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  • February 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era.
    • 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor
    • 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
    • 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
    • 1365 – The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya
    • 1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.
    • 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
    • 1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates
    • 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
    • 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
    • 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
    • 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
    • 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
    • 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
    • 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
    • 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
    • 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
    • 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
    • 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
    • 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
    • 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
    • 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
    • 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
    • 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
    • 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
    • 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
    • 1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
    • 1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
    • 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
    • 2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
    • 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
    • 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

    Births on February 26

    • 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
    • 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448)
    • 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
    • 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
    • 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)
    • 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685)
    • 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)
    • 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
    • 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
    • 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
    • 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
    • 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
    • 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1806)
    • 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
    • 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
    • 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
    • 1799 – Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (d. 1864)
    • 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
    • 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
    • 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
    • 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
    • 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
    • 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
    • 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
    • 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
    • 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
    • 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
    • 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
    • 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
    • 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
    • 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
    • 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
    • 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
    • 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
    • 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
    • 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
    • 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
    • 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
    • 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
    • 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
    • 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
    • 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)
    • 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)
    • 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
    • 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
    • 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
    • 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
    • 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
    • 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971)
    • 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
    • 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
    • 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978)
    • 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
    • 1913 – George Barker, English author and poet (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
    • 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980)
    • 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
    • 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
    • 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
    • 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
    • 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
    • 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
    • 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
    • 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
    • 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
    • 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
    • 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
    • 1931 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
    • 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
    • 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
    • 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018)
    • 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
    • 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
    • 1943 – Bob “The Bear” Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981)
    • 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
    • 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
    • 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian race car driver (d. 2006)
    • 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
    • 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer
    • 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
    • 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
    • 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
    • 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
    • 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano
    • 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
    • 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
    • 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
    • 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
    • 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
    • 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
    • 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
    • 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer
    • 1958 – Paul Ackford, English rugby player
    • 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
    • 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
    • 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
    • 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
    • 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
    • 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
    • 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
    • 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
    • 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
    • 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
    • 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
    • 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
    • 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
    • 1970 – Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
    • 1971 – Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
    • 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
    • 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
    • 1974 – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
    • 1976 – Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
    • 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
    • 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
    • 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
    • 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer, midfielder
    • 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
    • 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
    • 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
    • 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
    • 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
    • 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
    • 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer, forward
    • 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
    • 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer, striker
    • 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
    • 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
    • 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
    • 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
    • 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
    • 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
    • 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer

    Deaths on February 26

    • 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
    • 943 – Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech (Ireland)
    • 1154 – Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
    • 1266 – Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
    • 1275 – Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots (b. 1240)
    • 1349 – Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (b. c.1260)
    • 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328)
    • 1462 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408)
    • 1548 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)
    • 1577 – Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
    • 1603 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II (b. 1528)
    • 1608 – John Still, English bishop (b. 1543)
    • 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533)
    • 1625 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess (b. 1568)
    • 1630 – William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560)
    • 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581)
    • 1723 – Thomas d’Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653)
    • 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
    • 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692)
    • 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730)
    • 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718)
    • 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762)
    • 1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)
    • 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737)
    • 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753)
    • 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807)
    • 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
    • 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician (b. 1865)
    • 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
    • 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)
    • 1906 – Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer (b. 1874)
    • 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835)
    • 1921 – Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840)
    • 1930 – Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
    • 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
    • 1936 – February 26 Incident:
      • Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
      • Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
      • Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874)
    • 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892)
    • 1945 – Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860)
    • 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868)
    • 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870)
    • 1951 – Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist (b. 1912) executed with 20 others
    • 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878)
    • 1961 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878)
    • 1961 – Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
    • 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
    • 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
    • 1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)
    • 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896)
    • 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
    • 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911)
    • 1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)
    • 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
    • 1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)
    • 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
    • 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
    • 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
    • 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943)
    • 2006 – Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (b. 1905)
    • 2008 – Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
    • 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Jun Seba, also known as “Nujabes”, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (b. 1974)
    • 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
    • 2013 – Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960)
    • 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Joseph Wapner, American lieutenant and judge (b. 1919)

    Holidays and observances on February 26

    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexander of Alexandria
      • Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Isabelle of France
      • Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)
      • Porphyry of Gaza
      • February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The first day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
    • Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)
    • Liberation Day (Kuwait)
    • Saviours’ Day (Nation of Islam)

  • January 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
    • 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
    • 1607 – An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.
    • 1648 – Eighty Years’ War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.
    • 1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.
    • 1703 – The Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka.
    • 1789 – Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long.
    • 1806 – The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.
    • 1820 – Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
    • 1826 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world’s first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened.
    • 1835 – In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.
    • 1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.
    • 1858 – The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
    • 1862 – The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
    • 1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.
    • 1902 – The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.
    • 1908 – Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.
    • 1911 – The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy ten miles from Havana, Cuba.
    • 1925 – The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul.
    • 1930 – The Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the extermination of the Kulaks.
    • 1933 – Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
    • 1942 – World War II: Battle of Ambon. Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are massacred at Laha airfield. Three-fourths of remaining POWs will not have survived by the end of the war, including 250 men who will be shipped to Hainan Island in South China Sea and never returned.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.
    • 1945 – World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.
    • 1948 – British South American Airways’ Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle.
    • 1956 – African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
    • 1959 – The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.
    • 1959 – MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and “unsinkable” like the RMS Titanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.
    • 1960 – The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
    • 1964 – In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh’s military junta in South Vietnam.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.
    • 1969 – The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
    • 1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.
    • 1972 – Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.
    • 1975 – The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.
    • 1979 – A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
    • 1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”.
    • 1989 – The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.
    • 1995 – Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
    • 2000 – Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.
    • 2013 – Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.

    Births on January 30

    • 58 BC – Livia, Roman wife of Augustus (d. 29)
    • 133 – Didius Julianus, Roman emperor (probable; d. 193)
    • 1410 – William Calthorpe, English knight (d. 1494)
    • 1520  – William More, English courtier (d. 1600)
    • 1563 – Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1641)
    • 1573 – Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (d. 1638)
    • 1580 – Gundakar, Prince of Liechtenstein, court official in Vienna (d. 1658)
    • 1590 – Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford (d. 1676)
    • 1628 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1687)
    • 1661 – Charles Rollin, French historian and educator (d. 1741)
    • 1697 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (d. 1773)
    • 1703 – François Bigot, French politician (d. 1778)
    • 1720 – Charles De Geer, Swedish entomologist and archaeologist (d. 1778)
    • 1754 – John Lansing, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1829)
    • 1775 – Walter Savage Landor, English poet and author (d. 1864)
    • 1781 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German botanist and poet (d. 1838)
    • 1816 – Nathaniel P. Banks, American general and politician, 24th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1894)
    • 1822 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and curator (d. 1899)
    • 1841 – Félix Faure, French politician, 7th President of France (d. 1899)
    • 1844 – Richard Theodore Greener, American lawyer, academic, and diplomat (d. 1922)
    • 1846 – Angela of the Cross, Spanish nun and saint (d. 1932)
    • 1859 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player and manager (d. 1944)
    • 1861 – Charles Martin Loeffler, German-American violinist and composer (d. 1935)
    • 1862 – Walter Damrosch, German-American conductor and composer (d. 1950)
    • 1866 – Gelett Burgess, American author, poet, and critic (d. 1951)
    • 1878 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (d. 1940)
    • 1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
    • 1889 – Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1937)
    • 1899 – Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
    • 1900 – Martita Hunt, Argentine-born British actress (d. 1969)
    • 1901 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (d. 1959)
    • 1902 – Nikolaus Pevsner, German-English historian and scholar (d. 1983)
    • 1910 – Chidambaram Subramaniam, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 2000)
    • 1911 – Roy Eldridge, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (d. 1988)
    • 1912 – Francis Schaeffer, American pastor and theologian (d. 1984)
    • 1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (d. 1989)
    • 1914 – Luc-Marie Bayle, French commander and painter (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1992)
    • 1914 – David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
    • 1915 – Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (d. 1976)
    • 1915 – John Profumo, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – David Opatoshu, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1919 – Fred Korematsu, American activist (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Michael Anderson, English director and producer (d. 2018)
    • 1920 – Patrick Heron, British painter (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – Delbert Mann, American director and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian, actor, and director (d. 2008)
    • 1923 – Marianne Ferber, Czech-American economist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – S. N. Goenka, Burmese-Indian author and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
    • 1925 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Olof Palme, Swedish statesman, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1986)
    • 1928 – Harold Prince, American director and producer (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Lois Hole, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (d. 2005)
    • 1929 – Hugh Tayfield, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
    • 1929 – Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian-Italian physician and humanitarian (d. 1996)
    • 1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor and author
    • 1930 – Magnus Malan, South African general and politician, South African Minister of Defence (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – John Crosbie, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 2020)
    • 1931 – Shirley Hazzard, Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Tammy Grimes, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (d. 1984)
    • 1935 – Tubby Hayes, English saxophonist and composer (d. 1973)
    • 1936 – Horst Jankowski, German pianist and composer (d. 1998)
    • 1937 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
    • 1937 – Boris Spassky, Russian chess player and theoretician
    • 1938 – Islam Karimov, Uzbek politician, 1st President of Uzbekistan (d. 2016)
    • 1941 – Gregory Benford, American astrophysicist and author
    • 1941 – Dick Cheney, American businessman and politician, 46th Vice President of the United States, 17th US Secretary of Defense
    • 1941 – Tineke Lagerberg, Dutch swimmer
    • 1942 – Marty Balin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
    • 1943 – Davey Johnson, American baseball player and manager
    • 1944 – Lynn Harrell, American cellist and academic
    • 1944 – Colin Rimer, English lawyer and judge
    • 1945 – Meir Dagan, Israeli military officer and intelligence official, Director of Mossad (2002–11) (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Michael Dorris, American author and scholar (d. 1997)
    • 1946 – John Bird, Baron Bird, English publisher, founded The Big Issue
    • 1947 – Les Barker, English poet and author
    • 1947 – Steve Marriott, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1991)
    • 1948 – Nick Broomfield, English director and producer
    • 1948 – Miles Reid, English mathematician and academic
    • 1949 – Peter Agre, American physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1950 – Jack Newton, Australian golfer
    • 1951 – Phil Collins, English drummer, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1951 – Charles S. Dutton, American actor and director
    • 1951 – Bobby Stokes, English footballer (d. 1995)
    • 1952 – Doug Falconer, Canadian football player and producer
    • 1953 – Fred Hembeck, American author and illustrator
    • 1955 – John Baldacci, American politician, 73rd Governor of Maine
    • 1955 – Tom Izzo, American basketball player and coach
    • 1955 – Curtis Strange, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
    • 1958 – Derek White, Scottish rugby player
    • 1959 – Cynthia Carter, Welsh journalist, author, and academic
    • 1959 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2018)
    • 1959 – Jody Watley, American entertainer
    • 1962 – Abdullah II of Jordan
    • 1964 – Otis Smith, American basketball player, coach, and manager
    • 1965 – Kevin Moore, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1966 – Danielle Goyette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Felipe VI of Spain
    • 1969 – Justin Skinner, English footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1971 – Kimo von Oelhoffen, American football player
    • 1972 – Jill McGill, American golfer
    • 1972 – Chris Simon, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1973 – Jalen Rose, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Christian Bale, Welsh actor
    • 1974 – Olivia Colman, English actress
    • 1975 – Juninho Pernambucano, Brazilian footballer
    • 1975 – Yumi Yoshimura, Japanese musician and singer
    • 1976 – Andy Milonakis, American entertainer
    • 1977 – Dan Hinote, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1978 – Carmen Küng, Swiss curler
    • 1978 – John Patterson, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Trevor Gillies, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – João Soares de Almeida Neto, Brazilian footballer
    • 1980 – Georgios Vakouftsis, Greek footballer
    • 1980 – Wilmer Valderrama, American actor and producer
    • 1981 – Jonathan Bender, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
    • 1981 – Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer
    • 1981 – Peter Crouch, English footballer
    • 1981 – Mathias Lauda, Austrian race car driver
    • 1982 – Jorge Cantú, Mexican baseball player
    • 1984 – Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1984 – Arthur Chu, Asian-American columnist and former Jeopardy! contestant
    • 1984 – Kid Cudi, American entertainer
    • 1985 – Gisela Dulko, Argentinian tennis player
    • 1985 – Torrey Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Trae Williams, American football player
    • 1986 – Nick Evans, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Ben Cutting, Australian cricketer
    • 1987 – Lance Franklin, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Phil Lester, English Internet celebrity
    • 1987 – Becky Lynch, Irish wrestler
    • 1987 – Renato Santos, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – Arda Turan, Turkish footballer
    • 1988 – Rob Pinkston, American actor and director
    • 1989 – Tomás Mejías, Spanish footballer
    • 1989 – Girish Kumar, Indian film actor
    • 1990 – Yoon Bo-ra, South Korean singer
    • 1990 – Joe Colborne, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Andrew McCullough, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Nils Miatke, German footballer
    • 1990 – Luca Sbisa, Swiss ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Mitchell Starc, Australian cricketer
    • 1990 – Phillip Supernaw, American football player
    • 1991 – Stefan Elliott, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1993 – Katy Marchant, English track cyclist
    • 1995 – Jack Laugher, English diver
    • 1995 – Víctor Sánchez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2015)

