February 1st - 9th

February

February, the second month in the year, it only has 28 days and 29 days during a leap year.  Both January and February were the last two months to been formed by the Romans.  They considered that winter were a month less period.

How did February get its name?  A pre-Roman annual festival of Lupercalia was observed in Rome between 13^th – 15^th February.  The festival was averted evil spirts, and purify the city, releasing health and fertility. Lupercalia was also called dies Februatus, after the instruments of purification was febura, which gave February its name. 

February
by John Samuel Ager, 1807

Artist John Samuel Ager’s piece “February” 1807 is a good piece illustrating Februa.  Februa in a shell, pouring water from a small jug onto an urn with a surrounding garland, pulled by Pisces, represented by two fish, a cherub flying above scattering seeds before them. 

So, let looks at some of the important dates of February.  If you share a birthday during February who might you share it with, and also those people that died during the month of February.

1^st February

Events

Edward III as he was depicted
in the late 16th century

1327 – Edward III, the teenaged king is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.  Edward reign until 1377, for 50 years.

1884 – Oxford English Dictionary is first published, with its first volume A to Ant.

1918 – The Gregorian Calendar is adopted by Russia.

Births

Clark Gable in a publicity portrait in 1940

1901 – Clark Gable – American actor, often referred to as “King of Hollywood”.  Gable stared in more than 60 films, in a career lasing 37 years.  He best known for his Oscar-nominated performance in the Academy Award-winning best picture “Gone with the Wind”, 1939.

Stanley Matthews lifting his 1953 FA Cup Final
Winner's medal to the sky, so that his
deceased father could see it 

1915 – Stanley Matthews – English footballer, who player outside right.  Nicknamed “The Wizard of the Dribble” and “The Magician”.  Matthews was regarded as one of the best players of the British game.  He is the only footballer, have been knighted whilst still playing.  He carried on playing until he was 50 years old, the oldest English player to paly at the top level of football.

Peter Sallis

1921 – Peter Sallis – English actor, who was well known for playing Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in “Last of the Summer Wine” from its beginning in 1973 to its final episode in 2010.  Sallis also gave hid voice to Wallace in “Wallace and Gromit”.

Deaths

Richard Rothwell's portrait of Shelley
was shown at the Royal Academy in 1840,
accompanied by lines from Percy Shelley's poem The Revolt of Islam 
calling her a "child of love and light"

1851 – Mary Shelley (53) – English novelist and playwright.

Born 1797, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.  Was the second daughter of William Godwin, philosopher, novelist and journalist and his wife Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist philosopher, educator and writer.

Mary Wollstonecraft shortly died of puerperal fever shortly after the birth of Shelley.  William Godwin was left to bring up Shelley and her half-sister, Fanny Imlay. 

Shelley had little formal education, however, her father tutored her in a broad subject, often taking the children of education outings. 

Shelley who went on to marry Percy Bysshe Shelley, who she met in interval between her two stays in Scotland.  Percy at the time was married to Harriet Westbrook.  The three, of them, Shelley, Percy had escaped to continent.  Returning from Europe, 1816, they heard that Shelley’s half-sister, Fanny had committed suicide during the October and that December, Percy’s estranged wife, Harriet drowned herself in The Serpentine.

Shelley and Percy were free to marry, the marriage taking place 30^th December 1816. 

Shelley is best remembered for her Gothic novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”, 1818.    

Mary Shelley's grave
St. Peter's Church, Bournemouth

Shelley died 1851 and had requested that she would be buried with her mother and father at St. Pancras Old Churchyard, however, Jane Shelley, daughter in law of the Mary, decided that Shelley should be buried near their home at Boscombe, at St. Peter’s Church, Bournemouth.

2^nd February

Events

 

1922 – “Ulysses” James Joyce’s novel is published.  Published on Joyce’s 40^th birthday

Births

Nell Gwynn was an acclaimed English actress, 
and mistress Charles II

1650 – Nell Gwyn – became known as the long-time mistress of King Charles II.  She was called by Pepys “pretty, witty Nell”.  Gwyn had two sons, by Charles II, Charles Beauclerk and James Beauclerk.

