On This Day: Buddy Holly Killed in Plane Crash on “The Day the Music Died”

On Feb. 3, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson announced that the United States was breaking off diplomatic relations with Germany after it had reinstituted its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. The U.S. would declare war on Germany two months later.

On Feb. 2, 1887, Punxsutawney, Pa., celebrated the first official Groundhog Day, a holiday with roots in ancient traditions.

On Feb. 2, 1943, the remainder of the encircled Nazi forces at Stalingrad surrendered to Soviet forces, thereby ending one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles in the history of war.

On Feb. 1, 1960, four black college students refused to leave a lunch counter where they were denied service, sparking a wave of sit-in protests that spread through much of the South.

On Jan. 31, 1865, the House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.

On Jan. 27, 1973, delegates from the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Vietcong’s Provisional Revolutionary Government signed the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, which instituted a ceasefire in the Vietnam War and called for the withdrawal of American troops.

On Jan. 25, 1915, AT&T unveiled its transcontinental telephone service with a demonstration that included Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson, who made the first ever telephone call in 1876.

On Jan. 17, 1995, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Kobe, Japan. It was especially deadly because it occurred so close to an urban center.

On Jan. 17, 1912, English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reached the South Pole, five weeks after Norwegian Roald Amundsen’s expedition became the first to reach the pole. Scott and his four men died on their journey back to their base.

On Jan. 17, 1893, a small group comprised primarily of American businessmen overthrew Hawaii's monarchy. The coup led to the end of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the annexation of Hawaii by the United States in the ensuing years.

On Jan. 9, 1968, the Surveyor 7 space probe made a soft landing on the moon.

On Jan. 5, 1968, Alexander Dubcek became first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He initiated the “Prague Spring,” a period of liberalization in the socialist state that prompted violent Soviet suppression.

On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day, more than doubling the wages for most employees of his Ford Motor Company.

On Jan. 4, 1965, in his State of the Union address, President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of his “Great Society,” a series of domestic programs designed to advance civil rights and aid those in poverty.

On Dec. 23, 1972, the Steelers beat the Raiders on a miraculous—and disputed—last-second touchdown dubbed the “Immaculate Reception.”

On Dec. 23, 1986, the Rutan Voyager aircraft, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling.

Find out why we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, when the holiday became popular in America, and from where the traditions of Santa Claus and the Christmas tree are derived.

Since the mid-fourth century, Western Christians have celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25 to honor the birth date of Jesus Christ. The date is not supported by Biblical evidence, however, and the true origins of the celebration may lie in secular festivals centered around the winter solstice.