What Happened in February 2007

Historical Events

  • Feb 3 A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.

Super Bowl XLI

Feb 4 Super Bowl XLI, Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Miami, FL: Indianapolis Colts beat Chicago Bears, 29-17; MVP: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, QB

  • Feb 8 57th Berlin International Film Festival: "Tuya's Marriage" wins the Golden Bear
  • Feb 10 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 31-28; MVP: Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals, QB

49th Grammy Awards

Feb 11 49th Grammy Awards: [Dixie] Chicks -"Not Ready To Make Nice"; Carrie Underwood (new artist and female country vocal); Bob Dylan; Mary J. Blige; Red Hot Chili Peppers win [1]

  • Feb 11 60th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "The Queen" Best Film, Paul Greengrass Best Director
  • Feb 11 A national referendum in Portugal legalises non-therapeutic abortion when requested by the woman during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
  • Feb 12 A gunman opens fire in a mall in Salt Lake City, killing 5 people in the Trolley Square shooting.

Coach Schottenheimer Fired

Feb 12 Marty Schottenheimer is abruptly fired as head coach of the San Diego Chargers due to lack of playoff success and a strained relationship with ownership

  • Feb 13 Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted by Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of embezzlement when mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for 2008 presidential election.
  • Feb 18 49th Daytona 500: Kevin Harvick wins by 0.02s over Mark Martin in the closest finish since the first race at Daytona in 1959

56th NBA All-Star Game

Feb 18 56th NBA All-Star Game, Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, NV: West beats East, 153-132; MVP: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, F

  • Feb 18 Dale Jarrett uses his final champion's provisional at the Daytona 500, finishing 22nd
  • Feb 19 Blogging website Tumblr is founded by David Karp in New York
  • Feb 19 Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala
  • Feb 21 Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigns from office. His resignation is rejected by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.
  • Feb 23 A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
  • Feb 23 Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
  • Feb 24 27th Golden Raspberry Awards: "Basic Instinct 2" wins
  • Feb 25 An Inconvenient Truth, featuring Al Gore, wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary

Oilers Retire Messier's #11

Feb 27 Mark Messier's #11 jersey is retired by the Edmonton Oilers

  • Feb 27 The Chinese Correction: the Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest drop in 10 years
  • Feb 27 The general strike against Lansana Conté in Guinea ends
  • Feb 28 Jupiter flyby of the New Horizons Pluto-observer spacecraft.
2007 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Feb 2 Florence Hunt, English actress (Bridgerton), born in England
  • Feb 28 Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco, born in Rabat, Morocco
Born in 2007

Famous Weddings

  • Feb 3 Jackass prankster Bam Margera (27) weds Missy Rothstein (26) in downtown Philadelphia
  • Feb 3 Winner of "Strictly Come Dancing and "Eastenders" actress Jill Halfpenny (31) weds actor Craig Conway (32) at St. Andrew's Church in Newcastle
  • Feb 5 "Rudo y Cursi" Mexican actor Diego Luna (28) weds actress and model Camila Sodi (21) in Mexico City
  • Feb 14 Former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona (26) weds Mark Croft in Gretna Green

Keri Russell

Feb 14 Former Felicity actress Keri Russell (30) weds longtime boyfriend Shane Deary (30) in NYC, New York

  • Feb 17 "Home and Away" actress Ada Nicodemou (29) weds Chrys Xipolitas at St. Andrew's Greek church in Redfern, Australia
  • Feb 17 Australian TV presenter Natalie Gruzlewski (30) weds pro surfer Luke Egan at St. Augustine's Catholic Church
  • Feb 17 Japanese actress Noria Fujiwara weds comedian Tomonori at Jinnai Ikuta Shrine in Kobe, Japan

Marion Jones

Feb 24 American former world champion track and field athlete Marion Jones (31) weds Barbadian Olympic sprinting bronze medalist Obadele Thompson (30) at the Union Hill African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilson's Mills, North Carolina


Famous Divorces

  • Feb 6 "Married ... With Children" actor David Faustino (32) divorces actress Andrea Elmer Faustino (31) due to irreconcilable differences after 3 years of marriage

Carmen Electra

Feb 20 "Baywatch" actress Carmen Electra (34) divorces rocker Dave Navarro (39) due to irreconcilable differences after less than three years of marriage


