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June 15 in History
- 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
- 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
- 923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
- 1184 – The naval Battle of Fimreite is won by the Birkebeiner pretender Sverre Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson takes the Norwegian throne and King Magnus V of Norway is killed.
- 1215 – King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carta.
- 1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lindanise (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia.
- 1246 – With the death of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
- 1300 – The city of Bilbao is founded.
- 1312 – At the Battle of Rozgony, King Charles I of Hungary wins a decisive victory over the family of Palatine Amade Aba.
- 1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
- 1410 – In a decisive battle at Onon River, the Mongol forces of Oljei Temur were decimated by the Chinese armies of the Yongle Emperor.
- 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.
- 1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in Exsurge Domine.
- 1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
- 1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
- 1670 – The first stone of Fort Ricasoli is laid down in Malta.
- 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
- 1776 – Delaware Separation Day: Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
- 1800 – The Provisional Army of the United States is dissolved.
- 1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
- 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
- 1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
- 1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
- 1846 – The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.
- 1859 – Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the “Northwestern Boundary Dispute” between American and British/Canadian settlers.
- 1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
- 1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Arlington estate (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
- 1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
- 1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
- 1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire. Due to the death of his predecessors Wilhelm I and Frederick III, 1888 is the Year of the Three Emperors.
- 1896 – The deadliest tsunami in Japan’s history kills more than 22,000 people.
- 1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City’s East River kills 1,000.
- 1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
- 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
- 1920 – Following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, Northern Schleswig is transferred from Germany to Denmark.
- 1921 – Bessie Coleman earns her pilot’s license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent.
- 1934 – The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
- 1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
- 1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.
- 1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
- 1944 – World War II: The United States invades Saipan, capital of Japan’s South Seas Mandate.
- 1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
- 1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
- 1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
- 1977 – After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections took place in Spain.
- 1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
- 1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
- 1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing over 800 people.
- 1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.
- 1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1996 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates a powerful truck bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, devastating the city centre and injuring 200 people.
- 2001 – Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
- 2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.
- 2013 – A bomb explodes on a bus in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 25 people and wounding 22 others.
Births on June 15
- 1330 – Edward, the Black Prince of England (d. 1376)
- 1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model, subject of the Mona Lisa (d. 1542)
- 1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1536)
- 1542 – Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
- 1549 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)
- 1553 – Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
- 1605 – Thomas Randolph, English poet and playwright (d. 1635)
- 1618 – François Blondel, French architect (d. 1686)
- 1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
- 1624 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (d. 1704)
- 1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician and theologian (d. 1715)
- 1645 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician (d. 1712)
- 1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1814)
- 1754 – Juan José Elhuyar, Spanish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1796)
- 1755 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (d. 1809)
- 1763 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1826)
- 1763 – Kobayashi Issa, Japanese priest and poet (d. 1827)
- 1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, Mayor of Cincinnati (d. 1831)
- 1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1831)
- 1767 – Rachel Jackson, American wife of Andrew Jackson (d. 1828)
- 1777 – David Daniel Davis, Welsh physician and academic (d. 1841)
- 1789 – Josiah Henson, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1883)
- 1792 – Thomas Mitchell, Scottish-Australian colonel and explorer (d. 1855)
- 1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
- 1805 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
- 1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
- 1835 – Adah Isaacs Menken, American actress, painter, and poet (d. 1868)
- 1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)
- 1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian bishop and saint (d. 1902)
- 1872 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (d. 1950)
- 1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (d. 1987)
- 1878 – Margaret Abbott, Indian-American golfer (d. 1955)
- 1881 – Kesago Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1945)
- 1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
- 1886 – Frank Clement, British racing driver (d. 1970)
- 1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet and author (d. 1921)
- 1890 – Georg Wüst, German oceanographer and academic (d. 1977)
- 1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and conductor (d. 1981)
- 1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1947)
- 1898 – Hubertus Strughold, German-American physiologist and academic (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher and academic (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Otto Luening, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1996)
- 1901 – Elmar Lohk, Russian-Estonian architect (d. 1963)
- 1902 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
- 1906 – Gordon Welchman, English-American mathematician and author (d. 1985)
- 1906 – Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
- 1907 – James Robertson Justice, English actor and educator (d. 1975)
- 1909 – Elena Nikolaidi, Greek-American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
- 1910 – David Rose, English-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997)
- 1913 – Tom Adair, American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
- 1914 – Yuri Andropov, Russian politician (d. 1984)
- 1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (d. 1999)
- 1914 – Hilda Terry, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
- 1915 – Nini Theilade, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator (d. 2018)
- 1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American biologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Olga Erteszek, Polish-American fashion designer (d. 1989)
- 1916 – Horacio Salgán, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
- 1916 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1917 – John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1917 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (d. 1996)
- 1918 – François Tombalbaye, Chadian politician, 1st President of Chad (d. 1975)
- 1920 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (d. 1957)
- 1920 – Alla Kazanskaya, Russian actress (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
- 1921 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
- 1922 – Jaki Byard, American pianist and composer (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor and director (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Ninian Stephen, English-Australian lieutenant, judge, and politician, 20th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Hédi Fried, Swedish author and psychologist
- 1924 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Richard Baker, English journalist and author (d. 2018)
- 1925 – Attilâ İlhan, Turkish poet, author, and critic (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1975)
- 1927 – Ross Andru, American illustrator (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Ibn-e-Insha, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (d. 1978)
- 1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
- 1930 – Miguel Méndez, American author and academic (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Joseph Gilbert, English air marshal
- 1931 – Brian Sewell, English art dealer and critic (d. 2015)
- 1932 – David Alliance, Baron Alliance, Iranian-English businessman and politician
- 1932 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Indian singer (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
- 1933 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian politician, 2nd President of Iran (d. 1981)
- 1933 – Predrag Koraksić Corax, Serbian political caricaturist
- 1934 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American R&B singer
- 1936 – William Levada, American cardinal
- 1937 – Pierre Billon, Swiss-Canadian author and screenwriter
- 1937 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
- 1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach
- 1939 – Ward Connerly, American activist and businessman, founded the American Civil Rights Institute
- 1941 – Neal Adams, American illustrator
- 1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
- 1942 – Ian Greenberg, Canadian broadcaster, founded Astral Media
- 1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American diplomat
- 1942 – Peter Norman, Australian sprinter (d. 2006)
- 1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French singer and actor (d. 2017)
- 1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish politician, 38th Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1944 – Robert D. Keppel, American police officer and academic
- 1945 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino judge and politician (d. 2016)
- 1945 – Robert Sarah, Guinean cardinal
- 1945 – Lawrence Wilkerson, American colonel
- 1946 – Noddy Holder, English rock singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
- 1946 – John Horner, American paleontologist and academic
- 1946 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
- 1947 – John Hoagland, American photographer and journalist (d. 1984)
- 1948 – Mike Holmgren, American football player and coach
- 1948 – Alan Huckle, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Anguilla
- 1948 – Henry McLeish, Scottish footballer, academic, and politician, 2nd First Minister of Scotland
- 1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball player and manager
- 1949 – Simon Callow, English actor and director
- 1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
- 1950 – Uğur Erdener, Turkish ophthalmologist and professor
- 1950 – Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghanaian nurse and politician
- 1950 – Deney Terrio, American choreographer and host of the television musical variety series Dance Fever
- 1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian-English businessman
- 1951 – Jane Amsterdam, American magazine and newspaper editor (Manhattan, inc., New York Post)
- 1951 – Vance A. Larson, American painter (d. 2000)
- 1951 – John Redwood, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
- 1951 – Steve Walsh, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
- 1952 – Satya Pal Jain, Indian lawyer and politician, Additional Solicitor General of India
- 1953 – Vilma Bardauskienė, Lithuanian long jumper
- 1953 – Marc Brickman, American lighting and production designer
- 1953 – Eje Elgh, Swedish racing driver and sportscaster
- 1953 – Xi Jinping, Chinese engineer and politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of China
- 1953 – Raphael Wallfisch, English cellist and educator
- 1954 – Jim Belushi, American actor
- 1954 – Terri Gibbs, American country music singer and keyboard player
- 1954 – Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan humanitarian
- 1954 – Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czech discus thrower and shot putter
- 1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
- 1955 – Polly Draper, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1955 – Julie Hagerty, American model and actress
- 1956 – Yevgeny Kiselyov, Russian-Ukrainian journalist
