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17 February 1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.

Orange Free State

1854–1902 Boer republic in Southern Africa

This article is about the former Boer republic. For the former province of South Africa, see Orange Free State (province). For the current province of South Africa, see Free State (province).

The Orange Free State (Dutch: Oranje Vrijstaat [oːˈrɑɲə ˈvrɛistaːt]; Afrikaans: Oranje-Vrystaat [uˈraɲə ˈfrəistɑːt]) was a landlocked independent Boer republic in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. It is one of the three historical precursors to the present-day Free State province.^[2]

Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were determined by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the Orange River Sovereignty, with a British Resident based in Bloemfontein.^[3] Bloemfontein and the southern parts of the Sovereignty had previously been settled by Griqua and by Trekboere from the Cape Colony.

The Voortrekker Republic of Natalia, founded in 1837, administered the northern part of the territory through a landdrost based at Winburg. This northern area was later in federation with the Republic of Potchefstroom which eventually formed part of the South African Republic (Transvaal).^[3]

Following the granting of sovereignty to the Transvaal Republic, the British sought to drop their defensive and administrative responsibilities between the Orange and Vaal rivers, while local European residents wanted the British to remain. This led to the British recognising the independence of the Orange River Sovereignty and the country officially became independent as the Orange Free State on 23 February 1854, with the signing of the Orange River Convention. The new republic incorporated the Orange River Sovereignty and continued the traditions of the Winburg-Potchefstroom Republic.^[3]

The Orange Free State was annexed as the Orange River Colony in 1900. It ceased to exist as an independent Boer republic on 31 May 1902 with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging at the conclusion of the Second Boer War. Following a period of direct rule by the British, it attained self-government in 1907 and joined the Union of South Africa in 1910 as the Orange Free State Province, along with the Cape Province, Natal, and the Transvaal.^[3] In 1961, the Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa.^[2]

The Republic's name derives partly from the Orange River, which was named by the Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon in honour of the Dutch ruling family, the House of Orange, whose name in turn derived from its partial origins in the Principality of Orange in French Provence.^[4] The official language in the Orange Free State was Dutch.^[3]

1. ^ Sketch of the Orange Free State of South Africa. Bloemfontein: Orange Free State. Commission at the International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876. 1876. p. 10. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Free State". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Cite error: The named reference eb1911-cite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ "Introduction to the Orange River basin". Department of Water and Sanitation, South Africa. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.

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18 February 1885 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1885 novel by Mark Twain

For other uses, see Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (disambiguation).

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. It is commonly named among the Great American Novels, and it is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. Being the direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, the narrator of two other later Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective) and a friend of Tom Sawyer.

The book is noted for "changing the course of children's literature" in the United States for the "deeply felt portrayal of boyhood".^[2] It is also known for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist over 20 years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.

Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. The book was widely criticized upon release because of its extensive use of coarse language and racial epithets. Throughout the 20th century, and despite arguments that the protagonist and the tenor of the book are anti-racist,^[3][4] criticism of the book continued due to both its perceived use of racial stereotypes and its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger".

1. ^ Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade)…. 1885.
2. ^ "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Summary & Characters". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
3. ^ Twain, Mark (October 1885). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade).... ... - Full View – HathiTrust Digital Library – HathiTrust Digital Library. C. L. Webster.
4. ^ Jacob O'Leary, "Critical Annotation of "Minstrel Shackles and Nineteenth Century 'Liberality' in Huckleberry Finn" (Fredrick Woodard and Donnarae MacCann)," Wiki Service, University of Iowa, last modified February 11, 2012, accessed April 12, 2012 Archived March 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

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19 February 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands.

William Smith (mariner)

19th-century English captain and Antarctic explorer

William Smith (c. 1790–1847) ^[1] was an English captain born in Blyth, Northumberland, who discovered the South Shetland Islands, an archipelago off the Graham Land in Antarctica. His discovery was the first ever made south of 60° south latitude, in the present Antarctic Treaty area.

1. ^ "Smith Island". SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer. Standing Committee on Antarctic Research. 8 September 1953. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

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20 February 1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art museum in New York City

Not to be confused with the Museum of Modern Art.

