|
Click on date for list of events
|
About the EdGate Calendar
The EdGate Calendar contains not only thematic ideas and daily lesson starter ideas, but is also intended to be a tool for cultural literacy. We hope you use and enjoy this tool.
The EdGate team verifies dates and information in our calendar. Should you find an error of omission (an event date that you feel needs to be included) or an error of fact (a date we have incorrectly identified), please take the time to contact us at customercare@edgate.com so we can improve our tools for you, the teacher.
Thank you again for visiting the EdGate Calendar.
|
|
 Pop-up ad. EdGate staff has reviewed the content for this site. There are some external links that have ads but contain excellent content. These sites will have the pop-up ad symbol after the description.
|
|
|
|
|
February is...
American Heart Month
Black History Month
Children's Dental Health Month
National Wild Bird Feeding Month
Kids' E.N.T. (Ears, Nose, Throat)Month
Library Lovers' Month
National Career and Technical Education Month
|
|
1
|
- Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week, February 1 - 7, 2012
- Women’s Heart Week, February 1 – 7, 2012
- National Freedom Day
- Alexander Selkirk was rescued from shipwreck on an island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. (1709)
- United States Supreme Court held its first session. (1790)
- Victor Herbert, Babes in Toyland composer, was born. (1859)
- Texas seceded from the United States (1861)
- Langston Hughes, African American poet, was born. (1902)
- First Miss America was crowned. (1919)
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police were created from other Canadian police agencies. (1920)
- National School Counseling Week, February 1 – 5, 2012
- National Girls and Women in Sports Day (2012)
Top
|
|
2
|
- Groundhog Day is celebrated in the United States. Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow, and will we have six more weeks of winter?
- World Wetlands Day
- New Amsterdam (now New York City) was incorporated by the Dutch. (1635)
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City. (1848)
- National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball was formed. (1876)
- Ulysses author James Joyce was born. (1882)
- Russia signed the Treaty of Tartu. (1920)
- Liechtenstein's women voted for the first time in parliamentary elections. (1984)
Top
|
|
3
|
- Setsubun - This festival is celebrated prior to the Japanese New Year as a way of driving out the bad spirits from the previous year and ushering in good luck. Japanese children throw beans and shout "Out with the devil, in with good luck." (2012)
- The first paper money in America was issued by the colony of Massachusetts. (1690)
- Horace Greeley, journalist commonly associated with "Go west, young man," was born. (1811)
- 15th Amendment to the Constitution, providing the right to vote for former slaves, was ratified. (1870)
- 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified. (1913)
- The Silent World was published by French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. (1953)
- "The Day the Music Died" - Three prominent young musicians – Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens -- were killed in plane crash. (1959)
Top
|
|
4
|
- World Cancer Day (2012)
- George Washington was unanimously elected the first president of the United States. (1789)
- Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean, was born in Detroit, Michigan. (1902)
- The United Service Organizations (USO)came into existence. (1941)
- Rosa Parks was born. (1913)
- Give Kids a Smile Day (2012)
Top
|
|
5
|
- Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución) is celebrated in Mexico.
