Mardi Gras is French for “fat Tuesday”—the final feasting before the fasting of Lent, which begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, a name that comes from the practice of shriving—purifying oneself through confession—prior to Lent. Many of the names applied to this day relate to food and eating. In many Latin countries, Mardi Gras is the culmination of the carnival season of revelry and feasting. (Carnival from the Latin carnem levare, means to take meat away.) Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, this Tuesday is Fastnacht (fast night), and everyone enjoys the traditional fastnachtkuchen, a rectangular doughnut with a slit in the middle. For the English, Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Day, as they use up the cooking fats that are forbidden during Lent. Learn more about Mardi Gras and find great recipes including Shrove Tuesday Pancakes!
Born
Antonio Vivaldi(composer)–
Benjamin Waterhouse(physician)–
Knute Rockne(football coach)–
John Garfield(actor)–
Alan Sillitoe(novelist)–
Alice Mitchell Rivlin(government official)–
Miriam Makeba(singer)–
Barbara McNair(singer)–
Kay Lenz(actress)–
Catherine O'Hara(actress)–
Patricia Heaton(actress)–
Dav Pilkey(children’s book author and illustrator)–
Jason Sellers(country singer)–
Landon Donovan(soccer player)–
Andrea Bowen(actress)–
Died
John Candy(comedian)–
Minnie Pearl(comedienne & singer)–
George Pake(computer pioneer)–
Horton Foote(playwright & screenwriter)–
Luke Perry(actor)–
Events
William Penn was given a charter for lands in the New World by King Charles II –
The first Congress met in NY –
Vermont became the 14th state of the Union –
George Washington was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States in Philadelphia; John Adams became Vice President. George Washington’s second inaugural address was the shortest on record—135 words. It took him only two minutes to read it. –
John Adams was inaugurated as the second U.S. President; Thomas Jefferson became Vice President –
Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be inaugurated in the new U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.; Aaron Burr became Vice President –
James Madison inaugurated as 4th U.S. President –
James Monroe inaugurated as 5th U.S. President –
John Quincy Adams inaugurated as 6th U.S. President –
Granite Railway was chartered, Quincy, Massachusetts
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Andrew Jackson inaugurated as the 7th U.S. President –
John Quincy Adams returned to the House of Representatives. He was the first former president to do so and served for nine consecutive terms –
Martin Van Buren inaugurated as the 8th U.S. President –
William H. Harrison inaugurated as 9th U.S. President; upon his death a month later, the vice president, John Tyler, became the 10th U.S. President –
James Polk inaugurated as 11th U.S. President –
Franklin Pierce became the 14th U.S. President –
James Buchanan became the 15th U.S. President –
Abraham Lincoln became the 16th U.S. President –
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for a second term as U.S. President; Vice President, Andrew Johnson –
Ulysses S. Grant became the 18th U.S. President –
Benjamin Harrison was sworn in as the 23rd U.S. President –
Rep. Jeanette Rankin became first woman in Congress –
In his first inaugural speech, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told his fellow Americans that, … the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, referring to the Great Depression. –
Nuclear-power plant began operation in Antarctica –
Earthquake destroyed parts of Bucharest Romania, and nearby area, leaving 1,500 dead –
Voyager I spacecraft revealed rings of Jupiter –
Bertha Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada –
Machinists strike Eastern Airlines. Pilots and flight attendants honor picket lines –
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown awarded an honorary knighthood to U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy –
Weather
Southern New Hampshire received four feet of snow in nine days –
Deadly avalanche occurred at Rogers Pass in British Columbia –
