February 7
A violent series of earthquakes near Missouri causes a so-called fluvial tsunami in the Mississippi River which actually made the river run backwards for several hours. The series of tremors, which took place between December 1811 and March 1812, were the most powerful in the history of the United States, estimated at a magnitude of 8.8. – 1812.
February 8
A severe blizzard in New England finally subsides, and the region begins to dig out from under several feet of snow. Over the previous 72 hours, some areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts had received as many as 55 inches of snow. – 1978.
February 9
President John Kennedy asks Congress to approve creation of the Medicare program, financed by an increase in Social Security taxes, to aid 14.2 Million Americans aged 65 or older. – 1961.
February 10
After three hours, world chess champion Gary Kasparov loses the first game of a six-game match against Deep Blue, an IBM computer capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second. Man was ultimately victorious over machine, however, when Kasparov defeated Deep Blue in the match with three wins and two ties and took home the $400,000 prize. – 1996.
February 11
Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years February 11, 1990. – 1990.
February 12
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic goes on trial at The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. Milosevic served as his own attorney for much of the prolonged trial, which ended without a verdict when the so-called “Butcher of the Balkans” was found dead at age 64 from an apparent heart attack in his prison cell March 11, 2006. – 2002.
February 13
The earliest military action to be revered with a Medal of Honor award is performed by Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin, an assistant army surgeon serving in the first major U.S.-Apache conflict. Near Apache Pass, in southeastern Arizona. Irwin was trapped with 60 men of the U.S. Seventh Infantry by the Chiricahua Apaches. Irwin and 14 men, initially without horses, began the 100-mile trek to Bascom’s forces by riding on mules. After fighting and capturing Apaches along the way and recovering stolen horses and cattle, they reached Bascom’s forces February 14 and proved instrumental in breaking the siege. – 1861.
Source: History.com