February 1976

The following events occurred in February 1976:

February 1, 1976 (Sunday)

• Five people are killed when two light planes collide above Parafiled Airport, 16 km north of Adelaide, Australia.
• Died: Werner Heisenberg, 74, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate; George Whipple, 97, US scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

February 2, 1976 (Monday)

• David Bowie's Isolar – 1976 Tour, commonly called the "Thin White Duke Tour",^[1] opens at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada.
• The SZD-42 Jantar 2 glider makes its first flight.
• Died: Barbara Euphan Todd, 86, English children's author ("Worzel Gummidge")

February 3, 1976 (Tuesday)

• The Ondo State House of Assembly is founded in Nigeria.^[2]
• Born: Isla Fisher, Australian actress, in Muscat.

February 4, 1976 (Wednesday)

• The 1976 Winter Olympics begin in Innsbruck, Austria.
• In Guatemala and Honduras, an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
• The Rolladen-Schneider LS3 makes its maiden flight.^[3]
• The Supreme Court of Canada rules that individual provinces cannot censor movies.

February 5, 1976 (Thursday)

• Nearly 2,000 students become involved in a racially-charged riot at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida, USA; 30 students are injured in the 4-hour fray.
• An United States Army recruit at Fort Dix dies in mysterious circumstances and four fellow soldiers are hospitalized; health officials announce that "swine flu" is the cause. Soon after, public health officials in President Ford's administration urge that every person in the United States be vaccinated.^[4]
• Died: Mal Evans, former Beatles road manager, shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle.

February 6, 1976 (Friday)

• Victor Garland resigns from Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser's government, after being accused of electoral offences.^[5] He is replaced as Minister for Post and Telecommunications by Eric Robinson.
• Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith Smith declares that "a new terrorist offensive has begun and, to defeat it, Rhodesians will have to face heavier military commitments."^[6] Security force reports indicated that around 1,000 insurgent fighters were active within Rhodesia, with a further 15,000 encamped in various states of readiness in Mozambique.^[7]

February 7, 1976 (Saturday)

• A Baltimore & Ohio freight train strikes a pickup truck an unprotected grade crossing in Beckemeyer, Illinois, USA, at about 6:50pm. 12 people are killed, mostly children; 3 others are injured.

February 8, 1976 (Sunday)

• A referendum on remaining in the Comoros is held in Mayotte. The proposal is rejected by 99.42% of the 18,061 voters.^[8]

February 9, 1976 (Monday)

• Aeroflot Flight 3739, a Tupolev Tu-104A (registration CCCP-42327), banks hards to the right on takeoff from Irkutsk Airport in Irkutsk in the Soviet Union's Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and crashes, killing 24 of the 115 people on board.^[9]
• The Australian Defence Force is formed by unification of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.
• Rupert Hamer, Premier of the Australian state of Victoria, announces a March 20 election date, saying it is the most convenient date because of the Premiers’ Conferences due to be held in Canberra in late April and June.
• In Spain, the People's Alliance electoral coalition is founded by Manuel Fraga and other former Francoist ministers.^[10]
• Died: Percy Faith, 67, Canadian bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor

February 10, 1976 (Tuesday)

• Ronald Webster is appointed Chief Minister of Anguilla.

February 11, 1976 (Wednesday)

• Clifford Alexander, Jr., is confirmed as the first African American Secretary of the United States Army.
• Greek ship Evgenia I runs aground 23 nautical miles (43 km) north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and is severely damaged; it is later declared a constructive total loss.^[11]
• Died: Lee J. Cobb, 64, US actor; Alexander Lippisch, 81, German aerodynamicist

February 12, 1976 (Thursday)

• Died: Sal Mineo, 37, US actor, murdered outside his Hollywood apartment^[12]

February 13, 1976 (Friday)

• Died: General Murtala Mohammed, 37, military ruler of Nigeria, assassinated in a military coup; Lily Pons, 77, US soprano (b. 1898)

February 14, 1976 (Saturday)

• The Fondation Vasarely museum is established in Aix-en-Provence, France.^[13]

February 15, 1976 (Sunday)

• The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by a national referendum.
• Bette Midler bails seven members of her entourage out of jail after they are arrested on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession.

February 16, 1976 (Friday)

• The worst traffic accident in Sweden occurs outside Axamo, Jönköping, when overheated tires cause a bus fire, killing 15 people and injuring 28.^[14]

February 17, 1976 (Tuesday)

• The BBC television series One Man and His Dog is broadcast for the first time in the UK.^[15] After being cancelled in 1999, it returned as an occasional series.

February 18, 1976 (Wednesday)

• A general election is held in Antigua and Barbuda. Although the Progressive Labour Movement receives the most votes, the opposition Antigua Labour Party wins more than double the number of seats. ALP leader Vere Bird becomes Premier of Antigua.^[16]

February 19, 1976 (Thursday)

• The Sanremo Music Festival 1976 opens at the Sanremo Casino, presented by Giancarlo Guardabassi.^[17]

February 20, 1976 (Friday)

• Panamanian-registered coster Marie Elizabeth (formerly the Clary) is destroyed by fire while moored at Barcelona.^[18]
• Born: Anastasia Volochkova, Russian ballerina, in Saint Petersburg^[19]
• Died: René Cassin, 88, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

February 21, 1976 (Saturday)

• The 1976 Winter Paralympics open in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.

February 22, 1976 (Sunday)

• Joe Clark is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, replacing Robert Stanfield.^[20]
• The Indian cricket team completes its tour of New Zealand, losing at Basin Reserve, Wellington, to draw the series 1-1.
• Died: Florence Ballard, 32, US singer, a founding member of The Supremes (coronary thrombosis)^[21]

February 23, 1976 (Monday)

• Died: L. S. Lowry, 88, British artist

February 24, 1976 (Tuesday)

• Cuba's new constitution is enacted.
• A week after its release, the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) compilation becomes the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new platinum certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles.

February 25, 1976 (Wednesday)

• The song "Save Your Kisses for Me", performed by Brotherhood of Man, is selected as the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976; it goes on to win the contest.

February 26, 1976 (Thursday)

• The Spanish Armed Forces announce their withdrawal from Western Sahara.^[22]

February 27, 1976 (Friday)

• The Polisario Front, Western Sahara's national liberation movement, declares independence of the territory under the name "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic", and begins a guerrilla war against Morocco and Mauritania.

February 28, 1976 (Saturday)

• In the Nelson by-election, Mel Courtney of the New Zealand Labour Party is elected to replace the late Stanley Whitehead.
• Madagascar becomes the first country to recognise the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

February 29, 1976 (Sunday)

• Catherine Ferry is selected to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, with the song "Un, deux, trois".^[23]

References