Tidbits of History, March 1

March 1 is:

National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day

Whuppity Scoorie Day, a festival in Lanark, Scotland, carrying on an ancient custom of noisemaking to drive away the evil spirits and thus protect the crops of the new season. Not to be confused with Whuppity Stoorie, a Scottish fairy tale similar to Rumpelstiltskin.

The city of Rio de Janeiro was founded on March 1, 1565.

Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba, a slave, were brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials in 1692.

1781 – The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.

President James Madison, born March 16, 1751Publication of Federalist Paper #63: is the last one written by James Madison and the second about the Senate. Madison thought that a term of six years would be long enough to give stability to the federal government and short enough to prevent abuse of power.

Anniversary of the first United States census, begun in 1790

1792 – US Presidential Succession Act passed; it was revised in 1886 and 1947 and has been modified many times.

Birthday of Frédéric Chopin (March 1, 1810 ), Polish pianist and composer.

Ohio header Ohio (The Buckeye State) Admission Day (1803) entered the Union as the seventeenth state

  • Capital: Columbus
  • Nickname: Buckeye State
  • Bird: Cardinal
  • Flower: Scarlet Carnation
  • Tree: Buckeye
  • Motto: With God All things are possible

See our page for the state of Ohio for more interesting facts and trivia about Ohio.

1815 – Napoleon returned to France from his banishment on Elba.

A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convened in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico in 1836.
Washington on the Brazos Historic Site is located approximately 1-1/2 hours northwest of Houston, and less than two hours from Austin.

1845 – President John Tyler signed a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.

Nebraska header Nebraska Admission Day (1867) as the thirty-seventh state

  • Capital: Lincoln
  • Nickname: Cornhusker State
  • Bird: Western meadowlark
  • Flower: Goldenrod
  • Tree: Cottonwood
  • Motto: Equality before the law

See our page for the state of Nebraska for more interesting facts and trivia about Nebraska.

March 1, 1872 – Yellowstone National Park became the world’s first national park.

1913 – Federal income tax took effect (16th amendment)

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

In 1913, the top tax rate was 7% on incomes above $500,000. A total of $28.3 million was collected.

1932 – The 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, was kidnapped. His body was found May 12th. Public outrage led the U.S. Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act (known as the Lindbergh Law) on June 22, 1932—the day that would have been Charles’s second birthday. The Lindbergh Law made kidnapping across state lines a federal crime and stipulated that such an offense could be punished by death. On October 8, 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for the kidnapping and murder. After more than five weeks of testimony and 11 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on February 13, 1935, and Hauptmann was sentenced to death. A series of appeals, ultimately reaching the Supreme Court in December 1935, were unsuccessful, and a clemency bid was rejected on March 30, 1936. Hauptmann, denying until the end any involvement in the crime, was executed by electric chair on April 3, 1936.

March 1, 1936 – The Hoover Dam was completed.

1953 – Joseph Stalin died March 1, 1953Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffered a stroke and collapsed; he died four days later. It is believed that Stalin’s regime was responsible for 9 million deaths, with 6 million of these being deliberate killings.

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by President John Kennedy.

1962 – K-Mart opened. The company was incorporated in 1899 as S. S. Kresge Corporation and renamed Kmart Corporation in 1977. The first store with the Kmart name opened in 1962 in Garden City, Michigan. At its peak in 1994, Kmart operated 2,486 stores globally, including 2,323 discount stores and Super Kmart Center locations in the United States. As of April 16, 2022, that number was down to nine, including just three in the continental United States.

Tidbits of History, February 14

February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

Quote from Ayn Rand:

Love is the expression of one’s values, the greatest reward you can earn for the moral qualities you have achieved in your character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for the joy he receives from the virtues of another.

Read more at brainyquote.com

 

National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day
Feast Day of Saint Valentine, patron saint of lovers; invoked against epilepsy, plague, and fainting diseases

Language of Flowers

Many flowers express love in some way or other. They are popular for Valentine’s Day, but may be better for your budget than a dozen roses. Here is a partial list:

State flower of New York: RoseRoses: The red rose is the universal symbol of romantic love.

