Historical Events
Jefferson Davis Confederate President
Feb 4 Confederate constitutional convention meets for 1st time; Jefferson Davis elected President of Confederacy (US Civil War)
- Feb 5 Kinematoscope patented by Coleman Sellers, Philadelphia
- Feb 5 Louisiana delegation except Mr Bouligny withdraws from Congress (US Civil War)
- Feb 6 1st meeting of Provisional Congress of Confederate States of America (US Civil War)
- Feb 6 British Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy issues first storm warnings for ships
- Feb 8 Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery, Alabama (US Civil War)
Constitution of the United States
Feb 9 Confederate Provisional Congress declares all laws under the US Constitution were consistent with constitution of Confederate states (US Civil War)
- Feb 9 Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens elected President and VP of the Confederate States of America (US Civil War)
- Feb 9 Tennessee votes against secession (US Civil War)
- Feb 11 US House unanimously passes resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state
Lincoln Takes the Train
Feb 11 US President-elect Abraham Lincoln takes train from Spingfield IL to Washington, D.C.
- Feb 12 State troops seize US munitions in Napoleon, Arkansas, during the US Civil War
- Feb 13 Abraham Lincoln declared US President in Washington, D.C.
- Feb 13 First military action to result in Medal of Honor, as Bernard J.D. Irwin volunteers to lead rescue of 60 soldiers from Chiricahua Indians at Apache Pass, Arizona
- Feb 15 Fort Point, in San Francisco, California, completed & garrisoned (but has never fired cannon in anger)
Abraham Lincoln, the Presidential Icon
Feb 16 Abraham Lincoln stops his train at Westfield on his way to Washington to thank 11-year old Grace Bedell in person for her advice to grow a beard to gain more votes
- Feb 18 Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery, Alabama (US Civil War)
- Feb 20 Navy of the Confederate States (CSN) forms (US Civil War)
- Feb 21 Navaho indians elect Herrero Grande as chief
- Feb 21 Steeple of Chichester Cathedral collapses despite the desperate efforts of 70 workmen
- Feb 22 On a bet Edward Weston leaves Boston to walk to Lincoln's inauguration
- Feb 23 Dutch Prime Minister Floris van Hall resigns
- Feb 27 Russians shoot at Poles protesting Russian rule of Poland in Castle Square, Warsaw
- Feb 27 US Congress authorizes 1st stamped newspaper wrappers for mailing
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 2 Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist (Guggenheim Museum NYC), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1949)
- Feb 12 Jim McLaughlin, American Hall of Fame thoroughbred jockey (Kentucky Derby 1881, Preakness Stakes 1885, 6 x Belmont Stakes), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1927)
- Feb 12 Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German author (Im Kampf um Gott), born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 193)
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)
Feb 15 British mathematician and philosopher (Adventures of Ideas), born in Ramsgate, England
- Feb 15 Halford John Mackinder, British geographer (Britain and the British Seas), born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England (d. 1947)
- Feb 17 Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany (d. 1922)
- Feb 21 Pierre de Bréville, French composer, author and professor (Une histoire du théâtre lyrique en France), born in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse (d. 1949)
- Feb 26 Ferdinand I, 1st tsar of modern Bulgaria (1908-18), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1948)
- Feb 27 Rudolph Steiner, Austrian-born spiritualist (founder of doctrine of anthroposophy), born in Kraljevic, Austria (d. 1925)
