General George Washington, on 4 Feb 1777, personally commissioned and issued orders to Nathaniel Sackett to build a network to gather early warning on British plans.

A year later, that vision evolved into what we now call the Culper Spy Ring, one of the most successful… pic.twitter.com/8lnpmgrW6K

— History Dame (@history_dame) February 4, 2026

#OTD in #history 1789, #GeorgeWashington was elected our 1st #POTUS. He led the #USA to independence; then forewent the chance to be king. Americans therefore elected him to our highest office because, as @KenBurns put it, “he understood that the actual highest office is citizen” pic.twitter.com/73kIb9Odxr

— US Capitol Historical Society (@CapitolHistory) February 4, 2026

Today in 1778, France officially recognizes the newly established United States with the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. The pact opens up the War of Independence to direct French (and later Spanish and Dutch) intervention saving America’s precarious rebellion against Britain pic.twitter.com/wdENpzPLH9

— Military History Now (@MilHistNow) February 6, 2026

On this day in 1800 – USS Essex becomes first U.S. Navy vessel to cross the Equator.

And thus, the Shellback was born 😅 pic.twitter.com/uFqTHRrYBm

— Christopher Wipper (@SGTWipper1Each) February 7, 2026

1799 USS Constellation captures French frigate L'Insurgent off Nevis, West Indies. This is the first time an American naval vessel defeated and captured an foreign enemy vessel. We almost don't count it today since it was French, but the French were sort of a 'big deal' back then…
1825 After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.
1861 Confederate Provisional Congress declares that all laws under the US Constitution were consistent with constitution of Confederate states. Jefferson Davis & Alexander Stephens elected president & vice president of the Confederacy.
1950 Second Red Scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists, a man ahead of his time.

Important Anglo historical beer riot, 1355. And some folks think riots over stupid crap is a new phenomenon.

Quote:

---

The long tradition of student rebellion and students' well-known fondness for boisterous drinking and rowdy behaviour was not exactly invented in Berkeley in the 1960s, nor during the Paris events of May '68 (the reigning adanism does real damage here). Saint Augustine was already complaining about the fickleness of his students and their tendency towards libertinism much like his own in his youth, it must be said but what happened on St Scholastica's Day in Oxford went much further.

It was 10 February 1355, the feast of St Scholastica, in Oxford, the university town par excellence.

Towards dusk, two university students, Walter Spryngeheuse and Roger de Chesterfield, were having a few pints with a group of friends at the Swindlestock Tavern, an establishment frequented by both locals and students. We do not know whether they had planned a classic dine-and-dash, or whether it was simply the amount of beer consumed that sparked the dispute. What we do know is that they became embroiled in a loud and acrimonious argument with the landlord, John Croidon, over the poor quality of the ale in short, they accused him of watering it down.

The students refused to pay, and in the heat of the argument matters quickly shifted from argumentum logicum to argumentum baculinum: they assaulted the landlord. The locals present took Croidon's side; the students rallied to their companions. What followed was a full-scale brawl between townspeople and students until the latter, heavily outnumbered, fled back towards the university to seek refuge and reinforcements without paying, of course.

Hostility between the townspeople of Oxford and the student population was nothing new, and this was far from the first such incident. Since King Henry II had forbidden English students to study in France some century and a half earlier, Oxford University had begun to grow rapidly, with ever-increasing numbers of students arriving in the town. There were what we might call 'social' reasons of everyday coexistence behind the tensions. Students looked down on the locals and complained bitterly about extortionate prices. For their part, the townspeople detested the students for their love of hard drinking and their libertine habits, blaming them for their daughters' unwanted pregnancies and for disturbing the peace with their irrepressible taste for noise and rowdy behaviour.

But there were also more overtly 'political' grievances. The civic authorities were keen to assert control over the university and increasingly resentful of its separate legal status, its ecclesiastical privileges and its direct protection by the Crown. On this occasion, however, the mayor of Oxford, John de Bereford, thought he saw an opportunity to exploit popular anger for his own ends. What he achieved instead was to turn what had begun as a drunken tavern brawl into three days of barbarity and open warfare between town and gown.