David Jason

1940 – David Jason – English actor, director and producer.  Is well known for his role as Derek “Del Boy” Trotter, in “Only Fools and Horses”.

Deaths

1461 – Owen Tudor (61)– Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty. 

Born 1400.  Was the Welsh courtier and the second husband of Catherine of Valois who was the widow of King Henry V. Their son, Edmund Tudor, was the father of Henry VII of England.

Tudor had the protection from the statue on Queen Catherine’s dowager, but after he death, Tudor  was imprisoned in Newgate Prison.  1438, he escaped but later captured and held at the custody of the constable of Windsor Castle.  The following year, 1439, Henry VI of England grand Tudor a general pardon, restoring his goods and lands.  In addition to this he was also granted a pension of £40 per annum, and a position with the Royal court. 

Tudor was an early casualty of the War of the Roses.  Having joined his son, Jasper’s army in Wales, January 1461 that was defeated at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. Tudor was captured and he was beheaded at Hereford. 

Gene Kelly in 1943

1996 – Gene Kelly – American actor, singer, dancer and director.

Kelly born Eugene Curran Kelly, 1912.  Kelly was the third son of James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman and his wife, Harriet Catherine Curran.  Kelly’s mother enrolled him and brother, James to dance classes.  He did not dance again until 15.

Kelly enrolled at University of Pittsburgh, 1931, where he studied economics.  Whilst at university, Kelly was involved with the Cap and Gown Club, which staged original musical productions.  After graduation in 1933, Kelly continued to be active with the club.    

Kelly who made his debut in “For Me and My Gal”, 1942 with Judy Garland.  He is also best known for his production in films, “Anchors Aweigh” 1945, “Singin’ in the Rain”, 1952. 

Kelly’s health declined during the 1980s, July 1994, he suffered a stroke which was followed by another one 1995. Kelly died February 1996.

3^rd  February

Events

1917 – America entry the First World War

Left - Right: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and
J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson

1959 – Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17) and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson (28), were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

Births

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 
3^rd Marquees of Salisbury, 1880s

1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3^rd Marquess of Salisbury – English politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1895 – 1902.

Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 
14^th Duke of Hamilton 

1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14^th Duke of Hamilton – Scottish soldier, pilot and politician.  He was one of the first men who flew over Mount Everest.

Deaths

Sweyn (Suanus rex) invading England in 1013
(detail of a 13th-century miniature). 
Cambridge University Library.

1014 – Sweyn Forkbeard – King of Denmark, 986 – 1014 and England 1013 – 1014.

4^th February

Events

Portrait based on the unfinished
 Athenaeum Portrait by 
Gilbert Stuart, 1796

1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected the first President of the United States of America by the U.S. Electoral College.

Chief of the OKW Flag 
1938-1941

1938 – Adolf Hitler is appointing himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.

Births

1895 – Nigel Bruce – English actor.  Best remembered for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the series of films and in the radio series.

Charles Lindbergh

1902 – Charles Lindbergh – America pilot and explorer.  Best remembered for his son, Charles Jr was kidnapped and murdered.  The American media called it “Crime of the Century”.

Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross

1902 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross – German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales. Shawcross was also the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal. 

Deaths

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 
3^rd Earl of Shaftesbury

1713 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3^rd Earl of Shaftesbury (41-42)– English philosopher and politician.

5^th February

Events

Leo Baekeland

1907 – Leo Baekeland, Belgian chemist, announces the creation of Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic.

United Artist

1919 – United Artist is launched by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and G.W. Griffith.

 

Royal Greenwich Observatory

1924 – Greenwich Time Signal, the hourly time signal begins to be broadcasted by the Royal Greenwich Observatory.  Greenwich Time Signal, which were known as the pips are a short series of six short tones, they were used by many BBC Radio stations and they mark precise start of the hour.