- 1956 – Lance Parrish, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1958 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
- 1958 – Riccardo Paletti, Italian racing driver (d. 1982)
- 1959 – Alan Brazil, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
- 1959 – Eileen Davidson, American model and actress
- 1960 – Michèle Laroque, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Marieke van Doorn, Dutch field hockey player and coach
- 1961 – Dave McAuley, Irish boxer and sportscaster
- 1961 – Scott Norton, American wrestler
- 1962 – Brad Armstrong, American wrestler (d. 2012)
- 1962 – Chris Morris, English actor, satirist, director, and producer
- 1962 – Andrea Rost, Hungarian soprano
- 1963 – Marina Azyabina, Russian hurdler
- 1963 – Mario Gosselin, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Helen Hunt, American actress, director, and producer
- 1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress and producer
- 1964 – Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer and manager
- 1965 – Annelies Bredael, Belgian rower
- 1965 – Karim Massimov, Kazakhstani politician, 7th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
- 1965 – Adam Smith, American lawyer and politician
- 1966 – Raimonds Vējonis, Latvian politician, 9th President of Latvia
- 1968 – Károly Güttler, Hungarian swimmer
- 1969 – Jesse Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1969 – Idalis DeLeón, American singer and actress
- 1969 – Nasos Galakteros, Greek basketball player
- 1969 – Oliver Kahn, German footballer and sportscaster
- 1969 – Maurice Odumbe, Kenyan cricketer
- 1969 – Cédric Pioline, French tennis player
- 1970 – Christian Bauman, American soldier and author
- 1970 – David Bayssari, Australian rugby league player
- 1970 – Gaëlle Méchaly, French soprano
- 1970 – Leah Remini, American actress and producer
- 1970 – Žan Tabak, Croatian basketball player and coach
- 1971 – Christos Myriounis, Greek basketball player
- 1971 – Jake Busey, American actor, musician, and film producer
- 1972 – Justin Leonard, American golfer
- 1972 – Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
- 1973 – Tore Andre Flo, Norwegian footballer and coach
- 1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor and singer
- 1973 – Pia Miranda, Australian actress
- 1976 – Jiří Ryba, Czech decathlete
- 1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player and manager
- 1978 – Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Zach Day, American baseball player
- 1979 – Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian sprinter
- 1979 – Christian Rahn, German footballer
- 1979 – Charles Zwolsman, Jr., Dutch racing driver
- 1980 – David Lyons, Australian rugby player
- 1981 – John Paintsil, Ghanaian footballer
- 1982 – Mike Delany, New Zealand rugby player
- 1982 – Abdur Razzak, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1983 – Julia Fischer, German violinist and pianist[citation needed]
- 1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist[citation needed]
- 1983 – Josh McGuire, Canadian fencer
- 1984 – Luke Hodge, Australian footballer
- 1984 – Eva Hrdinová, Czech tennis player
- 1984 – Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
- 1984 – Edison Toloza, Colombian footballer
- 1985 – Ashley Nicole Black, American comedian, actress, and writer
- 1986 – James Maloney, Australian rugby league player
- 1986 – Trevor Plouffe, American baseball player
- 1989 – Víctor Cabedo, Spanish cyclist (d. 2012)
- 1989 – Bryan Clauson, American race car driver (d. 2016)
- 1992 – Michał Kopczyński, Polish footballer
- 1992 – Mohamed Salah, Egyptian footballer
- 1992 – Dafne Schippers, Dutch heptathlete and sprinter
- 1993 – Irfan Hadžić, Bosnian footballer
- 1994 – Inaki Williams, Basque footballer
- 1997 – Madison Kocian, American gymnast
Deaths on June 15
- 923 – Robert I of France (b. 866)
- 948 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. c. 870)
- 952 – Murong Yanchao, Chinese general
- 960 – Eadburh of Winchester, English princess and saint
- 970 – Adalbert, bishop of Passau
- 991 – Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960)
- 1073 – Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan (b. 1034)
- 1184 – Magnus Erlingsson, King of Norway (b. 1156)
- 1189 – Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
- 1246 – Frederick II, Duke of Austria (b. 1219)
- 1337 – Angelo da Clareno, Italian Franciscan and leader of a group of Fraticelli (b. 1247)
- 1341 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1297)
- 1381 – John Cavendish, English lawyer and judge (b. 1346)
- 1381 – Wat Tyler, English rebel leader (b. 1341)
- 1383 – John VI Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1292)
- 1383 – Matthew Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor
- 1389 – Lazar of Serbia (b. 1329)
- 1389 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1319)
- 1389 – Miloš Obilić, Serbian knight.
- 1416 – John, Duke of Berry (b. 1340)
- 1467 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
- 1521 – Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1442)
- 1614 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English courtier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1540)
- 1724 – Henry Sacheverell, English minister and politician (b. 1674)
- 1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
- 1772 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (b. 1694)
- 1844 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1777)
- 1849 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
- 1858 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (b. 1795)
- 1888 – Frederick III, German Emperor (b. 1831)
- 1889 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1850)
- 1890 – Unryū Kyūkichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 10th Yokozuna (b. 1822)
- 1917 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist and academic (b. 1867)
- 1934 – Alfred Bruneau, French cellist and composer (b. 1857)
- 1938 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
- 1941 – Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist and physician (b. 1873)
- 1941 – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (b. 1875)
- 1945 – Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein, Austrian diplomat
- 1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
- 1961 – Peyami Safa, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1899)
- 1962 – Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1877)
- 1967 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1885)
- 1968 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (b. 1880)
- 1968 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1925)
- 1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
- 1984 – Meredith Willson, American playwright, composer, and conductor (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (b. 1927)
- 1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1912)
- 1989 – Ray McAnally, Irish actor (b. 1926)
- 1991 – Happy Chandler, American businessman and politician, 49th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1898)
- 1991 – Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- 1992 – Chuck Menville, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
- 1992 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (b. 1939)
- 1993 – John Connally, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1917)
- 1993 – James Hunt, English racing driver and sportscaster (b. 1947)
- 1994 – Manos Hatzidakis, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1925)
- 1995 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and inventor, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (b. 1903)
- 1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer and actress (b. 1917)
- 1996 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Dick Murdoch, American wrestler (b. 1946)
- 1999 – Omer Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1906)
- 2000 – Jules Roy, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1907)
- 2001 – Henri Alekan, French cinematographer (b. 1909)
- 2002 – Choi Hong Hi, South Korean general and martial artist, founded Taekwondo (b. 1918)
- 2003 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor (b. 1911)
- 2004 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician and mayor of İzmir (b. 1952)
- 2005 – Suzanne Flon, French actress (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Raymond Devos, Belgian-French comedian and clown (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Herb Pearson, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1910)
- 2008 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Bill Haast, American herpetologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2012 – Phillip D. Cagan, American economist and author (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Capitola Dickerson, American pianist and educator (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Barry MacKay, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Israel Nogueda Otero, Mexican economist and politician, 10th Governor of Guerrero (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Jerry Tubbs, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Heinz Flohe, German footballer and manager (b. 1948)
- 2013 – José Froilán González, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Dennis O’Rourke, Australian director and producer (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1936)
- 2014 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio host, producer, and voice actor, co-created American Top 40 (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Daniel Keyes, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (b. 1917)
- 2016 – Lois Duncan, American author (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Matt “Guitar” Murphy, American Blues guitarist (The Blues Brothers) (b. 1929)
- 2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on June 15
- Arbor Day (Costa Rica)
- Christian feast day:
- Abraham of Clermont (or of St Cyriacus)
- Alice (or Adelaide) of Schaerbeek
- Augustine of Hippo (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock
- Blessed Clement Vismara
- Edburga of Winchester
- Evelyn Underhill (Church of England and The Episcopal Church)
- Germaine Cousin
- Landelin (of Crespin or of Lobbes)
- Trillo
- Vitus (Guy), Modestus and Crescentia
- June 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Valdemar and Reunion Day (Flag Day) (Denmark)
- Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in June. (United States, and most other countries.)
- Engineer’s Day (Italy)
- Global Wind Day (international)
- National Beer Day (United Kingdom)
- National Salvation Day (Azerbaijan)
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February 22 in History
- 705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
- 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
- 1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
- 1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city’s throne.
- 1632 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems .
- 1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
- 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
- 1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
- 1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
- 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
- 1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
- 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
- 1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania).
- 1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
- 1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
- 1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
- 1878 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
- 1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
- 1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
- 1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
- 1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
- 1915 – World War I: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
- 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
- 1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
- 1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
- 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
- 1946 – The “Long Telegram”, proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
- 1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
- 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
- 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
- 1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
- 1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
- 1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
- 1974 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but is killed by police.
- 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
- 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
- 1984 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgraded South Sylhet’s sub-division status to a district and renamed it back to Moulvibazar.
- 1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
- 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
- 1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
- 1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
- 2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
- 2005 – The 6.4 Mw Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
- 2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
- 2011 – New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
- 2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
- 2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
- 2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
- 2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
- 2018 – A man throws a grenade at the U.S embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.
Births on February 22
- 1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian jurist and theologian (died 1085)
- 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
- 1302 – Gegeen Khan, Emperor Yingzong of Yuan (d. 1323)
- 1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
- 1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
- 1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
- 1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (d. 1576)
- 1520 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (d. 1572)
- 1550 – Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (d. 1616)
- 1592 – Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (d. 1637)
- 1631 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (d. 1702)
- 1649 – Bon Boullogne, French painter (d. 1717)
- 1715 – Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (d. 1790)
- 1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
- 1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (d. 1818)
- 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
- 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
- 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
- 1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
- 1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1848)
- 1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
- 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
- 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
- 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
- 1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
- 1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
- 1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
- 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
- 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
- 1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
- 1860 – Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (d. 1939)
- 1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
- 1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
- 1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
- 1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
- 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
- 1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
- 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
- 1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
- 1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
- 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
- 1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
- 1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
- 1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
- 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
- 1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
- 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
- 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
- 1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
- 1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1899 – George O’Hara, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1966)
- 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
- 1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1930)
- 1906 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (d. 1991)
- 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
- 1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
- 1908 – John Mills, English soldier and actor (d. 2005)
- 1910 – George Hunt, English international footballer, forward (d. 1996)
- 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- 1915 – Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (d. 1964)
- 1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
- 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
- 1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (d. 1940)
- 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
- 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
- 1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
- 1923 – François Cavanna, French author and editor (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
- 1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet and academic
- 1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
- 1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
- 1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
- 1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
- 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (d. 2017)
- 1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
- 1929 – Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
- 1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
- 1932 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
- 1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
- 1933 – Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (d. 2001)
- 1933 – Bobby Smith, English international footballer, centre forward (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
- 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 – Tommy Aaron, American golfer
- 1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1938 – Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer, goalkeeper
- 1938 – Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
- 1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
- 1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
- 1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
- 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (d. 2017)
- 1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
- 1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
- 1943 – Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player
- 1943 – Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
- 1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
- 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1944 – Mick Green, English rock & roll guitarist (d. 2010)
- 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
- 1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
- 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
- 1945 – Oliver, American pop singer (d. 2000)
- 1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer
- 1947 – John Radford, English footballer and manager
- 1947 – Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
- 1949 – John Duncan, Scottish footballer, forward and manager
- 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (d. 2019)
- 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
- 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
- 1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
- 1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and author
- 1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
- 1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
- 1952 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (d. 2020)
- 1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
- 1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
- 1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
- 1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
- 1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
- 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- 1959 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- 1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
- 1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
- 1963 – Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
- 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
- 1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
- 1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1964 – Andy Gray, English footballer, midfielder and manager
- 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
- 1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
- 1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
- 1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
- 1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German-English actor
- 1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
- 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
- 1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
- 1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
- 1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
- 1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
- 1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
- 1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
- 1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
- 1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
- 1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
- 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
- 1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer and producer
- 1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
- 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
- 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
- 1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer
- 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
- 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
- 1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
- 1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
- 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
- 1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
- 1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
- 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian international footballer, winger
- 1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
- 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
- 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
- 1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
- 1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
- 1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
- 1999 – Harry Brook, English cricketer
Deaths on February 22
- 556 – Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna (b. 499)
- 606 – Sabinian, pope of the Catholic Church
- 793 – Sicga, Anglo-Saxon nobleman and regicide
- 845 – Wang, Chinese empress dowager
- 954 – Guo Wei, Chinese emperor (b. 904)
- 965 – Otto, duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
- 970 – García I, king of Pamplona
- 978 – Lambert, count of Chalon (b. 930)
- 1071 – Arnulf III, count of Flanders
- 1072 – Peter Damian, Italian cardinal
- 1079 – John of Fécamp, Italian Benedictine abbot
- 1111 – Roger Borsa, king of Sicily (b. 1078)
- 1297 – Margaret of Cortona, Italian penitent (b. 1247)
- 1371 – David II, king of Scotland (b. 1324)
- 1452 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (b. 1425)
- 1500 – Gerhard VI, German nobleman (b. 1430)
- 1511 – Henry, duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
- 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
- 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
- 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
- 1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
- 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
- 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
- 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
- 1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
- 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
- 1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
- 1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
- 1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
- 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
- 1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
- 1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
- 1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
- 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
- 1904 – Leslie Stephen, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1832)
- 1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
- 1913 – Francisco I. Madero, Mexican president and author (b. 1873)
- 1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
- 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
- 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
- 1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
- 1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
- 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist (b. 1869)
- 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (b. 1888)
- 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
- 1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and critic (b. 1905)
- 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1889)
- 1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
- 1971 – Frédéric Mariotti, French actor (b. 1883)
- 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
- 1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
- 1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
- 1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
- 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
- 1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
- 1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
- 1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1889)
- 1986 – John Donnelly, Australian rugby league player (b. 1955)
- 1987 – David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (b. 1920)
- 1987 – Andy Warhol, American painter and photographer (b. 1928)
- 1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (b. 1906)
- 1994 – Papa John Creach, American violinist (b. 1917)
- 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1997 – Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
- 1998 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1910)
- 1999 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (b. 1918)
- 1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)
- 2002 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Chuck Jones, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
- 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan general, founded UNITA (b. 1934)
- 2004 – Andy Seminick, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Lee Eun-ju, South Korean actress and singer (b. 1980)
- 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
- 2007 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English politician, Leader of the House of Lords (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Dennis Johnson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
- 2012 – Sukhbir, Indian author and poet (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Frank Carson, Irish-English comedian and actor (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Marie Colvin, American journalist (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Rémi Ochlik, French photographer and journalist (b. 1983)
- 2013 – Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Jean-Louis Michon, French-Swiss scholar and translator (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand–Australian television host (b. 1966)
- 2014 – Trebor Jay Tichenor, American pianist and composer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Chris Rainbow, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1946)
- 2016 – Yolande Fox, American model and singer, Miss America 1951 (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Forges, Spanish cartoonist (b. 1942)
- 2019 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (b. 1970)
- 2019 – Morgan Woodward, American actor (b. 1925)
Holidays and observances on February 22
- Birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell, and its related observance:
- Founder’s Day or “B.-P. day” (World Organization of the Scout Movement)
- World Thinking Day (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)
- Christian feast day:
- Baradates
- Eric Liddell (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (Roman Catholic Church)
- Margaret of Cortona
- February 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Crime Victims Day (Europe)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom in 1979.
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February 16 in History
- 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
- 1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse.
- 1630 – Dutch forces led by Hendrick Lonck capture Olinda in what was to become part of Dutch Brazil.
- 1646 – Battle of Torrington, Devon: The last major battle of the first English Civil War.
- 1699 – First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.
- 1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
- 1796 – Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their invasion of Ceylon.
- 1804 – First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
- 1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
- 1866 – Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British Secretary of State for War.
- 1881 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1).
- 1899 – Iceland’s first football club, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, is founded.
- 1918 – The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.
- 1923 – Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
- 1930 – The Romanian Football Federation joins FIFA.
- 1934 – The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund.
- 1936 – The Popular Front wins the 1936 Spanish general election.
- 1937 – Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.
- 1940 – World War II: Altmark incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.
- 1943 – World War II: In the early phases of the Third Battle of Kharkov, Red Army troops re-enter the city.
- 1945 – World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.
- 1959 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
- 1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
- 1961 – Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.
- 1962 – Flooding in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people.
- 1968 – In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
- 1978 – The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).
- 1983 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.
- 1985 – Hezbollah is founded.
- 1986 – The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
- 1986 – China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in Taiwan, killing all 13 aboard.
- 1991 – Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.
- 1996 – A Chicago-bound Amtrak train, the Capitol Limited, collides with a MARC commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people.
- 1998 – China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and seven more on the ground.
- 2005 – The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
- 2005 – The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs.
- 2006 – The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.
- 2013 – A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others.
Births on February 16
