
I’ll be posting a few fun little things that happened on this day in history. I’ll also add my own commentary to the mix now and then as well.
Note: Not all events will be pleasant, but I promise to throw in as many quirky and pleasant ones as I can to balance.
February 19th
1878- Thomas Edison is granted a patent for is gramophone.
1945- US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese with 30,000 US Marines.
1736- George Frideric Handel’s “Alexander’s Feast” premieres at the Convent Garden Theatre, London
1803- US congress accepts Ohio’s constitution, statehood not ratified until 1953.
1807- US Vice President Aaron Barr arrested in Alabama for treason, later acquited.
1819- British Explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III
1846- Texas State government formally installed in Austin.
1856- Tin-Type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambler Ohio
1881- Kansas becomes the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages
1910- Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) is freed from her first periods of forced isolation and goes on to cause several furter outbreaks of typhoid in the New York area.
1913- First prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box.
1932- William Faulkner completes his novel, “Light in August”.
Source: On This Day