February 22nd

Somali pirates shot to death four Americans taken hostage on their yacht several hundred miles south of Oman.

Insurgents destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines, the Askariya mosque in Samarra, setting off a spasm of sectarian violence.

A U.N. war crimes tribunal convicted three Bosnian Serbs on charges of rape and torture in the first case of wartime sexual enslavement to go before an international court.

The People Power Revolution begins in the Philippines. The nonviolent campaign resulted in the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of the country's democracy.

The play “Moose Murders” flops spectacularly on Broadway. According to critic Frank Rich, “a visit to Moose Murders is what will separate the connoisseurs of Broadway disaster from mere dilettantes for many moons to come.”

The U.S. hockey team beat the Soviets 4-3 In a stunning upset at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.

25,000 US & South Vietnamese troops launch Operation Junction City against Viet Cong. Largest US airborne assult since WWII.

The inaugural Daytona 500 race was held in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Czechoslovakia becomes a communist state following a coup d'etat. The country became a parliamentary republic following the non-violent “Velvet Revolution” in 1989 and was split into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993.

Airplanes were no longer permitted to fly over the White House.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., was born in Boston, the youngest child of Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy.

Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.

Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first "Five Cent Store" in Utica, New York.

Tennessee adopted a new constitution abolishing slavery.

Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederacy.

Russia & Britain establish Alaska-Canada boundary.

Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

The Last Invasion of Britain by the French, begins near Fishguard, Wales.

British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright.

Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.

Robert II succeeded to the throne of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.