Historical Events
- Feb 11 Spanish Cortes fires king Amadeus I
- Feb 12 US Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1873, abolishing bimetallism and placing the country on the gold standard
- Feb 20 British Naval Officer John Moresby is the first European to discover Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, claims it for the United Kingdom
- Feb 20 University of California gets its first Medical School (UC/San Francisco)
- Feb 27 Dutch socialist Samuel van Wooden demands law against child labor
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Clara Butt, British contralto (Country of Hope & Glory; Elgar's "Sea Pictures"), born in Southwick Sussex, England (d. 1936)
- Feb 1 John Barry, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 1901)
- Feb 1 Joseph Allard, Canadian fiddler (d. 1947)
- Feb 2 Johan Paul van Limburg Stirum, Dutch colonial administrator and diplomat (Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1916–1921), born in Zwelle, Netherlands (d. 1948)
- Feb 2 Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and convicted Nazi war criminal (Foreign Minister 1932-38), born in Kleinglattbach, German Empire (d. 1956)
- Feb 2 Leo Fall, Austrian operetta composer (Dollar Princess), born in Olmütz, Austrian-Hungarian Empire (d. 1925)
- Feb 3 Ernest-Bernard Allo, French Dominican theologist, born in Quintin, France (d. 1945)
- Feb 4 Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian athlete (d. 1905)
- Feb 11 Feodor Chaliapine, Russian operatic bass-baritone singer (Man and Mask: Forty Years in the Life of a Singer), born in Kazen, Russian Empire (d. 1938)
- Feb 13 Fyador Chaliapin, Russian operatic bass-baritone (Boris Godunov), born in Kazan, Russia (d. 1938)
- Feb 15 Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-born Swedish biochemist who investigated the fermentation of sugar and enzymes (Nobel 1929), born in Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1964)
- Feb 23 Dmitri Arakishvili, Soviet and Georgian composer, born in Vladikavkaz, Russia (d. 1953)
- Feb 23 Joseph Allen Sr. American actor, born in Worcester, Massachusetts (d. 1952)
- Feb 23 Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar (d. 1929)
Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)
Feb 25 Italian operatic tenor (Faust), born in Naples, Kingdom of Italy
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Matthew Maury, American oceanographer, dies at 67
- Feb 2 Edward Johnson, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 56
- Feb 7 Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (The House by the Churchyard), dies at 58
- Feb 8 John White Geary, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), lawyer, and politician (Governor of Pennsylvania, 1867-73; Mayor of San Francisco, 1850-51), dies of a heart attack at 53
- Feb 13 Petrus Abraham Samuel van Limburg Brouwer, Dutch politician and critic (Akbar), dies at 43
- Feb 14 Charles Samvei Bovy-Lysberg, Swiss pianist and composer, dies at 51
- Feb 18 Vasil Levski, Bulgarian revolutionary hero, dies at 35
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