| Year | Event
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| 1807 | The British Parliament voted to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade, mostly brought about by the efforts of William Wilberforce, whose amazing story is portrayed by the movie Amazing Grace, released on this same day in 2007. The act had little impact on the slave trade and even in Britain, slavery was not abolished for another 30 years.
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| 1836 | The Spanish mission,Alamo, was besieged by the Mexican general, Santa Anna.
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| 1847 | The U.S. Army, under General Zachary Taylor, defeated Mexican General Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico. The United States and Mexico had been at war over territorial disputes since May 1846.
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| 1861 | A Texas Convention votes to secede from the Union.
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| 1917 | Smith-Hughes Act is passed. It provides funds for Vocational Education to the States on a matching basis.
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| 1930 | In the Dominican Republic, an uprising led by National Guard commander Rafael Trujillo toppled President Vásquez.
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| 1945 | One of the most famous events of World War II, the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, occurred on this date. The photograph of that event is probably the most famous war photograph. It was not actually the original flag raising which was apparently not captured on film but a staged event for the news media.
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| 1996 | On this date, the Federal Public Debt jumped almost $30 billion -- in one day! -- to $5,017,056,630,040.53. This was the first time in history the U.S. National Debt surpassed the $5 trillion mark.
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| 2005 | Today's Example of a Most Interesting Government Purchase: The Los Angelas Times reports in the article, "Company's Work in Iraq Profited Bush's Uncle", that the "war-profiteering" company, ESSI, has been making obscene profits from the Iraq war, thanks to well placed political connections. It appears they have been awarded $158 million in contracts sans the usual messy bidding process.
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| 2007 | An Associated Press article reports that there are 120,000 contractors in Iraq ("Iraq Contractor Deaths Go Little Noticed". By Michelle Roberts. The Guardian. Feb. 23, 2007). It states that through the end of 2006 there have been 769 deaths and 3,367 injuries serious enough to require four or more days off the job.
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