Ten Things Tuesday--Valentines Day

Ten Things That Happened on February 14 That Have Nothing to Do with Cupid or Romance

I'm all for presents and attention from my husband on Valentine's Day. The hype of forced romance just because it is February 14 bothers me a little. My husband should romance me just because, not because the card, chocolate, and jewelry companies tell him to. So, instead of 10 things I wish my husband would do for me, I'm gonna give you ten non-romantic events that have occurred in the past.

In 1778, the United States Flag was offically recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time. French Admiral Picquet rendered a nine gun salute to the USS Ranger, under the command of Captain John Paul Jones, as it entered a French port. While looking for more information, I stumbled upon this blog http://boneinitsteeth.blogspot.com/2011/02/on-this-day-in-history-first-salute-to.html. If you would like more details on this event, check it out.

In 1859, Oregon was admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.

In 1912, Arizona was admitted as the 48th.

In 1919, United Parcel Service formed. AKA UPS. They actually originated in Seattle as American Messanger Service in 1907. February

Penicillin was mass produced by 1944.
This picture is in the public domain 
because it originally came from the 
National Institute of Health.

In 1929, the Saint Valentine's Day massacre occurred. Seven people were murdered in Chicago, IL. Six of them were gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang.

Also in 1929, Alexander Fleming introduced his mold by-product called penicillin to cure bacterial infections. Unless your children are allergic, you can thank him for ear infection relief.

In 1962, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave a televised tour of the White House.

In 2000, the spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit around asteroid 433 Eros. It is the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

In 2003, Dolly the sheep - the first mammal cloned from an adult - was put to death at age 6 due to premature aging and disease aka incurable lung cancer.

And last year, in 2011, as a part of Arab spring, the 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain began.

I found a lot of "on this day in history" type information on wikipedia and history.com. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be to pare it down to 10 facts. Take some time and check them out.