Historical Events
De Klerk's Mandela, ANC Promise
Feb 2 South African President F. W. de Klerk promises to free Nelson Mandela & legalizes ANC & 60 other political organisations
Strawberry to Rehab
Feb 3 Darryl Strawberry voluntarily enters Smither Center for Alcohol rehabilitation
Shoemaker Retires
Feb 3 Jockey Bill Shoemaker (58), retires after 40,350 horse race
- Feb 4 10 Israeli tourists murdered near Cairo
- Feb 4 Anders Holmertz swims world record 400 m freestyle (3:40.81)
- Feb 4 Danny Everett runs world record 400m indoor (45:04)
- Feb 4 Lyudmila Narozhilenko runs world record 60m hurdles indoor (7.69)
- Feb 4 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 27-21; MVP: Jerry Gray, LA Rams, DB
Hadlee's 400th Test Wicket
Feb 4 Richard Hadlee takes his 400th Test Cricket wicket (Sanjay Manjrekar)
- Feb 4 St Petersburg Pelicans beat West Palm Beach Tropics 12-4 to win 1st Senior Professional Baseball Association Championship
- Feb 5 Notre Dame becomes 1st team to sell its game to a major network (NBC)
Hull Equals Father's 50 Goals
Feb 6 Brett Hull becomes 1st son of NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby Hull) to also score 50 goals
- Feb 6 Groundbreaking begins on Baltimore Orioles' new $102 million stadium
- Feb 6 Steve Briers of Wales recites entire lyrics of Queen's album "A Night At The Opera" in 9 minutes 58.44 seconds backwards!
- Feb 7 Karachi police kill 22 anti-nationalistic demonstrators
- Feb 7 Lisa Leslie of Morningside HS in Inglewood California scores 101 in 1st half, South Torrance HS decides not to play 2nd half & loses 102-24
- Feb 7 USSR Communist party agrees to allow opposition political parties
- Feb 8 "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine
- Feb 8 David Hares play "Racing Demon" premieres in London at the National Theatre
- Feb 9 "Bradys" return to TV for 6 episodes on CBS TV
- Feb 9 40th Berlin International Film Festival: "Music Box" and "Larks on a String" win the Golden Bear (tie)
- Feb 9 Doina Melinte runs world indoor record 1.5k (4:00:27) & mile (4:17:13)
- Feb 9 Namibia's constitution ratified
- Feb 9 Spacecraft Galileo flies by Venus at an altitude of 10,000 miles (16,000 km) in a gravity assist maneuver to gain speed on its way to Jupiter [1]
- Feb 10 6th Largest wrestling crowd (63,900-Tokyo Dome)
- Feb 10 Perrier Water pulls product from shelf due to benzine in water
De Klerk Frees Mandela
Feb 10 South African President F. W. de Klerk announces Nelson Mandela will be freed on February 11th
- Feb 10 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jill Trenary
NBA All-Star Game
Feb 11 40th NBA All-Star Game, Miami Arena, Miami, FL: East beats West, 130-113; MVP: Magic Johnson, LA Lakers, F
Boxing Title Fight
Feb 11 In a huge upset, James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson in 10th round in Tokyo, Japan to win the world heavyweight boxing title
- Feb 11 Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years imprisonment in South Africa
Sports History
Feb 11 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
Music Concert
Feb 12 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held in Beverly Hills, California; performers include: Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, Don Henley, and Bruce Hornsby
- Feb 13 50 killed at Inkatha-UDF battle in Natal, South Africa
Sports History
Feb 13 Larry Bird (Celtics) ends NBA free throw streak of 71 games
- Feb 13 US, Britain & France give Germany OK to reunify
- Feb 14 Perrier recalls 160 million bottles of sparkling water after traces of benzene, a carcinogen, are found in some
- Feb 14 Space probe Voyager 1 takes a photograph of the entire solar system, the images transmitted in real-time with earth a 'pale blue dot'
- Feb 15 Baseball owners lock out players
Daytona 500
Feb 18 32nd Daytona 500: Derrike Cope wins after Dale Earnhardt shreds right rear tyre on last lap
- Feb 19 Police kill 8 demonstrators for multi party system in Nepal
