Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Historical Events in February 1966

  • Feb 2 Pakistan suggests six-point agenda, with Kashmir dispute as number one item, for proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war
  • Feb 3 1st operational weather satellite, ESSA-1 launched US
  • Feb 3 First soft landing on the Moon, by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 9
  • Feb 4 All-Nippon Airways 727 crashes off Haneda Airport (Japan); kills 133
  • Feb 5 BBC opens a relay radio station on Ascension Island
  • Feb 7 KWCM TV channel 10 in Appleton, MN (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • Feb 9 Dow-Jones Index hits record 995 points
  • Feb 9 UK Government announces construction of a nuclear reactor on the North coast of Scotland

Valley of the Dolls

Feb 10 "Valley of the Dolls" by Jacqueline Susann is published by Bernard Geis Associates in the US - sold over 31 million copies

  • Feb 10 Pierre Harmel's Belgium government resigns

Contract of Interest

Feb 11 San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays signs highest contract, $130,000 per year

  • Feb 13 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • Feb 14 Australian currency is decimalised, and decimal currency postage stamps introduced
  • Feb 14 Russian writers Andrei Sinyavsky & Joey Daniel found guilty under the offense of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda for publishing their satirical writings abroad

NBA Record

Feb 14 Wilt Chamberlain breaks NBA career scoring record at 20,884 points

  • Feb 15 Kees Verkerk becomes world champion all-round skater
  • Feb 16 Australian cricket batsman Bob Cowper makes a patient 307 (727 mins, 20 x 4s) in drawn 5th Test v England in Melbourne

Cricket History

Feb 16 End of Wally Grout's Test Cricket career, 187 dismissals as Australian wicketkeeper

  • Feb 16 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker, Algeria
  • Feb 17 French satellite Diapason D-1A launch into Earth orbit
  • Feb 20 Author Valery Tarsis banished in USSR

Event of Interest

Feb 21 Indonesian President Sukarno dismisses General Nasution

  • Feb 22 Soviets launch Kosmos 110 with Veterok & Ugolek, 1st 2-dog crew
  • Feb 23 Military coup in Syria ends Bitar government
  • Feb 23 Premier Milton Obote seizes power in Uganda

Coup d'état

Feb 24 Military coup ousts President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana

  • Feb 24 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • Feb 25 Syrian military coup under General Hafiz al-Assad
  • Feb 26 KBIM TV channel 10 in Roswell, NM (CBS) begins broadcasting

Daytona 500

Feb 27 8th Daytona 500: Polesitter Richard Petty comes from 2 laps down to win the event after 198 laps were completed because of rain

  • Feb 27 Ice Dance Championship at Davos won by Diane Towler and Bernard Ford of great Britain
  • Feb 27 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Belousova and Protopopov of the Soviet Union

Sports History

Feb 27 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Peggy Fleming of US

  • Feb 27 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Emmerich Danzer of Austria
  • Feb 28 Cavern Club (Beatles hangout) in Liverpool, England closes

Baseball History

Feb 28 Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout against the Los Angeles Dodgers