On This Day February 8

The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber took place in Nevada on February 8, 1924. A member of the Hip Sing Tong criminal society from San Francisco, California, Gee Jon was sentenced to death for the murder of an elderly member from another gang in Nevada. An unsuccessful attempt to pump poison gas directly into Gee's cell at Nevada State Prison in Carson City led to the development of the first makeshift gas chamber to carry out Gee's death sentence.

The former gas chamber at New Mexico State Penitentiary. By Shelka04

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On This Day February 7

Supporters of Dominican friar and preacher Girolamo Savonarola burnt Florentine luxury goods on February 7, 1497 at the carnival of Florence. Savonarola organised the “bonfire of the vanities” at the carnival celebration before Lent, in which thousands of works of art, pornographic books and gambling equipment were publicly burnt.  Such bonfires were not invented by Savonarola, but had been a common accompaniment to the outdoor sermons of San Bernardino di Siena (1380-1444).

Savonarola Preaching in Florence, painting by Nikolay Lomtev (1850s)

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On This Day February 6

The first 86 African American immigrants left New York on February 6, 1820 to start a settlement in present-day Liberia. The emigrants started to establish a settlement on what is now the coast of Liberia. All three whites and 22 of the emigrants died within three weeks from yellow fever.
The settlement was named Liberia, which is "Land of the Free" in Latin, because it was founded by freed American slaves.

Map of Liberia in the 1830s

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On This Day February 5

The "Welcome Stranger" was the name given to the largest gold nugget ever found in the world with a calculated refined weight of 2,315 oz (72kg). It was discovered by John Deason and Richard Oates at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia on February 5, 1869 about 9 miles north-west of Dunolly. The nugget was found only three centimeters below the surface, near a root of a tree on a slope leading to what was then known as Bulldog Gully.

A wood engraving of the Welcome Stranger published in The Illustrated Australian News 

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On This Day February 4

The mainstream online social network Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg on February 4, 2004, along with four fellow Harvard College students and roommates. Four days after Facebook went live it had just 650 users. Originally known as 'TheFacebook,' the company changed the name to just Facebook after purchasing the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000.

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On This Day February 3

A 4-year-old 6 1/2-ton African bull elephant called Jumbo who was born in Sudan was transferred to the London Zoo in 1865. He became the most famous elephant in the world. American showman P. T. Barnum simply had to have this huge elephant in his circus. He bought Jumbo on February 3, 1882, for $10,000, advertising him as the "only mastodon on Earth." Jumbo's sale initiated public outrage in Britain.

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On This Day February 2

In 1624 the Dutch established a settlement, New Amsterdam, at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. New Amsterdam received municipal rights on February 2, 1653, thus becoming a city. Eleven years later New Amsterdam was captured by the British. It was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York, future King James II of England, who had organized the mission.

New Amsterdam in 1664 (looking approximately due north)

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