February 1

Bust of Scipio

Thesiege of Utica took place from 204 to 201 BC when aRoman army underPublius Cornelius Scipio(bust pictured) attempted to seize the port city to use as a secure base from which to defeat theCarthaginian Empire in its North African homeland. This was part of theSecond Punic War, fought between Carthage and Rome for 17 years from 218 BC. In 205 BC Scipio, the Romans' most successful general, was assigned toSicily with the intention of invadingNorth Africa.Scipio's army landed there in 204 BC, pillaged a large area and laid siege toUtica. Scipio expected the city to surrender readily, but despite being attacked fiercely from land and sea it held out. Meanwhile the Romans won thebattle of Utica outside the city followed by victory in three further majorpitched battles. After the last of these the Carthaginians sued for peace and accepted the harsh terms imposed by the Romans in 201 BC.(This article is part of afeatured topic:Roman invasion of Africa (204–201 BC).)

February 2

Ice-filled summit crater of Mount Edziza

Mount Edziza is a volcanic mountain inCassiar Land District in northwesternBritish Columbia, Canada. It is located on theBig Raven Plateau of theTahltan Highland, which extends along the western side of theStikine Plateau. Mount Edziza has an elevation of 2,786 metres (9,140 feet), making it the highest point of theMount Edziza volcanic complex and one of the highest volcanoes in Canada. However, it had an elevation of at least 3,396 m (11,142 ft) before its formerly cone-shaped summit was likely destroyed by a violent eruption in the geologic past; its current flat summit contains an ice-filledcrater(pictured) 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) in diameter. Mount Edziza contains severallava domes,cinder cones andlava fields on its flanks, as well as anice cap containing severaloutlet glaciers that extend to lower elevations. All sides of the mountain are drained bytributaries ofMess Creek andKakiddi Creek, which are situated within theStikine River watershed.(Full article...)

February 3

Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz (3 February 1721 – 8 November 1773) was aPrussian officer,lieutenant general, and among the greatest of the Prussiancavalry generals. He commanded one of the firsthussar squadrons ofFrederick the Great's army and is credited with the development of the Prussian cavalry to its efficient level of performance in theSeven Years' War. His cavalryman father retired and then died while Seydlitz was still young. Subsequently, he was mentored byFrederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Seydlitz's superbhorsemanship and his recklessness combined to make him a stand-outsubaltern, and he emerged as a redoubtableRittmeister (cavalry captain) in theWar of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) during theFirst andSecond Silesian Wars. Seydlitz became legendary throughout the Prussian Army both for his leadership and for his reckless courage. During the Seven Years' War, he gained renown for his ability to assess an entire battlefield quickly.(Full article...)

February 4

Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an Americancivil rights movement activist best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a bus inMontgomery, Alabama, in defiance ofJim Crow racial-segregation laws. When Parks was arrested in 1955, local leaders were searching for a person who would be a good legal test case against segregation. She was deemed a suitable candidate, and theWomen's Political Council (WPC) organized a one-day bus boycott on the day of her trial. After Parks was found guilty of violating state law, the boycott was extended indefinitely, lasting for 381 days and finally concluding after segregation on buses was deemed unconstitutional in the court caseBrowder v. Gayle. Parks received many awards and honors, both throughout her life and posthumously. She received thePresidential Medal of Freedom, aCongressional Gold Medal, and was also the first Black American to be memorialized in theNational Statuary Hall.(Full article...)

February 5

Thesaxaul sparrow (Passer ammodendri) is apasserine bird of the sparrow familyPasseridae, found in parts ofCentral Asia. At 14–16 cm (5.5–6.3 in) and 25–32 g (0.88–1.13 oz), it is among the larger sparrows. Both sexes haveplumage ranging from dull grey to sandy brown, and pale brown legs. The female has a less boldly coloured plumage and bill, lacking the pattern of black stripes on the male's head. The head markings of both sexes make the saxaul sparrow distinctive, and unlikely to be confused with any other bird.Vocalisations include a comparatively soft and musical chirping call, a song, and aflight call. Its distribution falls into six probably disjunct areas across Central Asia, from centralTurkmenistan to northernGansu in China. A bird of deserts, the saxaul sparrow favours areas with shrubs such as thesaxaul, near rivers and oases. Although it has lost parts of its range tohabitat destruction caused by agriculture, it is not seriously threatened by human activities.(Full article...)

