Historical Events
- Feb 1 Alphabet, Google's parent company surpasses Apple as the world's most valuable company ($568bn vs $535bn), after releasing income results
Iowa Caucuses
Feb 1 Iowa Caucuses: Republican Ted Cruz defeats Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton beats Bernie Sanders by a coin toss
- Feb 1 Myanmar's first freely elected parliament in 50 years has its opening session in Nay Pyi Taw
- Feb 1 Poor weather conditions strand 100,000 Chinese New Year travelers at a railway station in Guangzhou, China
- Feb 1 WHO declares a global public health emergency over the rapid spread of zika-linked conditions
- Feb 2 First case of Zika contracted on US mainland (Texas) and second known sexually transmitted case confirmed in Texas
- Feb 3 Lord Lucan's death certificate is granted, 42 years after he disappeared following the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett
Obama Visits Mosque
Feb 3 US President Barack Obama visits his first US mosque - the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Maryland
- Feb 4 Fifth Democratic presidential candidates debate, broadcast on MSNBC, held in Durham, New Hampshire
- Feb 4 Morocco's Mohammed VI switches on world's largest solar plant near Ouarzazate. Planned to power 1 million homes when fully completed 2018
Van Morrison Knighted
Feb 4 Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison knighted by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace
- Feb 5 Computer hackers try to steal 1 billion from Federal Reserve Bank of New York using Bangladesh banking codes, steal 81 million before a typo alerts authorities
- Feb 6 Eighth Republican presidential candidates debate hosted by ABC, held in Goffstown, New Hampshire
- Feb 7 Super Bowl L, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA: Denver Broncos beat Carolina Panthers, 24–10; MVP: Von Miller, Denver, LB
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Feb 8 Late-night talk show "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" debuts on TBS in the US
- Feb 9 Two German passenger trains collide near Bad Aibling, Bavaria, killing 10 and seriously injuring 18
New Hampshire Primary
Feb 9 US primary elections: New Hampshire Primary, In Republican race Donald Trump wins (35%), John Kasich 2nd (16%), and Bernie Sanders (60%) defeats Hillary Clinton (38%) in Democratic race
Event of Interest
Feb 10 Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie suspend their campaigns
- Feb 10 Venezuelan government orders more than 100 malls to close early to save electricity, due to drought caused by El Niño
- Feb 11 Discover of gravitational waves (through collision of two black holes) announced by physicists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo)
- Feb 11 Last of Oregon militia occupying Malheur wildlife refuge surrenders to authorities after 41 days
- Feb 11 Riot between rival drug cartels at a prison in Monterrey, Mexico, leaves 52 dead
- Feb 11 Sixth Democratic presidential candidates debate, broadcast on CNN and PBS, and held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Feb 12 Britain's Ordnance Survey, using NASA data posts map of Mars on Flickr
- Feb 12 Fiji becomes the first country to ratify the UN climate deal (signed Paris, December 2015)
Deadpool
Feb 12 Marvel superhero film "Deadpool" starring Ryan Reynolds is released
Papal Visit
Feb 12 Pope Francis begins his visit to Mexico, arriving at “Benito Juarez” International Airport in Mexico City
- Feb 12 Pope Francis meets Patriarch Kirill in Havana - first meeting between Catholic and Russian Orthodox church heads for nearly 1,000 years
- Feb 12 Student leader Kanhaiya Kumar is arrested on “anti-nationalism” charges by Indian police at an anniversary event of the death of Afzal Guru, at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Feb 13 Ninth Republican presidential candidates debate held in Greenville, South Carolina
- Feb 14 69th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "The Revenant" Best Film, and Best Director - Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Feb 14 NBA All-Star Game, Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON: West beats East, 196-173; MVP: Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder, G
Grammy Awards
Feb 15 58th Grammy Awards: Best Song "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran; Best Album "1989" by Taylor Swift
- Feb 16 China announces it will relocate 9,000 people in Guizhou province, before completion of world's largest telescope (FAST), designed to look for extraterrestrial life
- Feb 16 Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy is placed under investigation for campaign funds
- Feb 17 Car bomb attack on military convoy in Ankara, Turkey, by Kurdish militant eaves 28 dead
- Feb 17 Channing Dungey announced new President of ABC Entertainment Group, first African-American to lead a major US broadcast network
Sports History
Feb 17 Nike ends endorsement deal with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao after he made TV comments gay people are "worse than animals."
- Feb 17 Oldest known case of human-Neanderthal sex (100,000 yrs ago) revealed by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig), 50,000 yr old Neanderthal woman's remains from Altai mountains show traces of Homo Sapiens DNA
- Feb 18 Pope Francis questions US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump's Christianity over his call to build a wall on the Mexican border
Music History
Feb 20 4-inch lock of John Lennon's hair sells for $35,000 to a memorabilia collector at an auction in Dallas, Texas
- Feb 20 Gunman goes on random killing spree in Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing 6
- Feb 20 Tropical Cyclone Winston hits Fiji, killing at least 29 - most powerful storm on record in Southern Hemisphere winds 296 kilometers per hour (184 mph)
- Feb 20 US primary elections: Nevada Democratic Primary - Hillary Clinton wins with 52.6%
Trump Wins South Carolina Primary
Feb 20 US primary elections: South Carolina Republican Primary - Donald Trump wins with 32.5%
- Feb 21 58th Daytona 500: Denny Hamlin wins closest finish in race history - by just 0.01s from Martin Truex Jr
- Feb 21 66th Berlin International Film Festival: Italian documentary "Fire at Sea" wins the Golden Bear
- Feb 21 Bombings in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus kill 140 people, Islamic State claims responsibility
- Feb 22 10 million people are without water in Delhi after caste protests in Jat sabotage the Munak water canal
- Feb 22 Alex Puccio wins the Hueco Tanks 'Rock Rodeo'
- Feb 23 US primary elections: Nevada Republican Primary - Donald Trump wins with 45.9.5%
- Feb 24 Oldest Muslim graves in Europe, from the 8th century, identified at a burial site in Nimes, France
Film & TV History
Feb 25 Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller are honoured by unite4:humanity for their work promoting awareness of and fundraising for Alzheimer's research
- Feb 25 Tenth Republican presidential candidates debate hosted by CNN, held in Houston, Texas
- Feb 26 Iranian elections: reformers and moderates win control of parliament
Film & TV History
Feb 28 36th Razzies Awards: "Fifty Shades of Grey" wins worst film, worst actor and actress
Academy Awards
Feb 28 88th Academy Awards: Best Picture - "Spotlight", Best Director - Alejandro G. Iñárritu ("The Revenant"), Best Actor - Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Revenant"), Best Actress - Brie Larson ("Room")
- Feb 28 Explosion at Severnaya coal mine in Vorkuta, Russia kills 36, including 5 rescuers
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 5 Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, heir to throne of Bhutan, born in Thimphu, Bhutan
Famous Weddings
Hayley Williams
Feb 20 Paramore's lead vocalist Hayley Williams (27) weds New Found Glory's lead guitarist Chad Gilbert in Franklin, Tennessee; divorce in 2017
Famous Divorces
- Feb 8 American singer-actress Katharine McPhee (31) divorces producer Nick Cokas (50) after 8 years of marriage
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Israr Ali, Pakistan cricket all-rounder (4 Tests; member of Pakistan's first Test team that played against India 1952–53), dies of pneumonia at 88
- Feb 2 Bob Elliott, American comedian (Bob & Ray, Get a Life), dies at 92
- Feb 2 Intizar Hussain, Pakistani and Urdu writer and columnist, dies in his early 90s
- Feb 3 Joseph Francis "Joe" Alaskey, American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and impressionist (Buggs Bunny, Daffy Duck), dies from cancer at 63
- Feb 3 Mary Healy, American actress (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, He Married his Wife), dies of natural causes at 96
- Feb 3 Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist, conductor, orchestra leader (Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, 1960-2004), dies at 87
- Feb 4 Dave Mirra, American BMX rider (Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award 2005; 24 x Games medals), dies by suicide at 41
- Feb 4 Edgar Mitchell, American NASA astronaut (Apollo 14), dies at 85
- Feb 4 Edgar Whitcomb, American politician and Governor of Indiana (1969-73), dies at 98
- Feb 4 Jimmie Haskell [Sheridan Pearlman], American arranger (Ricky Nelson; Chicago; Sheryl Crow), and film and television score composer, dies at 89
- Feb 4 Leslie Bassett, American classical composer (Variations for Orchestra - Pulitzer Prize, 1966), and educator (University of Michigan, 1952-92), dies at 93
