Historical Events
- Feb 1 Finland goes 1-2 in the Nordic combined event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Heikki Hasu takes gold ahead of teammate Martti Huhtala
"Cry the Beloved Country"
Feb 1 Important South African anti-apartheid novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton is published in the US
- Feb 1 Johnny Palmer sets a 36-hole PGA Tour scoring record with rounds of 62-64 in the Tucson Open; finishes runner-up by 1 stroke to Skip Alexander who cards tournament record total 264
Federation of Malaya
Feb 1 Nine Malay sultanates and two British Straits Settlements (Penang and Malacca) form the Federation of Malaya
- Feb 1 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
- Feb 2 President Harry Truman urges congress to adopt a civil rights program
- Feb 4 After winning the men’s downhill, French alpine skier Henri Oreiller takes the combined gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; becomes most successful athlete at these Games with a slalom bronze
- Feb 4 British-ruled Colony of Ceylon achieves independence, becoming the Dominion of Ceylon, and later Sri Lanka
- Feb 5 "Nature of Things" science show premieres on NBC prime time
- Feb 5 18-year-old Dick Button becomes first American men's figure skating Olympic gold medallist at the St. Moritz Winter Games; first to complete a double axel in competition; retains title in 1952
- Feb 5 Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympic ski slalom champion
- Feb 6 1st radio-controlled airplane flown
- Feb 6 KNXT (now KCBS) TV channel 2 in Los Angeles, CA (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Feb 6 Nils Karlsson wins the 50k cross country gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Swedish skiers win all 3 cross-country events at the Games
- Feb 6 World & European champion Barbara Ann Scott becomes the first Canadian to win a women's figure skating Olympic gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games
- Feb 7 After winning Lake Placid (1932) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (1936) Olympic ski jumping gold medals, Birger Ruud comes out of retirement to win silver in St. Moritz in a Norwegian medal sweep
The Cradle Will Rock
Feb 7 Marc Blitzstein's play with music "The Cradle Will Rock", directed by Orson Welles, closes at Mansfield Theater, NYC, after 34 performances
Bradley Succeeds Eisenhower
Feb 7 Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as US Army Chief of Staff
- Feb 8 Canada beats Switzerland 3-0, to regain the Olympic ice hockey title at the St. Moritz Winter Games; forward Walter Halder top scores with 29 points in Canada’s 5th Olympic title
- Feb 8 V Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
- Feb 9 WLWT TV channel 5 in Cincinnati, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 10 Greek Gen Markos' guerrilla army bombs Saloniki
- Feb 11 Billy Griffith scores cricket century on debut Eng v WI, out for 140
- Feb 11 John Costello follows Eamon Da Valera as premier of Ireland
- Feb 11 Test cricket debut of Frank Worrell for the West Indies vs. England at Port-of-Spain
- Feb 12 1st Lt Nancy Leftenant becomes 1st African American in army nursing corps
- Feb 13 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Lannoy & Baugniet of BEL
- Feb 13 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Richard Button USA
- Feb 13 West Indian batsman Andy Ganteaume scores 112 for W Indies in his only Test Cricket innings
- Feb 13 Wright Flyer, 1st plane to fly, returns to US from England
Event of Interest
Feb 15 Mao Zedong's army occupies Yenan
Event of Interest
Feb 22 Iris Apfel (née Barrel) marries Carl Apfel
- Feb 25 Communists seize control of Czechoslovakian government and Klement Gottwald becomes premier
Little's Leap Day PGA Win
Feb 29 Lawson Little earns his first tournament victory since his US Navy discharge capturing the St. Petersburg Open by 3 strokes over Bobby Locke; last golfer to win a PGA Tour event on Leap Year Day
- Feb 29 Stern-group bomb on Cairo-Haifa train kills 27 British soldiers
