February 21

Today in History
• 1173 - Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1431 - Joan of Arc's first day of interrogation during her trial for heresy
• 1746 - Jacobite Rising, British forces surrender Inverness Castle
• 1782 - US Congress resolves establishment of a US mint
• 1804 - 1st locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs for the 1st time
• 1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun begins with an estimated 1 million casualties
• 1922 - Britain declares Egypt a sovereign state
• 1972 - Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to visit China


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Fasnacht Day
• Language Day
• Losar
• Mardi Gras
• National Pancake Day
• National Sticky Bun Day
• Tsagaan Sar
• Zhonge Festival

Birthdays
• 1684 - Justus van Effen, writer/founder (Holland Spectator)
• 1705 - Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer
• 1728 - Peter III, Kiel Germany, Russian tsar, 1762
• 1744 - Eise Eisinga, astronomer (built the oldest functioning planetarium)
• 1794 - Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, president of Mexico, 1833-36
• 1829 - Johnson Hagood, American politician (Governor of South Carolina 1880-82)
• 1857 - Jules de Trooz, Belgian politician, Premier of Belgium
• 1875 - Jeanne Louise Calment, French world's oldest woman (d. 1997 at 122)