Fidel Castro becomes prime minister of Cuba on February 16, 1959, replacing José Miró Cardona, who was the head of the country's new provisional government. Castro had become commander in chief of Cuba’s armed forces, after leading the guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile on January 1, 1959. More
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What Happened in February?
Emperor ascensions, legendary battles, and assassinations. Discover what happened this month in history. Explore pivotal events from February that helped shape the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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The first Daytona 500 takes place on February 22, 1959, at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway in Florida with 59 cars. The Inaugural race was won by Lee Petty in a controversial and dramatic photo finish that took three days to officially settle after Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner and even celebrated in Victory Lane.
Sixty one hours later, after reviewing newsreel footage including a famous photograph by T. Taylor Warren, Bill France Sr. NASCAR founder, declared Petty the winner by roughly two feet Lee Petty drove a No. 42 Oldsmobile, averaging a speed of 135.521 mph. He earned a purse of $19,050 with his win.
Four African American students at North Carolina, Agricultural and Technical College, stage a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, sparking similar protests.
The “Greensboro Four,” were Ezell Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil. Their protest led to the Woolworth Department Store chain ending its policy of racial segregation in its stores in the southern United States. More
France detonates its first atomic bomb, codenamed "Gerboise Bleue" (Blue Jerboa),on February 13, 1960, in the Algerian Sahara desert near Reggane, making France the world's fourth nuclear power. It was followed by 16 other tests (1960–1966), leaving a lasting toxic and radioactive legacy.
The blast was significantly more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, with a yield estimated around 70 kilotons. Radioactive fallout spread across the Sahara, with contaminants detected as far as Sicily. Long-term health issues were detected in the local population and exposed soldiers. The tests left behind a contaminated, radioactive area with long term effects.
Sabena Flight 548, a Boeing 707 flying from NY City to Brussels, Belgium crashes as it attempts to land in clear weather on February 15, 1961. All 72 people aboard perished including the entire 18-member U.S. figure skating team, 16 people accompanying them and 38 other passengers and crew and on person on the ground.
The U.S. figure skating team was on its way to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of the crash, although mechanical difficulties were suspected. More
President John F. Kennedy proclaims an embargo on trade between the United States and Cuba effective on February 7, 1962, in response to certain actions taken by the Cuban Government Kennedy directed the Departments of Commerce and the Treasury to implement and manage the embargo, which still remains in place today. More
John H. Glenn Jr, one of NASA’s original seven Mercury astronauts, becomes the first American to orbit Earth, circling it three times. Glenn went on to become a U.S. Senator in 1974. More
The Beatles land at John F. Kennedy International Airport tin New York, and were he United States for the first time on February 7, 1964, starting the "British Invasion" of music. Their visit included an Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 9 which was watched by a record breaking 73 million people, marking the official start of "Beatlemania" in the United States and the "British Invasion" of music
Canada adopts a new National flag on February 15, 1965. The new maple leaf flag originally proposed by George Stanley was made official and it was inaugurated in a public ceremony on Parliament Hill. More
Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City. at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Just as Malcolm X began to address, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), gunmen rushed the stage, firing at least 15 times. More
The Soviet Union's Luna 9 (Lunik 9) makes the first soft landing on the moon and transmits photographic data from the Moon's surface to Earth.
It was the first spacecraft to achieve a soft lunar landing, preceding the U.S. Surveyor 1 soft lander by about 4 months. The probe also proved that the lunar surface could support the weight of a lander and that an object would not sink into a loose layer of dust as some models predicted. Luna 9 launched on 31 January 1966 at 11:41 UT (14:41 Moscow time) from Baikonur Cosmodrome and reached the Moon on 3 February. More
General Suharto assumes full executive authority in Indonesia on February 22, 1967, ending President Sukarno's 22-year communist leaning rule.
He went ahead to establish a strict "New Order" regime, reversing communist policies, restoring economic stability, and ruling for 31 years as a military-backed dictator. His tenure was marked by corruption and severe human rights abuses, with dead toll estimates ranging from 500,000 to over a million. He was forced to resign in 1998.
CBS anchor Walter Cronkite declares on-air, on February 27, 1968, that the U.S. was "mired in stalemate and that negotiations were the only rational way out. argued that the war was a "standoff" and that further military escalation would not lead to victory, but rather to a prolonged, costly conflict."
The pessimistic assessment by America's most trusted reporter made following a trip to Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, challenged the official optimism and it is believed to have contributed to a major shift in public opinion, prompting President Johnson to seek a negotiated peace decision and not to seek re-election.
Japan launches Ohsumi, its first man-made satellite on February 11, 1970, making Japan the fourth country in the world (after the former Soviet Union, the United States and France) to have launched a satellite without aid from outside sources.
The satellite's transmitter failed within hours due to power loss but the satellite remained in orbit for 33 years when it re-entered the atmosphere on August 2, 2003. More
Apollo 14's Lunar module with astronauts, Alan B. Shepard Jr. (Commander) and Edgar D. Mitchell (Lunar Module Pilot) descends to the lunar surface on the third U.S. moon landing.
The 3rd Apollo 14 astronaut was Stuart A. Roosa, (Command Module Pilot). The astronauts returned to earth on Feb. 9, 1971 Landing on the Pacific Ocean. More
The Sylmar magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 1971 at 6 AM. Transportation infrastructure was significantly damaged around the Los Angeles area, with bridges and highway exits collapsing during the earthquake.
U.S. President Richard Nixon makes a historic eight-day visit to China from February 21–28, 1972, the first-ever visit by a U.S. head of state to the PRC, ending 25 years of diplomatic isolation and hostility between the two nations.
The visit resulted in the "Shanghai Communiqué," a pledge from both nations to work toward the full normalization of diplomatic relations. Which took place in 1979. The visit is widely considered one of the most significant diplomatic achievements of the 20th century allowing the U.S. to gain leverage over the Soviet Union by exploiting the Sino-Soviet split, while also addressing the sensitive issue of Taiwan and initializing direct dialogue between the leaderships.
The U.S. Senate votes on December 10, 1974, to confirm Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford by a vote of 90 to 7. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States on December 19, 1974
On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon (a Republican) was forced to resign amid the Watergate scandal and Vice President Gerald Ford ascended to the presidency, leaving the office of vice president vacant. the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, states that a vice presidential vacancy is filled when the president nominates a candidate who is confirmed by both houses of Congress, which were controlled by the Democrats.
The first NAVSTAR satellite, Navstar 1, was launched on February 22, 1978, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The U.S. Department of Defense had previously launched the first experimental Block-I GPS satellite in February, 1977, which also became part of the NAVSTAR GPS (Navigation Digital Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System.
Homebrewing beer becomes federally legal on February 1, 1979. When Prohibition ended, federal law allowed households to produce wine for personal use but that was not the case for beer, which remained illegal to brew at home.
On October 14, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 1337 which federally legalized homebrewing of beer, effective on February 1, 1979. The law allowed hobbyists to brew 100 gallons of alcohol or 200 gallons per household annually for personal or family consumption.. It was not until 2013 that all 50 states allowed homebrewing of beer. The legalization fueled the American craft beer revolution which had been underway for almost 20 years. The American Homebrewers Association formed at the end of 1978.