February 1 :Imbolc / Saint Brigid's Day in Ireland;National Freedom Day in the United States;Black History Month begins in the United States
February 2
Excerpt of the Breviary of Alaric
February 3 :Feast day ofSaint Laurence of Canterbury (Western Christianity);Four Chaplains' Day in the United States (1943 )
Painting of the Battle of San Lorenzo
February 4 :Lichun begins in East Asia (2026);World Cancer Day ;National Girls and Women in Sports Day in the United States;Rosa Parks Day in some parts of the United States
London low emission zone sign
February 5
The "Welcome Stranger" gold nugget
February 6 :Sámi National Day (1917 );Waitangi Day in New Zealand (1840 )
Battle of San Domingo
February 7 :Independence Day inGrenada (1974 )
Contemporary painting of the siege of Gibraltar
February 8 :Feast day ofSaint Josephine Bakhita (Catholicism );Military Foundation Day in North Korea (1948 )
Denis Sassou Nguesso
February 9 :Feast day ofSaint Apollonia (inRoman Catholicism andEastern Orthodoxy )
February 10 : Feast day ofSaint Scholastica (Christianity);Little New Year in northern China (2026);National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe in Italy
Namdaemun gate during the arson event
February 11 :Little New Year in southern China (2026);National Foundation Day in Japan
Location of the Carnival tragedy of 1823
February 12 :Lincoln's Birthday in some parts of the United States;Red Hand Day
Depiction of the Café Terminus attack
1894 –Ère des attentats : In one of the first acts of modern terrorism,Émile Henry threw a bomb intoCafé Terminus (depicted) in Paris, France, killing one person and injuring 17 more.1935 –USS Macon , one of the largesthelium -filledairships ever created, crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.1993 – Two-year-oldJames Bulger was led away fromNew Strand Shopping Centre inBootle , England, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, who became the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history.2001 – TheNASA space probeNEAR Shoemaker touched down onEros , becoming the first spacecraft to land on anasteroid .2016 – In the first meeting between the leaders of theCatholic Church and theRussian Orthodox Church ,Pope Francis andPatriarch Kirill of Moscow signed theHavana Declaration atJosé Martí International Airport in Cuba.February 13 :Carnival begins in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2026)
1692 – Members ofClan MacDonald of Glencoe in theScottish Highlands were massacred , allegedly for failing to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs,William III andMary II .1960 – African-American college students staged the first of theNashville sit-ins (protest sign pictured) at threelunch counters inNashville, Tennessee , as part of a nonviolent direct-action campaign to endracial segregation in the U.S. 1981 –Explosions caused by the ignition ofhexane vapors destroyed more than 13 miles (21 km) ofsewer lines inLouisville, Kentucky , United States.1991 –Gulf War : TheUnited States Air Force dropped two laser-guided "smart bombs " on anair-raid shelter inBaghdad , Iraq, which was believed to be a military command site,killing at least 408 civilians.2010 –A terrorist bombing at a bakery popular among foreigners inPune , India, killed 17 people and injured 60 others.February 14 :Valentine's Day
First production ofThe Importance of Being Earnest
1779 –American Revolutionary War : At theBattle of Kettle Creek , amilitia ofPatriots decisively defeated and scattered aLoyalist militia that was on its way to British-controlledAugusta, Georgia .1895 –Oscar Wilde 'sThe Importance of Being Earnest (production pictured) , once described as the second-most quoted English-language play afterHamlet , premiered in London.1916 –World War I : Britain, France and Russia made theDeclaration of Sainte-Adresse , stating that they would refuse to sign any peace treaty with theCentral Powers that failed to ensure the political and economic independence of Belgium.1961 –Lawrencium , the radioactivesynthetic element withatomic number 103, was first synthesized at theLawrence Radiation Laboratory on the campus of theUniversity of California, Berkeley .2011 –Arab Spring : On theDay of Rage , Bahraini youths beganan uprising against the government in 55 marches across 25 locations.February 15 :National Flag of Canada Day ;Statehood Day inSerbia ;Susan B. Anthony Day in some parts of the United States
1796 –French Revolutionary Wars : Theinvasion of Ceylon ended withJohan van Angelbeek , theBatavian governor of the island, surrenderingColombo to British forces.1906 – A team of Italian archaeologists led byErnesto Schiaparelli discovered thetomb of Kha and Merit , anancient Egyptian foreman and his wife, in theworkmen's village ofDeir el-Medina .1961 – All 72 people on boardSabena Flight 548 , including the entireU.S. figure-skating team, and one person on the ground were killed when the aircraft crashed on approach toBrussels Airport .1976 – The currentConstitution of Cuba , providing for a system of government and law based on those of theSoviet Union andEastern Bloc countries, was adopted by a national referendum.1996 – ALong March 3B rocket carrying the communications satelliteIntelsat 708 (pictured) crashed immediately after launch from theXichang Satellite Launch Center , China, destroying a nearby town and killing an unknown number of inhabitants.February 16 :J'ouvert morning,Carnival begins in Trinidad and Tobago;Chinese New Year's Eve (2026);Day of the Shining Star in North Korea;Presidents' Day in the United States (2026);Elizabeth Peratrovich Day in Alaska;Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas (2026)
Carsten Borchgrevink
1270 –Livonian Crusade : In theBattle of Karuse , theGrand Duchy of Lithuania achieved a decisive victory over theLivonian Order on the frozen surface of theBaltic Sea .1900 – TheSouthern Cross Expedition led byCarsten Borchgrevink (pictured) achieved a newFarthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at theGreat Ice Barrier .1936 – ThePopular Front , a coalition of left-wing parties, came to power inthe Spanish general election , a factor in the outbreak of theSpanish Civil War five months later.1961 – TheDuSable Museum , the first museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art, was chartered.2013 – At least 91 people were killed and 190 others injured aftera bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market inHazara Town , Pakistan.February 17 :Mardi Gras /Shrove Tuesday (2026);Chinese New Year (2026);Korean New Year (2026);Tết (Vietnam, 2026)
February 18 :First day of Ramadan (2026);Ash Wednesday (Western Christianity, 2026);Tibetan New Year begins (2026)
Protesters during the Revolution of Dignity
February 19 :
A depiction of the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903
February 20 :Day of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes in Ukraine (2014 )
AvroCF-105 Arrow
February 21
Malcolm X
February 22
Daytona International Speedway
February 23 :The Emperor's Birthday in Japan (1960 )
Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels
February 24 :Independence Day in Estonia (1918 )
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
February 25 :Soviet Occupation Day in Georgia (1921 ); National Day inKuwait (1961 ); Beginning of theNineteen-Day Fast (Baháʼí Faith , 2024)
USSRanger
February 26
Nabonassar's name in Akkadian
February 27 :Feast day ofSaint Gregory of Narek (Catholicism )
Memorial to the victims of the Sumgait pogrom
February 28 :Kalevala Day in Finland;Peace Memorial Day in Taiwan
Ranavalona III of Madagascar
February 29
A damaged building from the 1960 Agadir earthquake