February 20: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

A polymer note replaced the paper £20 note in the UK.

Venezuela created its first virtual currency, called the petro, in hopes of saving its economy.

A John Lennon fan bought a lock of his hair for $35,000 at an auction in Dallas, Texas, USA.

The first electric car charging network debuted in Estonia.

One hundred and sixty-five charging stations were installed across the country, each taking less than 30 minutes to charge a car.

The Station nightclub in Rhode Island burned down, killing 100 people.

The fire started when Great White's pyrotechnics went out of control, igniting acoustic foam surrounding the stage and ceiling. One hundred people were killed, and another 230 people were injured.

Fifteen-year-old Tara Lipinski became the youngest Olympic figure skating gold medalist.

Lipinski won gold while competing for the United States of America at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Her record was only broken in 2019.

The Soviet Union launched the first module of its Mir space station.

Known as the core module, this first piece of the space station was the living module. Over the following years, six additional modules were launched into space and attached to the core module. The Mir space station operated for fifteen years before being decommissioned and returned to Earth in 2001.

John Glenn became the first American to orbit planet Earth.

Astronaut John Glenn orbited the planet three times during his five-hour trip in his Friendship 7 capsule.

Jimi Hendrix played his first gig at Temple de Hirsch Synagogue, Seattle, USA.

Hendrix was fired for playing his guitar too wildly.

American movie studio executives allowed the Office of War Information to review their scripts.

Danish-Norwegian explorer Caroline Mikkelsen became the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened for the first time in New York City.

US President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act.

Once signed, the United States Post Office became a cabinet position under the presidency. The Postal Service later became an independent corporation in 1971.