1. In 1933, the Baileyton Bridge in Greene County collapsed during a flood, killing six people. The tragedy prompted the construction of a new bridge, which still stands today and is known as the "New Baileyton Bridge."

2. On February 22, 1968, Memphis sanitation workers began a strike for better working conditions and higher wages. The strike gained national attention when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis to support the workers, and he was assassinated while in the city on April 4.

3. The Tennessee General Assembly passed a resolution in 1999 designating bluegrass as the state's official music genre on February 22, in honor of Grand Ole Opry star Bill Monroe's birthday. Monroe, known as the "Father of Bluegrass," was born on September 13, 1911, but the February 22 date was chosen to coincide with the legislative session.

4. In 1819, the state of Tennessee established the first state public school system in the United States, when it passed the General Education Bill. This landmark legislation was signed into law by Governor William Carroll on February 22.

5. On this day in 1862, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Donelson in Dover, Tennessee, a key victory early in the Civil War that helped open up the Mississippi River for Union control. The famous phrase "Unconditional Surrender" was coined by Grant during the battle, as he famously demanded the Confederate commander's surrender.