Sports History
Feb 1 Future Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque scores a goal and an assist to become the Boston Bruins' all-time scoring leader, with 1,341 points in an 18-year NHL career
Sports History
Feb 2 Scotty Bowman becomes first coach in NHL history to win 1,000 games
Sports History
Feb 4 Mario Lemieux is 7th NHL player to score 600 goals
Sports History
Feb 4 O.J. Simpson found liable in the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson in a civil court action
Historic Event
Feb 4 US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announces she just discovered that her grandparents were Jewish, three of whom were killed in the Holocaust
- Feb 4 En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
Election of Interest
Feb 4 After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
- Feb 5 Brook Lee from Hawaii, crowned 46th Miss USA (en route to Miss Universe)
- Feb 5 Japan's Ministry of Finance announces plans to cut import tariffs on crude oil and most petroleum products
- Feb 6 Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husband's sperm
- Feb 7 US & Russia announce summit set for Helsinki, March 20-21
- Feb 8 28th NAACP Image Awards: "A Time to Kill" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
- Feb 9 11th American Comedy Award: Debbie Reynolds wins
- Feb 9 47th NBA All-Star Game, Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH: East beats West, 132-120; MVP: Glen Rice, Charlotte Hornets, F
Film & TV History
Feb 9 Fox cartoon series "The Simpsons" airs 167th episode; longest-running animated series in cartoon history
- Feb 10 13th Soap Opera Digest Awards - General Hospital wins
- Feb 10 5th ESPY Awards: Michael Johnson, Amy Van Dyken Lobo win
- Feb 10 Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Closest Approach to Earth (1.9245 AU)
- Feb 10 O.J. Simpson jury reaches decision on $25M in punitive damages
- Feb 10 Soyuz TM-25 launches to the MIR
- Feb 10 Lemrick Nelson found guilty in the fatal stabbing on Hasidic Jew Yankel Rosenbaum in Crown Heights Brooklyn in 1991
Sports History
Feb 11 Bill Parcells becomes head coach of NY Jets
- Feb 11 STS 82 (Discovery 22) launches
- Feb 12 Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O.J. Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement
- Feb 13 "Three Sisters" opens at Criterion Theater NYC
- Feb 13 Discovery captures Hubble Space Telescope
Berlin Film Festival
Feb 13 47th Berlin International Film Festival: "The People vs. Larry Flynt" wins the Golden Bear
Historic Event
Feb 13 Joseph Stiglitz becomes Chief Economist of the World Bank
- Feb 15 US female Figure Skating championship won by Tara Lipinski
- Feb 15 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldridge
- Feb 16 39th Daytona 500: Hendrick Motorsports posts a 1-2-3 finish with Jeff Gordon winning the race, ahead of Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven
- Feb 17 Weekly Standard shows evidence Larry Flint sexually abused his daughter
- Feb 19 FCC makes available 311 for non-emergency calls & 711 for hearing or speech-impaired emergency calls
- Feb 20 Pam Gems' stage drama "Stanley" opens at Circle in the Square Theater, NYC; runs for 77 performances
Baseball Record
Feb 20 San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9M 2 year contract
Historic Event
Feb 22 Dolly the Sheep, world's first cloned mammal (from an adult cell) is announced by the Roslin Institute in Scotland
- Feb 23 Ali Abu Kamal opens fire in Empire State Building & kills 1
- Feb 23 Scientists in Scotland announce they have cloned an adult mammal, producing a lamb named "Dolly"
Historic Event
Feb 24 Deng Xiaoping the former paramount leader of China is cremated five days after he passed away
Grammy Awards
Feb 26 39th Grammy Awards: "Change the World", Babyface, Beck, and LeAnn Rimes win
- Feb 27 "Last Night of Ballyhoo" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC
- Feb 27 Singer Sade (Helen Folasade) arrested in Jamaica for disobeying a police officer
- Feb 28 Earthquake in Pakistan kills 45
- Feb 28 FBI agent Earl Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Russia
- Feb 28 Purchasers of cigarettes in US must prove they are over 18
- Feb 28 The North Hollywood shootout takes place.