On This Day

What Happened in February 1895

Historical Events

  • Feb 3 Wilhelm Mauseth skates world record 500 m (46.8 secs)
  • Feb 4 1st rolling lift bridge opens in Chicago
  • Feb 9 William Morgan presents his new sport "Mintonette" to the world at Springfield College, Massachusetts, later renames it "Volleyball" [1]
  • Feb 11 -17°F (-27.2°C) in Braemar, Grampian (UK record)
  • Feb 11 Georgetown became part of Washington, D.C.
  • Feb 13 Moving picture projector patented

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 14 Oscar Wilde's "Importance of Being Earnest," opens in London

Writer and Poet Oscar Wilde
Writer and Poet
Oscar Wilde
  • Feb 15 23 cm (9 inches) of snow falls on New Orleans
  • Feb 20 Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorodo

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Feb 21 NC Legislature, adjourns for day to mark death of Frederick Douglass

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass
Abolitionist
Frederick Douglass

Sports record brokenWorld Record

Feb 23 Jaap Eden skates world record 10km (17:56)

Cyclist and Speed Skater Jaap Eden
Cyclist and Speed Skater
Jaap Eden
  • Feb 23 William Heard, AME minister & educator, named American minister to Liberia
  • Feb 24 Cuban war for independence begins
  • Feb 26 Michael Owens of Toledo, Ohio, patents a glass-blowing machine

Famous Birthdays


Person of interestJohn Ford

Feb 1 John Ford, American director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man), born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine (d. 1973)

Film director John Ford
Film director
John Ford
  • Feb 1 Conn Smythe, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame team owner (Toronto Maple Leafs 1927-61; Stanley Cup x 8), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1980)

Person of interestGeorge Halas

Feb 2 George Halas [Papa Bear], American NFL coach and pioneering owner of the Chicago Bears, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1983)

American Football Coach and Team Owner George Halas
American Football Coach and Team Owner
George Halas
  • Feb 3 Izak Buys, cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1922, 0 & 4*, 0-52)
  • Feb 3 Nick Kenny, Astoria columnist/songwriter (Nick Kenny Show), born in NYC, New York
  • Feb 3 Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, politician (APRA-Peru) [or Feb 22]
  • Feb 4 Annie [Anna HM] Romein-Verschoor, Dutch historian (Erflaters)
  • Feb 4 [Johann Baptist] Hanns Albin Rauter, German SS and Police leader in the occupied Netherlands, born in Klagenfurt, Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1949)
  • Feb 4 Nigel Bruce, British actor (Rebecca, Suspicion, Sherlock Holmes), born in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico (d. 1953)
  • Feb 6 Babe Ruth, American Baseball Hall of Fame slugger (MLB All-Star 1933, 34; 7 x World Series champion; 12 × AL home run leader 1918–21, 23-24, 1926–31), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1948)
  • Feb 7 Irving Aaronson, American jazz pianist and big band leader, born in New York City (d. 1963)
  • Feb 9 Hermann Brill, German politician (d. 1959)
  • Feb 11 Viktor Nikolayevich Trambitsky, composer
  • Feb 13 Fred Essler, Austrian actor (Unsinkable Molly Brown, Saratoga Trunk), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1973)
  • Feb 14 Max Horkheimer, German philosopher & sociologist (Studies in prejudice), born in Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1973)
  • Feb 15 Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (d. 1971)
  • Feb 17 Anita Stewart, American actress (South of Hell Mountain), born in NYC, New York (d. 1961)
  • Feb 17 Edna Park Edwards, American stage and vaudeville actress, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1967)
  • Feb 18 George "The Gipper" Gipp, American football player (Notre Dame), born in Laurium, Michigan (d. 1920)
  • Feb 18 Semjon Timoshenko, Russ marshal/inspector-general (WWII)
  • Feb 19 Louis Calhern, American actor (Julius Caesar, Blackboard Jungle), born in NYC, New York (d. 1956)
  • Feb 20 Freida Geiken, autobiographer (National Historic Taping)
  • Feb 21 Carl Peter Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1976)
  • Feb 22 Victor RaulHaya de la Torre, founder (Peruvian Aprista Party)
  • Feb 23 Richard Goolden, British actor (Two Days to Live, School for Husbands), born in London, England (d. 1981)
  • Feb 25 DeBenneville "Bert" Bell, PA, NFL owner/commissioner/HOF (Eagles)
  • Feb 25 Henri Martelli, French composer, born in Bastia, Corsica, France (d. 1980)
  • Feb 27 Edward Brophy, American character actor (Champ, Dumbo, Great Guy, Cameraman, Doughboys), born in NYC, New York (d. 1960)
  • Feb 28 Guiomar Novaes, Brazilian concert pianist (Brazilian Order of Merit), born in São João da Boa Vista, Brazil (d. 1979)
  • Feb 28 Marcel Pagnol, French playwright/director (Marchands de Gloire)

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 2 Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
  • Feb 4 Faustina Hasse Hodges, English-American composer, dies at 71
  • Feb 18 Archduke Albrecht of Austria, Duke of Teschen (Battle at Custozza), dies at 77
  • Feb 18 Karl Abs, German professional wrestler (b. 1851)

Person of interestFrederick Douglass

Feb 20 Frederick Douglass, African-American abolitionist, lecturer and editor who was also an escaped slave, dies of a heart attack at 77

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass
Abolitionist
Frederick Douglass
  • Feb 24 Ignaz Lachner, German composer, dies at 87


What Happened in 1895