Historical Events
- Feb 1 Finland goes 1-2 in the Nordic combined event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Heikki Hasu takes gold ahead of teammate Martti Huhtala
Historic Publication
Feb 1 Important South African anti-apartheid novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton is published in the US
- Feb 1 Johnny Palmer sets a 36-hole PGA Tour scoring record with rounds of 62-64 in the Tucson Open; finishes runner-up by 1 stroke to Skip Alexander who cards tournament record total 264
Event of Interest
Feb 1 Nine Malay sultanates and two British Straits Settlements (Penang and Malacca) form the Federation of Malaya
- Feb 1 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
- Feb 2 President Harry Truman urges congress to adopt a civil rights program
- Feb 4 After winning the men’s downhill, French alpine skier Henri Oreiller takes the combined gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; becomes most successful athlete at these Games with a slalom bronze
- Feb 4 Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) declares independence from UK
- Feb 5 "Nature of Things" science show premieres on NBC prime time
- Feb 5 18 year old Dick Button becomes first American men's figure skating Olympic gold medallist at the St. Moritz Winter Games; first to complete a double axel in competition; retains title in 1952
- Feb 5 Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympic ski slalom champion
- Feb 6 1st radio-controlled airplane flown
- Feb 6 KNXT (now KCBS) TV channel 2 in Los Angeles, CA (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Feb 6 Nils Karlsson wins the 50k cross country gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Swedish skiers win all 3 cross-country events at the Games
- Feb 6 World & European champion Barbara Ann Scott becomes the first Canadian to win a women's figure skating Olympic gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games
- Feb 7 "Cradle Will Rock" closes at Mansfield Theater NYC after 34 performances
- Feb 7 After winning Lake Placid (1932) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (1936) Olympic ski jumping gold medals, Birger Ruud comes out of retirement to win silver in St. Moritz in a Norwegian medal sweep
Event of Interest
Feb 7 Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as US Army Chief of Staff
- Feb 8 Canada beats Switzerland 3-0, to regain the Olympic ice hockey title at the St. Moritz Winter Games; forward Walter Halder top scores with 29 points in Canada’s 5th Olympic title
- Feb 8 V Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
- Feb 9 WLWT TV channel 5 in Cincinnati, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Feb 10 Greek Gen Markos' guerrilla army bombs Saloniki
- Feb 11 Billy Griffith scores cricket century on debut Eng v WI, out for 140
- Feb 11 John Costello follows Eamon Da Valera as premier of Ireland
- Feb 11 Test cricket debut of Frank Worrell for the West Indies vs. England at Port-of-Spain
- Feb 12 1st Lt Nancy Leftenant becomes 1st African American in army nursing corps
- Feb 13 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Lannoy & Baugniet of BEL
- Feb 13 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Richard Button USA
- Feb 13 West Indian batsman Andy Ganteaume scores 112 for W Indies in his only Test Cricket innings
- Feb 13 Wright Flyer, 1st plane to fly, returns to US from England
Event of Interest
Feb 15 Mao Zedong's army occupies Yenan
- Feb 16 1st newsreel telecast, "20th Century Fox-Movietone News", shown on NBC
- Feb 16 Miranda, famous moon of Uranus, photographed for 1st time
- Feb 20 Czechoslovakia's non-communist minister resigns
- Feb 21 NASCAR is incorporated
- Feb 22 Arabs bomb attack in Jerusalem, 50 die
- Feb 25 Communists seize control of Czechoslovakian government and Klement Gottwald becomes premier
- Feb 29 Lawson Little earns his first tournament victory since his US Navy discharge capturing the St. Petersburg Open by 3 strokes over Bobby Locke; last golfer to win a PGA Tour event on Leap Year Day
- Feb 29 Stern-group bomb on Cairo-Haifa train kills 27 British soldiers
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 1 Debbie Austin, American golfer (7 LPGA Tour wins), born in Oneida, New York
Rick James (1948-2004)
Feb 1 American funk musician ("Super Freak"), born in Buffalo New York
- Feb 2 Alan McKay, rocker (Earth Wind & Fire-Boogie Wonderland)
Ina Garten (75 years old)
Feb 2 American author and TV cooking show host (Barefoot Contessa, Food Network), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Feb 2 Jessica Savitch, American broadcast journalist and pioneering female news anchor (NBC Weekend), born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 1983)
- Feb 2 Tony DeMeur, rocker (Fabulous Poodles-Anna Rexia, Suicide Bridge)
- Feb 3 Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timor politician, Nobel Peace laureate
- Feb 3 Henning Mankell, Swedish playwright and author (Wallander novels), born in Stockholm (d. 2015)
Alice Cooper (75 years old)
Feb 4 American theatrical rock singer and songwriter ("School's Out"; "Welcome To My Nightmare"), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Feb 4 Marguerite "Marge" Ganser, American pop singer (The Shangri-Las - "Leader of the Pack"), born in Queens, New York (d. 1996)
