February 20th - 29th
Events
1816 –
The Barber of Saville, Rossini’s opera is premiered at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.
Births
1784 – Judith Montefiore – British linguist, travel writer and philanthropist. She authored the first Jewish cook book
Judith Montefiore
1792 – Eliza Courtney – French illegitimate daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of
Devonshire and Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl of Grey.
Eliza Courtney
1839 – Benjamin Waugh – English activist and founder of the NSPCC
Benjamin Waugh c. 1900
Deaths
1862 – William Wallace Lincoln (11) – third son of Abraham Lincoln
and his wife Mary Todd. He was named
after Mary’s brother-in-law, Dr. William Wallace. William died from the cause of Typhoid Fever.
William Wallace Lincoln c. 1855
William was
buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown.
After the assassination of his farther, Abraham in 1865, William was
reinterred at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois in a temporary tomb,
then 1871, he was moved into a state tomb along side his father, in the crypt
of the Lincoln Tomb. 
William Wallace Lincoln's grave
Lincoln Tomb
Oak Ridge Cemetery
21st February
Events
1797 –
A force of 1,400
French soldiers
invaded Britain at Fishguard, with the support of the Society of United
Irishmen. They were defeated by 500
British reservists.
1952 –
Identity Cards are abolished by the British Government,
under Winston Churchill to “set the people free”
Births
1860 – Goscombe John – Welsh-English sculptor and composer. John designed the King George V Silver Jubilee
Medal, 1935.
William Goscombe John
by George Roilos
1888 – Clemence Dane – pseudonym of Winifred Ashton an English novelist and playwright. Her notable works
included “Regiment of Women”, 1917.
Clemence Dane
1910 – Douglas Bader – English captain and RAF pilot a flying ace during the Second
World War. Credited with 22 aerial
victories, 4 shared victories and 11 enemy aircraft damaged. 
Douglas Bader in 1955
Deaths
1730 – Pope Benedict XIII (81)
Pope Benedict XIII
Born 1649,
Gravina, Puglia, was the son of Ferdinando III Orsini, duke of Gravina and Giovanna
Frangipani della Tolfa. He was born
Pietro Francesco Orsini, was the third member of his family to become Pope.
Orsini
became a Dominican friar focusing on his religious responsibilities as a bishop
rather on his papal administration. With the lack of political experience,
Orsini had to rely on unscrupulous secretaries whose financial abuses ruined the
papal treasury.
Orsini was the
head of the Catholic church and Pope from May 1724 following the death of Pope
Innocent XIII until his death in May 1730.
Orsini was buried at Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Pope Benedict XIII's tomb
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
22nd February
Events
1797 –
The last invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard
Births
1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams – English poet and hymnwriter, best
remembered for writing the words to the hymn “Nearer, Mr God, To Thee”
A copy of the lost sketch of Sarah,
by Margaret Gillies, 1834
1857 – Robert Baden-Powell – English general, co-founded the The Scout Association
Robert Baden-Powell in 1896
1889 – Olave Soames – English Scout leader, founded the Girl Guides. Wife of the above Robert Baden-Powell
Lady Baden-Powell, Chief Guide
Deaths
1890 – John Jacob Astor III (67) – American businessman and philanthropist. 
John Jacob Astor III
Astor also
fought during the American Civil War. He
become of the prominent members of the Astor family, thus becoming one of the
wealthiest Americans of his generation.
His wealth was created by the vast Astor Estate real estate holdings in
New York City.
Astor was
the fonder of the English branch of his family after his son, William Waldorf
Astor, moved to London with his family in 1891 and became a British citizen in
1899.
Astor was
buried at Trinity Church Cemetery, Manhattan.
23rd February
Events
1739 – Dick Turpin at York Castle is identified by his former schoolteacher. Turpin had been using the name Richard Palmer 
Turpin imagined in
William Harrison Ainsworth's
novel Rookwood
1820 – The plot to murder all the British
cabinet minister, the Cato
Street Conspiracy is
exposed 
The arrest of Cato Street conspirators
Births
1633 – Samuel Pepys – English diarist and politician. Pepys was the Member of Parliament, for Harwich
elected in 1679. Pepys kept a private
diary from 1660 until 1669, provides combination of personal revelations and
eyewitness accounts of events such as Great Plaque of London, the Second Dutch
War and the Great Fire of London.
