Historical Events
- Feb 2 1st British public men's toilet opens in Fleet St, London
- Feb 2 Alexandre Dumas Jr's play, an adaptation of his novel "La Dame aux Camélias" premieres in Paris
Event of Interest
Feb 5 The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg first opens to the public with Catherine the Great's collection of 4,000 paintings forming its core collection
- Feb 11 First British public female toilet opens (Bedford Street, London)
- Feb 15 Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits 1st patient
- Feb 16 Studebaker Brothers wagon company established - precursor of the automobile manufacturer
- Feb 19 The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
American Geographical Society
Feb 21 George Bancroft becomes the American Geographical Society's first president
- Feb 26 British troopship Birkenhead sinks off South Africa, 458 die, 193 survive
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 2 Teunis Stoel, Dutch actor and director (Small Theater), born in Rotterdam (d. 1914)
- Feb 5 Terauchi Masatake, Japanese soldier and politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1916-18), born in Hirai Village, Japan (d. 1919)
- Feb 12 Hendrik Blink, Dutch geographer (Van de Eems tot de Schelde) (d. 1931)
- Feb 13 Johan Louis Emil Dreyer, Danish-British astronomer (New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1926)
Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916)
Feb 16 American religious leader (founder of the Bible School Movement that led to Jehovah's Witnesses), born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
- Feb 16 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, American citizen credited with importing tennis to the US from Bermuda (1874), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1886)
- Feb 16 William S. Scarborough, American linguist and author (Birds of Aristophanes), born in Macon, Georgia (d. 1926)
- Feb 20 Nikolai Garin-Michailovski], Russian railroad engineer (Trans-Siberian railway) and author (Tjoma Kartashov), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1906) [OS=2/08]
- Feb 21 Burner Matthews, American academic and critic who established study of theatre (NY Times), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1929)
- Feb 22 Pieter Klazes Pel, Dutch physician (Pel-Ebstein fever), born in Drachten, Smallingerland, Netherlands (d. 1919)
- Feb 24 George Moore, Irish painter and novelist (Esther Waters), born in Moore Hall, County Mayo, Ireland (d. 1933)
- Feb 26 John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon and nutritionist, inspired flaked cereal industry, born in Tyrone, Michigan (d. 1943)
- Feb 29 Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian barrister and judge (High Court of Australia, 1913-35, and Chief Justice of Australia, 1931-35), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1936)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 2 Francis Libermann, French religious leader (Congregation of Heart), dies at 49
- Feb 10 Samuel Prout, British water color painter, dies at 68
- Feb 17 Micha Joseph Levenson, Hebrew poet, dies
- Feb 24 Eli Terry, American clockmaker whose manufacturing techniques turned clocks into everyday objects, dies at 79
- Feb 25 Thomas Moore, Irish poet and musician, dies at 72
- Feb 27 Joseph Drechsler, Czech composer, dies at 69
- Feb 29 John Landseer, English printer and engraver (Royal Academy), dies (birth date unknown 1763-69)
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