Historical Events
- Feb 1 "Volare" ("Nel blu dipinto di blu") single released by Domenico Modugno (Grammy Award Record of the Year, Song of the Year 1958)
- Feb 1 1st US satellite (Explorer I) launched
- Feb 1 Egypt & Syria announce plans to merge into United Arab Republic
- Feb 1 Manchester United beats Arsenal, 5-4 at Highbury in the team's last game on British soil, 5 days prior to the plane crash at Munich airport that killed 7 players
- Feb 1 Tommy Taylor scores 2 goals and Duncan Edwards 1, in Manchester United's 5-4 win vs Arsenal at Highbury; pair amongst 7 players killed 5 days later when team’s charter plane crashes at Munich airport
- Feb 1 WFTV TV channel 9 in Orlando, FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 2 Syria joins Egypt in United Arab Republic
- Feb 2 WRIK (now WLUZ) TV channel 7 in Ponce, PR (PTC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 3 Royal Teens' "Short Shorts" enters Top 40 chart & peaks at #3
- Feb 4 "Oh, Captain!" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 192 performances
- Feb 4 MLB Hall of Fame fails to elect anyone for 1st time since 1950
- Feb 5 Clifton R Wharton confirmed as 1st US African American foreign minister (to Romania)
- Feb 5 Gamel Abdel Nasser nominated 1st President of United Arab Republic
- Feb 5 Test cricket debut of outstanding West Indian spin bowler Lance Gibbs, 2nd Test v Pakistan in Port-of-Spain
- Feb 5 Vanguard TV-3 back-up launches into Earth orbit; reaches 6 km
- Feb 6 21 dead in air crash at Munich-Riem Airport; 8 players and 3 staff are from the Manchester United football team
Williams Highest Paid
Feb 6 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams becomes highest paid player in MLB when he re-signs with Boston Red Sox for $135,000
- Feb 7 1st showing of Dutch auto-transmission car, the DAF 600
- Feb 7 Dodgers officially become the Los Angeles Dodgers, Inc
- Feb 8 Edgar Whitehead succeeds Garfield Todd as premier of South Rhodesia
- Feb 8 French planes bomb Sakiet, Tunisia, 75 die
- Feb 8 KIRO TV channel 7 in Seattle, WA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Feb 11 BBC pioneering series "Your Life in Their Hands" first broadcast presented by Dr. Charles Fletcher, 1st major TV series to deal with medicine
Event of Interest
Feb 11 China's 1st National People's Congress adopts the first edition of Hanyu Pinyin created by Zhou Youguang as the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese
- Feb 11 Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Chu En-lai as Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Feb 11 Ruth Carol Taylor is 1st African-American woman hired as flight attendant, Ithaca NY
- Feb 11 WTVC TV channel 9 in Chattanooga, TN (ABC) begins broadcasting
Sports History
Feb 12 Boston Celtic Bill Russell grabs 41 rebounds to beat Syracuse Nationals, 119-101
- Feb 12 General Miguel Ydegoras Fuentes elected President of Guatemala
- Feb 14 Arab Federation of Iraq & Jordan forms
- Feb 15 Ice Dance Championship at Paris won by June Markham/Courtney Jones GRB
- Feb 15 Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Barbara Wagner/Rob Paul of CAN
- Feb 15 Ladies' Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Carol Heiss of USA
- Feb 15 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by David Jenkins USA
- Feb 15 Sjafroeddin Prawiranegara forms anti-government of Middle Sumatra
- Feb 17 Comic strip "BC" 1st appears
- Feb 17 WETV (now WPBA) TV channel 30 in Atlanta, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
Music History
Feb 19 Carl Perkins leaves Sun Records for Columbia Records
The Brothers Karamazov
Feb 20 Adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov", starring Yul Brynner and featuring William Shatner's film debut, premieres at Radio City Music Hall, NYC
Arcaro's 4,000th Winner
Feb 20 American future Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro rides his 4,000th winner on Riding Ban in the 8th race at Santa Anita
- Feb 20 LA Coliseum approves 2-year pact allowing LA Dodgers to use facility whilst Dodger Stadium is completed in time for the 1962 MLB season
- Feb 21 "Portotino" opens at Adelphi Theater, NYC; runs for 3 performances
- Feb 21 British artist Gerald Holtom designs Nuclear Disarmament logo, based on blended semaphore signals for the letters N and D; it later became an international peace symbol
- Feb 21 Egypt-Syria as United Arab Republic elect Nasser president (99.9% vote)
- Feb 22 "Portotino" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 3 performances
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Feb 22 15th Golden Globes: "The Bridge on the River Kwai", Alec Guinness, & Joanne Woodward win
- Feb 22 Australian swimmer Jon Konrads sets 6 world records in 2 days
- Feb 22 Egypt & Syria form United Arab Republic (UAR)
- Feb 22 Indonesian air force bombs Padang, Sumatra and Menado, Celebes
F1 World Champion
Feb 23 5-time F1 World Drivers champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by Cuban rebels from Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement; released soon after Cuban GP
- Feb 23 Arturo Frondizi elected President of Argentina
- Feb 23 Last Municipal arc light at Mission & 25th removed in San Francisco (installed 1913)
- Feb 23 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Feb 27 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Feb 28 West Indies 1-504 in reply to Pakistan 328, day 3 of 3rd Test Cricket
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Jackie Shroff, Indian actor, born in Udgir, India
- Feb 1 Kevin McCarra, Scottish sports journalist (The Guardian, Scotland on Sunday, The Times), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2020)
- Feb 1 Luther Blissett, English soccer striker (14 caps; Watford, Bournemouth), born in Falmouth, Jamaica
- Feb 1 Maureen Madill, Irish golfer (British Open Amateur 1979, Curtis Cup 1980, coach 1998-2004), born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland
- Feb 2 Dexter Manley, American NFL player (Washington Redskins), born in Houston, Texas
- Feb 3 Joe Frank Edwards Jr, Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS 89), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Feb 3 Lee Crystal [Sackett], American drummer (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - "I Love Rock'n'Roll"), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2013)
- Feb 3 Lizzie Borden, director/writer (Love Crimes, Working Girls)
- Feb 3 N. Gregory Mankiw, American economist
- Feb 4 Mary Ann Pascal, actress (Samantha-Brothers)
- Feb 4 Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer
- Feb 4 Werner Schwab, Austrian playwright and artist, born in Graz (d. 1994)
- Feb 6 Barry Miller, American actor (Fame; Peggy Sue Got Married), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 6 Bill Dawley, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1983), born in Norwich, Connecticut
- Feb 6 Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (American Heart), born in Jamaica, New York City (d. 2004)
- Feb 7 (Manuel) Mijares, Mexican Latin-pop, folk, and Mariachi vocalist (Maria Bonita), born in Mexico City, Mexico
- Feb 7 Matt Ridley, British science writer
- Feb 7 Michele Drake, playmate (May, 1979), born in La Jolla, California
- Feb 8 "Sensational" Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler (WWF), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2007)
- Feb 8 Marina Silva, Brazilian politician and environmentalist (as Environment Minister increased Amazon protections), born in Rio Branco, Brazil
- Feb 9 Cyrille Regis, English former footballer, born in Maripasoula, French Guiana (d. 2018)
- Feb 9 Sandy Lyle, Scottish golfer (British Open 1985, US Masters 1988), born in Shrewsbury, England
- Feb 10 Billy Thomson, Scottish soccer goalkeeper (7 caps; St Mirren 206 games, Dundee United), born in Linwood, Scotland (d. 2023)
- Feb 10 Michael Weiss, American jazz pianist, composer (Soul Journey), and educator, born in Dallas, Texas
- Feb 11 Alberto Bica, Uruguayan soccer right winger (9 caps; Racing, River Plate, Nacional Montevideo), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 2021)
- Feb 11 Michael Jackson, British television producer and executive (BBC2), born in Cheshire, England
- Feb 12 Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens), born in Rockhampton, Australia (d. 2006)
- Feb 12 Ruth Guerri, US-Italian nude model (July, 1983), born in St Louis, Missouri
- Feb 13 Derek Riggs, British artist (Iron Maiden album covers), born in Portsmouth, England
- Feb 13 Marc Emery, Canadian cannabis activist, born in London, Canada
