February 2nd…
1488 – Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias successfully rounded the Cape of Good Hope in modern-day South Africa, being the first to do so.
1208 – James I “The Conqueror” of Aragon is born, who would go on to play a role in the Reconquista through warring with the Moors and helping define the borders of the Kingdom of Valencia.
1989 – This day saw the start of the final chaotic withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, which would end on February 15th when General of the 40th Army Boris Gromov was the last soldier to cross the border.
February 3rd…
1468 – Inventor of the movable-type printing press Johannes Gutenberg passed away at the age of 70.
1798 – The British HMS Speedy and French privateer ship Papillon fought off the Spanish coast, the battle lasting until the next morning.
1775 – Abigail Adams wrote to Mercy Otis Warren, reacting to King George III’s rejection of the Massachusetts Petition, warning that war was soon approaching between Britain and the thirteen colonies.
February 4th…
1529 – German Protestant reformer Ludwig Haetzer was executed in Constance, Germany.
1916 – The Canadian Parliament fire, which had started the previous day, continued to sweep through the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa.
1993 – The Russian Znamya-2 was launched into orbit, which was a massive space mirror.
February 5th…
1899 – The Filipino-American War began with the Battle of Manila, seeing Filipino nationalists and American soldiers cough colonizers cough clash with each other over the independence of the Philippines.
1779 – Colonel George Rogers Clark of the Continental Army set out on a march from Kaskaskia to Vincennes to capture Fort Sackville from the British.
1592 – Vincenzo della Greca was born.
February 6th…
1891 – The Dalton Gang attempted their first train robbery but failed when they faced resistance from a security guard.
1824 – This saw the second day of arguments in the Supreme Court case Gibbons v. Ogden, which would lead to the federal government having power over interstate commerce.
2011 – The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25 at Super Bowl XLV.
February 7th…
1783 – The three-year Great Siege of Gibraltar between Spain and Britain ended with the Spanish forces retreating.
1616 – Galileo met with Pope Paul V of Rome to discuss heliocentrism.
1871 – Henry E. Steinway, a German-American piano maker, passed away at the age of 73.
February 8th…
1971 – NASDAQ was founded.
1942 – The Battle of Singapore began between Britain and Japan.
1788 – Federalist No. 51 was published by James Madison as part of The Federalist Papers, arguing for the new United States to adopt a Constitution.
Alrighty then, that wraps it up. See you again in not a week.
