Events in History
- Feb 2 First Groundhog Day observed at Gobbler's Knob, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
- Feb 3 To avoid disputed national elections, the US Congress creates Electoral Count Act
- Feb 4 Interstate Commerce Act authorizes federal regulation of railroads
- Feb 5 Snow falls on San Francisco
- Feb 8 Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing, Minnesota becomes the 1st US ski club
- Feb 8 The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe were granted United States citizenship.
- Feb 16 1st newspaper convention held in Rochester, NY
- Feb 16 Dutch writer Multatuli writes his last text
- Feb 20 Germany, Austria-Hungary & France end Triple Alliance
- Feb 21 1st US bacteriology laboratory opens (Brooklyn)
- Feb 21 Oregon becomes 1st US state to make Labor Day a holiday
- Feb 22 Union Labor Party organized in Cincinnati
- Feb 23 French/Italian Riviera struck by Earthquake; 2,000 die
- Feb 23 US Congress grants Seal Rocks to San Francisco
Birthdays in History
- Feb 1 Charles Nordhoff, English-born author (d. 1947)
- Feb 1 Dirk Roosenburg, Dutch architect (KLM building and design), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1962)
- Feb 3 Georg Trakl, Austrian poet (Autumn of the Lonely), born in Salzburg, Austria (d. 1914)
- Feb 3 Juan NegrÃn, Spanish Prime Minister (d. 1956)
- Feb 3 Silvio D'Amico, Italian theater critic (Tramonto del grande attore), born in Rome, Italy (d. 1955)
- Feb 6 Josef Frings, German Archbishop of Cologne, born in Neuss, Germany (d. 1978)
- Feb 9 Vital Celen, Flemish writer and scholar (Puppy Love), born in Hulshout, Belgium (d. 1956)
- Feb 11 John van Melle, South African writer (Bart Nel), born in Goes, Netherlands (d. 1953)
- Feb 15 H. M. Bateman, British cartoonist (The Man Who... series), born in Sutton Forest, Australia (d. 1970)
- Feb 20 Hesketh Pearson, English biographer and playwright (Writ for Libel), born in Hawford, England (d. 1964)
Vincent Massey (1887-1967)
Feb 20 Canadian diplomat and 1st Canadian-born Governor General of Canada (1952-59), born in Toronto, Ontario
- Feb 24 Mary Ellen Chase, American educator and author (Windswept, 1959 Sarah Hale Award), born in Blue Hill, Maine (d. 1973)
- Feb 26 Benegal Narsing Rau, Indian lawyer and civil servant, President of UN Security Council (1950), helped draft India's constitution, born in Mangalore, India (d. 1953)
- Feb 26 Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
- Feb 27 James Dickson Innes, British painter, born in Llanelli, Wales (d. 1914)
- Feb 28 William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor (Spirit of the Dance), born in Jurbarkas, Lithuania, Russian Empire (d. 1966)