February 17 ^th

1818: An early prototype of the bicycle is invented. German baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patented the “draisine.” It was a two-wheeled contraption with a steering handle and a saddle, but no pedals. Riders would propel themselves along by kicking at the ground.

1863: The Red Cross is founded. After witnessing the Battle of Solferino during the Italian War for Independence, Henry Dunant was stunned by the suffering of wounded soldiers and lack of medical care available to them. When he returned to his home in Geneva, he organized the International Committee for relief to the Wounded with five colleagues. The committee held an international conference that same year with eighteen delegates from European governments to establish agreements concerning the welfare of wounded soldiers and civilians during wartime. The conference agreed that national volunteer forces to help the wounded would be established and that wounded soldiers should be considered neutral and protected.

1864: Torpedoes in the water! The H.L. Hunley, an early submarine developed by the Confederate navy during the U.S. Civil War, becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship. Its target, the sloop of war USS Housatonic, was anchored in Charleston harbor; five Union sailors were killed in the attack.

1933: Newsweek is first published. The magazine was founded by Thomas J.C. Martyn, formerly the foreign news editor at TIME magazine. The first issue featured stories about the foreclosure crisis hiting farmers in the American Midwest, Herbert Hoover’s final address, and a speed by Adolf Hitler in Germany.

1959: The first weather satellite is launched. The Vanguard 2 was designed to measure cloud-cover distribution for a period of nineteen days. It was a major advance by the United States in the ongoing space race with the Soviet Union. After the mission was completed, the satellite remained in orbit for decades, becoming one of the first pieces of space junk in low earth orbit.

1980: First winter ascent of Mount Everest. Climbers Krysztof Wielicki and Leszeck Cichy successfully climbed the 29,000 foot peak in the middle of winter.