    ==events== * 138 &ndash; the roman emperor hadrian adopts antoninus pius, effectively making him his successor. * 493 &ndash; odoacer surrenders ravenna after a 3-year siege and agrees to a mediated peace with theodoric the great. * 628 &ndash; khosrau ii is overthrown by his son kavadh ii. *1336 &ndash; 4,000 defenders of pilÄnai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the teutonic knights. *1570 &ndash; pope pius v excommunicates queen elizabeth i of england. *1631 &ndash; franÃ§ois de bassompierre, a french courtier, is arrested on richelieu's orders. *1797 &ndash; colonel william tate and his force of 1000-1500 soldiers surrender after the last invasion of britain. *1821 &ndash; greek war of independence: alexander ypsilantis issues a proclamation at iaÈi, announcing that he had "the support of a great power" (i.e. russia). *1831 &ndash; battle of olszynka grochowska, part of polish november uprising against russian empire. *1836 &ndash; samuel colt is granted a united states patent for the colt revolver. *1843 &ndash; provisional cession of the hawaiian or sandwich islands established by lord george paulet. *1848 &ndash; provisional government in revolutionary france, by louis blanc's motion, guarantees workers' rights. *1856 &ndash; a peace conference opens in paris after the crimean war. *1866 &ndash; miners in calaveras county, california, discover what is now called the calaveras skull - human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons, and elephants had co-existed. *1870 &ndash; hiram rhodes revels, a republican from mississippi, is sworn into the united states senate, becoming the first african american ever to sit in the u.s. congress. *1875 &ndash; guangxu emperor of china begins his reign, under empress dowager cixi's regency. *1901 &ndash; j. p. morgan incorporates the united states steel corporation. *1912 &ndash; marie-adÃ©laÃ¯de, the eldest of six daughters of guillaume iv, becomes the first reigning grand duchess of luxembourg. *1916 &ndash; world war i: the germans capture fort douaumont during the battle of verdun. *1919 &ndash; oregon places a one cent per u.s. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first [
Days_of_the_year February