THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
FEBRUARY 19
1973 – The single Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree by Tony Orlando and Dawn is released. It was Billboard’s song of the year.
1981 – George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for “subconscious plagiarism” of his song My Sweet Lord with Ronnie Mack’s song He’s So Fine.
1985 – EastEnders screens for the first time on TV in Britain with 13 million viewers tuning in. It was aimed to draw big audiences to BBC1 and rival ITV’s Coronation Street.
FEBRUARY 20
1952 – The movie African Queen, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn (right), is released in the US.
1962 – John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, aboard Friendship 7.
1976 – The first series of the comedy Open All Hours, starring Ronnie Barker (above left) as miserly shopkeeper Albert Arkwright, starts on British TV. Barker was supported in the cast by David Jason (right), as shop assistant Granville, and Lynda Baron (middle), as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel.
1992 – Christchurch skier Annelise Coberger creates Olympic history when she becomes the first Kiwi, and the first person from the Southern Hemisphere, to win a Winter Olympic medal, collecting silver in the women’s slalom at Albertville, France.
FEBRUARY 21
1980 – US speed skater Eric Heiden triumphs in the 1500m at the Winter Olympics to win the fourth of his five gold medals at Lake Placid.
1981 – Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce hits number one on the UK singles charts and stays there for three weeks.
2019 – American musician Peter Tork, best known as one of The Monkees, dies from complications of adenoid cystic carcinoma. He was 77.
FEBRUARY 22
1732 – George Washington, the first President of the United States, was born on this day. His birthday is celebrated as a federal holiday in the United States.
1980 – New Zealand cricket umpire Fred Goodall is struck in the back by West Indian fast bowler Colin Croft, as he came into bowl. Croft was furious at decisions going against his team in this test
versus New Zealand at Carisbrook, Dunedin.
2011 – An earthquake measuring 6.3 in magnitude strikes Christchurch, killing 181 people and causing widespread damage.
2019 – Musician Peter Frampton announces he has a degenerative muscular disease and that his next tour will be his last.
2019 – Actor Jussie Smollet is suspended from the US TV series Empire after it is revealed he made false claims about a racist and homophobic attack being directed at him.
FEBRUARY 23
1997 – Scientists in Scotland announce they have cloned an adult mammal, producing a lamb they named Dolly.
2020 – African American Ahmaud Arbery is shot to death after being chased down by two white men in Brunswick, Georgia. Video of the killing emerges in May, prompting arrests.
2020 – In the first major Covid-19 outbreak in Europe, Italy records 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures and locking down 10 towns in Lombardy.
2021 – Tiger Woods crashes his car, driving south of Los Angeles, injuring both his legs. It is feared he will never again play regular professional golf.
FEBRUARY 24
1965 – The Beatles begin filming their movie Help! in the Bahamas.
2008 – Fidel Castro retires as President of Cuba, after nearly 50 years in power, citing ill health.
2013 – Daniel Day-Lewis wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for a record-breaking third time, on this occasion for his role in Lincoln. He had previously won for There Will Be Blood (above, 2008), and My Left Foot (1990).
2020 – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsten is found guilty of rape and a criminal sexual act in what was viewed as a landmark case for the #MeToo movement.
FEBRUARY 25
1957 – Buddy Holly (above) and The Crickets record That’ll Be The Day.
1969 – The Beatles begin recording their Abbey Road album.
2001 – Gladiator wins Best Film at the 54th Baftas. Russell Crowe was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Maximus Decimus Meridius but lost out to Jamie Bell who played the title role in Billy Elliot.
2017 – US actor Bill Paxton, who starred in Apollo 13, Twister and Big Love (below), dies of a stroke after having heart surgery. He was 61.