FACTS ABOUT FEBRUARY
According to the Georgian calendar, February is the second month of the
year, and also the shortest month. February has 28 days until Julius Caesar
gave it 29, and 30 days every four years. According to tradition, Augustus,
the Roman emperor, took one day off to add one day to August, the month
named after him. We now have February with 28 days, and 29 on leap years.
In the northern half of the world, February is a very cold month. There are
usually sunny days that show Spring is not too far off. The Southern
hemisphere usually enjoy midsummer weather during February.
LEAP YEAR FACTS
Leap year comes every four years. Every 28 years, February 1st comes on Sunday, and there is
5 Sundays in the month, ending on Sunday, February 29th. The last year this happened was in 1976.
This year, being 2004, is 28 years since that month in 1976 that had 28 days. This year is leap
year, not only with 29 days in February, but 5 Sundays, as well.
The second day of February is often referred to as GROUNDHOG's DAY. The old stories told are
that the ground hog comes out of it's burrow on February 2, to look for it's shadow. If there is
sunshine and he sees his shadow, then he goes back to sleep and there will be more winter time.
If he doesn't, then the spring time will begin. This is a superstition.
VALENTINE'S DAY is celebrated on February 14 in most western countries. Children give
valentines and have a party in school. Young and old exchange cards with loved ones. This custom
is hundreds of years old, valentine greetings having been found that date back into the 1400's.
The third Monday in February is PRESIDENT'S DAY. Both Washington and Lincoln's birthdays
were in February. It is considered a Federal holiday for celebration of Washington's birthday,
but most states also honor all president's on this day.
The Roman Catholic Church celebrates February 2 as Candlemas Day. The candles used in the
church during the rest of the year are blessed on February 2.
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The amethyst is the birthstone for February.
The primrose is the flower for the month of February.
IMPORTANT FEBRUARY EVENTS
Supreme Court of the United States met for the first time, February 1, 1790.
Louis S. St. Laurent, second French-Canadian prime minister of Canada, born 1882.
American writer Langston Hughes born 1902.
Ground-Hog Day. February 2
By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico gave New Mexico and California to the
United States, February 2, 1848.
James Joyce, Irish novelist and poet, born 1882.
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Violinist Jascha Heifetz born 1901.
The last German troops surrendered in the Stalingrad pocket, completing the
Soviet Union's victory at Stalingrad, during World War II, 1943.
German composer Felix Mendelssohn born February 3, 1809.
Horace Greeley, American publisher, born 1811.
Confederate States of America organized by a temporary committee that met at
Montgomery, Ala., February 4, 1861.
Philippine Rebellion against the United States began, 1899.
Charles A. Lindbergh, American aviator, born 1902.
Yalta Conference began, 1945.
Amendment 24 to the U.S. Constitution, banning poll tax, proclaimed, 1964.
Evangelist Dwight L. Moody born February 5, 1837.
Aaron Burr, American political leader, born February 6, 1756.
Massachusetts ratified the Constitution, 1788.
Home run king "Babe" Ruth born February 6, 1895.
The United States Senate ratified the peace treaty ending the Spanish-American War,
February 6, 1899.
Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, born in Tampico, Ill., February 6, 1911.
Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, February 6, 1952.
Amendment 20 to the United States Constitution, moving Inauguration Day to January 20,
proclaimed, February 6, 1933.
British novelist Charles Dickens born February 7, 1812.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Novel by Dickens.
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis born February 7,1885.
Mary, Queen of Scots, executed, February 8, 1587.
College of William and Mary, second oldest college in the United States, chartered, 1693.
John Ruskin, English essayist and critic, born 1819.
William T. Sherman, Union Army general in the Civil War, born 1820.
Jules Verne, French novelist, born 1828.
Russo-Japanese War began, 1904.
Boy Scouts of America incorporated, 1910.
William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, born in Charles City County,
Virginia, February 9, 1773.
France surrendered Canada to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763.
English essayist and critic Charles Lamb born February 10, 1775.
Thomas A. Edison, American inventor, born February 11, 1847.
Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish patriot, born February 12, 1746.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, born near present-day
Hodgenville, Ky., February 12, 1809.
Charles Darwin, British naturalist, born February 12, 1809.
John L. Lewis, American labor leader, born February 12, 1880.
Talleyrand, French statesman, born February 13, 1754.
Grant Wood, American painter, born February 13, 1891.
Valentine's Day. February 14.
Oregon became the 33rd state to join the Union, February 14, 1859.
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John Barrymore, American actor, born February 14, 1882.
Arizona became the 48th state, February 14,1912.
Galileo, Italian astronomer and physicist, born February 15, 1564.
Inventor Cyrus McCormick born February 15, 1809.
Susan B. Anthony, American woman suffrage leader, born February 15, 1820.
Elihu Root, U.S. statesman and lawyer, born February 15, 1845.
Henry Adams, American historian, born February 16, 1838.
Thomas Robert Malthus, British economist, born February 17, 1766.
Mary I, first reigning queen of England, born February 18, 1516.
John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was licensed for publication, 1678.
Jefferson Davis took the oath as provisional President of the Confederate States of
America, 1861.
Wendell Willkie, American political leader, born 1892.
San Francisco's Golden Gate International Exposition opened, 1939.
Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus born February 19, 1473.
David Garrick, English actor, born February 19, 1717.
Thomas A. Edison patented the phonograph, February 19, 1878.
Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., became first American to orbit the earth, Feb. 20, 1962.
Richard M. Nixon became first U.S. President to visit China, February 21, 1972.
George Washington, first U.S. President, born in Westmoreland County, Va., Feb. 22, 1732.
German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer born February 22, 1788.
James Russell Lowell, American poet, born February 22, 1819.
The United States acquired the Florida territory from Spain, February 22, 1819.
Samuel Pepys, English diarist, born February 23, 1633.
English composer George Frideric Handel born February 23, 1685.
W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights leader, historian, and sociologist, born Feb. 23, 1868.
Amendment 25 to the U.S. Constitution, on presidential succession, proclaimed, Feb. 23,
1967.
Winslow Homer, American painter, born February 24, 1836.
Jose de San Martin, liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, born February 25, 1778.
Enrico Caruso, Italian singer, born 1873.
Amendment 16 to the Constitution, authorizing the income tax, proclaimed, 1913.
President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines resigned from office and fled the country,
1986.
Victor Hugo, French poet and novelist, born February 26, 1802.
Napoleon escaped from island of Elba, 1815.
American frontiersman William Frederick Cody, better known as "Buffalo Bill," born 1846.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, born February 27, 1807.
Marian Anderson, American singer, born February 27, 1897.
American author Ben Hecht, born February 28, 1894.
Vincent Massey took the oath as the first Canadian-born governor general of Canada,
February 28, 1952.
Marquis de Montcalm, French commander in Quebec, born February 29, 1712.
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini, Italian composer, born February 29, 1792.
Facts from World Book Millennium