130 Fun Facts About February

February is named after Februa, a Roman ritual of what?

The rite was held on February 15 in the old lunar calendar, at the full moon.

Which Roman king is credited with adding January and February to the calendar?

February stayed the last month of the Roman year until around 450 BC, which is why it took the short straw on days.

Until about 450 BC, February was which month of the Roman calendar year?

The decemvirs moved it to second place; the Romans also sometimes cut it to 23 or 24 days and inserted an extra month after it.

In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the last month of which meteorological season?

It is the seasonal twin of August in the north, which is why Rio's Carnival and Australia's beach season fall in it.

Which gemstone is February's birthstone?

Ancient Greeks carved drinking cups from it, believing the purple stone prevented drunkenness; its name means 'not intoxicated'.

Which of these is one of February's birth flowers?

The primrose and the iris share the honour; carnations belong to January and daffodils to March.

Under the Gregorian calendar, which of these years is NOT a leap year?

Century years only get a February 29 if divisible by 400, so 2000 and 2400 qualify but 2100 does not.

Which Roman leader's calendar reform of 45 BC introduced the regular leap day?

His Julian calendar ran essentially unchanged for about 1,600 years before Pope Gregory XIII adjusted it.

The papal bull that created the Gregorian calendar, Inter gravissimas, was dated to which day in 1582?

The new calendar took effect that October, when ten days were dropped, but Protestant and Orthodox countries ignored it for centuries.

Which country's calendar once had a 30 February, in the year 1712?

Sweden had botched a gradual switch to the Gregorian calendar, so it added a double leap day to fall back in line with the Julian one.

By Irish tradition, what are women permitted to do on 29 February?

Legend says Saint Bridget talked Saint Patrick down from once every seven years to once every four.

Which Italian opera composer, famous for The Barber of Seville, was born on 29 February 1792?

Born in Pesaro on a leap day, he technically celebrated only a handful of true birthdays before dying in 1868.

Groundhog Day on 2 February grew out of the superstitions of which community?

If the groundhog sees its shadow, winter lasts six more weeks; the lore links to Candlemas weather sayings from Europe.

Punxsutawney Phil makes his prediction from a spot with what name?

The top-hatted 'Inner Circle' claim to interpret Phil, and prepare two scrolls in advance so either verdict is ready.

In what year did the Punxsutawney Groundhog Day ceremony formally begin?

The groundhog was not given the name Phil until 1961, though the event insists it has been the same animal all along.

Groundhog Day (1993) was shot almost entirely in which Illinois town standing in for Punxsutawney?

Bill Murray's weatherman relives 2 February over and over; the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry in 2006.

Candlemas, on 2 February, commemorates which event from the Gospel of Luke?

Churchgoers bring candles to be blessed for the year, a symbol of Christ as 'Light of the World'.

Imbolc, the Gaelic festival on 1 February, is the feast day of which saint?

It marks the start of spring, roughly halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

Which Roman festival, held 13-15 February, is often cited as a pagan ancestor of Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day had no romantic meaning at all until Chaucer's poetry in the 14th century, some 700 years after Lupercalia had died out.

Which medieval English poet is credited with first linking Saint Valentine's Day to romantic love?

Sending flowers, sweets and 'valentines' took off in 18th-century England before mass-produced cards arrived in the 1800s.

In most of Latin America, 14 February is celebrated under what name?

It doubles as a day of friendship, and in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador people play 'Amigo secreto', a Secret Santa-style gift game.

How many members of Chicago's North Side Gang were killed in the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre?

Two of the gunmen were dressed as police officers, and the intended target, Bugs Moran, had not yet arrived.

What is the official federal name of the US holiday most people call Presidents' Day?

It falls on the third Monday of February and has honoured Washington federally since 1879; states add Lincoln, Jefferson or others as they like.

Which two famous men were both born on 12 February 1809?

One in a Kentucky log cabin, the other at The Mount in Shrewsbury, England, on the same day.

Which historian created Negro History Week in 1926, the forerunner of Black History Month?

President Gerald Ford recognised the full month in 1976, during the US Bicentennial.

Negro History Week's February date held the birthdays of Lincoln and which other man?

Black communities had marked both birthdays since the late 1800s; a Douglass Day was taught in Washington DC schools from 1897.

Which country observes Black History Month in October rather than February?

The US and Canada both mark it in February; Ireland and the UK chose the autumn.

Which Super Bowl was the first played in February, after 9/11 disrupted the 2001 season?

The Patriots beat the Rams; from 2004 the game settled on the first Sunday of February and since 2022 the second.

