February

It's February!  

There are 28 days in February this year.

February is African-American History Month.

February's birthstone is the Amethyst. 

On February 3, 1959 Buddy Holly and others died in a plane crash en route to Moorhead, Minnesota.

On February 4, 1913 Rosa Parks was born. 

On February 6, 1971 Alan Shepard became the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon.  He fluffed the first shot, but the second went "for miles and miles".

On February 12, my Mom was born.  The year has been withheld to prevent my premature death.

On February 13, 1913, labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was arrested in Charleston, West Virginia for inciting to riot and conspiracy. 

February 14 is Valentine's Day.  In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Valentine's Day has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Nevertheless, it has only recently been celebrated as the day of love. The day of love is traditionally March 1. Another proverb says "Valentin - prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — first saint of spring"), as in some places Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.

On February 16, 1997 researchers at the University of Connecticut revealed that the dislike of broccoli is a genetically inherited trait.

On February 18, 1912 my Grandma was born.  

On February 21, 1931 Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published in The Saturday Evening Post.

In February 1888 Vincent van Gogh settled at Arles, where he painted more than 200 canvases in 15 months. During this time he sold no pictures, was in poverty, and suffered recurrent nervous crisis with hallucinations and depression.  One of those canvases was Cafe Terrace at Night which now resides in the Kroller-Muller Museum in The Netherlands.

On February 22, 1980 the United States' men's hockey team defeated the Soviet Union by a score of 4-3 on their way to winning the Gold Medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

Daffodils, Tulips, Lilies, Irises and Pansies bloom in February.

On February 25, 1983 Tennessee Williams died in New York. 

Image:  February by Leslie Thomson