- Feb 4 Maurice White, American singer-songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire - "Shining Star"), dies at 74
- Feb 4 Ulf Söderblom, Finnish conductor (Finnish National Opera, 1973-93), and teacher, dies at 85
- Feb 5 Bodil Malmsten, Swedish writer (The Price of Water in Finistère), dies at 71
- Feb 6 Dan Hicks, American singer and songwriter (Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks), dies at 74
- Feb 8 John Disley, Welsh athlete (co-founded London Marathon), dies at 87
- Feb 8 Violetta Verdy, French ballerina and teacher, dies at 82
- Feb 9 Sushil Koirala, Nepalese politician, Prime Minister of Nepal (2014-2015), dies at 76
- Feb 12 Johnny Lattner, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1953, Notre Dame; Pro Bowl 1954, Pittsburgh Steelers), dies from mesothelioma at 83
- Feb 13 Antonin Scalia, American 105th Supreme Court Justice (1986-2016), dies at 79
- Feb 14 Eric Lubbock, Lord Avebury, English politician and human rights advocate (Liberal MP for Orpington 1962-70), dies at 87
- Feb 14 Steven Stucky, American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (Silent Spring; August 4, 1964; Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1988-2009), conductor (Ensemble X, 1997-2006), educator, and musicologist, dies of brain cancer at 66
- Feb 15 George Gaynes, Dutch-Finnish-American singer, stage and screen actor (Tootsie; Police Academy; General Hospital), dies at 98
- Feb 15 Louis Lane, American conductor (Akron, 1959-83; Lake Erie Opera, 1964-72), and educator (Cleveland Institute, 1982-2004), dies at 72
- Feb 15 Vanity [Denise Matthews], Canadian R&B singer, Prince protege ("Nasty Girl"), actress (52 Pick Up), and evangelist dies of kidney failure at 57
Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1922-2016)
Feb 16 Egyptian politician and 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1992- 96), dies at 93
- Feb 16 Gwyneth George, Welsh cellist and teacher, dies at 95
- Feb 17 Andy Ganteaume, Trinidadian cricketer and West Indian batsman who scored 112 in his only Test innings in 1948, dies at 95
- Feb 17 Tony Phillips, American MLB player (Oakland Athletics), dies at 56
- Feb 19 Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher and writer (Name of the Rose), dies at 84
- Feb 20 Peter Mondavi, American winemaker (Charles Krug - Napa Valley), dies at 101
- Feb 21 Pascal Bentoiu, Romanian composer, dies at 88
- Feb 21 Roger Chorley [Baron Chorley), English accountant and peer (Chorley Report, President of the Royal Geographical Society), dies at 85
- Feb 22 Douglas Slocombe, British cinematographer (Kind Hearts and Coronets, Raiders of the Lost Ark), dies at 103
- Feb 22 Sonny James [Jimmie Loden], American pop and country music singer-songwriter, and guitarist ("Young Love"), dies at 87
- Feb 22 Wesley A Clark, American computer designer (first personal computer - LINC), dies at 88
- Feb 22 Yolande Betbeze Fox, Miss America 1951, first to refuse to parade in a swimsuit, dies at 87
- Feb 23 (Hendricus) "Henk" Mochel, Dutch TV host (Rondom Tien), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 83
- Feb 23 Lennie Baker, American rock saxophonist musician (Sha Na Na, 1970-99), dies at 69
- Feb 24 Colin Low, Canadian documentary and animation filmmaker (City of Gold), dies at 89 [1]
- Feb 24 Miguel Ángel Coria, Spanish composer of classical music, dies at 78
- Feb 24 Nabil Maleh, Syrian film director and writer, dies at 79
- Feb 25 John Chilton, English jazz trumpeter (Feetwarmers), dies at 83
- Feb 25 Tony Burton, American actor (Rocky films) and boxer, dies at 78
- Feb 26 Andy Bathgate, professional ice hockey player (New York Rangers, 1958 NHL MVP), dies at 83
- Feb 26 Eri Klas, Estonian conductor (Netherlands Radio Symphony; Aarhus Symphony; Estonian National Opera, 1975-95), and educator, dies at 76
- Feb 26 Howard Quilling, American classical composer (From Quiet Beginnings), and educator, dies at 80
- Feb 27 George Kennedy, American actor (Cool Hand Luke, Naked Gun films), dies at 91
- Feb 28 Frank Kelly, Irish stage and screen actor (Father Ted), dies at 77
- Feb 29 Aron Burton, American electric and Chicago blues bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter, dies of heart disease and diabetes at 77
- Feb 29 Edward M. Lawson, Canadian trade unionist and politician, dies at 86
