Historical Events
- Feb 2 1st siyyum of Talmud celebrated by Daf Yomi students
- Feb 2 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)
"Apex of Moronia"
Feb 3 Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of journalist H. L. Mencken, after he calls the state the "apex of moronia"
Hawke's Bay Earthquake
Feb 3 New Zealand's worst natural disaster, the Hawke's Bay earthquake, kills 256 and injures thousands, devastating Napier and the Hawke's Bay region
- Feb 4 National League adopts a deader baseball
Campbell's Blue Bird Record
Feb 5 Malcolm Campbell sets world land speed record speed of 246.08 mph driving his famous Blue Bird car at Daytona Beach, Florida
America's Sweetheart
Feb 10 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's musical "America's Sweetheart" premieres on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, NYC
Dracula
Feb 14 The original "Dracula" film starring Bela Lugosi as the titular vampire, is released
- Feb 15 Spring training site of NY Yankees in St Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager
- Feb 16 Extreme right wing politician Pehr Evind Svinhufvud becomes President of Finland
- Feb 17 Hockey's Hershey Bears (now with AHL) 1st game
- Feb 20 Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge
- Feb 21 Alka Seltzer introduced
- Feb 21 Chicago White Sox & NY Giants play 1st exhibition night game
Event of Interest
Feb 28 British politician Oswald Mosley founds the New Party
- Feb 28 Canadian Rugby Union adopts the forward pass
Famous Birthdays
Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007)
Feb 1 Russian politician and 1st President of Russian Federation (1991-99), born in Butka, Sverdlovsk,
- Feb 1 Madeleine Berthod, Swiss alpine skier (Olympic gold women's downhill 1956), born in Château d'Oex, Vaud, Switzerland
- Feb 2 Dries van Agt, Dutch politician (Prime Minister (CDA), 1977-82), born in Geldrop, Netherlands (d. 2024)
- Feb 2 Glynn Edwards, English television actor, born in Penang, Malaysia (d. 2018)
- Feb 2 Judith Viorst, American author
- Feb 2 Les Dawson, English comedian and actor (The Dawson Watch, Blankety Blank), born in 1931, Manchester, England (d. 1993)
- Feb 3 Charanjit Singh, Indian field hockey captain (Olympic gold 1964, silver 1960), born in Una, Himachal Pradesh, India (d. 2022)
- Feb 4 Barry Feinstein, American portrait photographer and album cover designer (Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul & Mary; Janis Joplin; George Harrison), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2011)
- Feb 4 Isabel Martínez de Perón [Maria Martinez], wife of Juan Perón and President of Argentina (1974-76), born in La Rioja, Argentina
- Feb 6 Fred Trueman, England cricket fast bowler (England 67 Tests, 307 wickets), born in Stainton, England (d. 2006)
- Feb 6 Mamie Van Doren, American actress, model, singer, and sex symbol (Teacher's Pet, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters), born in Rowena, South Dakota
- Feb 6 Rip Torn [Elmore Rual Torn Jr], American actor, voice artist and comedian (Cross Creek, The Larry Sanders Show), born in Temple, Texas (d. 2019)
- Feb 7 Gloria Talbott, American film and television actress, sometimes known as "the Scream Queen" for her work in B-movies, born in Glendale, California (d. 2000)
James Dean (1931-1955)
Feb 8 American actor and cultural icon (Giant, Rebel Without a Cause), and 1st actor to be posthumously nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award, born in Marion, Indiana
- Feb 8 Shadia [Fatmah Ahmed Kamal Shaker], Egyptian actress (Midaq Alley; The Thief and the Dogs), and singer, born in Sharqia Governorate, Egypt, birth date disputed (d. 2017)
- Feb 9 Harry Halbreich, German-Belgian musicologist (Arthur Honegger, Bohuslav Martinů), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2016)
