Historical Events
The American Party
Feb 18 The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
- Feb 19 Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
- Feb 20 The steam packet-ship John Rutledge, en route from Liverpool to New York, hits an iceberg and sinks with the loss of 120 passengers and 19 crew; only one survivor (Thomas Nye of New Bedford)
- Feb 22 1st national meeting of Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
- Feb 27 18th Grand National: George Stevens wins aboard 25/1 Freetrader; first of Stevens' record 5 GN victories
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 2 Makar Ekmalyan, Armenian composer (Patarag - Divine Liturgy of Armenia), born in Vagharshapat, Erivan Governorate, Russian Empire (now Armenia) (d. 1905)
- Feb 5 Otto Brahm, German critic, theatre director (founded Neue Deutsche Rundschau), born in Hamburg (d. 1912)
- Feb 14 Frank Harris, Irish-American journalist and writer (My Life & Loves), born in Galway, Ireland (d. 1931)
Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926)
Feb 15 German psychiatrist who developed a classification system for mental illness, born in Munich, Germany
- Feb 16 Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur and owner of chain of shops (Karstadt Warenhaus AG) (d. 1944)
- Feb 16 Willem Kes, Dutch violinist, composer and conductor (Concertgebouw Orchestra), born in Dordrecht, Netherlands (d. 1934)
- Feb 21 Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Dutch architect (Stock exchange Amsterdam), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1934)
- Feb 27 Alfred Einhorn, German chemist (created Novocain), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1917) [1]
Famous Deaths
- Feb 8 Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist, dies at 82
- Feb 12 Thomas L. Jennings, American tailor and inventor (dry-cleaning), abolitionist, and desegregationist, dies at 64 [1]
- Feb 17 Heinrich Heine, German poet and lyricist (Schubert, Liszt), dies at 58
- Feb 17 John Braham, English tenor singer and composer, dies at 81
- Feb 24 Nikolai Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician (Lobachevskian geometry), dies at 63
