Historical Events
- Feb 1 1st adhesive postage stamps in US isssued, by Alexander Greig's City Despatch Post company, in New York City
- Feb 7 Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien
- Feb 10 Moreton Bay Penal Colony abolished and opened for free settlement (modern city of Brisbane, Australia) [1]
- Feb 21 1st known sewing machine patented in US by John Greenough of Washington, D.C.
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 2 Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (d. 1927)
- Feb 3 Sidney Lanier, American poet and composer, born in Macon, Georgia (d. 1881)
- Feb 4 Georg Brandes, Danish literary historian and critic (the Modern Breakthrough of Scandinavian literature), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1927)
- Feb 7 Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (d. 1923)
- Feb 13 Ted Pooley, English cricket wicket-keeper (1st class records: 8 stumpings in a match 1878; 12 dismissals in a match 1868; Surrey CCC, Middlesex CCC), born in Chepstow, England (d. 1907)
- Feb 22 Leon Vanderkindere, Belgian historian and mayor (Ukkel), born in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (d. 1906)
- Feb 23 Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (d. 1906)
- Feb 24 Arrigo Boito, Itlaian opera composer (Mefistofele), and librettist (Verdi's "Falstaff"; Ponchielli's "La Gioconda"), born in Padua, Italy (d. 1918)
- Feb 25 Karl May, German writer (Old Shatterhand, Winnetou), born in Ernstthal, Saxony (d. 1912)
- Feb 26 Camille Flammarion, French astronomer, Mars researcher and popularizer of astronomy, born in Montigny-le-Roi, Haute-Marne, France (d. 1925)
Year of the Rabbit
Year of the Dragon
Year of the Snake
Year of the Horse
Year of the Goat/Sheep
Year of the Monkey