Historical Events
"All I Have"
Feb 2 Jennifer Lopez starts a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart with "All I Have"
- Feb 2 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 45-23; MVP: Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins, RB
- Feb 2 Russian pop girl duo Tatu start a four-week run at #1 on the UK singles chart with "All The Things She Said"
Spector Murders Clarkson
Feb 3 Actress Lana Clarkson is shot and killed by Phil Spector at Spector's house in Alhambra, California
- Feb 9 52nd NBA All-Star Game, Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA: West beats East, 155-145 (2 OT); MVP: Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves, F
- Feb 10 France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
- Feb 15 An estimated 6-11 million people around the world take to the streets to protest against war with Iraq
- Feb 16 45th Daytona 500: Michael Waltrip wins for the second time in 3 years; race ends after 109 laps when rain pours on the track
- Feb 17 The London Congestion Charge scheme begins in London, England
- Feb 18 Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.
- Feb 18 Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea
- Feb 20 Pyrotechnics display sets 'The Station' nightclub ablaze during a concert by rock band Great White; kills 100 and injuries over 300 others (West Warwick, Rhode Island)
Real Time with Bill Maher
Feb 21 Bill Maher's political talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher" debuts on HBO
- Feb 22 Pakistani pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar bowls the fastest ball recorded in cricket history at 100.2 mph (161.3 km/h)
45th Grammy Awards
Feb 23 45th Grammy Awards: "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones wins
- Feb 23 49th National Film Awards (India): "Dweepa" wins the Golden Lotus
56th BAFTA Awards
Feb 23 56th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "The Pianist" Best Film, Roman Polanski Best Director
- Feb 27 Former Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic is sentenced by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, to 11 years in prison
- Feb 27 Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 20 Atthaya Thitikul, Thai golfer (youngest female winner in pro event), born in Ratchaburi, Thailand
Olivia Rodrigo (21 years old)
Feb 20 American actress and singer-songwriter ("Driver's License"), born in Temecula, California
Famous Weddings
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 David Brown, American US Navy Captain and NASA astronaut & member of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), dies at 46
- Feb 1 Ilan Ramon, Israeli astronaut & member of STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), dies at 48
- Feb 1 Kalpana Chawla, American astronaut (STS 87) and the first woman of Indian descent to go to space, dies in Space Shuttle Columbia disaster at 40
- Feb 1 Laurel Clark, American astronaut and member of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), dies at 41
- Feb 1 Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut & member of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), dies at 43
- Feb 1 Mongo Santamaria, Cuban Latin jazz percussionist and bandleader, dies at 85
- Feb 1 Nancy Whiskey [Anne Wilson], Scottish folk singer and guitarist ("Freight Train"), dies at 67
- Feb 1 Rick D. Husband, American astronaut & member of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), dies at 45
- Feb 1 William C. McCool, American astronaut & member of the STS-107 Mission, dies in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster at 41
- Feb 2 Lou Harrison, American composer (La Koro Sutro), dies of a heart attack at 85
- Feb 3 Lana Clarkson, American actress, shot and killed by Phil Spector at 40
- Feb 4 André Noyelle, Belgian cyclist (Olympic gold, 1952), dies at 71
- Feb 4 Benyoucef Ben Khedda, Algerian politician (b. 1920)
- Feb 4 Jerome Hines [Heinz], American operatic bass (I am The Way), dies at 81
- Feb 5 Charlie Biddle, American-Canadian jazz double bassist, and music promoter, dies at 76
- Feb 5 Helge Boes, American Central Intelligence Agency officer
- Feb 6 Peter Saunders, English theater producer (created The Mousetrap - world's longest play), dies at 91
