Tidbits of History, February 21

February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

 
From: The Ayn Rand LexiconThe “sanction of the victim” is the willingness of the good to suffer at the hands of the evil, to accept the role of sacrificial victim for the “sin” of creating values.

National Sticky Bun Day
National Biscuits and Gravy Day

February 21, 1613 – Mikhail I of Russia became Tzar, starting the Romanov Dynasty which ruled until the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on March 15, 1917, as a result of the Russian Revolution.

Birthday of Czar Peter III of Russia (1728) who ruled six months, then was murdered in June 1762 at the age of 34 by conspirators of his wife, Catherine II. He was not crowned until thirty-five years after his death, when his coffin was opened expressly for that purpose. He could not speak Russian and was unpopular. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica:

“Nature had made him mean, the smallpox had made him hideous, and his degraded habits made him loathsome. And Peter had all the sentiments of the worst kind of small German prince of the time. He had the conviction that his princeship entitled him to disregard decency and the feelings of others. “

From Asimov, Isaac. Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts. New York, Bell Publishing Company, 1981

February 21, 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto. Now in the public domain and available at Nextdoor estore.com

The Communist Manifesto summarized Marx and Engels’ theories about the nature of society and politics, that, in their own words, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. It also briefly features their ideas for how the capitalist society of the time would eventually be replaced by socialism, and then finally communism.

1878 – The first telephone book was issued in New Haven, Connecticut.

1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument was dedicated. Inscribed on the aluminum cap, notable names and dates in the monument’s construction are recalled, and on the east face, facing the rising sun, the Latin words “Laus Deo,” which translate to, “Praise be to God.”

February 21, 1958 – The peace symbol was designed.