February 17, 1963: Michael Jeffrey Jordon, 36, Basketball player, former minor league baseball player, and sports icon was born

• 1891; A. C. Richardson, a black inventor, invented the churn, patent #466,470
• 1997; Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song, “Carry me back to old virginia” , a tune which glorifies slavery
• 1870; Congress passed resolution readmitting Mississippi on condition that it would never change its constitution to disenfranchise Blacks
• 1973; The Navy frigate USS Jesse L. Brown was commissioned. The ship was named for Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator killed in combat over Korea.