What Happened in February 2011

Historical Events

  • Feb 3 All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses are officially distributed to regional authorities.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Feb 5 Ed Sabol, co-founder of NFL Films, elected for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Super Bowl XLV

Feb 6 Super Bowl XLV, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX: Green Bay Packers beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25; MVP: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, QB

Laureus World Sports Awards

Feb 7 Laureus World Sports Awards, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Sportsman: Rafael Nadal; Sportswoman: Lindsey Vonn; Team: Spanish Men's National Football team

  • Feb 9 Latvia leaves deep recession with an annualised growth of 3.7% in the last quarter of 2010, it is reported today

Pink Friday

Feb 9 Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" album reaches number one on the Billboard 200 in its eleventh week on the chart

  • Feb 10 61st Berlin International Film Festival: "A Separation" wins the Golden Bear
  • Feb 10 Jerry Sloan resigns as head coach of the Utah Jazz

Event of Interest

Feb 11 Egyptian Revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests (Arab Spring)

BAFTA Awards

Feb 13 64th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "The King's Speech" Best Film, David Fincher Best Director

  • Feb 14 The 2011 Bahraini uprising commenced.
  • Feb 15 "A Separation" written and directed by Asghar Farhad, starring Leila Hatamiand and Payman Maadi premieres at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran (Academy Award Best Foreign Film)

Libyan Revolution

Feb 15 Libyan protests begin opposing Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's rule

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Feb 15 US President Barack Obama awards writer and activist Maya Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom

  • Feb 20 53rd Daytona 500: 20-year-old Trevor Bayne, driving for Wood Brothers Racing, wins to become the youngest Daytona 500 winner

NBA All-Star Game

Feb 20 60th NBA All-Star Game, Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA: West beats East, 148-143; MVP: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, F

  • Feb 21 Thailand's GDP rose 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2010 after a minor recession caused by GDP contractions of 0.4% in the second quarter and 0.3% in the third quarter of 2010, it is reported today
  • Feb 22 An earthquake measuring 6.3 in magnitude strikes Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 181 people
  • Feb 23 Venezuela's economy grew 0.6% in the last quarter of 2010, technically leaving the recession after six quarters, it is reported today
  • Feb 24 Final Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103).
  • Feb 25 French fashion house Christian Dior suspends its chief designer John Galliano after he is arrested for an anti-semitic verbal attack in Paris
  • Feb 25 In the Irish general election, the Fianna Fáil-led government suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state in 1921
  • Feb 26 31st Golden Raspberry Awards: "The Last Airbender" wins

Academy Awards

Feb 27 83rd Academy Awards: Best Picture "The King's Speech", Colin Firth and Natalie Portman win best acting awards

Academy Awards

Feb 27 83rd Academy Awards: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross win Best Original Score for 'The Social Network'


2011 History

Famous Weddings

  • Feb 16 Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupati (36) weds Bollywood actress and former Miss Universe (2000) Lara Dutta (32) at Bandra, Mumbai

Kelsey Grammer

Feb 25 Actor and comedian Kelsey Grammer (57) weds Kayte Walsh (29) at the Longacre Theater in Manhattan, New York


