February 21 โ Some important events on this day
1173 ๐๐ผ Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
1583 ๐๐ผ Groningen, Netherlands, begins using Gregorian calendar
1613 ๐๐ผ Michael Romanov, son of Patriarch of Moscow, elected first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov
1804 ๐๐ผ 1st locomotive, Richard Trevithickโs, runs for the 1st time, along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
1821 ๐๐ผ Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire begins
1828 ๐๐ผ 1st American Indian newspaper in US, โCherokee Phoenixโ, published
1842 ๐๐ผ 1st known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington, D.C.
1848 ๐๐ผ Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish โThe Communist Manifestoโ in London
1878 ๐๐ผ Worldโs 1st telephone directory issued, 50 subscribers (New Harbor, Connecticut.
1916 ๐๐ผ World War I: Battle of Verdun begins.
At 7:12 a.m. on the morning of this day, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gunโone of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse Riverโstrikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months, become the longest conflict of World War I and leads to an estimated 1 million casualties.
1922 ๐๐ผ Britain declares Egypt a sovereign state
1972 ๐๐ผ Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to visit China, normalizing relations between the countries in a meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing
1974 ๐๐ผ Yugoslavia adopts constitution
2018 ๐๐ผ Laykyun Sekkya, the worldโs third tallest statue at 116 meters depicting Gautama Buddha completed in Khatakan Taung, Myanmar.
