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First page of The Detective's Album

Mary Fortune (1832–1911) was an Australian writer who was one of the earliest female authors of detective fiction. Born in Ireland, she lived in Canada before moving to the Australian goldfields in 1855. She began writing for local newspapers soon after her arrival, and was a prolific pseudonymous contributor to The Australian Journal for more than four decades. Her writing primarily consisted of short crime stories – including her best-known work, the 500-story series The Detective's Album (pictured) – but also included serial novels, journalism, poetry, and a memoir. She also wrote romances, Gothic fiction, and ghost stories. Her writing drew on her experiences in the goldfields and in Melbourne's rapidly urbanising environment; she often criticised colonial society and its treatment of women. Despite her popularity as a writer, Fortune experienced unstable housing and alcoholism, and died in poverty. Her identity, obscured by pseudonyms, was not rediscovered until the 1950s. (Full article...)

Fanny Cochrane Smith

• ... that recordings of the voice of Fanny Cochrane Smith (pictured) were used in the development of a modern Aboriginal Tasmanian constructed language?
• ... that The Missing took three years to write but only four days to film?
• ... that Chicago State Cougars football is the only NCAA Division I gridiron football program in Chicago?
• ... that only 42 votes separated the two major parties in the 2021 Liechtenstein general election?
• ... that the space-combat simulation game Renegade II was cancelled for poor quality despite the release of demo and beta versions and reviews?
• ... that when finished in 1947, the Marcel Breuer House II was suspended from cables costing US$22?
• ... that Gabriele Lösekrug-Möller worked as a bookseller before entering politics?
• ... that the 1927 Salvadoran coup attempt failed after one of its leaders was unable to convince the president that he had been overthrown?
• ... that Reiji Okii came up with the title of Mr. Noone Special in the shower?

Rob Jetten

• Rob Jetten (pictured) is sworn in as the prime minister of the Netherlands, leading a minority government.
• One Battle After Another wins Best Film at the British Academy Film Awards.
• Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, is killed by the Mexican Army.
• José Jerí is removed as the president of Peru by Congress, and replaced by José María Balcázar.

February 26

Nabonassar's name in Akkadian

• 747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonassar (name in Akkadian pictured) began, marking a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records.
• 1914 – RMS Britannic, the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner of the White Star Line after RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, was launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
• 1979 – The Superliner railcar entered revenue service with Amtrak.
• 1995 – Barings Bank, the oldest merchant bank in London, was declared insolvent after its head derivatives trader in Singapore, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million while making unauthorised trades on futures contracts.
• 2014 – Former editor-in-chief of Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Kevin Lau was stabbed, prompting concerns and protests about media freedom.