February 1
1713 – The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1796 – The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
1814 – Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, which was the most devastating eruption of the volcano.
1835 – Slavery is abolished in Mauritius
February 2
1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe's adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
1725 – J. S. Bach leads the first performance of his chorale cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, based on Luther's paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis.
1797 – The siege of Mantua ends after eight months when Count Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser surrenders the fortress of Mantua to Napoleon Bonaparte. The fall of Mantua secures French control over Northern Italy and marks the beginning of the conclusion of the Italian campaign of 1796-1797, and sets the stage for the end of the War of the First Coalition.
1814 – The last of the River Thames frost fairs comes to an end.
February 3
1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt, Swedish forces defeated a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
1716 – The 1716 Algiers earthquake sequence began with an Mw 7.0 mainshock that caused severe damage and killed 20,000 in Algeria.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.
1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crushed the remnants of Shays' Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
February 4
1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death.
1758 – The city of Macapá in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral.
1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It would be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.
1801 – John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
1810 – Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe.
1820 – The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day-long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and two ships.
1825 – The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
February 5
1783 – In Calabria, a sequence of strong earthquakes begins.
1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.
1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
February 6
1694 – The warrior queen Dandara, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rather than be returned to a life of slavery.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris, the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France, signaling official recognition of the new republic.
1778 – New York became the third state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1806 – Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean.
1819 – The Treaty of Singapore was signed by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Hussein Shah of Johor, and Temenggong Abdul Rahman, and it is now recognised as the founding of modern Singapore.
1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia.
1833 – Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
February 7
1756 – Guaraní War: The leader of the Guaraní rebels, Sepé Tiaraju, is killed in a skirmish with Spanish and Portuguese troops.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon finds Bennigsen's Russian forces taking a stand at Eylau. After bitter fighting, the French take the town, but the Russians resume the battle the next day.
1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
1813 – In the action of 7 February 1813 near the Îles de Los, the frigates Aréthuse and Amelia batter each other, but neither can gain the upper hand.
1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
February 8
1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the second-oldest institution of higher education in the Thirteen Colonies, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
1807 – Napoleon defeats the coalition forces of Russian General Bennigsen and Prussian General L'Estocq at the Battle of Eylau.
1817 – An army led by Grand Marshal Las Heras crosses the Andes to join San Martín in the liberation of Chile from Spain.
1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first and only Vice President of the United States chosen by the Senate.
February 9
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
1778 – Rhode Island becomes the fourth US state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1822 – Haiti attacks the newly established Dominican Republic on the other side of the island of Hispaniola.
1825 – After no candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as the sixth President of the United States in a contingent election.
February 10
1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
February 11
1794 – First session of the United States Senate opens to the public.
1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of "gerrymandering" for the first time.
1823 – Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a human crush at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.
1826 – University College London is founded as University of London.
1840 – Gaetano Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
February 12
1733 – Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founded Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.
1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.
1818 – Bernardo O'Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
1825 – The Creek ceded the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrated west.
1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
February 13
1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.
1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: Almost 80 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland, are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.
1726 – The Parliament of Negrete between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile brought an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26.
1755 – Treaty of Giyanti signed by VOC, Pakubuwono III, and Prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divides the Javanese kingdom of Mataram into two: the Sunanate of Surakarta and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.
February 14
1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine-gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
1804 – Karadorde leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
1835 – The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
February 15
1690 – Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire.
1764 – The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana.
1798 – The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.
1835 – Serbia's Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect.
February 16
1699 – First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing that the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.
1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
1796 – Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their invasion of Ceylon.
1804 – First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
February 17
1739 – The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.
1753 – In Sweden, February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
1801 – United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.
1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal, are killed by Zulus.
February 18
1735 – The ballad opera called Flora, or Hob in the Well, went down in history as the first opera of any kind to be produced in North America (Charleston, S.C.)
1781 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
1791 – Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent, largely unrecognized state.
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.
February 19
1714 – Great Northern War: The battle of Napue between Sweden and Russia is fought in Isokyrö, Ostrobothnia.
1726 – The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.
1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama, and confined to Fort Stoddert.
1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands.
1836 – King William IV signs Letters Patent establishing the province of South Australia.
February 20
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
1798 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
1813 – Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.
1816 – Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
1824 – William Buckland formally announces the name Megalosaurus, the first scientifically validly named non-avian dinosaur species.
1835 – The 1835 Concepción earthquake destroyed Concepción, Chile.
February 21
1797 – A force of 1,400 French soldiers invaded Britain at Fishguard in support of the Society of United Irishmen. They were defeated by 500 British reservists.
1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e., Finland) to Russia.
1828 – The Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah.
February 22
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
1770 – British customs officer Ebenezer Richardson fires blindly into a crowd during a protest in North End, Boston, fatally wounding 11-year-old Christopher Seider; the first American fatality of the American Revolution.
1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
February 23
1725 – J. S. Bach leads his Tafel-Music Shepherd Cantata for the birthday of Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.
1763 – Berbice slave uprising in Guyana: The first major slave revolt in South America.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to help train the Continental Army.
1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed, and the conspirators are arrested.
1836 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.
February 24
1711 – Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, is premièred.
1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.
1809 – London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving its owner, Irish writer and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan, destitute.
1809 – Britain invades and captures the French colony of Martinique.
1812 – The Treaty of Paris between Napoleon and Frederick William III of Prussia against Russia is signed.
1813 – Sinking of HMS Peacock by USS Hornet on the Demerara River, Guyana.
1821 – Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with the Plan of Iguala.
1822 – The first Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.
1826 – The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi ceded land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.
February 25
1705 – George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premiered in Hamburg.
1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.
February 26
1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.
1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba.
February 27
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C., is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
1809 – Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.
1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
February 28
1835 – Elias Lönnrot signed and dated the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called foreword to the Old Kalevala.
1844 – A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who was also on board, was not injured in the blast.