Historical Events
"Von heute auf morgen"
Feb 1 Arnold Schoenberg's opera "Von heute auf morgen" ("From Today to Tomorrow") premieres at the Oper Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany
- Feb 3 The Indochinese Communist Party of Vietnam is established
Taft Resigns
Feb 3 William Howard Taft resigns as US chief justice for health reasons
- Feb 4 1st tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks, New Orleans
- Feb 5 5th Aliyah to Israel begins
- Feb 8 "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Benny Mereoff hits #1
- Feb 10 Grain Stabilization Corporation authorized by Congress
- Feb 15 Wenona Mustangs beat Toluca Wildcats in Illinois Basketball Tournament in 10 overtimes, 26-22
- Feb 17 French government of André Tardieu falls for the first time
- Feb 18 Cow flown & milked, milk sealed in paper containers & parachuted
- Feb 18 Luigi Pirandello's "Come Tu Mi Vuoi" premieres in Milan
Simple Simon
Feb 18 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's musical "Simple Simon" premieres in NYC
- Feb 18 US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
Green Pastures
Feb 21 Marc Connelly's play "Green Pastures" premieres in NYC
Cricket History
Feb 25 Brilliant West Indian cricket batsman George Headley completes twin tons (114 & 112) in 3rd Test win against England at Georgetown, British Guiana
- Feb 25 Check photographing device patented
- Feb 26 1st red & green traffic lights installed in Manhattan, NYC
- Feb 26 Marc Connelly's stage drama "The Green Pastures", bible stories through the eyes of Southern Black child, opens at Mansfield Theater, NYC; runs for 640 performances and wins a Pulitzer Prize
- Feb 26 West Indies make 1st Test Cricket win, by 289 runs over England
- Feb 27 Bouvet Island declared a Norwegian dependency
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Mario Beaulieu, Canadian politician (Senator for Quebec, 1990-94), born in Plantagenet, Ontario (d. 1998)
- Feb 1 Peter Tapsell, British Conservative Party politician (Member of Parliament, 1959-64 and 1966-2015), born in Hove, England (d. 2018)
- Feb 1 Shahabuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh, 1996-2001), born in Pemal, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Bangladesh)
- Feb 3 Gillian Ayres, British abstract painter and printmaker, born in Barnes, London (d. 2018)
- Feb 3 Joan Rice, British actress (His Majesty O'Keefe, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men), born in Derby, England (d. 1997)
- Feb 4 Jim Loscutoff, American basketball forward (NBA champion: 1957, 59–64; Boston Celtics), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2015)
- Feb 5 Ulf Söderblom, Finnish conductor (Finnish National Opera, 1973-93), and teacher, born in Turku, Finland (d. 2016)
- Feb 8 Alejandro Rey, Argentine-American actor and director (Carlos-Flying Nun), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1987)
- Feb 8 Arlan Stangeland, American politician (Rep-R-MN, 1977-1991), (d. 2013)
- Feb 8 Catherine Hardy Lavender, American 4x100m runner (Olympic gold 1952), born in Carroll County, Georgia (d. 2017)
- Feb 8 James Deetz, American anthropologist (d. 2000)
- Feb 8 Manuel Castillo, Andalusian classical pianist and composer, born in Seville, Spain (d. 2005)
- Feb 9 Emil Petrovics, Hungarian composer, born in Zrenjanin, Serbia (d. 2011)
- Feb 9 Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist (d. 2003)
- Feb 10 Peter Phillips, American classical composer, born in San Francisco, California
Robert Wagner (94 years old)
Feb 10 American actor (It Takes a Thief, Switch, Hart to Hart), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Feb 11 Alevtina Koltschina, USSR, cross coutry relay skier (Olympic gold 1960)
- Feb 11 Charles Dearnley, English church organist (Salisbury Cathedral; St Paul's Cathedral), and educator, born in Wolverhampton, England (d. 2000)
- Feb 11 Roy De Forest, American Painter (d. 2007)
- Feb 12 Arlen Specter, American Senator (Republican-PA, 1981- 2011), born in Wichita, Kansas (d. 2012)
- Feb 13 Dorothy "Dottie" McGuire, American pop vocalist (McGuire Sisters - "Sincerely"; "Sugartime"), born in Middletown, Ohio (d. 2012)
- Feb 13 Ernst Fuchs, Austrian artist (Vienna School of Fantastic Realism), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2015)
- Feb 14 Duncan Montgomery Stewart, principal (Lady Margaret Hall-Oxford)
- Feb 15 Christopher Payne, British police officer (Chief Constable of the Cleveland Constabulary, 1976-90), born in South London, England (d. 2019)
- Feb 15 Frank Navarro, American college football coach (Williams College, Columbia University, Princeton University), born in White Plains, New York (d. 2021)
- Feb 15 Nico Minardos, Greek-American actor (The Twilight Zone; Twelve Hours to Kill), born in Pangrati, Athens (d. 2011)
- Feb 16 Fred Cuming, British painter, chiefly of contemporary landscapes, born in London, England (d. 2022)
- Feb 16 Peggy King, American jazz and pop vocalist, former TV personality and actress (George Gobel Show), born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania
- Feb 17 Roger Craig, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1955, 59 - Brooklyn/LA Dodgers, 1964 St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (SD Padres, 1978-79; SF Giants, 1985-92), born in Durham, North Carolina (d. 2023)
- Feb 17 Ruth Rendell, English thriller writer (Inspector Wexford novels), born in South Woodford, Essex, England (d. 2015)
- Feb 17 Usko Merilainen, Finnish composer, born in Tampere, Finland (d. 2004)
- Feb 18 Gahan Wilson, American author and cartoonist known as the "Michelangelo of the Macabre", born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 2019) [1]
- Feb 18 Theodore Freeman, American aeronautical engineer. US Air Force officer, and NASA astronaut, born in Haverford, Pennsylvania (d. 1964)
- Feb 19 Gerald Sinstadt, English sports broadcaster and columnist (BBC Radio, ITV Grenada, BBC One; The Sentinel), born in Folkestone, England (d. 2021)
- Feb 19 John Frankenheimer, American film director (The Birdman of Alcatraz; The Manchurian Candidate), born in New York City (d. 2002)
- Feb 19 Virginia Kraft Payson American sports journalist (Sports Illustrated) and thoroughbred owner & breeder, born in New York City (d. 2023)
- Feb 20 Bill Walker, British MP
- Feb 20 Kevin Meates, New Zealand rugby union flanker (2 Tests; Canterbury), born in Greymouth, New Zealand (d. 2022)
- Feb 20 Willie Cunningham, Irish soccer defender (30 caps Northern Ireland; St Mirren, Leicester City, Dunfermline) and manager (Dunfermline, Falkirk, St Mirren), born in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland (d. 2007)
- Feb 21 Elizabeth Adams, American Beverly Hills madame and mentor to Heidi Fleiss, born in Manila, Philippines (d. 1995) [1]
- Feb 22 Allison Hayes, American model and actress (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), born in Charleston, West Virginia (d. 1977)
- Feb 22 James McGarrell, American painter, born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 2020)
- Feb 22 Jules van Neerven, Dutch economist, journalist, and editor (Limbourg Daily), born in Eindhoven, Netherlands (d. 2010)
- Feb 23 Bobby Dillon, American NFL defensive back (second to record 50 interceptions), born in Temple, Texas (d. 2019)
- Feb 23 Gerry Davis, British screenwriter (Dr Who) (d. 1991)
- Feb 23 Harry Boldt, German Fed Rep, equestrian dressage (Olympic gold 1976)
- Feb 23 Imre Gyöngyössy, Hungarian filmmaker (The Revolt of Job), born in Pécs, Hungary (d. 1994)
- Feb 23 Jef Geeraerts, Flemish writer (Black Venus) and crime novelist, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 2015)
- Feb 23 Johnny Seven [Fetto], American actor (Ironside, Amy Prentiss), born in New York City (d. 2010)
- Feb 24 Barbara Lawrence, American model, actress, and real estate agent (Oklahoma!, A Letter to Three Wives), born in Carnegie, Oklahoma (d. 2013)
- Feb 25 Erica Pedretti (née Schefter), Moravian-Swiss writer (Engste Heimat), and sculptor, born in Šternberk, Czechoslovakia (d. 2022)
- Feb 25 Wendy Beckett, South African British nun and TV art critic, born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 2018)
- Feb 26 Doug Sandom, British drummer (The Who, 1962-64), born in Greenford, England (d. 2019)
- Feb 26 Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (Budapest, 3rd place - 1956), born in Leningrad, Russia (d. 2005)
- Feb 26 Vic Janowicz, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1950, Ohio State; NFL: Washington Redskins), born in Elyria, Ohio (d. 1996)
Joanne Woodward (94 years old)
Feb 27 American actress, producer, activist, and philanthropist (3 Faces of Eve, Rachel), born in Thomasville, Georgia
- Feb 27 Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist, researcher and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2014)
- Feb 27 Peter Stone, American writer (d. 2003)
- Feb 28 Bruce Dawe, Australian poet
- Feb 28 Diane Holland, British actress and dancer (Crossroads - "Sarah"; Hi-de-Hi! - "Yvonne"), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 2009)
- Feb 28 Frank Malzone, MLB player (Boston Red Sox), born in the Bronx, New York (d. 2015)
- Feb 28 Leon Cooper, American physicist who co-developed the BCS theory of superconductivity (Nobel 1972), born in the Bronx, New York
- Feb 28 Marty Grosz, American swing and dixieland jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer, born in Berlin, Germany
Famous Deaths
- Feb 2 Sara Louisa Oberholtz, American economist and social reformer (children's school saving banks), dies at 88
- Feb 6 Eva Strittmatter, German writer (Tinko), dies at 17
- Feb 22 Godfried Coenraad van Daalen, Dutch general (controversial Governor of Aceh accused of brutality), dies at 66
- Feb 23 Horst Wessel, German nazi lyricist (Fahne Hoch), dies at 22
- Feb 23 Mabel Normand [Muriel Fortescue], American silent-film actress, director and comedienne (Mickey), dies of tuberculosis at 35
- Feb 24 Jacobus of Looy, Dutch writer and painter (Death of My Cat), dies at 74
- Feb 26 Rafael Merry del Val, British-born Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal, dies at 64
- Feb 28 C. K. Scott-Moncrieff, Scottish writer and translator, dies at 40
