Historical Events
- Feb 1 "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series premieres on ABC TV
- Feb 1 62nd Rose Bowl: #11 UCLA beats #1 Ohio State, 23-10
"The Sonny & Cher Show"
Feb 1 Sonny & Cher resume TV variety show, despite real-life divorce; now titled "The Sonny & Cher Show"
- Feb 2 "Rich Little Show" debuts on NBC-TV
"The Honeymooners Second Honeymoon"
Feb 2 "The Honeymooners Second Honeymoon" airs on TV
Hua Guofeng Premier
Feb 4 Hua Guofeng becomes Premier of the People's Republic of China
- Feb 4 US Federal Judge Oliver upholds Seitz's decision on Andy Messersmith free agency
- Feb 4 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Feb 4 XII Winter Olympic Games open in Innsbruck, Austria
- Feb 5 Australia complete 5-1 series drubbing of West Indies
- Feb 5 Last day of Test cricket for West Indian spin bowler Lance Gibbs & Australian opening batsman Ian Redpath, 6th Test in Melbourne
"This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
Feb 6 George Harrison releases single "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
- Feb 7 FCC raids & shuts down pirate radio station WCPR (Brooklyn New York)
- Feb 7 Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" peaks at #9
Sittler's 10 Points
Feb 7 Toronto center Darryl Sittler sets NHL record with 10 points in a Maple Leafs' 11-4 win over Boston at Maple Leaf Gardens; 6 goals, 4 assists
- Feb 7 World's then largest telescope at 605 cm, the BTA-6 begins operations in the USSR
Taxi Driver
Feb 8 "Taxi Driver" directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, premieres in NYC (Palme d'Or 1976)
- Feb 8 Largest crowd at Cleveland Coliseum (Cavs vs Wash-21,130)
- Feb 9 Oscar Charleston selected to baseball's Hall of Fame
- Feb 11 Clifford Alexander Jr confirmed as 1st African American US Secretary of Army
- Feb 11 John Curry wins Britain's first Olympic gold medal in figure skating at Innsbruck Winter Games; finishes men's singles ahead of Soviet skater Vladimir Kovalyov and Canadian Toller Cranston
- Feb 12 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Olympic Gold
Feb 13 American Dorothy Hamill wins the free skate to clinch the women's figure-skating gold medal at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics
- Feb 13 Major-General Olusegun Obasanjo becomes military ruler of Nigeria
- Feb 13 Peter Casserly of NZ hand-sheers record 353 lambs in 9 hours
- Feb 14 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Daytona 500
Feb 15 18th Daytona 500: David Pearson makes contact with Richard Petty just yards from finish line into a wall and to infield; Petty stalls whilst Pearson restarts to win
- Feb 15 XII Winter Olympic Games close in Innsbruck, Austria
- Feb 17 Cliff Jones' theatrical rock opera "Rockabye Hamlet", starring Beverly D'Angelo, opens at Minskoff Theater, NYC; runs for 7 performances
- Feb 17 Macau adopts constitution (Organic Law of Macau)
- Feb 17 NZ scores their 1st innings win in Test Cricket, v India
Sports History
Feb 17 Richard Hadlee takes 7-23 New Zealand v India, his 1st match-winning spell
- Feb 19 Frente Polisario forms Democratic Republic of Sahara
Ali KOs Coopman
Feb 20 Muhammad Ali's bout against Belgian boxer Jean Pierre Coopman in San Juan, Puerto Rico is often regarded as a glorified sparring session; Ali wins by 5th round KO
- Feb 20 The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
- Feb 21 Cardinal Willebrands installed as Archbishop of Utrecht
- Feb 21 Cliff Jones' theatrical rock opera "Rockabye Hamlet", starring Beverly D'Angelo, closes at Minskoff Theater, NYC, after 7 performances
- Feb 23 Owners announce spring training won't open without a labor contract
- Feb 24 Cuba adopts its constitution
- Feb 24 Jules Feiffer's "Knock Knock" premieres in NYC
Event of Interest
Feb 24 Leonid Brezhnev opens 25th congress of CPSU
Meeting of Interest
Feb 27 Final meeting between Mao Zedong and Richard Nixon
Grammy Awards
Feb 28 18th Grammy Awards: "Love Will Keep Us Together" Record of the Year; Natalie Cole 1st African American to win Best New Artist
