1553

  • March 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    In astrology, the day of the equinox is the first full day of the sign of Aries. It is also the traditional first day of the astrological year. In the 21st century, the equinox usually occurs on March 19 or 20; it occurred on March 21 only in 2003 and 2007. The next year in which the equinox occurs on March 21 will be 2102.

    March 21 in History

    • 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the Vivarium, by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas and Peranius.
    • 630 – Emperor Heraclius returns the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem.
    • 717 – Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid.
    • 1152 – Annulment of the marriage of King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
    • 1188 – Emperor Antoku accedes to the throne of Japan.
    • 1556 – On the day of his execution in Oxford, former Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer deviates from the scripted sermon by renouncing the recantations he has made and adds, “And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.”
    • 1788 – A fire in New Orleans leaves most of the town in ruins.
    • 1800 – With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
    • 1801 – The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis near Alexandria in Egypt.
    • 1804 – Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law.
    • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian forces repel French troops in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.
    • 1844 – The Bahá’í calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Bahá’í calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Bahá’í Faith as the Bahá’í New Year or Náw-Rúz.
    • 1861 – Alexander Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech.
    • 1871 – Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first Chancellor of the German Empire.
    • 1871 – Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
    • 1913 – Over 360 are killed and 20,000 homes destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio.
    • 1918 – World War I: The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.
    • 1919 – The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.
    • 1921 – The New Economic Policy is implemented by the Bolshevik Party in response to the economic failure as a result of war communism.
    • 1925 – The Butler Act prohibits the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee.
    • 1925 – Syngman Rhee is removed from office after being impeached as the President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.
    • 1928 – Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.
    • 1935 – Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran.
    • 1937 – Ponce massacre: Nineteen people in Ponce, Puerto Rico are gunned down by police acting on orders of the US-appointed Governor, Blanton C. Winship.
    • 1943 – Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through; von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.
    • 1945 – World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.
    • 1945 – World War II: Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. They also accidentally hit a school, killing 125 civilians.
    • 1945 – World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes.
    • 1946 – The Los Angeles Rams sign Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in professional American football since 1933.
    • 1952 – Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
    • 1960 – Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
    • 1963 – Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (in California) closes.
    • 1965 – Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.
    • 1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
    • 1968 – Battle of Karameh in Jordan between the Israel Defense Forces and the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and PLO.
    • 1970 – The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco.
    • 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet–Afghan War.
    • 1983 – The first cases of the 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic begin; Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of poison gas, but the cause is later determined mostly to be psychosomatic.
    • 1986 – Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the World Figure Skating Championships
    • 1990 – Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
    • 1994 – The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change enters into force.
    • 1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
    • 2000 – Pope John Paul II makes his first ever pontifical visit to Israel.
    • 2006 – The social media site Twitter is founded.
    • 2009 – Four police officers are shot and killed and a fifth is wounded in two shootings at Oakland, California.
    • 2019 – The 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion occurs, killing at least 47 people and injuring 640 others.