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Debbie Austin, American golfer (7 LPGA Tour wins), born in Oneida, New York
Rick James (1948-2004)
Feb 1 American funk musician ("Super Freak"), born in Buffalo New York
- Feb 2 Alan McKay, American singer-songwriter and musician (Earth Wind & Fire - Boogie Wonderland), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Ina Garten (76 years old)
Feb 2 American author and TV cooking show host (Barefoot Contessa, Food Network), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Feb 2 Tony DeMeur, British rocker (Fabulous Poodles-Anna Rexia, Suicide Bridge)
- Feb 3 Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timor politician, Nobel Peace laureate
- Feb 3 Henning Mankell, Swedish playwright and author (Wallander novels), born in Stockholm (d. 2015)
Alice Cooper (76 years old)
Feb 4 American theatrical rock singer and songwriter ("School's Out"; "Welcome To My Nightmare"), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Feb 4 Marguerite "Marge" Ganser, American pop singer (The Shangri-Las - "Leader of the Pack"), born in Queens, New York City (d. 1996)
- Feb 4 Mary Ann Ganser, American pop singer (The Shangri-Las - "Leader of the Pack"), born in Queens, New York City (d. 1970)
- Feb 4 Rakesh Shukla, Indian cricket leg-spinner (1 Test India v Sri Lanka 1982), born in Kanpur, India
- Feb 4 Robert Coover, American writer (Pricksongs & Descants), born in Charles City, Iowa
- Feb 4 Rod Grams, American TV news anchor and politician (Senator-R-Minnesota 1995-2001, Rep-R-Minnesota 1993-95), born in Princeton, Minnesota (d. 2013)
- Feb 4 Tamás Wichmann, Hungarian sprint canoeist (World C'ship gold x 9; Olympic silver C-1 1000m 1972, C-2 1000m 1968; bronze C-1 1000m 1976), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2020)
- Feb 5 Barbara Hershey [Herzstein], American actress (Stuntman, Shy People), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- Feb 5 Christopher Guest, American actor (SNL, 1984-85; This is Spinal Tap; The Princess Bride), and filmmaker (Best In Show; Waiting for Huffman), born in New York City
- Feb 5 David Denny, American rock guitar player (Steve Miller Band - "Abracadabra"; "The Joker"), born in Berkeley, California
- Feb 5 Elco Brinkman, Dutch politician, born in Dirksland, Netherlands
- Feb 5 Errol Morris, American documentary film director (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara), born in Hewlett, New York
- Feb 5 Nigel Tufnel, British fictional heavy metal guitarist (Spinal Tap), born in Squatney, East London, England
- Feb 5 Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager and player, born in Sunne, Sweden
- Feb 5 Tom Wilkinson, English stage and screen BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning actor (The Full Monty; John Adams; Michael Clayton), born in Wharfedale, West Riding of Yorkshire, England (d. 2023) [1]
- Feb 6 John Gosling, British rock keyboardist (The Kinks, 1970-78 - "Lola"; "Celluloid Heroes"), born in Paignton, England (d. 2023)
- Feb 6 José Luis Capón, Spanish soccer defender (13 caps; Atlético Madrid, 200 games), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2020)
- Feb 7 David Campbell, Canadian composer (worked with Adele, Justin Timberlake), born in Toronto
- Feb 7 Jimmy Greenspoon, American session and touring rock organist (Three Dog Night - "Joy to the World"), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
- Feb 8 "England" Dan [Seals], American pop and country singer (England Dan & John Ford Coley - "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"), born in McCamey, Texas (d. 2009)
- Feb 8 Lynda Lyon Block, American convicted murderer (shot a police officer), born in Orlando, Florida (d. 2002)
- Feb 10 Conrad Cummings, American classical composer, born in San Francisco, California
- Feb 10 Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (d. 1994)
- Feb 11 Lynn Goldsmith, American photographer, filmmaker, recording artist, and album cover designer (Grand Funk Railroad; Patti Smith; Frank Zappa; Paul Simon), born in Detroit Michigan
