February 28 1940

Alfonso XIII De Borbon Dies

Alsonso XIII King of Spain, posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, was Proclaimed King at his birth. He reigned from 1886 - 1931. His mother, Queen Maria Christina, was appointed regent during his minority. In 1902, on attaining his 16th year, the king assumed control of the state. 

February 27 1900

British Labour Party Forms

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist political party in the United Kingdom.

Labour surpassed the liberal party in general elections during the 1920's forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940-1945, after which it formed a majority government under Clement Attlee. Labour was also in Government from 1964-1970 under Harold Wilson and from 1974-1979. first under Wilson and then under James Callaghan.

February 26 1916

Germans Sink French Transport Ship Provence II

Known in peacetime as La Provence, the ship was refitted for troops transport during World War I. It was designed to carry 1,960 persons, and was transporting troops from France to Salonika when it was sunk by the German submarine U-35, south of Cape Matapan. The ship listed so quickly that many of the lifeboats could not be used. there where 742 survivors. Close to a thousand where killed in the sinking.

February 25 1643

Ahmed II Sultan of Turkey was Born

Ahmed II Khan Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1691 - 1695. Ahmed was born at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Ibrahim I (1640 - 1648) by Valide Sultan Khadija Muazzez, and succeeded his brother Suleiman II in 1691.
Ahmed's best known act was to confirm Mustafa Koprulu as grand vizier. Only a few weeks after his accession the Ottoman Empire sustained a crushing defeat at the Battle of Slankamen from the Austrians under Margrave Louis William of Baden and was driven from Hungary. Durning the four years of his reign disaster followed on disaster, and in 1695 Ahmed II died at Edirne Palace, warn out by disease and sorrow.

February 24 1525

Imperial Forces Defeat French in Battle of Pavia

The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521-26. A Spanish-Imperial army under the command of Charles De Lannoy (and working in conjunction with the garrison of Pavia, commanded by Antonio De Leyva) attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I in the great hunting preserve of Mirabello outside the city walls. In the four-hour battle, the French army was split and defeated in detail. The French suffered massive casualties, including many of the chief nobles of France; Francis himself, captured by the Spanish troops, was imprisoned by his captor. The outcome of the battle cemented Spanish Habsburg ascendancy in Italy.

February 23 1886

Tchaikovsky's Symphony "Manfred" Premieres

The Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58, is a programmatic symphony composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchikovsky's symphonies he completed that is not numbered (the symphony in E flat is a conjectural work left unfinished by the composer) and was written between the Fourth and Fifth symphonies.
Like the fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky wrote Manfred Symphony at the behest of nationalist compoers Mily Balakirev, who provided a program written by critic Vladimir Stasov. Stasov had sent the program to Balakirev in 1868, hoping Balakirev would write a symphony based on it. Balakirev did not feel compatible of carrying put this project and sent the program to french composer Hector Berlioz, Whose programmatic works had genuinely impressed him. Berloiz refused, claiming old age and ill health, and returned the program to Balakirev. Balakirev kept the program until he reestablished contact with Tchaikovsky in the early 1800's.
The Manfred Symphony is the only programmatic symphonic work by Tchaikovsky in more than one movement. he initially considered the work one of his best, and in typical reversal of opinion later considered destroying all but the opening movement. the The symphony was greeted with reviews, some finding much to laud in it , and others feeling that its programmatic aspects only weakened it. Manfred remained rarely preformed for many years, probably due to its length and complexity. It has been recorded with increasing frequency but is still seldom heard in the concert hall

February 22 1349

Jews are Expelled from Zurich Switzerland

The Jews of Switzerland, being almost exclusively engaged in money-lending, where tolerated because of there wealth and were prosecuted for the same reason. Whenever the Christian inhabitants were heavily indebted to the Jews a pretext was sought to get rid of the latter, and all kinds of crimes were ascribed to them, including ritual murder the poisoning of wells, and the desecration of the host. The first Swiss persecution of the Jews took place at Bern in 1294, when they were accused of having cruelly murdered a boy named Rudolf (Ruff). They were accordingly expelled from the city, although they where soon readmitted. Then cam the plague of the year 1349, when the Black Death raged throughout Switzerland.