- Feb 28 Spain withdraws from Western Sahara, leaving Ceuta & Melilla (Spanish Morocco) as the last European possessions in Africa
- Feb 29 ABC-TV broadcasts premiere of 1965's hit "The Sound of Music"
- Feb 29 American driver Richard Petty wins the only Winston Cup race run on Leap Day, taking the Carolina 500 at Rockingham by 2 laps over Darrell Waltrip
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Anne Mäkinen, Finnish soccer central midfielder (118 caps; AIK, Stockholm), born in Helsinki, Finland
- Feb 1 Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Icelandic politician (Prime Minister of Iceland 2017-), born in Reykjavík, Iceland
- Feb 1 Mat Rogers, Australian rugby league winger (11 Tests, Cronulla Sharks) and rugby union utility back (45 caps; NSW Waratahs), born in Sydney, Australia
- Feb 2 James Hickman, British swimmer (5 x World C'ship [SC] gold 200m butterfly), born in Stockport, England
Isla Fisher (48 years old)
Feb 3 Australian actress (Arrested Development, The Great Gatsby), born in Muscat, Oman
- Feb 4 Cam'ron [Cameron Ezike Gile], American rapper, born in East Harlem, New York City
Chen Kun (48 years old)
Feb 4 Chinese actor (Painted Skin), and singer ("Power to Go"), born in Chongqing, China
- Feb 5 Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor, born in Mumbai, India
- Feb 5 Brian Moorman, American football player, born in Wichita, Kansas
- Feb 5 John Aloisi, Australian footballer, born in Adelaide, Australia
- Feb 5 Nancy Feber, Belgian tennis star (1995 Puerto Rico), born in Antwerp, Belgium
- Feb 5 Tony Jaa, Thai actor and martial artist, born in Surin, Thailand
- Feb 6 Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast (Olympics, 1992), born in Houston, Texas
- Feb 6 Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder, born in Bern, Switzerland
- Feb 7 Sreto Ristić, German footballer
- Feb 8 Holly Manthei, American soccer midfielder/forward (23 caps; FIFA Women's World Cup bronze 1995), born in Edina, Minnesota
- Feb 8 Jim Parque, American baseball pitcher (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Norwalk, California
- Feb 8 Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer and captain of Bangladesh, born in Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Charlie Day (48 years old)
Feb 9 American actor (Charlie Kelly-"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"; "Pacific Rim") and producer, born in New York City
- Feb 9 Georgios Korakakis, Greek footballer
- Feb 9 Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican Baseball HOF right fielder/DH (9 × MLB All-Star; AL MVP 2004; 8 × Silver Slugger Award; Montreal Expos; Anaheim/LA Angels), born in Nizao, Dominican Republic
- Feb 10 Keeley Hawes, British actress, born in Marylebone, United Kingdom
- Feb 10 Kev Brown, American rapper & hip hop producer, born in Landover, Maryland
- Feb 10 Lance Berkman, American baseball player, born in Waco, Texas
- Feb 11 André Wickström, Finland-Swedish comedian and actor, born in Sipoo, Finland
- Feb 11 Brice Beckham, American actor (Wesley-Mr Belvedare), born in Long Beach, California
- Feb 11 Gretchen Parlato, American jazz singer, and songwriter (The Lost And Found), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 11 Peter Hayes, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Weapon of Choice"), born in New York Mills, Minnesota
- Feb 11 Tony Battie, American NBA forward (Denver Nuggets), born in Dallas, Texas
- Feb 12 Anna Benson, US model, born in Mableton, United States
- Feb 12 Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby union footballer, born in Paraparaumu, New Zealand
- Feb 12 Christopher Pettiet, American actor (Young Riders), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 12 Silvia Saint, Czech actress, born in Kyjov, Czech Republic
- Feb 13 Dave Padden, Canadian heavy metal vocalist and guitarist (Annihilator; Terror Syndrome), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
- Feb 13 Feist [Leslie Feist], American Canadian Juno Award-winning folk-pop singer-songwriter and guitarist ("1234"), born in Amherst, Nova Scotia
- Feb 13 Martin Sastre, Uruguayan artist, born in Montevideo, Uruguay
- Feb 14 Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer (Leaves' Eyes), born in Stavanger, Norway
Brandon Boyd (48 years old)
Feb 15 American rock singer (Incubus - "Make Yourself"), born in Van Nuys, California
- Feb 15 Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist, born in Torrelavega, Spain
- Feb 15 Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American drummer (The Killers), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Feb 16 Eric Byrnes, American baseball outfielder and broadcaster (Oakland A's, Arizona Diamondbacks), born in Redwood City, California
- Feb 16 Joe Odagiri, Japanese actor
- Feb 16 Kyo [Tooru Nishimura], Japanese heavy metal singer and lyricist (Dir En Grey), born in Kyoto, Japan
- Feb 17 Kelly Carlson, American actress
- Feb 17 Scott Williamson, American baseball player
- Feb 18 Chanda Rubin, American tennis player (1996 Australian Open doubles), born in Lafayette, Louisiana
- Feb 18 Jason Podollan, Canadian NHL center (Florida Panthers), born in Vernon, Canada
- Feb 20 Ed Graham, British drummer (The Darkness, 2000-14), born in Great Yarmouth, England
- Feb 20 Fulvia di Domenico, Italian jazz and world music singer-songwriter, born in Rome, Italy
- Feb 20 Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
- Feb 20 Rohan Gavaskar, Indian cricket batsman (11 ODIs; son of Sunil Gavaskar), born in Kanpur, India
- Feb 21 Robin Confer, American soccer forward (8 caps; Raleigh Wings, NJ Lady Stallions, Boston Breakers), born in Clearwater, Florida
- Feb 21 Ryan Smyth, Canadian NHL left wing (Edmonton Oilers), born in Banff, Canada
- Feb 22 Faan Rautenbach, South African rugby player, born in Bethlehem, South Africa
- Feb 23 Jeff O'Neill, Canadian NHL center (Hartford Whalers), born in Richmond Hill, Ontario
Kelly Macdonald (48 years old)
Feb 23 Scottish actress (Nanny McPhee, No Country for Old Men), born in Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Feb 23 Lorne Balfe, Scottish composer and record producer of film, television, and video game scores (Mission Impossible - Fallout; Tour of Duty; The Crown; Genius; Argylle), born in Inverness, Scotland
- Feb 23 Scott Elarton, American baseball player, born in Lamar, Colorado
- Feb 24 Bradley McGee, Australian cyclist
- Feb 24 Crista Flanagan, American television comedian
- Feb 24 Eric Griffin, American heavy metal rock guitarist (Genitorturers) and bassist (Murderdolls), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Feb 24 Matt Skiba, American punk rock singer-songwriter (Blink-182, 2015'22; Alkaline Trio; Heavens), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Feb 24 Zach Johnson, American golfer (Masters 2007, British Open 2015), born in Iowa City, Iowa
Rashida Jones (48 years old)
Feb 25 American actress (Parks and Recreation), writer, model, and musician, born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 25 Samaki Walker, NBA forward (Dallas Mavericks)
- Feb 26 Chad Urmston, American rock-ska-reggae singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (Dispatch; State Radio), born in Sherborn, Massachusetts
- Feb 26 Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver, born in Athens, Greece
- Feb 27 Tony Gonzalez, American football tight end (KC Chiefs), born in Torrance, California
- Feb 28 Ali Larter, American actress and model
- Feb 28 Angie Kennedy, Australian swimmer (World C'ship SC gold 4×100m medley 1995; Olympic silver 1996), born in Nambour, Australia
- Feb 28 Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Canadian actor
Ja Rule (48 years old)
Feb 29 American rapper (Between Me and You, Always on Time) and actor, born in New York City
- Feb 29 Katalin Kovács, Hungarian canoeist (Olympic gold K-2 500m 2004, 2008; K-4 500m 2012; 30 x gold ICF Canoe Sprint World C'ships), born in Budapest, Hungary
Famous Weddings
Gloria Swanson
Feb 2 Actress Gloria Swanson (76) weds writer William Dufty (60)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Edgar Pangborn, American sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy), dies at 66
- Feb 1 George Whipple, American scientist and Nobel Prize Laureate, dies at 97
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976)
Feb 1 German physicist who discovered the uncertainty principle (Nobel 1932), dies of kidney cancer at 74
- Feb 1 William Lawther, English union leader (National Union of Mine Workers 1939-54), dies at 86
- Feb 2 Erling Kjellsby, Norwegian organist, educator and composer, dies at 75
- Feb 2 Harry Elliott, England cricket wicket-keeper (4 Tests, 11 dismissals; Derbyshire CCC), dies at 84
- Feb 2 Johan Kaart, Dutch actor (My Fair Lady), dies at 78
- Feb 2 Maurice Jacobson, British concert pianist, composer, and music publisher, dies at 80
- Feb 5 Roger Livesey, Welsh actor (Drum, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp), dies from bowel cancer at 69
- Feb 5 Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley and His Comets) (b. 1926)
- Feb 6 Ritwik Ghatak, Bengali filmmaker (Titash Ekti Nadir Naam), dies at 50
- Feb 6 Vince Guaraldi, American jazz pianist and composer ("Cast Your Fate to the Wind"; Peanuts TV specials), dies of a heart attack at 47
- Feb 9 Percy Faith, Canadian-American pop and easy listening composer and bandleader ("Theme from A Summer Place"), dies at 67
- Feb 11 Alexander Lippisch, German scientist and pioneer of aerodynamics, dies at 81
- Feb 11 Charles "Charlie" Naughton, Scottish actor (Frozen Limits), dies at 89
- Feb 11 Frank Arnau [Heinrich Schmitt], German crime fiction writer, dies at 81
- Feb 11 Lee J. Cobb [Leo Jacoby], American actor (Virginian, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront), dies from a heart attack at 64
- Feb 12 Clifton Williams, American composer (The Ramparts; Sinfonians), dies from cancer at 52
- Feb 12 Sal Mineo, American actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause), stabbed at 37
- Feb 13 Alice "Lily" Pons, French-American coloratura soprano opera singer (Metropolitan Opera, 1931-60) and actress (That Girl From Paris), dies of pancreatic cancer at 77
- Feb 13 Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian military ruler, assassinated at 37
- Feb 17 Jean Servais, Belgian actor (Le Plaisir, Every Man is My Enemy), dies from heart failure at 65
- Feb 18 Anton Betzner, writer, dies at 81
- Feb 18 Eddie Dowling, American actor (Rainbow Man, Anywhere USA), dies at 80
- Feb 18 Joseph Henabery, actor and director (Cobra), dies at 88
- Feb 20 Kathryn Kuhlman, religious leader/faith healer, dies
- Feb 20 René Cassin, French jurist and judge (Nobel Peace Prize 1968), dies at 88
- Feb 22 Angela Baddeley, English actress (Speckled Band), dies at 71
- Feb 22 Florence Ballard, American pop and R&B singer (The Supremes, 1959-67 - "Buttered Popcorn"; "Where Did Our Love Go"), dies of a heart attack at 32
- Feb 22 Michael Polanyi, Hungarian-English chemist, economist and philosopher (claimed all knowledge relied on personal judgments), dies at 84
- Feb 23 John Forest "Fuzzy" Knight, American stage and screen actor, noted as sidekick in Westerns (Oklahoma Annie; Cowboy & the Lady), dies at 74
- Feb 23 L. S. Lowry, British painter of industrial scenes, dies at 88
- Feb 24 Charles Wilfred Orr, English pianist and composer (settings of A.E. Housman poems), dies at 82
- Feb 24 H. Allen Smith, American humorist and author (Low Man on Totem Pole), dies at 69
- Feb 24 Julian Rivero, American actor (Son of Oklahoma, Via Pony Express), dies at 85
- Feb 26 Frieda Inescort, Scottish-American stage and screen actress (Hay Fever; Pride and Prejudice (1940)), dies from complications of multiple sclerosis at 74
Year of the Rabbit
Year of the Dragon
Year of the Snake
Year of the Horse
Year of the Goat/Sheep
Year of the Monkey