Historical Events
- Feb 1 H. C. Hansen appointed premier of Denmark
- Feb 1 Hap Day becomes the first man to serve as Toronto Maple Leafs' captain, coach and general manager when he is appointed to run the famous Canadian NHL club
Fist Network President News Conference
Feb 2 1st presidential news conference on network TV-Eisenhower on ABC
Georgy Malenkov Resigns
Feb 8 Georgy Malenkov resigns as USSR premier and is replaced by Nikolai Bulganin
- Feb 8 The Government of Sindh abolished Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km²) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
- Feb 9 Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts crematory law
- Feb 9 Unity Committee of US trade unions American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) agree to merge, subject to ratification by each group's executive commitee
- Feb 10 The US Navy evacuate 1000s from Tachen Islands in the Pacific
- Feb 12 McGuire Sisters' "Sincerely" single goes to No. 1 and stays No. 1 for 10 weeks
- Feb 12 President Eisenhower sends 1st US advisors to South Vietnam
- Feb 12 Soviets decides space center to be built in Baikonur, Kazakhstan
- Feb 12 WTVY TV channel 4 in Dothan, AL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Feb 13 Israel acquires 4 of 7 Dead Sea scrolls
- Feb 13 KRCG TV channel 13 in Jefferson City, MO (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Feb 14 WFLA (now WXFL) TV channel 8 in Tampa-St Petersburg, Florida (NBC) begins
- Feb 15 1st pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds announced
- Feb 17 American golfer Mike Souchak sets PGA 72-hole record of 257 (not broken until 2001)
- Feb 17 Ice Dance Championship at Vienna Austria won by J Westwood/Demmy GRB
- Feb 17 Ice Pairs Championship at Vienna won by Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden of Canada
- Feb 17 KTVF TV channel 11 in Fairbanks, AK (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
Sports History
Feb 17 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Vienna won by Tenley Albright US
Golden Globes
Feb 24 12th Golden Globes: "On The Waterfront", Marlon Brando, & Judy Garland win
Silk Stockings
Feb 24 Cole Porter's final Broadway musical "Silk Stockings", loosely based on the Melchior Lengyel's "Ninotchka", opens at the Imperial Theatre, NYC; runs for 478 performances
- Feb 24 Pact of Baghdad signed between Iraq & Turkey
- Feb 26 1st aviator to bail out at supersonic speed-GF Smith
Peter Pan
Feb 26 Leigh, Charlap, Styne, Comden and Green's musical "Peter Pan", starring Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard, closes at Winter Garden Theater, NYC, after 152 performances
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Kate Ashbrook, British general secretary of the Open Spaces Society
- Feb 1 Virginia Leng, British equestrian rider (World C'ship individual 1986; Olympic silver x 2, bronze x 2 1984, 88), born in Malta
- Feb 2 Michael Talbott, American actor (Stan-Miami Vice), born in Waverly, Iowa
- Feb 3 Bahadır Akkuzu, Turkish rock guitarist and singer (Kurtalan Ekspres), born in Istanbul, Turkey (d. 2009)
- Feb 3 Kirsty Wark, British broadcast journalist
- Feb 3 Stephen Euin Cobb, American novelist
- Feb 4 Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak Prime minister
- Feb 5 Debra Jo Fondren, American model and actress, born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 5 Mike Heath, American baseball player, born in Tampa, Florida
- Feb 6 Eric Money, American NBA player, born in Detroit, Michigan
- Feb 7 Charlie Puleo, American MLB pitcher (NY Mets, Atlanta Braves), born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey
- Feb 7 Kathy Flores, American rugby union coach (United States women's team 2002-11; Brown University), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2021)
- Feb 7 Rolf Benirschke, American NFL place kicker and TV game show host (Wheel of Fortune), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Feb 8 Ethan Phillips, American actor (Neelix-Star Trek Voyager), born in Garden City, New York
- Feb 8 Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, American professional wrestler (WWF/WCW/NJPW/CWFI/Calgary), born in Montebello, California (d. 2018)
John Grisham (69 years old)
Feb 8 American writer (Client, Firm, Pelican Brief), born in Jonesboro, Arkansas
- Feb 8 Nancy Oliver, American playwright and television writer
- Feb 9 Charles Shaughnessy, English actor (Days of Our Lives - "Shane"; The Nanny - "Maxwell"), born in London, England
- Feb 9 Jim J. Bullock, American comedian and actor (Too Close for Comfort - "Monroe"), born in Casper, Wyoming
- Feb 10 Chris Adams, British pro wrestler and judoka (d. 2001)
Greg Norman (69 years old)
Feb 10 Australian golfer (British Open 1986, 93), born in Mount Isa, Queensland
- Feb 10 Jim Cramer, American television personality
- Feb 10 Lusia Harris, American Basketball HOF center (AIAW C'ship & MVP 1975–77, Delta State University; Olympic silver 1976), born in Minter City, Mississippi (d. 2022)
- Feb 12 Bill Laswell, American bassist and record producer, born in Salem, Illinois
- Feb 12 Chet Lemon [Chester Earl Lemon], American baseball player, born in Jackson, Mississippi
