February 5
President Bill Clinton signs the Family and Medical Leave Act. The law requires most employers of 50 or more workers to grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a family for medical emergency. – 1993.
In what turns out to be a bad business decision, Circuit City fires 3,900 experienced sales representatives because they’re making too much money in commissions. Sales plummet. Duh. – 2003.
February 6
The first organized immigration of freed enslaved people to Africa from the United States departs New York harbor on a journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The immigration was largely the work of the American Colonization Society, a U.S. organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to return formerly enslaved African people to Africa. – 1820.
Ironworkers from six cities meet in Pittsburgh, Pa. to form the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers of America. Their pay in Pittsburgh at the time: $2.75 for a nine-hour day. – 1896.
After a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the eldest of the king’s two daughters and next in line to succeed him, was in Kenya at the time of her father’s death. Her coronation as Queen Elizabeth II was June 2, 1953, at age 27. – 1952.
In his State of the Union address, president Ronald Reagan defines some of the key concepts of his foreign policy, establishing what comes to be known as the “Reagan Doctrine.” The doctrine served as the foundation for the Reagan administration’s support of “freedom fighters” by covertly supporting the Contras against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua; the Afghan rebels in their fight against the Soviet occupiers; and anticommunist Angolan forces embroiled in that nation’s civil war. – 1985.
February 7
A violent series of earthquakes near Missouri causes a so-called fluvial tsunami in the Mississippi River which actually made the river run backwards for several hours. The series of tremors, which took place between December 1811 and March 1812, were the most powerful in the history of the United States, estimated at a magnitude of 8.8. – 1812.
In Baltimore, Md., a small fire in the business district is wind-whipped into an uncontrollable conflagration that engulfs a large portion of the city by evening. When the blaze finally burned out after 31 hours, an 80-block area of the downtown area had been destroyed. More than 1,500 buildings were completely leveled, and 1,000 severely damaged to bring property loss from the disaster to an estimated $100 million. – 1904.
President John F. Kennedy’s Proclamation 3447 goes into effect, broadening the United States’ restrictions on trade with Cuba. The ensuing embargo, which effectively restricts all trade between Cuba and the United States, has had profoundly negative effects on the island nation’s economy and shaped the recent history of the Western Hemisphere. – 1962,
The Central Committee of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party agrees to endorse president Mikhail Gorbachev’s recommendation that the party give up its 70-year long monopoly of political power. The Committee’s decision to allow political challenges in Russia was another signal of the impending collapse of the Soviet system. – 1990.
February 8
Following the Russian rejection of a Japanese plan to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan launches a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, a Russian naval base in China. The Russian fleet was decimated. – 1904.
A severe blizzard in New England finally subsides, and the region begins to dig out from under several feet of snow. Over the previous 72 hours, some areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts had received as many as 55 inches of snow. – 1978.
February 9
Because no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824, the U.S. House of Representatives votes to elect John Quincy Adams, who won fewer votes than Andrew Jackson in the popular election, as president of the United States. Adams was the son of John Adams, the second president of the United States. – 1825.
Congress approves legislation to allow a total of $940 million to be used for Great Depression-era relief projects; $790 million of this money was intended to be used for funds in work relief and flood recovery programs. – 1937.
The U.S. Congress pushes ahead standard time for the United States by one hour in each time zone to impose daylight saving time, called at the time, “war time.” Daylight saving time, suggested by U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt, was imposed to conserve fuel, and could be traced back to World War I, when Congress imposed one standard time on the United States to enable the country to better utilize resources. – 1942.
Senator Joseph McCarthy (Republican-Wisconsin) claims that he has a list with the names of over 200 members of the Department of State that are “known communists.” The speech vaulted McCarthy to national prominence and sparked a nationwide hysteria about subversives in the American government. “McCarthyism,” as the hunt for communists in the United States came to be known during the 1950s, did untold damage to many people’s lives and careers, had a muzzling effect on domestic debate on Cold War issues, and managed to scare millions of Americans. McCarthy, however, located no communists and his personal power collapsed in 1954 when he accused the Army of coddling known communists. – 1950.
President John Kennedy asks Congress to approve creation of the Medicare program, financed by an increase in Social Security taxes, to aid 14.2 million Americans aged 65 or older. – 1961.
The Beatles made their live U.S. television debut on the The Ed Sullivan Show. Fifty seconds in, the first audience-reaction shot of the performance shows a teenage girl beaming and possibly hyperventilating. It is estimated that 73 million Americans were watching. – 1964.
Approximately 19,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers in Washington state and Oregon begin what is to become a 40-day strike over economic issues. – 2000.
February 10
Forty workers are killed on Staten Island, N.Y. when a huge storage tank filled with liquefied gas explodes. – 1974.
After three hours, world chess champion Gary Kasparov loses the first game of a six-game match against Deep Blue, an IBM computer capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second. Man was ultimately victorious over machine, however, when Kasparov defeated Deep Blue in the match with three wins and two ties and took home the $400,000 prize. – 1996.
February 11
The Seattle General Strike ends after six days. Approximately 65,000 struck for higher pay after two years of World War I wage controls. – 1919.
Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years, February 11. – 1990.