- Feb 1 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the first openly gay Head of Government in the modern world.
- Feb 1 Super Bowl XLIII, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals, 27-23; MVP: Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh, WR
- Feb 1 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Spanish ace Rafael Nadal wins his first Australian title; beats Roger Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
Television Premiere
Event of Interest
Feb 3 Eric Holder becomes 82nd and 1st African American US Attoney General, succeeding Michael Mukasey
Eric Holder
- Feb 5 The United States Navy guided missile cruiser Port Royal runs aground off Oahu, Hawaii, damaging the ship as well as a coral reef
- Feb 5 59th Berlin International Film Festival: "The Milk of Sorrow" wins the Golden Bear
- Feb 7 Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
Music Awards
Music AwardsFeb 8 51st Grammy Awards: Best Album "Raising Sand" and Record of the Year "Please Read The Letter" by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Robert Plant
Alison Krauss
Event of Interest
Feb 8 Singer Rihanna cancels appearance at the Grammys after being assaulted by boyfriend Chris Brown
Rihanna
Chris Brown
Event of Interest
Feb 11 Uri Geller purchases Lamb Island, Scotland, previously known for its witch trials
Uri Geller
- Feb 12 Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes near Buffalo in the state of New York killing 50 people.
- Feb 12 40th NAACP Image Awards: "The Secret Life of Bees" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
- Feb 13 Unix time passed 1,234,567,890 seconds February 13, 2009 at exactly 23:31:30 (UTC).
- Feb 13 The Dutch Statistics agency confirms the Netherlands are in recession
NBA All-Star Game
NBA All-Star GameFeb 15 58th NBA All-Star Game, US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ: West beats East, 146-119; MVPs: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, F; Shaquille O'Neal, LA Lakers, C
Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O'Neal
- Feb 15 51st Daytona 500: Matt Kenseth wins shortened race; called off with 48 laps to go after a severe rainstorm hits the track
- Feb 18 The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics announced that the Taiwanese economy has contracted an unprecedented 8.36% in the fourth quarter of 2008; thus placing the country in a technical recession
Knighthood
KnighthoodFeb 18 English fantasy author Terry Pratchett receives a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace
Terry Pratchett
Elizabeth II
- Feb 21 29th Golden Raspberry Awards: "The Love Guru" wins
Film Awards
Film AwardsFeb 22 81st Academy Awards: "Slumdog Millionaire", Sean Penn & Kate Winslet win
Kate Winslet
Sean Penn
Event of Interest
Feb 22 Heath Ledger posthumously wins Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor, for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight"
Heath Ledger
- Feb 25 BDR massacre in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 74 People are being killed, including more than 50 Army officials, by Bangladeshi Boarder Guards inside its headquarter.
- Feb 27 Statistics Finland informs that Finland's gross domestic product diminished by 1.3% in the last quarter of 2008 from the previous quarter