    Births on March 21

    • 927 – Emperor Taizu of Song (d. 976)
    • 1474 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint (d. 1540)
    • 1501 – Anne Brooke, Baroness Cobham, English noble (d. 1558)
    • 1521 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1553)
    • 1527 – Hermann Finck, German composer and educator (d. 1558)
    • 1555 – John Leveson, English politician (d. 1615)
    • 1557 – Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel, English countess and poet (d. 1630)
    • 1626 – Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish saint and missionary (d. 1667)
    • 1672 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (d. 1742)
    • 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German Baroque composer and musician (d. 1750)
    • 1713 – Francis Lewis, Welsh-American merchant and politician (d. 1803)
    • 1716 – Josef Seger, Bohemian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1782)
    • 1752 – Mary Dixon Kies, American inventor (d. 1837)
    • 1763 – Jean Paul, German journalist and author (d. 1825)
    • 1768 – Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1830)
    • 1806 – Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 25th President of Mexico (d. 1872)
    • 1811 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (d. 1891)
    • 1825 – Alexander Mozhaysky, Russian soldier and engineer (d. 1890)
    • 1835 – Thomas Hayward, English cricketer (d. 1876)
    • 1839 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1881)
    • 1854 – Alick Bannerman, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1924)
    • 1857 – Alice Henry, Australian journalist and activist (d. 1943)
    • 1859 – Daria Pratt, American golfer (d. 1938)
    • 1865 – George Owen Squier, American general (d. 1934)
    • 1866 – Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1952)
    • 1867 – Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., American director and producer (d. 1932)
    • 1869 – David Robertson, Scottish-English golfer and rugby player (d. 1937)
    • 1874 – Alfred Tysoe, English runner (d. 1901)
    • 1876 – Walter Tewksbury, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
    • 1877 – Maurice Farman, French race car driver and pilot (d. 1964)
    • 1878 – Morris H. Whitehouse, American architect (d. 1944)
    • 1880 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1971)
    • 1880 – Hans Hofmann, German-American painter and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1882 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (d. 1963)
    • 1884 – George David Birkhoff, American mathematician (d. 1944)
    • 1885 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (d. 1952)
    • 1886 – Walter Dray, American pole vaulter (d. 1973)
    • 1887 – Clarice Beckett, Australian painter (d. 1935)
    • 1887 – Lajos Kassák, Hungarian poet, novelist and painter (d. 1967)
    • 1887 – M. N. Roy, Indian philosopher and politician (d. 1954)
    • 1889 – Jock Sutherland, American football player and coach (d. 1948)
    • 1896 – Friedrich Waismann, Austrian mathematician, physicist, and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1959)
    • 1897 – Sim Gokkes, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1943)
    • 1897 – Salvador Lutteroth, Mexican wrestling promoter, founded Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (d. 1987)
    • 1899 – Panagiotis Pipinelis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1970)
    • 1901 – Karl Arnold, German businessman and politician, President of the German Bundesrat (d. 1958)
    • 1902 – Son House, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Jehane Benoît, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1987)
    • 1904 – Forrest Mars, Sr., American candy maker, created M&M’s and Mars bar (d. 1999)
    • 1904 – Nikos Skalkottas, Greek violinist and composer (d. 1949)
    • 1905 – Phyllis McGinley, American author and poet (d. 1978)
    • 1906 – John D. Rockefeller III, American philanthropist (d. 1978)
    • 1906 – Jim Thompson, American businessman (d. 1967)
    • 1906 – André Filho, Brazilian musician and songwriter (d. 1974)
    • 1907 – Zoltán Kemény, Hungarian sculptor (d. 1965)
    • 1909 – Harry Lane, English footballer (d. 1977)
    • 1910 – Julio Gallo, American businessman, co-founded E & J Gallo Winery (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Muhammad Siddiq Khan, Bangladeshi librarian and educator (d. 1978)
    • 1911 – Walter Lincoln Hawkins, African-American scientist and inventor (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – André Laurendeau, Canadian journalist, playwright, and politician (d. 1968)
    • 1913 – George Abecassis, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1991)
    • 1913 – Guillermo Haro, Mexican astronomer (d. 1988)
    • 1914 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (d. 1990)
    • 1916 – Bismillah Khan, Indian shehnai player (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Ken Wharton, English race car driver (d. 1957)
    • 1917 – Frank Hardy, Australian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1994)
    • 1918 – Patrick Lucey, American captain and politician, 38th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Charles Thompson, American pianist and composer (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Douglas Warren, Australian bishop (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1970)
    • 1920 – Éric Rohmer, French director, film critic, journalist, novelist and screenwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist and pianist (d. 1986)
    • 1921 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Russ Meyer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1923 – Louis-Edmond Hamelin, Canadian geographer, author, and academic (d. 2020)
    • 1923 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian poet, publisher, and diplomat (d. 1998)
    • 1923 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – Rezső Nyers, Hungarian politician (d. 2018)
    • 1924 – Philip Abbott, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1924 – Dov Shilansky, Lithuanian-Israeli lawyer and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1925 – Harold Ashby, American saxophonist (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Peter Brook, English-French director and producer
    • 1925 – Hugo Koblet, Swiss cyclist (d. 1964)
    • 1926 – André Delvaux, Belgian director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1927 – Halton Arp, American-German astronomer and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German soldier and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Maurice Catarcio, American wrestler (d. 2005)
    • 1930 – James Coco, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1930 – Otis Spann, American blues pianist, singer and composer (d. 1970)
    • 1931 – Toyonobori, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1998)
    • 1931 – Clark L. Brundin, American-English engineer and academic
    • 1931 – Catherine Gibson, Scottish swimmer (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (d. 2010)
    • 1932 – Walter Gilbert, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1932 – Joseph Silverstein, American violinist and conductor (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – John Hall, English businessman
    • 1933 – Michael Heseltine, Welsh businessman and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1934 – Al Freeman, Jr., American actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1935 – Brian Clough, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
    • 1936 – Ed Broadbent, Canadian pilot and politician
    • 1936 – Mike Westbrook, English pianist and composer
    • 1937 – Ann Clwyd, Welsh journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1937 – Tom Flores, American football player and coach
    • 1937 – Pierre-Jean Rémy, French diplomat and author (d. 2010)
    • 1938 – Michael Foreman, English author and illustrator
    • 1938 – Grahame Thomas, Australian cricketer
    • 1939 – Kathleen Widdoes, American actress
    • 1940 – Solomon Burke, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1940 – Andrea Elle, German bicyclist
    • 1942 – Françoise Dorléac, French actress (d. 1967)
    • 1942 – Kostas Politis, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
    • 1942 – Amina Claudine Myers, African-American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1942 – Patcha Ramachandra Rao, India metallurgist, educator and administrator (d. 2010)
    • 1943 – István Gyulai, Hungarian sprinter and sportscaster (d. 2006)
    • 1943 – Hartmut Haenchen, German conductor
    • 1943 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter (d. 1995)
    • 1944 – Marie-Christine Barrault, French actress
    • 1944 – Janet Daley, American-English journalist and author
    • 1944 – Hideki Ishima, Japanese guitarist
    • 1944 – Mike Jackson, English general
    • 1944 – David Lindley, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1944 – Gaye Adegbalola, African-American singer and guitarist
    • 1945 – Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner, English lawyer
    • 1945 – Charles Greene, American sprinter and coach
    • 1945 – Rose Stone, African-American R&B singer and keyboard player
    • 1946 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh-English actor
    • 1946 – Ray Dorset, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, Japanese cardinal
    • 1947 – George Johnston. Scottish footballer, forward
    • 1948 – Scott Fahlman, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1949 – Alvin Kallicharran, Guyanese cricketer and coach
    • 1949 – Andy Love, Scottish-English politician
    • 1949 – Eddie Money, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
    • 1949 – Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian sociologist, philosopher, and academic
    • 1950 – Roger Hodgson, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1950 – Ron Oden, American minister and politician, 19th Mayor of Palm Springs
    • 1950 – Sergey Lavrov, Russian politician and diplomat, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1951 – Conrad Lozano, American bass player
    • 1951 – Russell Thompkins Jr., American soul singer
    • 1953 – Steve Furber, English computer scientist and academic
    • 1953 – Paul Martin Lester, American photographer, author, and educator
    • 1953 – David Wisniewski, English-American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
    • 1955 – Fadi Abboud, Lebanese economist and politician
    • 1955 – Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian politician and retired military officer, 38th President of Brazil
    • 1955 – Bob Bennett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Greek politician
    • 1955 – Bärbel Wöckel, East German sprinter
    • 1956 – Dick Beardsley, American runner
    • 1956 – Guy Chadwick, German-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Richard H. Kirk, English guitarist, keyboard player, composer, and producer
    • 1956 – Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
    • 1958 – Marlies Göhr, German sprinter
    • 1958 – Brad Hall, American comedian, director, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician and author
    • 1959 – Sarah Jane Morris, English singer-songwriter
    • 1959 – Yuval Rotem, Israeli diplomat
    • 1959 – Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese keyboard player and composer
    • 1960 – Marwan Farhat, Syrian actor and voice actor
    • 1960 – Benito T. de Leon, Filipino general
    • 1960 – Raivo Puusepp, Estonian architect
    • 1960 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
    • 1960 – Robert Sweet, American drummer and producer
    • 1961 – Lothar Matthäus, German footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Gary O’Reilly, English footballer, defender
    • 1961 – Kassie DePaiva, American actress
    • 1961 – Slim Jim Phantom, American rock drummer
    • 1961 – Kim Turner, American hurdler
    • 1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor
    • 1962 – Kathy Greenwood, Canadian actress and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Rosie O’Donnell, American actress, producer, and talk show host
    • 1962 – Mark Waid, American author
    • 1963 – Shawon Dunston, American baseball player
    • 1963 – Ronald Koeman, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Shawn Lane, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2003)
    • 1963 – Share Pedersen, American bass player
    • 1964 – Ieuan Evans, Welsh rugby player
    • 1964 – Jesper Skibby, Danish cyclist
    • 1965 – Xavier Bertrand, French businessman and politician, French Minister of Social Affairs
    • 1965 – Thomas Frank, American author, historian and political analyst
    • 1966 – Benito Archundia, Mexican footballer, referee, lawyer, and economist
    • 1966 – Hauke Fuhlbrügge, German runner
    • 1966 – Matthew Maynard, English cricketer and coach
    • 1966 – Moa Matthis, Swedish author
    • 1967 – Carwyn Jones, Welsh lawyer and politician, First Minister of Wales
    • 1967 – Mirela Rupic, American costume and fashion designer
    • 1968 – Cameron Clyne, Australian businessman
    • 1968 – Andrew Copeland, American singer and guitarist
    • 1968 – Gary Walsh, English football coach and former footballer
    • 1968 – Greg Ellis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Tolunay Kafkas, Turkish footballer and manager
    • 1968 – Scott Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Jonah Goldberg, American journalist and author
    • 1970 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (d. 2000)
    • 1970 – Cenk Uygur, Turkish-American political activist
    • 1971 – Zsolt Kürtösi, Hungarian decathlete
    • 1972 – Chris Candido, American wrestler (d. 2005)
    • 1972 – Balázs Kiss, Hungarian hammer thrower
    • 1972 – Derartu Tulu, Ethiopian runner
    • 1972 – Graeme Welch, English cricketer
    • 1973 – Ananda Lewis, American television host
    • 1973 – Stuart Nethercott, English footballer, defender and manager
    • 1973 – Large Professor, American rapper and producer
    • 1974 – Rhys Darby, New Zealand comedian and actor
    • 1974 – Dejima Takeharu, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1974 – Edsel Dope, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Ted Kravitz, British presenter and Formula One pit-lane reporter
    • 1974 – Kevin Leahy, American drummer
    • 1974 – Conor Woodman, Irish journalist and author
    • 1975 – Yacoub Al-Mohana, Kuwaiti director and producer
    • 1975 – Corne Krige, South African rugby player
    • 1975 – Fabricio Oberto, Argentinian-Italian basketball player
    • 1975 – Vitaly Potapenko, Ukrainian basketball player and coach
    • 1975 – Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player
    • 1976 – Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress and singer
    • 1976 – Bamboo Mañalac, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1976 – Tekin Sazlog, German-Turkish footballer
    • 1977 – Bruno Cirillo, Italian footballer
    • 1977 – Jamie Delgado, English tennis player
    • 1978 – Sally Barsosio, Kenyan runner
    • 1978 – Joyce Jimenez, Filipino movie and TV actress
    • 1978 – Charmaine Dragun, Australian journalist (d. 2007)
    • 1978 – Cristian Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
    • 1978 – Mohammad Rezaei, Iranian wrestler
    • 1980 – Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer
    • 1980 – Marit Bjørgen, Norwegian skier
    • 1980 – Lee Jin, South Korean singer and actress
    • 1980 – Deryck Whibley, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1981 – Germano Borovicz Cardoso Schweger, Brazilian footballer
    • 1981 – Sébastien Chavanel, French cyclist
    • 1981 – Glenn Hall, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Jason King, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Todd Polglase, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Maria Elena Camerin, Italian tennis player
    • 1982 – Ejegayehu Dibaba, Ethiopian runner
    • 1982 – Aaron Hill, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Colin Turkington, Northern Irish race car driver
    • 1983 – Lucila Pascua, Spanish basketball player
    • 1983 – Jean Ondoa, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1984 – Tiago dos Santos Roberto, Brazilian footballer
    • 1984 – Guillermo Daniel Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1985 – Ryan Callahan, American ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Adrian Peterson, American football player
    • 1986 – Scott Eastwood, American actor
    • 1986 – Michu, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Romanos Alyfantis, Greek swimmer
    • 1986 – Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, Greek pole vaulter
    • 1987 – Carlos Carrasco, Venezuelan baseball pitcher
    • 1988 – Kateřina Čechová, Czech sprinter
    • 1988 – Erik Johnson, American ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Eric Krüger, German sprinter
    • 1988 – Michael Madl, Austrian footballer, defender
    • 1989 – Jordi Alba, Spanish footballer
    • 1989 – Nicolás Lodeiro, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1990 – Mandy Capristo, German singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1990 – Ryann Krais, American runner and heptathlete
    • 1990 – Alex Nimo, Liberian-American soccer player
    • 1991 – Luke Chapman, English footballer
    • 1991 – Antoine Griezmann, French footballer
    • 1992 – Lehlogonolo Masalesa, South African footballer
    • 1992 – Karolína Plíšková, Czech tennis player
    • 1993 – Jake Bidwell, English footballer
    • 1993 – Jesse Joronen, Finnish footballer
    • 1994 – Margaret Lu, American fencer
    • 1997 – Martina Stoessel, Argentine actress
    • 2000 – Jace Norman, American actor

    Deaths on March 21

    • 543 or 547 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian saint (b. 480)
    • 867 – Ælla, king of Northumbria
    • 867 – Osberht, king of Northumbria
    • 1034 – Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (b. 955)
    • 1063 – Richeza of Lotharingia (b. 995)
    • 1076 – Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1011)
    • 1201 – Absalon, Danish archbishop (b. c. 1128)
    • 1306 – Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1248)
    • 1372 – Rudolf VI, Margrave of Baden
    • 1487 – Nicholas of Flüe, Swiss monk and saint (b. 1417)
    • 1540 – John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, English peer and courtier (b. c. 1482)
    • 1556 – Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop (b. 1489)
    • 1571 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (b. 1517)
    • 1617 – Pocahontas, Algonquian Indigenous princess (b. c. 1595)
    • 1653 – Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha, Albanian politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
    • 1656 – James Ussher, Irish archbishop (b. 1581)
    • 1676 – Henri Sauval, French historian and author (b. 1623)
    • 1729 – John Law, Scottish-French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1671)
    • 1729 – Elżbieta Sieniawska, politically influential Polish magnate (b. 1669)
    • 1734 – Robert Wodrow, Scottish historian and author (b. 1679)
    • 1751 – Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (b. 1706)
    • 1752 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (b. 1698)
    • 1762 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French priest, astronomer, and academic (b. 1713)
    • 1772 – Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1703)
    • 1795 – Giovanni Arduino, Italian miner and geologist (b. 1714)
    • 1801 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
    • 1804 – Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien (b. 1772)
    • 1843 – Robert Southey, English poet, historian, and translator (b. 1774)
    • 1843 – Guadalupe Victoria, Mexican general and politician, 1st President of Mexico (b. 1786)
    • 1854 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (b. 1795)
    • 1863 – Edwin Vose Sumner, American general (b. 1797)
    • 1869 – Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1803)
    • 1884 – Ezra Abbot, American scholar and academic (b. 1819)
    • 1891 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general (b. 1807)
    • 1915 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American golfer, tennis player, and engineer (b. 1856)
    • 1920 – Evelina Haverfield, British suffragette and aid worker (b. 1867)
    • 1932 – Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (b. 1871)
    • 1934 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1878)
    • 1934 – Lilyan Tashman, American actress (b. 1896)
    • 1936 – Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1865)
    • 1939 – Evald Aav, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1900)
    • 1939 – Ali Hikmet Ayerdem, Turkish general and politician (b. 1877)
    • 1943 – Cornelia Fort, American soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 1945 – Arthur Nebe, German SS officer (b. 1894)
    • 1951 – Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor and composer (b. 1871)
    • 1953 – Ed Voss, American basketball player (b. 1922)
    • 1956 – Hatı Çırpan, Turkish politician (b. 1890)
    • 1958 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (b. 1923)
    • 1970 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1920)
    • 1975 – Joe Medwick, American baseball player and coach (b. 1911)
    • 1978 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, President of Ireland (b. 1911)
    • 1980 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (b. 1888)
    • 1985 – Michael Redgrave, English actor, director, and manager (b. 1908)
    • 1987 – Walter L. Gordon, Canadian accountant, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1906)
    • 1987 – Robert Preston, American captain, actor, and singer (b. 1918)
    • 1991 – Vedat Dalokay, Turkish architect and politician, Mayor of Ankara (b. 1927)
    • 1991 – Leo Fender, American businessman, founded Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (b. 1909)
    • 1992 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1914)
    • 1992 – Natalie Sleeth, American pianist and composer (b. 1930)
    • 1994 – Macdonald Carey, American actor (b. 1913)
    • 1994 – Lili Damita, French-American actress and singer (b. 1904)
    • 1994 – Aleksandrs Laime, Latvian-born explorer (b. 1911)
    • 1997 – Wilbert Awdry, English cleric and author, created Thomas the Tank Engine (b. 1911)
    • 1998 – Galina Ulanova, Russian ballerina (b. 1910)
    • 1999 – Jean Guitton, French philosopher and author (b. 1905)
    • 1999 – Ernie Wise, English comedian and actor (b. 1925)
    • 2001 – Chung Ju-yung, South Korean businessman, founded Hyundai (b. 1915)
    • 2001 – Anthony Steel, English actor and singer (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Herman Talmadge, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 70th Governor of Georgia (b. 1913)
    • 2003 – Shivani, Indian author (b. 1923)
    • 2003 – Umar Wirahadikusumah, Indonesian general and politician, 4th Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1924)
    • 2004 – Ludmilla Tchérina, French actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Barney Martin, American police officer and actor (b. 1923)
    • 2005 – Bobby Short, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – Drew Hayes, American author and illustrator (b. 1969)
    • 2007 – Sven O. Høiby, Norwegian hurdler and journalist (b. 1936)
    • 2008 – Denis Cosgrove, English-American geographer and academic (b. 1948)
    • 2008 – Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente, Chilean architect and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2009 – Walt Poddubny, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1960)
    • 2010 – Wolfgang Wagner, German director and manager (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Loleatta Holloway, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 2011 – Gerd Klier, German footballer (b. 1944)
    • 2011 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2011 – Pinetop Perkins, American singer and pianist (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Albrecht Dietz, German economist and businessman (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Ron Erhardt, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Robert Fuest, English director, screenwriter, and production designer (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Tonino Guerra, Italian poet and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Irving Louis Horowitz, American sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Yuri Razuvaev, Russian chess player and trainer (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Marina Salye, Russian geologist and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Rick Hautala, American author and screenwriter (b. 1949)
    • 2013 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter and politician (b. 1952)
    • 2013 – Giancarlo Zagni, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Qoriniasi Bale, Fijian lawyer and politician, 25th Attorney-General of Fiji (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Bill Boedeker, American football player and soldier (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Jack Fleck, American golfer (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Simeon Oduoye, Nigerian police officer and politician (b. 1945)
    • 2014 – James Rebhorn, American actor (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Ishaya Bakut, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Benue State (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – James C. Binnicker, American sergeant (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (b. 1909)
    • 2015 – Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singer and guitarist (Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann) (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (b. 1955)
    • 2017 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (b. 1929)
    • 2017 – Colin Dexter, English author (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (2007–2017) (b. 1950)
    • 2017 – Mike Hall, British cyclist (b. 1981)
    • 2019 – Victor Hochhauser CBE, British music promoter (b. 1923)[21]
    • 2019 – Gonzalo Portocarrero, Peruvian sociologist (b. 1949)

    Holidays and observances on March 21

    • Arbor Day (Portugal)
    • Birth of Benito Juárez, a Fiestas Patrias (Mexico)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello
      • Passing of Saint Benedict (Order of Saint Benedict)
      • Birillus
      • Enda of Aran
      • Nicholas of Flüe
      • Serapion of Thmuis
      • Thomas Cranmer (Anglicanism)
      • March 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Holy Saturday can fall, while April 24 is the latest; celebrated on the Saturday before Easter (Christianity)
    • Education Freedom Day
    • Harmony Day (Australia)
    • Human Rights Day (South Africa)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Namibia from South African mandate in 1990
    • International Colour Day (International)
    • International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (International)
    • International Day of Forests (International), by proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly
    • Mother’s Day (most of the Arab world)
    • National Tree Planting Day (Lesotho)
    • Newroz (Iran, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia)
    • Truant’s Day (Poland, Faroe Islands)
    • Vernal equinox related observances (see March 20)
    • World Down Syndrome Day (International)
    • World Poetry Day (International)
    • World Puppetry Day (International)
    • Youth Day (Tunisia)

  • March 12- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
    • 1622 – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
    • 1689 – James II of England landed at Kinsale, starting the Williamite War in Ireland.
    • 1811 – Peninsular War: A day after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delays the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha.
    • 1912 – The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States.
    • 1913 – The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra.
    • 1918 – Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713.
    • 1920 – The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin.
    • 1928 – In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people.
    • 1930 – Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200-mile march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India.
    • 1933 – Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his “fireside chats”.
    • 1938 – Anschluss: German troops occupy and absorb Austria.
    • 1940 – Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia.
    • 1942 – The Battle of Java ends with the surrender of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command to the Japanese Empire in Bandung, West Java, Dutch East Indies.
    • 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.
    • 1950 – The Llandow air disaster kills 80 people when the aircraft they are travelling in crashes near Sigingstone, Wales. At the time this was the world’s deadliest air disaster.
    • 1967 – Suharto takes power from Sukarno when the People’s Consultative Assembly inaugurate him as Acting President of Indonesia.
    • 1968 – Mauritius achieves independence from the United Kingdom.
    • 1971 – The 1971 Turkish military memorandum is sent to the Süleyman Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigns.
    • 1989 – Sir Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the world wide web.
    • 1992 – Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
    • 1993 – Several bombs explode in Mumbai, India, killing about 300 people and injuring hundreds more.
    • 1993 – North Korea announces that it will withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and refuses to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites.
    • 1999 – Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
    • 2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
    • 2003 – The World Health Organization officially release a global warning of outbreaks of Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
    • 2004 – The President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, is impeached by its National Assembly: the first such impeachment in the nation’s history.
    • 2009 – Financier Bernard Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street’s history.
    • 2011 – A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
    • 2014 – A gas explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills eight and injures 70 others.
    • 2019 – In the House of Commons, the revised EU Withdrawal Bill was rejected by a margin of 149 votes.

    Births on March 12

    • 1270 – Charles, Count of Valois (d. 1325)
    • 1515 – Caspar Othmayr, German Lutheran pastor and composer (d. 1553)
    • 1607 – Paul Gerhardt, German poet and composer (d. 1676)
    • 1613 – André Le Nôtre, French gardener and architect (d. 1700)
    • 1626 – John Aubrey, English historian and philosopher (d. 1697)
    • 1637 – Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and Albany (d. 1671)
    • 1672 – Richard Steele, Irish-Welsh journalist and politician (d. 1729)
    • 1685 – George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher (d. 1753)
    • 1710 – Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778)
    • 1735 – François-Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest, French politician and diplomat (d. 1821)
    • 1753 – Jean Denis, French politician, lawyer, jurist, journalist, and historian (d. 1827)
    • 1766 – Claudius Buchanan, Scottish theologian (d. 1815)
    • 1781 – Frederica of Baden, Queen consort to Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1826)
    • 1784 – William Buckland, English geologist and paleontologist; Dean of Westminster (d. 1856)
    • 1795 – William Lyon Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Toronto (d. 1861)
    • 1795 – George Tyler Wood, American military officer and politician (d. 1858)
    • 1806 – Jane Pierce, American wife of Franklin Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)
    • 1807 – James Abbott, Indian Army officer (d. 1896)
    • 1815 – Louis-Jules Trochu, French military leader and politician (d. 1896)
    • 1821 – John Abbott, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893)
    • 1821 – Medo Pucić, Croatian writer and politician (d. 1882)
    • 1823 – Katsu Kaishū, Japanese statesman (d. 1899)
    • 1824 – Gustav Kirchhoff, Russian-German physicist and academic (d. 1887)
    • 1832 – Charles Boycott, English farmer and agent (d. 1897)
    • 1834 – Hilary A. Herbert, Secretary of the Navy (d. 1919)
    • 1835 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1909)
    • 1837 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (d. 1911)
    • 1838 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and academic (d. 1907)
    • 1843 – Gabriel Tarde, French sociologist and criminologist (d. 1904)
    • 1855 – Eduard Birnbaum, Polish-born German cantor (d. 1920)
    • 1857 – William V. Ranous, American actor and director (d. 1915)
    • 1858 – Adolph Ochs, American publisher (d. 1935)
    • 1859 – Ernesto Cesàro, Italian mathematician (d. 1906)
    • 1860 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian poet and author (d. 1895)
    • 1863 – Gabriele D’Annunzio, Italian soldier, journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1938)
    • 1863 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian and Ukrainian mineralogist and chemist (d. 1945)
    • 1864 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (d. 1922)
    • 1874 – Edmund Eysler, Austrian composer (d. 1949)
    • 1877 – Wilhelm Frick, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 1946)
    • 1878 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1903)
    • 1880 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, English-American chemist and academic (d. 1952)
    • 1881 – Väinö Tanner, Finnish politician of Social Democratic Party of Finland (d. 1966)
    • 1882 – Carlos Blanco Galindo, Bolivian politician (d. 1943)
    • 1883 – Sándor Jávorka, Hungarian botanist (d. 1961)
    • 1888 – Walter Hermann Bucher, German-American geologist and paleontologist (d. 1965)
    • 1888 – Hans Knappertsbusch, German conductor (d. 1965)
    • 1890 – Evert Taube, Swedish singer-songwriter and lute player (d. 1976)
    • 1896 – Jesse Fuller, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1976)
    • 1898 – Tian Han, Chinese playwright (d. 1968)
    • 1898 – Luitpold Steidle, German army officer and politician (d. 1984)
    • 1899 – Ramón Muttis, Argentine footballer (d. 1955)
    • 1900 – Rinus van den Berge, Dutch athlete (d. 1972)
    • 1900 – Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, 19th President of Colombia (d. 1975)
    • 1904 – Lyudmila Keldysh, Russian mathematician (d. 1976)
    • 1905 – Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (d. 1982)
    • 1907 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1908 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)
    • 1908 – David Marshall, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Singapore (d. 1995)
    • 1909 – Petras Cvirka, Lithuanian author (d. 1947)
    • 1910 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1980)
    • 1910 – László Lékai, Archbishop of Esztergom and Cardinal (d. 1986)
    • 1911 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican academic and politician, 49th President of Mexico (d. 1979)
    • 1912 – Willie Hall, English international footballer (d. 1967)
    • 1912 – Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet and academic (d. 2006)
    • 1913 – Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
    • 1913 – Agathe von Trapp, Hungarian-American singer and author (d. 2010)
    • 1915 – Alberto Burri, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1995)
    • 1915 – Jiří Mucha, Czech journalist (d. 1991)
    • 1917 – Leonard Chess, American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (d. 1969)
    • 1917 – Millard Kaufman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1917 – Googie Withers, Indian-Australian actress (d. 2011)
    • 1918 – Pádraig Faulkner, Irish Fianna Fáil politician (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1921 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (d. 2001)
    • 1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986)
    • 1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969)
    • 1922 – Lane Kirkland, American sailor and union leader (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater and cyclist (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (d. 2005)
    • 1923 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Mae Young, American wrestler (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1925 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – George Ariyoshi, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii
    • 1926 – Arthur A. Hartman, American career diplomat (d. 2015)
    • 1926 – John Clellon Holmes, American author and professor (d. 1988)
    • 1926 – David Nadien, American violinist (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Emmett Leith, professor of electrical engineering and co-inventor of three-dimensional holography (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Sudharmono, 5th Vice President of Indonesia (d. 2006)
    • 1928 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Antony Acland, British former diplomat and Provost of Eton College
    • 1931 – Józef Tischner, Polish priest and philosopher (d. 2000)
    • 1932 – Bob Houbregs, Canadian basketball player (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Andrew Young, American pastor and politician, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
    • 1933 – Myrna Fahey, American actress (d. 1973)
    • 1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress
    • 1934 – Francisco J. Ayala, Spanish-American evolutionary biologist and philosopher
    • 1936 – Virginia Hamilton, American children’s books author (d. 2002)
    • 1936 – Michał Heller, Polish professor of philosophy
    • 1936 – Eddie Sutton, American basketball player and coach
    • 1937 – Zoltán Horvath, Hungarian sabre fencer
    • 1937 – Zurab Sotkilava, Georgian operatic tenor (d. 2017)
    • 1938 – Vladimir Msryan, Armenian actor, (d. 2010)
    • 1938 – Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1938 – Juan Horacio Suárez, Argentine bishop
    • 1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017)
    • 1941 – Josip Skoblar, former Croatian footballer
    • 1942 – Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player (d. 2020)
    • 1943 – Ratko Mladić, Serbian general
    • 1944 – Erwin Mueller, former American basketball player (d. 2018)
    • 1945 – Anne Summers, Australian feminist writer, editor, publisher and public servant
    • 1946 – Dean Cundey, American cinematographer and film director
    • 1946 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer and dancer
    • 1946 – Frank Welker, American voice actor and singer
    • 1947 – Peter Harry Carstensen, German educator and politician
    • 1947 – Jan-Erik Enestam, Finland-Swedish politician
    • 1947 – David Rigert, Soviet Olympic weightlifter
    • 1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusetts
    • 1948 – Virginia Bottomley, Scottish social worker and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
    • 1948 – Kent Conrad, American politician
    • 1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1949 – Rob Cohen, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1949 – David Mellor, British politician
    • 1950 – Javier Clemente, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1952 – André Comte-Sponville, French philosopher
    • 1952 – Yasuhiko Okudera, former Japanese footballer
    • 1952 – John Mitchell, English footballer, forward
    • 1953 – Pavel Pinigin, former Soviet wrestler and Olympic champion
    • 1954 – Anish Kapoor, Indian-English sculptor
    • 1956 – Ove Aunli, former Norwegian cross-country skier
    • 1956 – Stanisław Bobak, Polish ski jumper (d. 2010)
    • 1956 – Steve Harris, English bass player and songwriter
    • 1956 – Lesley Manville, English actress
    • 1956 – Dale Murphy, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1956 – Pim Verbeek, Dutch football manager (d. 2019)
    • 1957 – Patrick Battiston, French footballer and coach
    • 1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1957 – Andrey Lopatov, Soviet basketball player
    • 1958 – Phil Anderson, English-Australian cyclist
    • 1959 – Milorad Dodik, Bosnian Serb politician and president of Republika Srpska
    • 1959 – Luenell, American comedian and actress
    • 1959 – Michael Walter, German luger (d. 2016)
    • 1960 – Jason Beghe, American actor
    • 1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor and painter
    • 1961 – Titus Welliver, American actor
    • 1962 – Julia Campbell, American actress
    • 1962 – Andreas Köpke, former German footballer
    • 1962 – Chris Sanders, American illustrator and voice actor
    • 1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player and minister
    • 1963 – John Andretti, American race car driver (d. 2020)
    • 1963 – Candy Costie, American swimmer
    • 1963 – Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner and coach
    • 1963 – Reiner Gies, German boxer
    • 1963 – Ian Holloway, English footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Paul Way, English golfer
    • 1964 – Dieter Eckstein, retired German footballer
    • 1964 – Umirzak Shukeyev, Kazakh chairman of Samruk-Kazyna
    • 1965 – Steve Finley, American baseball player
    • 1965 – Ivari Padar, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Agriculture of the Estonian Social Democratic Party
    • 1966 – David Daniels, American countertenor
    • 1966 – Grant Long, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Julio Dely Valdés, Panamanian footballer and manager
    • 1968 – Tammy Duckworth, Thai-American colonel, pilot, and politician
    • 1968 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor and producer
    • 1969 – Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist and author
    • 1970 – Karen Bradley, British politician
    • 1970 – Dave Eggers, American author and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Mathias Grönberg, Swedish golfer
    • 1970 – Rex Walters, American basketball player and coach
    • 1971 – Isaiah Rider, American basketball player and rapper
    • 1971 – Dragutin Topić, Serbian high jumper
    • 1972 – Doron Sheffer, Israeli basketball player
    • 1974 – Charles Akonnor, former Ghanaian footballer
    • 1974 – Walid Badir, former Israeli footballer
    • 1975 – Nicolae Grigore, former Romanian footballer
    • 1975 – Edgaras Jankauskas, former Lithuanian footballer
    • 1975 – Srđan Pecelj, Bosnian footballer
    • 1976 – Deron Quint, American ice hockey defenseman
    • 1976 – Zhao Wei, Chinese actress, film director, producer and pop singer
    • 1977 – Michelle Burgher, track and field athlete
    • 1977 – Ramiro Corrales, American soccer player
    • 1977 – Amdy Faye, former Senegalese footballer
    • 1977 – Brent Johnson, American ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Casey Mears, American race car driver
    • 1978 – Marco Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
    • 1978 – Arina Tanemura, Japanese author and illustrator
    • 1979 – Rhys Coiro, American actor
    • 1979 – Pete Doherty, English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer, and artist
    • 1979 – Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey player and coach
    • 1979 – Gerard López, former Spanish footballer
    • 1979 – Ben Sandford, New Zealand skeleton racer
    • 1979 – Tim Wieskötter, German sprint canoer
    • 1979 – Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadorian goalkeeper
    • 1980 – Césinha, Brazilian footballer
    • 1980 – Becky Holliday, American pole vaulter
    • 1980 – Jens Mouris, Dutch cyclist
    • 1980 – Douglas Murray, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler and kick-boxer
    • 1981 – Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1981 – Holly Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1982 – Lili Bordán, Hungarian-American actress
    • 1982 – Samm Levine, American actor and comedian
    • 1982 – Ilya Nikulin, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Hisato Satō, Japanese footballer
    • 1982 – Yūto Satō, Japanese footballer
    • 1982 – Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer
    • 1983 – Atif Aslam, Pakistani singer and actor
    • 1984 – Shreya Ghoshal, Indian singer
    • 1984 – Jaimie Alexander, American actress
    • 1985 – Marco Bonanomi, Italian racing driver
    • 1985 – Aleksandr Bukharov, Russian footballer
    • 1985 – Ed Clancy, English track and road cyclist
    • 1985 – Andriy Tovt, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1986 – Martynas Andriuškevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1986 – Oleh Dopilka, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1986 – Danny Jones, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1986 – Ben Offereins, Australian runner
    • 1986 – František Rajtoral, Czech footballer (d. 2017)
    • 1987 – Manuele Boaro, Italian cyclist
    • 1987 – Jessica Hardy, American swimmer
    • 1987 – Maxwell Holt, American volleyball player
    • 1987 – Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player
    • 1987 – Chris Seitz, American soccer player
    • 1987 – Vadim Shipachyov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Pablo Velázquez, Paraguayan footballer
    • 1988 – Sebastian Brendel, German canoe racer
    • 1988 – Kostas Mitroglou, Greek footballer
    • 1988 – Cristian Chagas Tarouco, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Jordan Adéoti, French footballer
    • 1989 – Vytautas Černiauskas, Lithuanian footballer
    • 1989 – Tyler Clary, former American swimmer
    • 1989 – Richard Eckersley, English footballer
    • 1989 – Chen Jianghua, Chinese basketball player
    • 1989 – Siim Luts, Estonian footballer
    • 1990 – Alexander Kröckel, German skeleton racer
    • 1990 – Irakli Kvekveskiri, Georgian footballer
    • 1990 – Dawid Kubacki, Polish ski jumper
    • 1990 – Matias Myttynen, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Ilija Nestorovski, Macedonian footballer
    • 1990 – Milena Raičević, Montenegrin handballer
    • 1990 – Mikko Sumusalo, Finnish footballer
    • 1991 – Felix Kroos, German footballer
    • 1991 – Niclas Heimann, German footballer
    • 1991 – Leandro Fernandez, Argentine footballer
    • 1992 – Daniele Baselli, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Jordan Ferri, French footballer
    • 1992 – Ciara Mageean, Irish middle-distance runner
    • 1992 – Jiří Skalák, Czech footballer
    • 1993 – Shehu Abdullahi, Nigerian footballer
    • 1993 – Amjad Attwan, Iraqi footballer
    • 1993 – Anton Shramchenko, Belarusian footballer
    • 1994 – Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist
    • 1994 – Jerami Grant, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1996 – Sehrou Guirassy, French footballer
    • 1996 – Karim Hafez, Egyptian footballer
    • 1996 – Robert Murić, Croatian footballer
    • 1997 – Dean Henderson, English footballer
    • 1997 – Allan Saint-Maximin, French footballer
    • 1997 – Felipe Vizeu, Brazilian footballer
    • 1998 – Mecole Hardman, American football player
    • 1998 – Daniel Samohin, Israeli figure skater
    • 1998 – Elizaveta Ukolova, Czech figure skater

    Deaths on March 12

    • 417 – Innocent I, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 604 – Gregory I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 540)
    • 1022 – Symeon the New Theologian (b. 949)
    • 1316 – Stefan Dragutin (b. c. 1244)
    • 1539 – Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English diplomat and politician (b.1477)
    • 1648 – Tirso de Molina, Spanish monk and poet (b. 1571)
    • 1699 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish politician (b. 1635)
    • 1898 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish-Swedish journalist, historian, and author (b. 1818)
    • 1916 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author (b. 1830)
    • 1925 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese physician and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1866)
    • 1929 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Atlanta (b. 1851)
    • 1935 – Mihajlo Pupin, Serbian-American physicist and chemist (b. 1858)
    • 1942 – William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
    • 1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
    • 1946 – Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian soldier and politician, Head of State of Hungary (b. 1897)
    • 1949 – Wilhelm Steinkopf, German chemist (b. 1879)
    • 1954 – Marianne Weber, German sociologist and suffragist (b. 1870)
    • 1955 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1920)
    • 1955 – Theodor Plievier, German author best known for his anti-war novel (b. 1892)
    • 1957 – Josephine Hull, American actress (b. 1877)
    • 1971 – Eugene Lindsay Opie, American physician and pathologist (b. 1873)
    • 1973 – Frankie Frisch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
    • 1974 – George D. Sax, American banker and businessman (b. 1904)
    • 1985 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (b. 1899)
    • 1989 – Maurice Evans, English-American actor (b. 1901)
    • 1991 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
    • 1991 – William Heinesen, Faroese author, poet, and author (b. 1900)
    • 1992 – Lucy M. Lewis, American potter (b. 1890)
    • 1998 – Beatrice Wood, American painter and potter (b. 1893)
    • 1999 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1916)
    • 1999 – Bidu Sayão, Brazilian-American soprano (b. 1902)
    • 2000 – Aleksandar Nikolić, Yugoslav basketball coach (b. 1924)
    • 2001 – Morton Downey Jr., American singer-songwriter, actor, and talk show host (b. 1933)
    • 2001 – Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927)
    • 2001 – Victor Westhoff, Dutch botanist and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932)
    • 2002 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
    • 2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952)
    • 2003 – Howard Fast, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1914)
    • 2003 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
    • 2004 – Milton Resnick, Russian-American painter (b. 1917)
    • 2006 – Victor Sokolov, Russian-American priest and journalist (b. 1947)
    • 2008 – Jorge Guinzburg, Argentinian journalist and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, Italian-French soldier and supercentenarian (b. 1897)
    • 2010 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1920)
    • 2011 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Dick Harter, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Friedhelm Konietzka, German-Swiss footballer and manager (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Clive Burr, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1957)
    • 2013 – Michael Grigsby, English director and producer (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Ganesh Pyne, Indian painter and illustrator (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (b. 1936)
    • 2015 – Willie Barrow, American minister and activist (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Michael Graves, American architect and academic, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Ada Jafri, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – Rafiq Azad, Bangladeshi poet and author (b. 1942)
    • 2016 – Felix Ibru, Nigerian architect and politician, Governor of Delta State (b. 1935)
    • 2016 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on March 12

    • Arbor Day (China)
    • Arbor Day (Taiwan)
    • Aztec New Year
    • Christian feast day:
      • Alphege
      • Bernard of Carinola (or of Capua)
      • Gorgonius, Peter Cubicularius and Dorotheus of Nicomedia
      • Mura (McFeredach)
      • Fina
      • Maximilian of Tebessa
      • Paul Aurelian
      • Pope Gregory I (Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church, and Anglican Communion)
      • Theophanes the Confessor
      • March 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • National Day (Mauritius)
    • World Day Against Cyber Censorship
    • Youth Day (Zambia)

  • February 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    For superstitious reasons, when the Romans began to intercalate to bring their calendar into line with the solar year, they chose not to place their extra month of Mercedonius after February but within it. February 24 — known in the Roman calendar as “the sixth day before the Kalends of March” — was replaced by the first day of this month since it followed Terminalia, the festival of the Roman god of boundaries. After the end of Mercedonius, the rest of the days of February were observed and the new year began with the first day of March. The overlaid religious festivals of February were so complicated that Julius Caesar opted not to change it at all during his 46 bc calendar reform. The extra day of his system’s leap years was located in the same place as the old intercalary month but he opted to ignore it as a date. Instead, the sixth day before the Kalends of March was simply said to last for 48 hours and all the other days continued to bear their original names. (The Roman practice of inclusive counting initially caused the priests in charge of the calendar to add the extra hours every three years instead of every four and Augustus was obliged to omit them for a span of decades until the system was back to where it should have been.) When the extra hours finally began to be reckoned as two separate days instead of a doubled sixth (“bissextile”) one, the leap day was still taken to be the one following hard on the February 23 Terminalia. Although February 29 has been popularly understood as the leap day of leap years since the beginning of sequential reckoning of the days of months in the late Middle Ages, in Britain and most other countries, no formal replacement of February 24 as the leap day of the Julian and Gregorian calendars has occurred. The exceptions include Sweden and Finland, who enacted legislation to move the day to February 29. This custom still has some effect around the world, for example with respect to name days in Hungary.

    February 24 in History

    • 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
    • 1303 – Battle of Roslin, of the First War of Scottish Independence.
    • 1386 – King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.
    • 1525 – A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia.
    • 1538 – Treaty of Nagyvárad between Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and King John Zápolya of Hungary and Croatia.
    • 1582 – With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.
    • 1607 – L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.
    • 1711 – The London première of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.
    • 1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
    • 1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.
    • 1809 – London’s Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute.
    • 1821 – Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with Plan of Iguala.
    • 1822 – The first Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.
    • 1826 – The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
    • 1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.
    • 1848 – King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.
    • 1854 – A Penny Red with perforations was the first perforated postage stamp to be officially issued for distribution.
    • 1863 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
    • 1868 – Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.
    • 1875 – The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.
    • 1881 – China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.
    • 1895 – Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, that ends with the Spanish–American War in 1898.
    • 1916 – The Governor-General of Korea establishes a clinic called Jahyewon in Sorokdo to segregate Hansen’s disease patients.
    • 1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
    • 1918 – Estonian Declaration of Independence.
    • 1920 – Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom following her election as a Member of Parliament (MP) three months earlier.
    • 1920 – The Nazi Party (NSDAP) was founded by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich, Germany
    • 1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.
    • 1942 – An order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all “persons of Japanese racial origin”.
    • 1944 – Merrill’s Marauders: The Marauders begin their 1,000-mile journey through Japanese-occupied Burma.
    • 1945 – Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.
    • 1946 – Colonel Juan Perón, founder of the political movement that became known as Peronism, is elected to his first term as President of Argentina.
    • 1949 – The Armistice Agreements are signed, to formally end the hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
    • 1971 – The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, is killed three days earlier. P.K. Mookiah Thevar is appointed as the new chairman.
    • 1976 – The current constitution of Cuba is formally proclaimed.
    • 1978 – The Yuba County Five disappear in California. Four of their bodies are found four months later.
    • 1980 – The United States Olympic hockey team completes its Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal.
    • 1981 – The 6.7 Ms Gulf of Corinth earthquake affected Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people were killed, 400 were injured, and damage totaled $812 million.
    • 1983 – A special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.
    • 1984 – Tyrone Mitchell perpetrates the 49th Street Elementary School shooting in Los Angeles, killing two children and injuring 12 more.
    • 1989 – United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, rips open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
    • 1996 – Two civilian airplanes operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue are shot down in international waters by the Cuban Air Force.
    • 1999 – China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, crashes on approach to Wenzhou Longwan International Airport in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. All 61 people on board are killed.
    • 2004 – The 6.3 Mw Al Hoceima earthquake strikes northern Morocco with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 628 people are killed, 926 are injured, and up to 15,000 are displaced.
    • 2006 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
    • 2007 – Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
    • 2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba and the Council of Ministers after 32 years. He remains as head of the Communist Party for another three years.
    • 2015 – A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California following a collision with a truck, leaving more than 30 injured.
    • 2016 – Tara Air Flight 193, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, crashed, with 23 fatalities, in Solighopte, Myagdi District, Dhaulagiri Zone, while en route from Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport.

    Births on February 24

    • 1103 – Emperor Toba of Japan (d. 1156)
    • 1304 – Ibn Battuta, Moroccan jurist
    • 1413 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (d. 1465)
    • 1463 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (d. 1494)
    • 1494 – Johan Friis, Danish statesman (d. 1570)
    • 1500 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)
    • 1536 – Pope Clement VIII (d. 1605)
    • 1545 – John of Austria (d. 1578)
    • 1553 – Cherubino Alberti, Italian engraver and painter (d. 1615)
    • 1557 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619)
    • 1593 – Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and courtier (d. 1625)
    • 1595 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (d. 1640)
    • 1604 – Arcangela Tarabotti, Venetian nun and feminist (d. 1652)
    • 1619 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (d. 1690)
    • 1622 – Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (d. 1665)
    • 1709 – Jacques de Vaucanson, French engineer (d. 1782)
    • 1721 – John McKinly, Irish-American physician and politician, 1st Governor of Delaware (d. 1796)
    • 1723 – John Burgoyne, English general and politician (d. 1792)
    • 1736 – Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1806)
    • 1743 – Joseph Banks, English botanist and explorer (d. 1820)
    • 1762 – Charles Frederick Horn, German-English composer and educator (d. 1830)
    • 1767 – Rama II of Siam (d. 1824)
    • 1774 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (d. 1850)
    • 1786 – Martin W. Bates, American lawyer and politician (d. 1869)
    • 1786 – Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist, author, and academic (d. 1859)
    • 1788 – Johan Christian Dahl, Norwegian-German painter (d. 1857)
    • 1827 – Lydia Becker, English-French activist (d. 1890)
    • 1831 – Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1899)
    • 1835 – Julius Vogel, English-New Zealand journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1899)
    • 1836 – Winslow Homer, American painter and illustrator (d. 1910)
    • 1837 – Rosalía de Castro, Spanish poet (d. 1885)
    • 1842 – Arrigo Boito, Italian journalist, author, and composer (d. 1918)
    • 1848 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1907)
    • 1852 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933)
    • 1868 – Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (d. 1949)
    • 1869 – Zara DuPont, American suffragist (d. 1946)
    • 1874 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1955)
    • 1877 – Rudolph Ganz, Swiss pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1972)
    • 1877 – Ettie Rout, Australian-New Zealand educator and activist (d. 1936)
    • 1885 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (d. 1966)
    • 1885 – Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish author, poet, and painter (d. 1939)
    • 1890 – Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975)
    • 1896 – Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
    • 1898 – Kurt Tank, German pilot and engineer (d. 1983)
    • 1900 – Irmgard Bartenieff, German-American dancer and physical therapist, leading pioneer of dance therapy (d. 1981)
    • 1903 – Vladimir Bartol, Italian-Slovene author and playwright (d. 1967)
    • 1908 – Telford Taylor, American general, lawyer, and historian (d. 1998)
    • 1909 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (d. 1971)
    • 1914 – Ralph Erskine, English-Swedish architect, designed The Ark and Byker Wall (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Weldon Kees, American author, poet, painter, and pianist (d. 1955)
    • 1915 – Jim Ferrier, Australian golfer (d. 1986)
    • 1919 – John Carl Warnecke, American architect (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1922 – Richard Hamilton, English painter and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1922 – Steven Hill, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – Hal Herring, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Erik Nielsen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Emmanuelle Riva, French actress (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Kintaro Ohki, South Korean wrestler (d. 2006)
    • 1930 – Barbara Lawrence, American model and actress (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Dominic Chianese, American actor and singer
    • 1931 – Brian Close, English cricketer and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Michel Legrand, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019)
    • 1932 – Zell Miller, American sergeant and politician, 79th Governor of Georgia (d. 2018)
    • 1932 – John Vernon, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1933 – Judah Folkman, American physician and biologist (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Ali Mazrui, Kenyan-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – David “Fathead” Newman, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2009)
    • 1934 – Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2000)
    • 1934 – Johnny Hills, English footballer, full-back
    • 1934 – Renata Scotto, Italian soprano
    • 1935 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Guillermo O’Donnell, Argentine political scientist (d. 2011)
    • 1938 – James Farentino, American actor (d. 2012)
    • 1938 – Phil Knight, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Nike, Inc.
    • 1939 – Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971)
    • 1940 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Denis Law, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1941 – Joanie Sommers, American singer and actress
    • 1942 – Colin Bond, Australian race car driver
    • 1942 – Paul Jones, English singer, harmonica player, and actor
    • 1942 – Joe Lieberman, American lawyer and politician
    • 1942 – Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Indian philosopher, theorist, and academic
    • 1943 – Kent Haruf, American novelist (d. 2014)
    • 1943 – Gigi Meroni, Italian footballer (d. 1967)
    • 1943 – Pablo Milanés, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1943 – Terry Semel, American businessman
    • 1944 – Nicky Hopkins, English keyboard player (d. 1994)
    • 1944 – Ivica Račan, Croatian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Croatia (d. 2007)
    • 1945 – Barry Bostwick, American actor and singer
    • 1946 – Grigory Margulis, Russian mathematician and academic
    • 1947 – Mike Fratello, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1947 – Rupert Holmes, English-American singer-songwriter and playwright
    • 1947 – Edward James Olmos, American actor and director
    • 1948 – Jayalalithaa, Indian actress and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2016)
    • 1948 – Walter Smith, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1948 – Tim Staffell, English singer and guitarist
    • 1948 – Dennis Waterman, English actor
    • 1950 – Steve McCurry, American photographer and journalist
    • 1951 – David Ford, Northern Irish social worker and politician
    • 1951 – Derek Randall, English cricketer
    • 1951 – Debra Jo Rupp, American actress
    • 1951 – Helen Shaver, Canadian actress and director
    • 1951 – Laimdota Straujuma, Latvian economist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Latvia
    • 1953 – Anatoli Kozhemyakin, Soviet footballer (d. 1974)
    • 1954 – Plastic Bertrand, Belgian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1954 – Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican American award-winning author (d. 2016)
    • 1954 – Aurora Levins Morales, Puerto Rican Jewish writer and activist
    • 1954 – Sid Meier, Canadian-American game designer and programmer, created the Civilization series
    • 1954 – Mike Pickering, English DJ and saxophonist
    • 1955 – Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founded Apple Inc. and Pixar (d. 2011)
    • 1955 – Eddie Johnson, American basketball player
    • 1955 – Alain Prost, French race car driver
    • 1956 – Judith Butler, American philosopher, theorist, and author
    • 1956 – Eddie Murray, American baseball player and coach
    • 1956 – Paula Zahn, American journalist and producer
    • 1958 – Sammy Kershaw, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1958 – Mark Moses, American actor
    • 1959 – Beth Broderick, American actress and director
    • 1959 – Mike Whitney, Australian cricketer and television host
    • 1963 – Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro
    • 1963 – Mike Vernon, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1963 – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Gujarati family, most versatile filmmaker of Hindi cinema.
    • 1964 – Russell Ingall, British-Australian race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Paul Gruber, American football player
    • 1965 – Jane Swift, American businesswoman and politician, Governor of Massachusetts
    • 1966 – Billy Zane, American actor and producer
    • 1967 – Brian Schmidt, Australian astrophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1968 – Mitch Hedberg, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
    • 1969 – Kim Seung-woo, South Korean actor
    • 1970 – Jeff Garcia, American football player and coach
    • 1970 – Neil Sullivan, English born Scottish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
    • 1970 – Jonathan Ward, American actor
    • 1971 – Josh Bernstein, American anthropologist, explorer, and author
    • 1971 – Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish race car driver
    • 1971 – Brian Savage, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Teodor Currentzis, Greek conductor and composer
    • 1972 – Manon Rhéaume, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1973 – Stubby Clapp, Canadian baseball player and coach
    • 1973 – Chris Fehn, American drummer
    • 1973 – Alexei Kovalev, Russian ice hockey player and pilot
    • 1974 – Chad Hugo, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1974 – Mike Lowell, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Bonnie Somerville, American actress
    • 1975 – Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian singer-songwriter and fiddler
    • 1976 – Crista Flanagan, American actress and screenwriter
    • 1976 – Zach Johnson, American golfer
    • 1976 – Bradley McGee, Australian cyclist and coach
    • 1976 – Matt Skiba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1976 – Marco Campos, Brazilian Formula 3000 race car driver (d. 1995)
    • 1977 – Jason Akermanis, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1977 – Bronson Arroyo, American baseball player and singer
    • 1977 – Floyd Mayweather, Jr., American boxer
    • 1978 – Gary, South Korean rapper and producer
    • 1978 – Shinya, Japanese drummer and songwriter
    • 1978 – John Nolan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – DeWayne Wise, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Leon Constantine, English footballer
    • 1980 – Shinsuke Nakamura, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
    • 1981 – Felipe Baloy, Panamanian footballer
    • 1981 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
    • 1981 – Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer
    • 1981 – Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1982 – Nick Blackburn, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Emanuel Villa, Argentinian footballer
    • 1982 – Klára Koukalová, Czech tennis player
    • 1982 – Fala Chen, Chinese actress and singer
    • 1984 – Corey Graves, American wrestler and sportscaster
    • 1985 – Nakash Aziz, Indian playback singer and music composer
    • 1987 – Kim Kyu-jong, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor
    • 1988 – Mathieu Baudry, French footballer
    • 1989 – Trace Cyrus, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1991 – Madison Hubbell, American ice dancer
    • 1991 – Semih Kaya, Turkish footballer
    • 1996 – Royce Freeman, American football player

