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February 13 in History
- 951 – Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou.
- 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
- 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
- 1462 – The Treaty of Westminster is finalised between Edward IV of England and the Scottish Lord of the Isles.
- 1503 – Challenge of Barletta: Tournament between 13 Italian and 13 French knights near Barletta.
- 1542 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
- 1633 – Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.
- 1660 – With the accession of young Charles XI of Sweden, his regents begin negotiations to end the Second Northern War.
- 1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.
- 1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: Almost 80 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.
- 1726 – Parliament of Negrete between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile bring an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26.
- 1755 – Treaty of Giyanti signed by VOC, Pakubuwono III and Prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divides the Javanese kingdom of Mataram into 2: Sunanate of Surakarta and Sultanate of Yogyakarta.
- 1849 – The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized.
- 1861 – Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
- 1867 – Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels’s primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.
- 1880 – Thomas Edison observes Thermionic emission.
- 1913 – The 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibetan independence following a period of domination by Manchu Qing dynasty and initiated a period of almost four decades of independence.
- 1914 – Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
- 1920 – The Negro National League is formed.
- 1931 – The British Raj completes its transfer from Calcutta to New Delhi.
- 1935 – A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.
- 1945 – World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.
- 1945 – World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.
- 1951 – Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the “high-water mark” of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.
- 1954 – Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game.
- 1955 – Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
- 1960 – With the success of a nuclear test codenamed “Gerboise Bleue”, France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.
- 1960 – Black college students stage the first of the Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.
- 1961 – An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug.
- 1967 – American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.
- 1975 – Fire at One World Trade Center (North Tower) of the World Trade Center in New York.
- 1978 – Hilton bombing: a bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.
- 1979 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1⁄2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
- 1981 – A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.
- 1983 – A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people.
- 1984 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- 1990 – German reunification: An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.
- 1991 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided “smart bombs” destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.
- 1996 – The Nepalese Civil War is initiated in the Kingdom of Nepal by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre).
- 1999 – The last hockey game is played in Maple Leaf Gardens: the Toronto Maple Leafs lose 6–2 to the Chicago Blackhawks.
- 2001 – An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter magnitude scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 944.
- 2004 – The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe’s largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star “Lucy” after The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.
- 2007 – Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.
- 2008 – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.
- 2010 – A bomb explodes in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, killing 17 and injuring 60 more.
- 2011 – For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.
- 2012 – The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the first launch of the European Vega rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
- 2017 – Kim Jong-nam, brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, is assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Births on February 13
- 1440 – Hartmann Schedel, German physician (d. 1514)
- 1457 – Mary of Burgundy, Sovereign Duchess regnant of Burgundy, married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1482)
- 1469 – Elia Levita, Renaissance Hebrew grammarian (d. 1549)
- 1480 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (d. 1542)
- 1523 – Valentin Naboth, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1593)
- 1539 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine (d. 1582)
- 1569 – Johann Reinhard I, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1625)
- 1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)
- 1602 – William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1637)
- 1672 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (d. 1731)
- 1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)
- 1719 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician (d. 1792)
- 1721 – John Reid, Scottish general (d. 1807)
- 1728 – John Hunter, Scottish surgeon and anatomist (d. 1793)
- 1766 – Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist and scholar (d. 1834)
- 1768 – Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (d. 1835)
- 1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1844)
- 1805 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (d. 1859)
- 1811 – François Achille Bazaine, French general (d. 1888)
- 1815 – Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American anthologist, editor, poet and critic (d. 1857)
- 1831 – John Aaron Rawlins, American general and politician, 29th United States Secretary of War (d. 1869)
- 1834 – Heinrich Caro, Sephardic Jewish Polish-German chemist and academic (d. 1910)
- 1835 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader (d. 1908)
- 1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1895)
- 1855 – Paul Deschanel, Belgian-French politician, 11th President of France (d. 1922)
- 1863 – Hugo Becker, German cellist and composer (d. 1941)
- 1867 – Harold Mahony, Scottish-Irish tennis player (d. 1905)
- 1870 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1938)
- 1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (d. 1938)
- 1876 – Fritz Buelow, German-American baseball player and umpire (d. 1933)
- 1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (d. 1949)
- 1880 – Dimitrie Gusti, Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1955)
- 1881 – Eleanor Farjeon, Jewish-English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1965)
- 1883 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
- 1883 – Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Russian-Armenian actor and director (d. 1922)
- 1884 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (d. 1961)
- 1885 – Bess Truman, American wife of Harry S. Truman, 35th First Lady of the United States (d. 1982)
- 1887 – Géza Csáth, Hungarian playwright and critic (d. 1919)
- 1888 – Georgios Papandreou, Greek lawyer, economist, and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
- 1889 – Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and director (d. 1974)
- 1891 – Kate Roberts, Welsh author and activist (d. 1985)
- 1891 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (d. 1942)
- 1892 – Robert H. Jackson, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 57th United States Attorney General (d. 1954)
- 1898 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (d. 1979)
- 1900 – Barbara von Annenkoff, Russian-born German film and stage actress (d. 1979)
- 1901 – Paul Lazarsfeld, Austrian-American sociologist and academic (d. 1976)
- 1902 – Harold Lasswell, American political scientist and theorist (d. 1978)
- 1903 – Georgy Beriev, Georgian-Russian engineer, founded the Beriev Aircraft Company (d. 1979)
- 1903 – Georges Simenon, Belgian-Swiss author (d. 1989)
- 1906 – Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher and author (d. 1994)
- 1907 – Katy de la Cruz, Filipino-American singer and actress (d. 2004)
- 1910 – William Shockley, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Indian-Pakistani poet and journalist (d. 1984)
- 1911 – Jean Muir, American actress and educator (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Harald Riipalu, Russian-Estonian commander (d. 1961)
- 1912 – Margaretta Scott, English actress (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Khalid of Saudi Arabia (d. 1982)
- 1915 – Lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Aung San, Burmese general and politician, 5th Premier of British Crown Colony of Burma (d. 1947)
- 1916 – Dorothy Bliss, American invertebrate zoologist (d. 1987)
- 1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer and actor (d. 1991)
- 1919 – Eddie Robinson, American football player and coach (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)
- 1920 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Jeanne Demessieux, French pianist and composer (d. 1968)
- 1921 – Aung Khin, Burmese painter (d. 1996)
- 1922 – Francis Pym, Baron Pym, Welsh soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Gordon Tullock, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American soldier, judge, and politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Chuck Yeager, American general and pilot; first test pilot to break the sound barrier
- 1924 – Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist and politician (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, American nuclear physicist (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Gerald Regan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian commander and politician, Military Leader of Panama (d. 1981)
- 1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Israel Kirzner, English-American economist, author, and academic
- 1932 – Susan Oliver, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1933 – Paul Biya, Cameroon politician, 2nd President of Cameroon
- 1933 – Kim Novak, American actress
- 1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer (d. 2019)
- 1934 – George Segal, American actor
- 1937 – Ali El-Maak, Sudanese author and academic (d. 1992)
- 1937 – Angelo Mosca, American-Canadian football player and wrestler
- 1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)
- 1940 – Bram Peper, Dutch sociologist and politician, Mayor of Rotterdam
- 1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter and photographer (d. 2010)
- 1941 – Bo Svenson, Swedish-American actor, director, and producer
- 1942 – Carol Lynley, American model and actress (d. 2019)
- 1942 – Peter Tork, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor (d. 2019)
- 1942 – Donald E. Williams, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2016)
- 1943 – Elaine Pagels, American theologian and academic
- 1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress
- 1944 – Jerry Springer, English-American television host, actor, and politician, 56th Mayor of Cincinnati
- 1945 – Marian Dawkins, English biologist and academic
- 1945 – King Floyd, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
- 1945 – Simon Schama, English historian and author
- 1945 – William Sleator, American author and composer (d. 2011)
- 1946 – Richard Blumenthal, American sergeant and politician, 23rd Attorney General of Connecticut
- 1946 – Janet Finch, English sociologist and academic
- 1946 – Colin Matthews, English composer and educator
- 1947 – Stephen Hadley, American soldier and diplomat, 21st United States National Security Advisor
- 1947 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach
- 1947 – Bogdan Tanjević, Montenegrin-Bosnian professional basketball coach
- 1947 – Kevin Bloody Wilson, Australian comedian, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
- 1949 – Peter Kern, Austrian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1950 – Vera Baird, English lawyer and politician
- 1950 – Peter Gabriel, English singer-songwriter and musician
- 1952 – Ed Gagliardi, American bass player (d. 2014)
- 1953 – Akio Sato, Japanese wrestler and manager
- 1954 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (d. 1989)
- 1955 – Joe Birkett, American lawyer, judge, and politician
- 1956 – Peter Hook, English singer, songwriter, bass player, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer
- 1957 – Denise Austin, American fitness trainer and author
- 1958 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress
- 1958 – Marc Emery, Canadian publisher and activist
- 1958 – Jean-François Lisée, Canadian journalist and politician
- 1958 – Derek Riggs, English painter and illustrator
- 1958 – Øivind Elgenes, Norwegian vocalist, guitarist and composer
- 1959 – Gaston Gingras, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Pierluigi Collina, Italian footballer and referee
- 1960 – John Healey, English journalist and politician
- 1960 – Gary Patterson, American football player and coach
- 1960 – Artur Yusupov, Russian-German chess player and author
- 1961 – Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1961 – cEvin Key, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboard player, and producer
- 1961 – Henry Rollins, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1962 – Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Puerto Rican lawyer and politician
- 1962 – Baby Doll, American wrestler and manager
- 1962 – Michele Greene, American actress
- 1964 – Stephen Bowen, American engineer, captain, and astronaut
- 1964 – Ylva Johansson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Employment
- 1965 – Peter O’Neill, Papua New Guinean accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
- 1966 – Neal McDonough, American actor and producer
- 1966 – Jeff Waters, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1966 – Freedom Williams, American rapper and singer
- 1967 – Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer and coach
- 1968 – Kelly Hu, American actress
- 1969 – Joyce DiDonato, American soprano and actress
- 1970 – Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1971 – Sonia Evans, English singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1971 – Todd Williams, American baseball player
- 1972 – Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuanian discus thrower
- 1972 – Charlie Garner, American football player
- 1974 – Fonzworth Bentley, American rapper and actor
- 1974 – Robbie Williams, English singer-songwriter
- 1975 – Ben Collins, English race car driver
- 1975 – Katie Hopkins, English media personality and columnist
- 1976 – Jörg Bergmeister, German race car driver
- 1976 – Shannon Nevin, Australian rugby league player
- 1977 – Randy Moss, American football player and coach
- 1978 – Niklas Bäckström, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Philippe Jaroussky, French countertenor
- 1979 – Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian murderer
- 1979 – Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer
- 1979 – Rachel Reeves, English economist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- 1979 – Mena Suvari, American actress and fashion designer
- 1980 – Carlos Cotto, Puerto Rican-American wrestler and boxer
- 1981 – Luisão, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Even Helte Hermansen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
- 1982 – Michael Turner, American football player
- 1983 – Mike Nickeas, Canadian baseball player
- 1983 – Anna Watkins, English rower
- 1984 – Hinkelien Schreuder, Dutch swimmer
- 1985 – Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress
- 1986 – Luke Moore, English footballer
- 1986 – Aqib Talib, American football player
- 1987 – Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer
- 1988 – Ryan Goins, American baseball player
- 1988 – Eddy Pettybourne, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
- 1989 – Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian footballer
- 1991 – Eliaquim Mangala, French footballer
- 1991 – Junior Roqica, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
- 1991 – Vianney, French singer
- 1994 – Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer
Deaths on February 13
- 106 – Emperor He of Han (Han Hedi) of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty (b. AD 79)
- 721 – Chilperic II, Frankish king (b. 672)
- 858 – Kenneth MacAlpin, Scottish king (probable; b. 810)
- 921 – Vratislaus I, duke of Bohemia
- 936 – Xiao Wen, empress of the Liao Dynasty
- 942 – Muhammad ibn Ra’iq, Abbasid emir and regent
- 988 – Adalbert Atto, Lombard nobleman
- 1021 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 985)
- 1130 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1060
- 1141 – Béla II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1110)
- 1199 – Stefan Nemanja, Serbian grand prince (b. 1113)
- 1219 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shōgun (b. 1192)
- 1332 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1259)
- 1351 – Kō no Morofuyu, Japanese general
- 1539 – Isabella d’Este, Italian noblewoman (b. 1474)
- 1542 – Catherine Howard, English wife of Henry VIII of England (executed;b. 1521)
- 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1500)
- 1585 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish priest and scholar (b. 1515)
- 1602 – Alexander Nowell, English clergyman and theologian (b. 1507)
- 1660 – Charles X Gustav, king of Sweden (b. 1622)
- 1662 – Elizabeth Stuart, queen of Bohemia (b. 1596)
- 1693 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (b. 1627)
- 1727 – William Wotton, English linguist and scholar (b. 1666)
- 1728 – Cotton Mather, American minister and author (b. 1663)
- 1732 – Charles-René d’Hozier, French historian and author (b. 1640)
- 1741 – Johann Joseph Fux, Austrian composer and theorist (b. 1660)
- 1787 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1711)
- 1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French lawyer and politician, Foreign Minister of France (b. 1717)
- 1813 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1725)
- 1818 – George Rogers Clark, American general (b. 1752)
- 1826 – Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Russian general and politician, Governor-General of Baltic provinces (b. 1745)
- 1831 – Edward Berry, English admiral (b. 1768)
- 1837 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1809)
- 1845 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-German philosopher and poet (b. 1773)
- 1877 – Costache Caragiale, Romanian actor and manager (b. 1815)
- 1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)
- 1888 – Jean-Baptiste Lamy, French-American archbishop (b. 1814)
- 1892 – Provo Wallis, Canadian-English admiral (b. 1791)
- 1893 – Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Mexican intellectual and journalist (b. 1834)
- 1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)
- 1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)
- 1934 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (b. 1864)
- 1942 – Otakar Batlička, Czech journalist (b. 1895)
- 1942 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian lawyer, judge, and politician, 11th President of Brazil (b. 1865)
- 1950 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian-English novelist and short story writer (b. 1875)
- 1951 – Lloyd C. Douglas, American minister and author (b. 1877)
- 1952 – Josephine Tey, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1896)
- 1954 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1890)
- 1956 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish mathematician and philosopher (b. 1878)
- 1958 – Christabel Pankhurst, English activist, co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (b. 1880)
- 1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (b. 1871)
- 1964 – Paulino Alcántara, Filipino-Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1896)
- 1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (b. 1902)
- 1967 – Yoshisuke Aikawa, entrepreneur, businessman, and politician, founded Nissan Motor Company (b. 1880)
- 1967 – Abelardo L. Rodríguez, substitute president of Mexico (1932-1934) (b. 1889)
- 1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)
- 1968 – Portia White, Canadian opera singer (b. 1911)
- 1973 – Marinus Jan Granpré Molière, Dutch architect and educator (b. 1883)
- 1975 – André Beaufre, French general (b. 1902)
- 1976 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian general and politician, 4th President of Nigeria (b. 1938)
- 1976 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (b. 1904)
- 1980 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
- 1984 – Cheong Eak Chong, Singaporean entrepreneur (b. 1888)
- 1986 – Yuri Ivask, Russian-American poet and critic (b. 1907)
- 1989 – Wayne Hays, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1911)
- 1991 – Arno Breker, German sculptor and illustrator (b. 1900)
- 1992 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and physicist (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1997 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Mark Krasnosel’skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Anders Aalborg, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1914)
- 2000 – James Cooke Brown, American sociologist and author (b. 1921)
- 2000 – John Leake, English soldier (b. 1949)
- 2002 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)
- 2003 – Kid Gavilán, Cuban-American boxer (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Walt Whitman Rostow, American economist; 7th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1916)
- 2004 – François Tavenas, Canadian engineer and academic (b. 1942)
- 2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Chechen politician, 2nd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1952)
- 2005 – Nelson Briles, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1943)
- 2005 – Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun (b. 1907)
- 2006 – P. F. Strawson, English philosopher and author (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Charlie Norwood, American captain and politician (b. 1941)
- 2007 – Richard Gordon Wakeford, English air marshal (b. 1922)
- 2008 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 2009 – Edward Upward, English author and educator (b. 1903)
- 2010 – Lucille Clifton, American poet and academic (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Louise Cochrane, American-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Daniel C. Gerould, American playwright and academic (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Gerry Day, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Miles J. Jones, American pathologist and physician (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Pieter Kooijmans, Dutch judge and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for The Netherlands (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Andrée Malebranche, Haitian artist (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Yuko Tojo, Japanese activist and politician (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Richard Møller Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1937)
- 2014 – Ralph Waite, American actor and activist (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Faith Bandler, Australian activist and author (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Stan Chambers, American journalist and actor (b. 1923)
- 2016 – O. N. V. Kurup, Indian poet and academic (b. 1931)
- 2016 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1936)
- 2017 – Ricardo Arias Calderón, Panamanian politician, Vice President (1990–1992) (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Aileen Hernandez, American union organizer and activist (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Seijun Suzuki, Japanese filmmaker (b. 1923)
- 2017 – Kim Jong-nam, North Korean politician (b. 1971)
- 2017 – E-Dubble, American rapper (b. 1982)
- 2018 – Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, French-born Danish royal (b. 1934)
Holidays and observances on February 13
- Children’s Day (Myanmar)
- Christian feast day:
- Absalom Jones (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Beatrice of Ornacieux
- Castor of Karden
- Catherine of Ricci
- Ermenilda of Ely
- Fulcran
- Jordan of Saxony
- Polyeuctus (Roman Catholic Church)
- February 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- World Radio Day
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February 10 in History
- 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
- 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
- 1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
- 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
- 1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
- 1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
- 1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
- 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
- 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
- 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
- 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
- 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
- 1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
- 1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
- 1920 – About 75 % of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
- 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
- 1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope to overthrow French protectorate over Vietnam.
- 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
- 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
- 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
- 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
- 1940 – Cartoon characters Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army capture Banjarmasin, capital of Borneo in Dutch East Indies.
- 1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
- 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
- 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
- 1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
- 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein’s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
- 1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
- 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
- 1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
- 1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
- 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
- 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
- 2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
- 2007 – Then Illinois senator Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in the 2008 elections, which he later goes on to win.
- 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
- 2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
- 2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
- 2018 – 19 people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.
Births on February 10
- 1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (d. 1529)
- 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (d. 1582)
- 1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Milan (d. 1579)
- 1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1663)
- 1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (d. 1642)
- 1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (d. 1715)
- 1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (d. 1750)
- 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
- 1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)
- 1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (d. 1815)
- 1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (d. 1834)
- 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (d. 1836)
- 1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (d. 1858)
- 1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (d. 1883)
- 1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1908)
- 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (d. 1898)
- 1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (d. 1907)
- 1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (d. 1919)
- 1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
- 1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (d. 1927)
- 1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (d. 1909)
- 1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
- 1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (d. 1957)
- 1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. 1879)
- 1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
- 1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (d. 1948)
- 1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
- 1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
- 1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (d. 1959)
- 1883 – H.V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
- 1889 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (d. 1982)
- 1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (d. 1918)
- 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
- 1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (d. 1950)
- 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (d. 1980)
- 1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (d. 1953)
- 1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
- 1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
- 1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
- 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (d. 1956)
- 1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
- 1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (d. 1992)
- 1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- 1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
- 1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (d. 1939)
- 1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
- 1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (d. 1964)
- 1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
- 1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
- 1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
- 1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
- 1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (d. 2016)
- 1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
- 1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
- 1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (d. 2015)
- 1922 – José Gabriel da Costa later known as Mestre Gabriel, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (d. 1971)
- 1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
- 1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
- 1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
- 1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
- 1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
- 1931 – James Edward Maceo West, American inventor and acoustician
- 1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (d. 2018)
- 1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (d. 1983)
- 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
- 1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (d. 1967)
- 1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
- 1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
- 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
- 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
- 1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
- 1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
- 1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
- 1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer
- 1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
- 1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
- 1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (d. 1994)
- 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
- 1951 – Bob Iger, American media executive
- 1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
- 1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
- 1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
- 1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
- 1957 – Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
- 1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
- 1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
- 1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
- 1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Cliff Burton, American heavy metal bassist (d. 1986)
- 1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
- 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
- 1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
- 1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
- 1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
- 1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
- 1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
- 1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
- 1969 – James Small, South African rugby player (d. 2019)
- 1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
- 1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer, central defender and manager
- 1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
- 1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
- 1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
- 1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
- 1974 – Ty Law, American football player
- 1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
- 1974 – Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
- 1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
- 1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
- 1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
- 1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
- 1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
- 1981 – Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
- 1981 – Andrew Johnson, English international footballer, forward and club ambassador
- 1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
- 1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
- 1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
- 1982 – Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
- 1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1984 – Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
- 1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
- 1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
- 1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
- 1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
- 1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
- 1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
- 1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
- 1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
- 1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
- 1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
- 1990 – Barbara Guarischi, Italian cyclist
- 1990 – Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
- 1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
- 1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
- 1992 – Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
- 1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
- 1993 – Max Kepler, German baseball player
- 1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
- 1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
- 1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer and member of Red Velvet
- 1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
- 1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentinian footballer
- 1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
- 1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
- 1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentinian tennis player
- 2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model
Deaths on February 10
- 547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
- 1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
- 1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
- 1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
- 1242 – Saint Verdiana, Italian recluse (b. 1182)
- 1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
- 1306 – John “the Red” Comyn, Scottish nobleman
- 1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
- 1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
- 1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
- 1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
- 1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (b. 1460)
- 1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)
- 1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (b. 1532)
- 1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
- 1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (b. 1689)
- 1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (b. 1702)
- 1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
- 1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
- 1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (b. 1792)
- 1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (b. 1770)
- 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (b. 1804)
- 1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (b. 1808)
- 1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
- 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1850)
- 1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
- 1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
- 1912 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic (b. 1827)
- 1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (b. 1888)
- 1917 – John William Waterhouse, English soldier and painter (b. 1849)
- 1918 – Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1842)
- 1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1833)
- 1920 – Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia (b. 1832)
- 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- 1928 – José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint (b. 1913)
- 1932 – Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (b. 1875)
- 1939 – Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
- 1944 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player (b. 1870)
- 1945 – Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1878)
- 1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (b. 1872)
- 1956 – Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (b. 1872)
- 1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1882)
- 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
- 1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
- 1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (b. 1899)
- 1967 – Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author (b. 1884)
- 1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet (b. 1910)
- 1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910)
- 1992 – Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic (b. 1929)
- 1995 – Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist (b. 1945)
- 1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish musician, lead singer The Sweet (b. 1945)
- 2000 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer (b. 1949)
- 2001 – Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
- 2001 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
- 2003 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose (b. 1908)
- 2003 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary (b. 1939)
- 2005 – Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1915)
- 2006 – James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (b. 1974)
- 2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co (b. 1957)
- 2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
- 2013 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (b. 1927)
- 2013 – David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician (b. 1915)
- 2016 – Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman (b. 1929)
- 2019 – Carmen Argenziano, American actor (b. 1943)
- 2019 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (b. 1944)
Holidays and observances on February 10
- Christian feast day:
- Austrebertha
- Charalambos
- José Sánchez del Río
- Scholastica
- February 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck (Malta)
- Fenkil Day (Eritrea)
- Kurdish Authors Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
- National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe (Italy)
-
February 9 in History
- 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
- 1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.
- 1621 – Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.
- 1654 – The Capture of Fort Rocher takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
- 1778 – Rhode Island becomes the fourth US state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
- 1788 – The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp.
- 1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.
- 1849 – The new Roman Republic is declared.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
- 1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
- 1889 – US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.
- 1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
- 1900 – The Davis Cup competition is established.
- 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Port Arthur concludes.
- 1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
- 1913 – A group of meteors is visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
- 1920 – Under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.
- 1922 – Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1934 – The Balkan Entente is formed.
- 1941 – World War II: The Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa, Italy, is struck by a bomb which fails to detonate.
- 1942 – World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
- 1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time (aka War Time) is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
- 1943 – World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.
- 1945 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Venturer sinks U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.
- 1945 – World War II: A force of Allied aircraft unsuccessfully attacked a German destroyer in Førdefjorden, Norway.
- 1950 – Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.
- 1951 – Korean War: The two-day Geochang massacre begins as a battalion of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army kills 719 unarmed citizens in Geochang, in the South Gyeongsang district of South Korea
- 1959 – The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR.
- 1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.
- 1965 – The United States Marine Corps sends a MIM-23 Hawk missile battalion to South Vietnam, the first American troops in-country without an official advisory or training mission.
- 1971 – The 6.5–6.7 Mw Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 64 and injuring 2,000.
- 1971 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the USA’s Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.
- 1975 – The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
- 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 3739, a Tupolev Tu-104, crashes during takeoff from Irkutsk Airport, killing 24.
- 1978 – The Budd Company unveils its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1986 – Halley’s Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.
- 1991 – Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
- 1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares the end to its 18-month ceasefire and explodes a large bomb in London’s Canary Wharf, killing two people.
- 1996 – Copernicium is discovered, by Sigurd Hofmann, Victor Ninov et al.
- 2016 – Two passenger trains collided in the German town of Bad Aibling in the state of Bavaria. Twelve people died, and 85 others were injured.
- 2018 – Winter Olympics: Opening ceremony is performed in Pyeongchang County in South Korea.
Births on February 9
- 1060 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1130)
- 1274 – Louis of Toulouse, French bishop (d. 1297)
- 1313 – Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile, Portuguese infanta (d. 1357)
- 1344 – Meinhard III, count of Tyrol (d. 1363)
- 1441 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Turkic poet, linguist, and painter (d. 1501)
- 1533 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1611)
- 1579 – Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1639)
- 1651 – Procopio Cutò, French entrepreneur (d. 1727)
- 1666 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish field marshal (d. 1737)
- 1711 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (d. 1762)
- 1737 – Thomas Paine, English-American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 1809)
- 1741 – Henri-Joseph Rigel, German-French composer (d. 1799)
- 1748 – Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1817)
- 1763 – Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden (d. 1830)
- 1769 – George W. Campbell, Scottish-American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1848)
- 1773 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
- 1775 – Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1856)
- 1781 – Johann Baptist von Spix, German biologist and explorer (d. 1826)
- 1783 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (d. 1852)
- 1789 – Franz Xaver Gabelsberger, German engineer, invented Gabelsberger shorthand (d. 1849)
- 1800 – Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (d. 1844)
- 1814 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 28th Governor of New York (d. 1886)
- 1815 – Federico de Madrazo, Spanish painter (d.1894)
- 1834 – Felix Dahn, German lawyer, historian, and author (d. 1912)
- 1826 – Keʻelikōlani, Hawaiian royal and governor (d. 1883)
- 1837 – José Burgos, Filipino priest and revolutionary (d. 1872)
- 1839 – Silas Adams, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 1896)
- 1846 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (d. 1929)
- 1846 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman and financier (d. 1904)
- 1847 – Hugh Price Hughes, Welsh-English clergyman and theologian (d. 1902)
- 1854 – Aletta Jacobs, Dutch physician and suffrage activist (d. 1929)
- 1856 – Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1921)
- 1859 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, Japanese general (d. 1930)
- 1863 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (d. 1933)
- 1864 – Miina Härma, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1941)
- 1865 – Mrs. Patrick Campbell, English-French actress (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer and geophysicist (d. 1949)
- 1867 – Natsume Sōseki, Japanese author and poet (d. 1916)
- 1871 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, American pathologist and physician (d. 1910)
- 1874 – Amy Lowell, American poet, critic, and educator (d. 1925)
- 1876 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (d. 1963)
- 1878 – Jack Kirwan, Irish international footballer (d. 1959)
- 1880 – Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1959)
- 1883 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (d. 1951)
- 1885 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1935)
- 1885 – Clarence H. Haring, American historian and author (d. 1960)
- 1889 – Larry Semon, American actor, producer, director and screenwriter (d. 1928)
- 1891 – Ronald Colman, English-American actor (d. 1958)
- 1892 – Peggy Wood, American actress (d. 1978)
- 1893 – Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, Greek lawyer and politician, 163rd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1987)
- 1895 – Hermann Brill, German lawyer and politician, 8th Minister-President of Thuringia (d. 1959)
- 1896 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Charles Kingsford Smith, Australian captain and pilot (d. 1935)
- 1898 – Jūkichi Yagi, Japanese poet and educator (d. 1927)
- 1901 – Brian Donlevy, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1901 – James Murray, American actor (d. 1936)
- 1905 – David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, English hurdler and politician (d. 1981)
- 1906 – André Kostolany, Hungarian-French economist and journalist (d. 1999)
- 1907 – Trường Chinh, Vietnamese politician, 4th President of Vietnam (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
- 1909 – Heather Angel, English-American actress (d. 1986)
- 1909 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1955)
- 1909 – Dean Rusk, American colonel and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
- 1910 – Jacques Monod, French biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
- 1911 – William Orlando Darby, American general (d. 1945)
- 1912 – Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (d. 1968)
- 1912 – Ginette Leclerc, French actress (d. 1992)
- 1914 – Ernest Tubb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
- 1916 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1918 – Lloyd Noel Ferguson, African American chemist (d. 2011)
- 1920 – Fred Allen, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and soprano (d. 2010)
- 1922 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1986)
- 1922 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Brendan Behan, Irish rebel, poet, and playwright (d. 1964)
- 1923 – Tonie Nathan, American radio host, producer, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1925 – John B. Cobb, American philosopher and theologian
- 1925 – Burkhard Heim, German physicist and academic (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Richard A. Long, American historian and author (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Frank Frazetta, American painter and illustrator (d. 2010)
- 1928 – Rinus Michels, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Roger Mudd, American journalist
- 1929 – A. R. Antulay, Indian social worker and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Clement Meadmore, Australian-American sculptor (d. 2005)
- 1930 – Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist and author (d. 2003)
- 1931 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1989)
- 1931 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer and coach (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Robert Morris, American sculptor and painter (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Tatsuro Hirooka, Japanese baseball player and manager
- 1932 – Gerhard Richter, German painter and photographer
- 1935 – Lionel Fanthorpe, English-Welsh priest, journalist, and author
- 1936 – Clive Swift, English actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
- 1938 – Ron Logan, Disney theatrical producer and professor
- 1939 – Mahala Andrews, British vertebrae palaeontologist (d. 1997)
- 1939 – Barry Mann, American pianist, songwriter, and producer
- 1939 – Janet Suzman, South African-British actress and director
- 1940 – Brian Bennett, English drummer and songwriter
- 1940 – J. M. Coetzee, South African-Australian novelist, essayist, and linguist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Kermit Gosnell, American abortionist and serial killer
- 1941 – Sheila Kuehl, American actress, lawyer, gay rights activist, and politician
- 1942 – Carole King, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1943 – Barbara Lewis, American soul/R&B singer-songwriter
- 1943 – Joe Pesci, American actor
- 1943 – Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 – Derryn Hinch, New Zealand-Australian radio and television host and politician
- 1944 – Alice Walker, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- 1945 – Mia Farrow, American actress, activist, and former fashion model
- 1945 – Yoshinori Ohsumi, Japanese cell biologist, 2016 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- 1945 – Carol Wood, American mathematician and academic
- 1946 – Bob Eastwood, American golfer
- 1946 – Vince Papale, American football player and sportscaster
- 1946 – Jim Webb, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of the Navy
- 1947 – Carla Del Ponte, Swiss lawyer and diplomat
- 1947 – Joe Ely, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Major Harris, American R&B singer (d. 2012)
- 1947 – Alexis Smirnoff, Canadian-American wrestler and actor (d. 2019)
- 1948 – Guy Standing, English economist and academic
- 1949 – Bernard Gallacher, Scottish golfer and journalist
- 1949 – Judith Light, American actress
- 1950 – Richard F. Colburn, American sergeant and politician
- 1951 – David Pomeranz, American singer, musician, and composer
- 1952 – Danny White, American football player and sportscaster
- 1953 – Ciarán Hinds, Irish actor
- 1953 – Ezechiele Ramin, Italian missionary, priest, and martyr (d. 1985)
- 1953 – Gabriel Rotello, American journalist and author, founded OutWeek
- 1954 – Jo Duffy, American author
- 1954 – Chris Gardner, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1954 – Kevin Warwick, English cybernetics scientist
- 1955 – Jerry Beck, American historian and author
- 1955 – Jimmy Pursey, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1955 – Charles Shaughnessy, English actor
- 1956 – Mookie Wilson, American baseball player and coach
- 1957 – Terry McAuliffe, American businessman and politician, 72nd Governor of Virginia
- 1957 – Gordon Strachan, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1958 – Sandy Lyle, Scottish golfer
- 1958 – Chris Nilan, American ice hockey player, coach, and radio host
- 1960 – Holly Johnson, English singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1960 – David Simon, American journalist, author, screenwriter, and television producer
- 1960 – Peggy Whitson, American biochemist and astronaut
- 1961 – John Kruk, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1962 – Anik Bissonnette, Canadian ballerina
- 1963 – Brian Greene, American physicist
- 1963 – Peter Rowsthorn, Australian comedian and actor
- 1963 – Travis Tritt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1964 – Debrah Miceli, Italian-American wrestler and manager
- 1964 – Dewi Morris, English rugby player
- 1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1964 – Alejandro Ávila, Mexican telenovela actor
- 1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1965 – Dieter Baumann, German runner
- 1966 – Harald Eia, Norwegian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1967 – Todd Pratt, American baseball player and coach
- 1967 – Dan Shulman, Canadian sportscaster
- 1967 – Gaston Browne, Antiguan and Barbudan Prime Minister
- 1968 – Alejandra Guzmán, Mexican singer-songwriter and actress
- 1968 – Derek Strong, American basketball player and race car driver
- 1968 – Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
- 1969 – Jimmy Smith, American football player
- 1970 – Glenn McGrath, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1971 – Matt Gogel, American golfer
- 1971 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer and manager
- 1972 – Darren Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1973 – Svetlana Boginskaya, Belarusian gymnast
- 1973 – Colin Egglesfield, American actor
- 1973 – Makoto Shinkai, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Jordi Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1974 – Brad Maynard, American football player
- 1974 – Amber Valletta, American model
- 1974 – John Wallace, American basketball player and coach
- 1975 – Kurt Asle Arvesen, Norwegian cyclist and coach
- 1975 – Clinton Grybas, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
- 1975 – Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1976 – Charlie Day, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1978 – A. J. Buckley, Irish-Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1979 – Akinori Iwamura, Japanese baseball player
- 1979 – Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
- 1980 – Angelos Charisteas, Greek footballer
- 1980 – Margarita Levieva, Russian-American actress
- 1980 – Manu Raju, American journalist
- 1981 – Tom Hiddleston, English actor, producer, and musical performer
- 1981 – Daisuke Sekimoto, Japanese wrestler
- 1982 – Domingo Cisma, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Jameer Nelson, American basketball player
- 1982 – Ami Suzuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
- 1982 – Chris Weale, English footballer and manager
- 1983 – Mikel Arruabarrena, Spanish footballer
- 1984 – Maurice Ager, American basketball player, singer, and producer
- 1984 – Shōhōzan Yūya, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1985 – David Gallagher, American actor
- 1987 – Sam Coulson, English guitarist
- 1987 – Michael B. Jordan, American actor
- 1987 – Davide Lanzafame, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Magdalena Neuner, German biathlete
- 1988 – Lotte Friis, Danish swimmer
- 1989 – Maxime Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier
- 1990 – Tariq Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
- 1991 – Logan Ryan, American football player
- 1992 – Kyle Feldt, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Mitchell Frei, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Avan Jogia, Canadian actor
- 1993 – Niclas Füllkrug, German footballer
- 1995 – André Burakovsky, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1995 – Mario Pašalić, Croatian footballer
- 1997 – Saquon Barkley, American football player
Deaths on February 9
- 966 – Ono no Michikaze, Japanese calligrapher (b. 894)
- 967 – Sayf al-Dawla, emir of Aleppo (b. 916)
- 978 – Luitgarde, duchess consort of Normandy
- 1011 – Bernard I, Duke of Saxony
- 1014 – Yang Yanzhao, Chinese general
- 1135 – Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1075)
- 1199 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (b. 1147)
- 1251 – Matthias II, duke of Lorraine
- 1407 – William I, margrave of Meissen (b. 1343)
- 1450 – Agnès Sorel, French mistress of Charles VII of France (b. 1421)
- 1555 – John Hooper, English bishop and martyr (b. 1495)
- 1555 – Rowland Taylor, English priest and martyr (b. 1510)
- 1588 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (b. 1526)
- 1600 – John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1542)
- 1619 – Lucilio Vanini, Italian physician and philosopher (b. 1585)
- 1640 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1612)
- 1670 – Frederick III of Denmark (b. 1609)
- 1675 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (b. 1613)
- 1709 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (b. 1664)
- 1777 – Seth Pomeroy, American general and gunsmith (b. 1706)
- 1803 – Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French soldier, poet, and philosopher (b. 1716)
- 1857 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and translator (b. 1798)
- 1874 – Jules Michelet, French historian, philosopher, and academic (b. 1798)
- 1881 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher (b. 1821)
- 1891 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (b. 1819)
- 1903 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (b. 1816)
- 1906 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1872)
- 1928 – William Gillies, Australian politician, 21st Premier of Queensland (b. 1868)
- 1930 – Richard With, Norwegian captain and businessman, founded Hurtigruten (b. 1846)
- 1932 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and banker (b. 1869)
- 1932 – A.K. Golam Jilani, Bangladeshi soldier and activist (b. 1904)
- 1945 – Ella D. Barrier, American educator (b. 1852)
- 1950 – Ted Theodore, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Queensland (b. 1884)
- 1951 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist, bandleader, and actor (b. 1910)
- 1957 – Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (b. 1868)
- 1960 – Alexandre Benois, Russian painter and critic (b. 1870)
- 1960 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1877)
- 1965 – Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi theologian and educator (b. 1874)
- 1966 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer (b. 1884)
- 1969 – George “Gabby” Hayes, American actor and singer (b. 1885)
- 1976 – Percy Faith, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
- 1977 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian engineer and businessman, founded the Ilyushin Design Company (b. 1894)
- 1978 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1893)
- 1979 – Allen Tate, American poet and academic (b. 1899)
- 1980 – Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and author (b. 1900)
- 1981 – M. C. Chagla, Indian jurist and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1900)
- 1981 – Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1925)
- 1984 – Yuri Andropov, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1914)
- 1989 – Osamu Tezuka, Japanese illustrator, animator, and producer (b. 1928)
- 1994 – Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
- 1995 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
- 1995 – David Wayne, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1998 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1911)
- 2001 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist, economist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (b. 1930)
- 2003 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
- 2004 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1925)
- 2005 – Robert Kearns, American engineer, invented the windscreen wiper (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Freddie Laker, English pilot and businessman, founded Laker Airways (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Ian Richardson, Scottish actor (b. 1934)
- 2008 – Christopher Hyatt, American occultist and author (b. 1943)
- 2008 – Jazeh Tabatabai, Iranian painter, poet, and sculptor (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek lawyer and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (b. 1939)
- 2012 – O. P. Dutta, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
- 2012 – John Hick, English philosopher and academic (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Joe Moretti, Scottish-South African guitarist and songwriter (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Richard Artschwager, American painter, illustrator, and sculptor (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist and trainer (b. 1913)
- 2013 – Jimmy Smyth, Irish hurler (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Gabriel Axel, Danish actor, director, and producer (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Hal Herring, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Logan Scott-Bowden, English general (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Liu Han, Chinese businessman and philanthropist (b. 1965)
- 2015 – Ed Sabol, American film producer, co-founded NFL Films (b. 1916)
- 2016 – Sushil Koirala, Nepalese politician, 37th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1939)
- 2016 – Zdravko Tolimir, Bosnian Serb military commander (b. 1948)
- 2017 – André Salvat, French Army colonel (b. 1920)
- 2018 – Reg E. Cathey, American actor of stage, film, and television (b. 1958)
- 2018 – Nebojša Glogovac, Serbian actor (b. 1969)
- 2018 – Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic composer (b. 1969)
- 2018 – John Gavin, American actor and United States ambassador to Mexico (b. 1931)
- 2020 – Sergiy Vilkomir, Ukrainian-born computer scientist (b. 1956)
Holidays and observances on February 9
- Christian feast day:
- Alto of Altomünster
- Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
- Ansbert of Rouen
- Apollonia
- Bracchio
- Blessed Leopold of Alpandeire
- Maron (Maronite Church)
- Miguel Febres Cordero
- Nebridius
- Sabinus of Canosa
- Teilo (Wales)
- February 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Clean Monday can fall, while March 15 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of Great Lent. (Eastern Christianity)
- Earliest day on which People’s Sunday can fall, while March 15 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent. (Malta)
- St. Maroun’s Day (public holiday in Lebanon)
-
January 20 in History
- 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
- 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
- 1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”.
