Events in History
- Feb 3 Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky
- Feb 3 Rival forces fight for control of the Union Park ball grounds in Baltimore
- Feb 5 British troops under Gen Buller occupy Vaal Krantz, Natal
- Feb 5 The United States and the United Kingdom sign treaty for Panama Canal
- Feb 6 The Battle of Vaal Krantz, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- Feb 7 British troops vacate Vaal Krantz, Natal
- Feb 10 Peter Ostlund skates world record 500m (45.2 sec)
- Feb 14 Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country
Siege of Kimberley
Feb 15 Boer War: Siege of Kimberley broken by British troops under Lieutenant-General John French after a 124 day siege. Kimberley defense led by Cecil Rhodes.
- Feb 16 1st Chinese daily newspaper in US publishes, Chung Sai Yat Po in San Francisco
- Feb 18 Battle at Paardeberg, 1,270 British killed/injured
- Feb 18 British troops occupy Monte Christo, Natal
- Feb 19 British troops occupy Hlangwane, Natal
- Feb 22 Battle at Wynne's Hill, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- Feb 23 Battle at Hart's Hill, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- Feb 23 Steamer "Rio de Janeiro" sinks in San Francisco Bay
- Feb 27 Battle of Paardeberg: Boer General Piet Cronjé surrenders to the British after a prolonged siege
- Feb 27 In London, the Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party (formed in 1893) meet, results in a Labour Representative Committee and eventually the modern Labour Party in 1906
- Feb 28 General Buller's troops relieve Ladysmith in Natal
Birthdays in History
- Feb 2 Carroll Righter, American columnist and astrologer to the stars, born in Salem, New Jersey (d. 1988)
Adlai Stevenson II (1900-1965)
Feb 5 American politician (US Ambassador to UN, 1961-65; Governor of Illinois, 1949-53; Democratic presidential candidate, 1952 & 1956), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 8 John Cameron, Scottish judge, born in London (d. 1996)
- Feb 9 Ann Axtell Morris, American archaeologist (American Southwest and Mexico), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1945)
- Feb 11 Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (Truth and Method), born in Marburg, Germany (d. 2002)
- Feb 11 Josei Toda, Japanese educator (d. 1958)
- Feb 11 Thomas Hitchcock Jr., American polo player (Westchester Cup 1924,27,30,39), born in Aiken, South Carolina (d. 1944)
- Feb 19 Giorgos Seferis [Giōrgios Stylianou Seferiadēs], Greek writer (Nobel Prize for Literature 1963) and diplomat, born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (d. 1971)
- Feb 20 Graham Spry, Canadian radio pioneer, born in St Thomas, Ontario (d. 1983)
- Feb 22 Giorgos Seferis [Georgios Seferiades], Greek poet (Nobel 1963), born in Urla, Ottoman Empire (d. 1971)
- Feb 22 Seán Ó Faoláin [John Whelan], Irish short story writer (Murder at Cobbler's Hulk), born in Cork City, County Cork, Ireland (d. 1991)
- Feb 28 Edna Manley, Jamaican sculptor 'motherof Jamaican art', born in Bournemouth, England (d. 1987)
- Feb 28 Laura Z. Hobson, American writer (Gentleman's Agreement), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1986)
- Feb 28 Wolfram Hirth, German pilot (d. 1959)
Deaths in History
- Feb 3 William W. Averell, American Major General (Union Army), dies at 67
- Feb 16 George Labram, US mine engineer in South Africa, dies in battle
- Feb 18 Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)
- Feb 18 Eugenio Beltrami, Italian mathematician (non-Euclidean geometry), dies at 64
- Feb 23 Ernest Dowson, British poet (Decorations in Verse and Prose), dies at 32
- Feb 23 William Butterfield, architect of the Gothic revival, dies
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists