Daily Archives: February 20, 2022

U.S. President Richard Nixon begins historic visit to People’s Republic of China as he arrives in Beijing 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 21 1972)

1970s, Cold War, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Nixon in China: The Week that Changed the World' (Feb. 21, 1972, at 1:51)

(Monday, February 21, 1972, 11:30 a.m. China Standard Time; during the 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China and the Cold War) — President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing this morning to mark the end of a generation of hostility between the United States and China and to begin a new but still undefined relationship between the most powerful (the U.S.) and the most populous (China) of nations on Earth.. Continue reading U.S. President Richard Nixon begins historic visit to People’s Republic of China as he arrives in Beijing 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 21 1972) →

President Abraham Lincoln’s third son, 11-year-old Willie, dies of typhoid fever at the White House 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1862)

1860s, American Civil War, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'The Death of Willie Lincoln'

(Thursday, February 20, 1862, 5:00 p.m. local time; during the American Civil War) — William Wallace “Willie” Lincoln, the third son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, died today of typhoid fever at the White House in Washington, D.C. He was only 11 years old. Continue reading President Abraham Lincoln’s third son, 11-year-old Willie, dies of typhoid fever at the White House 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1862) →

‘Godspeed, John Glenn’: Astronaut becomes first American to orbit Earth 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1962)

1960s, space exploration


Video: 'Friendship 7 (Full Mission 01)'

(Tuesday, February 20, 1962, 9:47:39 a.m.-2:43:02 p.m. EST) — The United States placed an astronaut into orbit for the first time today as John Glenn, 40, was sent aloft by an Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle lifting off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7. Continue reading ‘Godspeed, John Glenn’: Astronaut becomes first American to orbit Earth 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 20 1962) →