This Day In History

On February 16, 1909, stamps printed on an experimental bluish paper were issued. These stamps were part of an effort to prevent paper shrinkage.

Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts. Born into a Quaker family that believed deeply in equality and moral responsibility, she would grow into one of the most persistent and recognizable leaders of the fight for women’s voting rights in the United States.

Winfield Scott Hancock was born on February 14, 1824, in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, and would grow into one of the Union Army’s most respected battlefield commanders. Known later as “Hancock the Superb,” he built his reputation not through legend, but through steady leadership in some of the Civil War’s hardest fights.

On February 13, 1988, the Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They were the first Winter Olympics held in Canada and a record number of nations participated for the time.

On February 10, 1967, the Constitution gained a long-missing instruction manual for moments of presidential crisis. The ratification of the 25th Amendment finally spelled out who takes power, and how, when a president dies, resigns, or becomes unable to serve.

On February 9, 1825, John Quincy Adams was elected president of the United States even though he had not won a majority of the electoral vote. The unusual outcome exposed deep political divisions and set the stage for one of the most contested elections in early American history.

On January 30, 1835, a gunshot was meant to change American history—but it didn’t. That winter day, outside the US Capitol, an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate President Andrew Jackson, marking the first known assassination attempt against a sitting US president.

Neysa McMein, born on January 24, 1888, helped shape how America saw itself during the early 20th century through powerful images that appeared everywhere from magazines to movie studios. Her art captured modern beauty, wartime patriotism, and celebrity culture at a moment when illustration defined public life.

Nurse midwife Mary Carson Breckinridge was born on February 17, 1881, in Memphis, Tennessee. She founded the Frontier Nursing Service, which helped vastly improve healthcare in rural areas.

On February 17, 1913, the Armory Show opened at the 69th Regimental Armory in New York City, giving many in the public their first exposure to Modern Art.

Poet Julia de Burgos García was born on February 17, 1914, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. A poet, civil rights activist, and Puerto Rican nationalist, de Burgos defied convention before feminism was accepted in her culture. 

Frederic Eugene Ives was born on February 17, 1856, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He developed the first successful half-tone process and invented the “Kromskop,” which projected three identical images through different colored filters to produce some of the first color photographs.