TODAY in HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, February 22, the 53rd day of 2017. There are 312 days left in the year.
1821 Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities. 1848 The French Revolution, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins. 1853 Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. 1856 The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh. 1862 Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. 1872 The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee. 1899 Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine-American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans. 1904 The UK sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina, the islands are subsequently claimed by the UK in 1908.
1924 US President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to deliver a radio address from the White House. 1942 World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable. 1948 Communist coup in Czechoslovakia. 1958 Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic. 1973 Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices. 1974 The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirtyseven countries attend participate. It also recognises Bangladesh.
2002 Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush. 2005 The Zarand quake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII, leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured. 2014 President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion. 2015 A boat capsizes in the Padma river, Bangladesh, killing 70 people.