Famous Deaths

  • Feb 1 Ahmad Abu Laban, Danish Muslim leader, dies at 60
  • Feb 1 Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian pianist, librettist, and composer (Amahl & Night Visitors), and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, dies at 95
  • Feb 1 Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dance choreographer, dies at 70
  • Feb 1 Whitney Balliett, American jazz critic, dies of cancer at 80
  • Feb 2 Billy Henderson, American pop and R&B singer (The Spinners, 1954-2004 - "The Rubberband Man"), dies from complications of diabetes at 67
  • Feb 2 Eric von Schmidt, American folk/blues singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
  • Feb 2 Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
  • Feb 2 Joe Hunter, American pianist and bandleader of Motown's house band - The Funk Brothers (1959-64), dies at 79
  • Feb 2 Masao Takemoto, Japanese gymnast (Olympic gold team 1960; 3 x silver 1952, 56, 60; 3 x bronze 1956), dies from cholangiocarcinoma at 87
  • Feb 2 Vijay Arora, Indian film and television actor (b. 1944)
  • Feb 3 George Becker, American president of United Steelworkers (1993-2001) (b. 1928)
  • Feb 3 Pedro Knight, Cuban-American trumpeter, husband and manager of legendary singer Celia Cruz, dies from complications of diabetes at 85
  • Feb 3 Ralph de Toledano, Moroccan-born American political columnist and author (b. 1916)
  • Feb 4 Barbara McNair, American singer ("Till There Was You") and actress (They Call Me MR. Tibbs), dies of throat cancer at 72
  • Feb 4 Colin Romoff, American orchestra leader (Andy Williams Show), dies at 82
  • Feb 4 Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian poet and translator (b. 1959)
  • Feb 4 José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian World Cup footballer (b. 1925)
  • Feb 4 Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-born American abstract painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
  • Feb 4 Steve Barber, American baseball pitcher (b. 1938)
  • Feb 5 Alfred Worm, Austrian investigative journalist (b. 1945)
  • Feb 5 Leo T. McCarthy, American politician and 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (1983-1995) (b. 1930)
  • Feb 6 Frankie Laine [Francesco Paolo LoVecchio], American singer ("Jezebel"; "Rawhide"; "Blazing Saddles"), songwriter ("We'll Be Together Again"), and actor (Bring Your Smile Along), dies of heart failure at 93
  • Feb 6 Lee Hoffman, American author (The Valdez Horses), dies at 74
  • Feb 6 Len Hopkins, Canadian politician (b. 1930)
  • Feb 6 Lew Burdette, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1957, 59; World Series MVP 1957; no hitter 1960; Milwaukee Braves), dies from lung cancer at 80
  • Feb 6 Willye White, American athlete (Olympic silver long jump 1956, 4x100m relay 1964; Sports Illustrated 100 greatest women athletes of 20th century), dies of pancreatic cancer at 67
  • Feb 7 Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz and session drummer, and bandleader, dies of Alzheimer's disease at 82

Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007)

Feb 8 American model, Playboy playmate (May 1992, Playmate of the Year 1993) and tabloid fixture, dies of a prescription drug overdose at 39

  • Feb 8 Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American parapsychologist and reincarnation expert, dies at 88

Hank Bauer (1922-2007)

Feb 9 American baseball infielder, manager (8-time World Series champion; NY Yankees, Baltimore Orioles), dies from lung cancer at 84

