Events in History
- Feb 1 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
- Feb 1 James T Farrell finishes his "Studs Lonigan" trilogy
- Feb 2 Leonarde Keeler first uses his polygraph machine on criminals later convicted of assault on its findings in Portage, Wisconsin
- Feb 6 "Monopoly" board game goes on sale for 1st time
- Feb 6 1st election to allow women to vote in Turkey
- Feb 9 US male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee
- Feb 11 -11°F (-24°C), Ifrane, Morocco (African record low)
- Feb 11 1st US airplane flight with auto slung beneath fuselage, NY
Radio Premiere
Feb 12 First secret demonstration of radio signals detecting aircraft by Robert Watson-Watt at Daventry, England
- Feb 12 Great airship, USS Macon, crashes into Pacific Ocean
- Feb 13 1st US surgical operation for relief of angina pectoris, Cleveland
- Feb 13 Bruno Hauptmann found guilty of kidnap & murder of Lindbergh infant. He proclaimed his innocence to the end.
- Feb 19 Clifford Odets' "Awake & Sing" premieres in NYC
- Feb 20 Dane Caroline Mikkelson is 1st woman to land on Antarctica
- Feb 22 Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House
Luftwaffe Re-forms
Feb 26 Existence of re-formed German Luftwaffe revealed (banned in 1920 by Treaty of Versailles) with Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring as commander-in-chief
- Feb 26 RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt
- Feb 28 Amsterdam Hotel of the Red Lion gets sidewalk permit
- Feb 28 Ladby Ship is discovered within a Viking grave on the island of Funen in Denmark by amateur archaeologist Poul Helweg Mikkelsen
- Feb 28 Wallace Carothers manufactures 1st nylon polymer
Birthdays in History
- Feb 1 Ruth Clarke, Moderator (General Assembly of the United Reform Church)
- Feb 1 Vladimir Viktorovich Aksyonov, USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 22, T-2)
- Feb 4 Martti Talvela, Hiitola Karelia Finland, operatic basso
- Feb 5 John J "Jannie" Geldenhuys, supreme commander South African army
- Feb 7 Herb Kohl, (Sen-D Wisconsin)
- Feb 8 Vincent Weir, 3rd baron Inverforth, Scottish shipping magnate
- Feb 10 Conrad Klapheck, German painter (typewriters)
- Feb 14 David Wilson, Scottish administrator and 27th Governor of Hong Kong (1987-92), born in Alloa, Scotland
- Feb 15 John R Block, US Secretary of Agriculture (1981-86)
- Feb 15 Roger B Chaffee, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut, born in Grand Rapids Michigan
- Feb 15 Susan Brownmiller, feminist author (Against Our Wills), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Feb 16 Kenneth Price, ceramic artist and print maker (Hot Bottoms; Tamed), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
- Feb 16 Robin Clark, New Zealand-born chemist (early transition metals and highly coordinated complexes), born in Rangiora, New Zealand (d. 2018)
- Feb 18 Michel Aoun, President of Lebanon (2016-present), born in Haret Hreik, Lebanon
- Feb 21 Jean Pelletier, French Canadian political operative
- Feb 22 Ineke Haas-Berger, Dutch politician (PvdA), born in Abcoude-Baambrugge, Netherlands
- Feb 26 Azzedine Alaïa, Tunisian-born fashion designer, born in Tunis, Tunisia (d. 2017)
Deaths in History
- Feb 3 Hugo Junkers, German engineer (b. 1859)
- Feb 8 Max Liebermann, German impressionist painter and graphic artist, dies at 87
- Feb 12 Auguste Escoffier, French chef & writer (Le Guide Culinaire), dies at 88
- Feb 13 Violet Paget, British author (Gospels of Anarchy), dies at 78
- Feb 23 Jan Duiker, Dutch architect (Hotel Gooiland), dies at 44
- Feb 28 Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg, Dutch politician of the Anti Revolutionary Party and Governor-General of Dutch Indies (1909-16), dies at 73
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists