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/theater shows, and more.
Here are 29 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in February 2023 (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 2023. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2024, 2025 and 2026 editions are also available if you work further ahead. The 2027 edition will be available from August 8, 2022 and the 2028 edition from April 2023.
Feb 1, 1948 – 75 years ago
The Federation of Malaya was established.
Feb 2, 1923 – 100 years ago
Ethyl gasoline (leaded gasoline) was first sold, in Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Feb 3, 1943 – 80 years ago
World War II – the Four Chaplains incident (also known as the Immortal Chaplains). The U.S. Army transport ship SS Dorchester was hit by a German torpedo in the North Atlantic and began to sink. There were not enough life jackets for all on board. Four U.S. Army chaplains removed theirs, handed them to soldiers, and went down with the ship.
Feb 4, 1983 – 40 years ago
Death of Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (The Carpenters). (Anorexia, aged 32.)
Feb 5, 1953 – 70 years ago
Walt Disney’s animated movie Peter Pan was released.
Feb 6, 1958 – 65 years ago
The Munich air disaster, Germany. A plane carrying the Manchester United soccer team (the “Busby Babes”) from the UK, plus support staff and journalists, crashed while attempting to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich–Riem Airport. 23 people were killed, including eight players.
Feb 7, 1823 – 200 years ago
Death of Ann Radcliffe, British novelist. A pioneer of Gothic fiction. The most popular British writer of her era.
Feb 8, 1983 – 40 years ago
The champion racehorse Shergar was kidnapped in Ireland and a $2.75 million ransom demanded. The horse’s fate remains unknown.
Feb 9, 1773 – 250 years ago
Birth of William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States (for one month in 1841). He died 31 days into his term and remains the shortest-serving U.S. President. He was also the first U.S. President to die in office.
Feb 10, 1923 – 100 years ago
Death of Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist. Winner of the first Nobel Prize in Physics (1901) for discovering X-rays.
Feb 11, 1963 – 60 years ago
Death of Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist and short story writer who wrote about alienation, death and self-destruction. Wife of the British poet Ted Hughes. (Suicide, aged 30.)
Feb 12, 1993 – 30 years ago
Two ten-year-old boys abducted two-year-old James Bulger from a shopping mall in Liverpool, UK. His mutilated body was found on a nearby railway line two days later. They were charged with his abduction and murder on February 20th.
Feb 13, 1923 – 100 years ago
Birth of Chuck Yeager, U.S. Air Force test pilot. The first pilot to break the sound barrier. (Died 2020.)
Feb 14, 1933 – 90 years ago
The world’s first automated telephone speaking clock service was launched in France.
Feb 15, 1898 – 125 years ago
The U.S. battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba during a mission to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban War of Independence. 260 people were killed. Her sinking led to the Spanish–American War, which began on April 21, 1898. The cause of the explosion is unknown. Initially a mine was suspected, but some believe gases in the coal bunker may have spontaneously ignited.
Feb 16, 1923 – 100 years ago
British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the sealed doorway to Tutankhamen’s tomb in Thebes, Egypt. The following day he entered the burial chamber and discovered a wealth of treasures.
Feb 17, 2003 – 20 years ago
London’s Congestion Charge scheme began in the UK.
Feb 18, 1848 – 175 years ago
Birth of Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist and designer.
Feb 19, 1973 – 50 years ago
The pop song Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando was released. It became a worldwide hit.
Feb 20, 1898 – 125 years ago
Birth of Enzo Ferrari, Italian racing driver and businessman. Founder of Ferrari.
Feb 21, 1948 – 75 years ago
NASCAR was founded at Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.
Feb 22 to Dec 2, 1848 – 175 years ago
The French Revolution of 1848, Paris, France. King Louis-Philippe was overthrown and the monarchy was abolished. The French Second Republic was established, but it collapsed in 1851.
Feb 23, 1998 – 25 years ago
The terrorist Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa against all Jews and Crusaders.
Feb 24, 2008 – 15 years ago
The President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, resigned. He had ruled Cuba as Prime Minister (1959–76) and President (1976–2008). He was succeeded by his brother Raúl.
Feb 25, 1963 – 60 years ago
British rock group the Beatles released their first single in the USA: Please Please Me.
Feb 26, 1943 – 80 years ago
Death of Theodor Eicke, German Nazi SS general. One of the key figures in the establishment of concentration camps in Germany.
(Plane shot down during the Third Battle of Kharkov in WWII.)
Feb 27, 1933 – 90 years ago
The German Reichstag (parliament building) in Berlin was destroyed by fire. The Nazis blamed the communists and used the opportunity to suspend civil liberties and freedom of expression (under the Reichstag Fire Decree of February 28, 1933).
Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch communist, claimed responsibility, but the fire was almost certainly started by the Nazis themselves.
Feb 28, 1953 – 70 years ago
British scientists Francis Crick and James D. Watson announced that they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
(The official announcement was published in Nature magazine on April 25th.)
Feb 29, 2008 – 15 years ago
Prince Harry of the United Kingdom was immediately withdrawn from active service in Afghanistan after the media revealed he was secretly serving a tour of duty with British troops there.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2023. The 2024, 2025 and 2026 editions are also available if you work further ahead. The 2027 edition will be available from August 8, 2022. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.