Notable Birthdays for February 21
Rebecca Nurse (1621-1692) - Colonist who was executed for being a witch.
John Henry Winder (1800-1865) - Brigadier General for the Confederate Army.
George Douglas Ramsay (1802-1882) - Brevet Major General for the Union Army.
Charles Scribner (1821-1871) -Publisher who founded Charles Scribner's Sons.
Tom Yawkey (1903-1976) - Baseball HOF'er who was also owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Helen Octavia Dickens (1909-2001) - Female physician and gynaecologist who was the first black women to be admitted to U.S. College of Surgeons.
Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) - Journalist and author who often wrote on the everyday urban life of families, specifically women.
Henry Kloss (1929-2002) - Audio engineer who invented the acoustic loudspeaker.
Nina Simone (1933-2003) - Singer and civil rights activist who used her music to talk about unfairness of the black person.
Rue McClanahan (1934-2010) - Actress fondly remembered for her firecracker role as Blanche on The Golden Girls.
Gary Lockwood (1937-Still Living) - Actor best known for his role as astronaut Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Ron Nagle (1939-Still Living) - Award-winning sculptor.
John Lewis (1940-2020) - Politician and well-known civil rights leader.
David Geffen (1943-Still Living) - Co-founder of DreamWorks and Geffen Records.
Tyne Daly (1946-Still Living) - Award-winning actress who is best known for her role as Mary Beth Lacey in Cagney & Lacey.
Kelsey Grammer (1955-Still Living) - Actor known for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane in the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier.
Rhiannon Giddens (1977-Still Living) - Folk music musician and founding member of the folk band the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
Memorable Events for February 21
1828 - The Cherokee Phoenix becomes to the first American Indian newspaper to be published.
1842 - The first patent for the sewing machine is given to John Greenough.
1857 - Congress outlaws any foreign currency as legal tender in the U.S.
1866 - Lucy B. Hobbs become the first woman to earn a DDS (surgical dental) degree.
1878 - New Haven, CT, distributes the first telephone directory.
1885 - The Washington Monument is dedicated.
1887 - Oregon becomes the first state to declare Labor Day a holiday.
1902 - The first brain operation is performed by Dr. Harvey Cushing.
1925 - The New Yorker publishes its first issue to readers.
1931 - Alka Seltzer introduced to consumers.
1945 - The 10th Armored Division (Army) overthrows Germany's Orscholz line of defense.
1947 - Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera" (the Polaroid Land Camera) in NY.
1948 - NASCAR is incorporated.
1986 - AIDS patient Ryan White returns to classes at his middle school.