Check out that special day in February and learn what else happened in history!

February 1

• •Thomas Jefferson's "Monticello" construction began, 1769
• •Underground Railroad was established, 1838
• •Texas seceded from the Union, 1861

February 2

• •New Amsterdam, now New York City, was incorporated, 1653
• •National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was formed in New York, 1876
• •Patent for the "Bottle Cap" received, 1892
• •Frank James of "James Gang" died, 1915

February 3

• •Belle Starr, outlaw, died at age 41, 1889
• •President Woodrow Wilson died, 1924

February 4

• •George Washington was appointed President of the Constitutional Convention, 1782
• •The Confederate States of America formed, 1861
• •Patty Hearst was kidnapped, 1974

February 5

• •The first double-feature theatrical performance held, 1819
• •General Joseph Hooker organized the Army of the Potomac, 1863

February 6

• •Massachusetts entered the Union, 1788 (6^th)
• •Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate Army, 1865
• •President Ronald Reagan was born, 1911
• •The Beatles US album Hey Jude was released, 1970

February 7

• •The Battle of Petersburg occurred , 1865
• •The Baltimore Fire destroyed 80 blocks/2600 buildings, 1904
• •The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated, 1910
• •The Beatles first United States visit began in New York, 1964

February 8

• •The Confederate Constitution adopted (provisional), 1861
• •Federal gold purchase of $62 million made by United States Treasury Dept., 1895

February 9

• •President William Henry Harrison was born, 1773
• •The Battle of Monte Cassino, 1944
• •Iwo Jima invaded by United States troops during WWII, 1945

February 10

• •The Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War, 1763
• •Peace treaty with Spain signed by President McKinley, 1899

February 11

• •Department of Agriculture raised to Cabinet status by Congress, 1889
• •Japanese resistance ceased on Guadalcanal (WWII), 1943

February 12

• •First Lady Louisa Adams was born, 1775
• •President Abraham Lincoln was born, 1809

February 13

• •First Lady Angelica Van Buren was born, 1816
• •New Federal Ironclad "Indianola" began its journey, 1863
• •First Lady Bess Truman was born, 1885

February 14

• •American ship "Ranger" carried the Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France, 1778
• •Oregon entered Union, 1859 (33^rd)
• •Arizona entered Union, 1912 (48^th)
• •The St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred, 1929

February 15

• •The city of St. Louis was established, 1764
• •Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts, 1820
• •The first adhesive postage stamps were introduced, 1842

February 16

• •General Ulysses S. Grant earned his nickname of "Unconditional Surrender Grant," following the surrender of Confederates at Ft. Donelson, 1862
• •Tomb of King Tutankhamen unsealed in Egypt, 1923
• •Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba, 1959
• •The nation's first 911 system went into effect, 1968

February 17

• •A Baltimore street was first to be lighted with gas, from the America's first gas company, 1817
• •Provisional Confederate Congress held its last meeting, 1862
• •The first ship passed through Suez Canal, 1867
• •The first issue of Newsweek Magazine was published, 1933

February 18

• •Jefferson Davis was made the provisional President of the Confederacy, 1861
• •The "Chicago 7" was found innocent of inciting riots, 1970

February 19

• •Thomas Edison received his patent for the phonograph, 1878
• •Navy Distinguished Service Medal authorized, 1919
• •Diathermy machine first used, 1929

February 20

• •President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office, 1792
• •Frederick Douglass died in Washington D.C., 1895
• •Astronaut John Glenn, became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard the Friendship VII Mercury capsule, 1962

February 21

• •The Washington Monument was dedicated, 1885
• •World War I Battle of Verdun began in France, 1916
• •Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was assassinated, 1965
• •President Nixon visited Peking, China, 1972

February 22

• •President George Washington was born, 1732
• •Spain ceded Florida to the United States, 1819
• •Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederacy, 1862
• •Frank Winfield Woolworth opened a 5-cent store in Utica, New York, 1879

February 23

• •Composer George Frideric Handel was born in Germany, 1685
• •The Battle at the Alamo began, 1836
• •Mississippi was readmitted to the Union, 1870
• •President John Quincy Adams died, 1848

February 24

• •Supreme Court overturned United States law for first time, 1803
• •President Andrew Johnson was impeached by United States House of Representatives; and was later acquitted by the Senate, 1868
• •The Voice of America first went on the airwaves, 1942
• •United States soldiers liberated Manila from Japan, 1945

February 25

• •Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I, 1570
• •Samuel Colt, patented his revolver, 1836
• •First Lady Anna Harrison died, 1864

February 26

• •French literary giant Victor Hugo was born in Besancon, 1802
• •William F."Buffalo Bill" Cody was born in Iowa, 1846
• •Allies retake Kasserine Pass during WWII, 1943
• •The 22nd Amendment to United States Constitution was ratified, 1951

February 27

• •The District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress, 1801
• •Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, 1807
• •United States Supreme Court upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right of women to vote, 1922

February 28

• •The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the first United States Railroad chartered to carry passengers and freight was incorporated, 1827
• •Republican Party formed in Ripon, Wisconsin, 1854
• •The Territory of Colorado was organized, 1861,

February 29

• •The Panama Canal Commission was founded, 1904
• •Filibuster against Civil Rights began, 1960
• •The Grammy Awards were first held, 1968

Copyright© John T. Marck. All Rights Reserved. This article and their accompanying pictures, photographs, and line art, may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author.