- Women’s Heart Health Day (2012)
- Roger Williams, who later founded Rhode Island, arrived in Boston. (1631)
- John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor of the pneumatic rubber tire, was born. (1840)
- Henry "Hank" Aaron, baseball star, was born in Mobile, Alabama. (1934)
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner was patented by Raymond Damadian. (1974)
- National Wear Red Day (2012)
Top
|
|
6
|
- Waitangi Day (New Zealand 2012)
- Aaron Burr, America 's third vice president, was born. (1756)
- France was the first nation to recognize the independence of the 13 colonies. (1778)
- George Herman "Babe" Ruth, the "Sultan of Swat," was born. (1895)
- Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president, was born. (1911)
Top
|
|
7
|
- Super Bowl Sunday (2012)
- Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, February 7 – 14, 2012
- National Burn Awareness Week, February 7 - 13, 2012
- Grenada Independence Day (2012)
- Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist, was born in Portsmouth, England. (1812)
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, American Little House author, was born. (1867)
- Sinclair Lewis, U.S. novelist and Nobel prize winner, was born. (1885)
- Arthur Ashe, the first African American male to win the U.S. Open tennis tournament, died. (1993)
- PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week, February 7 – 13, 2012
Top
|
|
8
|
- Jules Verne, science fiction writer, was born. (1828)
- Richard Johnson became the only vice president chosen by the U.S. Senate. (1837)
- The Confederate States of America were formed. (1861)
- Boy Scout Day - The Boy Scouts of America were incorporated. (1910)
- D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles. (1915)
Top
|
|
9
|
- William Henry Harrison, ninth U.S. president, was born. (1773)
- Volleyball was invented by W.G. Morgan. (1895)
- The first Davis Cup tennis competition was held. (1900)
- Joseph McCarthy accused the U.S. State Department of harboring a "nest of Communists." (1950)
- George R. Stibitz patented the complex computer. (1954)
- The Beatles made their first live television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. (1964)
Top
|
|
10
|
- Act of Union uniting Upper and Lower Canada under one government took effect. (1841)
- Boris Pasternak, Russian novelist, poet, and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature, was born. (1890)
- Leontyne Price, famed African American opera singer, was born. (1927)
- 25th Amendment to the Constitution, defining presidential disability and succession, was ratified. (1967)
- Winter Olympics began in Torino, Italy.
Top
|
|
11
|
- Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, was born in Milan, Ohio. (1847)
- The Day of Conciliation is celebrated in Italy. It is the anniversary of the signing of the document that gave Vatican City international recognition as a state. (1929)
- Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end apartheid in South Africa, was freed after serving 27 years in prison. (1990)
Top
|
|
12
|
- Lincoln Bicentennial (2012)
- Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president, was born. (1809)
- Charles Darwin, naturalist and father of the theory of evolution, was born. (1809)
- Thomas Moran, American Western landscape painter, was born. (1837)
- Coinage Act was passed, which authorized the Treasury Department to place the motto "In God We Trust" on all U.S. coins. (1873)
- Judy Blume, author of Superfudge and other books, was born. (1938)
Top
|
|
13
|
- Boston’s Latin Grammar School, oldest existing school in the United States, established. (1635)
- "Blue Danube Waltz," Johann Strauss's masterpiece, was played for the first time at a public concert. (1867)
- Chuck Yeager, the first human to break the sound barrier, was born. (1923)
Top
|
|
14
|
- National Donor Day 2012
- Daytona 500 to be held at Daytona Beach, Florida. (2012)
- Read to Your Child Day emphasizes the need for parents to read books aloud to their children.
