Historical Events
- Feb 1 Amsterdam's Netherlands Press Museum opens
Soviet Union Recognized
Feb 1 Ramsay MacDonald's incoming Labour government formally recognizes the Soviet Union
- Feb 2 International Ski Federation (FIS) forms
1st Winter Olympics
Feb 2 Norway’s Thorleif Haug takes the cross-country double at the Chamonix Winter Olympics when he wins the 18k event; Haug also 50k gold medalist
- Feb 3 Alexei Ryko elected as President of People's commission (succeeds Lenin)
- Feb 3 Canada beats United States, 6-1 to retain the Olympic ice hockey gold medal (won at 1920 Summer Games) at the Chamonix Games; Canadian LW Harry Watson top scores with 46 points
- Feb 3 Switzerland claims the inaugural Olympic bobsleigh gold medal at the Chamonix Games, ahead of Great Britain and Belgium
- Feb 4 George Kelly's play "Show-Off," premieres in New York City
- Feb 4 Jacob Tullin Thams of Norway wins ski jumping gold at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; in 1936 he earns a silver medal in sailing at Berlin Summer Games
- Feb 4 Norway sweeps the medals in the Nordic combined event at the inaugural Chamonix Winter Olympics; Thorleif Haug wins his 3rd gold of the Games ahead of teammates Thoralf Strømstad & Johan Grøttumsbråten
- Feb 5 1st Winter Olympic Games close at Chamonix, France
Event of Interest
Feb 5 Mahatma Gandhi is released from Yerwada Prison in Pune, British India, on health grounds after a bout of appendicitis
- Feb 5 The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".
Russian Diplomat Exchange
Feb 7 Benito Mussolini's Italian government exchanges diplomats with USSR
Sports History
Feb 10 Bucky Harris at 27, becomes youngest major league baseball manager (Washington Senators)
Rhapsody In Blue
Feb 12 George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premieres at influential concert "Experiment in Modern Music" held by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra at the Aeolian Hall, NYC [1]
- Feb 12 George Kaufman's "Beggar on Horseback" premieres in NYC
International Business Machines
Feb 14 Thomas J. Watson Sr. renames the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) as International Business Machines (IBM)
- Feb 15 A deputation for the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) meets with the Minister of the Interior, Sir Patrick Duncan, and presents him with a memorandum setting out their objections concerning the Class Areas Bill
Sports History
Feb 17 American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller sets 100m world freestyle record 57.4s at Miami, Florida
- Feb 18 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld Blanchard
Sports History
Feb 18 US Men's Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger
Event of Interest
Feb 18 US Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby resigns due to Teapot Dome scandal
Beer Hall Putsch
Feb 26 Trial against Adolf Hitler for treason in "Beer Hall Putsch" begins in Munich, Germany
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Ben Weider, Canadian businessman and author (The Murder of Napoleon), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2008)
- Feb 1 Emmanuel Scheffer, Israeli soccer coach (Israel 1968–70, 78–79; only World Cup appearance 1970), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2012)
- Feb 1 H. Richard Hornberger, American writer (d. 1997)
- Feb 1 Richard Hooker [Heister Richard Hornberger], American army surgeon, and novelist (MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors - inspiration for film and TV series), born in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 1997)
- Feb 2 (Elfriede) "Elfi" von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American opera singer, pianist, vocal coach, and film producer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2007)
- Feb 2 Sonny Stitt [Edward Hammond Boatner Jr], American jazz saxophonist (Blows the Blues), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1982)
- Feb 5 Robert Lynn, Sottish anarchist, born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1996)
- Feb 6 Billy Wright, English soccer defender (105 caps, captain x 90; Wolverhampton Wanderers 490 games) and manager (Arsenal 1962-66), born in Ironbridge, England (d. 1994)
- Feb 6 Jin Yong [Louis Cha Leung-yung], Chinese Wuxia novelist, born in Haining, China (d. 2018)
- Feb 6 Paolo Volponi, Italian communist and author (Road to Rome), born in Urbino, Italy (d. 1994)
- Feb 7 Cathy Small Long, American politician (Rep-D-LA, 1985-87), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 2019)
- Feb 7 Dora Bryan [Broadbent], British stage and screen actress (A Taste of Honey), novelty singer ("All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle"), and hotelier, born in Southport England, (d. 2014)
- Feb 7 Johnny Jordaan [Johannes van Musscher], Dutch pop and levenslied singer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1989)
- Feb 8 Joe Black, American Negro league and MLB player, born in Plainfield, New Jersey (d. 2002)
- Feb 8 Lisel Mueller, German-American poet (Alive Together - Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1997), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 2020) [1]