Which Super Bowl, played in 2016, was the only one branded with ordinary numerals?

The Broncos beat the Panthers in Peyton Manning's final game, and the numbering went back to Roman numerals with Super Bowl LI.

Which Japanese festival on or around 3 February involves throwing roasted beans to drive out demons?

The word for bean, mame, can be written as 'devil's eye', and the day after is Risshun, the old first day of spring.

The Sapporo Snow Festival began in 1950 when six local high school students built what in Odori Park?

It now runs for seven days each February and drew about two million visitors in 2007.

Waitangi Day, New Zealand's national day on 6 February, marks the signing of a treaty in which year?

The Treaty of Waitangi between the Crown and Māori chiefs is widely regarded as the country's founding document.

Where were the first Winter Olympic Games held, in early 1924?

Most Winter Games since have opened in February; St. Moritz hosted the second edition in 1928.

The 'Miracle on Ice' of 22 February 1980 saw the United States beat which team at Lake Placid?

The US college players then beat Finland to take gold; the game came in the medal round, not the final itself.

Which astronomer spotted Pluto on photographic plates on 18 February 1930?

He was 23 and had been hired on the strength of his drawings; an 11-year-old English girl, Venetia Burney, suggested the name.

On 20 February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth aboard which capsule?

He circled the planet three times; the '7' honoured the seven original Mercury astronauts.

Roughly how many Americans watched the Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance on 9 February 1964?

That was about two-fifths of the US population, and it kicked off the British Invasion.

Nelson Mandela walked free on 11 February 1990 from which prison?

He had spent 27 years in custody, most of them on Robben Island, and held Winnie's hand as the walk was broadcast live worldwide.

Under what name did Mark Zuckerberg launch Facebook on 4 February 2004?

Facemash was his earlier hot-or-not site; the 'The' was dropped in 2005.

'The Day the Music Died', 3 February 1959, refers to a plane crash near which Iowa town?

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died with their pilot; Don McLean coined the phrase in 'American Pie'.

Which Dutch communist was found inside the burning Reichstag on 27 February 1933?

The fire came exactly four weeks after Hitler became chancellor, and the Nazis used it to suspend civil liberties.

The Greensboro sit-ins that began on 1 February 1960 targeted the lunch counter of which store chain?

Four freshmen from North Carolina A&T started it; the store is now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on re-entry in 2003 after a piece of what struck its wing at launch?

Foam from the external tank hit the left wing's heat tiles; all seven astronauts were lost over Texas and Louisiana.

The sinking of USS Maine on 15 February 1898 happened in which harbour?

The blast helped push the United States into the Spanish-American War that April; its cause is still debated.

The Yalta Conference of 4-11 February 1945 was held in palaces on which peninsula?

Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at the Livadia, Yusupov and Vorontsov palaces to plan post-war Europe.

Which reggae legend was born on 6 February 1945?

Robert Nesta Marley died in 1981 aged 36; his birthday is now a public celebration in Jamaica.

Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun leaves Aquarius and enters which sign around 19 February?

Aquarius covers roughly 20 January to 19 February, so most February babies are water-bearers.

The Old English name Solmonath for February means what?

Another Old English name, Kale-monath, referred to cabbage, and Charlemagne called it Hornung.

The Finnish name for February, helmikuu, means month of the what?

Melting snow refreezes on branches into droplets like pearls of ice.

Besides the violet and primrose, which flower is a February birth flower?

Amethyst, the birthstone, symbolises piety, humility, spiritual wisdom and sincerity.

In Catholic tradition, February is the month of the Purification of whom?

Candlemas on 2 February commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

Which Chaucer poem contains the first recorded link between Valentine's Day and romantic love?

Written in 1382, it honoured the engagement anniversary of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia.

Chaucer's Valentine poem honoured the engagement anniversary of Richard II and which princess?

Both were fifteen; the poem imagines a parliament of birds choosing mates.

In which century did England see Valentine's Day grow into an occasion for flowers, sweets and cards?

The cards became known simply as "valentines".

Saint Valentine is a patron saint of beekeepers, epilepsy and which Italian city?

One Valentine was the bishop of Interamna, modern Terni; another a Roman priest.

Saint Valentine's flower-crowned skull is displayed in which Roman basilica?

Other relics lie in Dublin's Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, a pilgrimage spot for those seeking love.

Along which Roman road was Saint Valentine buried on 14 February?

Eastern Orthodoxy commemorates him on July 6 instead.

Which Dublin place of worship holds relics of Saint Valentine?

It is a popular pilgrimage site on Valentine's Day for those seeking love.

Groundhog Day is known by what name in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia?