- Feb 4 Mary Ann Ganser, American pop singer (The Shangri-Las - "Leader of the Pack"), born in Queens, New York (d. 1970)
- Feb 4 Rakesh Shukla, cricket leg-spinner (1 Test India v Sri Lanka 1982)
- Feb 4 Robert Coover, novelist (Pricksongs & Descants)
- Feb 4 Rod Grams, American TV anchor and politician (Senator-R-Minnesota 1995-2001, Rep-R-Minnesota 1993-95), born in Princeton, Minnesota (d. 2013)
- Feb 4 Tamás Wichmann, Hungarian sprint canoeist (World C'ship gold x 9; Olympic silver C-1 1000m 1972, C-2 1000m 1968; bronze C-1 1000m 1976), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2020)
- Feb 5 Barbara Hershey [Herzstein], American actress (Stuntman, Shy People), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- Feb 5 Christopher Guest, American actor (SNL, 1984-85; This is Spinal Tap; The Princess Bride), and filmmaker (Best In Show; Waiting for Huffman), born in NYC, New York
- Feb 5 David Denny, American rock guitar player (Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra), born in Berkeley, California
- Feb 5 Elco Brinkman, Dutch politician, born in Dirksland, Netherlands
- Feb 5 Errol Morris, American documentary film director (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara), born in Hewlett, New York
- Feb 5 Nigel Tufnel, British fictional heavy metal guitarist (Spinal Tap), born in Squatney, East London, England
- Feb 5 Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager & player, born in Sunne, Sweden
- Feb 5 Tom Wilkinson, English actor, born in West Yorkshire, England
- Feb 6 José Luis Capón, Spanish soccer defender (13 caps; Atlético Madrid, 200 games), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2020)
- Feb 7 David Campbell, Canadian composer (worked with Adele, Justin Timberlake), born in Toronto
- Feb 7 Jimmy Greenspoon, American session and touring rock organist (Three Dog Night - "Joy to the World"), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
- Feb 8 "England" Dan [Seals], American pop and country singer (England Dan & John Ford Coley - "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"), born in McCamey, Texas (d. 2009)
- Feb 8 Lynda Lyon Block, American convicted murderer (shot a police officer), born in Orlando, Florida (d. 2002)
- Feb 10 Conrad Cummings, American classical composer, born in San Francisco, California
- Feb 10 Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (d. 1994)
- Feb 11 Lynn Goldsmith, American photographer, filmmaker, recording artist, and album cover designer (Grand Funk Railroad; Patti Smith; Frank Zappa; Paul Simon), born in Detroit Michigan
- Feb 11 Susan Bernard, American author, actress (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) Playboy playmate (Dec, 1966), born in Los Angeles, California
- Feb 11 Vangelis Kordompoulis, Greek jazz pianist, composer, and music educator, born in Patras, Greece
- Feb 12 Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author (Kurzweil reading machine, text-to-speech synthesis), born in NYC, New York
- Feb 13 Allan Legere, Canadian serial killer (Monster of the Miramichi), born in Chatham, Canada
- Feb 14 (John) Jackie Martling, American comedian and gag writer known as "Jackie the Jokeman" (Howard Stern Show, 1983-2001), born in Mineola, Long Island, New York
- Feb 14 (Wladimir) "Wally Tax", Dutch rock singer-songwriter, and guitarist (The Outsiders; Tax Free), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2005)
- Feb 14 Pat O'Brien, American broadcaster (CBS Sports; Entertainment Tonight; The Insider), born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Teller (75 years old)
Feb 14 American magician (Penn & Teller) and illusionist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Feb 15 Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
- Feb 15 Ron "Penguin" Cey, American MLB 3rd baseman (LA Dodgers), born in Tacoma, Washington
- Feb 16 Eckhart Tolle, German-born author (The Power of Now) and spiritual teacher, born in Lünen, Germany
- Feb 16 Séamus Brennan, Irish Fianna Fáil politician and Minister, born in Salthill, Galway, Ireland (d. 2008)
- Feb 17 José José [José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz], Mexican singer and actor, known as 'The Prince of Song', born in Mexico City, Mexico (d. 2019)
- Feb 17 Rick Majerus, American college basketball coach (5 × WAC Coach of the Year; Uni of Utah), born in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin (d. 2012)
- Feb 18 Bruce Francis, Australian cricketer (Australian opener in 3 Tests 1972), born in Mosman, Australia
- Feb 18 Carolyn B. Maloney, American politician (Rep-D-NY), born in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Feb 18 Keith Knudsen, American drummer, vocalist and songwriter (Doobie Brothers), born in Le Mars, Iowa (d. 2005)
- Feb 18 Sinead Cusack, Irish actress (Waterland, Revenge), born in Dalkey, Ireland
- Feb 18 Tony Anselmo, American animator & cartoon voice actor, born in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Feb 19 (Whilhelmus) "Pim" Fortuyn, Dutch writer, politician, academic, and founder of right-wing political party (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF), born in Velsen. Netherlands (d. 2002)