February 6

Tara Lipinski (born 1982) is an American former competitivefigure skater, actress, sports commentator, and documentary film producer. A former competitor inwomen's singles, she was the1998 Olympic champion, the1997 world champion, a two-timeChampions Series Final champion (1997–1998), and the1997 U.S. national champion. Until 2019, she was the youngest single skater to win a U.S. Nationals and the youngest to become an Olympic and world champion. She was the first woman to complete a tripleloop–triple loop combination, her signaturejump element, in competition. Starting in 1997, Lipinski had a rivalry with fellow skaterMichelle Kwan, which was played up by the American press, and culminated when Lipinski won the gold medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. She retired from competitive figure skating in 1998. Lipinski became one ofNBC's primary figure skating commentators in 2014, alongside sports commentatorTerry Gannon and fellow figure skater and good friendJohnny Weir.(Full article...)

February 7

Immanuel Kant

Aesthetics is the branch ofphilosophy that studiesbeauty,taste,art, and related phenomena. It examines aestheticproperties or features that influence the appeal of objects, like elegance andugliness. Philosophers debate whether these properties existobjectively or depend on subjectiveexperience. Taste is a sensitivity to aesthetic qualities, and differences in taste can lead to disagreements about aesthetic judgments. Artworks are artifacts orperformances such aspainting,music,dance,architecture, andliterature.Art interpretation andcriticism seek to identify themeanings of artworks. Discussions focus on elements such as what an artworkrepresents, which emotions it expresses, and what theauthor's underlying intent was. Aesthetics is relevant to fields such asethics,religion,psychology, and everyday life. Its roots lie inantiquity, but it only emerged as a distinct field of inquiry in the 18th century when philosophers likeAlexander Baumgarten andImmanuel Kant(pictured) engaged with the subject systematically.(Full article...)

February 8

Master Juba (c. 1825 – c. 1854) was anAfrican-American dancer. He was one of the first black performers in the United States to play onstage for white audiences and the only one of the era to tour with a whiteminstrel group. He began his career inManhattan'sFive Points neighborhood and moved to minstrel shows in the mid-1840s. His act featured a sequence in which he imitated famous dancers, then closed by performing in his style. In 1848, he became a sensation in Britain for his dance style, but writers treated him as an exhibit on display. Juba's popularity faded and he died around 1854, probably of fever. He was largely forgotten by historians until a 1947 article byMarian Hannah Winter popularized his story. Juba's dancing style was percussive, varied in tempo and expressive. It likely incorporated Europeanfolk steps and African-derived steps used byplantation slaves. Juba was highly influential in the development oftap,jazz, andstep-dancing styles.(Full article...)

February 9

Poster advertising the Mud March

TheMud March, or United Procession of Women, was a peaceful demonstration in London on 9 February 1907 organised by theNational Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), in which more than three thousand women marched fromHyde Park Corner to theStrand in support ofwomen's suffrage. Women from all classes participated in the largest public demonstration supporting women's suffrage seen to that date. It acquired the name "Mud March" from the day's weather; incessant heavy rain left the marchers drenched and mud-spattered. The NUWSS and other groups organised the march to coincide with theopening of Parliament. The event attracted much public interest and broadly sympathetic press coverage, but when a women's suffrage bill was presented the following month it was "talked out" without a vote. The march had a large impact on public awareness and on the movement's tactics. Large peaceful public demonstrations, never previously attempted, became standard features of the suffrage campaign.(Full article...)

