Historical Events
- Feb 3 Whig Party holds its 1st national convention (Albany NY)
Darwin Arrives in Tasmania
Feb 6 HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin arrive in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
Sketches by Boz
Feb 7 "Sketches by Boz" (essays) published by Charles Dickens
- Feb 22 Dutch garrison evacuates fort Du Bus New Guinea
Battle of the Alamo
Feb 23 Alamo besieged for 13 days until March 6 by Mexican army under General Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed
Colt Revolver
Feb 25 Samuel Colt patents first multi-shot revolving-cylinder revolver, enabling the firearm to be fired multiple times without reloading
P. T. Barnum's Disgrace
Feb 25 Showman P. T. Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth, claiming she was the 161 year-old nursemaid to George Washington
- Feb 29 Giacomo Meyerbeers opera "Les Huguenots," premieres in Paris
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Emil Hartmann, Danish organist and composer (Towards The Light), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1898)
- Feb 16 Benjamin Edward Woolf, British-American violinist, composer (The Mighty Dollar), playwright, and journalist, born in London, England (d. 1901)
- Feb 17 Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870)
- Feb 18 Ramakrishna [Gadadhar Chatterji], Indian mystic and yogi (preached unity of religions), born in Kamarpukur, British India (d. 1886)
- Feb 21 (Clement) Léo Delibes, French romantic composer (Coppélia; Sylvia; Le roi l'a dit; Lakmé), born in Saint-Germain-du-Val, France (d. 1891)
- Feb 22 Eduard Wachmann, Romanian composer, conductor and university professor, born in Bucharest, Wallachia (d. 1908)
- Feb 24 Winslow Homer, American painter (Gulfstream), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1910)
- Feb 29 Dickey Pearce, American baseball shortstop (pioneer shortstop position; introduced bunt) and manager (NY Mutuals, St. Louis Brown Stockings), born in Brooklyn, NY (d. 1908)