- Feb 11 Susan Bernard, American author, actress (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) Playboy playmate (Dec, 1966), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 11 Vangelis Kordompoulis, Greek jazz pianist, composer, and music educator, born in Patras, Greece
- Feb 12 Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author (Kurzweil reading machine, text-to-speech synthesis), born in New York City
- Feb 13 Allan Legere, Canadian serial killer (Monster of the Miramichi), born in Chatham, Canada
- Feb 14 (John) Jackie Martling, American comedian and gag writer known as "Jackie the Jokeman" (Howard Stern Show, 1983-2001), born in Mineola, Long Island, New York
- Feb 14 (Wladimir) "Wally" Tax, Dutch rock singer-songwriter, and guitarist (The Outsiders; Tax Free), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2005)
- Feb 14 Pat O'Brien, American broadcaster (CBS Sports; Entertainment Tonight; The Insider), born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Teller (76 years old)
Feb 14 American magician (Penn & Teller) and illusionist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Feb 15 Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
- Feb 15 Ron "Penguin" Cey, American MLB 3rd baseman (LA Dodgers), born in Tacoma, Washington
- Feb 16 Eckhart Tolle, German-born author (The Power of Now) and spiritual teacher, born in Lünen, Germany
- Feb 16 Séamus Brennan, Irish Fianna Fáil politician and Minister, born in Salthill, Galway, Ireland (d. 2008)
- Feb 17 José José [José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz], Mexican singer and actor, known as 'The Prince of Song', born in Mexico City (d. 2019)
- Feb 17 Rick Majerus, American college basketball coach (5 × WAC Coach of the Year; Uni of Utah), born in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin (d. 2012)
- Feb 18 Bruce Francis, Australian cricketer (Australian opener in 3 Tests 1972), born in Mosman, Australia
- Feb 18 Carolyn B. Maloney, American politician (Rep-D-NY), born in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Feb 18 Keith Knudsen, American drummer, vocalist and songwriter (Doobie Brothers), born in Le Mars, Iowa (d. 2005)
- Feb 18 Sinead Cusack, Irish actress (Waterland, Revenge), born in Dalkey, Ireland
- Feb 18 Tony Anselmo, American animator & cartoon voice actor, born in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Feb 19 (Whilhelmus) "Pim" Fortuyn, Dutch writer, politician, academic, and founder of right-wing political party (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF), born in Velsen. Netherlands (d. 2002)
- Feb 19 Byron K. Lichtenburg, American astronaut (STS 9, STS 45), born in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
- Feb 19 John Minton [Big John Studd], American pro wrestler (Royal Rumble 1989), born in Butler, Pennsylvania (d. 1995)
- Feb 19 Mark Andes, American rock bassist (Spirit, 1968-74, 84, 89; Firefall, 1976-79; Heart, 1982-92), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Feb 19 Tony Iommi, American rock guitarist (Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"; "Iron Man"), born in Birmingham, England
- Feb 20 A C Fabian, astronomer
- Feb 20 Barry Wordsworth, British conductor (BBC Concert Orchestra; Royal Ballet Orchestra), born in Worcester Park, Surrey, England
- Feb 20 Billy Zoom [Stuart Kindell], American punk rock guitarist (X), born in Savanna, Illinois
- Feb 20 John Browne, group chief executive, British Petroleum Company
- Feb 21 Larry Ragland, American comedian (Keep on Truckin'), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Feb 21 Mel James, Welsh rugby league front rower (11 caps Wales; St. Helens RLFC) and rugby union prop (Swansea RFC), born in Resolven, Wales (d. 2022)
- Feb 22 Dennis Awtrey, American NBA center (Chicago Bulls, Suns), born in Hollywood, California
- Feb 22 John Ashton, American actor (Beverly Hills Cop; Midnight Run), born in Springfield, Massachusetts
- Feb 23 Bill Alexander, theatre director
- Feb 23 Doug Moench, American comic book writer