- Feb 19 Soyuz TM-9 lands
Grammy Awards
Feb 21 "The Batman Theme" by Danny Elfman wins Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition at 32nd Annual Grammy Awards
- Feb 21 32nd Grammy Awards: "Wind Beneath My Wings"; "Nick of Time" win
- Feb 22 1st day India v NZ cricket at Auckland NZ 5-78 at lunch, 9-387 stumps
- Feb 23 Ian Smith 173* NZ v India, 136 balls, world record for no 9 bat
- Feb 23 “Hold On” single released by En Vogue (Billboard Song of the Year 1990)
- Feb 25 Australia beat Pakistan 2-0 to win cricket's World Series Cup
- Feb 25 Nicaraguans votes out Sandinistas
Music History
Feb 25 On a BBC taped interview, rock star Stevie Nicks breaks down, saying that she will never have children & no man can stand her for long
- Feb 26 The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
- Feb 26 USSR agrees to withdraw all 73,500 troops from Czech by July, 1991
- Feb 27 "Hold On" single released by Wilson Phillips (Billboard Song of the Year 1990)
- Feb 27 Exxon Corp and Exxon Shipping are indicted on 5 criminal counts (Valdez)
Black Tot Day
Feb 27 Final day of the rum ration in the Royal New Zealand Navy
- Feb 28 Dutch police seize 3,000 kg of cocaine
- Feb 28 US 65th manned space mission STS 36 (Atlantis 6) launches into orbit
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Laura Marling, British singer-songwriter, born in Eversley, England
- Feb 2 Julia Fox, Italian-American actress and model (Uncut Gems), born in Milan, Italy
- Feb 3 Callum Huggan, Scottish marimbist and percussionist, born in Lanarkshire, Scotland
- Feb 3 Cody Newton Gifford, American write, producer, son of Kathie Lee & Frank Gifford, born in New York City
- Feb 3 Sean Kingston, American reggae rapper ("Beautiful Girls"), born in Miami, Florida
- Feb 4 Haruka Tomatsu, Japanese Seiyū, born in Ichinomiya, Aichi, Japan
- Feb 4 Zach King, American internet personality (TikTok, YouTube), filmmaker and illusionist, born in Portland, Oregon
- Feb 5 Charlbi Dean [Kriek], South African actress (Spud films), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2022)
- Feb 6 Dominic Sherwood, English actor (Christian Ozera-Vampire Academy; Jeff Murphy-Partner Track), born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
- Feb 7 Seán McLoughlin [Jacksepticeye], Irish Youtuber, born in Athlone, Ireland
- Feb 7 Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player (Tampa Bay Lightning), born in Markham, Ontario
Bethany Hamilton (34 years old)
Feb 8 American pro-surfer (Soul Surfer), born in Lihue, Hawaii
Klay Thompson (34 years old)
Feb 8 American basketball guard (3-time NBA champion GS Warriors 2015, 17, 18, Olympic gold 2016), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 9 Camille Winbush, American actress
- Feb 11 Princess Ayah of Jordan, niece of King Abdullah II of Jordan, born in Amman, Jordan
- Feb 11 Q'orianka Kilcher, American actress (The New World), singer, and human rights activist, born in Schweigmatt, West Germany
- Feb 12 Robert Griffin III, American football quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2011, Baylor; NFL Pro Bowl 2012, Washington Redskins; Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens), born in Okinawa, Japan
El Rubius (34 years old)
Feb 13 Spanish YouTube star (6th most subscribed channel), born in Mijas, Spain
- Feb 13 Olivia Federici, British synchronized swimmer, born in Plymouth, United Kingdom
- Feb 15 Callum Turner, English actor (Masters of the Air), born in London, England
- Feb 15 Erwin Sak, Polish football goalkeeper (Stomil Olstyn), born in Lublin, Poland
The Weeknd (34 years old)
Feb 16 born in Toronto, Ontario
Famous Weddings
- Feb 2 Marina Ogilvy (daughter of Engl princess Alexandra) weds Paul Mowatt
Rowan Atkinson
Feb 5 British comic actor Rowan Atkinson (35) weds Sunetra Sastry in New York
Famous Deaths
- Feb 2 Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (British heavyweight champion 1956-58), dies at 56
