On This Day (February 21, 2008)

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1613 – Mikhail I was elected unanimously by the Zemsky Sobor to become Tsar, beginning the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia.
1677 - Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher died. (b. 1632)
1804 – Built by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, the first self-propelled steam engine or locomotive (replica pictured) first ran in Wales.

Trevithick Locomotive

1848 – The Communist Manifesto by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was first published, becoming one of the world's most influential political tracts.
1903 - Anaïs Nin, French writer born. (d. 1977) (Delta of Venus)
1907 - W. H. Auden, English poet born. (d. 1973)
1918 - The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson discover the structure of the DNA molecule.
1958 – British artist Gerald Holtom designed a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that became more commonly known as the peace symbol.
1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances, a United Nations treaty designed to control psychoactive drugs, was signed at a conference of plenipotentiaries in Vienna.

Picture of the Day


The Common Bluetail (Ischnura senegalensis) is a widespread damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae, native from Africa, through the Middle East, throughout southern and eastern Asia. It has been accidentally introduced to parts of Europe, including Great Britain and Finland.