Historical Events
Premiere of Rhenisch
Feb 6 Robert Schumann's 3rd Symphony "Rhenisch" premieres in Dusseldorf
- Feb 11 Inaugural 1st-class cricket match in Australia; Tasmania v Victoria in Launceston; Tasmania wins by 3 wickets
- Feb 12 Edward Hargraves and three other men discover gold at Ophir, New South Wales, beginning Australia's first gold rush [1]
- Feb 15 Black abolitionists invade Boston courtroom rescuing a fugitive slave
- Feb 26 13th Grand National: Terry Abbott wins aboard Irish stallion Abd-El-Kader at 7/1; first dual winner and first to win back-to-back
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Durham Stevens, American diplomat (d. 1908)
- Feb 2 José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican artist (d. 1913)
- Feb 3 George Harris, (4th Baron Harris), English cricket batsman and captain (4 Tests, 1 x 50; Kent CCC), born in St Ann's, Trinidad (d. 1932)
- Feb 3 Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz, Dutch general (ended Aceh War) and Governor General of Dutch East Indies 1904-09), born in Coevorden, Netherlands (d. 1924)
- Feb 8 Kate O'Flaherty Chopin, American writer, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1904)
- Feb 26 Mordecai Sherwin, English cricket wicket-keeper (3 Tests, 7 dismissals; Nottinghamshire CCC), born in Kimberley, England (d. 1910)
- Feb 28 Samuel W. McCall, American politician (Rep-R-1893-1913), 47th Governor of Massachusetts (1916-19), born in East Providence Township, Pennsylvania (d. 1923)
Famous Deaths
Mary Shelley (1797-1851)
Feb 1 English novelist (Frankenstein), dies of a brain tumor at 53
- Feb 16 Anne Willem Carel van Nagell, Dutch politician, dies at 95
- Feb 18 Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician, dies at 46
- Feb 20 Josef Alois Ladurner, Austrian keyboardist, choral director, composer, and priest dies at 81
- Feb 23 Joanna Baillie, Scottish poet and playwright, dies at 88
- Feb 24 Sake Dean Mahomed, Indian traveler, opened 1st Indian restaurant in the UK, Shampooing Surgeon to George VI, dies at 91 or 92 [1]
- Feb 25 Ferdinand Simon Gassner, Austrian composer, dies at 53
