I've been intrigued by the Internet since I first discovered I had the capacity to gain access. I really can't remember when that was, but it's been a few years. What continues to amaze me is how much information there is floating around out there, available to anyone with only a click of the mouse.
As often happens, I began to wonder about odd "stuff," the stuff in this instance being the date of February 3. A few clicks of the mouse brought me to a hitherto undiscovered service of the ubiquitous Wikipedia: Wikipedia Answers. At that site, I discovered a plethora of interesting information concerning this date in history, from which I have selected the following (I offer my apologies, in advance, to my non-U.S.A. readers, as most of this information applies to American events):
1690 - The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.
1809 - The Illinois Territory is created
1834 - Wake Forest University is established
1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, granting voting rights regardless of race (comment: men only)
1913 - The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the government to impose and collect income tax ( you needed to know that, didn't you?)
1947 - The lowest temperature in North America is recorded at Snag, Yukon: -81.4 degrees F., -63 degrees C.
1959 - THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED - A plane crash near Clear Lake, IA kills Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Roger Peterson
1966 - Unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the moon.
1984 - The first untethered spacewalk was made by U.S. astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Steward.
Birthdays of note on this date:
1809 - Felix Mendelssohn
1811 - Horace Greeley
1842 - Sidney Lanier
1874 - Gertrude Stein
1894 - Norman Rockwell
1904 - Pretty Boy Floyd
1907 - James Michener
1911 - Robert Earl Jones
Deaths of note on this date:
1468 - Johannes Gutenberg
1889 - Belle Starr
1922 - John Butler Yeats
1924 - Woodrow Wilson
1943 - THE FOUR CHAPLAINS - if you're too young to remember the story of these heroic men, it's worth a read; just click on the link.
OK... I'll stop there. If you've read this far, you are a blog friend indeed!
Additional information about all of the above is available at Wikipedia Answers, which has very nicely left a trail of clickable links in case you have any interest.