In Canadian French it is Journée de la marmotte.

Which group in top hats and tuxedos runs the Punxsutawney ceremony?

Their vice president prepares two scrolls in advance, one for each possible forecast.

In what language does Phil supposedly deliver his forecast?

Handlers help him to the top of a stump at daybreak on Gobbler's Knob.

Gobbler's Knob lies roughly how far from Punxsutawney?

It sits in a rural area southeast of the town.

A leap year is also known as an intercalary year or what kind of year?

The Roman "bis sextum" doubled the sixth day before the Kalends of March.

By roughly how much does the Julian calendar drift from the seasons every 400 years?

Julian leap days fall in every year divisible by four, without exception.

Between 1901 and 2099, the Gregorian date equals the Julian date plus how many days?

Julian 1 January falls on Gregorian 14 January.

The Julian calendar took effect on 1 January of which year BC?

Julius Caesar proposed it in 46 BC as a reform of the largely lunisolar Roman calendar.

The Gregorian calendar makes the average year how long?

That is closer to the 365.2422-day tropical year than the Julian 365.25.

Which pope issued the bull that introduced the Gregorian calendar?

It went into effect in October 1582.

Romulus's original Roman calendar had how many months?

It began with March and left winter as an unassigned span before the next year.

Numa Pompilius, credited with adding February, was of which people?

Rome's legendary second king is also credited with the Vestal Virgins and the office of pontifex maximus.

Presidents' Day falls on which Monday of February?

Washington's Birthday was celebrated on the actual date from 1879 until 1970.

Black History Month expanded from a week to a month in which year?

Woodson's Negro History Week began in 1926 in February's second week.

Which 1915 Chicago event inspired Carter Woodson to organise Black history commemoration?

The summer-long celebration marked 50 years since emancipation.

Which Alabama city was the first capital of French Louisiana and hosts an early Mardi Gras?

Bienville founded it in 1702; its Mardi Gras social season starts in November.

Some traditions consider Mardi Gras to stretch from Ash Wednesday back to which date?

New Orleans treats the whole Epiphany-to-Lent span as Carnival season.

Besides pancakes, what is ritually burned on Shrove Tuesday?

The ashes are used the next day, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Ash Wednesday begins Lent, a season of how many weeks before Easter?

It is marked by prayer, fasting and almsgiving in many Western denominations.

The Carnival of Venice was abolished in which year before its 1979 revival?

The modern event attracts around 3 million visitors annually.

In what year was the first Carnival festival held in Rio de Janeiro?

Today two million people a day fill the streets, with over 200 samba schools in five leagues.

Chinese New Year falls on the new moon between 21 January and which date?

Celebrations run from New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.

During the Lantern Festival, children traditionally solve what written on lanterns?

The festival on the 15th day of the lunar year dates back at least to the Western Han dynasty.

From 2022 to 2026, on which Sunday of February was the Super Bowl played?

From 2004 to 2021 it was the first Sunday of February; before that it was in January.

Which Italian cities hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics?

The 2030 Games are scheduled for the French Alps from 1 to 17 February.

Since which year has the Daytona 500 opened the NASCAR Cup season?

The inaugural race in 1959 coincided with the speedway's opening.

The Berlinale has been held every February since which year?

Founded in 1951, it originally ran in June and is one of Europe's Big Three festivals.

Candlemas falls on which day of the Christmas-Epiphany season?

Leviticus prescribed purification 33 days after a boy's circumcision.

Imbolc is one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Lughnasadh and what?

It falls about halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox.

Fastelavn, the Nordic carnival, is celebrated how many weeks before Easter Sunday?

Children dress up and go door to door singing for treats, a form of trick-or-treating.

Parinirvana Day, marking the Buddha's death, is celebrated by most on which day of February?

Some observe it on 8 February; in Bhutan it follows the Bhutanese calendar.

Vasant Panchami honours which Hindu goddess?

It falls in the month of Magha and begins preparations for Holi forty days later.

Waitangi Day became a New Zealand public holiday in which year?

It was first celebrated in 1934, marking the 1840 treaty signing.

Sri Lanka celebrates independence from Britain on which day of February?

The navy fires a 21-gun salute from the Colombo Lighthouse battery.

Estonia's independence declaration was published in Tallinn on which date in 1918?

It had originally been intended for proclamation on 21 February.

Ancient Greeks believed amethyst protected against what?

The name comes from Greek a-methystos, "not intoxicated".

Amethyst is a violet variety of which mineral?

It occurs alongside calcite, agate and chalcedony.

Roughly how many species are in Viola, the violet genus?

Multi-coloured large-flowered cultivars are called pansies in horticulture.

