Shvat 23, 2572 (1188 BCE):
Armies of the tribes of Israel converged upon the tribe of Binyamin in the aftermath of the “Concubine at Givah” incident in a war that nearly brought about the extinction of the entire tribe (as related in Judges 19-21).
Feb. 22, 1918:
Birthday of Al Gross, American pioneer in mobile wireless communication. He invented and patented an early version of the walkie-talkie, citizens band (CB) radio, the telephone pager, and the cordless phone.
Shvat 25, 5643 (1883):
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, founder and spiritual father of the Mussar (Jewish ethics) movement. The idea of Mussar is to use meditation, guided imagery, and exercises to penetrate the subconscious. Salanter was also known for lecturing on Judaism at the University of Königsberg, advocating vocational training for Jewish youth, and supporting the translation of the Talmud into Hebrew.
Feb. 24, 1942:
The Struma, a coal barge turned rescue ship, was refused permission by the British to dock in Palestine and was subsequently torpedoed by a Russian submarine in the Black Sea, killing 768 of the 769 Jewish refugees aboard. The Struma became a symbol of the cruel immigration policies of the British Mandate government.
Feb. 25, 1861:
Birthday of Meir Dizengoff, one of Tel Aviv’s founding fathers. He was a central figure in the city’s growth and development, and was Tel Aviv’s first mayor.
Shvat 28, 3597 (163 BCE):
Antiochus V abandoned his siege of Jerusalem and his plans for the city’s destruction. This date was observed as a holiday in Hasmonean times (Megillat Taanit).
Feb. 27, 1856:
Birthday of Alfred Einhorn, German chemist who synthesized procaine in 1905, which he patented under the name Novocaine. It quickly became the standard local anesthetic, replacing cocaine due to the latter’s undesirable side effects.
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