After the students' retreat into the university, news of the altercation drew armed townspeople to the area. Several students, unaware of what had happened and venturing near the Swindlestock Tavern, were savagely lynched by enraged mobs. Mayor Bereford then marched to the university with his bailiffs to demand that the chancellor, Humphrey de Cherlton, immediately hand over the two students responsible to the secular authorities. Cherlton refused, arguing that the mayor had no jurisdiction over the university, and dismissed him in no uncertain terms and with good reason. A few years earlier, two students accused by townspeople of raping a young woman had been handed over by the university and promptly lynched in the street, without trial or evidence of any kind. Whether they were guilty or not was never established, and Cherlton was not prepared to allow such a thing to happen again.

---

More at the link.

A high point, of sorts, for Rommel's Afrika Corps.

On this day in 1943 - The Battle of Kasserine Pass

By the end of 1942, the combined American, British, and French forces in Africa had struggled to hold a front in central Tunisia. While that winter saw few engagements with the enemy, in February German Field Marshal Erwin… pic.twitter.com/aDRz2lneTq

— Today in Military History (@abattleaday) February 14, 2026

Spoiler; he didn't win.

I missed this one. Sad anniversary.

One of my favorite icons. Almost all Coptic Christians, the black face in the center is Matthew Ayariga a Ghanaian. Little else is known about Matthew, but when he was questioned by his terrorist captors, he simply said “their God is my God.” https://t.co/ikwy0EGJBx pic.twitter.com/sZKAcqKJEZ

— Roland Gunn 🇺🇸 (@RolandGunnTN) February 16, 2026

The statues of the 21 Christian martyrs killed by the Islamic State in Libya, with a statue of Jesus behind them, are located in Egypt. pic.twitter.com/T8JpJwc96K

— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) February 9, 2025

Not to make this a religious post but such bravery is rare in the world, and deserves to be remembered.

On a personal note,on this date one year ago, my wife Casey took her last breath and went to heaven. Her pain and suffering ended. Although I miss her terribly, I am more thankful that she is no longer suffering. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support in the last year.

Just a reminder to everyone, don't take your loved ones for granted; they can be gone in an instant

Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone at his wedding with his bride and fellow Marine, Sgt. Lena Riggi in July of 1944. 💒

Basilone was killed in action 81 years ago today on Iwo Jima. 🪦 pic.twitter.com/VX36mnu9Y7

— J&L Historical (@Jason_R_Burt) February 19, 2026

Major Joe Burke Michael, known to his classmates at the Texas A&M College as "Mike," was born on April 15, 1910, in Texas to Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Michael. Raised in Fort Worth, he graduated from Paschal High School before attending Texas A&M College as a member of the Class of 1930. While pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, which was conferred in 1930, he was a standout leader and athlete. He served as a Cadet Captain on the Composite Regiment Staff and was a letterman in both track and cross country. During his time at Texas A&M, he was also active in the Ross Volunteers, the Ft. Worth Club, and the Air Corps Fledglings. Following graduation, he moved to Monroe, Louisiana, where he established a career as a chemical engineer and laboratory supervisor for the Columbia Carbon Company.

Major Michael entered active military duty in October 1941, serving as the Post Chemical Officer at Eglin Field, Florida. In 1943, he opened the A.T.T.-S.A.F. Chemical Warfare School at Orlando. He later served as the Assistant Chemical Officer of the 7th Air Force at Hickam Field, Hawaii, and was deployed to the Marianas, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Saipan. His contributions to the war effort were historic; he designed the famous "Jelly Bomb" (napalm), which was first used at Iwo Jima before the Marines landed. For his meritorious achievement and technical expertise, he was awarded the Bronze Star, three battle stars, and the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon. Prior to his death, he was commissioned as a Captain in the Regular Army.