- Feb 9 Josef Masopust, Czech soccer midfielder (63 caps Czechoslovakia; Dukla Prague 386 games) and manager (Czechoslovakia, Dukla Prague, Zbrojovka Brno, Hasselt, FK Pelikán Děčín), born in Střimice, Czechoslovakia (d. 2015)
- Feb 9 Robert Morris, American sculptor and painter, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2018)
- Feb 9 Xavier Benguerel, Catalan composer (Llibre Vermell; Jo, Dalí), born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 2017)
- Feb 10 Dick Towers, American college football coach (Southern Illinois University 1967-73) and executive (AD Kansas State University 1981-85), born in Kansas City, Kansas (d. 2023)
- Feb 10 Gerhard Rosenfeld, German opera and film score composer, born in Königsberg (d. 2003)
- Feb 10 James E. West, American engineer and inventor of the electret microphone, born in Prince Edward County, Virginia [1]
- Feb 10 Makoto Shinohara, Japanese composer (Yumeji (Ways of Dreams); To Rain and Wind), born in Osaka, Japan
- Feb 10 Thomas Bernhard, Austrian novelist, playwright and poet whose work some describe as "the most significant literary achievement since World War II", born in Heerlen, Netherlands (d. 1989)
- Feb 11 Bobby Lamb, Irish jazz trombonist, composer, and conductor, born in Cork, Irish Free State
- Feb 11 Larry Merchant, American boxing author and analyst (International Boxing Hall of Fame; HBO, Showtime), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Feb 12 Cliff Gustafson, American College Baseball HOF coach (College World Series 1975, 83; Collegiate Coach of the Year 1983; University of Texas, Austin), born in Kenedy, Texas (d. 2023)
- Feb 12 Constance Morella, American politician (Rep-R-Maryland 1987-2003), born in Somerville, Massachusetts
- Feb 12 Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author (Hugh Pine books; Murder By Remote Control), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2008) [1]
- Feb 14 Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Canadian Hockey HOF right wing (11 x NHL All-star; 6 x Stanley Cup - Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers) and coach (NY Rangers, Atlanta Flames, Montreal Canadiens), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2001)
- Feb 14 Brian Kelly, American actor (Flipper, Straightaway), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2005)
- Feb 14 Phyllis McGuire, American pop vocalist (McGuire Sisters - "Sincerely"; "Sugartime"), born in Middletown, Ohio (d. 2020)
- Feb 15 Geoff Edwards, American television game show host, (d. 2014)
- Feb 15 W K Reid, British ombudsman
- Feb 15 [Patricia] Claire Bloom, British actress (Charly, Look Back in Anger), born in London, England
- Feb 16 Alfred Kolleritsch, Austrian poet and literary journalist, born in Eichfeld, Austria (d. 2020)
- Feb 16 Bobby Collins, Scottish soccer midfielder (31 caps; Celtic, Everton, Leeds), born in Govanhill, Scotland (d. 2014)
- Feb 16 Gamini Goonesena, Sri Lankan cricket leg-spinner (all-rounder for Ceylon, Notts), born in Colombo, Ceylon (d. 2011)
- Feb 16 George E. Sangmeister, American politician (Rep-D-Illinois 1989-95), born in Frankfort, Illinois (d. 2007)
- Feb 16 Ken Takakura [Goichi Oda], Japanese actor and singer (Black Rain, Story of Antarctic), born in Nakama, Fukuoka (d. 2014)
- Feb 17 Buddy Ryan, American football coach (Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals), born in Frederick, Oklahoma (d. 2016)
- Feb 18 Bob St. Clair, American NFL football player, 1953-63 (San Francisco 49ers), known as "The Geek", born in San Francisco, California (d. 2015)
- Feb 18 Dieter Schönbach, German composer, and music director (Bochum Theater, 1959–73), born in Stolp, Pomerania, Germany (d. 2012)
- Feb 18 Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (B.C., Wizard of Id), born in Endicott, New York (d. 2007)
