Historical Events
- Feb 1 Operative Bricklayers' Society unionist in London, England start working 8-hour days, instead of 9
- Feb 3 Prince Mutsuhito, 14, becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan (1867-1912)
- Feb 6 American financier and philanthropist George Peabody establishes the Peabody Education Fund to provide improvements to existing schools in poor areas of the southern USA
- Feb 8 The Ausgleich (compromise) establishes the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary
- Feb 13 Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards
- Feb 14 Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co issues 1st policy
- Feb 14 Morehouse College organizes (Augusta Georgia)
- Feb 15 Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz premieres in Vienna
- Feb 17 Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary
Famous Birthdays
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)
Feb 7 American author (Little House on the Prairie), born in Pepin, Wisconsin
- Feb 9 Edward Naylor, British composer and organist, born in Scarborough, England (d. 1934)
- Feb 11 August W Messer, German philosopher/educator/psychologist, born in Mainz (d. 1937)
- Feb 13 Harold Mahony, Scottish tennis player (Wimbledon 1896), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1905)
- Feb 14 Sakichi Toyoda, Japanese inventor and industrialist (Toyota Industries), born in Yamaguchi, Tōtōmi Province (now Kosai, Shizuoka), Japan (d. 1930)
- Feb 17 William Cadbury, British chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury), born in Edgbaston, England (d. 1957)
- Feb 18 Hedwig Courths-Mahler, German Romantic novelist whose novels sold 80 million copies (Warbride), born in Nebra (d. 1950)
- Feb 20 Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (d. 1931)
- Feb 21 Otto Hermann Kahn, German-American banker and patron of the arts, organized Metropolitan Opera Company, born in Mannheim, Baden, German Confederation (d. 1934)
- Feb 26 Siegfried Passarge, German geographer (Cameroon, South Africa, born in Königsberg, Prussia (d. 1958) [or Nov 28, 1866]
- Feb 27 Irving Fisher ' America's greatest economist' (Fisher’s Theory of Interest, Monetarism), born in Saugerties, New York (d. 1947) [1]
- Feb 27 Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and music critic, born in Ullånger, Sweden (d. 1942)
Famous Weddings
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Feb 15 Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky (45) weds Anna Snitkina at Trinity Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia
John A. Macdonald
Feb 16 Prime Minister of Canada John A. Macdonald (52) weds Agnes Bernard (30) at St George's Church in Hanover Square, London
