February 25
The U.S. Congress passes the Legal Tender Act, which authorizes the use of paper notes to pay the government’s bills. It ended the long-standing policy of using only gold or silver in transactions, and it allowed the government to finance the enormously costly Civil War long after its gold and silver reserves were depleted. – 1862.
February 26
On this day, two national parks were established in the United States 10 years apart: The Grand Canyon in 1919 and the Grand Tetons in 1929. – 1919 and 1929.
A bomb explodes in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. Six individuals are killed and 1,000 are injured by the powerful blast. – 1993.
Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen walking home from a trip to a convenience store, is fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling the townhouse community of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Fla.. Zimmerman later claimed to have shot the unarmed 17-year-old out of self-defense during a physical altercation. After police initially opted not to arrest Zimmerman, the case sparked protests and ignited national debates about racial profiling and self-defense laws. Zimmerman later was charged with second-degree murder; following a high-profile trial. He was acquitted of the charges against him. – 2012.
February 27
A group of masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, La. to mark the beginning of the city’s famous Mardi Gras celebrations. – 1827.
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides for female suffrage, is unanimously declared constitutional by the eight members of the U.S. Supreme Court. The 19th Amendment, which states “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” -1922.
February 28
Pope Benedict XVI officially resigns is position as Pope by citing advanced age as the reason for giving up his post as the leader of the 1.2 Billion-member Roman Catholic Church. Benedict was the first pontiff to relinquish power in 600 years. – 2013.
February 29
Hattie McDaniel wins Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mammy, in Gone with the Wind at the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards. McDaniel was the first African American to be honored with an Oscar. – 1940.
March 1
In Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados, are charged with the illegal practice of witchcraft. Later that day, Tituba, possibly under coercion, confessed to the crime, which encouraged the authorities to seek more Salem witches. – 1692.
U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant signs the bill to create the Nation’s first national park at Yellowstone, which will straddle the future states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. – 1872.
In a crime that captured the attention of the entire Nation, Charles Lindbergh III, the 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, N.J.. Lindbergh, who became an international celebrity when he flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, and his wife, Anne, discovered a ransom note demanding $50,000 in their son’s empty room. – 1932.
After five years of labor by 21,000 workers, 112 of whom were killed on the job, the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) is completed and turned over to the government. – 1936.
March 2
The Jones Act, the last gasp of the Prohibition, is passed by Congress. Since 1920 when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect, the United States had banned the production, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. But the laws were ineffective at actually stopping the consumption of alcohol. The Jones Act strengthened the federal penalties for bootlegging. Of course, within five years the country ended up rejecting Prohibition and repealing the Eighteenth Amendment. – 1929.
March 3
Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at the age of 19 months. Under Sullivan’s tutelage, including her pioneering “touch teaching” techniques, the previously uncontrollable Keller flourished, and eventually was graduated from college to become an international lecturer and activist. Sullivan, later dubbed “the miracle worker,” remained Keller’s interpreter and constant companion until the older woman’s death in 1936. – 1887.