Historical Events
"Wo die Lerche singt"
Feb 1 Franz Lehar's opera "Wo die Lerche singt" ("Where The Lark Sings") premieres at the Király Theatre in Budapest, Hungary
- Feb 1 German spy Lothar Witzke arrested by CIP agent Byron S. Butcher at the US border at Nogales - only German spy sentenced in the US during WWI [1]
"Oh Lady! Lady!!"
Feb 1 Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton & P. G. Wodehouse's musical "Oh Lady! Lady!!", premieres at the Princess Theatre, NYC; runs for 219 performances
Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar
Feb 1 Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar (making the day February 14)
- Feb 3 Twin Peaks Tunnel for streetcars begins service in San Francisco, at 11,920 feet one of world's longest
- Feb 5 1st US pilot to down an enemy airplane, Stephen W. Thompson
- Feb 5 Separation of church and state begins in USSR
- Feb 6 Great Britain grants women (30 & over) the vote
- Feb 8 "Stars & Stripes,", weekly US armed forces newspaper, 1st published
- Feb 9 Sacha Guitry's "Deburan" premieres in Paris
- Feb 9 US Army chaplain school organizes at Ft Monroe, Virginia
- Feb 10 In Finland, General Carl Gustaf Emil Von Mannerheim gathers an army known as the 'White Guard' to mount a counter revolution against the Bolshevik 'Red Guard'
Russia Exiting WWI
Feb 10 Leon Trotsky declares that Russia is leaving World War I
Wilson's Four Principles
Feb 11 US President Woodrow Wilson makes another speech before Congress and announces 'the Four Principles' - freedom of navigation, and end to secret diplomacy, and similar items - that supplement his Fourteen Points
- Feb 14 USSR adopts New Style (Gregorian) calendar (originally Feb 1)
- Feb 15 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania adopt the Gregorian calendar
- Feb 15 US army troop ship torpedoed & sunk by Germany off Ireland
- Feb 16 Lithuania declares independence from Russia & Germany (National Day)
- Feb 18 Germany renews its offensive against the Russians, making dramatic gains against disorganized and dispirited Russian troops
- Feb 21 Australians chase Turkish troop out of Jericho, Dutch Palestine
- Feb 21 The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- Feb 22 Germany claims Baltic states, Finland & Ukraine from Russia
- Feb 23 First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser's German troops near Narva and Pskov. Since 1923 this date become the Day of Red Army in honour of this victory.
- Feb 24 Estonia declares independence from Russia
- Feb 26 Stands at Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse & burn, killing 604
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Maurice Laing, English builder (John Laing & Son), born in Carlisle, England (d. 2008)
Muriel Spark (1918-2006)
Feb 1 Scottish author (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Feb 2 Hella Haasse, 'Grande Dame of Dutch Literature' (Oeroeg, Cider for Poor People), born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (d. 2011)
- Feb 3 Helen Stephens, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m & 4x100m relay 1936), born in Fulton, Missouri (d. 1994)
- Feb 3 Joey Bishop [Gottlieb], American TV talk show host (Joey Bishop Show) and member of the "Rat Pack" group of entertainers, born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2007)
- Feb 4 Ida Lupino, British-American actress (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) and director (The Hitch-Hiker), born in London, England (d. 1995)
- Feb 4 Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher (d. 1991)
- Feb 5 Gara Garayev [Kara Karayev], Soviet-Azerbaijani composer (Seven Beauties), born in Baku (d. 1982)
Nicolae Ceausescu (1918-1989)
Feb 5 Communist dictator of Romania (1967-89), born in Scornicești, Romania
- Feb 6 Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author, born in Weimar, Germany (d. 2007)
- Feb 7 Markey Robinson, Northern Irish painter (d. 1999)
- Feb 8 Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
- Feb 8 Max Rayne, English property developer /multi-millionaire (d. 2003)
- Feb 10 Gordon Pirie, English Group Captain and politician, born in Oxford (d. 2003)
- Feb 10 Idwal Pugh, Welsh-born British civil servant (UK Ombudsman 1976-78), born in Blaenau Ffestiniog (d. 2010)