February 10

TheSt Scholastica Day riot began inOxford, England, on 10 February 1355. The disturbance began when two students from theUniversity of Oxford complained about the quality of wine served to them in a tavern; the argument quickly escalated to a fight and the resulting mêlée turned into a riot. The violence continued over three days, with armed gangs entering the town from the countryside to assist the townspeople. University halls and students' accommodation were raided and the inhabitants murdered. Around 20 townsfolk were killed, as were up to 63 members of the university.King Edward III sent judges to the town to determine culpability. He came down on the side of the university, who were given additional powers to the disadvantage of the town's authorities. In an act of conciliation in 1955—the riot's 600th anniversary—the mayor of Oxford was given anhonorary degree, whilethe university's vice-chancellor was made an honoraryfreeman of the city.(Full article...)

February 11

Courtesans photographed by Farsari

Adolfo Farsari (11 February 1841 – 7 February 1898) was an Italian photographer based inYokohama, Japan. Following a brief military career, including service in theAmerican Civil War, he became a successful entrepreneur and commercial photographer. His photographic work was highly regarded, particularly hishand-coloured portraits and landscapes, which he sold mostly to foreign residents and visitors to the country. Farsari's images were widely distributed, presented or mentioned in books and periodicals, and sometimes recreated by artists in other media; they shaped foreign perceptions of the people and places of Japan and to some degree affected how Japanese saw themselves and their country. Hisstudio – the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan – was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photographic firms. Largely due to Farsari's exacting technical standards and entrepreneurial abilities, it had a significant influence on the development of photography in Japan.(Full article...)

February 12

Fingerspelling of BASL

Black American Sign Language (BASL) is adialect ofAmerican Sign Language (ASL) used most commonly by deafBlack Americans in the United States. The divergence from ASL was influenced by thesegregation of schools in theAmerican South based on race, creating a language community among Black deaf signers at black schools. As of the mid-2010s, BASL is used by signers in the South despitepublic schools having been desegregated since 1954. BASL differs from other varieties of ASL in itsphonology,syntax, andvocabulary. BASL tends to have a larger signing space, and some signs are produced further away from the body than in other dialects. Signers of BASL also tend to prefer two-handed variants of signs, and some signs differ from other dialects because they borrow fromAfrican-American English. Younger signers are more likely to have a positive perception of the dialect, as they are less likely to be influenced by perceptions that segregated schools imprinted upon the dialects.(Full article...)

February 13

TheSaxe–Goldstein hypothesis is a prediction inarchaeology about the relationship between a society'sfunerary practices and its social organization. It predicts a correlation between two phenomena: the use of specific areas to dispose of the dead, and the legitimation of control over restricted resources through claims of descent from dead ancestors. Thehypothesis was first formulated by the anthropologist Arthur Saxe in 1970 and was later refined byLynne Goldstein. Saxe predicted that societies would be more likely to use formal areas for the disposal of the dead, such ascemeteries, if they contained social groups that legitimized their claims to important, restricted resources by claiming ties to ancestors. The Saxe–Goldstein hypothesis was credited with revitalizing interest infunerary archaeology. It was particularly adopted by adherents ofprocessual archaeology, a body of theory that sought to bring archaeology closer to thenatural sciences. From the 1980s, it increasingly fell from favor, and was criticized bypost-processual archaeologists as an overgeneralization that oversimplified the different factors that influence funerary practices.(Full article...)

February 14

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a BritishRoyal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to thePacific andSouthern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. During these voyages, he sailed tens of thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas, mapping coastlines, islands, and features across the globe. He completed the first known circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand, and led the first recorded visit by Europeans to the east coast of Australia and theHawaiian Islands. Renowned for exceptional seamanship and courage in times of danger, he was also a pioneer in the prevention ofscurvy. In his three Pacific voyages, Cook encountered numerous indigenous peoples, many with little or no previous contact with Europeans, leading to violent encounters in which indigenous peoples and Cook's crew members were killed.Cook was killed in Hawaii in 1779, when a dispute withNative Hawaiians turned violent.(Full article...)

