There are many well known people born in February, other than presidents, and several exciting events that occurred in the month as well.
Hatti Caraway (Feb. 1, 1878) -- First woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. Upon the death of her husband, she stepped in to finish his term. She was later elected on her own merit and served a total of 14 years.
James Joyce (Feb. 2, 1882) -- Irish novelist and poet. Known for such works as Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake.
Elizabeth Blackwell (Feb. 3, 1821) -- First female physician. She started a hospital in New York City that had an all female staff. She also trained nurses who worked in the Civil War.
Norman Rockwell (Feb. 3, 1894) -- American artist and illustrator. Many of his works were depicted on the front cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
Thomas Edison (Feb. 11, 1847) -- Really? Do I need to say what he his famous for inventing? Socks!! No, seriously... he is best known for inventing the incandescent bulb, but he also invented the phonograph and the movie camera. Throughout his lifetime he acquired over 1200 patents. He was a busy man! His famous quote is, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration."
Charles Darwin (Feb. 12, 1809) -- Darwin is best known for his work Origin of Species.
Galileo Galilei (Feb. 15, 1564) -- First astronomer to use a telescope.
Nicolaus Copernicus (Feb. 19, 1473) -- Copernicus is considered the founder of modern astronomy. He believed that the sun was the center of the universe, not the earth.
W.E.B. Du Bois (Feb. 23, 1863) -- African American educator and leader. He was one of the founders of the NAACP and was a member of the board of directors from 1910-1934. He received his master of arts (1891) and doctorate of history (1896) from Harvard. Information obtained from http://www.naacp.org/about/history/dubois/index.htm.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Feb. 27, 1807) -- American poet who wrote Paul Revere's Ride, Ulysses, and The Wreck of Hesperus.
Events
February 1, 1960 -- Four African American students enter Woolworths and stage a sit-in. The waited all day, but never received service.
February 8, 1857 -- Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was beheaded after being imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I for 19 years.
February 12, 1635 -- The first public school in America was established in Boston, Massachusetts. it was the Boston Latin School.
Some of the information for this post was obtained from
http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/february.htm
February Trivia Question
The world lost 10 days in the year 1582. How is that possible?
The first person to comment with the correct information will win a prize. May the best Texan win! Please leave a good email address with your comment, so you can be contacted if you win.
2 comments:
I have the answer! HOWEVER, I am going to post this question on my twitter account for my four classes to answer. HOPEFULLY, they will be first!
Good luck! VERY interesting question!
Dr. J. Edwards
We lost ten days in October of 1582 specifically October 5-14. This was because of the revision of the calendar under Pope Gregory the XIII. The calendar was revised to add a leap year, because the earth's orbit around the sun is actually more than 365 days so over a time period, the extra 11 minutes and 30 seconds began to accumulate which made the Julian Calendar inaccurate so to fix it Pope Gregory XIII did away with 10 days to get the calendar on track. That is why we lost 10 days and now celebrate leap year!
maury.shock@go.tarleton.edu
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