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

Historical Events in February 1991

  • Feb 1 Afghanistan and Pakistan hit by earthquake, 1,200 die

"The Firm"

Feb 1 American writer John Grisham publishes his second novel "The Firm" (bestselling novel of the year)

  • Feb 1 Australian cricket fast bowler Craig McDermott sets up a 9 wicket, 5th Test win over England with a career best 8-97 in Perth

Apartheid Laws To Be Repealed

Feb 1 South African President F. W. de Klerk says he will repeal all apartheid laws

  • Feb 1 US Air & Skywest Fairchild jet collide at LA Airport killing 32
  • Feb 2 Aravinda De Silva scores 267 v NZ at Wellington
  • Feb 2 NH snaps its 32-game losing streak at home beating Holy Cross, 72-56

"The Soul Cages"

Feb 2 Sting scores his second UK #1 album with 'The Soul Cages'

  • Feb 2 US postage is raised from 25 cents to 29 cents
  • Feb 3 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 23-21; MVP: Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills, QB

Trebak Makes Game Show History

Feb 4 Alex Trebek becomes first person to host three American game shows at the same time (Jeopardy!, Classic Concentration, To Tell the Truth)

Rose Barred

Feb 4 Baseball's Hall of Fame board of directors vote 12-0 to bar Pete Rose, due to his betting on games while a player and manager

Record 467 Stand

Feb 4 NZ cricketers Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones make a world record 467 run stand, against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in Wellington

  • Feb 4 US postage raises from 25 cents to 29 cents

Kevorkian Barred Assisting Suicides

Feb 5 A Michigan court bars Dr Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides

  • Feb 5 All American Bowl ends after 14 years
  • Feb 5 Big East Football conference forms

Stern Kisses Marshall

Feb 5 Howard Stern kisses NY Giant Leonard Marshall's ass over bet, Stern lost claiming the Giants would lose the Super Bowl

  • Feb 5 LA King Dave Taylor becomes 29th NHler to score 1000 points
  • Feb 6 Mousey Davis becomes 1st coach of NY-NJ Knights

NBA Hall of Fame

Feb 7 Bob Knight, Larry O'Brien, Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Harry Gallatin & Larry Fleisher elected to NBA Hall of Fame

  • Feb 7 Jean-Bertrand Aristide sworn in as Haiti's 1st elected president

Attempt on John Major

Feb 7 Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting in an attempt to assassinate UK Prime Minister John Major, injuring four people

Clemens Signs Contract

Feb 8 Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract

  • Feb 9 "This Is Ponderous" by 2nu peaks at #46
  • Feb 9 Johann Olav Koss skates world record 5k (6:41:73)

Norris vs. Leonard

Feb 9 Terry Norris knocks down Sugar Ray Leonard twice and beats him to defend his WBC Super Welterweight title

  • Feb 9 US Supreme Court agrees to hear Joseph Doherty case
  • Feb 10 "La Bete" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 24 performances

41st NBA All-Star Game

Feb 10 41st NBA All-Star Game, Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC: East beats West, 116-114; Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers, F

  • Feb 10 Johann Koss skates world record 10 km (13:43.54)
  • Feb 10 Lithuania votes for independence from USSR
  • Feb 11 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) forms in The Hague, Netherlands
  • Feb 12 Iceland recognizes Lithuania's independence
  • Feb 12 North & South Korea form a joint team for table tennis competition
  • Feb 13 Syria tells Germany they are ready to recognize Israel
  • Feb 13 US air raid on the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad kills more than 408 civilians
  • Feb 13 US bombs Iraqi air raid shelter, killing 334

The Silence of the Lambs

Feb 14 "The Silence of the Lambs" film based on the book by Thomas Harris, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, is released (Best Picture 1992)

Film & TV History

Feb 14 Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston's stage comedy "Mule Bone" opens at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 68 performances

