February 16, 1923 – English archaeologist Howard Carter enters the sealed burial chamber of the ancient Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamen culminating a five-year search for the boy-king’s tomb. The tomb’s interior treasures were untouched after more than 3,000 years including King Tut’s mummy, the most perfectly preserved ever discovered.
February 17, 1801 – Thomas Jefferson is elected President of the United States as the House of Representatives breaks an electoral college tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Although Jefferson and Burr were running as a formal ticket for President and Vice President for the popular vote, election law at the time gave two votes to each member of the electoral college with no distinction between offices. Their party’s plan to have one electoral vote skip Burr apparently failed to account for a vote from the opposition party, an oversight later corrected by federal legislation.
February 19, 1878 – Prolific inventor and promoter Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his cylinder phonograph.
February 21, 1965 – African American nationalist and religious leader Malcom X is assassinated while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York. This followed a philosophical split with the more radical Nation of Islam and his founding of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Three Nation of Islam members were eventually charged with his death (although later release of previously secret FBI documents showed only one person actually did the killing).