Feb 19th 1968- Mister Roger's neighborhood made it's debut on National Educational Television. It ran for 31 seasons ending in 2001.

In Honor of Two Sons of Rosebud
Lt. Col. Joseph Weldon Gibbs, '32, and Major Jackson M. Tarver, '33
672nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion Los Baños, Luzon, Philippines February 23, 1945

In the small Central Texas town of Rosebud, two young men grew up as neighbors, friends, and fellow students. Both answered the call of Texas A&M College Gibbs in the class of 1932, Tarver in 1933. Both answered a greater call when their country went to war. And on one extraordinary morning in the Philippines, both led one of the most daring and perfectly executed rescue missions in the history of the United States Army.

The Setting

By early 1945, more than 2,100 Allied civilians Americans, British, Filipinos, and others had been held for nearly three years inside a Japanese internment camp at Los Baños, on the island of Luzon. Among them were men, women, children, clergy, and nurses. Rations had been deliberately cut. Abuse was mounting. Time was running out.

General Douglas MacArthur ordered the rescue. The 11th Airborne Division was given the mission. And the 672nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph Weldon Gibbs of Rosebud, Texas, with Major Jackson M. Tarver of Rosebud, Texas serving as his Executive Officer was given the most critical assignment of all: cross Laguna de Bay under cover of darkness, land on an enemy-held shore, and bring every single prisoner home.

The Morning of February 23, 1945
At 0400, in pitch-black darkness, Lt. Col. Gibbs and Major Tarver led a convoy of 54 amphibious tractors amtracs into the waters of Laguna de Bay. With no landmarks visible and enemy forces on all sides, the drivers navigated by compass alone across miles of open water behind Japanese lines.

The operation was timed to the second. As Gibbs and Tarver's amtracs crossed the lake, paratroopers of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment dropped from C-47s overhead, and Filipino guerrillas eliminated the camp's sentries along the perimeter wire. At precisely 0700, all four elements of the attack struck simultaneously.
The amtracs came ashore exactly on schedule. The assault force swept through the camp. The guards were neutralized. And 2,147 prisoners were loaded onto the waiting amtracs and carried to safety across Laguna de Bay.

When a hidden Japanese machine gun opened fire on the returning convoy, a 672nd gunner silenced it with a .50-caliber response before a single prisoner was harmed.

The entire operation from the moment the amtracs hit the beach to the last prisoner reaching safety was complete before Japanese reinforcements could respond. Not one prisoner was lost. It was, in the words of military historians, a textbook operation. It is still studied at West Point today.

The Decoration
For their roles in the rescue of over 2,000 internees from Los Baños, both Lt. Col. Joseph Weldon Gibbs and Major Jackson M. Tarver were decorated. The 672nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions. The Texas Aggie magazine celebrated them simply and perfectly in August 1945 as "a pair of old Rosebud friends" who had earned their decorations for "starring roles in the rescue."


The Aftermath
Lt. Col. Gibbs returned to Texas after the war. He put his Texas A&M Civil Engineering degree to work in the Soil Conservation Service, married, raised a family, and lived in Fort Worth until his passing on January 8, 1965. His papers the operational records of the 672nd are preserved at the MacArthur Memorial Archives in Norfolk, Virginia, a permanent testament to what he and his men accomplished.

Major Jackson M. Tarver did not come home.
Having survived the amphibious landings, the Los Baños Raid, and the entire Philippine campaign, Major Tarver was scheduled to sail for home on October 20, 1945. The war was over. His wife, his seven-year-old daughter, and his five-year-old son were waiting for him in Rosebud.

On October 22, 1945 two days after he was supposed to be on a ship home Major Jackson M. Tarver drowned on Luzon Island. He was 35 years old.

Their Legacy

Rosebud, Texas, is a small town. But on February 23, 1945, two of her sons lifelong friends, fellow Aggies, fellow soldiers commanded 54 amphibious tractors across a dark lake in the Philippines and brought 2,147 people home to their families.

