This Day in History - Zinn Education Project

Feb. 25, 1964: Muhammad Ali Won the Heavyweight Boxing Title

Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) won the heavyweight boxing championship title at the age of 22.

Themes: African American, Sports

Feb. 25, 1941: General Strike in Amsterdam

A general strike was called in Amsterdam to protest Nazi persecution of Jews under the German Nazi occupation.

Themes: Organizing, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies

Hiram Revels (art) | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 25, 1870: Hiram Revels Sworn into Office

Hiram Revels was sworn into office as senator from Mississippi, becoming the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Themes: African American, Reconstruction, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights

Feb. 24, 1969: Tinker vs. Des Moines Case Wins Free Speech Rights for Students

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Tinker v. Des Moines that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Feb. 23, 1868: W. E. B. Du Bois Born

W. E. B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor, was one of the most important scholars of the 20th century.

Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity

Feb. 22, 1974: Sam Lovejoy Topples Nuclear Plant Tower

Sam Lovejoy, slipped onto the Montague Plains and sabotaged the 500 foot weather tower Northeast Utilities had erected to test wind direction at the site.

Themes: Environment

Feb. 22, 1943: White Rose Members Executed

Student activists Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed for urging students to rise up and overthrow the Nazi government.

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Feb. 22, 1898: White Mob Lynches Frazier Baker and Daughter Julia

Baker Frazier, first Black postmaster in South Carolina, and his baby daughter were shot and killed when they attempted to flee their burning home.

Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X Assassinated

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated, just weeks after speaking in Selma.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity

CORE Members Woolowrth's Sit-in (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 20, 1960: Patricia Stephens Due Called for “Jail, No Bail”

Patricia Stephens Due was arrested for a sit-in in Florida and refused to pay bail.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements

Feb. 19, 1968: Florida Teachers’ Strike

Teachers and administrators from the Florida Education Association (FEA) walked out in what is reported to be the first statewide teachers' strike.

Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Education, Labor, Organizing

Executive Order 9066 | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 19, 1942: Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt authorized the incarceration (internment) of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent.

Themes: Asian American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Members of the 55th Massachusetts | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 18, 1865: Black Soldiers March into Charleston

The Union Army moved into Charleston, S.C., the the city where the Civil War had begun four years earlier.

Themes: African American, Reconstruction

Feb. 18, 1946: Courts Ruled in Favor of the Mendez Family

The courts ruled in favor of the Mendez family and their co-plaintiffs in California, finding segregated schools to an unconstitutional.

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Latinx, Laws & Citizen Rights

"Freedom might be too great a temptation" Marker Text | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 18, 1797: Hercules Escapes from Enslavement by George Washington

Hercules, the head cook at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate and slave labor camp, escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania.

Themes: African American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance

Feb. 17, 1942: Huey P. Newton Born

Huey P. Newton was co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship

Photo of striking rubber workers clashing with police in Akron Ohio, 1936

Feb. 16, 1936: Akron Rubber Strike

Rubber workers began a sit-down strike at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in Akron, Ohio.

Themes: Labor

School Desegregation | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 15, 1848: Benjamin Roberts Filed the First School Desegregation Suit

Benjamin Roberts, African American, filed the first school desegregation suit after his daughter Sarah was barred from a public school because of her race in Boston, Mass.

Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Education