"Metropolitan Museum" redirects here. For other uses, see Metropolitan Museum (disambiguation).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the fourth-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, it was the most-visited museum in the United States and the fourth-most visited art museum in the world.^[7]

In 2000, its permanent collection had over two million works;^[1] it currently lists a total of 1.5 million works.^[8] The collection is divided into 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums. The first portion of the approximately 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m²) building was built in 1880. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The museum was established by a group of Americans, including philanthropists, artists, and businessmen, with the goal of creating a national institution that would inspire and educate the public.^[9] The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art ranging from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt, through classical antiquity to the contemporary world. It includes paintings, sculptures, and graphic works from many European Old Masters, as well as an extensive collection of American, modern, and contemporary art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and decorative arts and textiles, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world. Several notable interiors, ranging from 1st-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries.

1. ^ ^{a b} "Metropolitan Museum Launches New and Expanded Web Site" Archived November 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, press release, The Met, January 25, 2000.
2. ^ "Today in Met History: April 13". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
3. ^ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art | About". www.artinfo.com. 2008. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Met History was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
6. ^ The Art Newspaper , September 16, 2025
7. ^ "The Art Newspaper" September 16, 2025
8. ^ "General Information". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
9. ^ "History of the Museum". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved December 7, 2024.

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21 February 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.

The Communist Manifesto

1848 political pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Communist Manifesto (German: Das Kommunistische Manifest), originally the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was commissioned by the Communist League and published in London in 1848. The text represents the first and most systematic attempt by the two founders of scientific socialism to codify for wide consumption the historical materialist idea, namely, that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles", in which social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production. Published amid the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, the manifesto has become one of the world's most influential political documents.

In the Manifesto, Marx and Engels combine philosophical materialism with the Hegelian dialectical method in order to analyze the development of European society through its modes of production, including primitive communism, antiquity, feudalism, and capitalism, noting the emergence of a new, dominant class at each stage. The text outlines the relationship between the means of production, relations of production, forces of production, and mode of production, and posits that changes in society's economic "base" affect changes in its "superstructure". The authors assert that capitalism is marked by the exploitation of the proletariat (working class of wage labourers) by the ruling bourgeoisie, which is "constantly revolutionising the instruments [and] relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society".^[1] They argue that capital's need for a flexible labour force dissolves the old relations, and that its global expansion in search of new markets creates "a world after its own image".^[2]

The Manifesto concludes that capitalism does not offer humanity the possibility of self-realization, instead ensuring that human beings are perpetually stunted and alienated. It theorizes that capitalism will bring about its own destruction by polarizing and unifying the proletariat, and predicts that a revolution will lead to the emergence of communism, a classless society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all".^[3] Marx and Engels propose the following transitional policies: abolition of private property in land and inheritance; introduction of a progressive income tax; confiscation of emigrants' and rebels' property; nationalisation of credit, communication, and transport; expansion and integration of industry and agriculture; enforcement of universal obligation of labour; provision of universal education; and elimination of child labour.^[4] The text ends with three rousing sentences, reworked and popularized into the famous slogan of working-class solidarity: "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains".

1. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, pp. 38–9.
2. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, p. 40.
3. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, p. 60.
4. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, p. 59.

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22 February 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.

French Revolution of 1848

Civil unrest in Paris, France

For previous revolutions in France, see French Revolution and July Revolution.

The French Revolution of 1848 (French: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (Révolution de février), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked the wave of revolutions of 1848.^[1]

The revolution took place in Paris, and was preceded by the French government's crackdown on the campagne des banquets. Starting on 22 February as a large-scale protest against the government of François Guizot, it later developed into a violent uprising against the monarchy. After intense urban fighting, large crowds managed to take control of the capital, leading to the abdication of King Louis Philippe I on 24 February and the subsequent proclamation of the Second Republic.

1. ^ Popkin, Jeremy D. (2021). New World Begins. ISBN 978-1541620179.

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23 February 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.

Siege of the Alamo

Part of the Battle of the Alamo

This article is about the events at the Alamo between February 23 and March 6. For a description of the entire battle, see Battle of the Alamo.

The siege of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was the first thirteen days of the Battle of the Alamo. On February 23, Mexican troops under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna entered San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, and surrounded the Alamo Mission. The Alamo was defended by a small force of Texians and Tejanos, led by William Barrett Travis and James Bowie, and included Davy Crockett. Before beginning his assault on the Alamo, Santa Anna offered them one last chance to surrender. Travis replied by opening fire on the Mexican forces and, in doing so, effectively sealed their fate.^[5] The siege ended when the Mexican Army launched an early-morning assault on March 6. Almost all of the defenders were killed, although several civilians survived.

