FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey; c. February 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, becoming famous for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Accordingly, he was described by abolitionists in his time […]

1790s 1792: GEORGE WASHINGTON SIGNED THE POSTAL ACT, CREATING THE FEDERAL POSTAL SYSTEM WITH A PER-MILE RATE STRUCTURE 1870s 1872: THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART OPENED IN NYC 1877: TCHAIKOVSKY’S BALLET SWAN LAKE PREMIERED 1890s DIED 1895: FREDERICK DOUGLASS (ABOLITIONIST) 1900s BORN 1902: ANSEL ADAMS […]

1470s BORN 1473: NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (ASTRONOMER) 1740s BORN 1743: LUIGI BOCCHERINI (COMPOSER) 1810s 1814: USS CONSTITUTION CAPTURED BRITISH BRIG HMS CATHERINE 1830s 1831: FIRST PRACTICAL U.S. COAL-BURNING LOCOMOTIVE (YORK) TESTED, YORK, PENNSYLVANIA 1840s BORN 1843: ADELINA PATTI (OPERA SINGER; NAMESAKE OF THE SONG YOU’RE THE […]

1510s BORN 1516: QUEEN MARY I OF ENGLAND 1840s BORN 1848: LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY (ARTIST) 1860s 1861: JEFFERSON DAVIS INAUGURATED AS PROVISIONAL PRESIDENT OF CONFEDERATE STATES 1862: FIRST SESSION OF CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 1870s 1879: AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI GRANTED DESIGN PATENT FOR STATUE OF LIBERTY […]

ASH WEDNESDAY The Christian season of Lent begins today, 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays). Many Christians attend church services on Ash Wednesday to receive ashes on their foreheads in the sign of the cross. (Ashes are a symbol of penance in the Old […]

MARDI GRAS/SHROVE TUESDAY Mardi Gras is French for “fat Tuesday”–the final feasting before the fasting of Lent, which begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, a name that comes from the practice of shriving–purifying oneself through confession–prior to Lent. Many of […]

PRESIDENTS’ DAY (U.S.) Though this day is commonly called Presidents’ Day, the federal holiday is still called “Washington’s Birthday,” contrary to popular belief. It is one of eleven permanent holidays established by Congress. George Washington’s actual birthday is February 22, but we observe federal holidays […]

ST. VALENTINE Although a Christian bishop named Valentine was martyred on February 14 in A.D. 271, there is nothing in this legend to account for the custom of choosing a sweetheart on this day.By the early 1600s, handmade valentines were customarily sent from admirers to […]

Every Year GET A DIFFERENT NAME DAY 1580s 1588: ASTRONOMER TYCHO BRAHE OUTLINED HIS SOLAR SYSTEM STRUCTURE 1860s 1866: JESSE JAMES ROBBED HIS FIRST BANK 1867: STRAUSS’S BLUE DANUBE PREMIERED IN VIENNA 1870s 1875: FIRST U.S. QUINTUPLETS BORN, IN WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN 1880s BORN 1885: BESS […]

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S BIRTHDAY The 16th president of the United States was born on the morning of Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a one-room, 16×18-foot, log cabin with a dirt floor. Called Sinking Spring Farm, the land was situated near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Abe’s father, Thomas, was […]

Every Year NATIONAL INVENTORS’ DAY (UNITED STATES) 1570s 1573: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE CLIMBED TREE AND SAW PACIFIC OCEAN FOR FIRST TIME, ISTHMUS OF PANAMA 1800s 1808: FIRST USE OF ANTHRACITE COAL AS A HOUSEHOLD FUEL 1830s 1836: MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY, THE FIRST U.S. COLLEGE FOR […]

1720s 1720: EDMOND HALLEY BECAME SECOND ASTRONOMER ROYAL OF ENGLAND 1760s 1763: FRANCE CEDED CANADA TO ENGLAND AT THE TREATY OF PARIS, ENDING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 1840s 1840: QUEEN VICTORIA OF THE UNITED KINGDOM MARRIED PRINCE ALBERT OF SAXE COBURG-GOTHA 1841: ACT OF […]

1770s BORN 1773: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON (9TH U.S. PRESIDENT) 1810s 1811: ROBERT FULTON RECEIVED PATENT FOR STEAMBOAT IMPROVEMENTS 1860s 1861: JEFFERSON DAVIS NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA BORN 1866: GEORGE ADE (HUMORIST) 1870s 1870: U.S. WEATHER BUREAU ESTABLISHED BY CONGRESS AS PART […]

COURTESY WIKIPEDIA COMMONS: The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 2.3 million youth participants and about one million adult volunteers. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, about 110 million Americans participated in […]

1800s BORN 1804: JOHN DEERE (FARM EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER) 1810s BORN 1812: CHARLES DICKENS (AUTHOR) 1820s 1827: MADAME FRANCISQUY HUTIN FIRST INTRODUCED BALLET IN THE U.S. WHEN SHE STAGED THE DESERTER AT THE BOWERY THEATER IN NEW YORK CITY 1860s BORN 1867: LAURA INGALLS WILDER (AUTHOR) […]

1630s 1631: RELIGIOUS LEADER ROGER WILLIAMS ARRIVED IN AMERICA (BOSTON) 1780s BORN 1784: NANCY HANKS LINCOLN (MOTHER OF U.S. PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN) 1840s 1840: FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION 1846: THE OREGON SPECTATOR WAS THE FIRST NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED ON THE PACIFIC COAST […]

Every Year NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY (UNITED STATES) MONTH OF FEBRUARY 1700s 1709: ALEXANDER SELKIRK, A SCOTTISH SAILOR, WAS FOUND ON AN ISLAND WHERE HE HAD BEEN STRANDED FOR OVER 4 YEARS. HIS EXPERIENCE WAS THE BASIS FOR DANIEL DEFOE’S NOVEL, “ROBINSON CRUSOE” 1790s 1791: FIRST […]

Every Year AUSTRALIA DAY 1780s 1788: FIRST SETTLERS, INCLUDING 717 CONVICTS, ARRIVED AT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1810s BORN 1810: JOSEPH BROWN (INVENTOR) 1820s BORN 1826: JULIA DENT GRANT (U.S. FIRST LADY) 1827: PERU SECEDED FROM COLUMBIA 1830s BORN 1831: MARY ELIZABETH DODGE (AUTHOR) BORN 1833: ELISABET […]

Every Year NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY (UNITED STATES) 1550s 1556: DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKE ON RECORD KILLED 830,000 IN CHINA 1810s BORN 1813: CAMILLA COLLETT (WRITER) 1840s 1849: ELIZABETH BLACKWELL BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO RECEIVE AN M.D. DEGREE 1849: ENVELOPE MACHINE PATENTED 1860s 1862: CALIFORNIA VINTNER AGOSTON […]