State Flower of Alaska: Alpine forget-me-notForget-Me-Not – These perennial flowers are a song of love or friendship. Pretty blue flowers are irresistible.

love in a mistLove-In-A-Mist – When you are in love, you’re on Cloud Nine.

cyclamensCyclamen – This popular Valentine’s Day gift has heart-shaped leaves. The most popular are varieties are those with red flowers.

February 14, 1779 – James Cook was killed by local people in the Hawaiian Islands.

1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk became the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

Oregon Crater LakeOregon Statehood Day, on February 14, 1859 Oregon became the thirty-third state

  • Capital: Salem
  • Nickname: Beaver State
  • Bird: Western Meadowlark
  • Flower: Oregon Grape
  • Tree: Douglas Fir
  • Motto: The Union

See our page on Oregon for more interesting facts and trivia about Oregon

On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell applied for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

Arizona Grand CanyonAdmission Day in Arizona , the forty-eighth state; admitted in 1912

  • Capital: Phoenix
  • Nickname: Grand Canyon State
  • Bird: Cactus Wren
  • Flower: Saguaro cactus blossom
  • Tree: Paloverde
  • Motto: God Enriches

See our page on the state of Arizona for more interesting facts and trivia about Arizona.

In 1924 the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone’s gang, were murdered in Chicago, Illinois.

Tidbits of History, February 6

February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

Quote from Ayn Rand:

Rights are not a matter of numbers – and there can be no such thing, in law or in morality, as actions forbidden to an individual, but permitted to a mob.

Read more at brainyquote.com

 
National Chopsticks Day

Massachusetts Salem-MaritimeMassachusetts Ratification Day. In 1788 Massachusetts became the sixth state.

  • Capital: Boston
  • Nickname: Bay State/Old Colony
  • Motto: By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty
  • Artist – Norman Rockwell
  • Beverage – cranberry juice
  • Bird: Chickadee
  • Building and Monument Stone – granite
  • Cookie – chocolate chip cookie
  • Dessert – Boston cream pie
  • Flower: Mayflower
  • Gem – rhodonite
  • Historical Rock – Plymouth rock
  • Inventor – Ben Franklin
  • Sport – basketball
  • Tree: American Elm

See our page on the state of Massachusetts for more interesting facts and trivia about the state of Massachusetts

Babe Ruth, born February 6Birthday of George Herman (Babe) Ruth (February 6, 1895), American baseball player.

Birth of Ronald Reagan, February 6, 1911Birthday of Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911), 40th president of the United States.

1918 Per The Fact Site In the United Kingdom, women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote.

91st Birthday of my sister, a very good reason to celebrate this day!

February 6, 1952 – Queen Elizabeth II, February 6, 1952Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom became Queen upon the death of her father, King George VI, (Albert Frederick Arthur George) Per BBC.co.uk:

King George VIThe King had suffered a coronary thrombosis – a fatal blood clot to the heart – soon after falling asleep. He was also revealed to have been suffering from lung cancer.

He had always been a frail, nervous man, and had not expected to become King: but he was catapulted onto the throne by the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII.

Three years later, he was leading the country through the Second World War. His steadfastness won him the hearts of the people, most notably when he and his wife, Elizabeth, (who became the Queen Mother on his death), insisted on sharing the dangers of the Battle of Britain with the people of London.

However, the stressful nature of his accession to the throne, and the particularly traumatic times through which he led the country left him physically exhausted, and are thought to have contributed to his failing health and his early death.

Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch on 21 December 2007. She died Sept 8, 2022 and was succeeded by her son, Charles.

2012- The U.N. General Assembly announces February 6 as the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Senator Rand Paul talked at length about the ills of genital mutilation, saying it “is recognized internationally as a violation of international human rights,” and drew a comparison between that and gender confirmation surgeries.