This Month in History
February
Abigail Guy
February 4th, 1938: Disney's Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is Released in Theatres
Disney is well known for all of its loveable family movies. But, it all started with the studio’s animated telling of Snow White. Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, this project was a big gamble on Walt Disney’s part. Ultimately, it worked in his favour. The project became the first feature-length animated film with sound and colour. The movie paved the way for many other animated films, including future Disney projects like Pinnochio, released three years later. It was also the first movie with an official soundtrack and was nominated for Best Score at the Academy Awards. There’s no denying the impact that this widely successful film had on the world of animated movies for years to come.
A movie cover for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Via Filmsite
The infamous crime lord, Al Capone. Via FBI
February 14th, 1929: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Organized crime was on the rise in the 1920s (primarily because of Prohibition) and the city of Chicago was especially known for its violence. On Valentine’s Day of 1929, seven men associated with the gangster George “Bugs'' Moran were killed by men dressed as police officers. A brief investigation found that Moran’s men were likely threatened with arrest by the fake officers to enter the garage where they were shot. Moran was a rival to the powerful Al Capone, a crime lord known for his ruthlessness. The crime was never officially linked to Capone, and he claimed he was in Florida at the time of the murders. But most people, Bugs Moran included, do not doubt that it was his doing. However, the lack of evidence means that the crime remains an unsolved mystery.
February 17, 1992: Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer Sentenced to 15 Life Sentences
Content warning! This story contains things that some readers may be sensitive to.
American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer terrorized Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1987 until he was finally arrested in the summer of 1991. Dahmer was known for torturing, killing, and even eating some of his victims, all of whom were boys, most of them teens and young adults. His apartment containing incriminating evidence was discovered when one of Dahmer’s would-be victims escaped and flagged down a police car, bringing officers to investigate. People generally attribute social prejudices as to why it took so long to catch Dahmer since most of his victims were part of a minority.
People of colour or gay men’s cases most likely weren’t treated with as much care as other missing people. His trial began January 30, 1992, and was mainly focused on whether or not Dahmer could be considered insane. In the end, the jury concluded that he was mentally sound. So on February 17, he was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences. Another one would later be added for his first victim, whom he killed in 1978. Unfortunately, Dahmer didn’t spend very long in prison, as he died 2 years after his sentencing when another inmate beat him to death.
February 18, 1930: Pluto is Discovered in Our Solar System
The hunt for a supposed 9th planet in our solar system began in 1906 with Percival Lowell, the founder of the Lowell Observatory. Due to his death in 1916, he didn’t get the chance to discover it, nor did he ever find out that he had actually photographed it. In fact, there are many pictures of the dwarf planet that can be dated to before its discovery. Astronomers just hadn’t yet realized what they had found. The search began again in 1929 with the astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh. Finally, on February 18, 1930, he discovered Pluto at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He found it by comparing two images of the night sky, looking for any object that had moved. The name ‘Pluto’ was chosen out of thousands of submissions to the observatory, and it was officially named on March 24th of the same year. The name was submitted by an eleven-year-old Venetia Burney from England, who took the name from mythology. Today, Pluto is considered a dwarf planet. It only meets two of the three criteria to be a full planet since it has not cleared the area around itself of other objects. Fun fact: as Pluto’s orbit takes 248 Earth years, it hasn’t made a complete trip around the sun since its discovery ninety years ago.
A recent picture of the dwarf planet, Pluto. Via NASA
Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto. Cred. Bettman/Getty Images. Via Biography.com
February 21, 1848: The Communist Manifesto is Published
The Communist Manifesto is a political pamphlet published by German philosopher and economist Karl Marx. When it was published, it did not receive much attention. However, it would later become arguably one of the most influential writings from the 19th century. Written with the help of Friedrich Engles, this manifesto preaches the ideology of a classless society, an idea brought up due to the exploitation by the upper class on the means of production at the time. It is important to note that although many countries have considered themselves communist throughout history (or still consider themselves communist today), it is impossible to achieve true communism if there is still a person or party governing the state. Thirty-four years after its publication in 1917, Vladimir Lenin would lead a successful ‘communist’ revolution in Russia. Marx’s ideas would also go on to be a fueling force in future global conflicts, such as WW2 and the Cold War.
February 28, 1953: DNA Double Helix is Discovered
After discovering DNA, the next big problem in molecular biology was how that DNA was shaped. Scientists James Watson and Francis Crick devoted their careers to learning all the skills that would be required to solve this mystery. Using the findings of various other scientists, they knew of the four different bases of DNA and the single-stranded alpha-helix found in many proteins. They also had X-ray images of DNA fibres thanks to Rosalind Franklin, which were shown to them without her permission. Franklin is usually an overlooked, but key contributor, to the discovery of the double helix. She, unfortunately, died before she could receive her Nobel prize. After putting together many models, Watson and Crick finally arrived at the double helix in 1953, subsequently revolutionizing the way we study biology and genetics.
Works Cited
Bertram, Colin. "Jeffrey Dahmer: A Timeline of His Murders, Arrests and Death." Biography, A&E Television Networks, 11 Aug. 2021, www.biography.com/news/jeffrey-dahmer-timeline-murders. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.
"The Discovery of the Double Helix, 1951-1953." National Library of Medicine, profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/sc/feature/doublehelix. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.
History.com Editors. "Cannibal and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is caught." History, A&E Television Networks, 20 July 2021, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cannibal-and-serial-killer-jeffrey-dahmer-is-caught. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.
---. "Karl Marx publishes Communist Manifesto." History, A&E Television Networks, 19 Feb. 2021, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marx-publishes-manifesto. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.
---. "St. Valentine's Day Massacre." History, A&E Television Networks, 4 Feb. 2021, www.history.com/topics/crime/saint-valentines-day-massacre. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.
Kettler, Sara. "What Was Jeffrey Dahmer's Murder Trial Like?" A&E True Crime, A&E Television Networks, 28 Oct. 2021, www.aetv.com/real-crime/dahmer-trial. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.
Pfeiffer, Lee. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 July 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/Snow-White-and-the-Seven-Dwarfs-film-1937. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)." Filmsite, www.filmsite.org/snow.html. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.
"Why is Pluto no longer a planet?" Library of Congress, United States Legislative Information, www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/why-is-pluto-no-longer-a-planet/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.
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