Historical Events
- Feb 1 British MPs vote in favour of the European Union Bill, allowing the government to begin Brexit
Tillerson Secretary of State
Feb 1 Rex Tillerson confirmed as 69th US Secretary of State
- Feb 5 African Cup of Nations 2017: Cameroon defeat Egypt 2-1 in Libreville
- Feb 5 Heavy metal band Black Sabbath play their last concert in their home town Birmingham, England
- Feb 5 Romanian government scraps corruption degree after 6 days of mass demonstrations
Super Bowl LI
Feb 5 Super Bowl LI, NRG Stadium, Houston, TX: New England Patriots defeat Atlanta Falcons, 34-28; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB
- Feb 6 Qatar Airways achieves the longest-ever scheduled commercial flight when its B777 aircraft lands in Auckland after a 16 hour and 23 minutes flight from Doha; surpassed in 2020
Jeff Sessions Confirmed
Feb 8 US Senate confirms Jeff Sessions Attorney General, after controversy and protests
Grammy Awards
Feb 12 59th Grammy Awards: Adele wins Best Song "Hello" and Best Album "25"
BAFTA Awards
Feb 12 70th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "La La Land" Best Film, Damien Chazelle Best Director, Best Actors Casey Affleck / Emma Stone
- Feb 12 Emergency spillway at Oroville Dam, California threatens to collapse, 180,00 residents ordered to evacuate
- Feb 12 North Korea conducts a solid fuel ballistic missile test from Banghyon air base
Film & TV History
Feb 13 Harrison Ford involved in a near miss while flying a plane at John Wayne Airport, Orange County
Event of Interest
Feb 13 US President Donald Trump accepts the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn over his dealings with Russia
Laureus Awards
Feb 14 Laureus World Sports Awards, Monte-Carlo Sporting, Monaco: Sportsman: Usain Bolt; Sportswoman: Simone Biles; Team: Chicago Cubs
- Feb 15 The Indian space rocket PSLV-C37 successfully launches 104 satellites in a single flight
- Feb 16 Car bomb in Bayaa, Baghdad kills at least 48, Islamic State claims responsibility. 3rd attack in 3 days
- Feb 16 Suicide attack on shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sehwan, Pakistan kills 72, Islamic State claims responsibility
- Feb 17 Discovery of a new mostly underwater continent Zealandia in the South Pacific announced in research journal "GSA Today"
- Feb 18 67th Berlin International Film Festival: Hungarian film "On Body and Soul" wins the Golden Bear
NBA All-Star Game
Feb 19 NBA All-Star Game, Smoothie King Centre, New Orleans, LA: West beats East, 192-182; MVP: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans, F
- Feb 20 Famine is declared in Unity State, South Sudan, affecting 4.9 million
- Feb 21 Alex Puccio completes the first female ascent of Nagual V13 (8B) at Hueco Tanks
- Feb 21 Bodies of 87 African migrants wash ashore at Zawiya, Libya
- Feb 21 Plane crashes into shopping centre in Essendon, Melbourne, Australia killing the five people on board
- Feb 22 Discovery of 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting star Trappist-1 announced in Journal "Nature" - raises possibility of alien life
US History
Feb 22 US President Donald Trump overturns Obama directive on Transgender rights to use toilets
- Feb 25 Tom Perez is elected Chair of the Democratic National Committee
- Feb 26 59th Daytona 500: Kurt Busch wins after Kyle Larson runs out of gas on last lap; Jeffrey Earnhardt makes NASCAR history, 1st ever 4th generation driver to compete in Daytona 500
- Feb 26 89th Academy Awards: Best Picture "Moonlight" (after mix-up), Best Director Damien Chazelle, Best Actor Casey Affleck, Best Actress Emma Stone
- Feb 26 Margo Hayes becomes the first woman to climb a 9a+ (5.15a) graded route by ascending La Rambla in Siurana, Spain
Famous Weddings
Lyle Lovett
Feb 4 American singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett (59) weds April Kimble in Harris County, Texas
Famous Deaths
- Feb 1 Desmond Carrington, British radio host (The Music Goes Round), dies at 90
- Feb 1 Étienne Tshisekedi, Congolese opposition leader, dies at 84
- Feb 1 Ken Morrison, English supermarket tycoon (Morrisons), dies at 85
- Feb 4 Gervase de Peyer, British clarinetist, dies at 89
- Feb 4 Ivor Noël Hume, English-born archaeologist of Colonial Williamsburg who excavated Martin's Hundred and is known as "the Babe Ruth of historical archaeology", dies at 89 [1]
