Mardi Gras is French for “fat Tuesday”—the final feasting before the fasting of Lent, which begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, a name that comes from the practice of shriving—purifying oneself through confession—prior to Lent. Many of the names applied to this day relate to food and eating. In many Latin countries, Mardi Gras is the culmination of the carnival season of revelry and feasting. (Carnival from the Latin carnem levare, means to take meat away.) Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, this Tuesday is Fastnacht (fast night), and everyone enjoys the traditional fastnachtkuchen, a rectangular doughnut with a slit in the middle. For the English, Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Day, as they use up the cooking fats that are forbidden during Lent. Learn more about Mardi Gras and find great recipes including Shrove Tuesday Pancakes!
Daily Calendar for Tuesday, February 17, 2026
The new year is by far the most important festival of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is celebrated on the second new Moon after the winter solstice. The holiday is a time of renewal, with debts cleared, new clothes bought, shops and homes decorated, and families gathered for a reunion dinner. Chinese New Year is marked by fireworks, traditional lion dances, gift giving, and special foods. Learn more about Chinese New Year traditions.
Born
- Arcangelo Corelli (composer) –
- Dorothy Canfield Fisher (author) –
- Marjorie Lawrence (opera singer) –
- Michiaki Takahashi (virologist best know for inventing first chickenpox vaccine ) –
- Rene Russo (actress) –
- Richard Karn (actor, game show host) –
- Michael Jordan (basketball player) –
- Jerry O'Connell (actor) –
- Jason Ritter (actor) –
- Paris Hilton (heiress) –
- Ed Sheeran (musician) –
Died
- Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache leader) –
- Wilfred Laurier (8th Prime Minister of Canada) –
- Lee Strasberg (actor and director) –
- Thelonious Monk (jazz pianist) –
- Rush Limbaugh (American radio personality and writer) –
Events
- Myles Standish appointed commander of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts –
- Tie broken: Thomas Jefferson to be U.S. president; Aaron Burr, Vice President –
- Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patented draisine (bicycle precursor) –
- Confederate H. L. Hunley was first submarine to sink a warship (USS Housatonic) –
- Columbia, South Carolina, burned by Union Army (U.S. Civil War) –
- First sardines canned in Maine –
- The National Congress of Mothers, later known as the PTA, founded –
- Marcel Duchamp’s painting, Nude Descending a Staircase, outraged viewers –
- First publication of Newsweek magazine –
- Elvis Presley awarded his first gold album for Elvis”“ –
- 9-pound 6-ounce chain pickerel caught near Homerville, Georgia –
Weather
- McIntosh, South Dakota, recorded a low temperature of -58 degrees F –
- The temperature dipped to -60F in Esker, Labrador –
- Record low of 60 degrees below zero F, Labrador –
- Blizzard dumped more snow in Boston than any other storm in the state’s history— including the Blizzard of 1978—Logan International Airport measured 27.5 inches –
