What Happened in February 2010

Historical Events

Super Bowl XLIV

Feb 7 Super Bowl XLIV, Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Miami, FL; New Orleans Saints beat Indianapolis Colts, 31-17; MVP: Drew Brees, New Orleans, QB

  • Feb 8 747-8 Freighter takes off for its maiden flight from Paine Field, Washington
  • Feb 11 60th Berlin International Film Festival: "Honey" wins the Golden Bear
  • Feb 12 XXI Winter Olympic Games open in Vancouver, Canada
  • Feb 13 A bombing at the German Bakery in Pune, India, kills 10 and injures 60 more.

Music History

Feb 13 Jason Mraz wins two Grammy Awards for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ('Make It Mine') and Best Pop Collaboration ('Lucky' with Colbie Caillat)

  • Feb 14 52nd Daytona 500: Jamie McMurray, driving for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing wins; Mark Martin, oldest polesitter in Daytona 500 history at 51 years, 27 days

NBA All-Star Game

Feb 14 59th NBA All-Star Game, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX: East beats West, 141-139; MVP: Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat, G

Olympic Gold

Feb 14 Alexandre Bilodeau wins the Gold Medal in the freestyle skiing men's moguls event, becoming the first Canadian to win a Gold Medal during a Canadian-hosted Olympics

  • Feb 14 America's Cup: Team USA defeats Alinghi 2-0 to win in Spain

Event of Interest

Feb 18 Bibliothèque nationale de France purchases the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova a for €7 million

  • Feb 20 On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.
  • Feb 21 "Claybourne Park" by Bruce Norris opens off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in New York (1st play to win a Tony and a Pulitzer) [1]

BAFTA Awards

Feb 21 63rd British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "The Hurt Locker" Best Film, Kathryn Bigelow Best Director

  • Feb 22 Taiwan's economy exits from the recession with 9.22% growth in the last quarter of 2009 after increased demand from China and other key markets in the region

Big Girl

Feb 23 Danielle Steel’s novel “Big Girl” is published

  • Feb 23 Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million litres of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in Northern Italy, causing an environmental disaster.
  • Feb 24 Europe risks a double-dip recession after bad results emerge from France, Germany and Italy, it is reported today; the Eurozone only grew by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2009

Cricket History

Feb 24 Sachin Tendulkar scores the first double century in One Day International cricket

  • Feb 26 41st NAACP Image Awards: "Precious" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
  • Feb 26 Opera "Madame White Snake", by Boston Opera composed by Zhou Long, premieres at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston (Pulitzer Prize for Music 2011)
  • Feb 27 8.8 magnitude earthquake rattles central Chile; epicenter just off the coast also triggers a tsunami
  • Feb 28 XXI Winter Olympic Games close in Vancouver, Canada
2010 History

Famous Weddings

Katie Price

Feb 2 Former glamour model Katie Price (32) weds MMA fighter and former "Hollyoaks" actor Alex Reid (34) at the chapel in the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas

  • Feb 26 American reggae-rock singer Cisco Adler (32) weds American fashion model Barbara Stoyanoff (30) at Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, California
  • Feb 27 American "Supernatural" actress Genevieve Cortese (29) weds co-star American actor Jared Padalecki (27) in Sun Valley, Idaho

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 1 David Brown, American film producer ("The Sting", "Jaws", "Cocoon"), dies at 93

Jack Brisco (1941-2010)

Feb 1 American pro wrestler (NWA World Heavyweight Champion 1973–75), dies from complications of open heart surgery at 68

