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February 4
The association football State Cup winners of Israel are the winners of the highest domestic cup in Israeli football, the Israel State Cup. The cup is contested on a knockout basis, with its trophy awarded to the team that wins the final. The competition, which has been organised since the foundation of the Israel Football Association in August 1928, was the first nationwide football tournament to be held in Mandatory Palestine. It was named the People's Cup until the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948. In all, Maccabi Tel Aviv (2011 team pictured) hold the record for most cups, with 22 wins. The longest run of successive wins is three, won by Hapoel Tel Aviv between 1937 and 1939, and again between 2010 and 2012. The most decisive cup final victory was in 1942, when Beitar Tel Aviv beat Maccabi Haifa 12–1. (Full list...)
February 11
The position of Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture was established at the University of Oxford in 1847. This professorship in the critical interpretation or explanation of biblical texts, a field known as exegesis, was instituted by John Ireland, who was Dean of Westminster from 1816 until his death in 1842. In his will, he left £10,000 to the university, with the interest arising to be applied to the professorship. Edward Hawkins, the first professor, was elected on the strength of his reputation gained opposing the Oxford Movement. In contrast, the third professor, Henry Liddon, was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement. Since 1932, the holder of the chair has been appointed to a fellowship at The Queen's College. Before taking up the position, two of the most recent Dean Ireland's Professors taught in Canada: G. B. Caird (pictured) at McGill University and E. P. Sanders at McMaster University. Christopher Rowland became the twelfth Dean Ireland's Professor in 1991. (Full list...)
February 18
The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year is a humorous literary award that is given annually to the book with the oddest title. The prize is named after the Diagram Group, an information and graphics company based in London, and The Bookseller, a British trade magazine for the publishing industry. Originally organised to provide entertainment during the 1978 Frankfurt Book Fair, the prize has since been awarded every year by The Bookseller and is now organised by the magazine's diarist Horace Bent. The winner was initially decided by a panel of judges, but since 2000 the winner has been decided by a public vote on The Bookseller's website. Controversy arose since the creation of the awards; there have been two occasions when no award was given because no titles were judged to be odd enough, a person has complained about some of the winners chosen by the public, and the 2008 winner proved controversial because rather than being written by its listed author, it was instead written by a machine of the author's invention. The most recent winner, in 2012, was Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong. The subjects covered by the winning books have varied widely; winners have included The Book of Marmalade by C. Anne Wilson, Living with Crazy Buttocks by Kaz Cooke, and Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Daina Taimina (pictured). (Full list...)
February 25
Traditionally, the highest-grossing films have been war films, musicals and historical dramas, but franchise films have been the best performers in the 21st century, especially the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean series. The only films in the top ten that do not form a franchise are the top two, Avatar and Titanic, both directed by James Cameron. Disney has enjoyed success with its Pixar brand, of which the Toy Story films have been the best performers. James Bond, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones are still among the highest-grossing franchises, despite starting over thirty years ago. Gone with the Wind (poster pictured) was the highest-grossing film for 25 years and, adjusting for inflation, would remain so. (Full list...)