  • Feb 14 NL Cy Young winner Doug Drabek wins record $3 mil salary arbitration
  • Feb 15 41st Berlin International Film Festival: "The House of Smiles" wins the Golden Bear
  • Feb 15 Daily market volatility as Hussein mentions withdrawal, but Bush calls his offer a "cruel hoax"
  • Feb 15 Freighter with dynamite explodes in Phang Nga Thailand, 120 die
  • Feb 15 Troy State sets NCAA Div II record with 103 points in 2nd half routing DeVry Institute 187-117
  • Feb 16 Dutch PPR, Political Party Radicals, disbands

Sports History

Feb 16 US female Figure Skating championship won by Tonya Harding

  • Feb 17 33rd Daytona 500: Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports coasts to win after challengers crash on finals laps

Sports History

Feb 17 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge

Sports History

Feb 18 Edmonton Oiler goalie Grant Fuhr returns to NHL after season-long suspension for substance abuse & shuts out NJ Devils 4-0

Night Ride Home

Feb 19 Geffen Records releases "Night Ride Home", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 14th studio album

Grammy Awards

Feb 20 33rd Grammy Awards: "Another Day in Paradise"; Mariah Carey win

Event of Interest

Feb 20 A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time dictator, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital, Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters

Music History

Feb 20 Alan Ayckbourn's stage farce "Taking Steps" opens at Circle in Square Theater, NYC; runs for 78 performances

  • Feb 20 Programming language Python is released by Guido van Rossum [1]

Music History

Feb 21 Neil Simon's stage comic-drama "Lost in Yonkers", starring Mercedes Ruehl and Kevin Spacey, opens at Richard Rodgers Theater, NYC; runs for 780 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize

  • Feb 21 USSR announces that Iraq has agreed to a proposal to end the Gulf War, but the US calls the plan unacceptable
  • Feb 22 Kelli McCarty, 21, (Kansas), crowned 40th Miss USA

Cricket Debut

Feb 22 Test Cricket debut of Sanath Jayasuriya, vs NZ at Hamilton

  • Feb 23 Greg Haugen scores a split decision over Hector "Macho" Camacho
  • Feb 23 Military coup in Thailand, Premier Choonhaven arrested
  • Feb 23 NC is 1st NCAA basketball team to win 1,500 games

Event of Interest

Feb 23 US President George H. W. Bush gives Iraq a 24-hour deadline to withdraw from Kuwait or face a ground war

  • Feb 24 End of World League of American Football's (WLAF) 1st draft
  • Feb 24 English-Yiddish musical revue "Those Were The Days" closes at Edison Theater, NYC, after 126 performances
  • Feb 24 Gulf War: US-led forces begin Operation Desert Sabre, the ground invasion of southern Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait
  • Feb 25 Andrew Jones scores twin Test Cricket tons v Sri Lanka (122 & 100*)

Sports History

Feb 25 Businessman Bruce McNall, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and actor John Candy buy CFL's Toronto Argonauts

  • Feb 25 Gulf War: Iraqi Scud missile hits US barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, kills 28
  • Feb 26 Asanka Gurusinha scores twin Test Cricket tons v NZ (119 & 102)
  • Feb 26 Gulf War: Battle of 73 Easting - Coalition forces win decisive victory over Iraq in tank battle involving 500-700 combined vehicles

Highway of Death

Feb 26 Gulf War: Coalition planes bomb Iraqi forces retreating from Kuwait, killing hundreds and creating the so-called 'Highway of Death'

  • Feb 26 Gulf War: Kuwaiti resistance leaders declare they have control of their capital
  • Feb 26 NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together
  • Feb 26 Signs of Iran crude now an option for US refiners, but no imports from Iran likely in near future
  • Feb 27 Ben Elton's "Silly Cow" premieres in London
  • Feb 27 Noureddine Morcelli set 1500m mark at 3:34:16

Music History

Feb 27 Singer James Brown is paroled from prison after serving 2 years of 6 year sentence for weapon and drug related convictions

  • Feb 28 Gulf War ends after Iraq accepts a ceasefire following their retreat from Kuwait

Sports History

Feb 28 New York Yankees Don Mattingly named 10th team captain

  • Feb 28 Noureddine Morceli runs world record 1500m indoor (3:34:16)
  • Feb 28 Steve Tesich's stage drama "Speed of Darkness" opens at Belasco Theater, NYC; runs for 36 performances