February 21
The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, is published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League. The political pamphlet proclaimed that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” and that the inevitable victory of the proletariat, or working class, would put an end to class society forever. – 1848.
The Washington Monument, built in honor of America’s revolutionary hero and first president, is dedicated in Washington, D.C.. – 1885.
February 22
During the Mexican-American War, Mexican general Santa Anna surrounds the outnumbered forces of U.S. General Zachary Taylor at the Angostura Pass in Mexico and demands an immediate surrender. Taylor refuses and early the next morning Santa Anna dispatched some 15,000 troops to move against the 5,000 Americans. The superior U.S. artillery halted one of the two advancing Mexican divisions, while Jefferson Davis’ Mississippi riflemen led the defense of the extreme left flank against the other Mexican advance. By five o’clock in the afternoon, the Mexicans begin to withdraw. – 1847.
In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic Games history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeats the four-time defending Gold-Medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.. The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the finest in the world, fell to the youthful American team, 4-3, before a frenzied crowd of 10,000 spectators. Two days later, the Americans defeat Finland, 4-2, to clinch the hockey Gold Medal. – 1980.
February 23
During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment of the 5th Division take the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest peak and most strategic position, and raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery was with them and recorded the event. – 1945.
February 24
The U.S. House of Representatives votes 11 articles of impeachment against president Andrew Johnson, nine of which cite Johnson’s removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The House vote made president Johnson the first president to be impeached in U.S. history. – 1868.
The U.S. Supreme Court votes 8-0 to overturn the $200,000 settlement awarded to the Reverend Jerry Falwell for his emotional distress at being parodied in Hustler, a pornographic magazine. – 1988.
February 25
A 22-year-old Cassius Clay shocks the odds-makers by dethroning world heavyweight boxing champ Sonny Liston in a seventh-round technical knockout. The dreaded Liston, who had twice demolished former champ Floyd Patterson in one round, was an 8-to-1 favorite. However, Clay predicted victory and boasted that he would “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and knock out Liston in the eighth round. – 1964.
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.
Sources: History.com, Toil and Trouble, by Thomas R. Brooks; American Labor Struggles, by Samuel Yellen; IWW calendar, Solidarity Forever; Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, edited by Robert E. Weir and James P. Hanlan; Southwest Labor History Archives/George Meany Center; Geov Parrish’s Radical History; workday Minnesota; Andy Richards and Adam Wright, AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council.
• “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
—George Santayana, Philosopher