1. ^ ^{a b} Hardin, Stephen L. "Alamo, Battle of The". The Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Accessed December 11, 2014
2. ^ Todish et al. (1998), p. 55.
3. ^ Hardin (1961), p. 155.
4. ^ Nofi (1992), p. 136.
5. ^ Fowler (2007), p. 166.

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24 February 1809 – Britain invades and captures the French colony of Martinique.

Invasion of Martinique (1809)

Invasion of the Caribbean campaign of 1803–1810

The British invaded and captured the French colony of Martinique between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the West Indies campaign of 1804–1810 of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique, like the nearby island of Guadeloupe, was a major threat to Britain's trade in the West Indies, providing a sheltered base from which privateers and French Navy warships could raid British merchant shipping and disrupt the trade routes that maintained the economy of the United Kingdom. Both islands also provided a focus for larger-scale French operations in the region and in the autumn of 1808, following the Spanish alliance with Britain, the Admiralty decided to order a British squadron to neutralise the threat, beginning with Martinique.

The British mustered a large expeditionary force under Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and Lieutenant-General George Beckwith, commanding 29 ships and 10,000 men – almost four times the number of French regular troops garrisoning Martinique. Landing in force on both the southern and northern coasts of the island, British troops pushed inland, defeating French regulars in the central highlands and routing colonial militia units in the south of the island. By 9 February, the entire island was in British hands except Fort Desaix, a powerful fortification intended to protect the island capital of Fort-de-France, which had been bypassed during the British advance. In a siege lasting 15 days, the Fort was constantly bombarded, with the French garrison suffering 200 casualties before finally surrendering.

The capture of the island was a significant blow to France's power in the region, eliminating an important naval base from their control and denying safe harbours to French shipping in the West Indies. The consequences of losing Martinique were so severe that the French Navy dispatched a naval squadron to reinforce the garrison during the invasion. Arriving much too late to affect the outcome, these reinforcements were intercepted off the islands and scattered during the action of 14–17 April 1809; half the force failed to return to France. With Martinique occupied, British attention in the region turned to Guadeloupe, which was captured the following year.

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25 February 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.

Samuel Colt

American industrialist and inventor (1814–1862)

For other people named Samuel Colt, see Samuel Colt (disambiguation).

Samuel Colt (/koʊlt/; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable.

Colt's first two business ventures were producing firearms in Paterson, New Jersey, and making underwater mines. His business expanded rapidly after 1847, when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 revolvers during the American war with Mexico. During the American Civil War, his factory in Hartford supplied firearms both to the North and the South. Later, his firearms were used widely during the settling of the western frontier. When Colt died in 1862, he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States.

Colt's manufacturing methods were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. His use of interchangeable parts helped him become one of the first to make efficient use of the assembly line manufacturing process. Moreover, his innovative use of art, celebrity endorsements, and corporate gifts to promote his wares made him a pioneer in advertising, product placement, and mass marketing.

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26 February 914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast

HMHS Britannic

Olympic-class ocean liner and WWI hospital ship

For other White Star liners with this name, see SS Britannic (1874) and MV Britannic (1929).

"RMS Britannic" redirects here; not to be confused with RMS Britannia.

HMHS^[a] Britannic (/brɪˈtænɪk/) was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of ocean liners and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the younger sister of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea at position 37°42′05″N 24°17′02″E / 37.70139°N 24.28389°E / 37.70139; 24.28389, in November 1916. At the time she was the largest hospital ship in the world, and the largest vessel built in Britain.

Britannic was launched just before the start of the First World War on 26 February 1914. She was designed to be the safest of the three ships with design changes made during construction due to lessons learned from the sinking of the Titanic. She was laid up at her builders, Harland & Wolff, in Belfast, for many months before being requisitioned as a hospital ship. In 1915 and 1916 she operated between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles.

On the morning of 21 November 1916, she hit a naval mine of the Imperial German Navy near the Greek island of Kea and sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 of 1,066 people on board; the 1,036 survivors were rescued from the water and from lifeboats. Britannic was the largest ship lost in the First World War.^[3] After the War, the White Star Line was compensated for the loss of Britannic by the award of SS Bismarck as part of postwar reparations; she entered service as RMS Majestic. The wreck of the Britannic was located and explored by Jacques Cousteau in 1975. The vessel is the largest intact passenger ship on the seabed in the world.^[4] It was bought in 1996 and is currently owned by Simon Mills, a maritime historian.

