30 February Moments From History

Our world is constantly changing and moving forward, but none of our progress would've been possible without the people who came before us. We need to constantly remember, acknowledge and appreciate the history of our people and the planet we live on. Here are 30 events that took place in the month of February:

February 1, 2009 - Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

As Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was elected as Iceland's first prime minister, she also became the world's first openly gay head of government.

February 2, 1971 - Idi Amin became dictator

Idi Amin appointed himself president (dictator) of Uganda, starting his terror regime during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.

February 3, 1966 - First soft moon landing

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 performed the first ever soft landing on the Moon.

February 4, 2004 - Launch of Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg launched the social network Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard.

February 5, 1972 - Bob Douglas

Bob Douglas became the first African American to be elected to Basketball Hall of Fame.

February 6, 1952 - Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father King George VI to the British throne, and is now one of the world's longest reigning monarchs.

February 7, 1856 - The Electoral Act of 1856

The Electoral Act of 1856 was passed by the Colonial Tasmanian Parliament as the first legislation anywhere in the world that provided secret ballot for elections.

February 8, 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded for her conviction of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I.

February 9, 1971 - First gay sitcom character

"All in the Family" is considered the first sitcom to introduce a gay character and have a gay-themed episode.

February 10, 1824 - Simon Bolívar named dictator

The Congress of Peru named Simón Bolívar dictator, on his task of fully liberating Peru and leading several South American countries to independence from the Spanish Empire.

February 11, 1990 - Nelson Mandela released

The South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela was released from prison after serving 27 years after being convicted of treason and sabotage of the government.

February 12, 2001 - First landing on an asteroid

NASA's NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft performed the first ever landing on an asteroid.

February 13, 1258 - End of Islamic Golden Age

The abbasid Caliphate was destroyed and the city of Baghdad fell to the Mongols. Tens of thousands of people were slaughtered, marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age.

February 14, 1971 - Nixon's secret taping system

Then US president Richard Nixon installed a secret audio taping system in the White House, recording conversations between himself, staff, administration members and his family.

February 15, 2005 - Launch of YouTube

The video sharing site YouTube was launched in the US. It now has over two billion active logged-in users.

February 16, 1923 - Tutankhamun's toms opened

The English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter opened the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun's burial chamber and found the sarcophagus.

February 17, 1936 - The Phantom

The Phantom, the world's first superhero, made his first appearance in comics. He was created by Lee Falk.

February 18, 1930 - Pluto was discovered

Pluto was discovered by the US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, the first object to be discovered in the Kuiper belt. Pluto was initially considered a planet, but was reclassified as a dwarf planet when the International Astronomical Union formally defined the term "planet".

February 19, 1600 - Most violent volcanic eruption

The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded, going down as the most violent eruption ever recorded in South American history.

February 20, 1872 - Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's largest art museums, opened in New York City.

February 21, 1804 - World's first locomotive

Richard Trevithick's locomotive, the world's first, ran for the first time. The journey went along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

February 21, 1986 - The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda, the franchise's first game, was released in Japan, on the Famicom Disk System. The Legend of Zelda now includes 19 games and has become one of the most popular video game series in the world.

February 22, 1907 - The first taxi meter

Cabs first started operating with taxi meters in London, UK.

February 23 , 1997 - Dolly the cloned lamb

After 277 failed attempts, Scottish scientists announced Dolly the sheep as the first ever cloned mammal to survive to adulthood.

February 24, 1607 - The opera "LOrfeo"

The oldest opera that is still regularly performed, Claudio Monteverdi's "LOrfeo", premiered in Mantua, Italy.

February 25, 2018 - Norwegian athlete Marit Bjørgen

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen became the most successful winter athlete of all time, with her 15 medals.

February 26, 1616 - Injunction fo Galileo Galilei

The Roman Inquisition delivered an injunction to astronomer Galileo Galilei, demanding for him to abandon his belief in heliocentrism, which states the Sun as the centre of the universe and not Earth.

February 27, 1693 - First women's magazine

"Ladies' Mercury", the first ever women's magazine, was published in London, UK.

February 28, 1953 - DNA-molecule structure

The chemical structure of a DNA-molecule was discovered by Cambridge University scientists Francis Crick and James Watson.

February 29, 1940 - Hattie McDaniel's Oscar

Hattie McDaniel became the first ever African American woman to win an Oscar for her performance in "Gone with the Wind".

That's a lot of cool things for one month! Did you like the list? Share it with a friend who'd also like to get their history fix! :)

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