Malcolm X Assassinated……
February 21, 1965…….
As he was preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity, someone in the audience yelled, “N–ger! Get your hand outta my pocket!” As Malcolm X and his bodyguards tried to end the disturbance, a man rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and two other men charged firing semi-automatic handguns. Nation of Islam member Talmadge Hayer confessed to being one of the gunmen. Hayer and two others were convicted of the crime, but the other two men maintained their innocence. Two days prior to the assassination, Malcolm X told a reporter that the Nation of Islam was trying to kill him.
Daytona International Speedway……
February 22, 1959…….
The Daytona International Speedway opens. It was built by Bill France, Sr., who had previously founded NASCAR (1948) and went on to build the Talladega Superspeedway (1969). France refused to sell Coca-Cola products at Daytona Speedway because they turned him down when he was raising money to build Daytona. He then went to Pesi-Cola and they did provide substantial funding.
Battle of Iwo Jima – Raising of the Flag…….
February 23, 1945…….
The famous raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi. There were two American flag raisings on Mount Suribachi that day. Joe Rosenthal‘s famous Pulitzer-winning photo was of the second flag-raising in which a larger replacement flag was raised by a second group of Marines. With more than 7,000 U.S. troops killed, the Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the costliest battles of World War II. The battle lasted from February 19th to March 26th.