February Dates Commemorating Diversity

February 1-28: Black History Month. Always observed the month of February. This observance was first created by Carter G. Woodson in the 1920’s as Negro History Week. In 1976, the month-long celebration was established as a time to reflect on the history, teachings, and achievements of African-Americans.
February 1: National Freedom Day. To commemorate the signing of the Thirteenth Amendment. This abolished slavery in 1865.
February 3: Setsubun (Bean-Throwing Festival) in Japan. Marks the last day of winter according to the lunar calendar. Priests or stars at temple grounds throw beans into the crowd, which shouts, “Fortune in---devils out!”
February 3: Chinese Lunar New Year. The beginning of a festive holiday celebrated for two week in China, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
February 4: Betty Friedan’s Birthday. Pioneer in the modern feminist movement who ushered in the “Second Wave” of feminism in the United States with the publication in 1963 of her book, The Feminine Mystique, one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.
February 4: Rosa Parks Birth Anniversary. Rosa Parks was nationally recognized as the "mother of the modern day civil rights movement" in America. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, December 1, 1955, triggered a wave of protest December 5, 1955 that reverberated throughout the United States.
February 5: Anniversary of Mexican Constitution. On this day in 1917, Mexico adopted its first constitution.
February 8: Nirvana Day. In the Mahãyãna Buddhist tradition, this day marks the death of Buddha in 483 B.C.E. and commemorates his attainment of final Nirvana. The date is based on the Japanese Buddhist calendar. 1935
February 12: Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday. Sixteenth president of the United States born in 1809. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Observed as a federal holiday (Presidents’ Day) on the third Monday in February.
February 12: NAACP founded. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People began on February 12. 1909, and is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots–based civil rights organization in the United States.
February 14: Valentine’s Day.
February 14: Frederick Douglass’ Birthday. Escaped slavery and became a renowned abolitionist lecturer and editor of an abolitionist newspaper called The North Star. After the Civil War he was appointed Minister to Haiti.
February 15: Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday. Crusader for abolition of slavery and for women’s rights.
February 17: Geronimo’s Birthday. Chief of the Chiricahua Apache Indians who led attacks on settlers and soldiers in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States during the late 1870’s and early 1880’s.
February 20: President’s Day. Federal holiday observed on the third Monday in February. Combines the observances of George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays.
February 21: First Publication of the Cherokee Phoenix. In 1828 a system of symbols developed by Sequoyah to give written form to the Cherokee language made possible the publication of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first newspaper printed in an American Indian language.
February 22: George Washington’s Birthday. George Washington, the “Father of our Country,” was the first United States President.
February 24: Flag Day in Mexico.
February 25: Enrico Caruso’s Birthday. Italian American who became the most acclaimed operatic tenor of his time, and the first great singer whose voice is preserved in recordings.
February 27: Occupation of Wounded Knee (1973). On this date the American Indian Movement, a group of American Indian activists, began the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, site of the 1890 massacre that ended the Plains Indians wars, to demand reform in tribal government.
February 27: Eastern Orthodox Lent begins.

*This list is not intended to be all-inclusive of the observances of any religion, and is based on the information available at the time of production.