Washington's Birthday

A day late - Feb 22 1819 the US acquires Spanish Florida from Spain. Its unconfirmed but apparently after the documents were signed the Spanish Minister laughed and said, "Good Luck dealing with Florida Man in the future". The Spanish press who enjoyed printing stories every day about Un hombre de Florida were disappointed in the loss of subject matter.

The siege of the Alamo began 190 years ago today.

nortex97 said:

---

1945 World War II: At Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga. This is the last American carrier sunk in WW II.

---

Storekeeper Second Class William Jeter Newton, a member of the Texas A&M College Class of 1934, was lost at sea on February 21, 1945, during the pivotal Battle of Iwo Jima. A native of Cameron, Milam County, Texas, he was the son of William Jeter Newton Sr. and his wife. During his years at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, William pursued a degree in Petroleum Production Engineering.

jkag89 said:

---

The first third of of the video provides context, the story of the dogfight begins about the 7 minute mark

---

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump and First Lady Melania award 100-YEAR-OLD Veteran Navy fighter pilot Royce Williams with the MEDAL OF HONOR

He completed one of the greatest feats in aviation history against the Soviets!

"His story was secret for 50 years. But tonight, at 100 years… pic.twitter.com/0qDDiei4Sp

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 25, 2026

Quote:

---

On this day in 1266, French Prince Charles defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy in the Battle of Benevento.

Throughout the early and middle era of the 13th century, Holy Roman Emperor Fredrich II (of the Hohenstaufen dynasty) struggled with the Papal States for the control of Italy. After his death, Manfred, his illegitimate son, conquered most of southern Italy and, in 1256, Sicily. In 1265, a desperate Pope Urban IV petitioned the French Prince Charles of Anjou for assistance. The Pope offered to provide money for the raising of troops and the crown of Sicily in exchange.

Charles invaded Naples and forced his army into a difficult winter march through the mountains in order to foil attempts by Manfred to hold a strong defensive position. Manfred instead pursued Charles to Benevento. The two armies that met on February 26th of 1266 were of roughly equal size.

Manfred did not coordinate his cavalry and archers to good affect in the battle. This allowed the heavy cavalry of the French to utterly defeat the German and Italian troops. Manfred, seeing that defeat was inevitable, chose to die in battle rather than submit to the French and the Papacy.

Charles was crowned King of Naples shortly after the battle, but his strict rule led to revolts in both Naples and southern Italy.

---

On this day in 1266, French Prince Charles defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy in the Battle of Benevento.

Throughout the early and middle era of the 13th century, Holy Roman Emperor Fredrich II (of the Hohenstaufen dynasty) struggled with the Papal States for… pic.twitter.com/J1TufJbA4L

— Today in Military History (@abattleaday) February 26, 2026

Happy 190th!

