Historical Events
Nadal's First Australian Title
Feb 1 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Spanish ace Rafael Nadal wins his first Australian title; beats Roger Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
- Feb 1 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the first openly gay Head of Government in the modern world.
- Feb 1 Super Bowl XLIII, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals, 27-23; MVP: Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh, WR
1st African American Attorney General
Feb 3 Eric Holder becomes 82nd and 1st African American US Attorney General, succeeding Michael Mukasey
- Feb 5 59th Berlin International Film Festival: "The Milk of Sorrow" wins the Golden Bear
- Feb 5 The United States Navy guided missile cruiser Port Royal runs aground off Oahu, Hawaii, damaging the ship as well as a coral reef
"Violin Concerto"
Feb 6 "Violin Concerto", by Jennifer Higdon premieres, in Indianapolis, Indiana (Pulitzer Prize for Music 2010) [1]
Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Feb 6 President Barack Obama announces the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, with Paul Volcker as Chairman and Austan Goolsbee as Staff Director and Chief Economist
- Feb 7 Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
51st Grammy Awards
Feb 8 51st Grammy Awards: Best Album "Raising Sand" and Record of the Year "Please Read The Letter", both by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss win
62nd BAFTA Awards
Feb 8 62nd British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "Slumdog Millionaire" Best Film, Danny Boyle Best Director
Grammy Awards
Feb 8 Al Gore's book "An Inconvenient Truth" wins a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
- Feb 8 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 30-21; MVP: Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals, WR
Rihanna Cancels
Feb 8 Singer Rihanna cancels performance at the Grammys after being assaulted by boyfriend Chris Brown
Uri Geller Buys Lamb Island
Feb 11 Uri Geller purchases Lamb Island, Scotland, previously known for its witch trials
- Feb 12 40th NAACP Image Awards: "The Secret Life of Bees" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
- Feb 12 Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes near Buffalo in the state of New York killing 50 people.
- Feb 13 The Dutch Statistics agency confirms the Netherlands are in recession
- Feb 13 Unix time passed 1,234,567,890 seconds February 13, 2009 at exactly 23:31:30 (UTC).
- Feb 15 51st Daytona 500: Matt Kenseth wins shortened race; called off with 48 laps to go after a severe rainstorm hits the track
58th NBA All-Star Game
Feb 15 58th NBA All-Star Game, US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ: West beats East, 146-119; MVPs: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, F; Shaquille O'Neal, LA Lakers, C
Terry Pratchett Knighted
Feb 18 English fantasy author Terry Pratchett receives a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace
- Feb 18 The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics announced that the Taiwanese economy has contracted an unprecedented 8.36% in the fourth quarter of 2008; thus placing the country in a technical recession
- Feb 21 29th Golden Raspberry Awards: "The Love Guru" wins
81st Academy Awards
Feb 22 81st Academy Awards: "Slumdog Millionaire", Sean Penn and Kate Winslet win. Heath Ledger posthumously wins Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight".
Stevie Wonder Receives Gershwin Prize
Feb 25 American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder receives Library of Congress Gershwin Prize at the White House in Washington, D.C.
- Feb 25 BDR massacre in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 74 People are being killed, including more than 50 Army officials, by Bangladeshi Boarder Guards inside its headquarter.
- Feb 27 Statistics Finland informs that Finland's gross domestic product diminished by 1.3% in the last quarter of 2008 from the previous quarter
Famous Weddings
Martin Crowe
Feb 14 Cricketer Martin Crowe (46) weds former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes (44) in an intimate ceremony
Salma Hayek
Feb 14 Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek (42) weds French billionaire and PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault (46) in Paris
Adriana Lima
Feb 14 Victoria's Secret Angel model Adriana Lima (31) weds NBA player Marko Jaric (33) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
- Feb 20 "Dog The Bounty Hunter" actress Lyssa Chapman (21) weds Brahman Galanti (35) at Lanikuhonua at Ko Olina in Oahu, Hawaii
Tom Brady & Gisele Bündchen
