February 25 Events

February 26 Events →

Pistol Patent Day

Pistol Patent Day is held on February 25. Samuel Colt invented the pistol. He received Patent # 138 for it on this day in 1836. The patent was for the Colt Revolver with a rotating chamber containing six bullets. This event in the third decade of the month February is annual.

Help us

The pistol, small firearm designed for one-hand use. According to one theory, pistols owe their name to the city of Pistoia, Italy, where handguns were made as early as the late 15th century.

The first practical revolving-cylinder handgun was invented in 1831 by Samuel Colt of Hartford, Connecticut, and patented on February 25, 1836, the year of the Texas Revolution. Texas became a proving ground and nearly the only market for Colt's revolutionary product. Colt provided the struggling republic and frontier state with the increased firepower necessary to defend and advance itself. Colt revolvers were manufactured first in 1837 at Paterson, New Jersey, by the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company. Three principal variations of these five-shot Paterson Colt handguns were produced: the .28 caliber Pocket model, the .31 caliber Belt model, and the .36 caliber Holster model. The Republic of Texas ordered 180 of the .36 caliber Holster model revolvers for its navy in August 1839.

Similar holidays and events, festivals and interesting facts

International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day on February 23 (The first dog biscuits were developed in the mid-19th century by American manufacturer James Spratt);