- Feb 23 Steve Priest, English rock bassist and vocalist (Sweet - "Ballroom Blitz"), born in Hayes, Middlesex, England (d. 2020)
- Feb 23 Trevor Cherry, English soccer defender (27 caps; Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Bradford City) and manager (Bradford City), born in Huddersfield, England (d. 2020)
- Feb 24 Dennis Waterman, English stage and screen actor (Fair Exchange; Minder; The Sweeney), and singer, born in Clapham, London, England (d. 2022)
- Feb 24 Jayaram Jayalalitha, Indian actress and politician, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, born in Mysore State (d. 2016)
- Feb 24 Neil Hubbard, British session and touring guitarist (Juicy Lucy; Jesus Christ Superstar; Bryan Ferry, Bluesology), born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England
- Feb 24 Peter Mond, 4th Baron Melchett, English jurist and Labour politician who was Minister of State for Northern Ireland (1976-79), born in London (d. 2018) [1]
- Feb 24 Tim Staffell, English rock musician (Smile), born in London
- Feb 24 Walter Smith, Scottish football manager (Rangers, Everton; Scotland 2004-07), born in Lanark, Scotland (d. 2021)
- Feb 25 Aldo Busi, Italian writer
- Feb 25 Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
- Feb 25 G B Warren, British biochemist
- Feb 25 Joe Mays, American character actor (Mr. Saturday Night; The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 1994)
- Feb 26 Priscilla Lopez, American actress (In the Beginning, Kay O'Brien), born in the Bronx, New York
- Feb 27 Eddie Gray, American rock guitarist (Tommy James & the Shondells - "Crystal Blue Persuasion"), born in Niles, Michigan
Bernadette Peters (76 years old)
Feb 28 American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress and singer (Sunday in the Park with George; The Jerk; Pennies From Heaven), and author, born in Queens, New York
- Feb 28 Mercedes Ruehl, American Tony and Academy Award-winning stage and screen actress (Lost in Yonkers; The Fisher King; Crazy People), born in Queens, New York
- Feb 28 Mike Figgis, British film director and screenwriter (Leaving Las Vegas), born in Carlisle, England
- Feb 28 Willie Donnell Smith, American fashion designer (WilliWear), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1987)
- Feb 29 Jirō Akagawa, Japanese novelist (Ghost Train), born in Fukuoka, Japan
- Feb 29 Nikolai Pimenov, Russian rower (World C'ship gold coxless pairs 1981, 85, 86; Olympic silver 1976), born in Moscow, Russia
- Feb 29 Patricia [Anne] McKillip, American sci-fi author (Fool's Run)
- Feb 29 Yuri Pimenov, Russian rower (World C'ship gold coxless pairs 1981, 85, 86; Olympic silver 1976), born in Moscow, Russia
Famous Weddings
Dick Van Dyke
Feb 12 American comic Dick Van Dyke (22) weds American girlfriend Margerie Willett (20) on the radio show "Bride and Groom" in Los Angeles California; divorce in 1984 after a long separation
Leo Durocher
Feb 16 American baseball player and manager Leo Durocher (41) weds actress Laraine Day (27) in Santa Monica, California; divorce in 1960
Famous Deaths
- Feb 2 Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (Olympic gold 400m 1920), dies at 53
- Feb 2 Thomas W. Lamont, American banker; father or Corliss Lamont; great-grandfather of Ned Lamont (b. 1870)
- Feb 5 Johann Blaskowitz, German general (surrendered at Wageningen), dies at 64
- Feb 7 Red McKenzie, American jazz singer (played comb-with-tissue-paper), dies at 48
- Feb 9 Karl Valentin, Bavarian comedian and film producer, dies at 65
- Feb 10 Ewart Astill, England cricket all-rounder (9 Tests, Leicestershire), dies at 59
- Feb 11 Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director (Battleship Potemkin), dies at 50
- Feb 14 Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1907, 08; NL wins leader 1909; MLB ERA leader 1906; Chicago Cubs), dies at 71
- Feb 19 Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), dies at 63
- Feb 21 Frederick Lamond, Scottish pianist and composer, dies at 80
- Feb 23 John Robert Gregg, Irish-American inventor of a shorthand system Gregg Shorthand, dies at 80