- Feb 7 Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
- Feb 7 John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)
- Feb 9 (Reuben) "Ruby" Braff, American jazz trumpeter and cornetist, dies of heart failure while suffering from emphysema at 73
- Feb 9 Vera Ralston [Věra Helena Hrubá], Czech figure skater and actress (Dakota, Accused of Murder), dies of cancer at 83
- Feb 10 Al Ruffo, Mayor of San Jose, California (b. 1908)
- Feb 10 Bengt Edlén, Swedish Astrophysicist who specialized in spectroscopy and discovered the source of unidentified emission lines in solar spectrum, dies at 86
- Feb 10 Clark MacGregor, American Republican politician (involved in Watergate), dies at 80
- Feb 10 Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler, dies at 44
- Feb 10 Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer, dies at 92
- Feb 10 Ron Ziegler, American White House press secretary to Richard Nixon, dies at 63
- Feb 12 Vali Myers, Australian painter, dies at 72
- Feb 13 Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (b. 1932)
- Feb 13 Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (b. 1926)
- Feb 13 Stacy Keach, Sr., American actor (Pretty Woman; The Parallax View), dies at 88
- Feb 13 Walt Rostow, American economist and political theorist (The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto), dies at 86
Dolly the Sheep (1996-2003)
Feb 14 first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, dies young from a progressive lung disease at 6
Johnny Longden (1907-2003)
Feb 14 Canadian US Racing HOF jockey (1943 Triple Crown on Count Fleet; US Champion Jockey: by earnings 1943, 45; by wins 1938, 47, 48) and trainer (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes 1969), dies of a stroke at 96
- Feb 16 Eleanor "Sis" Daley, wife of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, dies of a stroke at 95
- Feb 17 Frank Thistlethwaite, English academic and Vice Chancellor (University of East Anglia), dies at 87
- Feb 18 Isser Harel, Israeli Mossad leader (b. 1912)
- Feb 19 Johnny Paycheck [Donald Lytle], American country singer ("ake This Job and Shove It"), dies after contracting emphysema and asthma at 64
- Feb 20 Harry Jacunski, American football player
- Feb 20 Maurice Blanchot, French author (b. 1907)
- Feb 20 Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani Chief of the Air Staff (b. 1947)
- Feb 20 Orville Freeman, American politician (Governor of Minnesota 1955-61, US Secretary of Agriculture 1961-69), dies at 84
- Feb 20 Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White), dies in The Station nightclub fire at 31
- Feb 21 Eddie Thomson, Australian soccer coach (Socceroos 1990-96), dies of cancer at 55
- Feb 22 Daniel Taradash, American screenwriter (b. 1913)
- Feb 22 Louis LaRusso II, American playwright (Knockout; Lampost Reunion), dies of bladder cancer at 67
- Feb 23 Howard "Howie" Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1982-2002), dies from an overdose at 47
- Feb 23 Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (functionalism, self-fulfilling prophecy) and criminologist, dies at 92
- Feb 24 Bernard Loiseau, French chef (b. 1951)
- Feb 24 John Edward Christopher Hill, English historian (b. 1912)
- Feb 24 Walter Scharf, American film composer (Jerry Lewis movies; The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau), dies of heart failure at 92
- Feb 25 Alberto Sordi, Italian actor and film maker (Miser, Taxi Driver in NY, Me and Caterina), dies of lung cancer at 82
- Feb 25 Tom O'Higgins, Irish Chief Justice (b. 1916)
- Feb 26 Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver, dies at 74
- Feb 26 Ivan Marinov, Bulgarian orchestral and opera conductor, composer, and pedagogue, dies at 74
Fred Rogers (1928-2003)
Feb 27 American children's TV host (Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood), Presbyterian minister, dies of stomach cancer at age 74
- Feb 27 John Lanchbery, British-Australian composer and conductor (Royal Ballet, 1959-72; Australian Ballet, 1972-77; American Ballet Theatre, 1978-80), dies at 79
- Feb 28 Chris Brasher, English athlete (b. 1928)
- Feb 28 Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (b. 1917)
- Feb 28 Roger Michael Needham, British cryptographer (b. 1935)
- Feb 28 Rudolf Kingslake, Lens designer, and Engineer (b. 1903)