Aquarius is one of the three air signs, alongside Libra and which other?

Its ruling planets are Saturn traditionally and Uranus in modern astrology; its opposite is Leo.

Pisces spans which degrees of celestial longitude?

Its fish symbol derives from the ichthyocentaurs who aided Aphrodite at her sea birth.

Which company made Sweethearts conversation hearts before selling to Spangler in 2018?

Necco made nearly 8 billion Sweethearts a year; the UK equivalent is Love Hearts.

White Day, when men return Valentine gifts, began in Japan in which year?

A Fukuoka confectioner had marketed marshmallows to men on March 14 the year before.

Galentine's Day was popularised by an episode of which sitcom?

The 2010 episode started the observance celebrating women's friendship.

World Cancer Day on 4 February is led by which organisation?

It supports the goals of the 2008 World Cancer Declaration.

International Mother Language Day on 21 February was first announced by which body?

The UN General Assembly formally recognised it in 2002 and made 2008 the International Year of Languages.

Darwin died at what age in April 1882?

Darwin Day on 12 February marks his 1809 birth; a 1909 Cambridge gathering drew scientists from 167 countries.

The Roman festival Terminalia honoured Terminus, god of what?

Neighbours crowned his boundary stone with garlands and sacrificed a lamb or pig.

The Roman Parentalia, honouring ancestors, began on which day of February?

A Vestal opened it with a rite at the tomb of Tarpeia; it ended nine days later with Feralia.

Which Roman author recorded the Feralia festival of 21 February in his Fasti?

Offerings to the dead included wreaths, grain, salt, wine-soaked bread and violets.

The Regifugium of 24 February commemorated the flight of which last king of Rome?

Varro and Ovid traced the "Flight of the King" to 510 BC.

Cupid's Greek counterpart is which god?

Cupid is usually the son of Venus and Mars, and his bow and arrow arrived in the Hellenistic period.

Hallmark Cards was founded in 1910 by whom?

The Kansas City company later bought Binney & Smith, now Crayola.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of the few US shows of what kind?

Dogs must stay on display at their assigned benches throughout the show.

What name did the Boy Scouts of America, founded in February 1910, adopt in 2025?

The change took effect on 8 February 2025; the organisation had nearly 200,000 female participants among over 1 million youth.

The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified 3 February 1870, was which of the Reconstruction Amendments?

It bars denying the vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude".

Up to how many people were killed in the February 1945 bombing of Dresden?

RAF and USAAF bombers dropped over 3,900 tons of bombs in four raids over three days.

Russia's February Revolution began with protests against what?

Old Style 23 February 1917 was 8 March in the New Style calendar.

Which German army was destroyed at Stalingrad, ending in February 1943?

It is considered the largest and deadliest urban battle in military history.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo required Mexico to cede what share of its territory?

Signed 2 February 1848, it saw the US pay $15 million and gain California, Nevada, Utah and more.

Which US envoy negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

It ended the Mexican-American War of 1846-48.

The Battle of Verdun, begun 21 February 1916, was fought on hills north of the town beside which river?

It was the longest battle of the First World War, ending on 18 December.

The US invasion of Iwo Jima that began 19 February 1945 was code-named what?

The goal was the island's two airfields, South Field and Central Field.

Rosa Parks, born 4 February 1913, was born in which Alabama town?

She joined the Montgomery NAACP in 1943 and served as its secretary.

Susan B. Anthony, born 15 February 1820, was raised in which religious tradition?

She collected anti-slavery petitions at 17 and met Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851.

Who co-wrote Groundhog Day with director Harold Ramis?

Rubin wrote it as a spec script to win meetings with producers.

Bill Murray's Groundhog Day character works as what?

He relives 2 February in Punxsutawney over and over.

Which West African country, the smallest on the continent's mainland, celebrates independence on 18 February?

It is bounded by Senegal on all sides except its Atlantic coast.

The Old English name Kale-monath for February was named for which vegetable?

Charlemagne's Frankish calendar, by contrast, called the month Hornung.

Which Scandinavian country celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday of February?

Kosovo marks its Mother's Day even earlier, on the first Sunday of the month.

Which awareness day is observed on the last day of February?

Placing it on the last day means it falls on 29 February in leap years, itself a rare date.

Using UTC, in which year of the 2010s did February pass without a single full moon?

With only 28 days in a common year, it is the only month that can skip a full moon entirely; the next time will be 2037.

In 1848 a Slovene priest proposed renaming February 'talnik', a word related to what?

The proposal by Blaž Potočnik never caught on, and Slovene kept the traditional name svečan.