February 15

Reverse of a 1967 brass threepence

Thebrass threepence, a twelve-sided coin dated between 1937 and 1970, was the first British coin that was not round. By the mid-1930s, the weight of thebronze penny and its fractions had become an issue for firms that dealt with them in bulk. The silverthreepence was unpopular in England due to its small size. TheRoyal Mint decided on a nickel–brass twelve-sided threepence readily distinguishable from other coins due to its size, shape and colour. The initialreverse design by Frances Madge Kitchener of athrift plant was altered at the direction of the Royal Mint byPercy Metcalfe without Kitchener's knowledge. The new coin was slow to circulate when released to the public in 1937, but gained the public's liking, and the silver threepence was discontinued in 1945. A new design, with a crownedportcullis(pictured), was instituted forElizabeth II in 1953. After thedecimalisation of the pound in 1971, it rapidly vanished from circulation and lost its status aslegal tender after 31 August 1971.(Full article...)

February 16

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was the 16thpresident of the United States, serving from 1861 untilhis assassination in 1865. Born ina one-room log cabin in Kentucky, he was self-educated and became a lawyer,Illinois state legislator, andU.S. representative. An anti-slavery advocate, he joined the newRepublican Party and won the1860 presidential election, prompting a majority of slave states in theSouth tosecede and form theConfederate States. As he led the countryduring civil war, Lincoln supervised theUnion army, implemented anaval blockade of Southern ports, and issued theEmancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the Confederate states. On November 19, 1863, he delivered the now famousGettysburg Address. Lincoln wasre-elected in 1864, and on April 14, 1865, five days after theConfederate surrender at Appomattox, he was fatally shot byJohn Wilkes Booth. For his role in preserving the Union and ending slavery, Lincoln isranked as the greatest US president.(Full article...)

February 17

USS Marmora, a sternwheel tinclad similar toRomeo

USS Romeo was asternwheel steamer that saw service as atinclad warship during theAmerican Civil War. Completed in August 1862 as a civilian merchant vessel, she was instead purchased by theUnion Navy in October.Commissioned in December, she cleared naval mines from theYazoo River later that month before participating in operations againstConfederate-heldFort Hindman in January 1863.Romeowas involved in some of the operations of theVicksburg campaign in 1863, particularly theYazoo Pass expedition. Later in 1863,Romeo was involved in part of theLittle Rock campaign. During February 1864, she was part of an expedition up the Yazoo River toYazoo City, Mississippi. She spent most of the rest of the war patrolling theMississippi River, encountering Confederate land forces on several occasions.Romeo was declaredsurplus at the end of the war and was sold to civilian owners. Eventually converted into asidewheel steamer,Romeo ceased to appear in the shipping registers in 1870.(Full article...)

February 18

Ælfwynn (died 8 July 983) was a member of a wealthyAnglo-Saxon family inHuntingdonshire. In about 932 she marriedÆthelstan, the powerfulealdorman ofEast Anglia, who was called the Half-King because monarchs were said to depend on his advice. Ælfwynn is chiefly known for having been foster-mother to the futureKing Edgar (ruled 959-975), following his mother's death in 944, when he was an infant. Æthelstan was a leading supporter of themonastic reform movement; Edgar's upbringing in reforming circles profoundly influenced him, and he became a strong ally of the movement as king. Ælfwynn had four sons, and the youngest,Æthelwine, became the chief secularmagnate and a leading monastic reformer like his father. In 966 he was a co-founder ofRamsey Abbey. Ælfwynn donated her estates to the foundation in the same year, including one given to her by Edgar, and was probably buried there. She may have played a crucial role in Ramsey's establishment.(Full article...)

February 19

K. Michelle in 2019

"Mindful" is ahip-hop andR&B song by American singerK. Michelle from her third studio albumMore Issues Than Vogue (2016).T-Pain wrote and produced the song. Footage of Michelle recording the song was used in an episode of her reality television seriesK. Michelle: My Life.Atlantic Records released as the album's third single on February 19, 2016. Throughout the track, Michelleraps the lyrics and warns critics to be "mindful" of her. Some reviewers noted that its uptempo production differed from Michelle's previous singles, and she stated that it was one of the first times she recorded a more light-hearted song. Critics praised Michelle's rapping on "Mindful" and called it a highlight of her singles. The song'smusic video, released on March 10, 2016, portrays Michelle arguing with women in atrailer park. In their coverage of the video, reviewers described it as colorful. Michelle further promoted "Mindful" through live performances.(Full article...)

