About the day » Thursday February 17, 1881Calender converter

• Aaltje Zwolle, Steenwijkerwold († 1956)
• Adrianus Fens, Terheijden († 1882)
• Jacoba Smit († 1964)
• Alida Roomenburg, Utrecht († 1943)
• Andriesje Felzel, Wanneperveen, Overijssel, Nederland († 1938)
• Aaldrik Hinrichs
• Maria Philomena Zijlmans, Geertruidenberg († 1881)
• Adriana Wilhelmina Barentsen, Ritthem, Zeeland, NL
• Adriaan LABEUR, Sint Philipsland, Zeeland, Nederland († 1954)
• ? Ballast, Dedemsvaart, Overijssel, Nederland († 1881)

• Aleijda Slot (69), Ambt Almelo, Overijssel, Netherlands
• Anton Jan Blankert (0), Utrecht, Utrecht, Nederland
• Abraham Jutting de Veer (61), Willemstad Curacao (NA)
• Anna Theodora Messeman (80), Brummen
• Adriana van der Heijde (84), Oud-Vossemeer
• Abraham Lekkerkerker (1), Benschop
• Agatha Verhaar (62), Leiderdorp
• adrianus van der KOLK (0), oud-beijerland
• Aaltje Jans Kuiken (75), Oldemarkt
• Apollonia Schoutens (1), Wilmarsdonk

• 1874 » Thomas J. Watson, American businessman († 1956)
• 1877 » André Maginot, French sergeant and politician († 1932)
• 1877 » Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and author († 1904)
• 1881 » Mary Carson Breckinridge, American nurse midwife, founded Frontier Nursing Service († 1965)
• 1887 » Joseph Bech, Luxembourgian lawyer and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Luxembourg († 1975)
• 1887 » Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer and critic († 1947)
• 1888 » Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate († 1969)
• 1890 » Ronald Fisher, English-Australian statistician, biologist, and geneticist († 1962)
• 1891 » Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic († 1965)
• 1893 » Wally Pipp, American baseball player and journalist († 1965)

• 1841 » Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1770)
• 1849 » María de las Mercedes Barbudo, Puerto Rican political activist, the first woman Independentista in the island (b. 1773)
• 1854 » John Martin, English painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1789)
• 1856 » Heinrich Heine, German journalist and poet (b. 1797)
• 1874 » Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician, and sociologist (b. 1796)
• 1890 » Christopher Latham Sholes, American publisher and politician (b. 1819)
• 1905 » William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1815)
• 1909 » Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829)
• 1912 » Edgar Evans, Welsh sailor and explorer (b. 1876)
• 1919 » Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from August 20, 1879 to April 23, 1883 the cabinet Van Lijnden van Sandenburg, with Mr. C.Th. baron Van Lijnden van Sandenburg (conservatief-AR) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 4.5 million citizens.
• February 16 » The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1).
• May 12 » In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
• May 21 » The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.
• June 14 » The White Rajahs territories become the British protectorate of Sarawak.
• September 19 » U.S. President James A. Garfield dies of wounds suffered in a July 2 shooting. Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes President upon Garfield's death.
• December 4 » The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.

The temperature on February 17, 1881 was about -1.3 °C. The air pressure was 2 kgf/m² and came mainly from the south east. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 89%.