Births

John Boyd Dunlop

1840 – John Boyd Dunlop – Scottish businessman who co-founded Dunlop Rubber

Peggy Entwistle from
Just to Remind You
theatrical production,
1929

1908 – Peg Entwistle – Welsh-American actress.  Entwistle a British stage and screen actress.  Her career began 1925, appearing in several Broadway productions including Henrik Ibsen’s “The Wild Duck”, 1925.  Entwistle only appeared in the one film, “Thirteen Women”, 1932, which was released after her death.

Deaths

Kirk Douglas c.1950s

2020 – Kirk Douglas (103) – American actor. 

Born Issur Danielovitch, 1916.  Son of Jewish immigrants from Chavusy, Russian-Empire, Herschel “Harry” Danielovitch and his wife, Bryna “Bertha” Sangel.  Douglas childhood was an unhappy one, living with an alcoholic, physically abusive father.

From a young age, Douglas wanted to become a professional actor, where he performed in the plays at Amsterdam High School, from where he graduated in 1934.  Without able to afford the tuition fees, Douglas talked his way into St. Lawrence University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1939. 

At the time of the Second World War, Douglas joined the United States Navy, during 1941.  He served as a communication officer in ant-submarine warfare onboard USS PC-1139.  Douglas was medical discharged in 1944.

Following the Second World War, Douglas, started in his first film “The Stanger Love of Martha Ivers”, 1946. Douglas developed into leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, he was known for his explosive acting style.  Douglas stared in serious dramas, also in western and war films.  Douglas was to appear in more than 90 films. 

Douglas during 1955 established Bryna Productions, which produced films such as “Paths of Glory”, 1957 and “Spartacus”, 1960. 

Douglas was honoured with three Academy Awards nominations, an Academy Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a Presidential Medal for Freedom.  Douglas wrote ten novels.  Douglas aged 103, was one of the last surviving stars of the film industry’s Golden Age

6^th February

Events

1918 – British woman, over the age of 30 and who meet the minimum property qualifications, would get the right to vote, when the Representation of the People Act 1918 is passed by Parliament

Treetops Hotel, Kenya, 2006

1952 – Following the death of George VI, Elizabeth II becomes the Queen of the United Kingdom. At the time of the succession, Elizabeth was in the tree house at the Treetops Hotel, Kenya.

1958 – Munich Air Disaster.  Eight Manchester United FC players, Geoff Bent (25), Roger Byrne (28), Eddie Colman (21), Duncan Edwards (21), Mark Jones (24), David Pegg (22), Tommy Taylor (26) and Billy Whelan (22) and 15 other passengers are killed.  The team were retuning from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.  Manchester United beat Read Star Belgrade and had reached the semi-finals of the competition.  The flight, on board Airspeed Ambassador stopped off at Munich, for refuelling.  On the third attempt to take off that aircraft crashed.  There were 23 fatalities with 21 survivors. 

Births

Queen Anne portrait by Michael Dahl, 1705

1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain.  Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702 to 1707.  Under the Acts of Union, 1707, England and Scotland united in a single sovereign state to became known of Great Britain.  Anne became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until 1714.

Deaths

Isabella Beeton

1865 – Isabella Beeton (28) – English author of “Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management”, 1861.

1908 – Harriet Samuel (71) – English businesswoman and the founder of the jewellery retailer, H. Samuel, 1862.

7^th February

Events

1900 – British troops, fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.  The Siege of Ladysmith took place from 2^nd November 1899 to 28^th February 1900. 

1940 – Pinocchio the second full-length animated Walter Disney film is premiered.  The films were released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures.   

Births

Charles Dickens in New York
c. 1867-1868

1812 – Charles Dickens – English novelist and critic.  Dickens was regared one greatest novelist during the Victorian period and creating  some of the best-known fictional characters.  Dickens went to write 15 novels.  From his first novel “The Pickwick Papers”, 1837 to his final unfinished novel “Edwin Drood”, 1870.

