Today's Trivia and What Happened on February 15

Why did the cross-eyed teacher lose her job?

Why did the cross-eyed teacher lose her job? Close Large View

She couldn't control her pupils.

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Quote: Because it is there. - George Leigh-Mallory, British mountain climber

Quote: Because it is there. - George Leigh-Mallory, British mountain climber Close Large View

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What Happened On

Canadian Maple Leaf Flag

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Canadian Maple Leaf Flag

February 15, 1965

Canada's new red and white Maple Leaf Flag is officially raised for the first time. February 15th is now celebrated as Flag Day in Canada.

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ENIAC ENIAC

ENIAC ENIAC
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ENIAC

February 15, 1946

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the first general-purpose stored program electronic digital computer, is dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania. It could calculate 1,000 times faster than anything previous. It required 18,000 vacuum tubes and 130,000 watts of power. Its first program was a study of the feasibility of the thermonuclear weapon. Originally designed to calculate missile trajectories, ENIAC could calculate a trajectory in 30 seconds that took a human 20 hours.

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Wreckage of the USS Maine Wreckage of the USS Maine

Wreckage of the USS Maine Wreckage of the USS Maine
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Remember the Maine - Fake News and the Lead Up to War

February 15, 1898

U.S. battleship Maine explodes in the Havana, Cuba harbor killing 260 men. Although the cause of the explosion has never been verified, it was generally blamed on the Spanish. Some investigations ruled the explosion was caused by a torpedo and others felt the explosion had been caused by spontaneous combustion of the coal bunkers.
In what would be described as "yellow journalism", the New York Journal and New York World gave exaggerated and distorted accounts insisting that the Maine had been bombed or mined, leading to the rallying cry "Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain." The hysteria created by the newspaper coverage was one of the factors leading up to the Spanish-American War.

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First Camels Imported to the U.S. for Commercial Purposes - And the Legend of the Red Ghost

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First Camels Imported to the U.S. for Commercial Purposes - And the Legend of the Red Ghost

February 15, 1856

American naval officer David Dixon Porter leaves Turkey with a shipload of 33 camels. They were unloaded in Texas the following May, but by then there were 34 camels as one had died and two were born and survived the trip. These were the first camels imported to the U.S. for commercial purposes.
Congress had appropriated $30,000 for the camel acquisition to be used in experiments to determine their suitability for use in the military.
In 1883, one of the camels from the military that ended up in the wild is believed to have inspired the Arizonan stories of the Red Ghost, a large, red camel, with a bleached human skeleton riding on its back. Tales of the Red Ghost spread throughout Arizona and grew taller each time the stories were told, with the Red Ghost being 30-feet (9 m) tall and killing and eating a grizzly bear. The sightings continued for 10 years until 1893 when a farmer saw the Red Ghost with its skeleton rider on his land and shot and killed it. The identity of the skeleton has never been determined.

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Abraham Lincoln on Preemptive War

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Abraham Lincoln on Preemptive War

February 15, 1848

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln writes in a letter his thoughts on preemptive war:
Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose-and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, "I see no probability of the British invading us" but he will say to you "be silent; I see it, if you don't." The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.

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First Brawl on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives

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First Brawl on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives

February 15, 1798

Two weeks prior, during an argument, Matthew Lyon (Vermont) had spit tobacco juice in the face of Roger Griswold (Connecticut). Lyon later gave a written apology for the incident. But, when the resolution to remove Lyon failed, Griswold was not satisfied with this outcome, and on February 15th, Griswold attacked Lyon with his cane. Lyon retreated to a fire pit and defended himself with the fire tongs until other Congressmen broke up the fight.

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Iraq War

February 15, 2003

Millions of people in 800 cities around the world protest the upcoming war. This was listed in Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest protest.

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First Woman to Pitch in an NCAA or NCIA College Baseball Game

February 15, 1993

Freshman Ila Borders pitches the entire game for Southern California College in their 12-1 victory over Claremont-Mudd.

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St. Louis

February 15, 1764

The city of St. Louis, Missouri is founded.

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Birthdays

The Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show (1987) The Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show (1987)

The Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show (1987) The Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show (1987)
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Creator of The Simpsons

Matt Groening

Born February 15, 1954

American Emmy-winning cartoonist. Creator of The Simpsons and Futurama. The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history, as well as the longest-running animated series and sitcom.
The Simpson family got their start as a series of 48 one-minute animated shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show.

