February 22 Birthday
February 22, 1980: The United States Olympic hockey team, a squad of college players, defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet team was considered the best in the world — they had won the previous four Olympic gold medals and had beaten the NHL All-Stars 6-0 in an exhibition two weeks earlier. The US team was seeded seventh. The game was not broadcast live in the United States; ABC aired it on tape delay that evening. Al Michaels's call — "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" — was added to the broadcast and became iconic. The US went on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland. The victory occurred during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage crisis, and it was interpreted as a national vindication. The players were amateurs who had been told they could not win. They did. George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, the first of six children. He had no formal education beyond elementary mathematics and surveying. He grew hemp — as a cash crop, not for smoking. He had one remaining natural tooth at his first inauguration and wore dentures made of hippopotamus ivory, gold wire, and human teeth — some purchased from enslaved people, some pulled from his own slaves. He owned 317 slaves at his death and freed them in his will — the only slave-owning Founding Father to do so. He was tall — six-foot-two — and imposing, but he spoke softly and rarely. His most important act as president was stepping down after two terms, establishing the precedent of peaceful transfer that defines American democracy. On February 22, 1997, the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced that a sheep named Dolly had been cloned from an adult somatic cell — the first mammal ever cloned from an adult. Dolly had been born on July 5, 1996, but the announcement was delayed to coincide with publication in Nature. The technique involved transferring the nucleus of a mammary gland cell into an enucleated egg. It took 277 attempts to produce one viable pregnancy. Dolly was named after Dolly Parton, because the cell came from a mammary gland. Dolly had six lambs and was euthanized at six due to lung disease. The ethical implications of cloning have been debated ever since, though human cloning remains banned in most countries. Steve Irwin, born this day in 1962, was a zookeeper's son who became the most famous wildlife personality in the world. "The Crocodile Hunter" was filmed with no script and no rehearsal — Irwin simply went into the bush with a camera crew and reacted. He was killed by a stingray in 2006, while filming a documentary. The barb pierced his heart. He pulled it out, which accelerated the bleeding. His last words were reported to be, "I'm dying.". People born on February 22 fall under the zodiac sign of Pisces. The birthstone is Amethyst and the birth flower is Violet. Historical events on February 22 include 1732: George Washington born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, 1980: US hockey team defeats Soviet Union at Winter Olympics (Miracle on Ice), 1997: Scientists announce the cloning of Dolly the sheep. Famous people born on February 22 include George Washington (1732), Ted Kennedy (1932), Steve Irwin (1962).