B"H Yom Yom from Day by Day in Jewish History by Rabbi Abraham P. Bloch z"l

[27 Shvat] Joseph Sanalbo, a convert to Judaism, was burned at the stake in Rome, 1583.

[February 3] King of Sicily invited the Jews to return, 1740. Russian gov't ordered the closing of the yeshiva in Volozhin, 1892.

[28 Shvat] Antiochus V lifted the siege of Jerusalem, 163bce (observed as a holiday). Massacre of Jews of Norwich, England, 1190.

[February 4] Oliver Cromwell granted the right of residence in England to a Jew (one Luis Carvajal), 1657. (Some historians say that this is the earliest official British act of tolerance in favor of the Jews. [One wonders if this is supposed to be a source of pride.] They continue to explain that the attitude of tolerance explains Jewish settlement in the British colonies of America and other places in the British Empire.) Jewish physicians of Galicia granted permission to treat Christian patients, 1782. Israel exported copper ore from the King Solomon mines, 1959, first time since ancient times.

[29 Shvat] First large Ghetto in Poland established by the Nazis in Lodz (Jewish population 200,000), 1940.

[February 5] Jews of Sicily ordered to attend conversive sermons, 1428. Egyptian parliament ended boycott against Israel, 1980.

[30 Shvat] Jews of Rome had been subjected to a humiliating medieval practice of running a race in the Roman carnivals, scantily clad, amid insults and blows. This practice of "Black Monday" (the day of the weekly carnival) ended in 1667.

[February 6] A religious disputation between Jews and Apostate by order of Benedict XIII, 1413. The first auto-da-fe by the Spanish Inquisition, 1481, Seville, Spain.

[1 Adar] Beginning of the Plague of Darkness. Yahrzeit of Ibn Ezra, 1164. Private Purim of Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller, Rav of Cracow, 1643. Yahrzeit of the "Shakh" (major commentator of the Shulchan Aruch), 1662. Yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, 1827. (He was the leader of the Aliya of the followers of the Vilna Gaon to Eretz Yisrael. This is significant because of the many Minhagei Yerushalayim that were established by that Ashkenazi community).

[February 7] Inquisition established in South America, 1569. First armed struggle between Jews and Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto, 1943.

[2 Adar] Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered the public reading of the Greek translation to Parshat Hashavuah on Shabbat morning and prohibited Rabbis from giving drashot on the Torah portion, 553. Nazis confiscated all books and Torah scrolls of the Kovno ghetto, 1942.

[February 8] France extended financial support to Jewish religious institutions on par with Christian institutions, 1831.

[3 Adar] Building of the second Beit HaMikdash was completed, 515bce.

[February 9] The French Sanhedrin convened by Napoleon, 1807. Nazis provoked the first anti-Jewish riots in Amsterdam, 1941; the attackers were driven off by the Jews. The Technion in Haifa opened, 1925.

[4 Adar] The body of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg was released for burial, 1307, 14 years after his death. Jews of Rome declared free citizens by the French army, 1798.

[February 10] Jews were granted right of residence in Stuttgart, Germany, 1779. (As bad as all the bad things that happened to the Jewish people were, one often considers some of the good things also bad - PC) First ship to break the British blockade of Palestine, 1934. (Worldwide publicity of "illegal" immigration of Jews to Israel was an important factor in England's ultimate decision to give up the mandate.)