Portal:War/Selected anniversaries/February

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Selected anniversaries in February

February 1

• 1662 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
• 1793 - France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
• 1968 - Vietnam War: Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The execution was videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams and helped sway public opinion against the war.

February 2

• 1509 - Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
• 1542 - Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente
• 1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the war.
• 1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
• 1920 - Tartu Peace Treaty signed between Estonia and Russia.
• 1943 - World War II: The last Nazi forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
• 1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.

February 3

• 1917 - World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany a day after Germany announces a new policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
• 1941 - World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.
• 1944 - United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
• 1945 - World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan.

February 4

• 1454 - In the Thirteen Years' War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederacy sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
• 1810 - British Navy seizes Guadeloupe.
• 1899 - The Philippine-American War begins.
• 1915 - Germany establishes a submarine blockade around the UK and declares any vessel in it a legitimate target.
• 1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Harbin, China.

February 5

• 1782 - Spanish defeat British forces and capture Minorca.
• 1945 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.
• 1958 - A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
• 1968 - The Battle of Khe Sanh of the Vietnam War begins.

February 6

• 1778 - American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
• 1806 - Royal Navy victory off Santo Domingo - Action of 6 February 1806.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.
• 1899 - Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris (1898), a peace treaty between the United States and Spain is ratified by the United States Senate.
• 1922 - The Washington Naval Treaty was signed in Washington, DC, limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

February 7

• 1807 - Napoléon's French Empire begin fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at the Battle of Eylau in Eylau, Poland.
• 1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien
• 1944 - World War II: In Anzio, Italy Nazi forces launch a counteroffensive.

February 8

• 1807 - Battle of Eylau - Napoleon defeats Russians under General Benigssen.
• 1900 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.
• 1904 - Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - the Russian army captures the city
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - United States forces defeat Japanese troops.

February 9

• 1943 - World War II, Battle of Guadalcanal: After forcing the remaining Japanese to be evacuated the night before, American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure.
• 1965 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.
• 1994 - Peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina announced (so called Vance-Owen peace plan).

February 10

• 1258 - Battle of Baghdad (1258) - Mongols overrun Baghdad, burning it to the ground and killing large numbers of citizens (estimates range from 10,000 to 800,000).
• 1763 - French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Canada to Great Britain.
• 1814 - Battle of Champaubert occurs.
• 1964 - The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.

February 11

• 1922 - Navy USS Michigan (BB-27) Decomisioned
• 1943 - General Dwight Eisenhower selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
• 1945 - Yalta Conference ends.
• 1971 - US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.

February 12

• 1817 - Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeat Spanish troops on the battle of Chacabuco
• 1934 - The Austrian Civil War begins
• 1938 - Anschluss: German troops enter Austria.
• 1946 - Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.

February 13

• 1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces capture Budapest, Hungary from the Nazis.
• 1945 - World War II: The Royal Air Force bombers were dispatched to Dresden, Germany (see Bombing of Dresden in World War II).
• 1960 - Nuclear testing: France tests its first atomic bomb.
• 1971 - Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.

February 14

• 1797 - John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent & Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson led the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent near Gibraltar.
• 1804 - Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
• 1831 - Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
• 1879 - The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
• 1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.

February 15

• 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing more than 260. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
• 1942 - World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
• 1944 - World War II: Assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.
• 1950 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty.

February 16

• 1804 - First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
• 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
• 1940 - Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark, with 299 British prisoners, is boarded in neutral Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack and the prisoners set free, a breach of Norwegian neutrality at the beginning of World War II.
• 1943 - World War II: Russia reconquers Kharkov.
• 1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.

February 17

• 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt
• 1814 - Battle of Mormans
• 1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burns as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
• 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
• 1979 - The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
• 1995 - The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.

February 18

• 1797 - Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.
• 1814 - Battle of Montereau occurs.
• 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
• 1932 - The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from China.

February 19

• 197 – Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 1674 - England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York.
• 1915 - World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli began.
• 1941 - World War II: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.
• 1942 - World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack Darwin, Australia.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
• 1945 - World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.

February 20

• 1864 - Battle of Olustee
• 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
• 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1959 - The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

February 21

• 1543 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.
• 1916 - World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
• 1937 - The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
• 1974 - The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal in carrying out a truce with Egypt.

February 22

• 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
• 1744 - The Battle of Toulon begins.
• 1847 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista - 5,000 American troops drive off 15,000 Mexican.
• 1915 - Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
• 1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense collapses.

February 23

• 1574 - The 5th holy war against the Huguenots begins in France.
• 1778 - American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
• 1836 - The Siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
• 1847 - Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista - In Mexico, American troops defeat Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna.
• 1900 - In South Africa the Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart's Hill.
• 1940 - World War II: Soviet Union troops conquer Lasi Island.
• 1945 - World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Surabachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize.
• 1945 - World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.
• 1945 - World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznan, city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
• 1945 - World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers.

February 24

• 1739 - Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah
• 1826 - The signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo marks the end of the First Burmese War.
• 1917 - World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States.
• 1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.

February 25

• 1836 - Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.
• 1921 - The Democratic Republic of Georgia is occupied by Soviet Russia.
• 1933 - The USS Ranger is launched, becoming the first custom-built aircraft carrier.
• 1991 - Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 US Marines.

February 26

• 1266 - Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
• 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
• 1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
• 1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

February 27

• 1617 - Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea
• 1864 - American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
• 1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
• 1942 - World War II: the USS Langley, the first United States aircraft carrier, is sunk by Japanese warplanes.

February 28

• 1844 - A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing two United States Cabinet members and several others.
• 1900 - The Second Boer War: The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith" is lifted.
• 1998 - Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive againt the KLA in Kosovo.

February 29

• 1704 - Queen Anne's War: French forces and Native Americans attack and destroy Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 100 men, women, and children.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid fails - Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
• 1944 - World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.