  • Feb 3 Frances Reid, American actress (Days of Our Lives, The Andromeda Strain), dies at 95
  • Feb 3 Regina, Crown Princess of Austria (b. 1925)
  • Feb 4 Allan Wicks, British cathedral organist and choral conductor (Canterbury, 1961-88), dies at 86
  • Feb 4 Bill Dudley, American College/Pro Football HOF halfback (Uni of Virginia; NFL MVP 1946; 4×First-team All-Pro; NFL rushing leader 1942, 46; Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins), dies at 88
  • Feb 4 Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher, dies at 85
  • Feb 5 Harry Schwarz, South African lawyer, politician, diplomat and anti-apartheid leader, dies at 75
  • Feb 5 Ian Carmichael, British actor (Private's Progress, I'm All Right Jack), dies at 89
  • Feb 6 Ernest van der Eyken, Belgian violist, composer, and conductor . (Youth and Music Orchestra of Antwerp, 1963-76), dies at 96
  • Feb 6 John Dankworth, English jazz musician and composer, dies at 82
  • Feb 7 William Tenn [pseudonym of Philip Klass], British-born American sci-fi author, dies at 89
  • Feb 8 John Murtha, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania), dies at 77
  • Feb 9 Chaskel Besser, Polish-American Orthodox rabbi, dies at 86
  • Feb 9 Jacques Hétu, Canadian composer, dies of lung cancer at 71
  • Feb 9 Phil Harris, American fisherman from Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch (b. 1956)
  • Feb 9 Walter Frederick Morrison, American inventor (b. 1920)
  • Feb 10 Carl Braun, American basketball player (NY Knicks), dies at 82
  • Feb 10 Charles Wilson, American politician (b. 1933)
  • Feb 10 Fred Schaus, American basketball coach and executive (b. 1925)
  • Feb 10 Max Schubel, American composer (Opus One Records), dies at 77
  • Feb 11 [Lee} Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, commits suicide at 40
  • Feb 12 Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger, dies in a training run for the Winter Olympics at 21
  • Feb 13 Dale Hawkins, American rock singer and songwriter (Susie Q), dies at 73
  • Feb 13 Jamil Nasser [George Joyner], American jazz double and electric bassist, and tuba player (Ahmad Jamal Trio), dies at 77
  • Feb 13 John Reed, British comic actor and singer (Gilbert & Sullivan; D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 1951-79), dies after a stroke on his 94th birthday
  • Feb 13 Lucille Clifton, American poet (Two-Headed Woman), dies at 73
  • Feb 14 Dick Francis, British jockey and detective writer (Whip Hand, High Stakes), dies at 89
  • Feb 14 Doug Fieger, American singer–songwriter (The Knack - "My Sharona"), dies of cancer at 57
  • Feb 15 Adam Kaczyński, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 76
  • Feb 15 Art Van Damme, American jazz accordionist (Chicago Jazz), dies at 89
  • Feb 16 Wan Chi Keung, Hong Kong soccer striker (32 caps; South China AA, Seiko SA) and actor, dies from nasopharyngeal carcinoma at 53
  • Feb 17 Kathryn Grayson [Zelma Hedrick], American vocalist and actress (Anchors Aweigh, Kiss Me Kate), dies of natural causes at 88
  • Feb 18 John Babcock, Last known Canadian veteran of World War I (b. 1900)
  • Feb 19 Laura Spurr, Tribal Chairperson, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (b. 1945)

Alexander Haig (1924-2010)

Feb 20 American General and 59th Secretary of State (1981-82), dies from a staphylococcal infection at 85

  • Feb 22 Nelly Adamson Landry, French tennis player (French C'ships 1948), dies at 93
  • Feb 23 Mervyn Jones, English author (Nobody's Fault, 5 Hungarian Writers), dies at 87
  • Feb 25 David Soyer, American classical cellist (Guarneri Quartet, 1964-2002), and educator (Curtis Institute), dies at 87 [1]
  • Feb 25 İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish paediatrician, academic and the founder of YÖK, dies at 94
  • Feb 26 Nujabes, Japanese Hip Hop producer and inspiration to many around the world.
  • Feb 26 Richard Devon, American character actor (Magnum Force, Battle of Blood Island), dies at 83
  • Feb 26 Violet Barclay, American illustrator, dies at 87
  • Feb 27 Madeleine Ferron, French Canadian writer, dies at 87
  • Feb 28 Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, American rock bassist (Hall & Oates), dies of a heart attack at 51