February 20

Zhang Jingsheng,c. 1920

Zhang Jingsheng (20 February 1888 – 18 June 1970) was aChinese philosopher andsexologist. Born to merchants in ruralGuangdong, he became a militant supporter of theTongmenghui revolutionaries. After he was expelled from school, he enteredPeking University and became an advocate for European ideas ofsocial Darwinism,scientific racism, andeugenics. He changed his personal name to Jingsheng, "competition for survival”. After the1911 Revolution, he went to France to study philosophy, receiving his doctorate in 1919. He soon became a professor at Peking, publishing two books advocating for a utopian society arranged aroundaesthetics. In 1926, he published the sexology textSex Histories. He was ridiculed by the Chinese media and academia for this, and tabloids gave him the mocking nickname Dr. Sex (性博士;Xìng Bóshì). After an unsuccessful bookstore venture in Shanghai, he returned home and worked in obscurity. He was persecuted during theCultural Revolution and died while in confinement.(Full article...)

February 21

Shigi Qutuquc. 1178–1260) was a high-ranking official during the early decades of theMongol Empire. The adopted son of the empire's founderTemüjin (later entitled Genghis Khan) and his wifeBörte, Shigi Qutuqu played an important role in the codification ofMongol law, serving with distinction as an administrator in North China. The foundling was brought up in Temüjin's household and was one of the first Mongols to become literate. TheSecret History exaggerates his role in the years after the empire's foundation, but Shigi Qutuqu was nevertheless appointed to several high-ranking legal positions, in which he served during theMongol conquest of the Jin dynasty. He was the commander during the only Mongol defeat of thewestern campaign against Khwarazmia, being overcome byJalal al-Din at the 1221Battle of Parwan. Shigi Qutuqu continued his career as an official during the reign of his adopted brotherÖgedei Khan, Genghis's successor.(Full article...)

February 22

Shigeru Miyamoto, Donkey Kong's creator

Donkey Kong is acharacter created byShigeru Miyamoto(pictured) for the Japanesevideo game companyNintendo. He stars in theDonkey Kong franchise while also appearing in theMario franchise. Donkey Kong is a large, powerfulgorilla who leads theKong family ofsimians. Stubborn and buffoonish, he attacks using barrels. Donkey Kong debuted as the antagonist inDonkey Kong (1981), characterized asMario's rebellious pet. SinceDonkey Kong Country (1994), he has appeared as aplayer character protecting his stash of bananas. Donkey Kong has also appeared in animation, comics,children's books, theme park attractions, and merchandise such asLego toys. Journalists regard Donkey Kong as one of the greatest video game characters. TheDonkey Kong franchise was Nintendo's first major international success and remains one of its bestselling franchises. Donkey Kong has been the subject of analysis regarding his gender role and his transition from villain to hero.(Full article...)

February 23

TheFirst Jewish–Roman War (66–73/74 CE) was the first of threemajor Jewish rebellions against theRoman Empire. Fought in the province ofJudaea, it was bloodily supressed and resulted in the destruction ofJerusalem and theSecond Temple. After the clientkingdom of Judaea was annexed as aRoman province in 6 CE, tensions grew due to harsh governance and social, ethnic, and religious divisions. Open revolt erupted after the Roman governorGessius Florus looted the temple in Jerusalem and killed many civilians. Early rebel successes included the defeat ofCestius Gallus atBethoron, but Roman forces underVespasian and later his sonTitus reconquered the province. Jerusalem fell in 70 CE after adevastating siege, and the last resistance ended with thefall of Masada. The war profoundly reshapedJewish history andreligion, accelerated theseparation between early Christianity and Judaism, strengthened theFlavian dynasty, and set the stage for the later catastrophicBar Kokhba revolt.(Full article...)

