22-02-2025
Today in History: February 22, US hockey team beats USSR in ‘Miracle on Ice'
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In 1770, a melee over a boycott in Boston of certain British goods led to a beleaguered customs agent shooting an 11-year-old, Christopher Seider, to death. The attack inflamed tensions among patriots and Tories. The death occurred less than two weeks before the Boston Massacre.
In 1775, 250 years ago, British General Thomas Gage, military governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, ordered two spies on a multiday journey into Framingham and Worcester to make maps of roads and landmarks in preparation for his raid on rebel ammunition, guns, and cannons.
In 1784, a US merchant ship, the Empress of China, left New York for the first trade voyage of an American ship to China.
In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held; although Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty.
In 1967, more than 25,000 US and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border.
In 1980, the 'Miracle on Ice' took place at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviet Union, 4-3. (The US team went on to win the gold medal two days later, with a 4-2 victory over Finland.)
In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had successfully cloned an adult mammal for the first time, a sheep they named 'Dolly.'
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In 2010, Najibullah Zazi, accused of buying products from beauty supply stores to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. (Zazi faced up to life in prison but spent nearly a decade after his arrest helping the US identify and prosecute terrorists; he was given a 10-year sentence followed by supervised release.)
In 2019, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting a prostitute at a massage spa in Jupiter, Fla., the result of a human trafficking sweep by police in southern Florida. He made a public apology, and prosecutors dropped the charges after a court barred the release of a video as evidence.
In 2021, the number of US deaths from COVID-19 topped 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