- Feb 12 Daniele Masala, Italian pentathlete (Olympics 1976), born in Rome, Italy
- Feb 13 Jan de Ligt, Dutch pop-rock saxophonist (I've Got the Bullets; Gruppo Sportivo), born in The Netherlands
- Feb 13 Joe Birkett, American lawyer, born in Chicago, Illinois
- Feb 13 Scott Smith, Canadian rock bassist (Loverboy - "Working for the Weekend"), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2000)
- Feb 14 Carol Kalish, American publishing executive (Marvel Comics) (d. 1991)
- Feb 14 James Eckhouse, American actor
- Feb 14 Jeremy Lascelles, British grandson of English princess Mary
- Feb 14 Rip Rogers, American professional wrestler, born in Seymour, Indiana
- Feb 15 Bev Francis, Australia, world women's power-lifting champion
- Feb 15 Christopher McDonald, American actor
- Feb 15 Clive Aslet, British editor (Country Life)
- Feb 15 Hugh Padgham, British record producer and audio engineer (Phil Collins; The Police; Spandau Ballet), born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
- Feb 16 Guy Gallo, American poet, playwright, and screenwriter (Under the Volcano), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2015)
- Feb 16 Hunt Block, American actor (As The World Turns, 2000-05 - "Craig"), born in Glen Burnie, Maryland
- Feb 16 Jeff Clayton, American session and touring jazz saxophonist and composer (Clayton Brothers, Groove Shop), born in Venice, California (d. 2020) [1]
- Feb 16 Steve Roach, American ambient and electronic musician and composer (Molecules of Motion), born in La Mesa, California
Mo Yan (69 years old)
Feb 17 Chinese novelist and nobel laureate (Red Sorghum Clan, The Republic of Wine), born in Gaomi, Shandong, China
- Feb 18 Miles Tredinnick, English playwright, born in Warrington, United Kingdom
- Feb 18 Raymond Rougeau, Canadian professional wrestler, born in Saint-Sulpice, Canada
- Feb 18 Tim Hankinson, American soccer coach (Alabama A&M, Syracuse University; Tampa Bay Mutiny, Colorado Rapids), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2022)
- Feb 19 Jeff Daniels, American actor (Dumb & Dumber, Speed, The Newsroom), born in Athens, Georgia
- Feb 20 Karmella Tsepkolenko, Ukrainian classical composer (Parallels), music promoter (Two Days and Two Nights Festival), and author (Artistic Games), born in Odessa, Ukraine
- Feb 20 Néstor Montelongo, Uruguayan soccer utility (36 caps; Montevideo Wanderers, Peñarol, Nacional, Racing), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 2021)
Kelsey Grammer (69 years old)
Feb 21 American actor, comedian, director and activist ("Frasier Crane" in Cheers and Fraiser), born in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands
Alain Prost (69 years old)
Feb 24 French Formula One racing driver (Championships: 85, 86, 89, 93), born in Lorette, France
- Feb 24 Bob Abrams, American rocker (Buckinghams), born in Ohio
Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
Feb 24 American computer entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple, born in San Francisco, California
- Feb 25 Leann Hunley, American actress (Days of Our Lives - "Anna"; Dynasty, 1986-89 - "Dana Carrington"; Dawson's Creek - "Tamara Jacobs"), born in Forks, Washington
- Feb 26 Rupert Keegan, English Formula One racing car driver, born in Essex, England
- Feb 27 Garry Christian, British soul singer (The Christians - "Words"), born in Liverpool, England
- Feb 27 Peter Christopherson, British rock musician (Throbbing Gristle; Psychic TV), commercial and music video director, born in Leeds, England (d. 2010)
- Feb 28 Adrian Dantley, NBA forward (Olympic gold 1976, Utah Jazz), born in Washington, D.C.
Gilbert Gottfried (1955-2022)
Feb 28 American stand-up comedian, and actor (SNL; Aladdin - "Iago the Parrot"; The Afflac Duck), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Feb 28 Randy Jackson, American hard rock singer, guitarist, and keyboard player (Zebra), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Famous Weddings
Brendan Behan
Feb 16 Irish poet and playwright Brendan Behan (32) weds Irish illustrator Beatrice Salkeld (29) at Donnybrook Church in Dublin, Ireland, until his death in 1964
J. D. Salinger
Feb 17 Novelist J. D. Salinger (36) weds Claire Douglas
Famous Deaths
- Feb 5 Ernest Blood, American Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach (Passaic HS, NJ, 200-1 record, 1915-24), dies at 82
- Feb 6 Rosey Rowswell, American MLB broadcaster (Pittsburgh Prates 1936-54), dies from uremic poisoning at 71
- Feb 12 S Z Sakall [Gerö Jenö], Hungarian stage and film character actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca), dies at 72
- Feb 14 Charles Cuvillier, French composer of operetta (The Naughty Princess), dies at 77
- Feb 17 Otto J. Gombosi, Hungarian-American musicologist, dies of a heart attack at 52
- Feb 18 Sadako Sasaki,Japanese child hibakusha (victim of the Hiroshima atomic bomb), dies at 12
- Feb 19 Otakar Pařík, Czech pianist and conductor, dies at 54
- Feb 23 Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (L'otage-1909), dies at 86
- Feb 27 Tom Howard, Irish-American vaudeville and radio comedian (It Pays To Be Ignorant), dies of heart disease at 66