- Feb 4 Steve Lang, Canadian rock bassist (April Wine, 1976-84 - "Just Between You And Me"), dies at 67
- Feb 5 Thomas Lux, American poet (Split Horizon), dies of cancer at 70
- Feb 6 "Professor" Irwin Corey, American comedian (Car Wash: Doc), dies at 102
- Feb 6 Alec McCowen, English actor (Frenzy), dies at 91
- Feb 6 Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby union halfback (89 Tests; Bulls), dies of motor neurone disease at 45
- Feb 6 Roger Walkowiak, French road cyclist (Tour de France 1956), dies at 89
- Feb 7 Richard Hatch, American actor (Battlestar Galactica), dies of cancer at 71
- Feb 7 Svend Asmussen, Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking" (The Swe-Danes), dies at 100
- Feb 8 Ljubisa Beara, Bosnian general convicted of overseeing Srebrenica Massacre, dies in prison at 77
- Feb 8 Nicolai Gedda, Swedish opera tenor (Opera Two to Six), dies at 91
- Feb 8 Peter Mansfield, British Physician whose discoveries led to MRI (2003 Nobel Prize), dies at 83
- Feb 8 Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite, dies at 45
Mike Ilitch (1929-2017)
Feb 10 American businessman (founded Little Caesars Pizza, owner Detroit Red Wings, Tigers), dies at 87
- Feb 11 Harvey Lichtenstein, American head of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, dies at 87
- Feb 12 Al Jarreau, American jazz singer (Moonlighting), dies at 76
- Feb 13 Michael Naura, German jazz pianist, radio broadcaster, editor and anti-nuclear proliferation activist, dies at 82
- Feb 13 Seijun Suzuki, Japanese cult film director, dies at 93
- Feb 16 Dick Bruna, Dutch illustrator (Miffy books), dies at 89
- Feb 17 Alan Aldridge, British artist, graphic designer and illustrator whose artwork was used in record covers for The Beatles and The Who, dies at 78
- Feb 17 Magnus Wenninger, American mathematician and author of Polyhedron models, dies at 97
- Feb 17 Peter Richardson, British cricket batsman (34 Tests, 5 x 100, 9 x 50, HS 126; Worcestershire CCC, Kent CCC), dies at 85
- Feb 17 Robert H. Michel, American politician (Rep-R-IL, 1957-95), dies at 93
- Feb 17 Warren Frost, American actor (Twin Peaks, Matlock, Seinfeld), dies at 91
- Feb 18 Norma McCorvey, American abortion activist (Jane Roe in Roe vs Wade) who later became pro-life, dies at 69
- Feb 19 Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician, dies at 93
- Feb 19 Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (11th House), dies at 73
- Feb 21 Kenneth Arrow, American economist, (Nobel Prize 1972), dies at 95
- Feb 21 Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Polish-American conductor (Minnesota Orchestra, 1960-79) and composer (Passacaglia Immaginaria), dies at 93
- Feb 22 Ed Garvey, American labor leader (NFL Players Association), dies at 76
- Feb 22 Eni Faleomavaega, American-Samoan politician (3rd Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa), dies at 73
- Feb 22 Fritz Koenig, German sculptor (Sphere at World Trade Center), dies at 92
- Feb 22 John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at 91
- Feb 23 Derek Ibbotson, English 5K runner (Olympic bronze 1956), dies at 84
- Feb 23 Lord David Waddington, British politician (Home Secretary 1989-90), dies at 87
- Feb 24 Faye Glenn Abdellah, American pioneer in nursing research and US government official (health services), dies at 97
- Feb 25 Bill Paxton, American actor (True Lies; Twister; Big Love), dies from surgical complications at 61
- Feb 25 Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born sculptor who worked in America, dies of cancer at 65
- Feb 26 Dimiter Khristov, Bulgarian composer, dies at 83
- Feb 26 Gerald Kaufman, British Labour MP, dies at 86
- Feb 26 James E. Sellars, American composer, dies at 76
- Feb 26 Joseph Wapner, American judge (People's Court), dies at 97
- Feb 26 Ludvig Faddeev, Soviet Russian mathematician (Faddeev–Popov ghosts), dies at 82
- Feb 26 Robert Allworth, Australian composer (A Different Time, A Different Place), dies at 74
- Feb 27 Jórunn Viðar, Icelandic pianist and composer, dies at 98
- Feb 28 Claude Rene Georges Pascal, French composer, dies at 96
- Feb 28 Leoncjusz Ciuciura, Polish classical composer (Spirals), dies at 86 [1] [2]
- Feb 28 Nicholas Mosley, British novelist, biographer and son of Oswald Mosley, dies at 93
