FEBRUARY
While the slant sun of February pours into the bowers a flood of light.
Bryant
The lightship Edinburgh adrift in the Thames Estuary after a north-westerly gale in February, 1938
February 1
1444 The steeple of Old St. Paul's Cathedral in London was partly destroyed by lightning. It was not repaired until 1461.
February 2
1852 Holmsfirth, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire, was destroyed when a nearby dam burst after heavy rain.
February 3
1882 Three thousand stone meteorites fell at Mócs in Transylvania. Total weight was 300 Kg. (661 lbs.)
February 4
1872 A great aurora was seen all over the world, as far south as Tobago and Mauritius.
February 5
AD 817 A comet was seen during an eclipse of the Moon. Another authority says a 'monstrous' comet was in Sagittarius on the night of Feb. 5th.
February 6
1933 The U.S.S. Ramapo measured a sea wave 112 feet (34 m.) high between California and the Phillipines during a 78 mph (125 km/hr.) gale.
February 7
1821 The crew of the American vessel Cecilia became the first persons to set foot on the Antarctic continent.
February 8
1807 A blinding easterly snowstorm swept the battlefield of Eylau in Prussia. The French attacked the Russians in the face of the storm.
February 9
1855 A maximum temperature of 23° F. (-5° C.) and a minimum of 7° F. (-14° C.) in London. The Thames was blocked by ice floes 7 feet (2 m.) thick.
February 10
1896 A meteor burst 20 miles (32 km.) above Madrid in Spain. The explosion "(shook) the city to its foundations and (caused) widespread consternation". Windows were broken throughout Madrid. Several small meteorites fell.
February 11
1209 Ralph of Coggeshall says that in the early morning there was a great battle of the clouds.
February 12
1106 A darkening of the Sun in Europe which was accompanied by meteors. A great comet was near the Sun in February of this year.
February 13
1920 29 inches (74 cm.) of snow fell in Jerusalem during the six days 8th - 13th. The minimum temperature recorded on the Mount of Olives was 25° F. (-4° C.)
February 14
1884 A green Moon was seen for three minutes at Kalmar in Sweden.
February 15
1830 A 2 lb. 5 oz. stone meteorite was seen to fall at Launton, Oxfordshire, after a fireball and detonations.
February 16
AD 336 An evening comet was seen from China, in the west near Andromeda and Pisces.
February 17
1662 A violent southwesterly tempest with hail and lightning made great havoc on land and sea in England.
February 18
1911 An earthquake triggered one of the greatest known landslides at Usoy in the Pamir Mountains. A 2.5 cubic kilometres fall killed 54 persons.
February 19
1884 Sixty tornadoes swept the southern United States, and a waterspout dismasted a ship off South Carolina. About 800 persons were killed.
February 20
1943 At 4 pm, a hole in a Mexican field near Paricutin began to emit smoke. The hole became a volcano which erupted for nine years and rose to a height of 1,500 feet. (457 m.)
February 21
1760 An unprecedented blizzard raged in England. The snow was 10 to 12 feet (3 to 4 m.) deep in places. The gale uprooted trees and tore off chimney-pots.
February 22
1578 Chinese annals record the appearance of a great star resembling the Sun in the west, surrounded by lesser stars. It was probably a meteor fireball breaking up in the atmosphere.
February 23
1823 James Weddell in the brig Jane reached 74° 15' South, 34° 17' West, less than a thousand miles from the South Pole. Only three icebergs were in sight.
February 24
1885 At midnight in the North Pacific the sky turned fiery red, and a mass of fire fell into the sea near the barque Innerwich, raising a huge wave.
February 25
1949 The S.S. Laomedon, in the Bay of Bengal, observed a marine 'phosphorescent wheel' in the form of brilliant bars of light revolving rapidly round an invisible centre.
February 26
1763 A tornado 25 yards (23 m.) wide at Broadway, Worcestershire, tore up large trees along a path three-quarters of a mile long. It was accompanied by a storm of hail.
February 27
1827 Four or five stone meteorites fell at Mhow, India. The largest weighed three pounds. (1 kg.) One stone broke a tree and another injured a man.
February 28
1843 The nucleus of the great comet of 1843, the finest of the 19th Century, was visible in daylight only four degrees from the Sun. It passed 89,000 miles (143,000 km.) from the Sun at perihelion.
February 29
1504 Christopher Columbus predicted a total eclipse of the Moon in order to overawe the natives of Jamaica.
