February

1 February 1587 — Under pressure from her council, Queen Elizabeth signed the warrant to authorise the execution of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots.

2 February 1665 — British forces capture New Amsterdam, the centre of the Dutch colony in North America. The trading settlement on the island of Manhattan is to be renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, its new governor.

3 February 1730 — The London Daily Advertiser newspaper publishes the first stock exchange quotations.

4th February 1794 — The Law of 4 February 1794 was a decree of the French National Convention which abolished slavery in all French colonies.

5th February 2020 — After being impeached by the House of Representatives over his actions in the Ukraine scandal, Pres. Donald Trump was acquitted in the Senate.

6th February 1952 — Elizabeth II ascended the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland this day in 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI.

7th February 1613 — Michael Romanov, founder of the Romanov dynasty, became tsar of Russia.

8th February 1622 — James I dissolves parliament.

9th February 1932 — Prohibition law is abolished in Finland after a national referendum, where 70% voted for a repeal of the law.

10th February 1763 — Treaty of Paris ends French Indian war, surrendering Canada to Britain.

11th February 1975 — Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher, becomes the first woman leader of the British Conservative Party.

12th February 1554 — At the tender age of 16, the “nine days queen”, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded at the tower of London.

13th February 1688 — A “Glorious Revolution” brings the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary (daughter of James II) to the throne of England after the Catholic King James II flees to France.

14th February 1933 — Students at Oxford University, obviously bored fighting the local townspeople, declare that they would not fight for “King and Country”.

15th February 438 — The Theodosian Code of Roman laws proclaimed in the Eastern Empire.

16th February 1659 — A cheque is used for the first time in Britain as Mr Nicholas Vanacker settles a debt.

17th February 1691 —Thomas Neale granted English patent for American postal service.

18th Feb 1503 — Henry Tudor (later Henry VIII) appointed Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne.

19th February 1624 — English "Happy Parliament", the final Parliament of King James I opens at Westminster.

20th February 1938 — Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain decided to negotiate with Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

21st February 1804 — British engineer Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first steam engine to run on rails.

22 February 1797 — Over 1,000 — French troops attempted to invade Britain and landed at Fishguard, but were soon captured by the brave ladies of the town. No other foreign force has managed to invade mainland Britain since.

23 February 1863 — On this day in 1868, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 126–47 to impeach President Andrew Johnson, whose lenient Reconstruction policies regarding the South after the Civil War angered Radical Republicans in Congress.

24 February 1803 — In Marbury v. Madison , the U.S. Supreme Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional, thus establishing the doctrine of judicial review.

25 February 1862 — First Legal Tender Act 1862 is passed by the US Congress, authorising the United States note (greenback) into circulation, the first fiat paper money that was legal tender in America.

26 February 1797 — The Bank of England issues the first ever one pound note, in part a result of the panic in London caused by the French invasion of Fishguard.

27 February 2023 — The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 comes into force today. From this date, 16 and 17-year-olds in England and Wales cannot marry or enter into a civil partnership, even if they have the consent of their parents or the court.

28 February 1933 — The Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and the State was one of a series of key decrees, legislative acts, and case law in the gradual process by which the Nazi leadership moved Germany from a democracy to a dictatorship.

29 February 1692 — First people are accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials.