1-U.S. President Kennedy delivered "the first presidential message entirely devoted to public welfare", proposing that federal aid to the poor be extended to include job training programs and day care for children of working parents.

2=John Uelses became the first person to surpass 16 feet in the pole vault, clearing the mark by a quarter inch at the Millrose Games in New York City.

3-The United States embargo against Cuba was announced by President Kenedy, prohibiting "the importation into the United States of all goods of Cuban origin and all goods imported from or through Cuba". Presidential Proclamation 3447 was made pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, "effective 12:01 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, February 7, 1962".

At 7:05 a.m. Indian Standard Time, a "doomsday period" (as predicted by Hindu astrologers, began. It was reported that the astrologers had predicted that on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the earth would be "bathed in the blood of thousands of kings" because of the alignment of six planets, the Earth, the Sun and the Moon. In Britain, Aetherias Society director Keith Robertson would spend February 4th awaiting disaster along with many of the society's members. He had forecast that "very soon the world will do a 'big flip' when the poles will change places with the equator... 75 percent of the world's population will be killed,", but the alignment and eclipse ended without any notable disaster.

4-The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital opened in Memphis, Tennessee.

5-Hours before the Beatles were scheduled to play at the Cavern Club, drummer Pete Best told his fellow musicians that he was ill and wouldn't be able to appear. Determined not to cancel the show, the group called around for a replacement and Ringo Starr, whose group had the day off, appeared in Best's place.

6-The city of Memphis, Tennessee, ordered the desegregation of its' lunch counters, formerly limited to white customers only.

7-The United States Air Force announced that in the first 15 years of its Project Blue Book investigation of U.F.O. sightings, there was no evidence that any of the 7,369 unidentified flying object reports indicated a threat to national security, any technological advances "beyond the range of our present day scientific knowledge", and no sign of "extraterrestrial vehicles under intelligent controls".

11-Comedienne June Carter became a permanent part of the tour of country music singer Johnny Cash, starting with a stop at Des Moines. The two would marry in 1968.

13-A crowd of between 150,000 and 500,000 people marched in Paris in the first massive protest against the continuing Algerian war, which had gone into its eighth year.

16- U.S. President Kennedy issued nine Executive Orders, numbered 10095 to 11105, delegating "emergency preparedness functions" for various federal agencies and departments, to be implemented in the event of a national emergency that required a declaration of martial law.

17- After being rejected by both her lover, Richard Burton, and her husband, Eddie Fisher, actress Elizabeth Taylor attempted suicide by taking an overdose of Seconal sleeping pills. She was saved after being rushed to the Salvator Mundi Hospital in Rome, where she and Burton were filming Cleopatra. The 20th Century Fox studio invented a cover story that Taylor had become seriously ill from food poisoning.

19- Rock musician Chuck Berry reported to the Federal Penetentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, after his conviction for violating the Mann Act (in 1959) was affirmed. He would, after serving for 20 months of his three year sentence, be released on Oct. 18, 1963 and revive his career.

22- Born: Steve Irwin, Australian naturalist and broadcaster, in Essendon (killed 2006).

25- The Judy Garland Show, a one-time special, appeared on CBS and received a 49.5 rating, the highest rating CBS had had for a variety show to that time. The success of the special led to a weekly series in 1963, which was cancelled after a year because of low ratings.