Root Resigns
Feb 1 Elihu Root, then Secretary of War, resigns from the cabinet of President William McKinley and is succeeded by William Howard Taft
Caruso's First Recordings
Feb 1 Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his first recordings in America, singing "Questa o quella" and "La donna è mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto" in Carnegie Hall, NYC, for Victor Talking Machine Company
- Feb 4 John Millington Synge's play "Well of Saints" premieres in Dublin
- Feb 5 American occupation of Cuba ends
- Feb 6 Japan notifies Russia that in view of Russia's delaying tactics and provocative military action, Japan is ending negotiations and recalling its members from Moscow
- Feb 7 Baltimore catches fire (1500 buildings destroyed in 80 blocks)
A Humorous Diplomatic Atlas of Europe and Asia
Feb 9 Japanese torpedo boats make a surprise attack on Russian ships Port Arthur naval base, Manchuria, beginning the Russo-Japanese War. Japanese also land troops at Chemulpo (Inchon), near Seoul, Korea; in 3 weeks they advance to the Yalu River, the border of Manchuria.
- Feb 10 Japan and Russia declare war
Madama Butterfly
Feb 17 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" premieres at La Scala in Milan, Italy
- Feb 21 National Ski Association forms in Ishpeming, Michigan
- Feb 22 The Hague Tribunal gives its decision in claims against Venezuela; it sets the sum to be paid by Venezuela and gives preferential treatment to the three powers that initiated the block - Britain, Germany, and Italy
- Feb 22 The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
- Feb 23 Having occupied Korea, Japan signs a treaty with Korea under which it becomes a Japanese protectorate in return for Japanese protection from other powers
- Feb 23 United States acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million
- Feb 25 J M Synge's "Riders to the Sea" opens at Irish National Theater Society
- Feb 25 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games
- Feb 28 Football club Sport Lisboa (Benfica) founded in Lisbon, Portugal
Symphony No.2
Feb 28 Vincent d'Indy's 2nd Symphony in B, premieres
Panama Canal Commission
Feb 29 Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists