Editing 1962 (section)

===February===
{{Main|February 1962}}
* [[February 3]] &ndash; A [[United States embargo against Cuba]] is announced.
* [[February 4]] &ndash; First successful winter ascent of the [[Matterhorn]]'s north face, by Hilti von Allmen and Paul Etter, is completed.<ref>{{cite book|first=Robin G.|last=Collomb|title=Pennine Alps Central|location=London|publisher=Alpine Club|year=1975|pages=241–59}}</ref>
* [[February 4]]–[[February 5|5]] &ndash; During a [[new moon]] and [[solar eclipse]], an extremely rare [[grand conjunction]] of the [[classical planets]] occurs (it includes all five of the [[naked-eye planet]]s plus the Sun and Moon), all of them within 16° of one another on the [[ecliptic]]. The total [[solar eclipse of February 5, 1962]] is visible in Asia, Australia and the Pacific Ocean, and is the 49th solar eclipse of [[Solar Saros 130]].
* [[February 5]] &ndash; [[President of France]] [[Charles de Gaulle]] calls for [[Algeria]] to be granted independence.
* [[February 7]]
** The [[United States embargo against Cuba]] comes into effect, prohibiting all U.S.-related Cuban imports and exports.
** [[Luisenthal Mine Disaster]]: A coal mine explosion in [[Saarland]], West Germany kills 299.
* [[February 10]] &ndash; Captured American spy pilot [[Francis Gary Powers]] is exchanged for captured Soviet spy [[Rudolf Abel]], in Berlin.
* [[February 11]] &ndash; The inaugural [[24 Hours of Daytona]] sports car endurance race is run as a 3-hour event, at [[Daytona Beach, Florida]].
* [[February 12]] &ndash; Six members of the Committee of 100 of the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] in the U.K. are found guilty of a breach of the [[Official Secrets Act]].
* [[February 14]] &ndash; [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Jacqueline Kennedy]] takes television viewers on a tour of the [[White House]].
* [[February 15]] &ndash; [[Urho Kekkonen]] is re-elected president of Finland.
* [[February 17]] &ndash; Heavy storms and high tides result in the [[North Sea flood of 1962]] on Germany's [[North Sea]] coast, mainly around [[Hamburg]]; more than 300 people die and thousands lose their homes.
* [[February 18]] &ndash; [[1962 NHRA Winternationals]]: [[Carol Cox]] becomes the first woman allowed to race at a [[National Hot Rod Association]] national event in the United States; she wins in the Super Stock class.
* [[February 20]] &ndash; [[Project Mercury]]: Aboard ''[[Friendship 7]]'', [[John Glenn]] becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes.
* [[February 21]] &ndash; [[Margot Fonteyn]] and [[Rudolf Nureyev]] first dance together in a [[The Royal Ballet|Royal Ballet]] performance of ''[[Giselle]]'', in London.
[[File:JFK inspects Mercury capsule, 23 February 1962.jpg|thumb|150px|right|[[February 23]] – ''[[Friendship 7]]'' inspected by [[John F. Kennedy|President Kennedy]] and astronaut [[John Glenn]]]]