TODAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 22ND

1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799) is born.

1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania)

1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh.

1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.

1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.

1879 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and dime Woolworth stores.

1889 – United States President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.

1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.

1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.

1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager, Cincinnatu Reds & Detroit Tigers (d. 2010) is born.

1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.

1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist, wife of Mahatma Gandhi (b. 1869) dies.

1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.

1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006) is born.

1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat is born.

1974 – Samuel Byck tries and fails to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon.

1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter is born.

1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.

1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

1997 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.