Thomas Andrews

1873 – Thomas Andrews – Irish shipbuilder and businessman, who designed the RMS Titanic. 

Deaths

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden

1837 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (58) –  Gustav was the King of Sweden from 1792 until 1809, when he was deposed in a coup.  He was last Swedish monarch to be the rule of Finland.

8^th February

Events

1879 – The English cricket team lead by Lord Harris is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.   The riot broke out by the controversial umpiring decision.  The Australian batsman, Billy Murdoch was given out by George Coulthard.  The dismissal of Murdoch caused an uproar among the spectators, with many surging on to the pitch.  Coulthard and several English players were assaulted.  It was alleged that illegal gamblers in the pavilion, who beat heavily on home side.

1960 – Queen Elizabeth II, issues an Order-in-Council that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants would take the surname Mountbatten-Windsor

Births

John Ruskin

1819 – John Ruskin – English author, critic and academic.

Deaths

 

Portrait by François Clouet,
c. 1558–1560

1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots (44)

Born 1542, the daughter of King James V and his French wife, Mary of Guise.  Mary was the great-niece of King Henry VIII of England.  Mary became Queen of Scotland six day after her birth.  Until she became an adult, Scotland was ruled by regents. 

When Mary aged 6 months, King Henry VIII signed the Treaty of Greenwich, promised that when Mary reached the age of 10, she would to England marry Henry’s son, Edward.  Henry would then oversee her upbringing. 

The Treaty of Greenwich was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland. Mary’s guardians fearful of her safety after the death of King Henry VIII, sent Mary to Inchmahome Priory and then they looked to France for help.

Mary then aged 5 was sent to France where she would spend the next 13 years in the French court.  1558, Mary married for the first time, Francis, son of Henry II of France.  Francis became king consort of Scotland.  When Henry II of France, died July 1559, Francis and Mary became king and queen of France.  His reign would only last until December 1560, when he died.  The grief-stricken Mary returned back to Scotland 9 months later.

Mary married for the second time, to her English born half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, July 1565. The following June, their son James was born and 8 moths after his birth, Henry was found dead.

Mary, 1567 was abducted by James Hepburn, 4^th Earl of Bothwell.  May of that year, they were married.  This being her third husband.  July, Mary was forces to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, James.

Forheringhay Castle

With an unsuccessful attempt to reign her throne, Mary fled southward to seek protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.  Mary claimed that Elizabeth’s throne was hers, Elizabeth perceived Mary as a threat made her a prisoner at various castles and manor house in the north of England.  after 18 years in custody, Mary was tried and guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, during 1586.  The following year, Mary was beheaded at Forheringhay Castle.  Mary request to be buried in France was refused by Queen Elizabeth.  Mary was buried at Peterborough Cathedral.  After her son, James became King James I of England, he exhumed his mother’s body, and she was reinterred in Westminster Abbey in the chapel opposite the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I.

9^th February

Events

Dwight F. Davis

1900 – Davis Cup competition is established.  The competition was conceived during 1899, by four members tennis team of Harvard University, their idea was to challenge the British to a tennis competition.  One it was agreed from both the United States Lawn Tennis Association and the British Lawn Tennis Association, Dwight F. Davis, designed the tournament.  He also spent his own money in order to purchase the appropriate Sterling silver trophy. The American team, of which Davis war part of won the first tournament. 

Births

Hugh Price Hughes

1847 – Hugh Price Hughes – Welsh-English clergyman and financier.  Hughes was a religious reformer in the Methodist tradition.

1935 – Lionel Fanthorpe – English-Welsh priest, journalist and author.

Clive Swift

1936 – Clive Swift – English actor and singer-songwriter.  Swift is best known for his role as Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of Hyacinth in “Keeping Up Appearances”

Deaths

Tom Macdonald

1980 – Tom Macdonald (79) – Welsh journalist and author. 

2002 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Swindon (71) – the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and sibling of Queen Elizabeth II