- 1222 – Nichiren, founder of Nichiren Buddhism (d. 1282)
- 1304 – Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür, Chinese emperor (d. 1332)
- 1331 – Coluccio Salutati, Italian political leader (d. 1406)
- 1419 – John I, Duke of Cleves (d. 1481)
- 1470 – Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1540)
- 1471 – Krishnadevaraya, emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire (d. 1529)
- 1497 – Philip Melanchthon, German astronomer, theologian, and academic (d. 1560)
- 1514 – Georg Joachim Rheticus, Austrian cartographer and instrument maker (d. 1574)
- 1519 – Gaspard II de Coligny, French admiral (d. 1572)
- 1543 – Kanō Eitoku, Japanese painter and educator (d. 1590)
- 1620 – Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1688)
- 1643 – John Sharp, English archbishop (d. 1714)
- 1698 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1758)
- 1727 – Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian botanist, chemist, and mycologist (d. 1817)
- 1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)
- 1761 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
- 1774 – Pierre Rode, French violinist and composer (d. 1830)
- 1786 – Maria Pavlovna, Russian Grand Duchess (d. 1859)
- 1802 – Phineas Quimby, American mystic and philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1804 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist and zoologist (d. 1885)
- 1812 – Henry Wilson, American colonel and politician, 18th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
- 1821 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer and scholar (d. 1865)
- 1822 – Francis Galton, English biologist and statistician (d. 1911)
- 1824 – Peter Kosler, Slovenian lawyer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1879)
- 1826 – Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet and author (d. 1886)
- 1830 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (d. 1902)
- 1831 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (d. 1895)
- 1834 – Ernst Haeckel, German biologist, physician, and philosopher (d. 1919)
- 1838 – Henry Adams, American journalist, historian, and author (d. 1918)
- 1841 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter (d. 1927)
- 1843 – Henry M. Leland, American engineer and businessman, founded Cadillac and Lincoln (d. 1932)
- 1845 – George Kennan, American journalist and explorer (d. 1924)
- 1848 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist, geneticist, and academic (d. 1935)
- 1848 – Octave Mirbeau, French journalist, novelist, and playwright (d. 1917)
- 1856 – Ossian Everett Mills, American academic, founded Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (d. 1920)
- 1866 – Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (d. 1940)
- 1868 – Edward S. Curtis, American ethnologist and photographer (d. 1952)
- 1873 – Radoje Domanović, Serbian journalist and author (d. 1908)
- 1876 – G. M. Trevelyan, English historian and academic (d. 1962)
- 1878 – Pamela Colman Smith, English occultist and illustrator (d. 1951)
- 1878 – James Colosimo, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1920)
- 1884 – Robert J. Flaherty, German-Irish American director and producer (d. 1951)
- 1886 – Andy Ducat, English international footballer (forward and manager) and Cricketer (d. 1942)
- 1887 – Kathleen Clifford, American actress (d. 1962)
- 1891 – Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist and academic (d. 1968)
- 1893 – Katharine Cornell, American actress and producer (d. 1974)
- 1896 – Eugénie Blanchard, French super-centenarian (d. 2010)
- 1901 – Wayne King, American singer-songwriter and conductor (d. 1985)
- 1901 – Chester Morris, American actor (d. 1970)
- 1902 – Cyril Vincent, South African cricketer (d. 1968)
- 1903 – Edgar Bergen, Swedish-American ventriloquist and actor (d. 1978)
- 1904 – James Baskett, African-American actor and singer (d. 1948)
- 1904 – George F. Kennan, Scotch-Irish American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (d. 2005)
- 1905 – Henrietta Barnett, British Women’s Royal Air Force officer (d. 1985)
- 1906 – Vera Menchik, British-Czechoslovak-Russian chess player (d. 1944)
- 1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor and director (d. 1982)
- 1909 – Richard McDonald, Irish-American businessman, co-founded McDonald’s (d. 1998)
- 1914 – Jimmy Wakely, American country music singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Bill Doggett, African-American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Georges Ulmer, Danish-French actor and composer (d. 1989)
- 1920 – Anna Mae Hays, American general (d. 2018)
- 1921 – Vera-Ellen, German-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
- 1921 – Jean Behra, French race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1921 – John Galbraith Graham, English priest and academic (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, German soldier and pilot (d. 1950)
- 1923 – Samuel Willenberg, Polish-Israeli sculptor and painter (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Margot Frank, German-Dutch holocaust victim (d. 1945)
- 1926 – John Schlesinger, English actor and director (d. 2003)
- 1927 – June Brown, English actress
- 1929 – Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer and architect (d. 1980)
- 1929 – Peter Porter, Australian-English poet and educator (d. 2010)
- 1931 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2002)
- 1931 – Ken Takakura, Japanese actor and singer (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2007)
- 1934 – August Coppola, American author and academic (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Marlene Hagge, American golfer
- 1935 – Brian Bedford, English-American actor and director (d. 2016)
- 1935 – Sonny Bono, American actor, singer, and politician (d. 1998)
- 1935 – Stephen Gaskin, American activist, co-founded The Farm (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Bradford Parkinson, American colonel and engineer
- 1935 – Kenneth Price, American painter and sculptor (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Paul Bailey, British novelist, critic, and biographer
- 1937 – Yuri Manin, Russian-German mathematician and academic
- 1938 – John Corigliano, American composer and academic
- 1939 – Adolfo Azcuna, Filipino lawyer and judge
- 1940 – Hannelore Schmatz, German mountaineer (d. 1979)
- 1941 – Kim Jong-il, North Korean commander and politician, 2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Richard Williams, American tennis player and coach
- 1944 – Glyn Davies, Welsh farmer and politician
- 1944 – Richard Ford, American novelist and short story writer
- 1944 – Sigiswald Kuijken, Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor
- 1944 – António Mascarenhas Monteiro, Cape Verdean politician, 2nd President of Cape Verde (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (d. 2020)
- 1948 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler and coach (d. 2014)
- 1949 – Bob O’Reilly, Australian rugby league player
- 1950 – Peter Hain, Kenyan-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
- 1951 – Barry Foote, American baseball player and coach
- 1952 – William Katt, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Peter Kitchen, English footballer, striker
- 1952 – James Ingram, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2019)
- 1953 – John Bradbury, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1953 – Roberta Williams, American video game designer, co-founded Sierra Entertainment
- 1954 – Iain Banks, Scottish author and playwright (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Margaux Hemingway, American model and actress (d. 1996)
- 1954 – Michael Holding, Jamaican cricketer and sportscaster
- 1956 – Vincent Ward, New Zealand director and screenwriter
- 1957 – LeVar Burton, German-born American actor, director, and producer
- 1958 – Natalie Angier, American author
- 1958 – Ice-T, American rapper and actor
- 1958 – Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball player
- 1958 – Herb Williams, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – John McEnroe, German-American tennis player and sportscaster
- 1959 – Kelly Tripucka, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1960 – Pete Willis, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1961 – Des Hasler, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1961 – Liu Kang, Chinese footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Andy Taylor, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1962 – John Balance, English singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1964 – Bebeto, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1964 – Christopher Eccleston, English actor
- 1965 – Dave Lombardo, Cuban-American drummer
- 1967 – Keith Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Warren Ellis, English author and screenwriter
- 1970 – Angelo Peruzzi, Italian footballer and manager
- 1971 – Michael Avenatti, American attorney and pundit
- 1971 – Craig Laundy, Australian politician
- 1972 – Jerome Bettis, American football player and sportscaster
- 1972 – Zoran Čampara, Bosnian football player
- 1972 – Sarah Clarke, American actress
- 1972 – Naomi Nishida, Japanese actress
- 1972 – Darrell Trindall, Australian rugby league player
- 1973 – Cathy Freeman, Australian sprinter
- 1974 – Mahershala Ali, American actor
- 1974 – José Dominguez, Portuguese international footballer, winger and manager
- 1976 – Eric Byrnes, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1976 – Kyo, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
- 1977 – Ian Clarke, Irish-American computer scientist, founded Freenet
- 1977 – Ahman Green, American football player
- 1978 – Tia Hellebaut, Belgian high jumper and chemist
- 1978 – Wasim Jaffer, Indian cricketer
- 1978 – John Tartaglia, American actor, singer, and puppeteer
- 1979 – Stéphane Dalmat, French footballer, midfielder
- 1979 – Eric Mun, American-South Korean singer and actor
- 1979 – Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1980 – Longineu W. Parsons III, French-American drummer
- 1981 – Jay Howard, English race car driver
- 1981 – Jerry Owens, American baseball player
- 1981 – Qyntel Woods, American basketball player
- 1982 – Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Estonian footballer
- 1982 – Rickie Lambert, English footballer
- 1982 – Lupe Fiasco, American rapper
- 1983 – Agyness Deyn, English model, actress, and singer
- 1984 – Sofia Arvidsson, Swedish tennis player
- 1984 – Oussama Mellouli, Tunisian swimmer
- 1985 – Simon Francis, English footballer
- 1985 – Stacy Lewis, American golfer
- 1985 – Ron Vlaar, Dutch footballer
- 1986 – Diego Godín, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 – Luc Bourdon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
- 1987 – Theresa Goh, Singaporean swimmer
- 1987 – Hasheem Thabeet, Tanzanian basketball player
- 1988 – Diego Capel, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Zhang Jike, Chinese table tennis player
- 1988 – Denílson Pereira Neves, Brazilian footballer
- 1988 – Andrea Ranocchia, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Kim Soo-hyun, South Korean actor and singer
- 1989 – Elizabeth Olsen, American actress
- 1990 – Dunamis Lui, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1990 – The Weeknd, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1991 – Sergio Canales, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Nicolai Boilesen, Danish footballer
- 1992 – Zsófia Susányi, Hungarian tennis player
- 1994 – Annika Beck, German tennis player
- 1994 – Federico Bernardeschi, Italian footballer
- 1994 – Ava Max, American singer and songwriter
- 1995 – Katy Dunne, English tennis player
- 1995 – Carina Witthöft, a German tennis player
Deaths on February 16
- 549 – Zhu Yi, Chinese general (b. 483)
- 902 – Mary the Younger, Byzantine saint (b. 875)
- 1184 – Richard of Dover, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1247 – Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
- 1279 – Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1210)
- 1281 – Gertrude of Hohenberg, queen consort of Germany (b. c.1225)
- 1390 – Rupert I, Elector Palatine (b. 1309)
- 1391 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1332)
- 1531 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1452)
- 1560 – Jean du Bellay, French cardinal and diplomat (b. 1493)
- 1579 – Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (b. 1509)
- 1645 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (b. 1585)
- 1710 – Esprit Fléchier, French bishop and author (b. 1632)
- 1721 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1686)
- 1754 – Richard Mead, English physician (b. 1673)
- 1820 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish general (b. 1758)
- 1862 – William Pennington American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1796)
- 1898 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1843)
- 1899 – Félix Faure, French merchant and politician, 7th President of France (b. 1841)
- 1907 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
- 1912 – Nicholas of Japan, Russian-Japanese monk and saint (b. 1836)
- 1917 – Octave Mirbeau, French journalist, novelist, and playwright ( (b. 1848)
- 1919 – Vera Kholodnaya, Ukrainian actress (b. 1893)
- 1928 – Eddie Foy Sr., American actor and dancer (b. 1856)
- 1932 – Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1841)
- 1932 – Edgar Speyer, American-English financier and philanthropist (b. 1862)
- 1944 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1870)
- 1957 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1876)
- 1961 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (b. 1891)
- 1967 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1911)
- 1974 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand Rifle(b. 1888)
- 1975 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (b. 1903)
- 1977 – Janani Luwum, bishop, Church of Uganda, martyr (b. c.1922)
- 1977 – Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1905)
- 1980 – Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (b. 1895)
- 1984 – M. A. G. Osmani, Bangladeshi general (b. 1918)
- 1990 – Keith Haring, American painter and activist (b. 1958)
- 1991 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan lieutenant and engineer (b. 1932)
- 1992 – Angela Carter, English novelist, short story writer (b. 1940)
- 1992 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician, 22nd President of Brazil (b. 1917)
- 1992 – Herman Wold, Norwegian-Swedish economist and statistician (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Roberto Aizenberg, Argentinian painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Roger Bowen, American actor and author (b. 1932)
- 1996 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (b. 1905)
- 1996 – Brownie McGhee, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1915)
- 1997 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist and academic (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Mary Amdur, American toxicologist and public health researcher (b. 1908)
- 2000 – Marceline Day, American actress (b. 1908)
- 2000 – Lila Kedrova, Russian-French actress and singer
- 2000 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-American businessman, founded PING (b. 1911)
- 2001 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (b. 1916)
- 2001 – William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)
- 2002 – Walter Winterbottom, English footballer and manager (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Rusty Magee, American actor and composer (b. 1955)
- 2004 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
- 2006 – Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (b. 1966)
- 2006 – Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korean cardinal (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Len Lesser, American actor (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (b. 1954)
- 2012 – Elyse Knox, American model, actress, and fashion designer (b. 1917)
- 2012 – John Macionis, American swimmer and lieutenant (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Anthony Shadid, American journalist (b. 1968)
- 2013 – Colin Edwards, Guyanese footballer (b. 1991)
- 2013 – Grigory Pomerants, Russian philosopher and author (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Ken Farragut, American football player (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Gert Krawinkel, German guitarist (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Michael Shea, American author (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Lasse Braun, Algerian-Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
- 2015 – R. R. Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1957)
- 2015 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (b. 1971)
- 2016 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and diplomat, 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations (b. 1922)
- 2019 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (b. 1941)
Holidays and observances on February 16
- Christian feast day:
- Abda of Edessa
- Elias and companions
- Juliana of Nicomedia (Catholic Church)
- Onesimus
- Charles Todd Quintard (Episcopal Church (USA))
- February 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong-il’s Birthday) (North Korea)
- Restoration of Lithuania’s Statehood Day, celebrate the independence of Lithuania from Russia and Germany in 1918 (Lithuania)
-
February 12 in History
- 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings.
- 1502 – Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.
- 1541 – Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
- 1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
- 1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
- 1733 – Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.
- 1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
- 1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.
- 1818 – Bernardo O’Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
- 1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
- 1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
- 1855 – Michigan State University is established.
- 1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, killing one person and wounding 20.
- 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
- 1909 – New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
- 1912 – The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
- 1915 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
- 1921 – Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.
- 1924 – George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue received its premiere in a concert titled “An Experiment in Modern Music”, in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Paul Whiteman and his band, with Gershwin playing the piano.
- 1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
- 1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
- 1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the civil rights movement and partially inspires Orson Welles’ film Touch of Evil.
- 1947 – The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
- 1947 – Christian Dior unveils a “New Look”, helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
- 1961 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
- 1963 – Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1965 – Malcolm X visits Smethwick in Birmingham following the racially-charged 1964 United Kingdom general election.
- 1968 – Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
- 1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
- 1983 – One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.
- 1988 – Cold War: The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S. missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48) is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy in the Soviet territorial waters, while Yorktown claims innocent passage.
- 1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
- 1992 – The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
- 1993 – Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys, who later torture and murder him.
- 1994 – Four thieves break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream.
- 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
- 2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
- 2002 – The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
- 2002 – An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
- 2004 – The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
- 2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.
- 2016 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.
- 2019 – The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.
Births on February 12
- AD 41 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (d. 55)
- 528 – Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Wei
- 661 – Princess Ōku of Japan (d. 702)
- 1074 – Conrad II of Italy (d. 1101)
- 1218 – Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shōgun (d. 1256)
- 1322 – John Henry, Margrave of Moravia (d. 1375)
- 1443 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Italian noble (d. 1508)
- 1480 – Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (d. 1547)
- 1540 – Won Gyun, Korean general and admiral (d. 1597)
- 1567 – Thomas Campion, English composer, poet, and physician (d. 1620)
- 1584 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1648)
- 1602 – Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Italian painter (d. 1660)
- 1606 – John Winthrop the Younger, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)
- 1608 – Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (d. 1685)
- 1637 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist and zoologist (d. 1680)
- 1663 – Cotton Mather, English-American minister and author (d. 1728)
- 1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
- 1704 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French author (d. 1772)
- 1706 – Johann Joseph Christian, German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver (d. 1777)
- 1728 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)
- 1753 – François-Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
- 1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1812)
- 1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)
- 1775 – Louisa Adams, English-American wife of John Quincy Adams, 6th First Lady of the United States (d. 1852)
- 1777 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist and academic (d. 1838)
- 1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German author and poet (d. 1843)
- 1785 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist and chemist (d. 1838)
- 1787 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1853)
- 1788 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
- 1791 – Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (d. 1883)
- 1794 – Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player and composer (d. 1867)
- 1794 – Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843-1844) (d. 1850)
- 1804 – Heinrich Lenz, German-Italian physicist and academic (d. 1865)
- 1809 – Charles Darwin, English geologist and theorist (d. 1882)
- 1809 – Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)
- 1819 – William Wetmore Story, American sculptor, architect, poet and editor
- 1824 – Dayananda Saraswati, Indian monk and philosopher, founded Arya Samaj (d. 1883)
- 1828 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (d. 1909)
- 1837 – Thomas Moran, British-American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School (d. 1926)
- 1857 – Eugène Atget, French photographer (d. 1927)
- 1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer and coach (d. 1943)
- 1861 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1937)
- 1866 – Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
- 1869 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1884)
- 1870 – Marie Lloyd, English actress and singer (d. 1922)
- 1876 – 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)
- 1877 – Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded Renault (d. 1944)
- 1880 – George Preca, Maltese priest and saint (d. 1962)
- 1880 – John L. Lewis, American miner and union leader (d. 1969)
- 1881 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina and actress (d. 1931)
- 1882 – Walter Nash, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1968)
- 1884 – Max Beckmann, German painter and sculptor (d. 1950)
- 1884 – Johan Laidoner, Estonian-Russian general (d. 1953)
- 1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, American author (d. 1980)
- 1884 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (d. 1957)
- 1885 – Julius Streicher, German publisher, founded Der Stürmer (d. 1946)
- 1889 – Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk, lawyer, and judge (d. 1999)
- 1893 – Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)
- 1895 – Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1984)
- 1897 – Charles Groves Wright Anderson, South African-Australian colonel and politician (d. 1988)
- 1897 – Lincoln LaPaz, American astronomer and academic (d. 1985)
- 1898 – Wallace Ford, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
- 1900 – Roger J. Traynor, American lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of California (d. 1983)
- 1902 – William Collier, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1987)
- 1903 – Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (d. 1980)
- 1903 – Chick Hafey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1973)
- 1904 – Ted Mack, American radio and television host (d. 1976)
- 1907 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (d. 1962)
- 1908 – Jean Effel, French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Jacques Herbrand, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1931)
- 1909 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (d. 2005)
- 1909 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (d. 1945)
- 1911 – Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994)
- 1912 – R. F. Delderfield, English author and playwright (d. 1972)
- 1914 – Tex Beneke, American singer, saxophonist, and bandleader (d. 2000)
- 1914 – Johanna von Caemmerer, German mathematician (d. 1971)
- 1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987)
- 1915 – Olivia Hooker, African-American sailor (d. 2018)
- 1916 – Joseph Alioto, American lawyer and politician, 36th Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)
- 1917 – Al Cervi, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Norman Farberow, American psychologist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- 1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1920 – Raymond Mhlaba, South African anti-apartheid and ANC activist (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Hussein Onn, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
- 1923 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director, producer, and politician (d. 2019)
- 1925 – Sir Anthony Berry, British Conservative politician (d. 1984)
- 1925 – Joan Mitchell, American-French painter (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Charles Van Doren, American academic (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Vincent Montana, Jr., American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
- 1930 – John Doyle, Irish hurler and politician (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Arlen Specter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch-American author and translator (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author and poet (d. 2003)
- 1932 – Julian Simon, American economist, author, and academic (d. 1998)
- 1933 – Costa-Gavras, Greek-French director and producer
- 1933 – Brian Carlson, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
- 1934 – Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress
- 1934 – Anne Osborn Krueger, American economist and academic
- 1934 – Bill Russell, American basketball player and coach
- 1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
- 1936 – Alan Ebringer, Australian immunologist, professor at King’s College in the University of London
- 1938 – Judy Blume, Jewish-American author and educator
- 1939 – Leon Kass, American physician, scientist, and educator
- 1939 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Hubert Marcoux, Canadian solo sailor and author (d. 2009)
- 1941 – Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese mountaineer and explorer (d. 1984)
- 1942 – Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel
- 1942 – Pat Dobson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
- 1945 – Maud Adams, Swedish model and actress
- 1945 – David D. Friedman, American economist, physicist, and scholar
- 1946 – Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician, Prime Minister of Gabon
- 1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1948 – Ray Kurzweil, American computer scientist and engineer
- 1948 – Nicholas Soames, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
- 1950 – Angelo Branduardi, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Steve Hackett, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1950 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
- 1952 – Michael McDonald, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1953 – Joanna Kerns, American actress and director
- 1954 – Joseph Jordania, Georgian-Australian musicologist and academic
- 1954 – Tzimis Panousis, Greek comedian, singer, and author (d. 2018)
- 1954 – Phil Zimmermann, American cryptographer and programmer
- 1955 – Bill Laswell, American bass player and producer
- 1955 – Chet Lemon, American baseball player and coach
- 1956 – Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
- 1956 – Ad Melkert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
- 1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish rock guitarist and songwriter
- 1958 – Outback Jack, Australian-American wrestler
- 1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian environmentalist and politician
- 1961 – Michel Martelly, Haitian singer and politician, 56th President of Haiti
- 1961 – Di Farmer, Queensland Member of Parliament
- 1964 – Omar Hakim, American drummer, producer, arranger, and composer
- 1965 – Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player and manager
- 1965 – Christine Elise, American actress and producer
- 1965 – David Westlake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1966 – Paul Crook, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor
- 1968 – Chynna Phillips, American singer and actress
- 1969 – Darren Aronofsky, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 – Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (d. 2014)
- 1969 – Steve Backley, English javelin thrower
- 1969 – Anneli Drecker, Norwegian singer and actress
- 1969 – Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer and manager
- 1970 – Jim Creeggan, Canadian singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1970 – Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1970 – Judd Winick, American author and illustrator
- 1971 – Scott Menville, American voice actor, singer, actor and musician
- 1973 – Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
- 1973 – Tara Strong, Canadian voice actress and singer
- 1974 – Naseem Hamed, English boxer
- 1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby player
- 1977 – Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player and manager
- 1978 – Paul Anderson, English actor
- 1978 – Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1979 – Antonio Chatman, American football player
- 1979 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and violinist
- 1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
- 1980 – Sarah Lancaster, American actress
- 1980 – Christina Ricci, American actress and producer
- 1980 – Gucci Mane, American rapper
- 1981 – Wade McKinnon, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
- 1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand rugby player
- 1983 – Carlton Brewster, American football player and coach
- 1984 – Brad Keselowski, American race car driver
- 1984 – Andrei Sidorenkov, Estonian footballer
- 1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
- 1988 – DeMarco Murray, American football player
- 1988 – Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer
- 1988 – Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1990 – Robert Griffin III, American football player
- 1991 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
- 1994 – Arman Hall, American sprinter
- 1999 – Maggie Coles-Lyster, Canadian cyclist
- 2000 – Kim Ji-min, South Korean actress
Deaths on February 12
- 821 – Benedict of Aniane, French monk and saint (b. 747)
- 890 – Henjō, Japanese priest and poet (b. 816)
- 981 – Ælfstan, bishop of Ramsbury
- 901 – Antony II, patriarch of Constantinople
- 914 – Li, empress of Yan
- 941 – Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1247 – Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg, ruler (b. 1185)
- 1266 – Amadeus of the Amidei, Italian saint
- 1517 – Catherine of Navarre (b. 1468)
- 1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (b. 1480)
- 1554 – Lord Guildford Dudley, English son of Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (b. 1536; executed)
- 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, de facto monarch of England and Ireland for nine days (b. 1537; executed)
- 1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English politician and diplomat (b. 1515)
- 1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and author (b. 1524)
- 1600 – Edward Denny, Knight Banneret of Bishop’s Stortford, English soldier, privateer and adventurer (b. 1547)
- 1612 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (b. 1563)
- 1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist, founded George Heriot’s School (b. 1563)
- 1713 – Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (b. 1664)
- 1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian priest and composer (b. 1653)
- 1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (b. 1688)
- 1771 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (b. 1710)
- 1789 – Ethan Allen, American farmer, general, and politician (b. 1738)
- 1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist and physiologist (b. 1729)
- 1804 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1724)
- 1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1768)
- 1886 – Randolph Caldecott, English-American painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
- 1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1830)
- 1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French composer and academic (b. 1811)
- 1912 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (b. 1841)
- 1915 – Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1837)
- 1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (b. 1831)
- 1929 – Lillie Langtry, English singer and actress (b. 1853)
- 1931 – Samad bey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijani-Russian general and politician, 3rd Azerbaijani Minister of Defense (b. 1855)
- 1935 – Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (b. 1846)
- 1942 – Eugene Esmonde, Irish-English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1909)
- 1942 – Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (b. 1907)
- 1942 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (b. 1891)
- 1947 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (b. 1866)
- 1949 – Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
- 1954 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
- 1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1897)
- 1960 – Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (b. 1903)
- 1971 – James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (b. 1875)
- 1975 – Carl Lutz, Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews (b. 1895)
- 1976 – Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
- 1977 – Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1894)
- 1979 – Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
- 1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and activist (b. 1913)
- 1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (b. 1902)
- 1983 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
- 1984 – Anna Anderson, Polish-American woman, who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1896)
- 1984 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (b. 1914)
- 1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (b. 1924)
- 1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (b. 1931)
- 1991 – Roger Patterson, American bass player (b. 1968)
- 1992 – Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
- 1994 – Donald Judd, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
- 1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (b. 1952)
- 1998 – Gardner Ackley, American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Tom Landry, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German actress and producer (b. 1912)
- 2002 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
- 2005 – Dorothy Stang, American-Brazilian nun and missionary (b. 1931)
- 2007 – Ann Barzel, American writer and dance critic (b. 1905)
- 2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
