1. In 1862, Ulysses S. Grant began his campaign to take Nashville, Tennessee, during the Civil War. Grant's forces successfully captured the city on February 25, 1862, giving the Union Army a crucial victory in the Western Theater.

2. On February 21, 1893, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the "Substitute Law," which allowed voters who could not read or write to vote if they paid a poll tax or had a registered voter vouch for their literacy. This law increased voter turnout in the state, but also disenfranchised many African Americans and poor whites who could not afford the poll tax.

3. The National Spinning Company in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was founded on February 21, 1921. The company was one of the largest employers in the area for several decades, producing yarn for use in textiles.

4. In 1960, students at Tennessee State University in Nashville staged a sit-in at a local department store to protest segregation. The sit-in was part of a larger movement across the country to challenge Jim Crow laws and racial segregation.

5. On February 21, 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration allowed the state to take emergency measures to limit the spread of the virus, including shutting down schools and businesses and implementing social distancing guidelines.