Obscure American History for the Week of 2/9-2/15

Obscure American History For the Week of 2/9 - 2/15

Feb 9, 1964: The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. Half the country watched it. The British began to regain control of their former empire.



Feb 10, 1863. World famous dwarfs General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren marry in New York City. The best man, was of course, fellow dwarf performer, Commodore George Washington Nutt. After the wedding, the couple was greeted at the White House by President Lincoln.

Feb 11, 1812: Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry performs the act that coins the term ‘Gerrymandering.’ He signed a bill that redistricted his state to benefit the Democratic Republican party. Though his name was pronounced with a hard ‘G,’ most people refer to it as jerrymadering. In recent years, seems only ol’ Dutch Reagan knew the correct pronunciation.
And let’s not forget Feb. 11, 2006. For God’s sake, get down! Cheney’s got a gun!

Feb 12, 1809: Charles Darwin is born in Mount House, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. No one even noticed his birth, however, because across the pond in Hardin County, Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born! He was the first president born outside the 13 colonies. Among his achievements were redefining Republican ideals, wearing stylish hats, and oh yeah- FREEING THE SLAVES. What did you do Charles Darwin? What? Evolut-I-Don’t-Want-To-Hear-It, Brit.



Feb 13, 1919: Ernest Jennings Ford is born in Bristol, Tennessee. After serving in the Pacific in WWII, Ernest worked various radio stations in southern California as a disc jockey. One show he was hired for was an early morning country program called “Bar Nothin’ Ranch Time.” To make the show more popular and noticeable, he created the wild, hillbilly personality of ‘Tennessee Ernie Ford.’

Feb 14, 1899: Voting machines were approved by Congress to be used in future US Elections. Thanks a lot, 55th United States Congress. In other patriotic news that Feb 14, 1778 was the first day the United States Flag was recognized by a foreign naval vessel. French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte fired a nine-gun salute to the USS Ranger.

Feb 15, 1809 marks the birth of Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr, who invented a horse-drawn reaper that would become the first product of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. That later became International Harvester. His ‘innovative’ business practices made the company a huge success, and Cyrus stayed at the helm for as long as possible. He died in 1884, his last words: “work, work, work.”