Editing February 20 (section)

===1601–1900===
*[[1685]] &ndash; [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle|René-Robert Cavelier]] establishes [[French colonization of Texas|Fort St. Louis]] at [[Matagorda Bay]] thus forming the basis for France's claim to [[Texas]].
*[[1792]] &ndash; The [[Postal Service Act]], establishing the [[United States Post Office Department]], is signed by United States President [[George Washington]].
*[[1798]] &ndash; [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]] removes [[Pope Pius VI]] from power.
*[[1813]] &ndash; [[Manuel Belgrano]] defeats the [[Royalist (Spanish American Independence)|royalist]] army of [[Pío de Tristán]] during the [[Battle of Salta]].
*[[1816]] &ndash; [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini's]] opera ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'' premieres at the [[Teatro Argentina]] in Rome.
*[[1824]] &ndash; [[William Buckland]] formally announces the name ''[[Megalosaurus]]'', the first scientifically validly named non-avian dinosaur species.<ref name="buckland1824">{{cite journal |last=Buckland |first=W. |year=1824 |title=Notice on the ''Megalosaurus'' or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield |journal=Transactions of the Geological Society of London |series=2 |doi=10.1144/transgslb.1.2.390 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=390–396|s2cid=129920045 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/91364 |url-access= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= }}</ref>
*[[1835]] &ndash; The [[1835 Concepción earthquake]] destroys [[Concepción, Chile]].
*[[1846]] &ndash; Polish insurgents lead an [[Kraków Uprising|uprising in Kraków]] to incite a fight for national independence.
*[[1864]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Olustee]]: The largest battle fought in [[Florida]] during the war.
*[[1865]] &ndash; End of the [[Uruguayan War]], with a peace agreement between President [[Tomás Villalba]] and rebel leader [[Venancio Flores]], setting the scene for the destructive [[Paraguayan War|War of the Triple Alliance]].
*[[1872]] &ndash; The [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] opens in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tinterow |first1=Gary |last2=Stein |first2=Susan Alyson |last3=Burn |first3=Barbara |title=The New Nineteenth-century European Paintings and Sculpture Galleries |date=1993 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2T9ndvKca4C&pg=PA7 |language=en |access-date=2020-09-23 |archive-date=2022-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220084857/https://books.google.com/books?id=b2T9ndvKca4C&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[1877]] &ndash; [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s ballet ''[[Swan Lake]]'' receives its premiere at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]] in Moscow.
*[[1894]] – [[20 February bombings]] by [[Désiré Pauwels]] during the ''[[Ère des attentats]]'' (1892-1894).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm43706446 |title=Regards populaires sur la violence |date=2000 |publisher=Publications de l'Université de Saint-Etienne |isbn=978-2-86272-180-4 |editor-last=Piarotas |editor-first=Mireille |series=Travaux / Centre interdisciplinaire d'études et de recherches sur l'expression contemporaine |location=Saint-Etienne |pages=141-142 |oclc=ocm43706446}}</ref>