Portrait of Samuel Pepys, 1666
by John Hayls
1685 – George Frideric Handel – German-English organist and
composer. His notable works include “Messiah”,
1742, “Water Music”, 1717 and
“Music for the Royal Fireworks”, 1749
Portrait of Handel
by Balthasar Denner
Deaths
1821 – John Keats (25) – English poet.
Posthumous portrait of John Keats by
William
Hilton.
National Portrait Gallery, London
Born 1795,
Moorgate, London. Son of Thomas Keats and
his wife Frances Jennings. Keats was
educated at the local Dame School. Keats’s
parents were unable to afford Eton or Harrow, although he went to board at John
Clarke’s school, in Enfield. It was here
that the headmaster’s son, Charles Cowden Clarke introduced Keats to Renaissance
literature.
Keats’s
father died when he was aged 8. After school Keats was an apprentice with
Thomas Hammond a surgeon and apothecary.
After his apprenticed ended, Keats registered as medical student at Guy’s
Hospital, commencing his studies October 1815.
Keats wrote
his first poem aged 19, “An Imitation of Spenser”. May 1816, Keats poem
the sonnet “O Solitude” was published in Leigh Hunt magazine “The Examiner”
John Keats's grave
Protestant Cemetery
Rome
Although the
winter of 1818-19, were hard for Keats, after he had moved into the newly built
Wentworth Place, it had marked the beginning of his annus mirabillis,
where Keats wrote most of his mature works.
May 1817, Keats befriended Isabella Jones, whilst on holiday to Bo Peep,
near Hastings.
The last few
months of Keats life were spent in Rome, after his doctor suggested that he
ought to move, after showing signs symptoms of tuberculosis.
Whilst in
Rome, Keats died, and he was buried at the city’s Protestant Cemetery. His headstone does not bear his name or any
dates, only the words. The epitaph reads
This Grave
Contains all that
the mortal
Of a
Young English Poet
Who
On his Death Bed,
in the Bittness of his Heart
At the Malicious
Power of his Enemies
Desired
These Words to be
Engraved on his
Tomb Stone
Here lies One
Whose Name was
writ in Water: 24th February 1821
Events
1711 –
The first Italian opera written by George Frideric Handel for London, Rinaldo was first premiered
1848 – The French king, Louis-Phillippe abdicates the throne after 17 years.
Louis-Phillippe
1920 – Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons, following here elections 3 months earlier.
Nancy Astor in 1923
1920 –
The Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers’
Party) is founded by Adolf
Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus
beer hall in Munich, Germany
Births
1743 – Joseph Banks – English botanist and explorer. Best remembered for when he took part in Captain
Cook’s first voyage of HMS Endeavour and the exploration of Botany Bay
Sir Joseph Banks as painted by
Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1773
1852 – George Moore – Irish author, poet and playwright. His works included “Confessions of a Young
Man” 1886 – French and 1888 – English and “Esther Waters”, 1894.
Portrait, 1879
Deaths
1810 – Henry Cavendish (78) – French-English physicist and chemist. Cavendish is noted for his discovery of
hydrogen 
Henry Cavendish
Cavendish died at Clapham and was buried at the church which is now Derby Cathedral
 |
| Derby Cathedral |
Events
1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.
Samuel Colt in 1855
Births
1728 –
John Wood, the Younger – English architect, who designed
the Royal Crescent, Bath.
Portrait as Visceral consort of Canada, 1941
1883 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone – The last surviving grandchild of
Queen Victoria
1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg – Mother of Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh 
Princess Alice in 1906
Deaths
1723 – Christopher Wren (90) – English architect, designed St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Christopher Wren portrait
by Godfrey Kneller, 1711
Born 1632,
East Knoyle, Wiltshire. The only surviving
son of Christopher Wren the Elder and his wife Mary Cox. As a child, Wren was a sickly child. 1650 Wrex studied Latin and the works of Aristotle
at Wadham College, Oxford, where he received his M.A. in 1653.
During the
same year, Wren was elected a fellow of All Souls’ College. After that Wren was appointed Professor of
Astronomy at Gresham College.
1661 Wren
was appointed Sevillian Professor of Astronomy and 1669 appointed Surveyor of Works
to Charles II
After the
Great Fire of London, 1666, Wren was responsible for the rebuilding of 52
churches which included St. Paul’s Cathedral.
February
1723, Wren had been given a lease on the property by Queen Anne in lieu of
salary for the work carried out at St. Paul’s.
