February 1, 1790: US Supreme Court convenes for 1st time (NYC)

February 2, 1943: German 6th Army surrenders after Battle of Stalingrad in a major turning point in Europe during World War II

February 3, 1927: Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black, reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names 'Sinanthropus pekinensis' (now known as 'Homo erectus')

February 4, 1861: Confederate constitutional convention meets for the 1st time; Jefferson Davis elected President of Confederacy (US Civil War).

February 5, 1887: Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premieres at La Scala in Italy, Verdi's first new opera for over 15 years.

February 6, 1819: Stamford Raffles founds Singapore as a British trading port.

February 7, 1856: The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot.

February 8, 1906: Without warning, Japanese torpedo boats make a night attack on Russian ships near naval base at Port Arthur, Manchuria; No declaration of war was given.

February 9, 1922: World War Foreign Debt Commission is established by Congress to settle the problem of Allied war and postwar loans

February 10, 1890: Around 11 million acres ceded to US by Sioux Indians, then opened for settlement.

February 11, 1945: Yalta agreement signed by FDR, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. They made final plans for the defeat of Nazi Germany, their joint occupation of Germany and for post-war Europe.

February 12, 1947: French Fashion Designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

February 13, 1633: Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that earth revolves around the Sun

February 14, 1924: Businessman Thomas J Watson renames the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) as International Business Machines (IBM)

February 15, 1989: Soviet military occupation of Afghanistan ends.