- Feb 1 Former MLB Commissioner Ford Frick and ex-players Earle Combs & Jesse Haines are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Feb 1 Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die
- Feb 1 WMAA TV channel 29 in Jackson, MS (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Feb 1 West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract
Meeting of Interest
Feb 1 Northern Ireland PM Chichester-Clark meets British Home Secretary James Callaghan to discuss the economy of Northern Ireland
James Callaghan
NHL Record
Feb 1 Rangers' Terry Sawchuk records his 447th (and final) victory, and 103rd career shutout when New York beats the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-0; both are NHL records at the time
Terry Sawchuk
Event of Interest
Feb 2 Pete Maravich becomes 1st to score 3,000 college basketball points
Pete Maravich
Film and TV Awards
Feb 2 27th Golden Globes: Anne of the Thousand Days, John Wayne, & Genevieve Bujold
John Wayne
Film Premier
Feb 4 "Patton" directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring George C. Scott premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1971)
George S. Patton
George C. Scott
- Feb 5 1st Test Cricket ton of Barry Richards, 126, 164 balls, 20 fours 1 six
- Feb 5 Test Cricket debut of John Traicos, South Africa v Australia, Durban
- Feb 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Feb 5 WSCV TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, FL (IND) suspends broadcasting
- Feb 6 Graeme Pollock completes 274 v Australia at Durban
- Feb 6 NBA expands to 18 teams with Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston & Portland
- Feb 7 "Hollywood Palace" last airs on ABC TV
- Feb 7 "Jingle Jangle" hits #10 on the pop singles chart by Archies
- Feb 7 LSU's "Pistol" Pete Marovich scores 69 pts in losing cause
- Feb 7 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
- Feb 7 US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
- Feb 10 26.4 cm precipitation falls on Mount Washington NH (state record)
- Feb 10 Dry powder avalanche moving at 120 mph smashes into youth hostel at Val d'Isere, France, killing 40 Belgian, French, & German youths
- Feb 11 26.37 cm (10.38") of rainfall, Mt Washington, NH (state 24-hr rec)
- Feb 11 Japan becomes 4th nation to put a satellite (Osumi) in orbit
Event of Interest
Feb 11 John Lennon pays £1,344 fines for 96 protesting South African rugby team playing in Scotland
John Lennon
- Feb 12 Anthony Shaffer's "Sleuth" premieres in NYC
- Feb 13 Man-eating tiger is reported to have killed 48, 80 km from New Delhi
- Feb 13 NL offices begins move from Cincinnati to San Francisco (completed Feb 23)
- Feb 13 16th National Film Awards (India): "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne" wins the Golden Lotus
- Feb 14 "Gantry" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 1 performance
- Feb 15 Ard Schenk becomes world champion all-round skater
- Feb 15 Dominican DC-9 crashes into sea at Santo Domingo, kills 102
- Feb 15 KAMU TV channel 15 in College Station, TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Feb 15 Nationalists disrupt UN session on Congo
Boxing Title Fight
Feb 16 Joe Frazier TKOs Jimmy Ellis in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
Joe Frazier
Event of Interest
Feb 18 US President Richard Nixon launches the "Nixon doctrine"
Richard Nixon
- Feb 19 AL Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain suspended for bookmaking
- Feb 19 USSR launches Sputnik 52 & Molniya 1-13 communications satellite
- Feb 21 Jackson 5 make TV debut on "American Bandstand"
- Feb 21 Pathet Lao conquers Xieng Khuang & Muong Suy
- Feb 22 "Charles Aznavour" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 23 performances
- Feb 22 12th Daytona 500: Pete Hamilton wins by just 3 car lengths over David Pearson, after passing him with 9 laps to go
- Feb 23 Guyana becomes a republic (National Day)
- Feb 23 Holy Eucharist given by women for 1st time in Roman Catholic service
- Feb 24 29 Swiss Army officers die in avalanche (Reckingen, Switzerland)
- Feb 24 Heintje Simons (14) wins 7 gold records
- Feb 24 KVDO TV channel 3 in Salem, OR (IND) begins broadcasting
- Feb 26 "Georgy" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 4 performances
- Feb 26 Beatles release "Beatles Again" aka "Hey Jude" album
- Feb 27 NY Times (falsely) reports US army has ended domestic surveillance
- Feb 28 "Georgy" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 4 performances
- Feb 28 Bicycles permitted to cross Golden Gate Bridge
- Feb 28 Caroline Walker runs world female record marathon (3:02:53)
- Feb 28 KIIN (now KUN) TV channel 12 in Iowa City, IA (PBS) 1st broadcast
- Feb 28 WUTR TV channel 20 in Utica-Rome, NY (ABC) begins broadcasting