Historical Events
- Feb 9 USS Constellation captures French frigate Insurgents off Nevis, W I
- Feb 13 1st US law regulating insurance passed by Massachusetts legislature
- Feb 15 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania
- Feb 25 1st federal forestry legislation authorizes purchase of timber land
- Feb 25 US Congress passes 1st federal quarantine legislation
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 4 Joao Batista da Silva Leitao de Almeida Garret, Portuguese poet, playwright (Frei Luís de Sousa) and statesman, born in Porto, Portugal (d. 1854)
- Feb 5 John Lindley, English botanist (Elements of Botany), born in Catton, England (d. 1865)
- Feb 11 Basil Moreau, French Founder priest (d. 1873)
- Feb 26 Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)
- Feb 27 Frederick Catherwood, English artist and explorer who with John Lloyd Stephens drew and publicized ruins of the Maya, born in London (d. 1854)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 4 Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (b. 1728)
- Feb 7 Qianlong, Emperor of China, 6th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, dies at 87
- Feb 12 František Xaver Dušek, Czech composer, dies at 67
- Feb 12 Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian physiologist and biologist, dies at 70
- Feb 16 Charles Theodore, German Elector of Bavaria (1742-77), dies at 74
- Feb 18 Maurus Haberhauer, Czech composer, dies at 52
- Feb 19 Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor, dies at 65
Heshen (1750-1799)
Feb 22 Chinese politician and infamous Qing Dynasty court official considered the most corrupt official in Chinese history, commits forced suicide at 48 by hanging himself on the order of the Jiaqing Emperor after he declared Heshen guilty by imperial edict
- Feb 24 Broerius Brorius, theologist (Pensive Christian), dies at about 41
- Feb 24 Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and writer (types of Lichtenberg), dies at 56
- Feb 25 William Dawes, American soldier and patriot who with Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott warned Massachusetts minutemen the regulars are coming before the battles of Lexington and Concord, dies at 53 [1]
