February 1955

1955

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<<	February 1955					>>
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
		01	02	03	04	05
06	07	08	09	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28

The following events occurred in February 1955:

February 1, 1955 (Tuesday)

February 2, 1955 (Wednesday)

• Died: Sir Paul Dalrymple Butler KCMG, 68, British diplomat^[1]

February 3, 1955 (Thursday)

• Died: Vasily Blokhin, 60, Russian general

February 4, 1955 (Friday)

• The Pact of Mutual Cooperation ("Baghdad Pact") was signed.
• British Navy W-class destroyer HMS Wrangler ran aground at Villefranche sur Mer, France. She would be refloated on 6 February by Marine Nationale and Marina Militare tugs.^[2]

February 5, 1955 (Saturday)

• An Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions party led by Phillip Law visited a small island lying north of the Bølingen Islands and 5 kilometres (2.5 nmi) northwest of Cleft Island in southern Prydz Bay, Antarctica, which they named Lichen Island for the rich growth of lichens found there.^[3]
• Born: Debra Jo Fondren, American model and actress, Playmate of the Month September 1977 and Playmate of the Year 1978, in Los Angeles^[4]

February 6, 1955 (Sunday)

• Born:
  • John Kuester, American basketball player and coach
  • Micheal Pollan, American journalist, author, and academic
  • Bruno Stolorz, French rugby player and coach

February 7, 1955 (Monday)

• Born: Miguel Ferrer, American actor, in Santa Monica, California (d. 2017, throat cancer)^[5][6][7]
• Died: William J. Whittemore, 94, American painter^[8]

February 8, 1955 (Tuesday)

• Nikolai Bulganin became the new Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, succeeding Georgy Malenkov.

February 9, 1955 (Wednesday)

• Apartheid in South Africa: 60,000 non-white residents of the Sophiatown suburb of Johannesburg were forcibly evicted.
• Twenty nautical miles (37 km) southeast of the Tachen Islands, the People's Republic of China shot down a U.S. Navy AD Skyraider attack aircraft covering the evacuation of Nationalist Chinese forces from the islands.^[9]
• In Italy, the Rome Metro opened to passengers.^[10]

February 10, 1955 (Thursday)

• The United States Seventh Fleet helped the Republic of China evacuate Chinese Nationalist army and residents from the Tachen Islands to Taiwan.
• Born: Chris Adams, English wrestler and judoka (d. 2001)

February 11, 1955 (Friday)

• Died: Ona Munson, 51, American actress^[11][12]

February 12, 1955 (Saturday)

• U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam.
• Died:
  • Thomas J. Moore, 71, Irish-American film actor
  • S. Z. Sakall, 72, Hungarian actor

February 13, 1955 (Sunday)

• Sabena Flight 503: Douglas DC-6 of the Belgian airline company Sabena crashed into Monte Terminillo near Rieti, Italy, killing all 29 people on board.
• Died: Marcella Mariani, 19, Italian actress and model, passenger of Sabena Flight 503

February 14, 1955 (Monday)

• The West German cargo ship Hoheweg collided with Sunny Prince and sank in the English Channel off Dungeness, Kent. All fifteen crew were rescued by Sunny Prince and landed at Dover.^[13]

February 15, 1955 (Tuesday)

February 16, 1955 (Wednesday)

• Nearly 100 people died in a fire at a home for the elderly in Yokohama, Japan.

February 17, 1955 (Thursday)

• Died: Pete Jarman, 62, member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama and U.S. Ambassador to Australia, died after suffering a heart attack on February 14.^[14][15]

February 18, 1955 (Friday)

• The Cambodian Red Cross was established.^[16]

February 19, 1955 (Saturday)

• The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was established at a meeting in Bangkok.^[17]
• Born: Jeff Daniels, American actor, in Athens, Georgia

February 20, 1955 (Sunday)

• Died: Oswald Avery, 77, US physician and medical researcher

February 21, 1955 (Monday)

• Born: Kelsey Grammer, American actor and producer, in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

February 22, 1955 (Tuesday)

• In Chicago's Democratic primary, Mayor Martin H. Kennelly lost to the head of the Cook County Democratic Party, Richard J. Daley, by 364,839 votes to 264,077.

February 23, 1955 (Wednesday)

• Died: Paul Claudel, 86, French poet, dramatist, and diplomat

February 24, 1955 (Thursday)

• Born:
  • Steve Jobs, US businessman and founder of Apple Inc., in San Francisco, California (d. 2011)
  • Woo Bum-kon, South Korean policeman and spree killer, in Pusan, South Gyeongsang (d. 1982)

February 25, 1955 (Friday)

• Pope Pius XII created the Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kuala Lumpur.
• New Zealand philanthropist Edith Winstone Blackwell was awarded the MBE by Governor General Sir Willoughby Norrie.

February 26, 1955 (Saturday)

• George F. Smith became the first person to survive a supersonic ejection, from a North American F-100 Super Sabre travelling at Mach 1.05.

February 27, 1955 (Sunday)

• Died: Trixie Friganza, 84, US actress^[18]

February 28, 1955 (Monday)

• The Maltese general election ended in another victory for the Malta Labour Party, which won 23 of the 40 seats.^[19]
• Operation Black Arrow, an Israeli attack on the Egyptian Controlled Gaza Strip, left 38 Egyptian and 8 Israeli soldiers dead and would lead to United Nations Security Council Resolution 106.
• Born: Gilbert Gottfried, American stand-up comedian and actor, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2022)^[20]
• Died: Isak Penttala, 72, Finnish politician^[21]

References

1. "Sir Paul D. Butler". The New York Times. February 3, 1955. Page 23, column 3. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
2. "Telgrams in Brief". The Times. No. 53159. London. 7 February 1955. col. C-D, p. 6.
3. "Lichen Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
4. "PLAYBOY Playmates".
5. "Son Born to the Jose Ferrers". The New York Times. February 8, 1955. Page 23, column 4. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
6. Crossland, Ken (2013). Late Life Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0199798575.
7. Saperstein, Pat (January 19, 2017). "Miguel Ferrer, 'NCIS: Los Angeles' Actor, Dies at 61". News. Variety. Los Angeles. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
8. "William J. Whittemore". The New York Times. February 8, 1955. Page 27, column 1. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
9. Isenberg, Michael T. Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace. Vol. I: 1945-1962. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 614. ISBN 0-312-09911-8.
10. "Roma". UrbanRail.Net. 2004. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
11. Nissen, Axel (2016). Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-476-62606-2.
12. "Ona Munson - Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
13. "Sinking Ship's Crew Of 15 Saved". The Times. No. 53166. London. 15 February 1955. col. C, p. 8.
14. "Pete Jarman Dies; U.S. Ex-Envoy, 62; Ambassador to Australia In 1949-53 Served in House From Alabama 12 Years". The New York Times. February 18, 1955. Page 21, columns 1-2. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
15. "JARMAN, Peterson Bryant (Pete)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
16. Brief History of Cambodian Red Cross^{[permanent dead link]}
17. Leifer, Michael (2005). Chin Kin Wah; Leo Suryadinata (eds.). Michael Leifer: Selected Works on Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-981-230-270-0.
18. "Trixie Friganza - Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
19. Nohlen, D; Stöver, P (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. p. 1302. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
20. "Gilbert Gottfried - Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
21. "Kansanedustajat: Isak Penttala" (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Parliament of Finland. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.