1. ^ Lynch (2012), p. 161.
2. ^ "HMHS Britannic (1914) Builder Data". MaritimeQuest. Archived from the original on 2 September 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
3. ^ Vladisavljevic, Brana. "Titanic's sister ship Britannic could become a diving attraction in Greece". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
4. ^ Chirnside 2011, p. 275.

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27 February 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.

Leser v. Garnett

1922 U.S. Supreme Court case on the constitutionality of the 19th Amendment

1922 United States Supreme Court case

Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Nineteenth Amendment was constitutional.^[1]

1. ^ Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922).  This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.

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28 February 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

16th episode of the 11th season of M*A*S*H

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is a television film that served as the series finale of the American television series M*A*S*H. The 2½-hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983, ending the series' original run. The episode was written by eight collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed. As of 2025^[update], it remains the most-watched single episode of any television series in U.S. history, and for twenty-seven years was the most-watched single broadcast in television history.

The episode's plot chronicles the final days of the Korean War at the 4077th MASH; it features several storylines intended to show the war's effects on the individual personnel of the unit and to bring closure to the series. After the ceasefire goes into effect, the members of the 4077th throw a party before taking down the camp for the last time. After tear-filled goodbyes, the main characters go their separate ways, leading to the final scene of the series.

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1 March 1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.

Napoleon

French general and statesman (1769–1821)

"Napoleon Bonaparte" redirects here. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation) and Napoleon Bonaparte (disambiguation).

Napoleon Bonaparte^[b] (born Napoleone di Buonaparte;^[1][c] 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of military campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815. He led the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then ruled the French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814, and briefly again in 1815. He was King of Italy from 1805 to 1814, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine from 1806 to 1813, and Mediator of the Swiss Confederation from 1803 to 1813.

Born on the island of Corsica to a family of Italian origin, Napoleon moved to mainland France in 1779 and was commissioned as an officer in the French Royal Army in 1785. He supported the French Revolution in 1789 and promoted its cause in Corsica. He rose rapidly through the ranks after winning the siege of Toulon in 1793 and defeating royalist insurgents in Paris on 13 Vendémiaire in 1795. In 1796, he commanded a military campaign against the Austrians and their Italian allies in the War of the First Coalition, scoring decisive victories and becoming a national hero. He led an invasion of Egypt and Syria in 1798, which served as a springboard to political power. In November 1799, Napoleon engineered the Coup of 18 Brumaire against the French Directory and became First Consul of the Republic. He won the Battle of Marengo in 1800, which secured France's victory in the War of the Second Coalition, and in 1803, he sold the territory of Louisiana to the United States. In December 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French, further expanding his power.

The breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens led to the War of the Third Coalition by 1805. Napoleon shattered the coalition with a decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, which led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. In the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon defeated Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt in 1806, marched his Grande Armée into Eastern Europe, and defeated the Russians in 1807 at the Battle of Friedland. Seeking to extend his trade embargo against Britain, Napoleon invaded the Iberian Peninsula and installed his brother Joseph as King of Spain in 1808, provoking the Peninsular War. In 1809, the Austrians again challenged France in the War of the Fifth Coalition, in which Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after winning the Battle of Wagram. In the summer of 1812, he launched an invasion of Russia. After victory at the Battle of Borodino, he briefly occupied Moscow before conducting a catastrophic retreat of his army that winter. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russia in the War of the Sixth Coalition, in which Napoleon was decisively defeated at the Battle of Leipzig. The coalition invaded France and captured Paris, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814. They exiled him to the Mediterranean island of Elba and restored the Bourbons to power. Ten months later, Napoleon escaped from Elba on a brig, landed in France with a thousand men, and marched on Paris, again taking control of the country. His opponents responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died of stomach cancer in 1821, aged 51.

