History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 10th. “All the News that’s Fit to Print”...If that phrase sounds familiar, it’s because it’s been printed on the front page of one of the country’s largest and most well-respected newspapers, The New York Times, since this day in 1897. The words were written by Adolph Ochs and started appearing in print soon after he bought the paper in 1896.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 9th. In just over a month, it will be daylight saving time, that time of year most Americans love to hate. And on this day in 1942, at the suggestion of President Franklin Roosevelt, daylight saving time became the law of the land. It was World War II, and Roosevelt was hoping the move would help conserve energy needed for the war effort.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 8th. Winter snowstorms are nothing new to New Englanders, but the one that ended on this day in 1978 was one for the record books, dumping 55 inches of snow on parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island over three days. The blizzard whipped up powerful wind gusts of nearly 100 miles per hour, while 50-foot waves wiped out seaside homes, three Maine lighthouses and an amusement pier.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 7th. The British have given America Shakespeare, James Bond and Harry Potter, but none of these imports caused more of a sensation than the Beatles, who arrived in New York on this day in 1964. Three thousand screaming fans caused a near riot when the Fab Four stepped off the plane at JFK, just six days after the release of their first U.S. #1 hit, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 6th. If British royals are making the news these days, it’s usually Meghan and Harry, but back on this day in 1952, it was 27-year-old Princess Elizabeth, who was crowned Queen Elizabeth I at just 27 years old. Elizabeth never expected to be queen. But when her uncle, King Edward VIII, gave up the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, her father George VI unexpectedly became king.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 5th. In a case that echoed into the 21st century, Byron De La Beckwith finally was convicted of killing civil rights activist Medgar Evers on this day in 1994, more than 30 years after the tragic murder. Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his home, while his wife and three small children were inside.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 4th. On the heels of a contentious election, we look back to this day in 1789, when George Washington won his first election by a unanimous Electoral College vote. He repeated the feat to win a second term in 1792. Washington is the only president ever to have been unanimously elected.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 3rd. This day in 1959 is known as the day the music died, the anniversary of the day rising American rock stars Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, and Ritchie Valens were killed when the small plane Holly chartered to take them to their next tour date crashed during stormy winter weather. The musicians’ deaths inspired Don McLean to write the 1972 hit American Pie.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 2nd. Today is Groundhog Day, which was first celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on this day in 1887. This unusual American holiday grew out of the German tradition of using hedgehogs to help predict the length of the winter. When German immigrants moved to Pennsylvania, they replaced hedgehogs, which are not native to North America, with groundhogs, also known as woodchucks.

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Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on February 1st. If you were alive on this day in 2003, then you probably remember where you were when you heard the news that the Space Shuttle Columbia had broken up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere over Texas. Tragically, all seven astronauts aboard were killed. Columbia, the first of America’s space shuttles, flew 28 missions and spent more than 300 days in space between 1981 and 2003.

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