- Valentine's Day
- Captain James Cook, British explorer, died in Hawaii. (1779)
- Oliver Evans patented the high-pressure steam engine, which led to the first automated flour mills. (1804)
- Oregon and Arizona both celebrate admission to the United States. (Oregon 1859; Arizona 1912)
Top
|
|
15
|
- Presidents' Day honors the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. (2012)
- Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 15 - 21, 2012
- Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, father of the scientific method and modern science, was born. (1564)
- Susan B. Anthony, suffragist, was born. (1820)
- USS Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, beginning the Spanish-American War. (1898)
- Teddy bear was first introduced in America by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. (1903)
- The maple leaf flag was adopted by Canada. (1965)
Top
|
|
16
|
- Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday (2012)
- Henry Wilson, U.S. vice president 1869-73 and leader in the anti-slavery movement, was born. (1812)
- Nylon was patented by Wallace H. Carothers. (1937)
- Reading Rainbow host and actor LeVar Burton was born. (1957)
- Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba. (1959)
Top
|
|
17
|
- Ash Wednesday (2012)
- National Engineers Week, February 14 - 20, 2012
- PTA Founder's Day (1897)
- Thomas Malthus, economist and father of theory that population growth exceeds production growth, was born. (1766)
- Apache chief Geronimo died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. (1909)
- First driver's education course was introduced in Pennsylvania. (1934)
- China invaded Vietnam, responding to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. This began the Sino-Vietnamese War, which lasted one month. (1979)
Top
|
|
18
|
- Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (2012)
- Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French explorer, established a settlement in Texas. (1685)
- Nicolo Paganini, Italian composer and violinist, was born. (1782)
- Pluto, originally thought to be the ninth “planet” in the solar system, was discovered by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh. (1930)
|
|
19
|
- Nicolaus Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, was born. Copernicus caused a major shift in thinking when he proposed that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system. (1473)
- Executive Order 9066, which ordered the relocation of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent into internment camps, was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt. (1942)
- Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood debuted. (1968)
Top
|
|
20
|
- National FFA Week, February 20 – 27, 2012
- National Entrepreneurship Week, February 20 - 27, 2012
- John Glenn orbits the earth in the Friendship 7 space capsule. (1962)
- William Prescott, American Revolutionary War soldier who ordered, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes," was born. (1726)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York City. (1872)
- Ansel Adams, photographer, was born. (1902)
Top
|
|
21
|
- National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, February 21 – 27, 2012
- John Deere patented the first cast steel plow. (1865)
- Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman to win a seat in the Texas Senate, was born in Houston, Texas. (1936)
- Malcolm X, African American nationalist and religious leader, was assassinated by rival Black Muslims in New York City. (1965)
Top
|
|
22
|
- George Washington, first president of the United States, was born. (1732)
- Empress of China, the first trading ship sent to China from the United States, set sail from New York. (1784)
- The territory of Florida was ceded to the United States from Spain. (1819)
- "The Miracle on Ice" happened when the underdog U.S. hockey team defeated the reigning champion Soviet team in one of the most dramatic Olympic upsets in history at the XIII Olympic Games. (1980)
- The First Internet Bank of Indiana opened as the first full-service bank available only online. (1999)
Top
|
|
23
|
- George Frideric Handel, German composer of the Messiah, was born. (1685)
- Casimir Funk, Polish-American biochemist who coined the term vitamine, was born. (1884)
- U.S.flag was raised atop Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima. The photograph of this event became the most reproduced photo in history. (1945)
Top
|
|
24
|
- Wilhelm Grimm, fairytale author, born. (1786)
- Día de la Bandera, Flag Day, is celebrated in Mexico, to honor the day when Mexico became an independent country. (1821)
- Voice of America (VOA) signed on for the first time. (1942)
- Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer, was born. (1955)
Top
|
|
25
|
- Thomas Davenport patented the first practical electrical motor. (1837)
- Hiram Rhoades Revels, the first African American to hold a seat in Congress, was sworn into the U.S. Senate. (1870)
- Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali) won the world heavyweight boxing title from reigning champion Sonny Liston. (1964)
Top
|
|
26
|
- Sierra Club co-founder and geologist Joseph LeConte was born. (1823)
- Levi Strauss, the creator of blue jeans, was born. (1829)
- William Frederick Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill, was born. (1846)
- Grand Canyon National Park opened. (1919)
Top
|
|
27
|
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet, was born. (1807)
- John Steinbeck , author of The Grapes of Wrath, The Red Pony, and other significant American novels, was born. (1902)
- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader was born. (1934)
Top
|
|
28
|
- Kalevala Day is celebrated in Finland. The day honors the epic poem Kalevala, which documents the history and mythology of the Finnish people.
- Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first U.S. railway chartered for commercial transportation of freight and passengers. (1827)
- Linus Pauling, U.S. chemist and physicist, was born. (1901)
- DNA Discovered (1953)
Top
|
| 29 |
Leap Year Day (2012)
- Attack on Deerfield. (1704)
- Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award. (1940)
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
