On February 16

On this day in ...
... 1937, a synthetic fiber called "nylon" was patented by the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Inc. "One of the first consumer uses of this new wonder plastic was replacing hog bristles in tooth brushes," but the 2d consumer use, yarn for hosiery, so eclipsed it that to this day women's stockings are commonly called "nylons" (left).
... 1804 (205 years ago today), amid the Barbary Wars in which the United States battled pirates who assailed ships in the Mediterranean Sea, U.S. armed forces destroyed a U.S. ship that had run aground at Tripoli Harbor, in what's now Libya, after which it had been seized and hundreds aboard held captive. (image credit) Though this raid was a success, the months of military efforts to free the hostages were not. Eventually President Thomas Jefferson secured release by returning "Tripolitan captives" and paying $60,000.

(Prior February 16 posts are here and here.)

On July 14

On this day in ...
... 1958 (50 years ago today), Iraqi army officers staged a coup aimed at overthrowing the regime of King Faisal II, who was killed in the takeover along with his Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The leader of the coup, Major-General Abdul Karim al Qasim, was named the new Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and Commander-in-Chief. He would be killed 5 years later in a Ba'athist coup. (credit for Iraqi medal commemorating July 14 Revolution)
... 1798 (210 years ago today) , the Federalist-dominated Congress passed the Sedition Act, the last of 4 statutes desinged to strengthen the U.S. government in response to a threatened war with France and internal opposition from Thomas Jefferson and his Republican allies. This last Act proclaimed

that any treasonable activity, including the publication of 'any false, scandalous and malicious writing,; was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twenty-five men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down.

(credit for image of U.S. Rep. Matthew Lyon of Vermont, attacking another Member of Congress upon his arrest under the Act)