Important Events From This day in History February 21st

 

1995 Steve Fossett Balloon Record

1995 : Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon, taking off from South Korea, and landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada. Fossett was reported missing on September 3, 2007 after the plane he was flying over the Nevada desert failed to return and his wife asked for him to be declared legally dead on November 26, 2007 . Find More What happened in 1995

1947 Land Camera Demonstrated

1947 : Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his instant camera and associated film. Called the Land Camera, , which could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds. Two years later he put 57 Polaroid Land Cameras at Boston's Jordan Marsh department store before the Christmas holiday, and they sold out within the first day after the demonstration.

1804 First Full Size Railway Steam Locomotive

Richard Trevithick turns a high pressure steam engine designed to drive a hammer at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales into a steam locomotive by mounting it on wheels and on the 21st 1804 the world's first railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales.

21 Feb, 1922 Airship Crashes

The Italian built airship Roma crashed to the ground in Norfolk Virginia after the explosion of the hydrogen caused by the airship coming into contact with power lines turned the dirigible into a blazing inferno causing it to crash 1000 ft to the ground. Only a few survived the crash by jumping from the airship before it hit the power lines .

1933 Texas Week

Mariam A. Ferguson announced that February 26th through March 4th would be officially called "Texas Week". This was the week in which March 2nd falls, which is Independence Day for the state of Texas.

This legislation had officially been passed in the previous year, and 1933 was the first time that "Texas Week" was made official. Another announcement was made as well on this day-that Arbor Day would be on February 22nd (for the state of Texas).

1933 Horse Race Betting

A hot debate had surrounded a wager bill. If this bill were to be passed, the pari-mutuel system of handling horse-race betting would be made legal.

The pari-mutuel betting system was a method by which winners would collect bets won, after all appropriate expenses were paid. After careful consideration, the wager bill which would legalize this system was withdrawn from Congress on this day.

1960 Cuba Industry Nationalised

Following Fidel Castro who believed in communism coming to power, Havana orders all Cuban industry under direct control of the government.

1965 Malcolm X Assassinated

African American leader Malcolm X was assassinated while delivering a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

1970 US / North Vietnam Peace Talks

Henry Kissinger begins secret peace talks with North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho at a villa outside Paris hoping for a mutual withdrawal of forces from South Vietnam which was refused by North Vietnam .

1971 Winter Storm

One of Oklahoma worst winter storms had occurred on this day. More than two feet of snow had fallen in Northwest Oklahoma, and snowdrifts reached as high as 15 feet in the South-Central area. Winds increased to a maximum of 50 miles per hour.

Two deaths so far occurred as a result of this storm. Hundreds of others (travelers) were stranded.

1971 Twister Mississippi

A twister was reported to have killed 73 people in the South. A total of 68 of these tornado deaths had occurred in Mississippi, and the other five had occurred in Louisiana. Additionally, damage was done in Texas, but no deaths were reported as of this time.

1972 Richard Nixon arrives in China

1972 : US President Richard Nixon arrives in China at the start of a week-long summit aimed at ending 20 years of difficult relations between the US and China.

21 Feb, 1972

A South Carolina professor was endorsed by the University of South Carolina school newspaper as a political candidate. He was running for the office of U.S. Senate on the Democratic ticket.

1973 Israel Shoots Down Libyan Passenger Plane

Israeli warplanes shoot down a Libyan passenger plane over the Sinai Desert

1975 John Newton Mitchell

The Soviet Union launches the world's biggest space station, Mir. It is intended to provide a base for a permanently manned space complex orbiting the Earth.

1984 China Looking For Technology Help

As the Soviet Union is trailing far behind the west and more specifically the United States and Japan , the communist party in China is looking to the US, Great Britain and Japan for the technology to help them catch up, they are enticing American, Japanese and British Companies to set up Industrial Plants believing that not only will it improve the economy it will also help improve the technology available in the country. But there are those in China who believe bringing in western technology, ideas and people will lead to problems later, this is the ultra conservative left but it looks like the modernizers will get their wishes and modernize this country with a massive work force available to work.

1985 National Crisis Action Rally

1985 : This was the day of the "National Crisis Action Rally", which was held in Iowa. It was expected that farmers, ranchers, small-town business people, clergy members, and other concerned citizens would attend. People would be attending on behalf of 17 states. Several agricultural and commerce organizations were to be represented as well.

1988 Evangelist Scandal

TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart has resigned from his ministry after it was revealed he had been consorting with a prostitute.

This is the third in a series of high profile evangelist scandals including Martin Gorman and Rev Jim Bakker .

1994 Aldrich Ames

Aldrich Ames, a man who had worked for the CIA at this time, was arrested. He was charged of selling secrets to the Soviet Union, and was blamed of putting the lives of several other CIA agents in danger. Ten agents in all were killed in the Eastern bloc after Ames had disclosed their identities to the Soviets.

21 Feb, 2000 David Letterman

David Letterman had returned to his show after having a multiple heart bypass surgery on this day. He is currently the host of the Late Show with David Letterman, which is a position he has held since 1993.

2001 England Foot and Mouth

An outbreak of foot and mouth disease in British pigs prompted a government ban Wednesday on exports of meat, milk and livestock and threatened serious damage to the country's farming industry

2006 US Ports Sold To Middle East

2006 : New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans U.S. seaports are to be taken over by the state owned business ( Dubai Ports World ) in the United Arab Emirates. The takeover has caused a major controversy due to the possible security implications.

2008 Satellite Shot Down

The US shoot down a disabled spy satellite 153 nautical miles above the earth using an SM-3 missile fired from a warship in waters west of Hawaii, proving that the country's missile defence system works.

2011 Egypt Re-Opens Museums

Egypt re-opened some of its museums that were closed during the civilian protests that spurred the resignation of former President Mubarak. The country hoped to regain some lost tourism revenue that was lost during the uprising, as travelers return to the country.

2012 Australian Miners Find Largest Pink Diamond

Rio Tinto's Argyle diamond mine in the East Kimberly region of Australia announced that they found a 12.76-carat pink diamond that they named the Argyle Pink Jubilee. The discovery makes it the largest rough pink diamond to be found in Australia and could be worth millions of dollars.

2013 Bulgarian Prime Minister Resigns

The Bulgarian parliament accepted Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's resignation with a vote of 209 to 5. Borisov's resignation was a surprise to many and was a response to protests against austerity measures. The early resignation meant that new elections would take place in April instead of July.

2014 United Kingdom Anti-Human Trafficking Teams In Airports

2014 : The government of the United Kingdom announced that they would base teams of anti-slavery specialists in United Kingdom airports in an attempt to stop human trafficking. The team will be responsible for trying to identify victims of trafficking and halting gang efforts.

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