Historical Events
- Feb 1 French Lt-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger
- Feb 7 Lt-colonel Borgnis-Desbordes founds Fort Bamako, Niger
- Feb 8 Louis Waterman begins experiment to invent the fountain pen
- Feb 10 Fire at un-insured New Hall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, kills 71
- Feb 14 1st state labor union legislation; New Jersey legalizes unions
- Feb 16 "Ladies Home Journal" begins publishing in the US
- Feb 17 Arthur Ashwell patents 'vacant/engaged' toilet lock in London, England
- Feb 21 2nd French government of Ferry begins
- Feb 23 Alabama becomes 1st US state to enact an antitrust law
- Feb 23 American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Philadelphia)
- Feb 27 Oscar Hammerstein patents 1st cigar-rolling machine
- Feb 28 1st US vaudeville theater opens in Boston, Massachusetts
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Armenian-Russian theatrical director of the Moscow Art Theatre (Vakhtangov Theatre), born in Vladikavkaz, Russia (d. 1922)
- Feb 2 Mikhail Gnesin, Russian composer (Vrubel; The Youth Of Abraham), born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia (d. 1957)
- Feb 2 S Z Sakall [Gerö Jenö], Hungarian stage and film character actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca), born in Budapest Hungary (d. 1955)
- Feb 3 Camille Bombois, French circus wrestler and naïve painter, born in Venarey-les-Laumes (d. 1970)
- Feb 3 Clarence E. Mulford, American writer (Hopalong Cassidy), born in Streator, Illinois (d. 1956)
- Feb 8 Joseph Schumpeter, Austria-American economist and minister of finance, born in Triesch, Habsburg Moravia (d. 1950)
- Feb 11 Paul August von Klenau, Danish composer (Sulamith), and conductor, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1946)
- Feb 12 Ludwig Stössel, Austrian actor (Man With a Camera, The Pride of the Yankees), born in Léka, Hungary, Austria-Hungary (d. 1973)
- Feb 13 Bainbridge Crist, American composer (Egyptian Impressions), born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (d. 1969)
- Feb 13 Hal Chase, American MLB baseball player and manager, born in Los Gatos, California (d. 1947)
- Feb 15 Sax Rohmer [Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward], English author (Dr Fu Manchu novels), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1959)
- Feb 16 Elizabeth Craig, British writer (d. 1980)
- Feb 18 Níkos Kazantzákis, prominent Greek writer and philosopher (Zorba the Greek, The Last Temptation of Christ), born in Kandiye, Ottoman Empire (d. 1957)
- Feb 18 Tom Walls, British actor and producer (A Cuckoo in the Nest, Undercover), born in Kingsthorpe, England (d. 1949)
- Feb 20 Shiga Naoya, Japanese novelist (Road Through Dark Night), born in Ishinomaki, Japan (d. 1971)
- Feb 21 Mick Commaille, South African cricketer and soccer rep, born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 1956)
- Feb 22 Alfred Wikenhauser, German RC exegetist (John-Apokalyps), born in Engen, Germany (d. 1960)
- Feb 22 Jaroslav Kocián, Czech composer and teacher, born in Ústí nad Orlicí, Austrian Empire (d. 1950)
- Feb 22 Marguerite Clark, American silent film actress (Snow White), born in Avondale, Cincinnati (d. 1940)
- Feb 23 Karl Jaspers, German existentialist philosopher, born in Oldenburg Germany (d. 1969)
- Feb 25 Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
- Feb 26 Erich R. Jaensch, German psychologist (eidetism), born in Breslau, German Empire (d. 1940)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Pavel Melnikov, Russian historian and author (In the Forests) [NS=Feb 13], dies at 64
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Feb 13 German composer, noted chiefly for his operas (The Ring of the Nibelung; The Flying Dutchman), dies of a heart attack while visiting Venice at 69
