Presidents’ Day, officially Washington’s Birthday, in the United States,
holiday (third Monday in February) popularly recognized as honoring
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The day is sometimes
understood as a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S.
presidents.

The origin of Presidents’ Day lies in the 1880s, when the birthday
of Washington—commander of the Continental Army during the
American Revolution and the first president of the United States
was first celebrated as a federal holiday.

In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which  
moved a number of federal holidays to Mondays. The change was
designed to  schedule certain holidays so that workers had a number
of long weekends throughout the year, but it has been opposed by
those who believe that those holidays should be celebrated on the
dates they actually commemorate.  (Encyclopedia Britannica)
 

JOHN BELMONT

Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the final lap
of the Daytona 500 race on this day in 2001. Earnhardt was inducted into
numerous halls of fame, including the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural
class in 2010.

John Joseph Travolta is 65 years old today.

Actor John Travolta starred in the 1970s hit films Saturday Night Fever 
and Grease. He went on to play Vincent Vega in the critically acclaimed
1994 film Pulp Fiction. Travolta  also starred in the action thriller Face/Off
(1997) with Nicolas Cage.  

1998

 
1996

BRIAN THOMAS

In Milwaukee on this day in 1992, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison. He was later sentenced to a 16th term
of life imprisonment for an additional homicide committed in Ohio
in 1978. On November 28 of 1994, he was beaten to death in prison
by Christopher Scarver (below), a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan is 56 years old today.

Former high-flying Chicago Bulls shooting guard is considered by many to
be the greatest basketball player of all-time. He was a 6-time NBA champion,
6-time NBA Finals MVP, and 5-time NBA MVP. He didn’t make the varsity
squad as a sophomore at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina because he was only 5’11".  MJ is currently the principal owner and chairman of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Here’s “Air Jordan” in Portland, Oregon.

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1898, the USS Maine sank when it exploded in Havana Harbor for unknown reasons. More than 260 crew members were
killed. The episode escalated tensions between the United States
and Spain and contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish-American
War two months later.

   
    
    
    

Sophia Tareen

In Flemington, New Jersey on t his day in 1935, a jury found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of the kidnapping and death of the infant
son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed
for the crimes (below).

Charles Lindbergh, Jr (1930 – 1932)

During World War II on this day in 1945, allied aircraft began bombing
the German city of Dresden. It was almost completely destroyed and
became a symbol of the “terror bombing” campaign against Germany,
which was one of the most controversial allied actions of the war.