Historical Events
- Feb 2 Gustave Charpentiers opera "Louise" premieres at the Salle Favart, in Paris France; performed by the Opéra-Comique conducted by André Messageri
- Feb 3 Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky
- Feb 3 Rival forces fight for control of the Union Park ball grounds in Baltimore
- Feb 5 British troops under Gen Buller occupy Vaal Krantz, Natal
- Feb 5 The United States and the United Kingdom sign treaty for Panama Canal
- Feb 6 The Battle of Vaal Krantz, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- Feb 7 British troops vacate Vaal Krantz, Natal
- Feb 9 Dwight Davis establishes a new tennis trophy, the Davis Cup
- Feb 10 Peter Ostlund skates world record 500m (45.2 sec)
- Feb 14 Date of events in Australian movie "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
- Feb 14 Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country
Siege of Kimberley
Feb 15 Boer War: Siege of Kimberley broken by British troops under Lieutenant-General John French after a 124 day siege. Kimberley defense led by Cecil Rhodes.
- Feb 16 1st Chinese daily newspaper in US publishes, Chung Sai Yat Po in San Francisco
- Feb 16 Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Shamrocks beat Winnipeg Victorias, 5-4 to take challenge series, 3-1
- Feb 18 Battle at Paardeberg, 1,270 British killed/injured
- Feb 18 British troops occupy Monte Christo, Natal
- Feb 19 British troops occupy Hlangwane, Natal
- Feb 22 Battle at Wynne's Hill, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- Feb 23 Battle at Hart's Hill, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- Feb 23 Steamer "Rio de Janeiro" sinks in San Francisco Bay
- Feb 27 Battle of Paardeberg: Boer General Piet Cronjé surrenders to the British after a prolonged siege
- Feb 27 The Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party (formed in 1893) meet in London, resulting in a Labour Representative Committee and eventually the modern UK Labour Party in 1906
- Feb 28 General Buller's troops relieve Ladysmith in Natal
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Clarence "Bud" Pinkston, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, silver 3m springboard 1920), born in Wichita, Kansas (d. 1961)
- Feb 1 Stephen Potter, English writer and humorist (School for Scoundrels, Shipbuilders), born in London, England (d. 1969)
- Feb 2 Asa Smith Bushnell III, American sports executive (Secretary US Olympic Committee 1945-65), born in Springfield, Ohio (d. 1975)
- Feb 2 Carroll Righter, American columnist and astrologer to the stars, born in Salem, New Jersey (d. 1988)
- Feb 3 Mabel Mercer, British jazz and cabaret singer whose style and phrasing influenced Frank Sinatra ("Fly Me To The Moon"), born in Burton upon Trent, England (d. 1984)
Adlai Stevenson II (1900-1965)
Feb 5 American politician (US Ambassador to UN, 1961-65; Governor of Illinois, 1949-53; Democratic presidential candidate, 1952 & 1956), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 6 Roy Smeck, American musician, born in Reading, Pennsylvania (d. 1994)
- Feb 8 Guy Warrack, Scottish composer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1986)
- Feb 8 Ivan Ivanov-Vano Soviet animator and Russian animation director (d. 1987)
- Feb 8 John Cameron, Scottish judge, born in London (d. 1996)
- Feb 9 Ann Axtell Morris, American archaeologist (American Southwest and Mexico), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1945)
- Feb 9 Walter Page, American jazz double bassist, saxophonist, tuba player, and bandleader (Blue Devils; Count Basie Orchestra), born in Gallatin, Missouri (d. 1957)
- Feb 11 Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (Truth and Method), born in Marburg, Germany (d. 2002)
- Feb 11 Josei Toda, Japanese educator (d. 1958)
- Feb 11 Thomas Hitchcock Jr., American polo player (Westchester Cup 1924,27,30,39), born in Aiken, South Carolina (d. 1944)
- Feb 12 Fred Emney, British actor (Let the People Sing, Adventures of a Private Eye, Lilac Domino), born in London, England (d. 1980)
- Feb 13 Joseph "Wingy" Manone American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader ("Tar Paper Stomp"; "Downright Disgusted Blues"), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1982)
- Feb 15 George Earnshaw, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1929-30; Philadelphia Athletics), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 1976)
- Feb 16 Albert Hackett, American actor, playwright and screenwriter (It's A Wonderrful Life; The Diary of Anne Frank), born in Nutley, New Jersey (d. 1995)
- Feb 16 Vincent Coleman, American actor (For the Freedom of Ireland, Salome), born in Louisiana (d. 1971)
- Feb 19 Giorgos Seferis [Giōrgios Stylianou Seferiadēs], Greek writer (Nobel Prize for Literature 1963) and diplomat, born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (d. 1971)
- Feb 20 Antonio Veretti, Italian orchestral, theater, and film composer, born in Verona, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1978)
- Feb 20 Graham Spry, Canadian radio pioneer, born in St Thomas, Ontario (d. 1983)
- Feb 21 Madeleine Renaud, French actress and theater director (Plaisir), born in Paris, Ile-de-France (d. 1994)
- Feb 21 Sydney Arnold, British comic actor (The Meaning of Life, Top Secret!, Miss Jones & Son), born in Westminster, London, England (d. 1993)
- Feb 22 Giorgos Seferis [Georgios Seferiades], Greek poet (Nobel 1963), born in Urla, Ottoman Empire (d. 1971)
- Feb 22 Luis Buñuel, Spanish surrealist film director (Belle de Jour), born in Calanda Spain (d. 1983)
- Feb 22 Seán Ó Faoláin [John Whelan], Irish short story writer (Murder at Cobbler's Hulk), born in Cork City, County Cork, Ireland (d. 1991)
- Feb 23 Elinor Remick Warren, American composer, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1991)
- Feb 25 Hartzell "Tiny" Parham, American jazz pianist, theater organist, and bandleader, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (d. 1943)
- Feb 25 Jed Harris, Austrian-born American theatre producer and director (Billy Rose Show, Operation Mad Ball), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1979)
- Feb 26 Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower (Olympic gold 1928), born in Rawa Mazowiecka, Russian Empire (d. 1989)
- Feb 26 Jean Negulesco, Romanian-American film director (How to Marry a Millionaire), born in Craiova, Dolj (d. 1993)
- Feb 28 Edna Manley, Jamaican sculptor 'motherof Jamaican art', born in Bournemouth, England (d. 1987)
- Feb 28 Laura Z. Hobson, American writer (Gentleman's Agreement), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1986)
- Feb 28 Wolfram Hirth, German pilot (d. 1959)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 3 Ottokar Novacek, Astro-Hungarian composer (Perpetual Motion), dies at 33
- Feb 3 William W. Averell, American Major General (Union Army), dies at 67
- Feb 16 George Labram, US mine engineer in South Africa, dies in battle
- Feb 18 Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)
- Feb 18 Eugenio Beltrami, Italian mathematician (non-Euclidean geometry), dies at 64
- Feb 23 Ernest Dowson, British poet (Decorations in Verse and Prose), dies at 32
- Feb 23 William Butterfield, architect of the Gothic revival, dies