Napoleon is considered one of the great military commanders in history, and Napoleonic tactics are still studied at military schools worldwide. His legacy endures through the modernizing legal and administrative reforms he enacted in France and Western Europe, embodied in the Napoleonic Code. He established a system of public education,^[2] abolished the vestiges of feudalism,^[3] emancipated Jews and other religious minorities,^[4] abolished the Spanish Inquisition,^[5] enacted the principle of equality before the law for an emerging middle class,^[6] and centralized state power at the expense of religious authorities.^[7] His conquests acted as a catalyst for political change and the development of nation states. However, he is controversial because of his role in wars which devastated Europe, his looting of conquered territories, and his mixed record on civil rights. He abolished the free press, ended directly elected representative government, exiled and jailed critics of his regime, reinstated slavery in French colonies, banned the entry of black people and mulattos into France, reduced the civil rights of women and children in France, reintroduced a hereditary monarchy and nobility,^[8][9][10] and violently repressed popular uprisings against his rule.^[11]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Dwyer (2008a), p. xv.
2. ^ Grab (2003), p. 56.
3. ^ Broers, M.; Hicks, P.; Guimera, A. (2012). The Napoleonic Empire and the New European Political Culture. Springer. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-137-27139-6. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
4. ^ Conner (2004), pp. 38–40.
5. ^ Pérez, Joseph (2005). The Spanish Inquisition: A History. Yale University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-300-11982-4. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
6. ^ Fremont-Barnes & Fisher (2004), p. 336.
7. ^ Grab (2017), pp. 204–11.
8. ^ Dwyer (2015a), pp. 574–76, 582–84.
9. ^ Conner (2004), pp. 32–34, 50–51.
10. ^ Bell (2015), p. 52.
11. ^ Repa, Jan (2 December 2005). "Furore over Austerlitz ceremony". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.

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2 March 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick Maclean in Windsor.

Queen Victoria

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901

"Victoria of the United Kingdom" redirects here. For other uses, see Victoria of the United Kingdom (disambiguation) and Queen Victoria (disambiguation).

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her maternal first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII.
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3 March 1799 – The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.

Siege of Corfu (1798–1799)

Russian and Ottoman military offensive during the War of the Second Coalition

For other sieges of Corfu, see Siege of Corfu (disambiguation).

The Siege of Corfu (November 1798 – March 1799) was a military operation by a joint Russian and Turkish fleet against French troops occupying the fortified island of Corfu; ended in Coalition victory. Corfu fortifications had a strong reputation, but by the siege time they were in a parlous state.^[4][7]

1. ^ Russell & Russell 2017, pp. 169–170.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Bodart 1908.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Tashlykov 2016.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Velichko et al. 1913.
5. ^ Baeyens 1973, p. 46.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Novikov 1948, p. 153.
7. ^ Baeyens 1973, pp. 23–24.

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4 March 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.

Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

1795 amendment restricting ability to sue states in federal courts

The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals to bring suit against states of which they are not citizens in federal court.

The Eleventh Amendment was adopted to overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793). In that case, the Court held that states did not enjoy sovereign immunity from suits made by citizens of other states in federal court. Although the Eleventh Amendment established that federal courts do not have the authority to hear cases brought by private parties against a state of which they are not citizens, the Supreme Court has ruled the amendment applies to all federal suits against states brought by private parties. The Supreme Court has also held that Congress can abrogate state sovereign immunity when using its authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Other recent cases (Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety, Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey) have identified further exceptions to the general sovereign immunity of states when Congress acts pursuant to its Article I powers, which have alternatively been referred to as "waivers in the plan of the Convention". The Supreme Court has also held that federal courts can enjoin state officials from violating federal law.

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5 March 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus's book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543)

"Copernicus" and "Kopernik" redirect here. For other uses, see Copernicus (disambiguation).

Nicolaus Copernicus^[b] (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution.^[6] Though a similar heliocentric model had been developed eighteen centuries earlier by Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient Greek astronomer, Copernicus likely arrived at his model independently.^[7][c][d][e]

Copernicus was born and died in Royal Prussia, a semiautonomous and multilingual region created within the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from lands regained from the Teutonic Order after the Thirteen Years' War.

