Infodrop: Information. Ideas. Thoughts. And all things interesting.

February 4th

1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.

1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.

1957 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), logs its 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne’s novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.

2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social network is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

For a complete list of events that occurred on this date: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_4

February 3

1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.

1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, granting voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1959 – A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died.

For a complete list of events that took place on this date: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_3

February 2

1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.

1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

1790 – The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time.

1880 – The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana

1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.

1913 – Grand Central Station was opened in New York City.

1940 – Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.

For a complete list of events that took place on this date: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2

January 29

1845 – “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is published in the New York Evening Mirror.

1861 – Kansas admitted as the 34th U.S. state.

1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.

1978 – Sweden outlaws aerosol sprays due to their harmful effect on the ozone layer, becoming the first nation to enact such a ban.

1996 – President Jacques Chirac announces a “definitive end” to French nuclear testing.

For a complete list of events that took place on this day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_29

January 28th

1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.

1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.

1547 – Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.

1754 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity.

1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.

1813 – Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.

1855 – The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.

1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.

1887 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes are reported, being 14.96 inches (38 cm) wide and 7.7 inches (20 cm) thick.

1902 – The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.

1916 – Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.

1917 – Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco, California.

1933 – The name Pakistan is coined.

1958 – The Lego company patented their design of Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.

1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.

For a complete list of events that took place on this day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_28