• On Feb. 12, 1912, Hsian-T’ung, the last emperor of China, was forced to abdicate following Sun Yat-sen’s republican revolution, ending 267 years of Manchu rule in China and 2,000 years of imperial rule.
• On Feb. 13, 1958, a four-passenger Thunderbird called the “Square Bird,” made by the Ford Company, made its public debut. Considered to be a model that turned the Thunderbird from a sports car into a luxury car, it’s still often referred to as simply the T-Bird and has appeared in movies such as “Grease,” popular songs and music videos.
• On Feb. 14, 1984, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean became the highest scoring figure skaters in history at the Olympic ice skating championship in Sarajevo with their sensual, free-dance performance of Ravel’s “Bolero.”
• On Feb. 15, 1965, the maple leaf officially became Canada’s official national flag symbol. It had already served in that capacity for more than a century, but the matter was only settled in the House of Commons the previous December, and approved by England’s Queen Elizabeth II shortly afterward.
• On Feb. 16, 2007, British Education Secretary Alan Johnson’s order for “difficult” classic authors including Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to be taught to 11- and 12-year-olds was not met with favor by teachers. They believed these classic works might prove daunting enough to turn students off of such material for life. Johnson argued that they were in fact essential to a well-rounded British education.
• On Feb. 17, 2014, the Saudi Gazette made Somayya Jabarti the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, marking the first time a woman held that position in the country. Her successor, writing about the decision that represented a major step forward for Saudi women’s rights, made sure to state that the position was granted solely on Jabarti’s merit.
• On Feb. 18, 1943, a small group of German students from the University of Munich known as the White Rose movement were arrested after a janitor observed and reported them for distributing leaflets with anti-Nazi propaganda. Within days, all the members, including philosophy professor Kurt Huber, were sentenced to death for treason by the People’s Court and beheaded.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