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Harvey Korman

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Harvey Korman

Born February 15, 1927 d. 2008

American Emmy-winning comedian. TV: The Carol Burnett Show (1967-78) and Mama's Family (1983-84, Ed Higgins). Film: Blazing Saddles (1974, Hedley Lamar), High Anxiety (1977, Dr. Charles Montague), and History of the World, Part 1 (1981, Count de Monet).

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Susan Brownell Anthony

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Susan Brownell Anthony

Born February 15, 1820 d. 1906

American woman's rights leader.

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John Augustus Sutter

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John Augustus Sutter (Johann August Suter)

Born February 15, 1803 d. 1880

German-born American explorer, trader. He was prosperous until gold was discovered on his mill (1848) - the incoming prospectors stole his land and his workers quit to seek their own fortunes.

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First Woman Executed in the U.S. by American Courts

Bathsheba Spooner

Born February 15, 1746 d. 1778

American criminal. She was the first woman executed in the U.S. by American courts. She conspired with her boyfriend and two others to kill her husband. She tried to get her execution delayed because she was pregnant with her boyfriend's child. Her request was denied. An autopsy showed that she was pregnant with a five-month-old male fetus at the time of execution.

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Galileo facing the Inquisition for his belief the Earth revolves around the Sun Galileo facing the Inquisition for his belief the Earth revolves around the Sun

Galileo facing the Inquisition for his belief the Earth revolves around the Sun Galileo facing the Inquisition for his belief the Earth revolves around the Sun
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Galileo Galilei

Born February 15, 1564 d. 1642

Italian astronomer, physicist. He built the first complete astronomical telescope, which he used to prove that the Earth revolved around the Sun. He was imprisoned by the Catholic Church for this belief.

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Chris Farley

Born February 15, 1964 d. 1997

American actor, comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live. Film: Tommy Boy (1995), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), and Almost Heroes (1998).

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Melissa Manchester

Born February 15, 1951

American singer. Music: You Should Hear How She Talks About You (1982).

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Jane Seymour (Joyce Frankenberg)

Born February 15, 1951

British actress. TV: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (title role).

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Roger B. Chaffee

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Roger B. Chaffee

Born February 15, 1935 d. 1967

American astronaut. He died with two other astronauts when Apollo 1 caught fire on the launch pad during a simulation.
Chaffee served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for the Gemini 3 and Gemini 4 missions and served as the third-ranking pilot on Apollo 1.

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Adolfo (Adolfo F. Sardina)

Born February 15, 1933 d. 2021

Cuban-born American award-winning fashion designer.

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Claire Bloom

Born February 15, 1931

English actress. Film: Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (1952, Terry) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).

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Allan Arbus

Born February 15, 1918 d. 2013

American actor. TV: M*A*S*H (Dr. Sidney Freedman).

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Kevin McCarthy

Born February 15, 1914 d. 2010

American actor. Film: Death of a Salesman (1951, Biff) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, lead role, and the 1978 remake as a man running through the streets shouting a warning in the same fashion as his character did in the original film). TV: The Survivors (Philip Hastings).

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Cesar Romero

Born February 15, 1907 d. 1994

American actor. TV: Batman (the Joker) and Falcon Crest (Peter Stavros).

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Harold Arlen (Hyman Arluck)

Born February 15, 1905 d. 1986

American Oscar-winning composer. Music: Stormy Weather (1943), It's Only a Paper Moon (1932), That Old Black Magic (1942), and Over the Rainbow (1939, Oscar).

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Sax Rohmer (Arthur Henry Ward)

Born February 15, 1883 d. 1959

English author. Creator of the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu (1912). He based his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada on his friend Harry Houdini.

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John Barrymore

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John Barrymore (John Sidney Blyth)

Born February 15, 1882 d. 1942

American actor. His portrayals of Hamlet and Richard III are considered the greatest of his time. According to Errol Flynn, when Barrymore died, some of his friends took his body from the funeral home and propped it up in a chair in Flynn's home to frighten him. Quote: "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."