  • Feb 9 Ian Richardson, Scottish actor (Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards), dies in his sleep of a great attack at 72 [1]
  • Feb 9 Louis Ballard [Honganózhe], Native American composer and educator (The Four Moons), dies at 75
  • Feb 10 Charles Rudolph Walgreen Jr., American businessman (President of Walgreens), dies at 100
  • Feb 10 Jung Da Bin, South Korean actress (b. 1980)
  • Feb 10 Ned Austin, American character actor (b. 1925)
  • Feb 11 Marianne Fredriksson, Swedish author (Simon and the Oaks), dies at 79
  • Feb 12 Eldee Young, American jazz upright bassist (Ramsey Lewis Trio, 1956-66 'The In Crowd"; Young-Holt Unlimited - "Soulful Strut"), dies of a heart attack at 71
  • Feb 12 Peggy Gilbert, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
  • Feb 12 Randy Stone, American actor and casting director (b. 1958)
  • Feb 13 Charlie Norwood, American politician (b. 1941)
  • Feb 13 Elizabeth Jolley, British-born Australian writer (Palomino), dies at 83
  • Feb 13 Johanna Sällström, Swedish actress (b. 1974)
  • Feb 13 Richard Gordon Wakeford, Air Marshal, Royal Air Force (b. 1922)
  • Feb 14 Gareth Morris, British flautist (b. 1920)
  • Feb 14 Lee Patterson, Canadian actor (Dave-Surfside Six, Another World), dies of congestive heart failure at 77
  • Feb 14 Ryan Larkin, Canadian animated filmmaker. (b. 1943)
  • Feb 15 Ray Evans, American lyricist ("To Each His Own"; "Mona Lisa"; "Silver Bells"; "Mister Ed"), dies at 92
  • Feb 15 Robert Adler, Austrian-American inventor (remote control for television), dies at 93
  • Feb 15 Walker Edmiston, American actor (Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, The Dukes of Hazzard), dies at 81
  • Feb 16 Gene Snyder, American politician (Rep-R-KY, 1963-65, 67-87), dies at 79
  • Feb 16 Jakov Lind, Austrian-British author (Counting My Footsteps), dies at 80
  • Feb 17 Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born Canadian musician, producer and songwriter (b. 1943)
  • Feb 17 Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Lithuanian writer (b. 1961)
  • Feb 17 Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator, dies at 92
  • Feb 17 Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (b. 1965)
  • Feb 19 Celia Franca, Canadian ballet dancer, founder of National Ballet of Canada, dies at 85
  • Feb 19 Janet Blair [Martha Janet Lafferty], American singer and actress (Leave it to the Girls; Smith Family), dies of pneumonia at 85
  • Feb 20 Derek Waring [Barton-Chapple], British actor (Z-Cars, Barnacle Bill, Arthur-Heart of the Country), dies at 79
  • Feb 20 F. Albert Cotton, American chemist, dies at 76
  • Feb 20 Mike Awesome, Pro Wrestler (b. 1965)
  • Feb 22 Dennis Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1954)
  • Feb 22 Edgar Evans, Welsh tenor (Covent Garden Opera Company), dies at 94
  • Feb 22 George Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords & Special Boat Service veteran, dies at 88
  • Feb 22 Howard Verne Ramsey, oldest U.S. veteran of WWI (b. 1898)
  • Feb 22 Ian Wallace, British session and touring rock and jazz drummer (King Crimson, 1971-72; Bob Dylan, 1977-78; Crimson Jazz Trio, 2005-07), dies of esophageal cancer at 60
  • Feb 22 Samuel Hinga Norman, Sierra Leonean alleged war criminal (b. 1940)
  • Feb 23 Donnie Brooks, American singer (b. 1936)
  • Feb 24 Bruce Bennett, American actor (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), dies from complications of a broken hip at 100
  • Feb 24 Lamar Lundy, American NFL football defensive end, 1957-69 (Los Angeles Rams), dies at 71
  • Feb 24 Leroy Jenkins, American jazz violinist, avant-garde jazz and contemporary classical composer, dies of lung cancer at 73
  • Feb 25 Mark Spoelstra, American folk singer and songwriter, dies at 66
  • Feb 25 William R. Anderson, CO USS Nautilus submarine, US Congressman (b. 1921)
  • Feb 27 Bernd von Freytag-Loringhoven, German soldier (b. 1914)
  • Feb 27 Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer and bandleader, dies of Alzheimer's disease at 82
  • Feb 28 Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian (1946 Pulitzer-Age of Jackson), dies at 89
  • Feb 28 Billy Thorpe, British-Australian musician (Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs - "I Told The Brook", "Mashed Potato"; solo - "Children of the Sun"), dies of a heart attack at 60
  • Feb 28 Charles Forte, Italian-British hotel magnate (Savoy), dies at 98
  • Feb 28 John Smith, English landowner, financier and Philanthropist (National Trust, Landmark Trust), dies at 83 [1]