Famous Divorces

Kelsey Grammer

Feb 10 Former Playboy model Camille Donatacci (42) divorces "Frasier" actor-comedian Kelsey Grammer (56) due to irreconcilable differences after 14 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 2 Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress, presenter and VJ. (b. 1975)
  • Feb 2 Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)
  • Feb 3 Maria Schneider, French actress (Last Tango in Paris, Crime of Honor), dies at 58
  • Feb 3 Ron Piché, Quebec baseball player (Milwaukee Braves), dies at 75
  • Feb 4 Tura Satana, Japanese-American actress (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), dies at 72
  • Feb 4 Woodie Fryman, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1968, 76; Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos), dies at 70
  • Feb 5 Brian Jacques, English author, author of the Redwall series (b. 1939)
  • Feb 6 Gary Moore, Irish rock guitarist (Skid Row-Oh Pretty Woman), dies at 58
  • Feb 6 Kenneth H Olsen, American electrical engineer, and co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, dies at 84
  • Feb 8 Tony Malinosky, American baseball player (b. 1909)
  • Feb 10 Józef Życiński, Polish archbishop and philosopher, dies at 62
  • Feb 10 Trevor Bailey, English cricket all-rounder, writer and broadcaster (61 Tests, 1 x 100, 10 x 50, HS 134no, 132 wickets; BBC), dies in a fire in his retirement flat at 87
  • Feb 11 Chuck Tanner, American baseball manager (World Series 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates; Chicago WS, Oakland A's, Atlanta Braves), dies at 82
  • Feb 11 Tom Carnegie, American sports announcer (b. 1919)
  • Feb 12 Elizabeth "Betty" Garrett, American actress, comedian, singer and dancer (All in the Family), dies of an aortic aneurysm at 91
  • Feb 12 Gino Cimoli, American baseball player, dies at 81
  • Feb 12 Kenneth Mars, American comedic actor (The Producers), dies at 75
  • Feb 12 Mato Damjanović, Croatian chess grandmaster (b. 1927)
  • Feb 12 Peter Alexander [Ferdinand Maximilian Neumayer], Austrian actor and singer (Who Wants to Sleep?), dies at 84
  • Feb 13 (Thomas Patrick) "T. P." McKenna, Irish actor (Rivals; Holocaust), dies at 81
  • Feb 14 George Shearing, British-American blind jazz pianist (Lullaby of Birdland), dies at 91
  • Feb 15 Joe Frazier, American baseball outfielder (Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles) and manager (NY Mets 1976–77), dies at 88
  • Feb 16 Alfred Burke, British actor (Public Eye, Backfire, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), dies of a chest infection at 92
  • Feb 16 Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (b. 1930)
  • Feb 16 Len Lesser, American actor (b. 1922)
  • Feb 17 Bill Monroe, American newscaster (NBC-TV, Congressional Report), dies at 90
  • Feb 17 Egbert van Paridon, Dutch actor and director (Flodder, The Assault), dies at 90
  • Feb 17 Steve Horn, American politician (Rep-R-California 1993-2003), dies at 79
  • Feb 18 Carlos Veerhoff, Argentine-born German composer, dies at 84
  • Feb 18 Marshall Stoneham, British physicist, dies at 70

Ollie Matson (1930-2011)

Feb 19 Pro/College Football Hall of Fame halfback (First-team All-Pro 1952, 54–59; Pro Bowl 1952, 54–58; NFL 1950s All Decade Team), dies of dementia at 80

  • Feb 20 Betty Hicks, American golfer, author (US Open runner-up 1948, 54), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 90
  • Feb 20 Terry Clements, American guitarist (Gordon Lightfoot), dies of complications from a stroke at 63
  • Feb 21 Bernard Nathanson, American abortionist turned pro-life activist (b. 1926)
  • Feb 22 Nicholas Courtney, British actor (Doctor Who, Incendiary), dies at 81
  • Feb 23 Jack Gottlieb, American composer, writer and editor, dies at 80
  • Feb 23 Shri Mataji Nirmala Srivastava, Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga, dies at 87
  • Feb 24 Anant Pai, Indian educationalist and creator of comics (b. 1929)
  • Feb 25 Rick Coonce, American rock drummer (Grass Roots), dies at 64
  • Feb 26 Arnošt Lustig, Czech writer (b. 1926)
  • Feb 26 Eugene Fodor, American classical violinist (1974 Tchaikovsky Award), dies from cirrhosis at 60
  • Feb 26 James A. McClure, American politician (R-Sen-Idaho), dies at 86

Duke Snider (1926-2011)

Feb 27 American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (8 x MLB All Star; World Series 1955, 59; Brooklyn / LA Dodgers), dies at 84

  • Feb 27 Eddie Kirkland, Jamaican-American blues guitarist, singer and harmonica player (Have Mercy On Me), dies in a car accident at 87
  • Feb 27 Frank Buckles, last surviving American World War I veteran (b. 1901)
  • Feb 28 Annie Girardot, French actress (Three Rooms in Manhattan, Gypsy, Jacko & Lise), dies at 79
  • Feb 28 Jane Russell, American actress and leading sex symbol in 1940s-50s (The Outlaw), dies at 89
  • Feb 28 Peter Gomes, Harvard University Chaplain (b. 1942)