Historical Events in February 1940

Feb 2 Frank Sinatra's singing debut in Indianapolis (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra)

Feb 5 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra record "Tuxedo Junction"

Feb 7 Walt Disney's second feature length movie, "Pinocchio" premieres (NYC)

Feb 9 Joe Louis beats Arturo Godoy in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

Feb 10 "Tom & Jerry" cartoon created by William Hanna & Joseph Barbera debut by MGM

Feb 13 Bradman scores 209* in 161 minutes for South Aust at the WACA

Feb 14 British merchant vessel fleet is armed
Feb 16 British search plane finds German supply ship Altmark, used to accommodate allied sailors from vessels sunk by the Graf Spee off Norway

Feb 17 Altmark Incident: Crew of the British destroyer "Cossack" board German "Altmark" in Jøssingfjord, Norway, releasing 299 British prisoners after hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets and the last recorded Royal Naval action with cutlass
Feb 20 Larry Clinton & his Orchestra record "Limehouse Blues"
Feb 22 Finnish troops vacate Koivisto island
Feb 22 German air force sinks 2 German destroyers, killing 578
Feb 23 Russian troops conquer Lasi Island
Feb 23 Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio" released
Feb 24 Frances Langford records "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Feb 25 1st televised (W2XBS, NYC) hockey game (Rangers vs Canadians)
Feb 26 US Air Defense Command forms at Mitchel Field, LI, NY
Feb 27 Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating) at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California
Feb 28 1st televised basketball game (U of Pitts beats Fordham U, 50-37)
Feb 28 Richard Wright's "Native Son" published
Feb 28 US population at 131,669,275 (12,865,518 African American (9.8%))
Feb 29 Frederic from G & S "Pirates of Penzance" finally released by pirate

Feb 29 Hattie McDaniel becomes 1st African American woman to win an Oscar for "Gone with the Wind"

Feb 29 12th Academy Awards: "Gone with the Wind" wins eight Oscars, Robert Donat & Vivien Leigh also win

Feb 29 American golfer Jimmy Demaret wins his third PGA Tour event within an 8-day span, taking the St. Petersburg Open by 1 stroke from Byron Nelson

Feb 29 Detroit's Cecil "Tiny" Thompson becomes first goaltender in NHL history to play 40 (or more) games for 12 straight seasons; milestone comes in a 3-1 Red Wings loss at Toronto