Events in History
Event of Interest
Feb 1 Second Norwegian government of Vidkun Quisling forms
- Feb 8 Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore (WWII)
Fritz Todt Plane Crash
Feb 8 Nazi architect Albert Speer appointed Minister of Armaments by Adolf Hitler after death of Fritz Todt in a plane crash
- Feb 9 Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US
- Feb 9 Japanese troops land near Makassar, South Celebes
Historic Invention
Feb 10 American chemist James Franklin Hyde is granted a patent for fused silica
- Feb 14 Japanese parachutists land near oil center Palembang, Sumatra
- Feb 14 Rotterdam's Maas tunnel opens
- Feb 14 The Polish resistance movement, the Home Army, is formed and will eventually become the largest resistance movement in occupied Europe
- Feb 14 World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
- Feb 15 German U-boat shells Antillian oil refinery
- Feb 15 Japanese troops march into Palembang, South Sumatra
- Feb 15 World War II: British ruled Singapore surrenders to the Japanese
- Feb 16 Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.
- Feb 16 German submarines attack Aruba oil refinery
- Feb 18 Japanese troop land on Bali
- Feb 19 About 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin
- Feb 19 Bill Longson beats Managoff & Sandor Szabo, to become wrestling champ
- Feb 19 FDR orders detention & internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans
- Feb 19 Japanese troops land on Timor
- Feb 20 Lt E H O'Hare single-handedly shoots down 5 Japanese heavy bombers, becomes America's first World War II flying ace
- Feb 21 US male Figure Skating championship won by Bobby Specht
'I Shall Return'
Feb 22 World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapse
- Feb 23 Japanese submarine fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, California
Battle of Los Angeles
Feb 24 The "Battle of Los Angeles" takes place, a series of anti-aircraft engagements over the city in response to a rumored but false Japanese attack. It would last until the morning of the following day.
- Feb 24 Voice of America begins broadcasting (in German)
- Feb 26 German battle cruiser Gneisenau deactivated by bomb
- Feb 26 Radio Orange calls for March 1 day of prayer in Dutch Indies
Event of Interest
Feb 26 Werner Heisenberg, a principal scientist in the German nuclear weapons program, delivers a lecture to Nazi officials about extracting energy from nuclear fission
- Feb 27 1st transport of French Jews to nazi-Germany
- Feb 27 Battle of Java Sea began: 13 US warships sunk and 2 Japanese
- Feb 27 J S Hey discovers radio emissions from Sun
- Feb 28 1st weapon drop on Netherlands
- Feb 28 Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies
- Feb 28 Race riot at Sojourner Truth Homes, a housing project in Detroit, Michigan
Birthdays in History
- Feb 2 Satya Paul, Indian fashion designer and entrepreneur who invented the modern sari, born in Layyah, Punjab, British India (d. 2021) [1]
- Feb 5 Susan Hill, English playwright (Magic Apple Tree)
- Feb 6 James Loewen, American sociologist & historian, born in Decatur, Illinois
- Feb 6 Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist, born in Kirksville, Missouri
- Feb 7 Ton de Kok, Dutch politician (CDA)
- Feb 10 Michael Bishop, British CEO (British Midland Airways), born in Bowdon, Cheshire
- Feb 11 Archie Andrews, comic book character (Archie)
- Feb 12 Chananjit Vohra, Kenyan/British hotel magnate/multi-millionaire
- Feb 12 Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel
- Feb 13 Donald E. Williams, American US naval officer & NASA astronaut (STS 51D, STS 34), born in Lafayette, Indiana (d. 2016)
- Feb 14 Margaret Wright, chief commissioner (Guide Association)
Michael Bloomberg (81 years old)
Feb 14 American businessman who co-founded Bloomberg L.P., Mayor of New York City (2002-13) and philanthropist, born in Boston, Massachusetts
Kim Jong-il (1942-2011)
Feb 16 Supreme Leader of North Korea (1994-2011), born in Vyatskoye, Soviet Union [disputed birthplace and birth date, 1941]
Huey P. Newton (1942-1989)
Feb 17 African-American activist, revolutionary and co-founder of the Black Panther Party, born in Monroe, Louisiana
Mitch McConnell (81 years old)
Feb 20 American politician, (Senator-R-KY, 1985-, and Senate Majority Leader 2015- ), born in Sheffield, Alabama
- Feb 21 Peter Leonard, Australian journalist and newsreader, born in Yass, New South Wales (d. 2008)
- Feb 23 Beau Boulter, American politician and lobbyist (Rep-R-TX, 1985-89), born in El Paso, Texas
- Feb 23 John Lewis, Head Master (Eton College)
- Feb 23 Joop van den Ende, Dutch theatrical producer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Feb 24 David K Williamson, Australian screenplay/playwright (Removalists)
- Feb 24 Joe Lieberman, (Sen-D Connecticut)
- Feb 24 Stuart Henry, British disc jockey
- Feb 26 Adriaan van Dis, Dutch author (Nathan Sid, In Africa), born in Bergen aan Zee, Netherlands
- Feb 27 Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist & foreign correspondent (McNeil-Lehrer), born in Due West, South Carolina
- Feb 27 Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist & Nobel Prize laureate, born in Marshall County, Kentucky
- Feb 28 Bob Collins [Harold Lee], American radio broadcaster (WGN- 720AM, Chicago, 1986-2000), born in Lakeland, Florida (d. 2000)
Deaths in History
- Feb 2 Daniil Kharms [Yuvatchov], Russian surrealist and absurdist writer, poet, and playwright, dies of starvation during the siege of Leningrad at 36
- Feb 6 Wobbe de Vries, Dutch linguist, dies at 78
- Feb 7 Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator, dies at 65
- Feb 8 Fritz Todt, German construction engineer, Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions Reichs minister and Head of the Organization Todt, dies in a plane crash at 50
- Feb 9 Lauri Kristian Relander, 2nd President of Finland (1925-31), dies at 58
- Feb 12 Grant Wood, American painter (American Gothic), dies at 50
- Feb 13 Epitácio Pessoa, 11th President of Brazil (Minas Gerais Republican: 1919-22), dies at 76
- Feb 14 Adnan Bin Saidi, Officer of the Malay Regiment killed in the defense of Singapore (b. 1915)
- Feb 18 Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)
- Feb 19 Frank Abbandando, American gangster (Murder, Inc.), executed for murder at 31
- Feb 23 Stefan Zweig, Austrian poet, essayist and dramatist (Beware of Pity), dies at 60
- Feb 24 Anton Drexler, German politician and founder of the German Worker's Party, dies at 57
- Feb 27 Karel Doorman, Dutch rear-admiral (Java Sea), KIA at 52
- Feb 27 Martha McChesney Berry, American educator who founded Berry School for Children, dies at 75
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists