Editing 1940 (section)

===February===
{{Main|February 1940}}
*[[February 2]]–[[February 11|11]] – Scheduled dates for the [[1940 Winter Olympics]] in [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]], Germany, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to [[Sapporo]], Japan). 
*[[February 1]] – WWII: [[Winter War]] – Soviet forces launch a major assault on Finnish troops occupying the [[Karelian Isthmus]].
*[[February 2]] – [[Vsevolod Meyerhold]] is executed in the Soviet Union on charges of treason and espionage. He is cleared of all charges fifteen years later, in the first waves of [[de-Stalinization]].
*[[February 15]] – [[Paul Creston]]'s [[Saxophone Sonata (Creston)|Saxophone Sonata]] was officially premiered at the [[Carnegie Chamber Hall]] by saxophonist [[Cecil Leeson]], who had commissioned it, and the composer.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Morris|first=Willie |title=The Development of the Saxophone Compositions of Paul Creston |year=1996 |degree=DMA |institution=University of Missouri–Kansas City |oclc=35239809|pages=116–117}}</ref>
*[[February 16]] – WWII: [[Altmark incident|''Altmark'' incident]] –  British destroyer {{HMS|Cossack|F03|6}} pursues [[German tanker Altmark|German tanker ''Altmark'']] into the [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutral waters]] of [[Jøssingfjord]] in southwestern [[Norway]] and frees the 290 British seamen held aboard.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Altmark Affair |author=Willi Frischaur & Robert Jackson |year=1955 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan]] |location=New York, NY |page=246}}</ref>
*[[February 22]] – In [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]], province of [[Amdo|Ando]], 4-year-old [[Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama|Tenzin Gyatso]] is proclaimed the ''[[tulku]]'' ([[reincarnation|rebirth]]) of the 13th [[Dalai Lama]].
*[[February 27]] – The [[radioactive]] [[isotope]] [[carbon-14]] is discovered by [[Martin Kamen]] and [[Sam Ruben]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kamen|first=Martin D.|year=1963|title=Early History of Carbon-14|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=140|issue=3567|pages=584–590|doi=10.1126/science.140.3567.584|jstor=1710512|pmid=17737092|bibcode=1963Sci...140..584K }}</ref>
*February – The last mounted charge by a British cavalry regiment is made when the [[Royal Scots Greys]] are called to quell Arab rioters in [[Mandatory Palestine]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Grant|title=Royal Scots Greys|location=Reading|publisher=Osprey|year=1972|isbn=0850450594|page=33}}</ref>