    Deaths on February 24

    • 616 – Æthelberht of Kent (b. 560)
    • 951 – Liu Yun, Chinese governor (jiedushi)
    • 1018 – Borrell, bishop of Vic
    • 1114 – Thomas, archbishop of York
    • 1386 – Charles III of Naples (b. 1345)
    • 1496 – Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1445)
    • 1525 – Jacques de La Palice, French nobleman and military officer (b. 1470)
    • 1525 – Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (b. c. 1488)
    • 1525 – Richard de la Pole, last Yorkist claimant to the English throne (b. 1480)
    • 1563 – Francis, Duke of Guise (b. 1519)
    • 1580 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (b. 1511)
    • 1588 – Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist (b. 1515)
    • 1666 – Nicholas Lanier, English composer and painter (b. 1588)
    • 1685 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland (b. 1629)
    • 1704 – Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer (b. 1643)
    • 1714 – Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1637)
    • 1721 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1648)
    • 1732 – Francis Charteris, Scottish soldier (b. 1675)
    • 1777 – Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)
    • 1785 – Carlo Buonaparte, Corsican lawyer and politician (b. 1746)
    • 1799 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and academic (b. 1742)
    • 1810 – Henry Cavendish, French-English physicist and chemist (b. 1731)
    • 1812 – Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1775)
    • 1815 – Robert Fulton, American engineer (b. 1765)
    • 1825 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (b. 1754)
    • 1856 – Nikolai Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1792)
    • 1876 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian politician, 1st President of Liberia (b. 1809)
    • 1879 – Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 11th Yokozuna (b. 1825)
    • 1910 – Osman Hamdi Bey, Greek archaeologist and painter (b. 1842)
    • 1914 – Joshua Chamberlain, American general and politician, 32nd Governor of Maine (b. 1828)
    • 1925 – Hjalmar Branting, Swedish journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Sweden, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
    • 1927 – Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician (b. 1858)
    • 1929 – André Messager, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1853)
    • 1930 – Hermann von Ihering, German-Brazilian zoologist (b. 1850)
    • 1953 – Robert La Follette Jr., American politician, senator of Wisconsin (b. 1895)
    • 1953 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (b. 1875)
    • 1967 – Mir Osman Ali Khan, Last Nizam of Hyderabad State (b. 1886)
    • 1970 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)
    • 1974 – Margaret Leech, American historian and author (b. 1895)
    • 1975 – Hans Bellmer, German artist (b. 1902)
    • 1975 – Nikolai Bulganin, Russian marshal and politician, 6th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
    • 1978 – Alma Thomas, American painter and educator (b.1891)
    • 1982 – Virginia Bruce, American actress (b. 1910)
    • 1986 – Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian Bharatnatyam dancer (b. 1904)
    • 1986 – Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian minister and politician, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1904)
    • 1990 – Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (b. 1945)
    • 1990 – Malcolm Forbes, American sergeant and publisher (b. 1917)
    • 1990 – Sandro Pertini, Italian journalist and politician, 7th President of Italy (b. 1896)
    • 1990 – Johnnie Ray, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1927)
    • 1991 – John Daly, American journalist and game show host (b. 1914)
    • 1991 – George Gobel, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 1991 – Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Danny Gallivan, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (b. 1941)
    • 1994 – Jean Sablon, French singer and actor (b. 1906)
    • 1994 – Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
    • 1998 – Antonio Prohías, Cuban-American cartoonist (b. 1921)
    • 1998 – Henny Youngman, English-American comedian and violinist (b. 1906)
    • 1999 – Andre Dubus, American short story writer, essayist, and memoirist (b. 1936)
    • 2001 – Theodore Marier, American composer and educator, founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician, cryptographer, and engineer (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Leo Ornstein, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1893)
    • 2004 – John Randolph, American actor (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Coşkun Kırca, Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Octavia E. Butler, American author and educator (b. 1947)
    • 2006 – Don Knotts, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – John Martin, Canadian broadcaster, co-founded MuchMusic (b. 1947)
    • 2006 – Dennis Weaver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (b. 1906)
    • 2007 – Damien Nash, American football player (b. 1982)
    • 2008 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Dawn Brancheau, senior animal trainer at SeaWorld (b. 1969)
    • 2011 – Anant Pai, Indian author and illustrator (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Agnes Allen, American baseball player and therapist (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Oliver Wrong, English nephrologist and academic (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Virgil Johnson, American singer (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Franny Beecher, American guitarist (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Alexis Hunter, New Zealand-English painter and photographer (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Carlos Páez Vilaró, Uruguayan painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Mefodiy, Ukrainian metropolitan (b. 1949)
    • 2015 – Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh politician and diplomat (b. 1962)
    • 2016 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (b. 1943)
    • 2016 – Nabil Maleh, Syrian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
    • 2016 – George C. Nichopoulos, American soldier and physician (b. 1927)
    • 2018 – Sridevi, Indian actress (b. 1963)
    • 2020 – Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1918)

    Holidays and observances on February 24

    • Christian feast day:
      • Blessed Ascensión Nicol y Goñi
      • Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)
      • Modest (bishop of Trier)
      • Sergius of Cappadocia
      • February 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Dragobete (Romania)
    • Engineer’s Day (Iran)
    • Flag Day in Mexico
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Estonia from the Russian Empire in 1918; the Soviet period is considered to have been an illegal annexation.
    • National Artist Day (Thailand)

  • February 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
    • 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
    • 1594 – Having already been elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, having succeeded his father John III of Sweden in 1592.
    • 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
    • 1649 – The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil.
    • 1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
    • 1726 – The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.
    • 1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert.
    • 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands and claims them in the name of King George III.
    • 1836 – King William IV signs Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia.
    • 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
    • 1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
    • 1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity.
    • 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
    • 1884 – More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
    • 1913 – Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country.
    • 1915 – World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
    • 1937 – Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
    • 1942 – World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 243 people.
    • 1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps.
    • 1943 – World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
    • 1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
    • 1948 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.
    • 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
    • 1953 – Book censorship in the United States: The Georgia Literature Commission is established.
    • 1954 – Transfer of Crimea: The Soviet Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.
    • 1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
    • 1960 – China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
    • 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
    • 1965 – Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm, all Catholics, attempt a coup against the military junta of the Buddhist Nguyễn Khánh.
    • 1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald Ford’s Proclamation 4417.
    • 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
    • 1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave the hospital.
    • 1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
    • 1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in eastern Sri Lanka.
    • 1989 – Flying Tiger Line flight 66 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four.
    • 2002 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
    • 2003 – An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.
    • 2006 – A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.
    • 2011 – The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
    • 2012 – Forty-four people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico.