A polyglot and polymath, he obtained a doctorate in canon law and was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, classics scholar, translator, governor, diplomat, and economist. From 1497 he was a Warmian Cathedral chapter canon. In 1517 he derived a quantity theory of money—a key concept in economics—and in 1519 he formulated an economic principle that later came to be called Gresham's law.^[f]

1. ^ André Goddu, Copernicus and the Aristotelian Tradition (2010), p. 436 (note 125), citing Goddu, review of Jerzy Gassowski, "Poszukiwanie grobu Mikołaja Kopernika" ("Search for Grave of Nicolaus Copernicus"), in Journal for the History of Astronomy, 38.2 (May 2007), p. 255.
2. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Roach, Peter; Hartmann, James; Setter, Jane (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-3-12-539683-8
3. ^ "Copernicus". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
4. ^ "Copernicus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
5. ^ "Stanisław Borawski "Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus)"". Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
6. ^ Edward Rosen, "Copernicus, Nicolaus", Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition, volume 7, Danbury, Connecticut, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, ISBN 0-7172-0117-1, pp. 755–56.
7. ^ Linton 2004, pp. 39, 119.
8. ^ ^{a b} Owen Gingerich, "Did Copernicus Owe a Debt to Aristarchus?", Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 16, no. 1 (February 1985), pp. 37–42. "There is no question but that Aristarchus had the priority of the heliocentric idea. Yet there is no evidence that Copernicus owed him anything.(!9) As far as we can tell both the idea and its justification were found independently by Copernicus."
9. ^ Armitage 1951, p. 91.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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6 March 1951 – Cold War: The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

American spies for the Soviet Union (d. 1953)

Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (born Greenglass; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, including providing top-secret information about American radar, sonar, jet propulsion engines, and nuclear weapon designs. They were executed by the federal government of the United States in 1953 using New York's state execution chamber in Sing Sing in Ossining,^[1] New York, becoming the first American civilians to be executed for such charges and the first to be executed during peacetime.^[2][3][4][5]

Other convicted co-conspirators were sentenced to prison, including Ethel's brother, David Greenglass (who had made a plea agreement), Harry Gold, and Morton Sobell. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working at the Los Alamos Laboratory, was convicted in the United Kingdom.^[6][7] For decades, many people, including the Rosenbergs' sons (Michael and Robert Meeropol), initially maintained that both parents were – and later that Ethel was – innocent of spying and have sought an exoneration from multiple U.S. presidents.^[8]

Among records the U.S. government declassified after the fall of the Soviet Union are many related to the Rosenbergs, including a trove of decoded Soviet cables (code-name Venona), which detailed Julius' role as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets. In 2008, the National Archives of the United States published most of the grand jury testimony related to the prosecution of the Rosenbergs.^[9] Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed about the Rosenbergs and the legal case against them have resulted in additional U.S. government records being made public, including formerly classified materials from U.S. intelligence agencies.

1. ^ The Federal government has the power to use state correctional centers to carry out its executions as per 18 U.S. Code § 3597.
2. ^ Radosh, Ronald (June 10, 2016). "Rosenbergs Redux". Archived from the original on July 3, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
3. ^ "What the K.G.B. Files Show About Ethel Rosenberg". The New York Times. August 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
4. ^ Radosh, Ronald; Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl; Hornblum, Allen M.; Usdin, Steven (October 17, 2014). "The New York Times Gets Greenglass Wrong". Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
5. ^ "Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2020. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
6. ^ Ranzal, Edward (March 19, 1953). "Greenglass, in Prison, Vows to Kin He Told Truth about Rosenbergs". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2008. David Greenglass, serving 15 years as a confessed atom spy, denied to members of his family recently that he had been coached by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the drawing of segments of the atom bomb.
7. ^ Whitman, Alden (February 14, 1974). "1972 Death of Harry Gold Revealed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2008. Harry Gold, who served fifteen years in Federal prison as a confessed atomic spy courier, for Klaus Fuchs, a Soviet agent, and who was a key Government witness in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage case in 1951, died 18 months ago in Philadelphia.
8. ^ "Exonerate Ethel". Rosenberg Fund for Children. September 10, 2024. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
9. ^ "National Archives of the United States of America". National Archives Catalog. National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.

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7 March 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Roman emperor from 138 to 161

Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (/ˌæntəˈnaɪnəs ˈpaɪəs/;^[3] Latin: [antoːˈniːnus ˈpius]; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.^[4]

Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held various offices during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He married Hadrian's niece Faustina, and Hadrian adopted him as his son and successor shortly before his death. Antoninus acquired the cognomen Pius after his accession to the throne, either because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father,^[5] or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.^[6] His reign is notable for the peaceful state of the Empire, with no major revolts or military incursions during this time. A successful military campaign in southern Scotland early in his reign resulted in the construction of the Antonine Wall.

