What Happened in February 1809

Historical Events

  • Feb 1 Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system
  • Feb 3 Territory of Illinois organizes (including present-day Wisconsin)
  • Feb 8 Franz I of Austria declares war on France

InventionHistoric Invention

Feb 11 Robert Fulton patents steamboat

Commercial Steamboat Inventor Robert Fulton
Commercial Steamboat Inventor
Robert Fulton
  • Feb 13 French take Saragossa, Spain after a long siege
  • Feb 20 US Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than any state

Famous Birthdays


Person of interestFelix Mendelssohn

Feb 3 Felix Mendelssohn [Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy], German composer and pianist (Great Scherzos), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1847)

Composer and Pianist Felix Mendelssohn
Composer and Pianist
Felix Mendelssohn
  • Feb 7 Frederik Paludan-Muller, Danish Romantic poet (Danserinden)

Person of interestAbraham Lincoln

Feb 12 Abraham Lincoln, American politician (R) 16th President (1861-65), born in Hardin County, Kentucky (d. 1865)

16th US President Abraham Lincoln
16th US President
Abraham Lincoln

Person of interestCharles Darwin

Feb 12 Charles Darwin, English naturalist (Origin of the Species) conceived the theory of evolution by natural selection, born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (d. 1882)

Naturalist Charles Darwin
Naturalist
Charles Darwin

Person of interestCyrus McCormick

Feb 15 Cyrus McCormick, American inventor and businessman (mechanical reaper), born in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (d. 1884)

Inventor of the Mechanical Reaper Cyrus McCormick
Inventor of the Mechanical Reaper
Cyrus McCormick
  • Feb 15 André Dumont, Belgian geologist, born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1857)
  • Feb 20 Albertus J Duymaer van Twist, gov-gen of Neth-Indies
  • Feb 20 Henry Walton Wessells, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Lietchfield, Connecticut (d. 1889)
  • Feb 24 Edwin H K Freiherr von Manteuffel, governor/viceroy (Elzas-Lutherian)
  • Feb 25 George Washington Cullom, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1892)

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 20 Johann Joseph Emmert, composer, dies at 76