Feburary
1st
National Freedom Day
1978 - Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp
2nd
1901 - Female Army Nurse Corps established as a permanent organization
1940 - Frank Sinatra's singing debut in Indianapolis
3rd
Rissun (Shinto) is a spring festival that marks the division between winter and spring and is celebrated with beans
Elizabeth Blackwell’s birthday (first black woman to graduate from medical
school)
4th
Vasant Panchami (Hindu) celebrates spring, or Basant, and Sarasvati, the Hindu goddess of learning and the arts.
1913-Rosa Park’s Birthday
5th
1959 - Jennifer Granholm’s Birthday
1777 - Georgia becomes 1st US state to abolish both entail & primogeniture
6th
1820 - US population announced at 9,638,453, African Americans 1,771,656 (18.4%))
1902 - Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC
7th
National Girls and Women in Sports Day
1969 - Diane Crump becomes 1st woman jockey at a major US racetrack
8th
1910 - The Boy Scouts of America founded.
1944 - 1st black reporter accredited to White House, Harry McAlpin
9th
1992 - Heike Henkel high jumps female indoor world record (2.07m)
1971-Leroy “Satchel” Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
10th
1855 - US citizenship laws amended; all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship
1870-YWCA founded
11th
1805-Sacagawea gives birth to Pompey
1858-Virgin Mary appears to St. Bernadette in Lourdes
12th
Abraham Lincoln’s birthday
1909- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded
13th
1635-First public school started
1923 - 1st Black pro Basketball team, "Renaissance," organizes
14th
St. Valentine’s Day
Frederick Douglas’s birthday
15th
Parinirvana -Nirvana Day (Buddhist), this day is celebrates and marks the death anniversary of Buddha
1879 - Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before Supreme Ct
16th
1900 - 1st Chinese daily newspaper in US publishes (Chung Sai Yat Po-SF)
1838-Kentucky passes a law permitting women to attend school under certain conditions
17th
1963-Michael Jordan’s Birthday
1913 - 1st minimum wage law in US takes effect (Oregon)
18th
1954 - The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
Toni Morrison’s birthday (African American Nobel Peace Prize in Literature winner)
19th
1856 - Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
*International Friendship Day
20th
1929 - American Samoa organizes as territory of US
1988- Rihanna’s Birthday
21st
International Mother Language Day
1828 - 1st American Indian newspaper in US, "Cherokee Phoenix," published
22nd
George Washington’s birthday (1732)
1856 - 1st national meeting of Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
23rd
1836- Siege of the Alamo began
1970 - Holy Eucharist given by women for 1st time in Roman Catholic service
24th
1923 - Mass arrests in US of mafia
1924 - Mahatma Gandhi released from jail
25th
1963 - Beatles release their 1st single in US "Please Please Me"
1811-Hiram Rhoades Revels, the first African American U.S. Senator is sworn in
26th
1944 - 1st female US navy captain, Sue Dauser of nurse corps, appointed
1869-Congress passes 15th Amendment (guarantees the right to vote, regardless of race)
27th
1890 - Freddie Keppard, American jazz musician Birthday
1827 - 1st Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans
28th
1984 - 26th Grammy Awards: Michael Jackson wins 8 Grammys
1997 - Smokers must prove they are over 18 to purchase cigarettes in US
1933 - 1st female in cabinet: Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor
February 29
1940 - Hattie McDaniel becomes 1st black woman to win an Oscar
1968 - National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders reports against racism & demands aid given to black.
The third Monday of February is also celebrated as President’s Day.