Antoninus was an effective administrator, leaving his successors a large surplus in the treasury, expanding free access to drinking water throughout the Empire, encouraging legal conformity, and facilitating the enfranchisement of freed slaves. He died of illness in AD 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors.

1. ^ Salomies, O (2014). "Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire – Some Addenda". In Caldelli, M. L.; Gregori, G. L. (eds.). Epigrafia e ordine senatorio, 30 anni dopo. Edizioni Quasar. pp. 492–493. ISBN 9788871405674. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
2. ^ ^{a b} Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 492–493. ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
3. ^ "Antoninus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. "Pius". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
4. ^ Bowman 2000, p. 150.
5. ^ Birley 2000, p. 54; Dio, 70:1:2.
6. ^ Birley 2000, p. 55; citing the Historia Augusta, Life of Hadrian 24.4.

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8 March 1963 – The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état.

Ba'ath Party

Syrian political party (1947–1966)

For the party which governed Iraq, see Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region. For the party which governed Syria, see Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region. For other uses, see Ba'ath Party (disambiguation).

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb al-Baʿth al-ʿArabī al-Ishtirākī [ˈħɪzb alˈbaʕθ alˈʕarabiː alɪʃtɪˈraːkiː]), also known simply as the Baʽth Party (Arabic: حزب البعث, lit. 'resurrection party'),^[2] was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arab, Arab socialist, and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for the unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Freedom, Socialism", refers to Arab unity and freedom from non-Arab control and interference as well as supporting socialism.

The party was founded by the merger of the Arab Ba'ath Movement, led by Aflaq and al-Bitar, and the Arab Ba'ath, led by al-ʾArsūzī, on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Ba'ath Party. The party quickly established branches in other Arab countries - although it would only hold power in Iraq and Syria. In 1953, the Arab Ba'ath Party merged with the Arab Socialist Movement, led by Akram al-Hourani, to form the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The newly formed party was a relative success, and it became the second-largest party in the Syrian parliament in the 1954 election. This, coupled with the increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party,^{[citation needed]} led to the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union of Egypt and Syria, in 1958. The UAR would prove unsuccessful, and was dissolved following the 1961 Syrian coup d'état.

Following the break-up of the UAR, the Ba'ath Party was reconstituted. However, during the UAR period, military activists had established the Military Committee that took control of the Ba'ath Party away from civilian hands. In the meantime, in Iraq, the local Ba'ath Party branch had taken power by orchestrating and leading the Ramadan Revolution, only to lose power a couple of months later. The Military Committee, with Aflaq's consent, took power in Syria in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état.

A power struggle quickly developed between the civilian faction led by Aflaq, al-Bitar, and Munīf ar-Razzāz and the Military Committee led by Salah Jadid and Hafez al-Assad. As relations between the two factions deteriorated, the Military Committee initiated the 1966 Syrian coup d'état, which ousted the National Command led by al-Razzāz, Aflaq, and their supporters. The 1966 coup split the Ba'ath Party between the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party and the Syrian-dominated Ba'ath Party. There are currently no Ba’athist run countries after the fall of the Ba’ath regime in Syria on 8 December 2024.

1. ^ Bengio, Ofra (1998). Saddam's Word: Political Discourse in Iraq (paperback). Oxford / New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-511439-3. "The name Ba'th at once evokes the party's central slogans: "A single Arab nation with an eternal mission" and "Unity, freedom, socialism." The first slogan echoes several verses of the Qur'an where the words umma wahida (one nation) appear. Verse 209 of the sura al-Baqara, for instance, reads: "The people were one nation; then God sent forth the Prophets, good tidings to bear and warning." The whole party phrase, with its internal rhyme in Arabic, elicits a longing for completeness, a yearning for a messianic transformation. The glorious past of the Arabs is made the source and aim fo emulation. Arsuzi wrote: "The Arabs conquered the world in order to civilize it and for that vision they sacrificed their lives... They spread their rule from the Chinese Wall to the Atlantic Ocean and from the center of Europe to the center of Africa... One caliph, one law, one official language."
2. ^ Mohammed Shaffi Agwani (January 1961). "The Baʻth: A Study in Contemporary Arab Politics". International Studies. 3 (1): 6–24. doi:10.1177/002088176100300102. ISSN 0020-8817. S2CID 154673494.

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