- Feb 9 George Guest, Welsh organist and choir director, born in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales (d. 2002)
- Feb 10 Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Fort William, Ontario (d. 2005)
- Feb 10 Randy Van Horne, American vocalist (Nat King Cole Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons), born in El Paso, Texas (d. 2007)
- Feb 11 Budge Patty, American tennis player (French C'ship, Wimbledon men's singles 1950), born in Fort Smith, Arkansas (d. 2021)
- Feb 11 Mary Tregear, British museum curator (Ashmolean) and Chinese art historian, born in Wuchang, China (d. 2010)
- Feb 12 Hans Berghuis, Dutch author and poet (3 Women, Adam) (d. 1994)
- Feb 13 Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French economic journalist, and politician (founder of Radical Party), born in PAris, France (d. 2006)
- Feb 13 Ted Croker, English football administrator (Secretary English Football Association 1973-89), born in Kingston-upon-Thames, England (d. 1992)
- Feb 14 Arghyris Kounadis, Greek composer, born in Istanbul, Turkey (d. 2011)
- Feb 14 Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, born in Westminster, London, England (d. 2017)
- Feb 16 James Swaffield, British civil servant (Director-General of Greater London Council) (d. 2015)
- Feb 17 Gevork Vartanian, Soviet intelligence agent (Operation Long Jump), born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia (d. 2012)
- Feb 17 Margaret Truman, American presidential daughter, writer (Murder at FBI), and pianist, born in Independence, Missouri (d. 2008)
- Feb 18 Evald Ilyenkov, Soviet philosopher (Dialectical Logic), born in Smolensk, Soviet Union (d. 1979)
- Feb 18 Humberto Fernández Morán, Venezuelan scientist (d. 1999)
- Feb 18 Louis Laberge, Quebec labour union leader (d. 2002)
- Feb 18 Nicolo Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian organized crime figure, born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Italy (d. 2010)
- Feb 19 Bruce Norris, American Hockey Hall of Fame executive (owner Detroit Red Wings 1952-82), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1986)
- Feb 19 David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player (d. 2006)
Lee Marvin (1924-1987)
Feb 19 American actor (Paint Your Wagon, Cat Ballou), born in New York City
- Feb 20 Gloria Vanderbilt, American fashion designer, artist, heiress and socialite, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2019)
Robert Mugabe (1924-2019)
Feb 21 Zimbabwean revolutionary, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (1980-87) and 1st black President of Zimbabwe (1988-2017), born in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Feb 22 Martin Engelman, Dutch cartoonist, painter and graphic artist, born in Hoenkoop, the Netherlands (d. 1992)
- Feb 23 Lejaren Hiller, American composer (Illiac Suite), born in New York City (d. 1994)
- Feb 24 Lionel Dakers, British cathedral organist (Royal School of Church Music), born in Rochester, Kent (d. 2003)
- Feb 25 Peg Ridge, British peace campaigner (Greenham Common) (d. 1996)
- Feb 26 Mark Bucci, American opera, theater, and film composer and lyricist (1959 Arts & Letters Award), born in New York City (d. 2002)
- Feb 26 Noboru Takeshita, Japanese PM (1987-89), born in Unnan, Japan (d. 2000)
- Feb 27 Heimo Erbse, German concert, opera, and theater composer (Julietta), born in Rudolstadt, Germany (d. 2005)
- Feb 27 Norman Marshall, West Indian cricket spin bowler (1 Test, 2 wickets; Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago), born in Saint Thomas, Barbados (d. 2007)
- Feb 28 Bettye Ackerman, American actress (Maggie Graham-Ben Casey), born in Cottageville, South Carolina (d. 2006)
- Feb 28 Robert A Roe, American politician (Rep-D-NJ, 1969-93), born in Wayne, New Jersey (d. 2014)
- Feb 29 Al Rosen, American baseball third baseman (MLB All-Star 1952–55; World Series 1948; AL MVP 1953; Cleveland Indians) and executive (NL Executive of the Year 1989), born in Spartanburg, South Carolina (d. 2015)
- Feb 29 David Beattie, New Zealand judge, Governor-General of NZ (1980-85), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2001)
Famous Weddings
Louis Armstrong
Feb 4 Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (22) weds jazz pianist Lillian "Lil" Hardin (26) - 2nd try for each; separate in 1931 and divorce in 1938
Edwin Hubble
Feb 26 American astronomer Edwin Hubble (34) weds Grace Burke (34) in Pasadena, California, until his death in 1953
Famous Deaths
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
Feb 3 28th President of the United States (Democrat: 1913-21) and 1919 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, dies at his home in Washington at 67
- Feb 5 Alexis Hollander, German conductor and composer, dies at 83
- Feb 8 Gee John, Chinese-American gangster (1st person in US to be executed by lethal gas in Nevada), executed at 29
- Feb 9 Nils Kjær, Norwegian playwright (Det Lykkelige Valg), dies at 53
- Feb 15 Lionel Monckton, British composer (Edwardian musical comedy), dies at 62
Henry Bacon (1866-1924)
Feb 17 American architect (Lincoln Memorial), dies at 57
