127 Fun Facts About February

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

Februa was a Roman purification rite held on February 15; the month's name comes from februum, an instrument of purification, and the feast later merged with Lupercalia.

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

Tradition credits Numa Pompilius, Rome's second king, with adding January and February to Romulus's ten-month calendar, bringing the year to 355 days.

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

February was the twelfth and final month until the decemvirs, around 450 BC, moved it to second place; Romans sometimes cut it to 23 or 24 days before an intercalary month.

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

Summer's last month in the south is the 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?

Amethyst means 'not intoxicated'; ancient Greeks carved drinking cups from the purple stone, believing it prevented drunkenness.

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

The violet is February's birth flower, sharing the month with the primrose; carnations belong to January, daffodils to March and lily of the valley to May.

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?

Julius Caesar's reform, in force from 45 BC, fixed the year at 365 days with a leap day every fourth year; the Julian calendar ran about 1,600 years until Pope Gregory XIII's 1582 correction.

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 Brigid persuaded Saint Patrick to let women propose marriage on 29 February; the custom, sometimes called Bachelor's Day, spread to Britain and inspired the 2010 film Leap Year.

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

Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro on 29 February 1792; by his death in 1868 he had seen only eighteen true leap-day birthdays, because 1800 was not a leap year.

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

Pennsylvania Dutch settlers brought German Candlemas lore that a badger or hedgehog seeing its shadow meant six more weeks of winter, and swapped in the local groundhog.

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

Phil emerges at Gobbler's Knob, a wooded hill just outside Punxsutawney; the top-hatted Inner Circle prepares two scrolls in advance so either verdict is ready to read.

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

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made its first official trek to Gobbler's Knob in 1887; the groundhog was not called Phil until 1961, though lore insists it is the same animal.

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

Woodstock, Illinois, with its town square and opera house, stood in for Punxsutawney throughout the 1993 shoot; the film joined the National Film Registry in 2006.

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

The presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Joseph and Mary; 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?

Imbolc falls on the feast of Saint Brigid of Kildare, 1 February; 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?

Lupercalia, held 13-15 February, was a Roman fertility and purification festival in which priests ran through the city striking bystanders with goat-hide thongs; Pope Gelasius I suppressed it around AD 494.

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

Geoffrey Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, written around 1382, is the earliest known text tying Saint Valentine's Day to birds choosing mates and to courtly love.

Which state, admitted on 14 February 1912, completed the contiguous 48?

Arizona became the 48th state on 14 February 1912, five weeks after New Mexico on 6 January 1912; no further state joined until Alaska in January 1959.

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?

The federal holiday's legal name is Washington's Birthday (5 U.S.C. 6103); states add Lincoln, Jefferson or others to their own versions, which is how 'Presidents' Day' stuck.

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

Abraham Lincoln was born in a Kentucky log cabin and Charles Darwin at The Mount in Shrewsbury, England, both on 12 February 1809; Dickens arrived three years later, on 7 February 1812.

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

Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, launched Negro History Week in February 1926; President Ford recognised the full month in 1976.

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?

Super Bowl XXXVI, on 3 February 2002, saw the Patriots beat the Rams after the 9/11 postponements pushed the season back a week; every later Super Bowl but one was played in February.

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

Super Bowl 50, won by the Broncos over the Panthers in Peyton Manning's final game, dropped Roman numerals because a lone 'L' looked awkward; Super Bowl LI resumed them.

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

Setsubun, the eve of Risshun (the old first day of spring), sees roasted soybeans thrown with the cry 'Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi'; mame (bean) puns on 'devil's eye'.

What did local high school students build in Odori Park to start Sapporo's 1950 Snow Festival?

Six snow statues built by local high-school students in 1950 grew into a week-long February festival; by 2007 it was drawing about two million visitors.

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

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840 by Crown representative William Hobson and Māori chiefs; it is widely regarded as New Zealand'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 Soviet Union lost to a team of US college players in the medal round, not the final; the Americans then beat Finland for gold.

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

Clyde Tombaugh, a 24-year-old Lowell Observatory assistant hired on the strength of his drawings, found Pluto by comparing photographic plates; 11-year-old Venetia Burney of Oxford suggested the name.

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

Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule circled Earth three times in just under five hours; the '7' honoured the seven original Mercury astronauts.

