FEBRUARY 26 — 1929 Coolidge establishes Grand Teton National Park; 1953 Allen Dulles becomes first director of the CIA; 1993 Al Quaeda tries to blow up WTC in New York; 1996 John Stockton gets 11,000 assist
FEBRUARY 26
1929 – Coolidge establishes Grand Teton National Park.
As their website says, Rising above a scene rich with extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain, the Teton Range stands monument to the people who fought to protect it. These are mountains of the imagination. Mountains that led to the creation of Grand Teton National Park where you can explore over two hundred miles of trails, float the Snake River or enjoy the serenity of this remarkable place.
Beautiful isn’t it?
During the 1920s, cattle ranching and homesteading wasn’t very popular in the areas of Yellowstone and Teton. In Jackson Hole, named after fur trapper David Jackson, residents began petitioning for the area to become preserved, stating “we have tried ranching, stock-raising, and from our experience ahave become of the firm belief that this region will find its highest use as a playground.” But others opposed it, being warned by a circulating anonymous letter, :”your recreational privileges in Jackson Hole will be practically at and end. There will be ‘don’t’ signs staring you in the face every mile or less.” A true naturalist, pResident Calvin Cooldge was very warm to the idea of preserving the West’s most stunningly beautiful areas.
He issued Executive Order 4631, which marked off several hundred acres in the area for the preservation of the region’s elk population. He later signed EO4685 which closed another 23,000 acres in the Tetons to homesteaders.
He got some pushback initially, but with the help of John Rockefeller’s financial backing, he was able to persuade Congress to vote for the park.
1953 – Allen Dulles becomes the first Director of Central Intelligence.
During World War II Dulles served in the Office of Strategic Services before moving on to be the first civilian to run what would eventually become the CIA. During WWII, Dulles ran a spring in Berlin while living in Switzerland.
In 1953, as head of the CIA, Dulles was behind Operation Ajax, which was a CIA led coup in Iran, which I cover on my Aug 17th ep. A year later Dulles was behind Operation PBSUCCESS, which was a CIA led coup in Guatemala. But Dulles’s operations would come to a halt after the Bay of Pigs, which was a huge embarrassment to the Kennedy administration.
As a result of his failed attempt at overthrowing Cuba, President JFK leg Dulles go. It’s no coincidence that Dulles is one of the leading suspects behind the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
1993 – Al Qaeda tries to blow up the WTC.
A 1,200 pound bomb in a Ryder rental truck was parked in a garage beneath the building, and when the bomb went off at 12:18 February 25, the explosion caused a 200×100 foot hole several stories deep. Six people died and thousands were injured as 50,000 people evacuated the building for the remainder of the day. The reason why terrorist Ramzi ahmen Yousef masterminded this plot was because of the way the Palestinians suffer at the hands of US aided Israel. His only regret, according to secret service agent that was with him upon his arrest, was that the 110-story tower did not collapse into its twin as planned, a catastrophe that would have casued thousands of deaths. Gotta love that religion of peace.
1917 – President Wilson discovers the Zimmerman Telegram.
Wilson had won his second term as President by keeping America out of WWI. But this changed all that. British cryptographers discovered a letter in January 1917 from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German amabassador to Mexico offering Mexico US Territory, specifically Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, if Mexico would ally with Germany to attack the US. On February 26, the British released this intel to Wilson, and Wilson told the press. American public support swinged around and in April would be declaring war against Germany.
1996 – Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton gets 11,000 assist. Upon retirement from the NBA in 2003, he had a total career 15,806 assists. a record that stands to this day.