February 10th - 16th
On 10th February…
Queen of England married her cousin
1840 - Queen Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in St James’s Palace in London. They had nine children together and when Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria was so upset that she began wearing black mourning clothes and continued to wear black for the rest of her life.
On 11th February…
Mother to Henry VIII was born
1466 - Elizabeth of York was born. She was the eldest child of King Edward IV and married King Henry VII. Through their marriage they united the two warring houses of the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth was mother to King Henry VIII.
She died on her birthday in 1503. Can you work out how old she was when she died?
1990 - Having been imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years, Nelson Mandela, was released. Mandela fought for the end of apartheid and for equal rights for black people in South Africa. In 1964, after a long court trial called the Rivonia Trial, he was found guilty of sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Just four years after his release, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa (1994-1999).
On 12th February…
Execution of a would be Queen
1554 - Lady Jane Grey was executed at the Tower of London; she was only 16 years old. When she was just 15 years old she had been declared Queen of England but only nine days later the throne was taken by Queen Mary I, the eldest child of Henry VIII.
Charles Darwin was born in England
1809 - Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. He wrote the Origin of Species which introduced the world to the theory of evolution and the idea that humans evolved from apes.
1809 - Abraham Lincoln was born. He was one of America’s most admired presidents and is most recognised by his tall, black, top hat. Did you know that he only went to school for one year?
On 13th February…
Henry VIII executed his fifth wife
1542 - Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII was executed for treason.
Galileo arrived in Rome to face charges of heresy
1633 - After a 23-day journey from Florence, Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome to face the Pope and the Roman Church for charges of heresy (a belief different to that of the church). He had openly agreed with the theory made by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1530 that the earth revolved around the sun, and that the Earth was not the centre of the universe as the church believed. Galileo was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life. Can you imagine a time when people believed that the sun and all the other planets moved around the Earth? And can you imagine being put under arrest for thinking differently?
William and Mary proclaimed King and Queen of England
1689 - William of Orange (King William III), the Protestant ruler of the Netherlands and his wife, Mary, the daughter of King James II, were proclaimed joint monarchs of Britain. They had claimed the throne after Parliament invited them to invade and take the crown from Mary’s Catholic father, King James II who had fled to France.
King William III and Queen Mary II were crowned without any opposition. At their coronation they signed the Bill of Rights which, among other things, prevented a Catholic from becoming king or queen of Britain and limited the power of the monarchy. This event was called The Glorious Revolution because the take-over of the throne had occurred without the need for a war.
1692 - The MacDonalds of Glencoe were massacred for not promptly pledging an allegiance to King William III and Queen Mary II. Many Scottish clans had remained faithful to King James II when he had been deposed and replaced by his daughter and her husband. The government had offered safety to everyone who took an oath of allegiance before 1st January 1692 otherwise they could be arrested and face charges of treason. Most chiefs of the clans had taken the oath, but Alexander MacDonald had waited until the last minute but was then unable to take the oath because there was no magistrate to witness it. So, despite their acceptance of the new monarchy, the MacDonalds had missed the deadline and because of that, the Secretary of State for Scotland issued an order for military punishment of the clan. Many managed to escape but 33 men, 2 women and 2 children were murdered by soldiers at Glencoe.
On 14th February…
270CE - Valentine, a holy priest was executed for defying Roman Emperor Claudius II’s ban on all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine felt that the ruling was unfair and continued to perform secret marriages for young couples. After his death Valentine was named a saint, we now call this day St Valentine’s Day in honour of his memory. (This is just one story of how Valentine’s Day became, there are many different legends and at least three different identities to Valentine.)
Captain Cook killed by Hawaiians
1779 - The great English explorer and navigator, Captain James Cook, was killed by native Hawaiians during his third visit to the islands. Captain Cook had sailed around the world twice and mapped great stretches of the Pacific Ocean on his ship HMS Endeavour.
On 15th February…
1903 - The first teddy bears went on sale in a shop in America. The toy was named after the American President Theodore Roosevelt who had refused to shoot a captive bear on a hunting trip. On hearing the story, a sweet-shop owner and his wife who also made and sold stuffed animals in their store decided to make some stuffed bears and dedicate them to the President. They called them ‘Teddy’s bear’.
On 16th February…
Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered
1923 - English archaeologist, Howard Carter entered the sealed burial chamber of Tutankhamun. Carter had been searching for the tomb for six years when he spotted some hidden steps near to the entrance of another tomb. The steps led down to Tutankhamun’s burial chamber which had lain untouched and unnoticed for over 3,000 years. Inside the burial chamber was a vast hoard of treasures and artefacts which were intended to accompany Tutankhamun into the afterlife.