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

Nielsen put the audience at 73 million, about two-fifths of a US population of 192 million, and the broadcast kicked off the British Invasion.

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

Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison near Paarl on 11 February 1990 holding Winnie's hand, after 27 years in custody, most of them on Robben Island.

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

The site launched as TheFacebook (thefacebook.com) for Harvard students; Facemash was his earlier hot-or-not site, and the 'The' was dropped in 2005 after the company bought facebook.com.

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

The Beechcraft Bonanza came down in a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa, minutes after leaving Mason City airport; Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and pilot Roger Peterson died.

Who was arrested inside the burning Reichstag on 27 February 1933?

Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch council communist, was arrested inside the burning Reichstag exactly four weeks after Hitler became chancellor; he was executed in January 1934.

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

Four North Carolina A&T freshmen sat at the Woolworth lunch counter on 1 February 1960; the building reopened in 2010 as 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 Maine exploded at anchor in Havana harbour, killing some 260 men; the blast helped push the United States into the Spanish-American War that April, and its cause was never conclusively settled.

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 near Yalta, in Crimea, to plan post-war Europe; Roosevelt died two months later.

Which reggae legend was born on 6 February 1945?

Bob Marley, born Robert Nesta Marley, died in 1981 aged 36.

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

Pisces runs from about 19 February to 20 March; Aquarius covers roughly 20 January to 18 February, so most February babies are water-bearers.

The Old English name Solmonath for February means what?

Solmonath is usually read as 'mud month' (Old English sol, mud), though Bede glossed it as a month of cakes offered to the gods; Kale-monath, the other Old English name, referred to cabbage.

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

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

Which probe photographed Earth as a 'Pale Blue Dot' on 14 February 1990?

Voyager 1 took the Pale Blue Dot image on 14 February 1990 from about 6 billion km away, at Carl Sagan's urging, as part of its Family Portrait of the Solar System.

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 astronomer was born in Pisa on 15 February 1564?

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa on 15 February 1564, the same year as Shakespeare; he died in Arcetri in January 1642, under house arrest since his 1633 trial.

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

Anne of Bohemia married Richard II on 20 January 1382, when both were fifteen; the poem imagines a parliament of birds choosing their mates on Saint Valentine's Day.

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

In 18th-century England couples began exchanging flowers, confectionery and handwritten notes; the notes became known simply as 'valentines', and mass-printed cards followed in the 1800s.

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?

A flower-crowned skull labelled as Saint Valentine's sits in a glass case in Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the Rome church that also houses the Bocca della Verità.

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?

Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church received relics of Saint Valentine in 1836, a gift from Pope Gregory XVI to the Carmelite John Spratt; couples visit the shrine on 14 February.

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

Lunenburg's German-descended settlers call it Daks Day, from Dachs, the German for badger, the animal that watched for its shadow in the old-country version of the lore.

In what language does Phil supposedly deliver his forecast?

Club lore says Phil speaks Groundhogese, understood only by the Inner Circle president, whose acacia-wood cane lets him translate; handlers lift Phil onto a stump at daybreak on Gobbler's Knob.

Gobbler's Knob lies roughly how far from Punxsutawney?

Gobbler's Knob is a rural spot about 2 miles (3 km) east of Punxsutawney; tens of thousands gather there before dawn on 2 February.

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

Bissextile comes from the Roman bis sextum, 'twice sixth', because the leap day doubled the sixth day before the Kalends of March, which fell on 24 February.

With a leap day every four years, no exceptions, the Julian calendar drifts from the seasons by how much every 400 years?

About 3 days: the Julian year averages 365.25 days against a tropical year of 365.2422, an excess of 0.0078 days that compounds to roughly 3.1 days over 400 years.

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

The gap is 13 days from March 1900 to February 2100, which is why Julian 1 January, the Orthodox New Year, falls on Gregorian 14 January.

What was the intercalary month the Romans inserted after 23 February called?

Mercedonius, also called Intercalaris, was a month of 27 or 28 days that the pontiffs inserted after 23 February in some years; Caesar's reform abolished it.

The Gregorian calendar makes the average year how long?

The Gregorian average is 365.2425 days, from 97 leap days every 400 years, closer to the 365.2422-day tropical year than the Julian 365.25.

Which country switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1923, jumping from 15 February to 1 March?

Greece adopted the Gregorian civil calendar in 1923; Wednesday 15 February (Julian) was followed by Thursday 1 March, dropping the 13-day gap.

Which volcano was born in a Mexican cornfield on 20 February 1943?

Parícutin burst out of Dionisio Pulido's cornfield in Michoacán on 20 February 1943 and kept erupting until 1952, burying the villages of Parícutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro.

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?

The 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved Washington's Birthday to the third Monday of February from 1971; before that it was kept on 22 February itself.

In which year did Kent State students first celebrate Black History Month as a full month?

Kent State's Black United Students held the first month-long celebration in February 1970; Woodson's Negro History Week had begun in 1926, and President Ford endorsed the month nationally in 1976.

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 Mobile in 1702 as the first capital of French Louisiana; the city claims America's oldest Mardi Gras, dating to 1703, with a ball season that begins in November.

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

Carnival season runs from Twelfth Night, 6 January (Epiphany), to Ash Wednesday; New Orleans starts its parades and king cakes on that date.

What do many churches ritually burn on Shrove Tuesday?

Holy Week palms from the previous year are burned; the ashes are used the next day, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Which Disney animated feature premiered in New York on 7 February 1940?

Pinocchio, Disney's second animated feature, premiered at New York's Center Theatre on 7 February 1940 and won Oscars for Best Score and Best Song, 'When You Wish Upon a Star'.

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

The carnival was outlawed in 1797 after Napoleon's conquest ended the Venetian Republic; the Italian government revived it in 1979, roughly 180 years later.

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

Rio's Carnival dates back to 1723, when Portuguese immigrants brought the Entrudo, a street fight with water and flour; the samba-school parades began in the 1930s.

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

20 February is the latest; 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?

Lantern riddles, or dengmi, are pasted on lanterns for children and adults to solve; the festival on the 15th day of the lunar year dates back at least to the Han dynasty.

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

With the 17-game season the Super Bowl moved to February's second Sunday in 2022 (13 February); from 2004 to 2021 it fell on the first Sunday.

Which Italian cities hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics?

Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo shared the 2026 Winter Games, held 6 to 22 February 2026; Cortina had previously hosted alone in 1956.

In which year did the Daytona 500 first serve as the NASCAR Cup season opener?

The 1982 Daytona 500, won by Bobby Allison, was the first to open the Cup season; earlier seasons had begun elsewhere, often at Riverside's road course.

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

Candlemas, 2 February, is the 40th day counting from Christmas; Leviticus prescribed a mother's purification 33 days after her son's circumcision on the eighth day, forty days in all.

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

Bealtaine (Beltane), on 1 May, completes the four Gaelic quarter-day festivals with Imbolc, Lughnasadh and Samhain; Nollaig, Cáisc and Meitheamh are Irish for Christmas, Easter and June.

Which inventor was born in Milan, Ohio, on 11 February 1847?

Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, on 11 February 1847, the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison; the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854.

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?

Vasant Panchami honours Saraswati, goddess of learning and the arts, with yellow clothes and flowers; it falls in the month of Magha, forty days before Holi.

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

It became a nationwide public holiday in 1974, briefly under the name New Zealand Day; the first commemoration was held 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.

Which Baltic state celebrates its Independence Day on 16 February?

Lithuania's Council signed the Act of Independence in Vilnius on 16 February 1918; Estonia followed on 24 February and Latvia on 18 November that year.

Which American poet was born in Portland, Maine, on 27 February 1807?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, on 27 February 1807; his works include Evangeline (1847) and The Song of Hiawatha (1855).

Amethyst is a violet variety of which mineral?

Amethyst is quartz (silicon dioxide) coloured violet by iron impurities and natural irradiation; it often lines geodes alongside agate and chalcedony, which are also forms of quartz.

Which US president was born in Virginia on 9 February 1773?

William Henry Harrison was born at Berkeley Plantation, Virginia, on 9 February 1773; he died on 4 April 1841, a month after his inauguration, the shortest presidency.

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

Gemini, Libra and Aquarius form the air triplicity; fire is Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, earth Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, and water Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.

Pisces spans which degrees of celestial longitude?

Pisces, the twelfth sign, covers 330° to 360° of celestial longitude, the last 30° before the vernal point; its two fish are shown tied by a cord so they never part.

