What Happened in February 1820

Historical Events

  • Feb 6 1st organized emigration of blacks back to Africa (NY to Sierra Leone)
  • Feb 6 First 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society start a settlement in present-day Liberia
  • Feb 6 US population announced at 9,638,453, African Americans 1,771,656 (18.4%)
  • Feb 23 Cato Street conspiracy uncovered, attempt to murder British Prime Minister Earl of Liverpool and Government Ministers

Famous Birthdays

  • Feb 1 George Hendric Houghton, American Protestant Episcopal clergyman (d. 1897)
  • Feb 2 Hans E Schack, Danish politician and writer (Phantasterne - Fantasy), born in Sengeløse, Denmark (d. 1820)
  • Feb 3 Elisha Kent Kane, US Arctic naval surgeon and Artic explorer (led expedition to Greenland discover fate of John Franklin), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1857)

Doc Durant (1820-1885)

Feb 6 American financier and railroad promoter (Transcontinental Railroad-Union Pacific), born in Lee, Massachusetts

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)

Feb 8 American Major General in the Union Army, born in Lancaster, Ohio

  • Feb 13 (Albert) Béla Kéler, Hungarian composer, and conductor, born in Bártfa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bardejov, Slovakia) (d. 1882)

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)

Feb 15 American social reformer and women's suffrage movement leader, born in Adams, Massachusetts

  • Feb 17 Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal (d. 1898)
  • Feb 17 Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violin prodigy, composer, and teacher (Brussels Conservatory), born in Verviers, United Kingdom of the Netherlands (d. 1881)
  • Feb 20 Mahlon Dickerson Manson, American druggist politician and General (Union Army), born in Piqua, Ohio (d. 1895)
  • Feb 28 John Tenniel, English cartoonist and illustrator (Punch, Alice in Wonderland), born in London, England (d. 1914)
  • Feb 29 Adolf Schimon, Austrian German composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1887)

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 7 Samuel Adams Holyoke, American composer, dies at 57
  • Feb 12 Guillaume Albert Teniers, Flemish composer, dies at 71
  • Feb 14 Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, son of French King Charles X, assassinated by a Bonapartist at 42
  • Feb 14 Cosme Argerich, Argentine physician and founder of the Medicine School of Buenos Aires, dies at 61
  • Feb 15 Pierre-Joseph Cambon, French member of Committee of Salut Public, dies at 63
  • Feb 15 William Ellery, US attorney (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 92
  • Feb 16 Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish Lieutenant General and war hero, dies at 61
  • Feb 29 Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German literary critic (b. 1743)