George Childress, the committee chairman, is generally accepted as the author of the Texas Declaration of Independence, with little help from the other committee members. Since the 12-page document was submitted for a vote of the whole convention on the following day, Childress probably already had a draft version of the document with him when he arrived. As the delegates worked, they received regular reports on the ongoing siege on the Alamo by the forces of Santa Anna's troops.
A free and independent Republic of Texas was officially declared March 2, 1836. Over the course of the next several days, 59 delegates -- each representing one of the settlements in Texas -- approved the Texas Declaration of Independence. After the delegates signed the original declaration, 5 copies were made and dispatched to the designated Texas towns of Bexar, Goliad, Nacogdoches, Brazoria, and San Felipe. One thousand copies were ordered printed in handbill form.
The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the
Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the
Town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836
When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression.
When the Federal Republican Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever-ready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants.
When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons, and mercenary armies sent forth to force a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet.
When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements. In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness.
Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken, of severing our political connection with the Mexican people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth.
The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America.
In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers us the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood.
It has sacrificed our welfare to the state of Coahuila, by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an unknown tongue, and this too, notwithstanding we have petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate state government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the national constitution, presented to the general Congress a republican constitution, which was, without just cause, contemptuously rejected.
It incarcerated in a dungeon, for a long time, one of our citizens, for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our constitution, and the establishment of a state government.
It has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.
It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources, (the public domain,) and although it is an axiom in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.
It has suffered the military commandants, stationed among us, to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyrrany, thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizens, and rendering the military superior to the civil power.
It has dissolved, by force of arms, the state Congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government, thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation.
It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments to seize and carry them into the Interior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution.
It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commissioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports for confiscation.
It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.
It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.
It has invaded our country both by sea and by land, with intent to lay waste our territory, and drive us from our homes; and has now a large mercenary army advancing, to carry on against us a war of extermination.
It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers.
It hath been, during the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrranical government.
These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas, untill they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance. Our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed, no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the Interior.
We are, therefore, forced to the melancholy conclusion, that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therfor of a military government; that they are unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.
The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.
We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.
[Signed, in the order shown on the handwritten document]
John S. D. Byrom
Francis Ruis
J. Antonio Navarro
Jesse B. Badgett
Wm D. Lacy
William Menifee
Jn. Fisher
Matthew Caldwell
William Motley
Lorenzo de Zavala
Stephen H. Everitt
George W. Smyth
Elijah Stapp
Claiborne West
Wm. B. Scates
M. B. Menard
A. B. Hardin
J. W. Bunton
Thos. J. Gazley
R. M. Coleman
Sterling C. Robertson
Richard Ellis, President
of the Convention and Delegate
from Red River
James Collinsworth
Edwin Waller
Asa Brigham
Charles B. Stewart
Thomas Barnett
Geo. C. Childress
Bailey Hardeman
Rob. Potter
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Chas. S. Taylor
John S. Roberts
Robert Hamilton
Collin McKinney
Albert H. Latimer
James Power
Sam Houston
David Thomas
Edwd. Conrad
Martin Parmer
Edwin O. Legrand
Stephen W. Blount
Jms. Gaines
Wm. Clark, Jr.
Sydney O. Pennington
Wm. Carrol Crawford
Jno. Turner
Benj. Briggs Goodrich
G. W. Barnett
James G. Swisher
Jesse Grimes
S. Rhoads Fisher
John W. Moore
John W. Bower
Saml. A. Maverick (from Bejar)
Sam P. Carson
A. Briscoe
J. B. Woods
H. S. Kimble, Secretary

https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/texas175/declaration

Drove out to Washington on the Brazos this morning. These gents are all descendants of the original signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

46 years ago today, the cover of Sports Illustrated. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/AFKaVqHGfq

— TodayInSports (@TodayInSportsCo) March 3, 2026

On this day in 1940 Joseph Stalin and 5 other members of the Soviet Politbureau, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, in what will become known as the Katyn massacre. Never forget. 🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/zMQairRTUe

— Klaas Meijer (@klaasm67) March 5, 2026

On this 6th day of March 121 years ago BOB WILLS the King of Western Swing was born in Kosse, Texas.

ABATTBQ87 said:

---

On this 6th day of March 121 years ago BOB WILLS the King of Western Swing was born in Kosse, Texas.

---

Right before I opened this thread, Bob Wills Is Still The King, started playing on the playlist I was listening to, as if it knew

My mom and dad went on their first date to a place in San Antonio called the Lone Star Tavern. (1946 I believe) Dad had been back from WWII about a year. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were playing there that night.
The original location of the old tavern was just around what is now the threshold of Runway 13R of the San Antonio International Airport…..just east of now San Pedro ( Hwy 281). At that time that was in the sticks and was not in SA's city limits…believe it or not.
The date must have went well as they got married a year or so later and stayed married until my dad's passing in 1992.
They went to many dances where Bob Wills played and as a kid growing up I remember they were always playing his songs.
My mom had them play San Antonio Rose at my dad's funeral.
Truly he was the King of Western swing.