February 2026: Friday the 13th and four of each weekday
February 2026 was the year's squarest month, and its most superstitious weekend fell inside it. The 13th landed on a Friday; the 14th, a Saturday. The grid held 28 days from Sunday 1 February to Saturday 28 February. Each weekday appeared exactly four times, with 20 business days and 8 weekend days across ISO weeks 5 to 9. An annular solar eclipse crossed the month's only new moon on Tuesday 17 February. Between those dates, seventeen days of Winter Olympics did their best to fill every spare evening.
Twenty-eight days, four apiece
The four Sundays arrived on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd. The four Mondays followed on the 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd. The four Tuesdays stacked up on the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th. The four Wednesdays came next, on the 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th.
The four Thursdays took the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th. The four Fridays held the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th. The four Saturdays closed things out on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th.
Whichever day you plan around, you got exactly four of it. That is equity of a kind most calendars never manage.
Seventeen days of ice and snow
The Winter Olympics opened at Milan's San Siro on Friday 6 February. They closed in Verona's ancient Arena on Sunday 22 February, seventeen days later. It was the first Winter Games awarded to two host cities, and the schedule behaved accordingly.
Norway finished top of the medal table with a record 41 medals. Hosts Italy placed in the top five.
The Super Bowl filled the middle weekend. On Sunday 8 February the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13, a decade after the same opponents had taken the title from them.
Trophies on the first Sunday
The month opened with silverware. Bad Bunny's Debi Tirar Mas Fotos made Grammy history on Sunday 1 February. It was the first Spanish-language album to win Album of the Year. Kendrick Lamar took five awards on the night, including Record of the Year.
Melbourne supplied the other trophy. Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down to beat Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final. That match, too, fell on Sunday 1 February. The career Grand Slam fell to him at 22, younger than any man before him.
Grief, and then war
On Thursday 5 February, New START, the last remaining US-Russia arms control treaty, expired without a successor. A suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad killed more than 30 people during Friday prayers, on 6 February. Grief ran through the month as well.
The month ended in the worst way. United States and Israeli strikes hit Iran on Saturday 28 February, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and opening a war. Tehran struck back at American bases and shut the Strait of Hormuz. The fighting ran past the month's edge, into March's pages.
February ended on Saturday 28 February with every weekday level. March opened on a Sunday and ran long, with five Sundays, five Mondays and five Tuesdays.