- Feb 18 Maxwell Thurman, American US Army General and chemical engineer, born in High Point, North Carolina (d. 1995)
- Feb 18 Swraj Paul, Indian/British industrial/multi-millionaire (Caparo)
Toni Morrison (1931-2019)
Feb 18 American writer (Tar Baby, Beloved, Song of Solomon), first African American woman to win a Nobel Prize (2010), born in Lorain, Ohio
- Feb 23 Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist and sculptor (Great American Nudes) (d. 2004)
- Feb 24 Brian Close, cricketer (played for England between 1949 & 1976), born in Rawden, West Riding (d. 2015)
- Feb 24 Dominic Chianese, American actor, singer, and musician (The Sopranos, The Godfather Part II), born in The Bronx, New York
- Feb 24 Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi, Japanese teacher 9Rinzai/Soto lines of Zen Buddhism), born in Otawara, Japan (d. 1995)
- Feb 24 Inge Bernstein (née Schwartz), British judge, born in Vienna Austria (d. 2022)
- Feb 24 Lev Vasilyevich Vorobyov, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 13), born in Borovichi, Russia (d. 2010)
- Feb 24 Marta Marzotto, Italian countess and designer, born in Reggio Emilia (d. 2016)
- Feb 25 Christopher George, American actor (The Rat Patrol; Chisum; The Immortal), and US Marine Corp veteran, born in Royal Oak, Michigan (d. 1983)
- Feb 25 Edward Kellett-Bowman, British businessman and politician (Member of European Parliament, 1979-84 & 1988-99), born in Leeds, England (d. 2022)
- Feb 25 John Robin Stephenson, British military officer and cricket administrator (Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), 1987-94), born in Hove, Sussex, England (d. 2003)
- Feb 26 Ally MacLeod, Scottish soccer manager (Scotland, Ayr United, Aberdeen, Motherwell, Airdrie, Q of the South) and left wing (Blackburn Rovers, Hibernian, Third Lanark), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2004)
- Feb 26 Francisco Kroepfl, Swabian-Argentinian contemporary classical and electro-acoustic composer, born in Timișoara, Romania (d. 2021)
- Feb 26 Robert Novak 'the Prince of Darkness', American political columnist and news show host (CNN-Evans & Novak), born in Joliet, Illinois (d. 2009)
- Feb 27 Andrew Sloan, British police officer (Chief Constable of Strathcourt), and investigation innovator, born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland (d. 2009)
- Feb 28 Gavin MacLeod [Allan See], American actor (The Mary Tyler Moore Show - "Murray"; The Love Boat - "Captain Stubing"; McHale's Navy - "Happy"), born in Mt Kisco, New York (d. 2021)
- Feb 28 Gustav Thoni, Italian skier (World Cup-1971, 72, 73, 75)
- Feb 28 Iajuddin Ahmed, Bikrampur, British Raj, President (Bangladesh, 2002-2009), (d. 2012)
- Feb 28 Jack Thieuloy, French writer, born in Beaucaire (d. 1996)
- Feb 28 Peter Alliss, English golfer (Ryder Cup 1957 GB winners) and author, course designer and television presenter, commentator (BBC, ESPN, ABC Sports), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2020)
Famous Weddings
Amelia Earhart
Feb 7 American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (33) weds publisher George Palmer Putnam (43) in Noank, Connecticut
Famous Deaths
- Feb 2 Theodor Batthynyi, Hungarian contra-revolutionary, dies at 71
- Feb 3 Hans Schardt, Swiss geologist, dies at 72
- Feb 6 Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and freedom fighter, dies at 69
- Feb 7 Ion Vidu, Romanian composer and conductor, dies at 67
- Feb 11 Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (steam turbine), dies at 76
- Feb 12 Samedbey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijan Russian general (b. 1855)
- Feb 18 Milan Šufflay, Croatian historian and politician, dies at 51
Nellie Melba (1861-1931)
Feb 23 Australian operatic soprano and face of the Australian 100 dollar note, dies at 69