February 24

Yuma, Colorado served as an inspiration for Haruf's small-town settings

Alan Kent Haruf (1943–2014) was an American writer born and raised inColorado. He wrote six novels and several short stories set on theHigh Plains. As a young man Haruf enrolled in thePeace Corps inlieu of military service before receiving a master's degree from theUniversity of Iowa. He initially struggled to establish a career as a writer. Haruf spent years teaching English at a high school and at universities. His writing was first published in 1984 when he was 41. Commercial success eluded him until the publication ofPlainsong in 1999, which became a bestseller. Throughout Haruf's career, critics praised his spare and elegant prose, authentic portrayals of rural life, and attention to the beauty found in ordinary things, although he was occasionally criticized for redundancy. A Colorado magazine,5280, wrote that Haruf is "widely considered Colorado's finest novelist", and theDublin Review of Books called his work "both uniquely American and profoundly universal".(Full article...)

February 25

The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village is a 2001 non-fiction book by the historianEamon Duffy. It concernsMorebath, England, during theEnglish Reformation of the 16th century. Using thechurchwarden's accounts maintained by SirChristopher Trychay, the vicar ofMorebath's parish, Duffy recounts the religious and social implications of the Reformation in a small conservativeCatholic community through the reign ofHenry VIII, during the violent 1549Prayer Book Rebellion, and into theElizabethan era. Trychay's accounts – first reprinted in 1904 – had been used in other scholarly works and were first encountered by Duffy in 1992. Duffy's work depicts both Morebath and Trychay through their strong early resistance to the Reformation to their eventual adoption of new religious norms under the ProtestantElizabethan Religious Settlement. In 2002, the work won theHawthornden Prize and the book was shortlisted for both theSamuel Johnson Prize andBritish Academy Book Prize.(Full article...)

February 26

Title page ofThe Detective's Album

Mary Fortune (1832–1911) was an Australian writer who was one of the earliest female authors ofdetective fiction. Born in Ireland, she lived in Canada before moving to the Australian goldfields in 1855. She began writing for local goldfields newspapers soon after her arrival, and then became a prolific pseudonymous contributor toThe Australian Journal for more than four decades. Her writing primarily consisted of short crime stories—including her best known work, the 500-story seriesThe Detective's Album—but also included serial novels, journalism, poetry, and memoir. In addition to her crime stories, Fortune wrote romances,Gothic fiction, and ghost stories. Her writing drew on her experiences in the goldfields and in Melbourne's rapidly urbanising environment, often criticising colonial society and its treatment of women. Despite her popularity as a writer, Fortune experienced unstable housing and alcoholism, and died in poverty in 1911. Her identity, obscured by pseudonyms, was not rediscovered until the 1950s.(Full article...)

February 27

Fort Southerland is aredoubt built during theAmerican Civil War to protectCamden, Arkansas.Confederate forces built it along with four other redoubts in early 1864 after aUnion victory in theLittle Rock campaign the previous year. Fort Southerland is about the size of acity block and is roughly oval. It could hold three cannons. When Union forces captured Camden in April 1864 during theCamden Expedition, they improved the defenses of the five redoubts, which were not sufficient for proper defense of the city. After the Confederates retook Camden later that month, they continued to improve the city's defenses. The fort lies within Fort Southerland Park, a municipal park dedicated in 1974. It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1994, and is part of theCamden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark. Along withFort Lookout, it is one of only two of the redoubts around Camden still in existence.(Full article...)

February 28

Station exit building

Hume MRT station is an undergroundMass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on theDowntown Line (DTL) in Singapore. Featuring a colour scheme of green, yellow, and white, the station has two exits and serves landmarks such asBukit Timah Nature Reserve, theRail Corridor and theFormer Ford Factory, the latter of which is depicted in the Art-in-Transit artworkContinuity. The station was initially built with structural provisions only due to lack of projected ridership, with works completed in 2014. Following petitions by nearby residents to improve connectivity around the area, the government announced the start of construction of the remaining facilities in March 2019. Fitting-out works began in February 2021, and the station opened on 28 February 2025, ahead of the original deadline of the second quarter of the same year. It was the first undergroundinfill station on the Singapore MRT network.(Full article...)

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