- Feb 11 Margaret Heldt, American hairdresser who created the beehive hairstyle, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2016)
- Feb 12 Dom DiMaggio 'The Little Professor', American baseball player (Boston Red Sox), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2009)
- Feb 12 Julian Schwinger, US physicist (1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for quantum electrodynamics), born in New York City (d. 1994)
- Feb 13 Irv Cottler, American session and touring drummer (Frank Sinatra; Dinah Shore), born in Brooklyn, New York City (d. 1989)
Patty Berg (1918-2006)
Feb 13 American golfer (15 major titles, US Open 1946), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Feb 15 Allan Arbus, American commercial photographer, and actor (M*A*S*H - "Dr. Sidney Freeman"; Greaser's Palace; Curb Your Enthusiasm), born in New York City (d. 2013)
- Feb 16 Patty Andrews, American pop and swing jazz singer (The Andrews Sisters - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"; "Rum and Coca-Cola"), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2013)
- Feb 17 Charles Hayes, American politician (Rep-D-IL, 1983-93), born in Cairo, Illinois (d. 1997)
- Feb 17 Olive Gibbs, British politician, anti-nuclear activist and peace campaigner, born in Oxford, England (d. 1995)
- Feb 18 Jane Loevinger, American psychologist (d. 2008)
- Feb 19 Fay McKenzie, American actress (The Party; Sierra Sue), and singer, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2019)
- Feb 20 Leonore Annenberg, American diplomat and philanthropist (Chief of protocol for Ronald Reagan), born in New York City (d. 2009)
Al Gross (1918-2000)
Feb 22 American inventor (invented the walkie-talkie), born in Toronto, Ontario
- Feb 22 Charles "Charlie O" Finley, American sports entrepreneur (MLB's Kansas City/Oakland A's: NHL's California Golden Seals), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1996)
- Feb 22 Don Pardo, American television announcer (Jeopardy, Saturday Night Live), born in Westfield, Massachusetts (d. 2014)
- Feb 22 Robert Wadlow, American who was tallest known human (2.72 m, 8' 11.1"), born in Alton, Illinois (d. 1940)
- Feb 22 Sid Abel, Canadian NHL hockey player (1948-49 Hart Trophy), born in Melville, Saskatchewan (d. 2000)
- Feb 23 Richard G. Butler, American fascist (d. 2004)
- Feb 25 Barney Ewell, American athlete (1948 Olympics 1 gold, 2 silver), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1996)
- Feb 25 Barney Ewell, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x100m relay, silver 100m, 200m 1948; equal WR 100m 1948), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1996)
Bobby Riggs (1918-1995)
Feb 25 American tennis player ("The Battle of the Sexes", US Open 1939, 41), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 25 Rena Kyriakou, Greek pianist and composer, born in Herakleion, Crete, Greece (d. 1994)
- Feb 26 Otis Bowen, American politician, US Sec of Health & Human Services (1985-89), born in near Rochester, Indiana (d. 2013)
- Feb 26 Preacher Roe, American baseball pitcher (5 × MLB All-Star Brooklyn Dodgers; NL strikeout leader 1945 Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Ash Flat, Arkansas (d. 2008)
- Feb 26 Theodore Sturgeon, American sci-fi author (Hugo, It, Caviar), born in Staten Island, New York (d. 1985)
- Feb 28 Alfred Burke, British actor (Public Eye, Backfire, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), born in London, England (d. 2011)
Famous Deaths
John L. Sullivan (1858-1918)
Feb 2 American boxer (first heavyweight gloved champion, de facto 1882-92; last heavyweight bare-knuckle champion), dies at 59
- Feb 4 Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, dies at 49
- Feb 6 Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and cartoonist, dies at 55
- Feb 7 Alexander Sergeyevich Taneyev, Russian composer, dies at 68
- Feb 9 Emiel van der Straeten, Flemish playwright (Sudanese legends), dies at 30
- Feb 10 Abdul Hamid II, 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909), dies at 75
Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (1833-1918)
Feb 10 Italian journalist, soldier and pacifist (Nobel Peace Prize 1907), dies at 84
Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1918)
Feb 17 7th Prime Minister of Canada (Liberal: 1896-1911), dies of a stroke at 76