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Cyrus McCormick and an 1884 ad for his reaper Cyrus McCormick and an 1884 ad for his reaper

Cyrus McCormick and an 1884 ad for his reaper Cyrus McCormick and an 1884 ad for his reaper
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Cyrus Hall McCormick

Born February 15, 1809 d. 1884

American inventor. He invented the modern style reaper (1831), which was largely responsible for the U.S. agricultural revolution. His company became part of International Harvester in 1902.

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Henry Engelhard Steinway

Born February 15, 1797 d. 1871

German piano maker, founder of Steinway and Sons (1853).

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William Miller

Born February 15, 1782 d. 1849

American religious leader of the Second Adventists in America. He and his followers (Millerites) believed the world would end on October 22, 1844. Many of his followers gave away their earthly possessions in preparation for the event.

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Louis XV

Born February 15, 1710 d. 1774

King of France (1715-74), became king at the age of 5.

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Pedro Menéndes de Avilés

Born February 15, 1519 d. 1574

Spanish explorer. First governor of Florida (1565-74). He founded St. Augustine, Florida (1565), which is the oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement in the continental U.S.

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Deaths

Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.

Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
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Raquel Welch (Jo Raquel Tejada)

Died February 15, 2023 b. 1940

American actress, sex symbol. Film: Fantastic Voyage (1966), One Million Years B.C. (1966) and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976).
The publicity photo of Welch wearing a deer-skin bikini from One Million Years B.C. became a best-selling poster and made her an international sex symbol.
Playboy magazine named her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s.

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Merman in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) Merman in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)

Merman in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) Merman in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
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Ethel Merman (Ethel Zimmerman)

Died February 15, 1984 b. 1908

American singer, actress. For three decades she reigned as "The Queen of Broadway."

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Wally Cox

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Wally Cox

Died February 15, 1973 b. 1924

American comedian. TV: Mr. Peepers (1952-55, title role) and Underdog (1964-67, voice of Underdog: "There's no need to fear-Underdog is here").

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Frank (right) and Charles Duryea Frank (right) and Charles Duryea

Frank (right) and Charles Duryea Frank (right) and Charles Duryea
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James Frank Duryea

Died February 15, 1967 b. 1869

American inventor. Built the first successful gas-powered car in the U.S. and won the first U.S. automobile race (1895). He and his brother Charles Duryea formed the first U.S. automobile company, Duryea Motor Wagon Co. (1895), selling their first car in 1896.

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P. J. O'Rourke Photo Credit: Cato Institute

P. J. O'Rourke Photo Credit: Cato Institute
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P. J. O'Rourke (Patrick Jake O'Rourke)

Died February 15, 2022 b. 1947

American political satirist. Writings: Holidays in Hell (1988, about his visits to war zones as a foreign correspondent).
Quote: Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help mom do the dishes.

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McLean Stevenson

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McLean Stevenson

Died February 15, 1996 b. 1927

American actor. TV: M*A*S*H (1972-75, Lt. Col. Blake) and The McLean Stevenson Show (1976-77, Mac Ferguson).

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Nat King Cole (Nathaniel Adams Coles)

Died February 15, 1965 b. 1919

American jazz singer. Music: Unforgettable (1951) and Stardust (1957).

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Melville Elijah Stone

Died February 15, 1929 b. 1848

American newspaper publisher. He is credited with introducing the odd-pricing strategy. He encouraged his advertisers to subtract a penny from the price - for example, making a $3 item $2.99.

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Vernon Castle

Died February 15, 1918 b. 1887

English dancer, aviator. He and his wife Irene Castle popularized the Fox-trot dance (c1912). He was also the originator of the Castle-walk, one-step, and turkey-trot.

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Edward Hitchcock, Jr.

Died February 15, 1911 b. 1828

American physician. The first U.S. professor of physical education and hygiene (1861). He was appointed by Amherst College of Massachusetts. His program of physical education became a model for college and secondary school programs worldwide.

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General Lew Wallace

Died February 15, 1905 b. 1827

American politician, author. Writings: Ben Hur (1880), which he wrote while governor of the New Mexico territory.

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William Ellery

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William Ellery

Died February 15, 1820 b. 1727

American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

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Lucius II

Died February 15, 1145 b. ????

religious leader, 166th Pope (1144-45).

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