- Feb 2 Joel Fluellen, American actor (Porgy and Bess, Burning Cross, Learning Tree), commits suicide at 82
Whipper Billy Watson (1917-1990)
Feb 4 Canadian professional wrestler, dies at 74
- Feb 6 Jane Novak, American silent screen actress (Ghost Town), dies of stroke at 94
- Feb 6 Jimmy Van Heusen [Edward Chester Babcock], American Acadeny and Emmy Award-winning composer and songwriter ("All The Way"; "Love & Marriage"; "Come Fly With Me"), dies following a stroke at 77 [1]
- Feb 6 John Merivale, Canadian-British actor (Caltiki), dies at 72
- Feb 7 Alfredo M. Santos, First Four-star General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, World War II hero (b. 1905)
- Feb 7 Hélder Câmara, Brazilian Archbishop, and human rights activist, Bishop of Brazil, dies at 90
- Feb 7 Nathan Wartels, American publisher (Crown), dies at 88 of pneumonia
- Feb 8 Del Shannon [Charles Westover], American rock musician and songwriter ("Runaway"), commits suicide at 55
- Feb 8 George de Mestral, Swiss engineer (invented Velcro), dies at 83
- Feb 13 Ken Lynch, American actor (Paratroop Command, Legend of Tom Dooley), dies at 79
- Feb 14 Graeme Hole, Australian cricket batsman (18 Tests, 6 x 50; NSW CA), dies from cancer at 59
- Feb 14 Jean Wallace [Walasek], actress (Big Combo), dies of hemorrhage at 66
- Feb 14 Tony Holiday, German singer, dies of complications from AIDS at 38
- Feb 15 Henry Brandon [Heinrich von Kleinbach], German-American character actor (The Searchers; Assault on Precinct 13; Drums of Fu Manchu), dies of a heart attack at 77
- Feb 15 Jack Fletcher, American actor (Calucci's Department, Once Upon a Mattress), dies of a heart attack at 68
Keith Haring (1958-1990)
Feb 16 American graffiti artist (Vanity Fair, Paris Review) and social activist, dies of AIDS at 31
- Feb 17 Erik Rhodes [Ernest Sharpe], American actor (Top Hat, Night at the Ritz), dies of pneumonia at 84
- Feb 17 Frans Kellendonk, Dutch novelist (Bouwval (Ruin); Mystiek lichaam (Mystical Body). dies at 39
- Feb 17 Hap Day, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman (Stanley Cup 1932 [captain], 42, 45, 47, 48, 1949 [coach], 1951 [assistant manager]; Toronto Maple Leafs), dies at 88
- Feb 17 Marc Clement, actor (Career Opportunities, Sluggers Wife), dies at 39
- Feb 18 Hulk, fictional character in "Death of Incredible Hulk" on NBC, dies
- Feb 19 Michael Powell, English director (Life & Death of Col Blimp), dies at 84
- Feb 22 Stephen Burns, American actor (Casey's Shadow), dies from AIDS complications at 35
- Feb 23 Annelien Kappeyne van de Coppello, Dutch lawyer and politician (Liberal), dies at 53
- Feb 23 James Gavin, US 82nd Airborne Division General (Sicily/Normandy), dies at 82
- Feb 23 Jose Napoleon Duarte, Salvadoran politician, President of Salvador (1984-89), dies at 62
- Feb 24 Johnnie Ray, American singer (Cry), dies of liver failure at 61
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990)
Feb 24 American publisher of Forbes Magazine, dies of a heart attack at 70
- Feb 24 Sandro Pertini, 7th President of Italy (1978-85), dies at 93
- Feb 24 Tony Conigliaro, baseball player (Red Sox), dies of pneumonia at 45
- Feb 26 Cornell Gunther, American musician (The Coasters - "Poison Ivy"), dies at 53
- Feb 26 Maurine Stuart, Zen teacher (head of Cambridge Buddhist Association), dies
- Feb 26 Scott Jarvis, American theatrical actor and singer (1776; Here's Where I Belong), dies of AIDS at 48
- Feb 27 Les Ames, English cricket wicket-keeper/batsman (47 Tests, 97 dismissals, 2,434 runs @ 40.56), dies at 84
- Feb 27 Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Jewish-American scholar (b. 1903)
- Feb 28 Colin Milburn, English cricket batsman (9 Tests, 2 x 100, 2 x 50, HS 139; Northamptonshire CCC, MCC, WA CA), dies of a heart attack at 48
- Feb 28 Fabia Drake, actress (Nice Girl Like Me), dies at 86
- Feb 28 Tuppy Owen-Smith, South African cricketer (batsman v England 1929), dies