- Feb 13 Marc Fox, British percussionist (Haircut One Hundred - "Nobody's Fool"), and record producer, born in London, England
- Feb 13 Pernilla August, Swedish actress, born in Stockholm, Sweden
- Feb 13 Tip Tipping, British actor and stuntman, born in England, United Kingdom (d. 1993)
- Feb 14 Perry Stephens, German actor (Loving, All My Children), born in Frankfurt, Germany
- Feb 15 Chrystine Brouillet, Quebec novelist
- Feb 15 Tony Tubbs, American boxer (WBA heavyweight title 1985-86), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Feb 16 Herb Williams, NBA center (Toronto Raptors, NY Knicks)
Ice-T (66 years old)
Feb 16 American rapper ("O.G. Original Gangster"), and actor (New Jack City; Tank Girl; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), born in Newark, New Jersey
- Feb 16 John Morse, American golfer (US Open 1996 4th), born in Marshall, Michigan
- Feb 16 Lisa Loring [DeCinces], American actress (The Addams Family - "Wednesday"; As the World Turns, 1980-83 - "Cricket"), born in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands (d. 2023) [1]
- Feb 16 Michael W. Burns, American politician, born in Baltimore, Maryland
- Feb 17 Heidi Hagman, American actress (Linda-Archie Bunker's Place), born in New York City
- Feb 18 Gar Samuelson, American drummer (Megadeth), born in Dunkirk, New York (d. 1999)
- Feb 18 Peter Koech, Kenyan 3K steeplechaser (Olympic silver 1988), born in Kiliburani, Kenya
- Feb 19 Helen Fielding, English writer (Bridget Jones), born in Morley, England
- Feb 20 James Wilby, British stage and screen actor (Howards End; Maurice), born in Rangoon, Burma
- Feb 21 Alan Trammell, American Baseball HOF shortstop (6 × MLB All-Star; World Series MVP 1984; Detroit Tigers) and manager (Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks), born in Garden Grove, California
- Feb 21 Jack Coleman, American actor (Steven Carrington-Dynasty), born in Easton, Pennsylvania
- Feb 21 Jake Steinfeld, American exercise expert (Body by Jake), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Feb 21 Mary-Chapin Carpenter, American country-pop singer-songwriter ("This Shirt"; "Shut Up And Kiss Me"), born in Princeton, New Jersey
- Feb 21 Steve Nieve [Nason], British session and touring keyboard player and composer (Elvis Costello), born in Bishop’s Stortford, England
- Feb 22 Kais Saied, Tunisian politician, President of Tunisia (2019-), born in Tunis, Tunisia
- Feb 23 David Sylvian [Batt], British songwriter, vocalist, new wave and improvisational rock guitarist (Japan; Rain Tree Crow), born in Beckenham, England
- Feb 23 Ria Brieffies, Dutch pop vocalist (Dolly Dots), born in Lutjebroek, Netherlands (d. 2009)
- Feb 24 Chris Buck, American animator and film director (Tarzan, Surf's Up, Frozen), born in Wichita, Kansas
- Feb 24 Doug Wabeke, American collegiate HOF baseball coach, and educator, born in Zeeland, Michigan (d. 2023)
- Feb 24 Sammy Kershaw, American country vocalist ("Cadillac Style"), born in Kaplan, Louisiana
- Feb 24 Susan Scannell, actress (Nicole-Dynasty), born in Lexington, Massachusetts
- Feb 25 Ally Dawson, Scottish soccer defender (5 caps; Glasgow Rangers) and manager (Hamilton Academical), born in Johnstone, Scotland (d. 2021)
- Feb 25 Kurt Rambis, American basketball forward (NBA C'ship 1982, 85, 87, 88 LA Lakers), coach (Minnesota Timberwolves 2009-11) and executive (senior adviser LA Lakers), born in Terre Haute, Indiana
- Feb 26 Greg Germann, American actor, born in Houston, Texas
- Feb 26 Jeff Fithian, American actor (Trevor Nash-Please Don't Eat the Daisies), born in Van Nuys, California
- Feb 26 Joe Fithian, American actor (Tracey Nash-Please Don't Eat the Daisies), born in Van Nuys, California
- Feb 26 Karen Berger, American comic book editor, born in New York City
- Feb 26 Michel Houellebecq, French novelist, born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion
- Feb 26 Susan J. Helms, Mjr USAF/Astronaut (STS 54, 64, 78), born in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Feb 26 Tim Kaine, US Senator (D-Virginia, 2016 Democratic nominee for Vice President, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota
- Feb 27 Maggie Hassan, American politician (Senator-D-New Hampshire 2017-, Governor of New Hampshire 2013-17), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Feb 27 Naas Botha, South African rugby union footballer, born in Mpumalanga, South Africa
- Feb 27 Nancy Spungen, American murder victim of Sid Vicious, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1978)
- Feb 28 Christine Lathan-Brehmer, German DR, 400m runner (Olympic gold 1976)
- Feb 28 Jeanne Mas, French pop singer ("Johnny, Johnny"; "Toute première fois"), and actress, born in Alicante, Spain
- Feb 28 Mark Pavelich, American ice hockey forward (Olympic gold 1980 'Miracle on Ice'; NY Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, San Jose Sharks), born in Eveleth, Minnesota (d. 2021)
Famous Weddings
Rita Hayworth
Feb 2 American "Gilda" actress Rita Hayworth (39) weds American film producer James Hill (42); divorce in 1961
Vin Scully
Feb 15 Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully (30) weds American model (not the actress) Joan Crawford (20) in California, until her death in 1972
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Clinton Davisson, American physicist (Nobel 1937- discovery of electron diffraction in the famous Davisson-Germer experiment), dies at 76
- Feb 3 Henry Kuttner, American sci-fi author (Dark World, As You Were), dies of a heart attack at 42
- Feb 3 Johan Buziau, Dutch cabaret performer and clown (1 great dog), dies at 81
- Feb 4 Frederik de Merode, Belgian prince and International Red Cross executive, dies of a thrombosis at 46
- Feb 5 H. M. Tomlinson, British writer (Under red ensign), dies at 84
- Feb 6 Billy Whelan, Irish soccer forward (4 caps, Republic of Ireland; Manchester United 79 games), dies Munich air disaster at 22
- Feb 6 Charles Morgan, English writer (Fountain), dies at 64
- Feb 6 David Pegg, English soccer outside left (1 cap; Manchester United 127 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 22
- Feb 6 Eddie Colman, English soccer winger (Manchester United 85 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 21
- Feb 6 Frank Swift, English soccer goalkeeper and journalist (19 caps; Manchester City 376 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 44
- Feb 6 Geoff Bent, English soccer fullback (Manchester United 12 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 25
- Feb 6 Mark Jones, English soccer defender (Manchester United 103 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 24
- Feb 6 Roger Byrne, English soccer fullback (33 caps; Manchester United 245 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 28
- Feb 6 Tommy Taylor, English soccer striker (19 caps; Manchester United 166 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 26
- Feb 6 Walter Crickmer, English soccer executive and manager (Manchester United), dies in Munich air disaster at 58
- Feb 7 Betty MacDonald [nee Bard], American humor writer (The Egg and I), dies of cancer at 50
- Feb 7 Walter Kingsford, British actor (Carefree, My Favorite Blonde), dies at 76
- Feb 10 Billy Vine, American actor (54th Street Revue), dies at 42
- Feb 11 Ernest Jones, Welsh psychoanalyst (biographer of Freud - Life & Work of Sigmund Freud), dies at 79
- Feb 12 Douglas R. Hartree, English mathematician and physicist, dies at 60
- Feb 12 Marcel Cachin, French politician and co-founder of the French Communist Party, dies at 88
- Feb 13 Dame Christabel Pankhurst, a leading suffragette (English) "Queen of the mob" (b.1880)
- Feb 13 Georges Rouault, French expressionist painter (Miserere et Guerre), dies at 86
- Feb 14 Abdul Rab Nishtar, veteran leader of Pakistan Movement, (b. 1899)
- Feb 17 Hugh McCrae, Australian writer and poet (Satyrs and Sunlight: Sylvarum Libri), dies at 81
- Feb 20 Thurston Hall, American actor (Roaming Lady; In Society), dies at 75
- Feb 21 Duncan Edwards, English soccer midfielder (18 caps; Manchester United), dies from injuries sustained in Munich air disaster at 21
- Feb 22 Abul Kalam Azad, 1st Minister of Education in the Indian government, dies at 69
- Feb 22 Theo Harych, German writer, commits suicide at 54
- Feb 24 Fernand Baldensperger [Fernand Baldenne], French poet, dies at 86
- Feb 26 Vlas Chubar, Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician, executed as part of Josef Stalin's 'Great Purge' at 58
- Feb 27 Harry Cohn, CEO (Columbia Pictures), dies of a heart attack
