- Feb 1 Bricklayers start working 8-hour days
- Feb 3 Prince Mutsuhito, 14, becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan (1867-1912)
- Feb 6 American financier and philanthropist George Peabody establishes the Peabody Education Fund to provide improvements to existing schools in poor areas of the southern USA
- Feb 8 The Ausgleich results in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary
- Feb 13 Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards
- Feb 14 Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co issues 1st policy
- Feb 14 Morehouse College organizes (Augusta Georgia)
- Feb 15 Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz premieres in Vienna
- Feb 17 Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary