TODAY IN HISTORY

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In 1693, a charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

In 1837, the Senate selected the vice-president of the United States choosing Richard Mentor Johnson after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

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In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law favoring his party--giving rise to the term " gerrymandering."

In 1847, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio.

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In 1870, women in the Utah Territory gained the right to vote. (However that right was taken away in 1887).

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded.

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If I am not mistaking, isn't February 12th actually the birthdate of Abraham Lincoln?

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you are right there and Washington's is the 22nd

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In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Star and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France.

In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state.

In 1894, comedian Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky in Waukegan, Ill.

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In 1764, the city of St. Louis was established by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau.

In 1820, American suffragist B. Anthony was born in Adams,Mass.

In 1879, President Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court.

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In 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the provisional president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1960, the eight Winter Olympic Games were formally opened in Squaw Valley, California, by Vice President Nixon.

In 1967, American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer died in Princeton, N.J. at age 62.

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In 1803, Congress voted to accept Ohio's borders and constitution.

In 1846, the Texas state government was formally installed in Austin, with J. Pinckney Henderson taking the othe of office as governor.

In 1878, Thomas Rdison received a U.S. patent for "an improvement in phonegraph or speaking machine.

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In 1792, President Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post office.

In 1809, the Supreme Court, in United States vs Peters ruled the power of the federal govenment is greater than that of any individual state.

In 1839, Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.

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In 1862, Jefferson Davis already the provisional president of the Condfederacy, was inaugurated for a six-year term as president following his election the previous November.

In 1865, Tennessee adopted a new constitution that included the abolition of slavery.

In 1889, President Cleveland signed an omnibus bill to admit the Dakotas, Montana and Washington state to the Union.

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In 1836, inventor Samual Colt patented his revolver.

In 1901,U.S. Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.

In 1983,playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead in his New York hotel suite, he was 71

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In 1929,President Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park.

In 1940, the U.S. Air Defense Command was created

In 1979, a total solar eclipse cast a moving shadow 175 miles wide from Oregon to North Dakota before moving into Canada.

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In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of congress.

In 1807, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine

In 1922, the Supreme Court, in Leser vs Garnett unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed the right of women to vote.

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In 1827, the first U.S. railroad chartered to carry passengers and freight, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. was incorporated by the state of Maryland

In 1861, the Territory of Colorado was organized.

In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes.

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In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a seven-member commission to facilitate completion of the Panama Canal.

In 1940, "Gone with the Wind" won eight Academy Awards, including best picture of 1939.

In 1956, President Eisenhower announced he would seek a second term of office.

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In 1845, Florida became the 27th state.

In 1849, the U.S. Department of the Interior was established.

In 1887, Anne Sullivan arrived at the Tuscumbia, Ala., home of Capt. and Mrs. Arthur H. Keller to become the teacher for their blind and deaf 6-year-old daughter, Helen.

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In 1791, Vermont became the 14th state.

In 1858, Sen. James Henry Hammond, D-S.C. declared, "Cotten is King" in a speech to the U.S. Senate.

In 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated president.

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In 1849, Zachary Taylor took oath of office at his presidential inauguration.

In 1868, the Senate was organized into a Court of Impeachment to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson, who was later acquitted.

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In 1849, Horticuturist Luther Berbank was born in Lancaster, Mass.

In 1876, Akexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone.