This Month in History: February’s Defining Moments • Page 12

1959 CE, February 22

The first Daytona 500 takes place on February 22, 1959, at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway in Florida with 59 cars. The Inaugural race was won by Lee Petty in a controversial and dramatic photo finish that took three days to officially settle after Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner and even celebrated in Victory Lane.

1960 CE, February 1

Four African American students at North Carolina, Agricultural and Technical College, stage a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, sparking similar protests.

1960 CE, February 13

France detonates its first atomic bomb, codenamed "Gerboise Bleue" (Blue Jerboa),on February 13, 1960, in the Algerian Sahara desert near Reggane, making France the world's fourth nuclear power. It was followed by 16 other tests (1960–1966), leaving a lasting toxic and radioactive legacy.

1961 CE, February 15

Sabena Flight 548, a Boeing 707 flying from NY City to Brussels, Belgium crashes as it attempts to land in clear weather on February 15, 1961. All 72 people aboard perished including the entire 18-member U.S. figure skating team, 16 people accompanying them and 38 other passengers and crew and on person on the ground.

1962 CE, February 7

President John F. Kennedy proclaims an embargo on trade between the United States and Cuba effective on February 7, 1962, in response to certain actions taken by the Cuban Government Kennedy directed the Departments of Commerce and the Treasury to implement and manage the embargo, which still remains in place today. More

1962 CE, February 20

John H. Glenn Jr, one of NASA’s original seven Mercury astronauts, becomes the first American to orbit Earth, circling it three times. Glenn went on to become a U.S. Senator in 1974. More

1964 CE, February 7

The Beatles land at John F. Kennedy International Airport tin New York, and were he United States for the first time on February 7, 1964, starting the "British Invasion" of music. Their visit included an Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 9 which was watched by a record breaking 73 million people, marking the official start of "Beatlemania" in the United States and the "British Invasion" of music

1965 CE, February 15

Canada adopts a new National flag on February 15, 1965. The new maple leaf flag originally proposed by George Stanley was made official and it was inaugurated in a public ceremony on Parliament Hill. More

1965 CE, February 21

Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City. at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Just as Malcolm X began to address, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), gunmen rushed the stage, firing at least 15 times. More

1966 CE, February 3

The Soviet Union's Luna 9 (Lunik 9) makes the first soft landing on the moon and transmits photographic data from the Moon's surface to Earth.

1967 CE, February 22

General Suharto assumes full executive authority in Indonesia on February 22, 1967, ending President Sukarno's 22-year communist leaning rule.

1968 CE, February 27

CBS anchor Walter Cronkite declares on-air, on February 27, 1968, that the U.S. was "mired in stalemate and that negotiations were the only rational way out. argued that the war was a "standoff" and that further military escalation would not lead to victory, but rather to a prolonged, costly conflict."

1970 CE, February 11

Japan launches Ohsumi, its first man-made satellite on February 11, 1970, making Japan the fourth country in the world (after the former Soviet Union, the United States and France) to have launched a satellite without aid from outside sources.

1971 CE, February 5

Apollo 14's Lunar module with astronauts, Alan B. Shepard Jr. (Commander) and Edgar D. Mitchell (Lunar Module Pilot) descends to the lunar surface on the third U.S. moon landing.

1971 CE, February 9

The Sylmar magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 1971 at 6 AM. Transportation infrastructure was significantly damaged around the Los Angeles area, with bridges and highway exits collapsing during the earthquake.

1972 CE, February 21

U.S. President Richard Nixon makes a historic eight-day visit to China from February 21–28, 1972, the first-ever visit by a U.S. head of state to the PRC, ending 25 years of diplomatic isolation and hostility between the two nations.

1974 CE, February 8

The U.S. Senate votes on December 10, 1974, to confirm Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford by a vote of 90 to 7. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States on December 19, 1974

1978 CE, February 22

The first NAVSTAR satellite, Navstar 1, was launched on February 22, 1978, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

1979 CE, February 1

Homebrewing beer becomes federally legal on February 1, 1979. When Prohibition ended, federal law allowed households to produce wine for personal use but that was not the case for beer, which remained illegal to brew at home.

1979 CE, February 17

China invades Vietnam on February 17, 1979, starting the month-long Sino-Vietnamese War. It was triggered in part, by Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and toppling the Chinese-aligned Khmer Rouge regime. The Chinese forces withdrew on March 16.