- 2008 – David Groh, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2009 – victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407:
- Alison Des Forges, American historian and activist (b. 1942)
- Beverly Eckert, American activist (b. 1951)
- Mat Mathews, Dutch accordion player (b. 1924)
- Coleman Mellett, American guitarist (b. 1974)
- Gerry Niewood, American saxophonist (b. 1943)
- 2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
- 2011 – Peter Alexander, Austrian singer and actor (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Denis Flannery, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1928)
- 2012 – David Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1929)
- 2012 – John Severin, American illustrator (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Reginald Turnill, English journalist and author (b. 1915)
- 2013 – Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Sid Caesar, American actor and comedian (b. 1922)
- 2014 – John Pickstone, English historian and author (b. 1944)
- 2015 – Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Gary Owens, American radio host and voice actor (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Steve Strange, Welsh singer (b. 1959)
- 2016 – Dominique D’Onofrio, Italian-Belgian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
- 2016 – Yannis Kalaitzis, Greek cartoonist (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Yan Su, Chinese general and composer (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Al Jarreau, American singer (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Anna Marguerite McCann, first female American underwater archaeologist (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Ren Xinmin, Chinese rocket scientist (b. 1915)
- 2019 – Gordon Banks, English footballer (b. 1937)
- 2019 – Lyndon LaRouche, American political activist (b. 1922)
- 2019 – Pedro Morales, Puerto Rican professional wrestler and commentator (b. 1942)
- 2020 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (b. 1951)
Holidays and observances on February 12
- Christian feast day:
- Benedict of Aniane
- Damian of Alexandria
- Julian the Hospitaller
- Martyrs of Abitinae
- February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Darwin Day (International)
- Georgia Day (Georgia (U.S. state))
- Lincoln’s Birthday (United States)
- National Freedom to Marry Day (United States)
- Red Hand Day (United Nations)
- Union Day (Myanmar)
- Youth Day (Venezuela)
-
January 28 in History
- 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.
- 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
- 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy.
- 1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
- 1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father’s death.
- 1568 – The Edict of Torda prohibited the persecution of individuals on the religious ground in John Sigismund Zápolya’s Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
- 1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
- 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
- 1671 – Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo).
- 1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
- 1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
- 1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
- 1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
- 1851 – Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.
- 1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
- 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
- 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.
- 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
- 1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- 1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
- 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
- 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
- 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
- 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
- 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
- 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
- 1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
- 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
- 1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
- 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
- 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
- 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
- 1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
- 1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
- 1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
- 1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumps 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
- 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
- 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
- 1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
- 1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
- 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
- 1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
- 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
- 2006 – The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.
Births on January 28
- 1312 – Joan II, queen of Navarre (d. 1349)
- 1368 – Razadarit, king of Hanthawaddy (d. 1421)
- 1457 – Henry VII, king of England (d. 1509)
- 1533 – Paul Luther, German scientist (d. 1593)
- 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1610)
- 1582 – John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (d. 1621)
- 1600 – Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1669)
- 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
- 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (d. 1687)
- 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
- 1693 – Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (d. 1766)
- 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
- 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
- 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (d. 1761)
- 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
- 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1749)
- 1726 – Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (d. 1802)
- 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (d. 1830)
- 1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
- 1797 – Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (d. 1867)
- 1818 – George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905)
- 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
- 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885)
- 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-American explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
- 1843 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1890)
- 1853 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (d. 1895)
- 1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1900)
- 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
- 1858 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (d. 1944)
- 1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (d. 1918)
- 1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
- 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952)
- 1873 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (d. 1954)
- 1873 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (d. 1930)
- 1875 – Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (d. 1940)
- 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (d. 1970)
- 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1920)
- 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (d. 1973)
- 1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
- 1903 – Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (d. 1971)
- 1906 – Pat O’Callaghan, Irish athlete (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (d. 1998)
- 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
- 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
- 1911 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (d. 2018)
- 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
- 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- 1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (d. 1976)
- 1925 – Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (d. 1960)
- 1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (d. 1996)
- 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator
- 1929 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist
- 1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat
- 1930 – Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier
- 1933 – Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
- 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
- 1935 – David Lodge, English author and critic
- 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer
- 1937 – Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 – Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (d. 2016)
- 1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso
- 1942 – Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater
- 1942 – Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer
- 1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1944 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (d. 2013)
- 1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Frank Doubleday, American actor (d. 2018)
- 1945 – Maxwell Fuller, Australian chess player (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director
- 1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
- 1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire
- 1948 – Bob Moses, American drummer
- 1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
- 1949 – Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach
- 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model
- 1950 – Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king
- 1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
- 1950 – Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic
- 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
- 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut
- 1951 – Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player
- 1952 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1954 – Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian
- 1954 – Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
- 1955 – Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
- 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France
- 1956 – Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator
- 1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
- 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1957 – Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer
- 1957 – Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author
- 1959 – Frank Darabont, American director and producer
- 1960 – Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician
- 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – David Lawrence, English cricketer
- 1966 – Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer
- 1967 – Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1968 – Rakim, American rapper
- 1969 – Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
- 1969 – Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist
- 1969 – Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician
- 1972 – Mark Regan, English rugby player
- 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager
- 1972 – Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist
- 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
- 1974 – Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet
- 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician
- 1975 – Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist
- 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach
- 1976 – Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player
- 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Rick Ross, American rapper and producer
- 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality
- 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
- 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
- 1978 – Stephen Farrelly, Irish professional wrestler
- 1978 – Big Freedia, New Orleans musician, “Queen of Bounce”
- 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1980 – Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer
- 1980 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1980 – Brian Fallon, American singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
- 1984 – Ben Clucas, English race car driver
- 1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American football player
- 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
- 1984 – Anne Panter, English field hockey player
- 1985 – J. Cole, American singer
- 1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
- 1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
- 1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler
- 1986 – Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor
- 1986 – Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer
- 1988 – Paul Henry, English footballer
- 1988 – Seiya Sanada, Japanese wrestler
- 1989 – Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer
- 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress
Deaths on January 28
- 592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
- 814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (pleurisy; b. 742)
- 919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general
- 929 – Gao Jixing, founder of Chinese Jingnan (b. 858)
- 947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892)
- 1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
- 1142 – Yue Fei, Chinese general (b. 1103)
- 1256 – William II, Count of Holland, King of Germany (b. 1227)
- 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247)
- 1290 – Dervorguilla of Galloway, Scottish noble, mother of king John Balliol of Scotland (b. c. 1210)
- 1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
- 1501 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)
- 1547 – Henry VIII, king of England (b. 1491)
- 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
- 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
- 1666 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (b. 1591)
- 1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
- 1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
- 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (b. 1611)
- 1688 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)
- 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645)
- 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
- 1782 – Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1697)
- 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
- 1859 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
- 1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (b. 1799)
- 1873 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (b. 1809)
- 1903 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (b. 1847)
- 1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist and theorist (b. 1819)
- 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872)
- 1921 – Mustafa Suphi, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1883)
- 1930 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano and poet (b. 1878)
- 1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1859)
- 1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and target shooter (b. 1862)
- 1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (b. 1909)
- 1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast and triathlete (b. 1881)
- 1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1924)
- 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
- 1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
- 1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
- 1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1883)
- 1953 – James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
- 1953 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher and poet (b. 1879)
- 1959 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
- 1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
- 1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867)
- 1971 – Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- 1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
- 1976 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (b. 1924)
- 1978 – Ward Moore, American author (b. 1903)
- 1983 – Billy Fury. English pop star (b. 1940)
- 1983 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
- 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger crew
- Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
- Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
- 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and politician (b. 1911)
- 1989 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (b. 1938)
- 1993 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (b. 1905)
- 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
- 1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist and author (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
- 1998 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1938)
- 1999 – Valery Gavrilin, Russian composer (b. 1939)
- 2001 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Mieke Pullen, Dutch runner (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (b. 1948)
- 2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss cyclist (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Robert Drinan, American priest, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (b. 1963)
- 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Roman Juszkiewicz, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Don Starkell, Canadian adventurer and author (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Florentino Fernández, Cuban-American boxer and coach (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – John Cacavas, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Jorge Obeid, Argentinian engineer and politician, Governor of Santa Fe (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Franklin Gene Bissell, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Buddy Cianci, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Providence (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Bob Tizard, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Alexander Chancellor, British journalist (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948)
- 2019 – Pepe Smith, Filipino rock musician (b. 1947)
Holidays and observances on January 28
- Christian feast day:
- Joseph Freinademetz
- Julian of Cuenca
- Thomas Aquinas
- January 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Army Day (Armenia)
- Data Privacy Day
-
January 18 in History
- 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later.