Feb 26 Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen (29) weds American NFL New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (32) at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California; divorce in 2022
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Frankie Ervin, American R&B singer (The Three Blazers -"Dragnet Blues"; The Shields -"You Cheated"), dies at 82
- Feb 1 Jay Uzzell, American R&B singer (Corsairs), dies at 66
- Feb 1 Lukas Foss [Fuchs], German-American pianist, conductor and composer (Prairie), dies at 86
- Feb 3 Max Neuhaus, American classical musician and experimental percussionist (sound sculptures), dies of cancer at 69
- Feb 3 Sheng-yen, Buddhist monk and founder of Dharma Drum Mountain. (b. 1930)
- Feb 4 Lux Interior [Erick Lee Purkhiser], American punk rock singer (The Cramps), dies of a heart attack at 62
- Feb 4 Steve Dullaghan, British bass guitarist (The Primitives - "Crash"), dies of cannabis intoxication at 45
- Feb 6 James Whitmore, American actor (The Shawshank Redemption, Give 'em Hell Harry), dies of lung cancer at 87
- Feb 6 Phil Carey, American actor (One Life to Live), dies at 83
- Feb 7 Betty Jameson, American golfer (US Open 1947, Western Open 1942, 54), dies at 89
- Feb 7 Blossom Dearie, American jazz singer and pianist, dies of natural causes at 84
- Feb 7 Brian Naylor (broadcaster), Australian television presenter (b. 1931)
- Feb 8 Marian Cozma, Romanian handball player (Romania 60 caps), dies of stab wounds at 26
- Feb 9 Eluana Englaro, an Italian woman who lived in a persistent vegetative state for 17 years (b. 1970)
- Feb 9 Robert Anderson, American writer (Tea & Sympathy, I Never Sang for My Father), dies at 91
- Feb 9 Vic Lewis, British jazz guitarist, bandleader, composer, and artist manager (NEMS), and cricket club owner, dies at 89
- Feb 10 Jeremy Lusk, American freestyle motocross racer (b. 1984)
- Feb 11 Estelle Bennett, American pop singer (The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"), dies at 67
- Feb 11 Marina Svetlova, American ballerina and choreographer (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo), dies at 86
- Feb 11 Peter Leng, British Army officer (Master General of the Ordnance, Command of the British Army forces in Northern Ireland), dies at 83
- Feb 11 Willem J. Kolff, Dutch-American Physician and Biomedical Engineer (artificial kidney, hemodialysis), dies at 97
- Feb 12 Lis Hartel, Danish equestrian rider (Olympic silver individual dressage 1952, 56; permanently paralyzed her below her knees from polio), dies at 87
- Feb 13 Gianna Maria Canale, Italian actress (Go For Broke), dies at 81
- Feb 14 Bernard Ashley, English businessperson, fashion designer and co-founder of Laura Ashley, dies of cancer at 82
- Feb 14 Louie Bellson, American jazz drummer and orchestra leader (Pearl Bailey Show), dies at 84
- Feb 15 Dr. Diether H. Haenicke, university president (b. 1935)
- Feb 15 Joe Cuba [Gilberto Calderón], Puerto-Rican-American salsa and boogaloo conga player and bandleader, dies at 77
- Feb 16 Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan, Korean Cardinal, Protopriest of the Holy Roman Church (b. 1921)
- Feb 17 Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter (b. 1922)
- Feb 17 Gazanfer Özcan, Turkish actor (b. 1931)
- Feb 18 (Fird) "Snooks" Eaglin, American blues and R&B guitarist and singer, dies at 72
- Feb 18 Al-Tayyib Salih, Sudanese novelist and columnist (b. 1929)
- Feb 18 Miika Tenkula, Finnish heavy metal guitarist and songwriter (Sentenced), dies of a heart attack at 34
- Feb 18 Ronald Dearing, British civil servant and chairman (British Post Office), dies of cancer at 78
- Feb 19 Kelly Groucutt, British rock bass guitarist and vocalist (Electric Light Orchestra; ELO II; The Orchestra), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Feb 20 Larry H. Miller, American businessman and owner of NBA's Utah Jazz, died of complications from type-2 diabetes at 64
- Feb 22 Günter Kochan, German composer, dies at 78
- Feb 25 Ian Carr, Scottish jazz musician (Nucleus), dies after suffering Alzheimer's disease at 75
- Feb 25 Ivan Cameron, son of David Cameron UK politician
- Feb 25 Philip José Farmer, American sci-fi writer (Riverworld), dies aged 91
- Feb 26 Johnny Kerr, American basketball forward (NBA All-Star 1956, 59, 63; Syracuse Nats/Philadelphia 76ers), coach (Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns) and broadcaster (Chicago Bulls), dies of prostate cancer at 76
- Feb 26 Norm Van Lier, American basketball point guard (NBA All-Star 1974, 76, 77; Chicago Bulls) and broadcaster (Comcast SportsNet), dies at 61
- Feb 26 Wendy Richard, English actress (EastEnders), dies of cancer at 65
- Feb 28 Miguel Serrano, Chilean author, diplomat and fascist (Esoteric Hitlerism), dies at 91
Paul Harvey (1918-2009)
Feb 28 American news commentator and radio broadcaster (The Rest of the Story), dies at 90
