In February of.....
- 1884 First volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published.
- 1898 First auto insurance policy in US issued by Travelers Insurance Company.
- 1926 Land at Broadway & Wall Street sold at a record $7 per square inch.
- 1949 RCA released first single 45 rpm record.
- 1954 First TV soap opera "Secret Storm" premiered.
- 1863 Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain for first time.
- 1892 The bottle cap with cork seal patented by William Painter in Baltimore.
- 1935 The lie detector was first used in court.
- 1955 First Presidential news conference on network TV - Eisenhower on ABC.
- 1959 Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
- 1982 "Late Night with David Letterman" premiered on NBC.
- 1991 US postage was raised from 25 cents to 29 cents.
- 1914 Cub Scouts founded in England.
- 1690 The first paper money in America issued in the colony of Massachusetts.
- 1876 Albert Spalding, with $800, started sporting goods company, manufacturing the first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football.
- 1913 the Income Tax was first levied by US Congress.
- 1877 The piano piece "Chopsticks" was copyrighted.
- 1957 The electric typewriter placed on sale in Syracuse NY.
- 1850 Adding machine with depressible keys patented, New Paltz NY.
- 1870 First motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia.
- 1922 Reader's Digest magazine first published.
- 1969 US population reached 200 million.
- 1971 Alan Shepard and Edward Mitchell (Apollo 14) walked on Moon for 4 hours.
- 1978 Fred Newman made 88 consecutive basketball free throws blindfolded.
- 1935 The board game "Monopoly" went on sale for the first time.
- 1943 Shoe rationing began in US (could purchase up to 3 pairs in 1942).
- 1964 Beatles arrived at New York's JFK International Airport for their first American tour.
- 1879 Sanford Fleming first proposed adoption of a Universal Standard Time, by dividing the world into 24 equal time zones, with standard time within each zone.
- 1926 Walt Disney Studios was formed.
- 1863 Fire extinguisher was patented by Alanson Crane.
- 1877 US Weather Service established.
- 1969 the world's largest airplane, Boeing 747, made first commercial flight.
- 1956 "My Friend Flicka" premiered on CBS TV (later NBC)
- 1961 Niagara Falls hydroelectric project began producing power.
- 1752 Benjamin Franklin helped establish the Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital.
- 1852 the first British public female toilet opened on Bedford Street, London.
- 1943 Ottawa imposed severe wartime gasoline rationing of 10 gallons a month for every private car.
- 1635 America's first public school was established--the Boston Latin School.
- 1895 Moving picture projector patented.
- 1959 Barbie Doll went on sale.
- 1919 United Parcel Service formed.
- 1924 IBM Corporation founded by Thomas Watson.
- 1963 First successful kidney transplant.
- 1842 Postage stamps with adhesive on the back were sold for the first time at the NYC post office.
- 1903 First teddy bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom.
- 1926 Contract air mail service began in US.
- 1950 Walt Disney's "Cinderella" released.
- 1838 Kentucky passed law permitting women to attend school under certain conditions.
- 1878 The Silver Dollar was introduced as a US coin.
- 1838 "Ladies Home Journal" began publication.
- 1968 America's first 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, AL.
- 1881 Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
- 1906 W.K. Kellogg and Charles B. Bolin incorporated Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, Battle Creek, MI.
- 1913 Prizes were inserted into a Cracker Jack box.
- 1960 "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuted.
- 1872 Luther Crowell patented a machine that manufactured paper bags.
- 1842 First known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington DC.
- 1878 The first US telephone directory was distributed (District Telephone Co., New Haven, CT).
- 1968 Baseball announced a minimum annual salary of $10,000.
- 1983 Donald Davis ran 1 mile backwards in 6 minutes 7.1 seconds.
- 1854 First meeting of the Republican Party, Michigan.
- 1860 First organized baseball played in San Francisco for the first time.
- 1879 Frank W. Woolworth opened his first store in Utica, NY.
- 1935 Airplanes no longer permitted to fly over the White House.
- 1868 First US parade with floats (Mardi Gras, Mobile AL)
- 1938 Nylon's first commercial use in toothbrush bristles.
- 1862 Paper currency (greenbacks) introduced in US by President Abraham Lincoln.
- 1863 Congress created the national banking system, comptroller of currency.
- 1879 Two American chemists discovered saccharin (artificial sweetener).
- 1912 First ever parachute jump from an airplane.