115 things happened on 21 February, from AD 4 to 2022. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1804 · 222 years ago
Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick's steam engine pulled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It was the world's first railway journey hauled by a locomotive. The engine carried 10 tons of iron, five wagons and 70 m…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
During the Jacobite rising of 1745, supporters of Prince Charles Edward Stuart surrounded Old Fort George, a castle in Inverness held by government soldiers. The Jacobites began digging a tunnel under the walls so that they could blow them up. Fearing this, the fort's commander, Major George Grant, surrendered. The Jacobites wanted to win back the British throne for the Stuart family, who were living in exile.
UK story
Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick's steam engine pulled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It was the world's first railway journey hauled by a locomotive. The engine carried 10 tons of iron, five wagons and 70 men for 9.75 miles (about 15.7 km). The trip took just over four hours, at an average speed of about 2.4 miles per hour.
UK story
It stopped being necessary for people in the United Kingdom to carry an identity card. The cards had been brought in at the start of the Second World War in 1939, when about 45 million were issued. Even children under 16 had one, although their parents kept it for them. Prime Minister Winston Churchill's government ended the rule to 'set the people free'.
UK story
British designer Gerald Holtom showed his new symbol to the Direct Action Committee, a group campaigning against nuclear weapons. It was accepted straight away and became the logo of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The design joins together the flag signals, called semaphore, for the letters N and D, standing for 'nuclear disarmament'. It is now known around the world as the peace sign.
UK story
A force of 1,400 French soldiers invade Britain at Fishguard in support of the Society of United Irishmen. They were defeated by 500 British reservists.
UK story
An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fights an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically takes place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
The first issue of the Cherokee Phoenix was printed in New Echota, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, in what is now the United States. It was the first newspaper published by Native Americans and the first in a Native American language. It was written in both English and Cherokee. The paper stopped in 1834 but was brought back in the 20th century, and it is still published today.
American John Greenough was granted the first United States patent for a sewing machine. A patent is an official document that protects an inventor's idea from being copied. Sewing machines stitch fabric together with thread far faster than sewing by hand. The very first sewing machine is generally thought to be the work of an Englishman, Thomas Saint, in 1790.
The newly finished Washington Monument was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It honours George Washington, the country's first president. The monument is a tall, pointed stone pillar called an obelisk, about 169 metres high. Its outside is covered in three different kinds of white marble, because the building work kept being interrupted.
In New York City, American inventor Edwin Land demonstrated the Polaroid Land Camera to a meeting of the Optical Society of America. It was the first 'instant camera'. Its special film developed by itself, so a finished photograph was ready in one minute or less. The camera went on sale the following year.
Luna 20, an uncrewed Soviet spacecraft, made a gentle landing in a mountainous area of the Moon. It used a drill to collect a small sample of Moon soil. The next day, part of the spacecraft blasted off carrying the soil in a sealed capsule, which came down safely in the Soviet Union on 25 February. It was the second successful Soviet mission to bring Moon samples back to Earth.
American adventurer Steve Fossett landed in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada. He had become the first person to fly alone across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. Fossett set many records as a pilot and a sailor. He was also the first person to fly solo, without stopping, all the way around the world in both a balloon and an aeroplane.
The Prussian Confederation is formed.
Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
Mariehamn, the capital city of Åland, is founded.
American Civil War: The Confederate Army began an attempt to gain control of the Southwest with a major victory in the Battle of Valverde.
Lucy Hobbs Taylor (pictured) became the first woman to receive a doctorate from a dental college.
The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.
World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup.
Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution.
The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
Nanjing decade: In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops.
The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front.
NASCAR is incorporated.
United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations.
The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
In the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin declares the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic as independent from Ukraine, and moves troops into the region. The action is condemned by the United Nations.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “People in Britain no longer have to carry identity cards”?
A: 1952. 1952 — that’s 74 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Jacobites win the siege of Inverness”?
C: 1746. 1746 — that’s 280 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: Jacobites win the siege of Inverness. 1952: People in Britain no longer have to carry identity cards · 1804: Trevithick's steam locomotive makes the first railway journey · 1746: Jacobites win the siege of Inverness Find it on the page
“Trevithick's steam locomotive makes the first railway journey” happened in 1804. How many years ago was that?
A: 222 years. 2026 − 1804 = 222. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 21 February.
UK story
Alan Rickman was an English actor known for his deep and distinctive voice. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Severus Snape, the potions master, in all eight Harry Potter films. He also voiced Absolem the Caterpillar in Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland (2010).
Well-known people who died on 21 February.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 21 February somewhere in the world.
International Mother Language Day is held around the world every year on 21 February. Your mother language is the first language you learn at home. The day celebrates the many different languages and cultures of the world and encourages people to speak more than one language. It was first announced by UNESCO, part of the United Nations, in 1999.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “February 21” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.