Historical Events
- Feb 1 German Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz announces unrestricted submarine warfare against allied shipping
Sinking of USS Housatonic
Feb 3 US ocean liner Housatonic is sunk by a German submarine, on the same day that US President Woodrow Wilson breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany
Pershing's Troops Leave Mexico
Feb 5 The last of the American troops commanded by General John Pershing leave Mexico; President Carranza will be assassinated within the next year
- Feb 15 San Francisco Public Library (Main Branch at Civic center) dedicated
- Feb 16 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid
- Feb 17 In Australia, Nationalist Party takes over a coalition government
- Feb 18 First major strike of the Russian "February Revolution" starts at the giant Putilov factory in Petrograd [NS=Mar 3]
Oh, Boy!
Feb 20 Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton & P. G. Wodehouse's musical "Oh, Boy!" opens at the Princess Theatre, NYC; runs for 463 performances
- Feb 21 British troopship SS Mendi sinks off Isle of Wight, 646 die
- Feb 22 German Navy torpedoes 7 Dutch ships
- Feb 24 Red Sox sell Smokey Joe Wood, his arm dead at 26, to Cleveland for $15,000
- Feb 24 US Ambassador to Great Britain Walter Hines Page alerts President Woodrow Wilson of German plan to get Mexican help in WWI (Zimmermann telegram)
- Feb 26 1st Annual fair at Utrecht Harbor (Netherlands)
- Feb 26 1st jazz records recorded - "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" and "Livery Stable Blues" by Original Dixieland Jass Band for the Victor Talking Machine Company in NYC
Unrest in Petrograd
Feb 26 Russian February Revolution: Tsar Nicolas II orders army to quell civil unrest in Petrograd - army mutinies [NS Mar 11]
- Feb 28 AP reports Mexico & Japan will allie with Germany if US enters WW I
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Edward Simons, American classical violinist and conductor (Rockland Symphony, 1962-2017), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2018)
- Feb 1 Eiji Sawamura, Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (first no-hitter in Japanese pro baseball 1936), born in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Japan (d. 1944)
- Feb 1 Mary Jane DeZurik, American country singer and hillbilly yodeler (The Cackle Sisters - National Barn Dance; Grand Ole Opry), born in Royalton, Minnesota (d. 1981)
Zhang Chunqiao (1917-2005)
Feb 1 Chinese politician and writer (member of the Gang of Four), born in Heze, Shandong, Republic of China
- Feb 4 Aga Yahya Khan, Pakistani general and politician (President of Pakistan 1969-71, Bangladesh genocide during his regime), born in Chakwal, Punjab, British India (d. 1980)
- Feb 6 Arthur Gold, Canadian pianist, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1990)
- Feb 6 Liberato Firmino Sifonia, Italian composer, born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1995)
Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917-2016)
Feb 6 Hungarian-born American actress (Queen of Outer Space), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary
- Feb 7 Milt Holland [Milton Olshansky], American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and tinkle-ist (film Tinkerbell's tinkle; Bewitched - Samantha's nose tinkle), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2005)
- Feb 11 Richard Jock Kinneir, British graphic designer (modern road signs), born in Hampshire, England (d. 1994)
Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007)
Feb 11 American novelist and playwright (Master of the Game, Bloodline, The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Feb 11 T. Nagi Reddy, Indian revolutionary (d. 1976)
- Feb 12 Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)
- Feb 12 Thomas Scherman, American conductor (Little Orchestra Society, 1947-75), born in New York City (d. 1979)
- Feb 14 Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician whose models for determining the chemical crystal structures vital for life revolutionized chemistry (Nobel 1985), born in New York City (d. 2011)
- Feb 14 Red Hickey, American football coach (HC SF 49ers 1959-63; devised shotgun formation), born in Clarksville, Arkansas (d. 2006)
- Feb 17 Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher (d. 2002)
- Feb 17 Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (color television), born in Guadalajara, Mexico (d. 1965)
- Feb 17 Whang-Od [Maria Ogga], Butbut-Filipina tattoo artist considered a National Living Treasure and the last living mambabatok, a traditional Kalinga tattooist who tattooed headhunters, likely born in Buscalan, Kalinga, Philippines [1]
- Feb 19 Carson McCullers, American novelist (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), born in Columbus, Georgia (d. 1967)
- Feb 19 Richard "Dick" Emery, British comedian and actor (Yellow Submarine, Loot, Baby Love), born in London, England (d. 1983)
- Feb 20 Frederick Page, English aircraft designer and executive (CEO British Aerospace Aircraft Group), born in Wimbledon, England (d. 2005)
- Feb 20 Phil Moore, American jazz pianist, arranger, and bandleader, born in Portland, Oregon (d. 1987) [1]
- Feb 21 Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (Meet Me In St. Louis; Ziegfeld Follies), born in Amsterdam, New York (d. 1996)
- Feb 21 Tadd Dameron, American jazz pianist, composer ("If You Could See Me Now"; "Lady Bird"), arranger (Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine) and bandleader, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1965)
- Feb 21 Victor Marijnen, Dutch politician (Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1963-65), born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1975)
- Feb 22 Jack Robertson, English cricketer (superb England batsman, played 11 Tests), born in London, England (d. 1996)
- Feb 22 Jane Bowles, American writer, born in New York City (d. 1973)
- Feb 24 Myra Taylor (née Render), American jazz singer ("Spider and the Fly"; Wild Women of Kansas City), songwriter, and actress, born in Bonner Springs, Kansas (d. 2011)
- Feb 24 William Fairbank, American physicist (superconductivity), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1989)
- Feb 25 Alex Gordon, Welsh architect (RIBA President), born in Ayr, Scotland (d. 1999)
Anthony Burgess (1917-1993)
Feb 25 British novelist and essayist (A Clockwork Orange), born in Harpurhey, Lancashire, England
- Feb 25 Asta Elstak, Surinamese-Dutch social worker, born in Suriname (d. 1994)
- Feb 25 Brenda Joyce [Betty Graffina Leabo], American actress (Tarzan, The Rains Came), born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri (d. 2009)
- Feb 26 Robert Taft Jr, American politician (Sen-R-Ohio), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1993)
- Feb 27 John Connally Jr, American politician, 39th Governor of Texas, and federal treasurer who was critically wounded during the assassination of Kennedy, born in Floresville, Texas (d. 1993)
- Feb 28 George Malcolm, British keyboard player and conductor (Westminster Cathedral Master of the Music, 1947-59), born in London, England (d. 1997)
- Feb 28 Hans Deutgen, Swedish archer (World C'ship gold individual 1947, 48, 49, 50; team 1948), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1989)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 5 Jaber II Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1860)
- Feb 5 Paul Rubens, English musical comedy composer, (Miss Hook of Holland), dies at 41
- Feb 6 Édouard Drumont, French anti-semite journalist, dies at 72
- Feb 9 Francis Allan, Australian cricket bowler (lefty in 1879 Aust-Eng Test), dies at 67
- Feb 10 Émile Pessard, French pianist, concert and comic opera composer, and teacher (Maurice Ravel, Jacques Ibert), dies at 73
- Feb 10 John William Waterhouse, British painter, dies of cancer at 67
- Feb 11 Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (b. 1872)
- Feb 15 Charles A van Ophuysen, Dutch orientalist, dies at 60
- Feb 16 Octave Mirbeau, French writer (Journal of a Lady's Maid), dies at 67
- Feb 17 Edmund Bishop, English Roman Catholic historian and Secretary of Thomas Carlyle, dies at 70
- Feb 18 Charles E Barber, US chief engraver (1879-1917), dies
- Feb 20 Leone Sextus Tollemache, British Army captain who was incorrectly alleged to have the longest English surname on record (Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache), dies in active service in WWI at 32