- 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
- 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.
- 1486 – King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
- 1562 – Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
- 1591 – King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Mingyi Swa of Burma in single combat, for which this date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day.
- 1670 – Henry Morgan captures Panama.
- 1701 – Frederick I crowns himself King of Prussia in Königsberg.
- 1778 – James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands”.
- 1788 – The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from Great Britain to Australia arrive at Botany Bay.
- 1806 – Jan Willem Janssens surrenders the Dutch Cape Colony to the British.
- 1866 – Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
- 1871 – Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed Kaiser Wilhelm in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (France) towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Wilhelm already had the title of German Emperor since the constitution of 1 January 1871, but he had hesitated to accept the title.
- 1886 – Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
- 1896 – An X-ray generating machine is exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.
- 1911 – Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay, the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
- 1913 – First Balkan War: A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
- 1915 – Japan issues the “Twenty-One Demands” to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
- 1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
- 1919 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
- 1941 – World War II: British troops launch a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.
- 1943 – Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
- 1945 – World War II: Liberation of Kraków, Poland by the Red Army.
- 1958 – Willie O’Ree, the first Black Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.
- 1960 – Capital Airlines Flight 20 crashes into a farm in Charles City County, Virginia, killing all 50 aboard, the third fatal Capital Airlines crash in as many years.
- 1967 – Albert DeSalvo, the “Boston Strangler”, is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- 1969 – United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay killing all 32 passengers and six crew members.
- 1974 – A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
- 1976 – Lebanese Christian militias kill at least 1,000 in Karantina, Beirut.
- 1977 – Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.
- 1977 – Australia’s worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
- 1977 – SFR Yugoslavia’s Prime minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and six others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1978 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom’s government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
- 1981 – Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
- 1983 – The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medals to his family.
- 1990 – Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
- 1993 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed for the first time in all 50 US states.
- 2002 – The Sierra Leone Civil War is declared over.
- 2003 – A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
- 2005 – The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet, is unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France
- 2007 – The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Cyclone Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe.
- 2008 – The Euphronios Krater is unveiled in Rome after being returned to Italy by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- 2018 – A bus catches fire on the Samara–Shymkent road in Yrgyz District, Aktobe, Kazakhstan. The fire kills 52 passengers, with three passengers and two drivers escaping.
Births on January 18
- 1404 – Sir Philip Courtenay, British noble (d. 1463)
- 1457 – Antonio Trivulzio, seniore, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1508)
- 1519 – Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary (d. 1559)
- 1540 – Catherine, Duchess of Braganza (d. 1614)
- 1641 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 1691)
- 1659 – Damaris Cudworth Masham, English philosopher and theologian (d. 1708)
- 1672 – Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French author (d. 1731)
- 1688 – Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)
- 1689 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (d. 1755)
- 1701 – Johann Jakob Moser, German jurist (d. 1785)
- 1743 – Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1803)
- 1751 – Ferdinand Kauer, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1831)
- 1752 – John Nash, English architect (d. 1835)
- 1764 – Samuel Whitbread, English politician (d. 1815)
- 1779 – Peter Mark Roget, English physician, lexicographer, and theologian (d. 1869)
- 1782 – Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
- 1793 – Pratap Singh Bhosle, Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1847)
- 1815 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German theologian and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1835 – César Cui, Russian general, composer, and critic (d. 1918)
- 1840 – Henry Austin Dobson, English poet and author (d. 1921)
- 1841 – Emmanuel Chabrier, French pianist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1842 – A. A. Ames, American physician and politician, Mayor of Minneapolis (d. 1911)
- 1848 – Ioan Slavici, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1925)
- 1849 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1920)
- 1850 – Seth Low, American academic and politician, 92nd Mayor of New York City (d. 1916)
- 1853 – Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African farmer, soldier, and gun-maker (d. 1900)
- 1854 – Thomas A. Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (d. 1934)
- 1856 – Daniel Hale Williams, American surgeon and cardiologist (d. 1931)
- 1867 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (d. 1916)
- 1868 – Kantarō Suzuki, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
- 1877 – Sam Zemurray, Russian-American businessman, founded the Cuyamel Fruit Company (d. 1961)
- 1879 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (d. 1949)
- 1880 – Paul Ehrenfest, Austrian-Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1933)
- 1880 – Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Italian cardinal (d. 1954)
- 1881 – Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard (d. 1975)
- 1882 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Clara Nordström, Swedish-German author and translator (d. 1962)
- 1888 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player, sailor, and pilot (d. 1989)
- 1892 – Oliver Hardy, American actor and comedian (d. 1957)
- 1892 – Bill Meanix, American hurdler and coach (d. 1957)
- 1892 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (d. 1956)
- 1893 – Jorge Guillén, Spanish poet, critic, and academic (d. 1984)
- 1894 – Toots Mondt, American wrestler and promoter (d. 1976)
- 1896 – C. M. Eddy Jr., American author (d. 1967)
- 1896 – Ville Ritola, Finnish-American runner (d. 1982)
- 1898 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1973)
- 1903 – Berthold Goldschmidt, German pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1904 – Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer (d. 2006)
- 1904 – Cary Grant, English-American actor (d. 1986)
- 1905 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-American mob boss (d. 2002)
- 1907 – János Ferencsik, Hungarian conductor (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, historian, and television host (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English economist and academic (d. 1993)
- 1911 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian anthropologist, author, and poet (d. 1969)
- 1911 – Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1987)
- 1913 – Carroll Cloar, American artist (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Giannis Papaioannou, Greek composer (d. 1972)
- 1914 – Arno Schmidt, German author and translator (d. 1979)
- 1914 – Vitomil Zupan, Slovene author, poet, and playwright (d. 1987)
- 1915 – Syl Apps, Canadian pole vaulter, ice hockey player, and politician (d. 1998)
- 1915 – Santiago Carrillo, Spanish soldier and politician (d. 2012)
- 1915 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1984)
- 1917 – Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Wang Yung-ching, Taiwanese-American businessman (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Gustave Gingras, Canadian-English physician and educator (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Toni Turek, German footballer (d. 1984)
- 1921 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
- 1923 – John Graham, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Wales (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Gilles Deleuze, French metaphysician and philosopher (d. 1995)
- 1925 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Sol Yurick, American soldier and author (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Randolph Bromery, American geologist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Sundaram Balachander, Indian actor, singer, and veena player (d. 1990)
- 1928 – Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet and Russian professional basketball coach (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Chun Doo-hwan, South Korean general and politician, 5th President of South Korea
- 1932 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2007)
- 1933 – Emeka Anyaoku, Nigerian politician, 8th Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1933 – David Bellamy, English botanist, author and academic (d. 2019)
- 1933 – John Boorman, English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1933 – Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (d. 2013)
- 1933 – William Goodhart, Baron Goodhart, English lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Frank McMullen, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2004)
- 1933 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (d. 2017)
- 1934 – Raymond Briggs, English author and illustrator
- 1935 – Albert Millaire, Canadian actor and director (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Jon Stallworthy, English poet, critic, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Gad Yaacobi, Israeli academic and diplomat, 10th Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2007)
- 1936 – David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
- 1937 – John Hume, Northern Irish educator and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 – Curt Flood, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
- 1938 – Anthony Giddens, English sociologist and academic
- 1938 – Werner Olk, German footballer and manager
- 1938 – Hargus “Pig” Robbins, American Country Music Hall of Fame session keyboard and piano player
- 1940 – Pedro Rodriguez, Mexican race car driver (d. 1971)
- 1941 – Denise Bombardier, Canadian journalist and author
- 1941 – Bobby Goldsboro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1941 – David Ruffin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1991)
- 1943 – Paul Freeman, English actor
- 1943 – Kay Granger, American educator and politician
- 1943 – Dave Greenslade, English keyboard player and composer
- 1943 – Charlie Wilson, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Paul Keating, Australian economist and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Australia
- 1944 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (d. 1983)
- 1944 – Kei Ogura, Japanese singer-songwriter and composer
- 1944 – Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
- 1945 – Rocco Forte, English businessman and philanthropist
- 1946 – Perro Aguayo, Mexican wrestler (d. 2019)
- 1946 – Joseph Deiss, Swiss economist and politician, 156th President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1946 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Sachio Kinugasa, Japanese baseball player and journalist (d. 2018)
- 1947 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese actor and director
- 1949 – Bill Keller, American journalist
- 1949 – Philippe Starck, French interior designer
- 1950 – Gianfranco Brancatelli, Italian race car driver
- 1950 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (d. 1982)
- 1951 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist and activist (d. 1982)
- 1951 – Bob Latchford, English footballer
- 1952 – Michael Behe, American biochemist, author, and academic
- 1952 – R. Stevie Moore, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1953 – Brett Hudson, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1953 – Peter Moon, Australian comedian and actor
- 1955 – Kevin Costner, American actor, director, and producer
- 1956 – Paul Deighton, Baron Deighton, English banker and politician
