February 26

Fashion designer Levi Strauss born (1829); Grand Canyon National Park established (1919); Musician Johnny Cash born (1932); Musician Erykah Badu born (1971); World Trade Center bombing kills six, injures more than 1,000 (1993)

February 25

Hiram Revels becomes first African American in US Congress (1870); Beatles guitarist George Harrison born (1943); Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeats Sonny Liston to win his first world heavyweight title (1964); Actress Téa Leoni born (1966); Playwright and poet Tennessee Williams dies (1983).

February 23

Physicist Werner Heisenberg describes uncertainty principle (1927); Historian WEB Du Bois born (1868); Actress Emily Blunt born (1983); Flaco, Eurasian eagle-owl, dies in Lower Manhattan nine months after escaping from Central Park Zoo (2024)

February 24

Marbury v. Madison establishes principle of judicial review in the US (1803); Nike cofounder Phil Knight born (1938); Steve Jobs born (1955); "Hidden Figures" NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson dies (2020); Russia begins full-scale invasion of Ukraine (2022). 

February 20

Frederick Douglass dies (1895); Sidney Poitier born (1927); John Glenn becomes first American to orbit Earth (1962); Kurt Cobain born (1967); Rihanna born (1988); Olivia Rodrigo born (2003).

February 21

 "The Communist Manifesto" published by Karl Marx (1848); Musician Nina Simone born (1933); NASCAR founded (1948); Malcolm X assassinated (1965); Rev. Billy Graham dies (2018).

February 18

Artist Michelangelo died (1564); “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” published in the US (1885); Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto (1930); Novelist Toni Morrison born (1931); Auto racing legend Dale Earnhardt killed in crash at Daytona 500 (2001).