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.

Which British monarch died at Sandringham on 6 February 1952?

George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham on 6 February 1952, aged 56; his daughter Elizabeth, then in Kenya, became queen that day.

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

Leslie Knope's 'Galentine's Day' episode of Parks and Recreation, aired 11 February 2010, launched the 13 February celebration of women's friendships.

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

The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) launched World Cancer Day at the 2000 World Summit Against Cancer in Paris and organises it to back the 2008 World Cancer Declaration.

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

UNESCO proclaimed the day in November 1999, choosing 21 February to honour the 1952 Bengali language-movement martyrs in Dhaka; the UN General Assembly endorsed it in 2002.

Which magazine published its first issue on 21 February 1925?

Harold Ross and Jane Grant founded The New Yorker, whose first issue, dated 21 February 1925, carried Rea Irvin's monocled dandy Eustace Tilley on the cover.

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?

Ovid's Fasti, his poem on the Roman calendar, describes Feralia offerings to the dead: wreaths, a sprinkling of grain, salt, wine-soaked bread and loose violets.

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

Ovid's Fasti links the Regifugium to the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus, Rome's seventh and last king, traditionally dated to 509 BC, after which the Republic began.

Cupid's Greek counterpart is which god?

Eros, the Greek god of desire, is the original of the Roman Cupid, usually the son of Venus and Mars; his bow and arrows appear from the Hellenistic period.

Whose opera Madama Butterfly flopped at its La Scala premiere on 17 February 1904?

Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly was jeered at its La Scala premiere on 17 February 1904; he withdrew it, and the revised version triumphed in Brescia that May.

Until 2020, Westminster's dog show was one of the few US shows of what kind?

Westminster was a benched show through 2020, with dogs kept on display at assigned benches all day; the practice ended when the show left Madison Square Garden in 2021.

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

The rebrand to Scouting America took effect on 8 February 2025, the organisation's 115th anniversary, reflecting the admission of girls to all its programmes since 2019.

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

The Fifteenth was the third and last Reconstruction Amendment, after the Thirteenth (abolition, 1865) and Fourteenth (citizenship, 1868); 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?

A 2010 Dresden city commission put the dead at up to 25,000; RAF and USAAF bombers dropped over 3,900 tons of bombs in four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945.

Russia's February Revolution began with protests against what?

Protests against bread shortages and food rationing on 23 February 1917 (Old Style; 8 March New Style), International Women's Day, swelled into the uprising that forced Nicholas II to abdicate within a week.

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

Paulus's 6th Army, encircled since November 1942, surrendered on 2 February 1943, with about 91,000 men taken prisoner; the battle was among the bloodiest in history.

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

Counting Texas, Mexico gave up about 55 percent of its pre-war territory; signed 2 February 1848, the treaty saw the US pay $15 million and gain California, Nevada, Utah and more.

Which US envoy negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

Nicholas Trist, the State Department's chief clerk, kept negotiating after Polk recalled him and signed the treaty on 2 February 1848, ending 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?

Verdun sits on the Meuse and the fighting raged across the heights on both banks; the longest battle of the First World War ended on 18 December 1916.

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

Operation Detachment landed the Marines on 19 February 1945 to seize the island's two airfields, South Field and Central Field; the flag went up on Mount Suribachi four days later.

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

Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on 4 February 1913 and grew up in nearby Pine Level; 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?

Susan B. Anthony was raised in a Quaker family in Adams, Massachusetts; 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?

Phil Connors is a Pittsburgh TV weatherman sent to cover Punxsutawney Phil; he relives 2 February until he finally gets the day right.

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

The Gambia gained independence from Britain on 18 February 1965; bounded by Senegal on all sides except its Atlantic coast, it is mainland Africa's smallest country.

Which comic strip's final original instalment ran on 13 February 2000?

Peanuts ended with a farewell Sunday strip on 13 February 2000, the day after Charles Schulz died; Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side had both bowed out in 1995.

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

Norway keeps Morsdag on the second Sunday of February; Sweden celebrates on the last Sunday of May, Denmark on 5 May and Finland on the second Sunday of May.

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

Rare Disease Day, launched by EURORDIS in 2008, sits on the last day of February so that in leap years it falls on 29 February, itself a rare date.

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.