February 21 (Today in History)

1574 Spanish garrison of Middelburg, Netherlands, surrenders
1583 Groningen, Netherlands, begins using Gregorian calendar
1598 Boris Godunov crowned Tsar of Russia
1613 Michael Romanov, son of Patriarch of Moscow, elected first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov
1673 Michiel A de Ruyter appointed lt-admiral-general of Dutch fleet
1675 Prince Willem III appointed viceroy of Gelderland
1746 Jacobite Rising 1745: British forces surrender Inverness Castle to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite forces
1764 John Wilkes thrown out of English House of Commons for "Essay on Women"
1777 British ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting US flag
1782 US Congress resolves establishment of a US mint
1792 US Congress passes Presidential Succession Act
1795 Freedom of worship established in France under constitution
1797 Trinidad, West Indies, surrenders to British
1804 1st locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs for the 1st time, along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
**1828****** 1st American Indian newspaper in US, "Cherokee Phoenix", published
1842 1st known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington, D.C.
1846 1st US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley, Lowell, Massachusetts