l650: René Descartes, franz. Naturwissenschaftler und Philosoph (Stockholm), gestorben
1650 René Descartes philosopher "I think therefore I am", stops thinking , gestorben

Who could have guessed that when little Thomas Alva Edison entered the world on this day in 1847 the world would never be the same.

Little Al (his folks called him Alva or Al) was a curious child, always asking questions. When he didn’t get an answer, he’d try to figure it out for himself by experimenting. His incessant questions exasperated his school teacher so much that Al’s mother had to take him out of school after only three months. A lack of formal education didn’t stop Thomas Edison. He is now considered the greatest inventor in history. In 1928, the U.S. Congress awarded a gold medal to Thomas Edison for “development and application of inventions that have revolutionized civilization in the last century.”

His first invention was an automated telegraph message machine. He attached a gadget to a clock that would send a signal even if he was asleep. From then on, Edison invented more than 2000 gadgets, holding 1,093 patents, some which improved the inventions of others, like the telephone, typewriter, motion pictures, the electric generator and electric-powered trains. He was very close to inventing the radio; he predicted the use of atomic energy, and received $40,000 for his stock-ticker patents. And Al was only going to ask for $5,000, hoping to get $3,000.

One of the world’s most original inventions, the phonograph, was Thomas Edison’s favorite.

He is also credited with inventions such as the storage battery, a cement mixer, the dictaphone, a duplicating machine ... even a way to make synthetic rubber.

Edison received so many awards for his accomplishments that he once joked, “I have to measure them by the quart.”

But, the invention that virtually changed the world forever was his electric incandescent light bulb.

A century later, the genius of Thomas Alva Edison still permeates every part of our lives. He died October 18, 1931, but if he was alive today, we are sure he would still remain humble and insist that his genius was “one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

1868 Léon Foucault discovers 1st physical proof of Earth's rotation, dies , gestorben

1989, Paula Abdul started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Straight Up', the first of three No.1's in 89, a No.3 hit in the UK.
 

1989, Sade married music video producer Carlos Scola.
Hochzeit von Morten Harket, Filmschaffende/R, und Camilla Malmquist, Filmschaffende/R, 
Hochzeit von Jonathan Rintels, Filmschaffende/R, und Trish Caroselli, Filmschaffende/R, 

1989, A-Ha singer Morten Harket married Swedish actress Camilla Malmquist.
1989 Rev. Barbara C. Harris, 58, was consecrated in Boston as the first woman bishop in the Anglican Church. (In 1988 the Church of England passed the first legislation which began opening the Anglican priesthood to women.) 
1989 Barbara Clementine Harris consecrated 1st female bishop (Episcopalian)
1989 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jill Trenary

2003 - Die FDP-Bundestagsfraktion schließt Jürgen Möllemann aus der Fraktion aus. Er hatte in einem Wahlkampf-Faltblatt die Palästinenserpolitik der israelischen Regierung verurteilt
 

11 2003 Deutschland: Ausschluß von Jürgen Möllemann aus FDP-Bundestagsfraktion
11 2003 Saudi Arabien: Eingang eines Tonbandes mit angeblich der Stimme Osama Bin Ladens, weiterhin Selbstmordattentate durchzuführen
 

Bangladesh : Shaheed Day
Cameroon : Youth Day
Flint MI : White Shirt Day-end of blue collar sit down strike (1907)
Florida : Gasparilla Carnival-remembrance of pirates
Ft Myers FL : Pageant of Light (1884)
Italy : Giorno della Conciliazione Day (1929)
Japan : Empire Day
Japan : Foundation Day (660 BC)-accession of Emperor Jimmu
Liberia : Armed Forces Day
Mauritius : Chinese Spring Festival
US : National Inventors Day
World : Boy Scouts Day (1910) - - - - - ( Sunday )

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Adolph
Methodist : Race Relations Sunday (2nd Sunday in February)
Phil : Our Lady's Miraculous Apparitions of St Bernadette Soubirous
Unification Church : True parents' birthday
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Gregory II, 89th Roman Catholic pope (715-31)
Christian : Commemoration of St Theodora, Byzantine empress
Roman Catholic : Memorial of the Apparition of the Virgin at Lourdes (opt)
Christian : Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)