Northern High Plains Region, Baker MT warmed from 27 degrees below zero to 40 above. 
    1989-Future American Idol judge Paula Abdul enjoys the first of her six US number one hits with "Straight Up." 
   1989- The Rev. Barbara C. Harris, 55, of Boston, was confirmed as the first female bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican Church. Harris has long advocated social change in the church and society. She's also a long-time member of the Union of Black Episcopalians, a group formed to promote the participation of blacks in the church and eradicate racism in society.http://www.diomass.org/EpisTimes/Harris_10th_Sched.htm
    1989 - While much of the continental U.S. enjoyed sunshine and seasonable temperatures, a strong weather system over the Hawaiian Islands deluged Honolulu with 2.5 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
    1990 - A winter storm produced up to ten inches of snow in Vermont, and up to nine inches of snow in Aroostook County of northeastern Maine. A three day snowstorm began to overspread Oregon, and the winter storm produced 29 inches of snow at Bennett Pass. Mild weather continued in the central U.S. La Crosse WI reported a record forty-seven consecutive days with temperatures above normal. 
   1990-Nelson Mandela, leader of movement for democracy in South Africa, released from prison after 27 years, a major sign of the changing times in the world toward segregation.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/etc/cron.html
1990-- US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
http://www.toddeldredgenews.com/
http://www.leigh-i-am.com/todd.shtml
   1995-- US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
http://www.toddeldredgenews.com/
http://www.leigh-i-am.com/todd.shtml
   2000-Space Milestone: Endeavor Mapping Mission. This manned flight spent 11 days in space creating a 3_d map of more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface. It will be the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth ever produced.
    2004 - North Dakota Governor John Hoeven declares a snow emergency as winds gusting over 70 mph along with heavy snow produces low visibilities and drifts up to 20 feet in northwestern North Dakota. Amtrak train service is interrupted in the region.
    2006 - Snowfall records fell in Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania, Bridgeport and Hartford, Connecticut, Newark, New Jersey, and Worchester and Boston, Massachusetts. The highest total reported was 30.2 inches at Fairfield, CT. New York City set a record one-day snowfall record of 26.9 inches in Central Park.
    2007-Artists who won awards at the 49th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles included Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Frampton, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, George Benson and Ike Turner.