Dashed left edge = started before February 2013 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond February 2013
Events in February 2013 8
1934 – 2013Van Cliburn (1934-2013)Died 27 February 2013, aged 78Van Cliburn was an American pianist who won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold War, becoming a celebrated cultural figure in both the US and Soviet Union. He died at his home in Texas of bone cancer.
1983 – 2013Reeva Steenkamp (1983-2013)Died 14 February 2013, aged 29Reeva Steenkamp was a South African model and law graduate who was fatally shot by her boyfriend, Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, at his home in Pretoria. The killing and subsequent trial drew intense international media attention.
2013"The Soundtrack of My Life" — comes out as bisexualDavis publishes his autobiography 'The Soundtrack of My Life' in February 2013, in which he reveals that he is bisexual — having had relationships with both women and men. The disclosure, made at 80, is received with widespread respect and support from the music industry. Davis has been married twice (to women) and has four children. The autobiography is both a professional memoir of extraordinary scope and a personal reckoning with a life kept largely private. It becomes a New York Times bestseller.
2013North Korea conducts third nuclear testUnderground detonation at Punggye-ri draws global condemnationNorth Korea detonated its third nuclear device at the Punggye-ri test site, prompting new UN Security Council sanctions. The test was more powerful than the two before it and heightened tensions with South Korea and the United States.
2013Chelyabinsk meteor airburstMeteor explodes over Russia, injuring over 1,000A roughly 20-metre asteroid entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, and exploded with the force of several hundred kilotons of TNT. The shockwave shattered windows across the region, injuring over 1,200 people, mostly from flying glass. It was the largest recorded natural object to enter Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event.
2013A second Academy AwardBest Original Screenplay, againTarantino wins Best Original Screenplay for Django Unchained at the 85th Academy Awards, eighteen years after the first. Christoph Waltz wins his second Supporting Actor award for the same film.
2013OutRun — Debut AlbumReleased his debut album OutRun, a concept album named after the Sega arcade game and built around the Kavinsky crash mythology. It reached number two on the French album charts. Collaborated with The Weeknd on a version of Odd Look.
2013Pope Benedict XVI resignsFirst papal resignation in 600 yearsPope Benedict XVI resigned on February 28, 2013, the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415. He cited declining health and age as the reasons.