Patty Hearst Released
Feb 1 American publishing heiress Patty Hearst is released from prison for bank robbery
Ayatollah Khomeini Returns
Feb 1 Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
- Feb 1 English international forward Trevor Francis becomes Britain’s first £1 million soccer player when he transfers from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest
- Feb 1 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Feb 3 "YMCA" by Village People peaks at #2 on pop singles chart
- Feb 3 US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
- Feb 3 US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
- Feb 4 "Co-Ed Fever," TV Comedy, debut & cancelled that outing on CBS
- Feb 4 29th NBA All-Star Game, Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Mi: West beats East, 134-129; MVP: David Thompson, Denver Nuggets, SG
- Feb 4 End of last 3+day D/N game for 15 yrs (WSC, SCG)
- Feb 5 Costliest single periodical ad, $3.2 million, Gulf + Western in Time
- Feb 5 Sears Radio Theater premieres on CBS
- Feb 6 Pakistan Supreme Court affirms the Lahore High Court's death sentence against former Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
- Feb 7 "Supertrain", TV Anthology, Superbomb of 1979, debuts on NBC
- Feb 7 Colonel Benjedid Chadli succeeds president Boumedienne in Algeria
- Feb 7 Faoud Bacchus scores 250 for WI v India at Kanpur
- Feb 8 Denis Sassou-Nguesso becomes the President of the Republic of the Congo for the first time
- Feb 8 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Feb 9 ABC airs "Heroes of Rock N Roll" special, featuring archival performances of 62 artists
- Feb 9 Beginning of James Clavell's novel "Whirlwind"
- Feb 9 New York City premiere of Paul Schrader's allegedly fact based film "Hardcore"
- Feb 9 Nigeria amends constitution
- Feb 9 UK Football club Nottingham Forest makes £1m transfer deal
- Feb 9 Walter Hill's drama film "The Warriors" is released in the United States, sparking gang violence at many theaters and a halt to the film's marketing campaign
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Feb 10 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart peaks at #1
Border's Only Missed Test
Feb 10 Allan Border is named 12th man for Australia, only Test Cricket he misses
- Feb 11 Iran's Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar resigns after losing support of the military; Ayatollah Khomeini seizes power
They're Playing Our Song
Feb 11 Marvin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager, and Neil Simon's musical "They're Playing Our Song", starring Robert Klein and Lucie Arnaz, opens at Imperial Theatre, NYC; runs for 1082 performances
- Feb 12 Kosmos 1076, 1st Soviet oceanographic satellite, launched
- Feb 13 Formation of Guardian Angels crime fighters in New York City
- Feb 13 Washington State's Hood Canal Bridge breaks up in windstorm
- Feb 14 In Kabul, Muslims kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police
- Feb 14 Revival of Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn's musical comedy "Whoopee!" opens at ANTA Theater, NYC; runs for 204 performances
Grammy Awards
Feb 15 21st Grammy Awards: Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are"; A Taste of Honey win
- Feb 15 Paul Shirley (21) of Australia, sucked a lifesaver for 4 hrs 40 mins
TV Show Appearance
Feb 15 Temple City Kazoo Orchestra appears on "The Mike Douglas Show"
- Feb 15 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Blow Away
Feb 16 George Harrison releases single "Blow Away"
- Feb 16 Los Angeles premiere of Paul Schrader's allegedly fact based film "Hardcore"
- Feb 16 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
World Record
Feb 17 American speed skater Eric Heiden equals world record 1000m (1:14.99)
- Feb 17 China invades Vietnam, marking the start of the Sino-Vietnamese War
- Feb 18 -52°F (-47°C), Old Forge, New York (state record)
Daytona 500
Feb 18 21st Daytona 500: Richard Petty wins after race leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison collide with each other on final lap; first 500 mile race broadcast from start to finish
- Feb 18 Mini-series "Roots: Next Generations" premieres on ABC TV
- Feb 18 NASA launches space vehicle S-202
Election of Interest
Feb 18 President Ziaur Rahman's National Party wins Bangladeshi general election
- Feb 18 Snow falls in Sahara Desert
- Feb 20 11 'loyalists' known as the "Shankill Butchers" are sentenced to life in prison for 19 murders; the gang was named for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder (by throat slashing) of random Catholic civilians in Belfast
- Feb 20 29th Berlin International Film Festival: "David" wins the Golden Bear
- Feb 21 2 Iowa girls HS basketball teams play 4 scoreless quarters game was won 4-2 in 4th overtime period
- Feb 21 Japan launches Hakucho X-ray satellite & Corsa-B (550/580 km)
Baseball History
Feb 22 Billy Martin named manager of Oakland A's
- Feb 22 Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Primate & Cat Building is dedicated (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Feb 22 St Lucia gains independence from Britain
- Feb 23 Frank Peterson Jr named 1st black general in Marine Corps
- Feb 23 George Harrison releases "George Harrison" album, featuring the single "Blow Away"
- Feb 23 Mitch Leigh and N. Richard Nash's musical "Saravá", opens at Mark Hellinger Theater, NYC; runs for 140 performances
- Feb 24 Highest price ever paid for a pig, $42,500, Stamford, Texas
- Feb 24 War between North & South Yemen begins
- Feb 25 Soyuz 32 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station is launched
- Feb 26 CBS' premiere of NYC sitcom "Flatbush", which received many derision phone calls about it from Brooklynites to CBS
- Feb 26 Last total eclipse of Sun in 20th century for continental US
- Feb 28 Ernest Thompson's "On Golden Pond" premieres in NYC
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists