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
Historic Invention
Feb 11 Robert Fulton patents steamboat
Famous Birthdays
Felix Mendelssohn
Feb 3 (Jacob Ludwig) Felix Mendelssohn [Bartholdy], German composer and pianist (Italian Symphony; Songs Without Words), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1847)
- Feb 7 Frederik Paludan-Muller, Danish Romantic poet (Danserinden)
Abraham Lincoln
Feb 12 Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (Republican: 1861-65), born in Hardin County, Kentucky (d. 1865)
Charles 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)
Cyrus McCormick
Feb 15 Cyrus McCormick, American inventor and businessman (mechanical reaper), born in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (d. 1884)
- 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 Freiherr von Manteuffel, Prussian Generalfeldmarschall noted for his victories in the Franco-Prussian War, born in Dresden, Saxony (d. 1885)
- 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, German composer, dies at 76
