Timeline February 1934

Events in February 1934 20

• 1857 – 1934 Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Died 23 February 1934, aged 76 English composer of the Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. He was the leading figure of English music around 1900.
• 1862 – 1934 Siegbert Tarrasch German chess theoretician Siegbert Tarrasch helped popularize classical positional principles and wrote influential chess books that shaped modern chess instruction.
• 1875 – 1934 Albert I of Belgium (1875-1934) Died 17 February 1934, aged 58 King of the Belgians who led his army's resistance to the German invasion during the First World War. He died in a rock-climbing accident at Marche-les-Dames.
• 1895 – 1934 Augusto César Sandino (1895-1934) Died 21 February 1934, aged 38 Nicaraguan revolutionary who led a guerrilla war against the US Marine occupation. Anastasio Somoza García's National Guard murdered him after peace talks, and the Sandinista movement later took his name.
• 1909 – 1934 Albert I King during World War I Albert I became a symbol of Belgian resistance during the German invasion of Belgium in World War I.
• 1934 Congress of Victors Seventeenth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party The 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party celebrated the successes of collectivisation and industrialisation. Most of its delegates were later killed in the Great Purge.
• 1934 6 February crisis in Paris Far-right leagues riot outside the National Assembly Far-right leagues and veterans' groups rioted on the Place de la Concorde after the Stavisky financial scandal. Police fired on the crowd, killing 15 people, and Prime Minister Édouard Daladier resigned the next day.
• 1934 Balkan Pact signed Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia guarantee their borders Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia signed a treaty in Athens to maintain the territorial status quo in the Balkans. The pact was aimed chiefly at Bulgarian revisionism.
• 1934 – 2017 John Surtees The Two-Wheel to Four-Wheel King The only person to win World Championships on both two and four wheels.
• 1934 – 2017 Manuel Noriega (1934-2017) Died 29 May 2017, aged 83 Panamanian military dictator who ruled the country through the 1980s until he was ousted by a US invasion in 1989 and later convicted on drug trafficking charges. He spent much of his remaining life imprisoned in the United States, France, and Panama. He died following complications from surgery.
• 1934 Austrian Civil War February Uprising A brief conflict between the socialist and conservative-fascist forces, leading to the "Austrofascist" state.
• 1934 Austrian Civil War Socialists and the Dollfuss government fight for four days Fighting broke out in Linz and Vienna between the Social Democratic Republican Protection League and government forces. The army shelled workers' housing estates, the Social Democratic Party was banned, and the Dollfuss regime consolidated its Austrofascist state.
• 1934 – 2022 Bill Russell The Secretary of Defense Holds the record for the most NBA championships as a player (11) with the Boston Celtics.
• 1934 – 2024 Niklaus Wirth (1934-2024) Died 1 January 2024, aged 89 Swiss computer scientist who designed Pascal and won the 1984 Turing Award.
• 1934 – 2003 Alan Bates (1934-2003) Died 27 December 2003, aged 69 Alan Bates was an English actor prominent in the 1960s wave of British stage and screen realism, with films including 'Zorba the Greek', 'Women in Love' and 'The Go-Between'. He worked extensively in the theatre and was knighted in 2003.
• 1934 – 2023 Barry Humphries Australian Comedian (Dame Edna) Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist best known for creating and performing the characters Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone. Over a career spanning more than seventy years, he won a Tony Award, was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, and was made a CBE. He was also a respected painter, author and art collector.
• 1934 Barry Humphries born in Melbourne Born John Barry Humphries in Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. His father was a successful builder.
• 1934 New Life Movement launched Chiang Kai-shek promotes a Confucian civic revival Chiang Kai-shek launched the New Life Movement in Nanchang. It promoted Confucian virtues, discipline and hygiene as an alternative to communism.
• 1934 It Happened One Night released Frank Capra's screwball comedy premieres Frank Capra's romantic comedy starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert opened in the United States. It became the first film to win all five major Academy Awards.
• 1934 – 2000 Bettino Craxi (1934-2000) Died 19 January 2000, aged 65 Bettino Craxi led the Italian Socialist Party and was prime minister from 1983 to 1987, one of the longest tenures of the postwar era. He was brought down by the Tangentopoli corruption inquiries of the early 1990s and, facing prison, fled to Tunisia in 1994. He died there in exile, still a convicted fugitive.