- Feb 19 Byron K. Lichtenburg, American astronaut (STS 9, STS 45), born in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
- Feb 19 John Minton [Big John Studd], American pro wrestler (Royal Rumble 1989), born in Butler, Pennsylvania (d. 1995)
- Feb 19 Mark Andes, American rock bassist (Spirit, 1968-74, 84, 89; Firefall, 1976-79; Heart, 1982-92), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Feb 19 Tony Iommi, American rock guitarist (Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"; "Iron Man"), born in Birmingham, England
- Feb 20 A C Fabian, astronomer
- Feb 20 Barry Wordsworth, British conductor (BBC Concert Orchestra; Royal Ballet Orchestra), born in Worcester Park, Surrey, England
- Feb 20 Billy Zoom [Stuart Kindell], American punk rock guitarist (X), born in Savanna, Illinois
- Feb 20 John Browne, group chief executive, British Petroleum Company
- Feb 21 Larry Ragland, American comedian (Keep on Truckin'), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Feb 21 Mel James, Welsh rugby league front rower (11 caps Wales; St. Helens RLFC) and rugby union prop (Swansea RFC), born in Resolven, Wales (d. 2022)
- Feb 22 Dennis Awtrey, American NBA center (Chicago Bulls, Suns), born in Hollywood, California
- Feb 22 John Ashton, American actor, born in Springfield, Massachusetts
- Feb 23 Bill Alexander, theatre director
- Feb 23 Doug Moench, American comic book writer
- Feb 23 Steve Priest, English rock bassist and vocalist (Sweet - "Ballroom Blitz"), born in Hayes, Middlesex, England (d. 2020)
- Feb 23 Trevor Cherry, English soccer defender (27 caps; Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Bradford City) and manager (Bradford City), born in Huddersfield, England (d. 2020)
- Feb 24 Dennis Waterman, English stage and screen actor (Fair Exchange; Minder; The Sweeney), and singer, born in Clapham, London, England (d. 2022)
- Feb 24 Jayaram Jayalalitha, Indian actress and politician, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, born in Mysore State (d. 2016)
- Feb 24 Neil Hubbard, British guitarist (Juicy Lucy; Jesus Christ Superstar)
- Feb 24 Peter Mond, 4th Baron Melchett, English jurist and Labour politician who was Minister of State for Northern Ireland (1976-79), born in London (d. 2018) [1]
- Feb 24 Tim Staffell, English rock musician (Smile), born in London
- Feb 24 Walter Smith, Scottish football manager (Rangers, Everton; Scotland 2004-07), born in Lanark, Scotland (d. 2021)
- Feb 25 Aldo Busi, Italian writer
- Feb 25 Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
- Feb 25 G B Warren, British biochemist
- Feb 25 Joe Mays, American character actor (Mr. Saturday Night; The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 1994)
- Feb 26 Priscilla Lopez, American actress (In the Beginning, Kay O'Brien), born in the Bronx, New York
- Feb 27 Eddie Gray, American rock guitarist (Tommy James & the Shondells - "Crystal Blue Persuasion"), born in Niles, Michigan
Bernadette Peters (75 years old)
Feb 28 American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress and singer (Sunday in the Park with George; The Jerk; Pennies From Heaven), and author, born in Queens, New York
- Feb 28 Mercedes Ruehl, American Tony and Academy Award-winning stage and screen actress (Lost in Yonkers; The Fisher King; Crazy People), born in Queens, New York
- Feb 28 Mike Figgis, British film director and screenwriter (Leaving Las Vegas), born in Carlisle, England
- Feb 28 Willie Donnell Smith, American fashion designer (WilliWear), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1987)
- Feb 29 Jirō Akagawa, Japanese novelist (Ghost Train), born in Fukuoka, Japan
- Feb 29 Nikolai Pimenov, Russian rower (World C'ship gold coxless pairs 1981, 85, 86; Olympic silver 1976), born in Moscow, Russia
- Feb 29 Patricia [Anne] McKillip, American sci-fi author (Fool's Run)
- Feb 29 Yuri Pimenov, Russian rower (World C'ship gold coxless pairs 1981, 85, 86; Olympic silver 1976), born in Moscow, Russia
Famous Weddings
Leo Durocher
Feb 16 American baseball player and manager Leo Durocher (41) weds actress Laraine Day (27) in Santa Monica, California; divorce in 1960
Famous Deaths
- Feb 2 Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (Olympic gold 400m 1920), dies at 53
- Feb 2 Thomas W. Lamont, American banker; father or Corliss Lamont; great-grandfather of Ned Lamont (b. 1870)
- Feb 5 Johann Blaskowitz, German general (surrendered at Wageningen), dies at 64
- Feb 7 Red McKenzie, American jazz singer (played comb-with-tissue-paper), dies at 48
- Feb 9 Karl Valentin, Bavarian comedian and film producer, dies at 65
- Feb 10 Ewart Astill, England cricket all-rounder (9 Tests, Leicestershire), dies at 59
- Feb 11 Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director (Battleship Potemkin), dies at 50
- Feb 14 Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1907, 08; NL wins leader 1909; MLB ERA leader 1906; Chicago Cubs), dies at 71
- Feb 19 Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), dies at 63
- Feb 21 Frederick Lamond, Scottish pianist and composer, dies at 80
- Feb 23 John Robert Gregg, Irish-American inventor of a shorthand system Gregg Shorthand, dies at 80