    Deaths on January 30

    • 680 – Balthild, Frankish queen (b. 626)
    • 970 – Peter I of Bulgaria
    • 1030 – William V, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
    • 1181 – Emperor Takakura of Japan (b. 1161)
    • 1240 – Pelagio Galvani, Leonese lawyer and cardinal (b. 1165)
    • 1314 – Nicholas III of Saint Omer
    • 1344 – William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury (b. 1301)
    • 1384 – Louis II, Count of Flanders (b. 1330)
    • 1497 – Lê Thánh Tông, King of Vietnam (b. 1442)
    • 1574 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese historian and philosopher (b. 1502)
    • 1606 – Everard Digby, English criminal (b. 1578)
    • 1606 – John Grant, English conspirator (b. 1570)
    • 1606 – Robert Wintour, English conspirator (b. 1565)
    • 1649 – Charles I of England (b. 1600)
    • 1664 – Cornelis de Graeff, Dutch mayor (b. 1599)
    • 1730 – Peter II of Russia (b. 1715)
    • 1770 – Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Maltese linguist, historian and cleric (b. 1712)
    • 1836 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, said to have designed the American Flag (b. 1752)
    • 1838 – Osceola, American tribal leader (b. 1804)
    • 1858 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (b. 1778)
    • 1867 – Emperor Kōmei of Japan (b. 1831)
    • 1869 – William Carleton, Irish author (b. 1794)
    • 1881 – Arthur O’Shaughnessy, English poet and herpetologist (b. 1844)
    • 1889 – Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary (b. 1858)
    • 1926 – Barbara La Marr, American actress (b. 1896)
    • 1928 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
    • 1929 – La Goulue, French model and dancer (b. 1866)
    • 1934 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (b. 1862)
    • 1947 – Frederick Blackman, English botanist and physiologist (b. 1866)
    • 1948 – Arthur Coningham, Australian air marshal (b. 1895)
    • 1948 – Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule (b. 1869)
    • 1948 – Orville Wright, American pilot and engineer, co-founded the Wright Company (b. 1871)
    • 1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-German engineer and businessman, founded Porsche (b. 1875)
    • 1958 – Jean Crotti, Swiss painter (b. 1878)
    • 1958 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman; founded the Heinkel Aircraft Company (b. 1888)
    • 1962 – Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician and engineer (b. 1894)
    • 1963 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (b. 1899)
    • 1966 – Jaan Hargel, Estonian flute player, conductor, and educator (b. 1912)
    • 1968 – Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian poet, playwright, and journalist (b. 1889)
    • 1969 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
    • 1973 – Elizabeth Baker, American economist and academic (b. 1885)
    • 1974 – Olav Roots, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1910)
    • 1977 – Paul Marais de Beauchamp, French zoologist (b. 1883)
    • 1980 – Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1918)
    • 1982 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
    • 1991 – Clifton C. Edom, American photographer and educator (b. 1907)
    • 1994 – Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (b. 1912)
    • 1999 – Huntz Hall, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 1999 – Ed Herlihy, American journalist (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French soldier and actor (b. 1911)
    • 2001 – Johnnie Johnson, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1915)
    • 2001 – Joseph Ransohoff, American surgeon and educator (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Martyn Bennett, Canadian-Scottish violinist (b. 1971)
    • 2006 – Coretta Scott King, American author and activist (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright and academic (b. 1950)
    • 2007 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (b. 1917)
    • 2008 – Marcial Maciel, Mexican-American priest, founded the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – H. Guy Hunt, American soldier, pastor, and politician, 49th Governor of Alabama (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – Fadil Ferati, Kosovar accountant and politician (b. 1960)
    • 2011 – John Barry, English composer and conductor (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Frank Aschenbrenner, American football player and soldier (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Doeschka Meijsing, Dutch author (b. 1947)
    • 2013 – Gamal al-Banna, Egyptian author and scholar (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Patty Andrews, American singer (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – George Witt, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Stefan Bałuk, Polish general and photographer (b. 1914)
    • 2014 – The Mighty Hannibal, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – William Motzing, American composer and conductor (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Arthur Rankin, Jr., American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Carl Djerassi, Austrian-American chemist, author, and playwright (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Ülo Kaevats, Estonian academic, philosopher, and politician (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Geraldine McEwan, English actress (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgarian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of Bulgaria (b. 1935)
    • 2016 – Frank Finlay, English actor (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Francisco Flores Pérez, Salvadorian politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Georgia Davis Powers, American activist and politician (b. 1923)
    • 2018 – Mark Salling, American actor and musician (b. 1982)
    • 2019 – Dick Miller, American actor (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on January 30

    • Christian Feast Day:
      • Adelelmus of Burgos
      • Aldegonde
      • Anthony the Great (Coptic Church)
      • Armentarius of Pavia
      • Balthild
      • Charles, King and Martyr (various provinces of the Anglican Communion)
      • Hippolytus of Rome
      • Hyacintha Mariscotti
      • Martina
      • Matthias of Jerusalem
      • Mutien-Marie Wiaux
      • Savina
      • Three Holy Hierarchs (Eastern Orthodox), and its related observances:
        • Teacher’s Day (Greece)
      • January 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Azerbaijani customs (Azerbaijan)
    • Day of Saudade (Brazil)
    • Fred Korematsu Day (California, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia)
    • Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, and its related observances:
      • Martyrs’ Day (India)
      • School Day of Non-violence and Peace (Spain)
      • Start of the Season for Nonviolence January 30 – April 4