February 17 · This Day in America
It is a cold night off Charleston when something almost no one believes in slips beneath the harbor. The H.L. Hunley — a forty-foot iron tube driven by eight men turning a crank by hand, in the dark, underwater — closes on the Union sloop USS Housatonic. Around 8:45, Lieutenant George Dixon drives a spar torpedo into the warship's hull and detonates it. The Housatonic goes down in minutes; five Union sailors die. It is the first time in history a submarine sinks an enemy ship in combat. Then the Hunley signals shore with a blue light, turns for home — and is never seen again. All eight aboard go to the bottom with her. The future of naval warfare had just been written by men who would not live to see it. The submarine was raised in 2000, her crew finally buried with honors.
Source: www.history.navy.mil
Also on this day · 1801
Jefferson and Burr had tied with 73 electoral votes each, throwing the presidency to the House. For days, through a Washington snowstorm, the chamber deadlocked — ballot after ballot, 35 in all. On the 36th, Federalists stood aside and Jefferson was elected. The young republic had stared into a constitutional abyss and stepped back. The 12th Amendment followed so it could never happen again.
Source: constitutioncenter.org