Here are 28 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in February 2027 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)
Historical anniversaries are ideal for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)
We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.
Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats, spelling and grammar. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.
1 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
The British Post Office began using detector vans to track down users of unlicensed television sets.
2 Feb 1852 – 175 years ago
The first modern public toilets in the UK opened in Fleet Street, London. These toilets were for men only. The first public toilet for women opened in Bedford Street a week later, on 11th February. The first (temporary) public toilets in the UK were installed at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, from May to October 1851.
3 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
The coldest temperature ever recorded in North America: ‑63°C (‑81.4°F) at Snag, Yukon, Canada.
4 Feb 1977 – 50 years ago
The album Rumours by Fleetwood Mac was released. It became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling over 40 million copies worldwide.
5 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
New York City began using its famous Walk/Don’t Walk signs at pedestrian crossings. The first one was installed in Times Square. (These were probably not the first in the USA. There are reports of Walk/Don’t Walk signs in Washington, D.C. in 1938–39.)
6 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
Death of George VI, King of the United Kingdom (1936–52).
His funeral was held on 15th February.
He was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
7 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
The first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves in Khirbat Qumran (now in the West Bank, Palestine).
8 Feb 1957 – 70 years ago
Death of John von Neumann, Hungarian-born American mathematician, physicist and inventor. A child prodigy, he became one of the world’s leading mathematicians and made significant contributions to numerous fields of mathematics, physics, economics, computing and statistics.
9 Feb 1977 – 50 years ago
Death of Sergey Ilyushin, Soviet Russian aircraft designer. The Ilyushin Il-2 strike aircraft and Il-4 bomber were used extensively during WWII. After the war he designed civil aircraft and commercial airliners including the Il-18 and Il-62, which were used by Aeroflot.
10 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
World War II: the Paris Peace Treaties were signed by the Allies and Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Romania. The five defeated Axis countries were allowed to resume their responsibilities as sovereign states in exchange for paying war reparations, handing over wanted war criminals, committing to minority rights, and accepting border changes.
11 Feb 1937 – 90 years ago
The Flint (Michigan) sit-down strike against General Motors (GM) ended. This famous strike led to the formal establishment and recognition of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) trade union, and later to the unionisation of the entire U.S. car industry. The strike had begun on 30th December 1936, and ended when GM agreed to recognise the UAW.
12 Feb 1877 – 150 years ago
Alexander Graham Bell made the first long-distance telephone call, from the Lyceum in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. He phoned his assistant, Thomas Watson, at the offices of the Boston Globe newspaper twelve miles away. Afterwards, a reporter used the telephone to file his report for the next day’s edition of the Globe – the first news dispatch filed by telephone.
13 Feb 1967 – 60 years ago
The Beatles songs Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields were released (double A-side).
14 Feb 1852 – 175 years ago
Great Ormond Street Hospital opened in London, UK (as the Hospital for Sick Children).
15 Feb 2002 – 25 years ago
Investigators found dozens of decomposing bodies in woods and buildings surrounding the Tri-State Crematory in Georgia, USA, following a tip-off. More than 300 bodies were eventually found. They had been sent to the facility for cremation but were dumped rather than being cremated, and relatives were given concrete dust. The operator of the facility, Ray Brent Marsh, was convicted and imprisoned. His motive remains unknown.
16 to 17 Feb 1962 – 65 years ago
The North Sea flood of 1962. The North Sea coast of West Germany and the Netherlands suffered severe flooding caused by an extratropical cyclone. 347 people were killed, including 315 in the city of Hamburg. 60,000 homes were destroyed.
17 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
Voice of America began transmitting radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union in an effort to counter harmful Soviet Cold War propaganda.
18 Feb 1977 – 50 years ago
The first test flight of the USA’s first space shuttle Enterprise. It was mounted on top of a Boeing 747 for this flight. It flew freely for the first time on 12th August. It was supposed to have been retrofitted for space flight once testing was concluded, but later design changes made this impractical. It never flew into space.
19 Feb 1937 – 90 years ago
Yekatit 12, Ethiopia. Following the attempted assassination of Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani in Addis Ababa by two Eritrean nationalists, the occupying Italian forces carried out a vicious massacre of Ethiopians over the next three days. Up to 30,000 people were killed. It was one of the worst atrocities carried out by the occupying Italian forces.
20 Feb 1927 – 100 years ago
Birth of Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer. Founder of the luxury fashion and perfume house Givenchy. He designed clothing for Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. (Died 2018.)
21 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
Language Martyrs’ Day, Bangladesh. Students from the University of Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) held a protest against the government’s refusal to accept Bengali as an official state language. Police opened fire and several people were killed. This day is now commemorated as Language Martyrs’ Day, and internationally (since 2000) as International Mother Language Day.
22 Feb 1987 – 40 years ago
The Vatican released the document Donum Vitae: Instruction On Respect For Human Life In Its Origin And On The Dignity Of Procreation. It condemned artificial insemination, genetic engineering, surrogate motherhood, test-tube babies, cloning, and pre-determining a foetus’s sex or other qualities, which it said was ‘morally illicit’.
23 Feb 1927 – 100 years ago
The Radio Act of 1927 came into effect in the USA and the newly established Federal Radio Commission began regulating radio frequencies, power output, and hours of operation for radio broadcasters. It was renamed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1934.
24 Feb 1852 – 175 years ago
Birth of George Moore, Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet and art critic. Regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist.
25 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
Prussia was officially abolished and became part of Germany.
26 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb and would test it before the end of the year.
It successfully detonated it in the Monte Bello Islands on 3rd October.
27 Feb 1827 – 200 years ago
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was founded. It was the first railway in the USA to carry both passengers and freight. The first section of track opened in 1830.
It became part of the CSX Transportation network in 1987.
28 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
The February 28 Incident, Taiwan (also known as the 228 Incident or the 228 Massacre). An anti-government uprising was violently suppressed. Thousands of people were killed (estimates range from 10,000 to over 30,000). This incident marked the beginning of the White Terror period, and sparked the Taiwanese independence movement.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.
The 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.
Reviews
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This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.” — Chris
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ A deeply researched goldmine of ideas
For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-A-Base Books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet.
I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC. — Richard
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Great reference
This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised. Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history. — Mark
How to use the anniversaries:
How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?
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