The Surprising History of February

For being the year’s shortest month, February sure comes chock-full of holidays and major events. Between Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Groundhog Day, Black History Month, the Super Bowl, and sometimes Lunar New Year and Ramadan, there’s plenty to celebrate. But it’s also a month filled with surprising historical events and forgotten festivals. Here’s a closer look at February, in all its double-”R” glory.

February’s name comes from the Latin word “februum,” meaning "purification," and is linked to the name of the Roman god Februus. 

“Anything that consecrates or purifies is a februum,” Roman scholar Censorinus wrote in the year 238 in The Birthday Book. February has long been associated with ancient purification rites, including Lupercalia, a pagan festival held February 15.

The month was added to the 10-month Roman calendar by King Numa Pompilius in 713 B.C. to align it with the solar cycle. Under the later Julian reform in 46 B.C., February was set at 28 days, with a bonus day added every four years as a leap year to account for solar years lasting 365.25 days. Today, the chances of being born on Leap Day are 1 in 1,461, according to The New York Times.  

February is the only month that sometimes has no full moon—last seen in 1999 and next expected in 2037, according to The Farmer’s Almanac. When February does have a full moon, it’s known as the Snow Moon, named for the month’s traditionally wintry weather. It also goes by several Indigenous names: The Cree refer to it as Eagle Moon, while the Dakota use Raccoon Moon and the Cherokee call it Hungry Moon. 

The English nobleman George Plantagenet, a.k.a. the Duke of Clarence, met a notorious end February 18, 1478. While imprisoned in the Tower of London, he was executed for treason by order of his brother, King Edward IV. (Apparently he’d schemed against the king one too many times.) According to long-standing tradition—immortalized by Shakespeare in Richard III—the duke was drowned in a barrel of Malmsey wine, reportedly his favorite variety. 

On February 18, 1979,  snowfall was recorded for the first time in Ain Sefra, Algeria, in the Saharan Desert. The next occurrence took place in December 2016, followed by a third in January 2018. 

NCAA basketball madness may take place in March, but the first recorded intercollegiate hoops game took place on February 9, 1895 in Minnesota. That’s when Hamline University, Minnesota’s first university, took on the Minnesota State School of Agriculture in Saint Paul. Minnesota took the W with a 9-3 win.  

Imbolc is a Celtic festival celebrated on February 1-2, marking the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox and symbolizing purification, rebirth and the returning light. Tied to the goddess Brigid—associated with fire, fertility, poetry and prophecy—the holiday involved rituals like crafting Brigid effigies and lighting fires. As Christianity spread, Brigid was later linked to St. Brigid, and many Imbolc traditions blended into her feast day on February 1. Today, Wiccans and neopagans celebrate Imbolc through nature‑focused rituals.

The nine-day ancient Roman festival Parentalia, held February 13-21, honored deceased family members with public ceremonies and private rituals. On Feralia, the last day of the pagan event, revelers made offerings to spirits believed to hover above their graves. 

February is marked around the world by festivals that blend spectacle, history and local identity. In Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro, Carnaval often falls in February, transforming cities with samba school competitions, elaborate floats and street blocos, reflecting Afro-Brazilian musical traditions and the country’s deep ties between Carnival and pre-Lenten celebration. On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), the Tapati Festival celebrates Polynesian heritage through traditional sports, music, dance and body painting, emphasizing ancestral identity rather than excess. Further north, Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, held in early February, draws millions with monumental snow and ice sculptures, a modern tradition that began in the 1950s and turns winter itself into a form of carnival spectacle.

If celebrating current holidays is your thing, don’t forget National Tater Tot Day is February 2, while Wine with Your Cat Week typically takes place later in the month to coincide with National Drink Wine Day (February 18). And mark your calendar for February 18, Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day, honoring the day in 1930 that a cow named Elm Farm Ollie was, you guessed it, the first cow milked on a plane in flight.