Historical anniversaries are great for “On This Day in History” features and anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with readers and viewers, editors and producers love them, they’re easy to research, and you can easily turn them into newspaper and magazine articles, films, TV/radio/theatre shows, and more.
Here are 29 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in February 2021 (so you have time to write about them!)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2021. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2022 edition is also available.
1 Feb 1896 – 125 years ago
The première of Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème, in Turin, Italy.
2 Feb 1946 – 75 years ago
Trygve Lie of Norway became the first Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3 Feb 1971 – 50 years ago
American police officer Frank Serpico was shot and wounded during a drugs bust in Brooklyn, New York City. As a plain clothes officer he had uncovered widespread corruption in the New York Police Department (NYPD) and some believe the shooting was an attempt by NYPD officers to have him murdered. After recovering from his injuries he testified before the Knapp Commission which had been appointed to investigate corruption in the NYPD. His story is told in the 1973 film Serpico.
4 Feb 1941 – 80 years ago
The United Service Organization (USO) was created to provide social, welfare, recreational services and entertainment for members of the US armed forces and their families.
5 Feb 1996 – 25 years ago
The first genetically modified food went on sale in the UK: tomato puree made from tomatoes that had had the “rotting gene” removed. (The product was withdrawn in 1999 following strong opposition.)
6 Feb 1951 – 70 years ago
Woodbridge train derailment, New Jersey, USA. 86 people were killed and more than 500 injured. It was one of the worst rail disasters in US history.
7 Feb 1991 – 30 years ago
IRA mortar attack on 10 Downing Street, London. 3 shells were fired from a parked van while British Prime Minister John Major was chairing a cabinet meeting about the Gulf War. No one was injured.
8 Feb 1971 – 50 years ago
NASDAQ, the first electronic stock exchange, began trading.
9 Feb 1996 – 25 years ago
An IRA bomb exploded in London’s Docklands, killing 2 people and causing massive damage.
10 Feb 1846 – 175 years ago
Following repeated attacks, the Mormons began a long exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois to what is now Salt Lake City, Utah. The first group of pioneers set off on this date, with the main exodus beginning in April 1947. The first group reached the Great Salt Lake in July 1847 and began establishing a settlement.
11 Feb 1946 – 75 years ago
The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament was published. It was the first major English-language update of the Bible since the King James version was published in 1611.
12 Feb 1971 – 50 years ago
Death of James Cash Penney, American businessman who founded the J. C. Penney chain of department stores.
13 Feb 1931 – 90 years ago
New Delhi became the capital of India, replacing Kolkata.
14 Feb 1946 – 75 years ago
The Bank of England was nationalised.
15 Feb 1946 – 75 years ago
ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, was dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
16 Feb 1971 – 50 years ago
U.S. President Richard Nixon had a secret taping system installed in the Oval Office of the White House. The system was later expanded to other rooms and Camp David. The existence of the tapes was revealed during the Watergate Scandal of 1973-74.
17 Feb 1621 – 400 years ago
Myles Standish was elected as the first commander of the Plymouth Colony militia in North America.
18 Feb 1896 – 125 years ago
Birth of André Breton, French writer and poet. Leader of the Surrealist movement.
19 Feb 2001 – 20 years ago
The first case of foot-and-mouth disease in the 2001 UK outbreak was detected at an abattoir in Essex. The EU subsequently banned all British milk, meat and livestock exports.
20 Feb 1961 – 60 years ago
Death of Percy Grainger, Australian-born American composer, pianist and conductor.
21 Feb 1821 – 200 years ago
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy was founded in Pennsylvania. It was the first pharmacy college in the USA. It is now part of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
22 Feb 1821 – 200 years ago
The Adams-Onís Treaty (also known as the Florida Purchase Treaty) came into effect. Spain ceded Florida to the USA and the border between the USA and Mexico was established, settling a dispute.
23 Feb 1821 – 200 years ago
Death of John Keats, British poet. (Tuberculosis, aged 25.)
24 Feb 1871 – 150 years ago
British naturalist Charles Darwin’s book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex was published.
25 Feb 1956 – 65 years ago
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave an infamous speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences in which he condemned and denounced former leader Joseph Stalin as a brutal despot. This led to the de-Stalinisation of the Soviet Union.
26 Feb 1896 – 125 years ago
French scientist Henri Becquerel unknowingly discovered radioactivity while investigating the phosphorescent rays of uranium and potassium crystals. He was jointly awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Pierre and Marie Curie who carried out further research. The SI unit for radioactivity, the becquerel, is named in his honour.
27 Feb 1996 – 25 years ago
The Pokémon media franchise was launched by Japanese video game designer Satoshi Tajiri.
28 Feb 1991 – 30 years ago
The Gulf War ended at midnight when a ceasefire came into effect.
29 Feb 1996 – 25 years ago
A court ruled that the British actress Joan Collins was entitled to keep a $1.3 million advance from publishers Random House, plus a further $1.3 million for delivering her manuscripts on schedule. Random House had claimed that her two novels were unpublishable and demanded their money back.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2021. The 2022 edition is also available if you need to work further ahead. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.