February This Day in History, Historic Events
What Historic February Events Occurred on Your Birthday?
Our “This Day in History for February” section contains historical February events categorized by month and day. See what happened on your birthday, or any day of the year. Find out what happened on this day in February.
Major Historical February Events:
February 1 Historical Events
Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald created the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (1920)
G. I. Joe toy action figure hits the market. It originally sold for $2.49 by Hasbro. (1964)
February 2 Historical Events
The first 45 RPM vinyl record format hits the marketplace. (1949)
February 3 Historical Events
Rock singers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash. (1959)
February 4 Historical Events
Walt Disney releases Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (1938)
Ruth Handler invents the Barbie Doll. (1949)
Mark Zuckerberg creates the Facebook social media platform. (2004)
February 5 Historical Events
The first issue of Reader’s Digest is published. (1922)
February 6 Historical Events
The first doughnut machine is sold. (1926)
The board game Monopoly first went on sale. (1935)
Frank Sinatra makes his singing debut on the radio show “Your Hit Parade”. (1943)
Astronaut Alan Shepard hits three golf balls on the moon. (1971)
February 7 Historical Events
The Beatles arrive in the U.S. for the first time. (1964)
February 8 Historical Events
The Boy Scouts of America is founded. (1910)
February 9 Historical Events
The U.S. Congress passes an act authorizing the US Weather Bureau. (1861)
The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. (1964)
February 10 Historical Events
France cedes Canada to England, ending the French and Indian War. (1763)
Glenn Miller receives the first-ever gold record for selling a million copies of a song. And the song is…..”The Chattanooga Choo Choo”. (1942)
February Brings Valentine's Day, a Time for Love
February 11 Historical Events
Robert Fulton patents the steamboat. (1809)
The Vatican becomes a sovereign nation. (1929)
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin sign the Yalta Agreement. (1945)
February 12 Historical Events
Women in the Utah Territory win the right to vote. (1870)
February 13 Historical Events
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void. (1826)
The American Temperance Society forms in Boston, MA. (1826)
President John Knox Polk becomes the first sitting president to have his photograph taken. (1849)
Jesse James robs his first (of many) banks. (1866)
French authorities arrest Dutch exotic dancer Mata Haron suspicion of being a German spy. (1947)
The last original “Peanuts” comic strip appears in newspapers one day after the death of Charles M. Schulz, its creator. (2000)
February 14 Historical Events
The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre occurred. Mobsters, dressed as policemen, gunned down seven members of a rival gang. (1929)
The original film “Dracula” starring Bela Lugosi is released. (1931)
. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly demonstrates the first computer, called the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) computer at the University of Pennsylvania. (1946)
Sugar Ray Robinson becomes the world middleweight champion by defeating Jake LaMotta. (1951)
President Richard M. Nixon installs a secret taping system in the White House. (1971)
February 15 Historical Events
Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death in Athens for corrupting the minds of the youth in the city. (399 B.C.)
The Post Office uses adhesive postage stamps for the first time. (1842)
Adolph Hitler announces the construction of the Volkswagen Beetle. (1936)
Asteroid “2012 DA14” at 150 feet across, is the closest approach to Earth of any object its size in history, passing less than 18,000 miles from Earth, within the orbit of geostationary satellites. (2013)
February 16 Historical Events
Pope Gregory the Great declares “God Bless You” is the proper response to a sneeze. (600)
Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks is formed. (1868)
The “Ladies Home Journal” is first published. (1883)
Nylon is patented. But it won’t become popular for a few more decades. (1937)
NBC TV begins its first nightly newscast. (1948)
February 17 Historical Events
Myles Standish is elected the first commander of Plymouth Colony. (1621)
President James Madison signs the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. (1815)
February 18 Historical Events
Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America. (1861)
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published. (1885)
A ninth planet is discovered in the solar system and is named Pluto. The discoverer is Clyde Tombaugh. Note: To the dismay of many, in 2006, scientists reclassified Pluto as a “dwarf planet”. (1930)
A prize is inserted into a Crackerjacks box for the first time. (1913)
Snow falls in the Sahara Desert. (1979)
February 19 Historical Events
Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his Gramophone (Phonograph). (1878)
Prizes begin to be inserted into Cracker Jack boxes. (1913)
Mister Rogers Neighborhood debuts on television. (1968)
February 20 Historical Events
Congress bans dueling in the District of Columbia. (1869)
Golfers in South Carolina are arrested for violating the Sabbath. (1927)
Batman and Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers. (1944)
John Glenn becomes the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth. (1962)
Historic February Events include -Alka Seltzer is sold for the first time. Oh, what a relief it is.
February 21 Historical Events
John Greenough receives a U.S. patent for the sewing machine. (1842)
Alka Seltzer is first sold. (1931)
Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. President to visit China. (1972)
February 22 Historical Events
Frank Woolworth opens the first “Five Cent Store in Utica, N.Y. (1879)
John Reid, the “Father of American Golf”, demonstrates golf in a cow pasture in Yonkers, NY. (1888)
Inaugural Daytona 500 race is run. (1959)
February 23 Historical Events
The Battle of the Alamo begins. It lasts 13 days. (1836)
Walter Wingfield of Pimlico, England, patented the game of lawn tennis. (1874)
Rudolf Diesel receives a patent in Germany for the oil-burning diesel engine. (1893)
Tootsie Rolls roll into stores across America. Created by Leo Hirshfield. (1896)
Walt Disney releases Pinocchio to movie theaters. (1940)
U.S marines raise the American flag over the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. (1945)
February 24 Historical Events
William Otis of Philadelphia, PA patents the steam shovel. (1839)
The first parade with floats is held for Mardi Gras in Mobile, AL. (1868)
The Hudson Motor Company is founded. (1909)
Britain’s Prince Charles announces his engagement to Lady Diana. (1981)
Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. (1998)
Final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. (2011)
February 25 Historical Events
The 1st Bank of the United States is chartered. (1791)
Samuel Colt patents the revolver. (1836)
Thomas Davenport patents the first electric printing press. (1837)
The first tunnel under the Hudson River opens. (1908)
Glacier Bay National Monument in Alaska is established. (1925)
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) wins his first World Heavyweight Title, defeating Sonny Liston. (1964)
February 26 Historical Events
Congress creates the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. (1919)
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album is #1 on the charts and stays there for 37 weeks. (1983)
A bomb explodes at the World Trade Center killing 6 people. (1993)
February 27 Historical Events
Ludwig van Beethoven’s 8th Symphony in F premieres. (1814)
Mardi Gras is celebrated in New Orleans for the first time. (1827)
The U.S. Men’s Olympic hockey team defeats the U.S.S.R. to win Olympic Gold. (1960)
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder record “Ebony and Ivory”. (1981)
February 28 Historical Events
The Han dynasty begins a four-hundred-year rule with the coronation of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han. (202 B.C.)
The Salem Witch Hunts begin. (1692)
Evangelist John Wesley charters the Methodist church. (1784)
The California Gold Rush begins as the first boatload of prospectors arrive in San Francisco. (1849)
The final episode of M.A.S.H. is aired. (1983)
February 29 Historical Events
In Salem, Ma. several girls are the first to be accused of witchcraft after exhibiting strange behaviors. (1692)
Yellowstone becomes the first National Park. (1872)
Additional Resources
Famous Birthdays Who else was born on your Birthday? Find out now!
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