George Washington was born in Virginia on February 11, 1731, according to the then-used Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, which moved the calendar ahead 11 days and made January the first month of the year instead of March. The new calendar placed Washington’s birth on February [...]

On February 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon arrived in Peking on his historic goodwill visit to China.

John Glenn conducted the first manned space orbit of the earth on February 20, 1962. This is the transcription of his in-flight communication with Mission Control in Florida.

Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland. In the next 6 months, over 100,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were moved to assembly centers. They were then evacuated [...]

Today, in 1884, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn was published.  I searched for “Mark Twain” in the National Archives’ Online Public Access tool today and discovered a picture of Mark Twain’s house, pictures of the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, and a picture of the “Mark Twain Stump.”  Enjoy these three photos and look for [...]

Taken on February 18, 1915, this photo shows a fruit and vegetable stand in Washington DC’s Center Market. The market once operated on the land now occupied by the National Archives Building.

Because the Constitution did not distinguish between President and Vice-President in the votes cast by the Electoral College, both Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr received 73 votes in the election of 1800. The House of Representatives cast thirty-five ballots over five days to break the tie and finally, on February 17, 1801, on [...]