- 1960 – Mark Rylance, English actor, director, and playwright
- 1961 – Peter Beardsley, English footballer and manager
- 1961 – Bob Hansen, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1961 – Mark Messier, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1961 – Jeff Yagher, American actor and sculptor
- 1962 – Alison Arngrim, Canadian-American actress
- 1963 – Maxime Bernier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada
- 1963 – Ian Crook, English footballer, central midfielder and manager
- 1963 – Carl McCoy, English singer-songwriter
- 1963 – Martin O’Malley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 61st Governor of Maryland
- 1964 – Brady Anderson, American baseball player
- 1964 – Richard Dunwoody, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
- 1964 – Virgil Hill, American boxer
- 1964 – Jane Horrocks, English actress and singer
- 1966 – Alexander Khalifman, Russian chess player and author
- 1966 – Kazufumi Miyazawa, Japanese singer
- 1966 – André Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
- 1967 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
- 1967 – Iván Zamorano, Chilean footballer
- 1969 – Dave Bautista, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
- 1969 – Jesse L. Martin, American actor and singer
- 1969 – Jim O’Rourke, American guitarist and producer
- 1970 – Peter Van Petegem, Belgian cyclist
- 1971 – Amy Barger, American astronomer
- 1971 – Jonathan Davis, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
- 1971 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1971 – Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer (d. 2019)
- 1972 – Vinod Kambli, Indian cricketer, sportscaster, and actor
- 1972 – Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
- 1972 – Kjersti Plätzer, Norwegian race walker
- 1973 – Burnie Burns, American actor, director, and producer, co-founded Rooster Teeth Productions
- 1973 – Luke Goodwin, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1973 – Benjamin Jealous, American civic leader and activist
- 1973 – Anthony Koutoufides, Australian footballer
- 1973 – Crispian Mills, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director
- 1973 – Rolando Schiavi, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1974 – Christian Burns, English singer-songwriter
- 1975 – Leslie Knope, Protagonist of Parks and Recreation (fictional)
- 1976 – Laurence Courtois, Belgian tennis player
- 1976 – Marcelo Gallardo, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1976 – Damien Leith, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1977 – Richard Archer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Brian Falkenborg, American baseball player
- 1978 – Thor Hushovd, Norwegian cyclist
- 1978 – Bogdan Lobonț, Romanian footballer
- 1979 – Ruslan Fedotenko, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
- 1979 – Brian Gionta, American ice hockey player
- 1979 – Kenyatta Jones, American football player (d. 2018)
- 1980 – Estelle, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1980 – Robert Green, English footballer
- 1980 – Kert Haavistu, Estonian footballer and manager
- 1980 – Julius Peppers, American football player
- 1980 – Jason Segel, American actor and screenwriter
- 1981 – Otgonbayar Ershuu, Mongolian painter and illustrator
- 1981 – Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
- 1981 – Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer
- 1981 – Kang Dong-won, South Korean actor
- 1982 – Quinn Allman, American guitarist and producer
- 1982 – Mary Jepkosgei Keitany, Kenyan runner
- 1983 – Amir Blumenfeld, Israeli-American comedian, actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Samantha Mumba, Irish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – Kristy Lee Cook, American singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Ioannis Drymonakos, Greek swimmer
- 1984 – Makoto Hasebe, Japanese footballer
- 1984 – Michael Kearney, American biochemist and academic
- 1984 – Seung-Hui Cho, South Korean student who perpetrated the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Benji Schwimmer, American dancer and choreographer
- 1984 – Viktoria Shklover, Estonian figure skater
- 1985 – Dale Begg-Smith, Canadian-Australian skier
- 1985 – Mark Briscoe, American wrestler
- 1985 – Riccardo Montolivo, Italian footballer
- 1985 – Hyun Woo, South Korean actor
- 1986 – Marya Roxx, Estonian-American singer-songwriter
- 1986 – Ikusaburo Yamazaki, Japanese actor and singer
- 1987 – Johan Djourou, Swiss footballer
- 1987 – Christopher Liebig, German rugby player
- 1987 – Grigoris Makos, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Ronnie Day, American singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Angelique Kerber, German tennis player
- 1988 – Anastasios Kissas, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Boy van Poppel, Dutch cyclist
- 1989 – Rubén Miño, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Nacho, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Hayle Ibrahimov, Ethiopian-Azerbaijani runner
- 1990 – Gift Ngoepe, South African baseball player
- 1991 – Diego Simões, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Francesco Bardi, Italian footballer
- 1993 – Sean Keenan, Australian actor
- 1994 – Kang Ji-young, South Korean singer
- 1994 – Ilona Kremen, Belarusian tennis player
- 1995 – Bryce Alford, American basketball player
- 1998 – Aitana Bonmatí, Spanish footballer
Deaths on January 18
- 52 BC – Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman politician (b. 93 BC)
- 474 – Leo I, Byzantine emperor (b. 401)
- 748 – Odilo, duke of Bavaria
- 896 – Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun, ruler of the Tulunids, murdered (b. 864)
- 1213 – Tamar of Georgia (b. 1160)
- 1253 – King Henry I of Cyprus (b. 1217)
- 1271 – Saint Margaret of Hungary (b. 1242)
- 1326 – Robert FitzWalter, 1st Baron FitzWalter, English baron (b. 1247)
- 1357 – Maria of Portugal, infanta (b. 1313)
- 1367 – Peter I of Portugal (b. 1320)
- 1411 – Jobst of Moravia, ruler of Moravia, King of the Romans
- 1425 – Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, English politician (b. 1391)
- 1471 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (b. 1419)
- 1479 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1417)
- 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal and scholar (b. 1470)
- 1586 – Margaret of Parma (b. 1522)
- 1589 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (b. 1545)
- 1677 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch politician, founded Cape Town (b. 1619)
- 1756 – Francis George of Schönborn-Buchheim, Archbishop-Elector of Trier (b. 1682)
- 1783 – Jeanne Quinault, French actress and playwright (b. 1699)
- 1803 – Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet and academic (b. 1743)
- 1849 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (b. 1752)
- 1862 – John Tyler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 10th President of the United States (b. 1790)
- 1873 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, poet, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1803)
- 1878 – Antoine César Becquerel, French physicist and academic (b. 1788)
- 1886 – Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (b. 1819)
- 1892 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1819)
- 1896 – Charles Floquet, French lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
- 1923 – Wallace Reid, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1891)
- 1936 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (b. 1871)
- 1936 – Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1940 – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1865)
- 1951 – Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary and humanitarian (b. 1867)
- 1952 – Curly Howard, American actor (b. 1903)
- 1954 – Sydney Greenstreet, English-American actor (b. 1879)
- 1955 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (b. 1912)
- 1956 – Makbule Atadan, Turkish lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
- 1956 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
- 1963 – Hugh Gaitskell, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1906)
- 1966 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (b. 1880)
- 1967 – Goose Tatum, American basketball player and soldier (b. 1921)
- 1969 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1887)
- 1970 – David O. McKay, American religious leader, 9th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1873)
- 1971 – Virgil Finlay, American illustrator (b. 1914)
- 1973 – Irina Nikolaevna Levchenko, Russian tank commander (b. 1924)
- 1975 – Gertrude Olmstead, American actress (b. 1897)
- 1978 – Hasan Askari, Pakistani philosopher and author (b. 1919)
- 1980 – Cecil Beaton, English fashion designer and photographer (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Panteleimon Ponomarenko, Belarusian general and politician (b. 1902)
- 1984 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1915)
- 1989 – Bruce Chatwin, English-French author (b. 1940)
- 1990 – Melanie Appleby, English singer (b. 1966)
- 1990 – Rusty Hamer, American actor (b. 1947)
- 1993 – Dionysios Zakythinos, Greek historian, academic, and politician (b. 1905)
- 1995 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1995 – Ron Luciano, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
- 1996 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
- 1998 – Dan Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (b. 1897)
- 2003 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
- 2003 – Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Indian poet and author (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Lamont Bentley, American actor and rapper (b. 1973)
- 2006 – Jan Twardowski, Polish priest and poet (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Brent Liles, American bass player (b. 1963)
- 2008 – Georgia Frontiere, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
- 2008 – Frank Lewin, American composer and theorist (b. 1925)
- 2008 – Lois Nettleton, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2008 – John Stroger, American politician (b. 1929)
- 2009 – Tony Hart, English painter and television host (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Nora Kovach, Hungarian-American ballerina (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Grigore Vieru, Romanian poet and author (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
- 2010 – Robert B. Parker, American author and academic (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and diplomat, 21st United States Ambassador to France (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Anthony Gonsalves, Indian composer and educator (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Georg Lassen, German captain (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Yuri Rasovsky, American playwright and producer, founded The National Radio Theater of Chicago (b. 1944)
- 2013 – Sean Fallon, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Jim Horning, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Jon Mannah, Australian rugby league player (b. 1989)
- 2013 – Lewis Marnell, Australian skateboarder (b. 1982)
- 2013 – Ron Nachman, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Kathryn Abbe, American photographer and author (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Michael Botmang, Nigerian politician, 17th Governor of Plateau State (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Andy Graver, English footballer (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Sarah Marshall, English actress (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Eugenio Cruz Vargas, Chilean poet and painter (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer and prosecutor (b. 1963)
- 2015 – Christine Valmy, Romanian cosmetologist and author (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Piet van der Sanden, Dutch journalist and politician (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Tony Verna, American director and producer, invented instant replay (b. 1933)
- 2016 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Glenn Frey, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1948)
- 2016 – T. S. Sinnathuray, Judge of the High Court of Singapore (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Peter Abrahams, South African-Jamaican writer (b. 1919)
- 2017 – David P. Buckson, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Delaware (b. 1920)
- 2017 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1939)
- 2017 – Roberta Peters, American coloratura soprano (b. 1930)
- 2019 – John Coughlin, American figure skater (b. 1985)
Holidays and observances on January 18
- Christian feast day:
- Amy Carmichael (Church of England)
- Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Confession of Peter (Eastern Orthodox, some Anglican and Lutheran Churches)
- Cyril of Alexandria
- Deicolus
- Margaret of Hungary
- Prisca
- Volusianus of Tours
- January 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand)
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18–25) (Christianity)