- 1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
- 1356 – Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
- 1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
- 1567 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.
- 1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
- 1649 – The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.
- 1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting the stage to the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.
- 1785 – Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
- 1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.
- 1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
- 1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
- 1877 – The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
- 1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
- 1921 – The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.
- 1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
- 1929 – The first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, In Old Arizona, is released.
- 1936 – King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds to the throne, becoming Edward VIII. The title Prince of Wales is not used for another 22 years.
- 1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as U.S. President and U.S. Vice President; it is the first time a Presidential Inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.
- 1941 – A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
- 1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”.
- 1945 – World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
- 1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
- 1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
- 1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America.
- 1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
- 1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the second youngest man to take the office, and the first Catholic.
- 1969 – Richard Nixon is inaugurated the 37th President of the United States of America.
- 1972 – Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
- 1977 – Jimmy Carter is inaugurated the 39th President of the United States of America.
- 1981 – Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40th President of the United States of America. Twenty minutes later, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
- 1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
- 1989 – George H. W. Bush is inaugurated the 41st President of the United States of America.
- 1990 – Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
- 1991 – Sudan’s government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.
- 1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board.
- 1993 – Bill Clinton is inaugurated the 42nd President of the United States of America.
- 2001 – George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43rd President of the United States of America.
- 2001 – President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
- 2009 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American President of the United States.
- 2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
- 2017 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America, becoming the oldest person to assume the office.
- 2018 – A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.
Births on January 20
- 225 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (d. 244)
- 1029 – Alp Arslan, Seljuk sultan (probable; d. 1072)
- 1292 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (d. 1330)
- 1436 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (d. 1490)
- 1488 – John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble (d. 1533)
- 1488 – Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)
- 1499 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (probable; d. 1543)
- 1502 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish-Mexican rancher and missionary (d. 1600)
- 1526 – Rafael Bombelli, Italian mathematician (d. 1572)
- 1554 – Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
- 1569 – Heribert Rosweyde, Jesuit hagiographer (d. 1629)
- 1573 – Simon Marius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1624)
- 1586 – Johann Hermann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
- 1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (d. 1718)
- 1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741)
- 1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and numismatist (d. 1795)
- 1716 – Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
- 1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American lawyer and politician, President of the Continental Congress (d. 1794)
- 1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Swedish botanist and author (d. 1783)
- 1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)
- 1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
- 1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1836)
- 1781 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German historian and politician (d. 1848)
- 1783 – Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
- 1799 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician, 5th President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1858)
- 1804 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (d. 1857)
- 1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
- 1814 – David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (d. 1868)
- 1834 – George D. Robinson, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
- 1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, U.S. suffragist and organizer (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
- 1870 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian pianist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
- 1874 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and coach (d. 1938)
- 1876 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1957)
- 1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish-English actor (d. 1968)
- 1879 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and educator (d. 1968)
- 1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
- 1882 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1957)
- 1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (d. 1968)
- 1883 – Forrest Wilson, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
- 1888 – Lead Belly, American folk/blues musician and songwriter (d. 1949)
- 1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer and businessman, founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (d. 1967)
- 1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1946)
- 1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968)
- 1894 – Walter Piston, American composer, theorist, and academic (d. 1976)
- 1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1985)
- 1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1996)
- 1898 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (d. 1947)
- 1899 – Clarice Cliff, English potter (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (d. 1990)
- 1900 – Dorothy Annan, English painter, potter, and muralist (d. 1983)
- 1900 – Colin Clive, English actor (d. 1937)
- 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1902 – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 1920)
- 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
- 1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (d. 2000)
- 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
- 1909 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, Japanese martial artist (d. 1989)
- 1910 – Joy Adamson, Austria-born Kenyan painter and author (d. 1980)
- 1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (d. 2006)
- 1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani businessman and politician, 7th President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993)
- 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
- 1922 – Don Mankiewicz, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Slim Whitman, American country and western singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist and composer (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, poet, and politician (d. 2020)
- 1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1927 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian-Pakistani journalist and academic (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Antonio de Almeida, French conductor and musicologist (d. 1997)
- 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Masaharu Kawakatsu, Japanese biologist
- 1929 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
- 1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1931 – David Lee, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 1992)
- 1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
- 1934 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
- 1935 – Dorothy Provine, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010)
- 1937 – Bailey Howell, American basketball player
- 1938 – Derek Dougan, Irish-English footballer and journalist (d. 2007)
- 1939 – Paul Coverdell, American captain and politician (d. 2000)
- 1939 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and biologist
- 1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater and actress
- 1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
- 1940 – Mandé Sidibé, Malian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Mali (d. 2009)
- 1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American journalist and producer
- 1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish director and producer
- 1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
- 1944 – Pat Parker, African American poet
- 1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Eric Stewart, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1946 – David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 – Vladimír Merta, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist
- 1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and sportscaster
- 1948 – Nancy Kress, American author and academic
- 1948 – Natan Sharansky, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
- 1949 – Göran Persson, Swedish lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
- 1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
- 1950 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2014)
- 1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, Nigerien politician, President of Niger
- 1951 – Iván Fischer, Hungarian conductor and composer
- 1952 – Nikos Sideris, Greek psychiatrist and poet
- 1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1952 – John Witherow, South African-English journalist and author
- 1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender (d. 2019)
- 1954 – Alison Seabeck, English lawyer and politician
- 1955 – McKeeva Bush, Caymanian politician, Premier of the Cayman Islands
- 1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs
- 1956 – Bill Maher, American comedian, political commentator, media critic, television host, and producer
- 1956 – John Naber, American swimmer
- 1957 – Andy Sheppard, English saxophonist and composer
- 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, director, and producer
- 1959 – Tami Hoag, American author
- 1959 – R. A. Salvatore, American author
- 1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese-American mountaineer
- 1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player
- 1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis
- 1963 – James Denton, American actor
- 1963 – Mark Ryden, American painter and illustrator
- 1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
- 1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player and coach
- 1964 – Jack Lewis, American soldier and author
- 1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese screenwriter and songwriter
- 1964 – Aquilino Pimentel III, Filipino lawyer and politician
- 1964 – Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American journalist and author
- 1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer defender and manager
- 1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex
- 1965 – Warren Joyce, English footballer and manager
- 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
- 1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
- 1967 – Stacey Dash, American actress and television journalist
- 1967 – Kellyanne Conway, American political strategist and pundit
- 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1968 – Junior Murray, Grenadian cricketer
- 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker and activist, co-founded MindVox
- 1969 – Nicky Wire, Welsh singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer
- 1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1971 – Ger McDonnell, Irish mountaineer and engineer (d. 2008)
- 1971 – Jung Woong-in, South Korean actor
- 1971 – Questlove, American drummer, DJ, and producer
- 1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
- 1972 – Nikki Haley, American accountant and politician, 116th Governor of South Carolina
- 1973 – Stephen Crabb, Scottish-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
- 1973 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium
- 1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer and coach
- 1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentinian racing driver
- 1975 – Zac Goldsmith, English journalist and politician
- 1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish journalist and sportscaster
- 1976 – Michael Myers, American football player
- 1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
- 1977 – Paul Adams, South African cricketer and coach
- 1978 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
- 1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
- 1979 – Choo Ja-hyun, South Korean actress
- 1979 – Will Young, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1980 – Karl Anderson, American wrestler
- 1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., American-French oceanographer and journalist
- 1980 – Philippe Gagnon, Canadian swimmer
- 1980 – Kim Jeong-hoon, South Korean singer and actor
- 1980 – Petra Rampre, Slovenian tennis player
- 1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
- 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- 1982 – Ruchi Sanghvi, Indian computer engineer
- 1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
- 1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
- 1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
- 1984 – Malek Jaziri, Tunisian tennis player
- 1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1985 – Tanel Sokk, Estonian basketball player
- 1987 – Janin Lindenberg, German sprinter
- 1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
- 1988 – Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian footballer
- 1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
- 1989 – Nick Foles, American football player
- 1989 – Washington Santana da Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1989 – Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1990 – Ray Thompson, Australian rugby league player
- 1991 – Ciara Hanna, American actress and model
- 1991 – Tom Cairney, Scottish footballer, midfielder
- 1991 – Polona Hercog, Slovenian tennis player
- 1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver
- 1992 – Jorge Zárate, Mexican footballer
- 1993 – Lorenzo Crisetig, Italian footballer
- 1994 – Seán Kavanagh, Irish footballer, defender
- 1994 – Lucas Piazon, Brazilian footballer
- 1995 – Joey Badass, American rapper and actor
- 1995 – Calum Chambers, English footballer, defender
Deaths on January 20
- 820 – Al-Shafi‘i, Arab scholar and jurist (b. 767)
- 842 – Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (b. 813)
- 882 – Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom
- 924 – Li Jitao, Chinese general of Later Tang
- 928 – Zhao Guangfeng, Chinese official and chancellor
- 1029 – Heonae, Korean queen and regent (b. 964)
- 1095 – Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester
- 1156 – Henry, English bishop and saint
- 1189 – Shi Zong, Chinese emperor of Jin (b. 1123)
- 1191 – Frederick VI, duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
- 1191 – Theobald V, count of Blois (b. 1130)
- 1265 – John Maunsell, English Lord Chancellor
- 1336 – John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (b. 1306)
- 1343 – Robert, king of Naples (b. 1275)
- 1479 – John II, king of Sicily (b. 1398)
- 1568 – Myles Coverdale, English bishop and translator (b. 1488)
- 1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
- 1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (b. 1604)
- 1666 – Anne of Austria, Queen and regent of France (b. 1601)
- 1707 – Humphrey Hody, English scholar and theologian (b. 1659)
- 1709 – François de la Chaise, French priest (b. 1624)
- 1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
- 1770 – Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
- 1779 – David Garrick, English actor, producer, playwright, and manager (b. 1717)
- 1810 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (b. 1721)
- 1819 – Charles IV, Spanish king (b. 1748)
- 1837 – John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (b. 1753)
- 1841 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer (b. 1780)
- 1841 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1791)
- 1848 – Christian VIII, Danish king (b. 1786)
- 1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1779)
- 1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
- 1873 – Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
- 1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (b. 1814)
- 1891 – Kalākaua, king of Hawaii (b. 1836)
- 1900 – John Ruskin, English painter and critic (b. 1819)
- 1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (b. 1826)
- 1907 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (b. 1842)
- 1908 – John Ordronaux, American surgeon and academic (b. 1830)
- 1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852)
- 1915 – Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, Irish businessman, philanthropist, and politician (b. 1840)
- 1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian-Russian wrestler and strongman (b. 1876)
- 1921 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (b. 1847)
- 1924 – Henry “Ivo” Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (b. 1872)
- 1936 – George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
- 1940 – Omar Bundy, American general (b. 1861)
- 1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (b. 1860)
- 1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
- 1947 – Andrew Volstead, American member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1860)
- 1954 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (b. 1882)
- 1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1890)
- 1955 – Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (b. 1892)
- 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (b. 1887)
- 1965 – Alan Freed, American radio host (b. 1922)
- 1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)
- 1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
- 1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and surgeon (b. 1885)
- 1973 – Amílcar Cabral, Guinea Bissauan-Cape Verdian engineer and politician (b. 1924)
- 1977 – Dimitrios Kiousopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, 151st Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1892)
- 1980 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (b. 1895)
- 1983 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
- 1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
- 1988 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (b. 1890)
- 1988 – Dora Stratou, Greek dancer and choreographer (b. 1903)
- 1989 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
- 1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
- 1993 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian activist (b. 1929)
- 1994 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1909)
- 1994 – Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, first Kenyan Vice-President (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1927)
- 2002 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (b. 1963)
- 2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American painter and illustrator (b. 1903)
- 2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
- 2004 – Alan Brown, English racing driver (b. 1919)
- 2004 – T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Per Borten, Norwegian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
- 2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Etta James, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
- 2012 – John Levy, American bassist and manager (b. 1912)
- 2012 – Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet and author (b. 1911)
- 2014 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist and academic (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Edgar Froese, Russian-German keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1944)
- 2016 – Mykolas Burokevičius, Lithuanian carpenter and politician (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (b. 1920)
- 2018 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Naomi Parker Fraley, American naval machiner (b. 1921)
- 2020 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (b. 1947)
- 2020 – Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives
Holidays and observances on January 20
- Armed Forces Day (Mali)
- Army Day (Laos)
- Christian feast day:
- Abadios
- Blessed Basil Moreau
- Eustochia Smeralda Calafato
- Euthymius the Great
- Fabian
- Manchán of Lemanaghan
- Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception Brando
- Richard Rolle (Church of England)
- Sebastian
- Stephen Min Kuk-ka (one of The Korean Martyrs)
- January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Heroes’ Day (Cape Verde)
- Inauguration Day, held every four years in odd-numbered years immediately following years divisible by 4, except for the public ceremony when January 20 falls on Sunday (the public ceremony is held the following day; however, the terms of offices still begin on the 20th) (United States of America, not a federal holiday for all government employees but only for those working in the Capital region)
- Martyrs’ Day (Azerbaijan)