On This Day

Historical Events in February 1885

  • Feb 5 King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal colonial possession
  • Feb 5 News of the fall of Khartoum reaches London
  • Feb 9 1st Japanese arrive in Hawaii
  • Feb 12 Carl Peters founds German East-Africa Society

Historic Event

Feb 17 Bismarck gives Carl Peters' firm management of East-Africa

Otto von Bismarck
German Statesman Otto von Bismarck

Historic Publication

Feb 18 Mark Twain publishes the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in the US

Mark Twain
Author Mark Twain
  • Feb 21 Washington Monument dedicated in Washington, D.C.
  • Feb 25 US Congress condemns barbed wire around government grounds
  • Feb 26 Berlin Conference gives Congo to Belgium and Nigeria to Great Britain

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