The Battle of Iwo Jima took place in February 1945 during World War II. The battle resulted in the United States capturing the island from the Empire of Japan. The historic picture below depicts the raising of the U.S flag on the top of Mount Suribachi by a group of U.S Marines and Navy Corpsmen. ...
George Washington, former president of the United States, was born on 22 February 1732 in Wakefield, Virginia. In 1783 Washington led the Americans to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War, having served as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. He later presided over the writing of the Constitution of the United States ...
Presidents Day is a federal holiday celebrated annually in the US on the third Monday in February. The day was the first federal holiday to honour an American citizen. This American citizen was George Washington, the first president of the United States. The holiday is officially titled ‘Washington’s Birthday’. However, this is somewhat of a ...
US novelist Mark Twain is remembered for his witty style of writing. His book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published in the USA on 18 February 1885. It describes life in a small town alongside the Mississippi River, told from the point of view of a young boy. The main character, Huckleberry Finn ...
The sale of alcohol was banned in the USA in 1920. Public health advice had attempted to frighten people about the possible effects of alcohol consumption. In response to growing public concern about the damaging effects of alcohol and its impact on society, the National Prohibition Act was passed, banning the production and sale of ...
Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba on 16 February 1959. He remained in power as Prime Minister, and then as President, for the next 49 years, making him the world’s longest serving political leader. Fidel Castro was a revolutionary with strong affiliations to the Communist Party. He wanted to eradicate poverty from Cuba and ...
Galileo Galilei, the famous astronomer, mathematician and physicist, was born on 15 February 1564. He was the first person to develop and use a telescope to observe the night sky, but is remembered also for the persecution he endured for declaring that the sun, and not the earth, was at the centre of our solar ...
The feast of St Valentine, the patron saint of love, young people and happy marriage, is celebrated on 14 February. It is not clear who the original St Valentine was, but he may have been a 3rd century martyred priest. One legend says that the imprisoned priest sent a farewell note to his jailor’s daughter, ...
On 11th February 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison. He had been jailed for his part in a plot to overthrow the South African government violently, in the long struggle against the regime of apartheid in South Africa. His release marked the start of the process of forming a new democratic ...
The first fire extinguisher was patented on this day in 1863 to Alanson Crane of Virginia. It wasn’t until World War II that Dr. Percy Julian, using a soy protein, invented an aero-foam extinguisher that could suffocate gas and oil fires. Credit: Corbis Images Teaching Activity To know how fire extinguishers work, students must first ...