A Brief History On February 23, 1903, Cuba made a deal with the United States to lease 45 square miles of land and sea for a period of time with no expiration, virtually forever! Digging Deeper In 1898, the US and Spain fought a war, including ground and sea combat in Cuba, then a Spanish possession. The US won the short war, and took possession of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, while Cuba was freed from Spain and became an independent country. The original rent payment was to be paid in Gold, $2000 per year, but after 1934 the…
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A Brief History On February 21, 1965, former Nation of Islam officer and African American nationalist, Malcom X, was gunned down prior to making a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Digging Deeper Malcom had a falling out with the NOI and had received threats and warnings of imminent assassination. While one assailant blasted Malcom with a shotgun to the chest, 2 more gunmen fired multiple shots from semi-automatic handguns, hitting him with 21 bullets and 10 shotgun pellets. Malcom X was killed, and one of his murderers was beaten and captured by the audience, while the…
A Brief History On February 20, 1905, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states have the authority to require mandatory vaccinations against disease, well over a century before the controversy over the Covid vaccine in 2020 and 2021. Digging Deeper In the case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the court ruled that Massachusetts and other states had the right to enforce compulsory vaccination laws and that individual liberty is not absolute. In this case, the disease involved was smallpox, and the law in the Bay State required people over 21 to be vaccinated or face a $5 fine. …
A Brief History On February 19, 1954, the Soviet Politburo, the highest policy making organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ordered the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR. The Crimea had previously been part of the Russian SFSR, and numerous cultures, kingdoms, and empires before that. Digging Deeper After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a referendum of Crimean citizens voted to become an autonomous region within the Ukrainian SSR and in 1992, within an independent Ukraine. In 1994, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States agreed to the Budapest Memorandum, a treaty that addressed former Soviet…
A Brief History On February 16, 1904, African American movie actor and singer James Franklin Baskett was born in Indianapolis. You may not know his name, but the character he played in the Disney classic movie, Song of the South in 1946, Uncle Remus, is a beloved part of Americana as is his rendition of the song, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Digging Deeper In 1948, Baskett was awarded an honorary Oscar, becoming the first Black actor to receive an Academy Award. Other notable African American births on February 16th include pianist and organist Bill Doggett in 1916, actor LaVar Burton in 1957, both…