Wren was thought have taken unofficial visits to St. Paul’s to see work
carried out, and on one night, aged 90, Wren caught a chill, which worsened
over the next few days. It is from this
chill that Wren died from.
Wren was buried
in the crypt of St. Paul’s. The stone plaque was written by his son, Christopher
Wren, Jr. the inscription in a circle of black marble on the main floor beneath
the centre of the dome read:
SUBTUS CONDITUR HUIUS
ECCLESIÆ ET VRBIS CONDITOR CHRISTOPHORUS WREN, QUI VIXIT ANNOS ULTRA NONAGINTA,
NON SIBI SED BONO PUBLICO. LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE Obijt XXV
Feb: An°: MDCCXXIII Æt: XCI.
Events
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries,
by Jacques-Louis David, 1812
1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba
Births
Hugo by Étienne Carjat, 1876
1802 – Victor Hugo – French author, poet and playwright. His notable works include “Les Miserable”,
1862, “Ruy Blas”, 1838 and “The Hatchback of Notre-Dame”, 1831
1846 – Buffalo Bill – American solder and hunter 
Buffalo Bill
1852 – John Harvey Kellogg – American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes 
John Harvey Kellogg, 1915
Deaths
1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi (21) – First Indian woman physician
A portrait photo of Dr. Anandibai Joshi
Events
 |
| Portrait of Byron by Thomas Phillips, c. 1813 |
Births
 |
| Ellen Terry at age 16 Photo by Julia Margaret Cameron |
1848 – Hulbert Parry – English composer and historian. Best remembered for his choral song “Jerusalem”,
1916
Hubert Parry, 1916
Deaths
Portrait of John Evelyn
by Sir Godfrey Kneller
1706 – John Evelyn (85) –
English gardener and diarist.
July 1641, Evelyn
crossed to Holland, whilst there he enlisted as a volunteer, and was encamped
before the Genep, on the Wall river. His
military experience lasted only 6 days. Returning
back to England, Evelyn briefly joined the Royalist and arrived late for the
Royalist victory at the Battle of Brentford.
1644, Evelyn
travelled to Italy and before arriving to Italy, he visited the Roman ruins in
Frejus. Whilst at Florence, Evelyn was
commissioned the John Evelyn cabinet, whilst is now in the Victoria and Albert
museum.
After the Restoration,
that Evelyn’s career took off. Holding
many important political offices. 1650, Evelyn
was a member of the group that founded the Royal Society. Evelyn was known for his knowledge for trees. Evelyn wrote the treatise “Sylvia, or A
Discourse of Forest Trees”
After the
Great Fire of London, Evelyn presented the first of several plans of the rebuilding
of London. But it was Evelyn’s interest in gardens that lead to the pleasure
gardens of Euston Hall, that were designed by Evelyn.
Evelyn kept
a diary, lasting from 1640 to 1706, although he did not write every day, but he
covered arts, culture and politics.
Events
1638 –
Edinburgh the National Covenant is signed. This was the agreement signed by the Scottish
people in the opposition to the proposed reforms of the Church of Scotland by
King Charles I.
Births
1925 – Harry H. Corbett – Burmese-English actor and comedian. Best remembered for playing alongside Wilfred
Brambell in Steptoe and Son.
Publicity photo of Harry H. Corbett in the 1970s
1928 – Stanley Baker – Welsh actor and producer. One of Britain’s male stores of
the late 1950s and early 1960s and then later a prolific producer. Baker was one of the lead actors in the 164
film Zulu, portraying John Chard.
Baker in A Lizard in a
Woman's Skin, 1971
Deaths
1786 – John Gwynn (73) – English architect and engineer. Gwynn was one of the founding members of the
Royal Academy, 1768.
John Gwyn
Gwynn’s
buildings included Magdalen Bridge and the Covered Market in Oxford and several
bridges over the River Seven.
1916 – Henry James (72)– American novelist, short writer and critic. 
Henry James, 1913
James works
include “The Portrait of a Lady”, 1881, “The Ambassadors”, 1903
and “The Wings of the Dove”, 1902.
James became
a British citizen during 1915, the following year he died, and he was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium. James request
was that his ashes were buried at Cambridge Cemetery, Massachusetts.
Events
1712 –
February 30th follows February 29th, in Sweden in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar.
Births
1908 –
Louie Myfanwy Thomas – Welsh writer
Deaths
1940 – Edward Frederic Benson (72) – English archaeologist and
author. 
Edward Frederic Benson
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