February 26

Fashion designer Levi Strauss born (1829); Grand Canyon National Park established (1919); Musician Johnny Cash born (1932); HBD musician Erykah Badu (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); HBD actress Téa Leoni (1966); RIP playwright and poet Tennessee Williams (1983).

February 24

Marbury v. Madison establishes principle of judicial review in US (1803); HBD Nike cofounder Phil Knight (1938); Steve Jobs born (1955); Fidel Castro retires as president of Cuba (2008); RIP "Hidden Figures" NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson (2020).

February 23

Gutenberg Bible is published (1455); RIP President John Quincy Adams (1848); Sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois born (1868); Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photo taken (1945); HBD actress Emily Blunt (1983).

February 22

President George Washington born (1732); Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin born (1962); HBD Drew Barrymore (1975); "Miracle on Ice" as US defeats Soviet Union in hockey at Winter Olympics (1980); RIP artist Andy Warhol (1987).

February 19

Thomas Edison gets patent for the phonograph (1878); HBD musician Smokey Robinson (1940); Battle of Iwo Jima begins (1945); HBD actress Millie Bobby Brown (2004); RIP “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee (2016).

February 18

RIP artist Michelangelo (1564); “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” published in the US (1885); Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto (1930); HBD television personality Vanna White (1957); Auto racing legend Dale Earnhardt killed in crash at Daytona 500 (2001).

February 17

Football legend and actor Jim Brown born (1936); Vanguard 2 launched as first weather satellite (1959); HBD Michael Jordan (1963); Volkswagen Beetle passes Ford Model T to become world’s bestselling car (1972); RIP golf great Mickey Wright (2020).

February 16

Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's burial chamber is unsealed (1923); Fidel Castro becomes prime minister of Cuba (1959); HBD tennis great John McEnroe (1959); HBD actress Elizabeth Olsen (1989); HBD musician The Weekend (1990).

February 15

Astronomer Galileo Galilei born (1564); Women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony born (1820); RIP musician Nat King Cole (1965); Soviet-Afghan War ends as all Soviet troops depart Afghanistan (1989); Millions of people in 600 cities protest Iraq War (2003).

February 12

President Abraham Lincoln born (1809); Biologist Charles Darwin born (1809); HBD children’s author Judy Blume (1938); President Bill Clinton acquitted on impeachment charges (1999); RIP “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz (2000).

Abraham Lincoln

Did you know... ... that today is Abraham Lincoln's Birthday? Every American knows President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. "Honest Abe" was born in the wilderness country of Hardin County, Kentucky, on this day in 1809.

February 11

Inventor Thomas Edison born (1847); King Edward VIII abdicates throne, younger brother King George VI takes crown (1936); Nelson Mandela released from prison after 27 years (1990); RIP musician Sam Cooke (1964); RIP model Bettie Page (2008).

February 10

French and Indian War ends (1763); Ron Brown elected chair of Democratic National Committee, first African American to head a major American political party (1989); RIP “Roots” author Alex Haley (1992); RIP American playwright Arthur Miller (2005); RIP Hollywood legend and diplomat Shirley Temple (2014).

February 9

President William Henry Harrison born (1773); RIP poet and playwright Paul Laurence Dunbar (1906); "The Color Purple" author Alice Walker born (1944); Record 73 million watch The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1964); Halley’s comet makes latest appearance, will return in 2061 (1986).

February 8

Author Jules Verne born (1828); Boy Scouts of America is founded (1910); Hollywood legend Lana Turner born (1921); Actor James Dean born (1931); NASDAQ stock market index opens (1971).

February 3

RIP printing press inventor Johannes Gutenberg (1468); American novelist Gertrude Stein born (1874); Musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper are killed in plane crash (1959); Luna 9 becomes first spacecraft to make soft landing on the moon (1966).

February 5

Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, arrives in Boston (1631); Baseball legend Hank Aaron born (1934); HBD English actress Charlotte Rampling (1946); Medgar Evers’ murderer convicted after 30 years (1994); President Trump acquitted in his first impeachment trial (2020).

February 4

George Washington elected first president of the US (1789); Aviation innovator Charles Lindbergh born (1902); Rosa Parks born (1913); RIP pianist and entertainer Liberace (1987); Facebook is founded (2004).

February 2

New Amsterdam (present-day New York) becomes a city (1653); First Groundhog Day celebrated (1887); First Groundhog Day celebrated (1887); First Groundhog Day celebrated (1887); HBD Shakira (1977); RIP Hollywood legend Gene Kelly (1996); Philip Seymour Hoffman dies of drug overdose (2014).

February 1

 "Oxford English Dictionary" debuts (1884); Film legend Clark Gable born (1901); Harriet Tubman becomes first Black woman on US postage stamp (1978); HBD Harry Styles (1994); Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on reentry, all seven astronauts killed (2003).