    Births on February 19

    • 1461 – Domenico Grimani, Italian cardinal (d. 1523)
    • 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
    • 1497 – Matthäus Schwarz, German fashion writer (d. 1574)
    • 1519 – Froben Christoph of Zimmern, German author of the Zimmern Chronicle (d. 1566)
    • 1526 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist and academic (d. 1609)
    • 1532 – Jean-Antoine de Baïf, French poet (d. 1589)
    • 1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (d. 1630)
    • 1594 – Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)
    • 1611 – Andries de Graeff, Dutch politician (d. 1678)
    • 1630 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Indian warrior king and the founder of Maratha Empire
    • 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
    • 1717 – David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (d. 1779)
    • 1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
    • 1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Premier of Canada West (d. 1862)
    • 1800 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun and social worker, founded the Sisters of Providence (d. 1851)
    • 1804 – Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (d. 1878)
    • 1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (d. 1868)
    • 1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
    • 1838 – Lydia Thompson, British burlesque performer (d. 1908)
    • 1841 – Elfrida Andrée, Swedish organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1929)
    • 1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
    • 1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
    • 1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (d. 1952)
    • 1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (d. 1923)
    • 1872 – Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (d. 1944)
    • 1876 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1957)
    • 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
    • 1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
    • 1880 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
    • 1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 1942)
    • 1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (d. 1928)
    • 1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (d. 1964)
    • 1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
    • 1896 – André Breton, French poet and author (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
    • 1899 – Lucio Fontana, Argentinian-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1904 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1964)
    • 1904 – Elisabeth Welch, American-English singer and actress (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)
    • 1912 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2007)
    • 1913 – Frank Tashlin, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Thelma Kench, New Zealand Olympic sprinter (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (d. 2014)
    • 1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist (d. 1967)
    • 1918 – Fay McKenzie, American actress (d. 2019)
    • 1920 – C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (d. 2003)
    • 1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – George Rose, English actor and singer (d. 1988)
    • 1922 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player and theoretician (d. 2006)
    • 1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1926 – György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic
    • 1927 – Philippe Boiry, French journalist (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (d. 2002)
    • 1930 – Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut
    • 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
    • 1935 – Russ Nixon, American MLB catcher and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1936 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1936 – Frederick Seidel, American poet
    • 1937 – Terry Carr, American author and educator (d. 1987)
    • 1937 – Norm O’Neill, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
    • 1939 – Erin Pizzey, English activist and author, founded Refuge
    • 1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
    • 1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
    • 1942 – Cyrus Chothia, English biochemist and emeritus scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Paul Krause, American football player and politician
    • 1942 – Howard Stringer, Welsh businessman
    • 1942 – Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter
    • 1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and engineer
    • 1943 – Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate
    • 1944 – Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman
    • 1945 – Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter
    • 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist
    • 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (d. 1974)
    • 1947 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and playwright (d. 1985)
    • 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand businessman and politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill
    • 1948 – Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (d. 2002)
    • 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1949 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (d. 1998)
    • 1949 – Eddie Hardin, English singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Barry Lloyd, English footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator
    • 1950 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1950 – Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran
    • 1952 – Ryū Murakami, Japanese novelist and filmmaker
    • 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut
    • 1952 – Gary Seear, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2018)
    • 1952 – Dave Cheadle, American baseball player (d. 2012)
    • 1952 – Amy Tan, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
    • 1952 – Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia
    • 1953 – Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player
    • 1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentine lawyer and politician, former President of Argentina and current Vice President of Argentina
    • 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1954 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2011)
    • 1954 – Francis Buchholz, German bass player
    • 1954 – Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor and playwright
    • 1956 – Kathleen Beller, American actress
    • 1956 – Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1957 – Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter, rapper, and musician (d. 1998)
    • 1957 – Dave Stewart, American baseball player and coach
    • 1957 – Ray Winstone, English actor
    • 1958 – Tommy Cairo, American wrestler
    • 1958 – Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Steve Nieve, English keyboard player and composer
    • 1959 – Roger Goodell, American businessman
    • 1960 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
    • 1960 – John Paul Jr., American race car driver
    • 1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
    • 1961 – Ernie Gonzalez, American golfer
    • 1962 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech-Australian tennis player and coach
    • 1963 – Seal, English singer-songwriter
    • 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
    • 1964 – Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Jonathan Lethem, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
    • 1965 – Jon Fishman, American drummer
    • 1965 – Clark Hunt, American businessman
    • 1965 – Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress and producer
    • 1966 – Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Eduardo Xol, American designer and author
    • 1967 – Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican-American actor, director, and producer
    • 1968 – Frank Watkins, American bass player (d. 2015)
    • 1968 – Prince Markie Dee, American rapper and actor
    • 1969 – Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Helena Guergis, Canadian businesswoman and politician
    • 1970 – Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player and poet
    • 1971 – Richard Green, Australian golfer
    • 1971 – Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator
    • 1972 – Francine Fournier, American wrestler and manager
    • 1972 – Sunset Thomas, American pornographic actress
    • 1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer
    • 1975 – Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards
    • 1977 – Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1977 – Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author
    • 1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Ben Gummer, English scholar and politician
    • 1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper
    • 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player and manager
    • 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
    • 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
    • 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer
    • 1983 – Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
    • 1983 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1983 – Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter
    • 1985 – Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
    • 1986 – Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Marta, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter
    • 1986 – Michael Schwimer, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Anna Cappellini, Italian ice dancer
    • 1988 – Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Seth Morrison, American guitarist
    • 1989 – Sone Aluko, Anglo-Nigerian international footballer, forward/winger
    • 1991 – Christoph Kramer, German national footballer
    • 1991 – Trevor Bayne, American race car driver
    • 1992 – Camille Kostek, American model
    • 1993 – Mauro Icardi, Argentinian footballer
    • 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress and singer
    • 1994 – Sam Lisone, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
    • 1994 – Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer
    • 1995 – Nikola Jokić, Serbian basketball player
    • 1998 – Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player
    • 2001 – David Mazouz, American actor
    • 2004 – Millie Bobby Brown, English actress

    Deaths on February 19

    • 197 – Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (b. 150)
    • 446 – Leontius of Trier, Bishop of Trier
    • 1133 – Irene Doukaina, Byzantine wife of Alexios I Komnenos (b. 1066)
    • 1275 – Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sufi philosopher and poet (b. 1177)
    • 1300 – Munio of Zamora, General of the Dominican Order
    • 1408 – Thomas Bardolf, 5th Baron Bardolf, English rebel
    • 1414 – Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1353)
    • 1445 – Leonor of Aragon, queen of Portugal (b. 1402)
    • 1491 – Enno I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (b. 1460)
    • 1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)
    • 1602 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur (b. 1558)
    • 1605 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)
    • 1622 – Henry Savile, English scholar and politician (b. 1549)
    • 1672 – Charles Chauncy, English-American minister, theologian, and academic (b. 1592)
    • 1709 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1646)
    • 1716 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1634)
    • 1785 – Mary, Countess of Harold, English aristocrat and philanthropist (b. 1701)
    • 1789 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Delaware (b. 1738)
    • 1799 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (b. 1733)
    • 1806 – Elizabeth Carter, English poet and translator (b. 1717)
    • 1837 – Georg Büchner, German-Swiss poet and playwright (b. 1813)
    • 1837 – Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1756)
    • 1887 – Multatuli, Dutch-German author and civil servant (b. 1820)
    • 1897 – Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician and academic (b. 1815)
    • 1915 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian philosopher and politician (b. 1866)
    • 1916 – Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
    • 1927 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (b. 1847)
    • 1928 – George Howard Earle Jr., American lawyer and businessman (b. 1856)
    • 1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general and pilot (b. 1879)
    • 1945 – John Basilone, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1916)
    • 1951 – André Gide, French novelist, essayist, and dramatist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
    • 1952 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
    • 1953 – Richard Rushall, British businessman (b. 1864)
    • 1957 – Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (b. 1871)
    • 1959 – Willard Miller, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1877)
    • 1962 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the Pap smear (b. 1883)
    • 1969 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
    • 1970 – Ralph Edward Flanders, (b. 1890) US Senator from Vermont.
    • 1972 – John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1972 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)
    • 1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
    • 1977 – Anthony Crosland, English captain and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1918)
    • 1977 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1890)
    • 1980 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 1983 – Alice White, American actress (b. 1904)
    • 1988 – André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
    • 1992 – Tojo Yamamoto, American wrestler and manager (b. 1927)
    • 1994 – Derek Jarman, English director and set designer (b. 1942)
    • 1996 – Charlie Finley, American businessman (b. 1918)
    • 1997 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (b. 1908)
    • 1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1904)
    • 1998 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1913)
    • 1999 – Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric (b. 1943)
    • 2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
    • 2001 – Stanley Kramer, American director and producer (b. 1913)
    • 2001 – Charles Trenet, French singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Sylvia Rivera, American transgender LGBT activist (b. 1951)
    • 2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
    • 2007 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian dancer and director, founded the National Ballet of Canada (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian singer-songwriter (b. 1964)
    • 2008 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress and singer (b. 1945)
    • 2009 – Kelly Groucutt, English singer and bass player (b. 1945)
    • 2011 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Ruth Barcan Marcus, American philosopher and logician (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Jaroslav Velinský, Czech author and songwriter (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Vitaly Vorotnikov, Russian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1937)
    • 2013 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Eugene Whelan, Canadian farmer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Dale Gardner, American captain and astronaut (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Harold Johnson, American boxer (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Nirad Mohapatra, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Harris Wittels, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1984)
    • 2016 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Harper Lee, American author (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Chiaki Morosawa, Japanese anime screenwriter (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Samuel Willenberg, Polish-Israeli sculptor and painter (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (b. 1943)
    • 2019 – Clark Dimond, American musician and author (b. 1941)
    • 2019 – Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer (b. 1933)
    • 2020 – José Mojica Marins, Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host Coffin Joe. (b. 1936)
    • 2020 – Pop Smoke, American rapper (b. 1999)

    Holidays and observances on February 19

    • Armed Forces Day (Mexico)
    • Brâncuși Day (Romania)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Barbatus of Benevento
      • Boniface of Brussels
      • Conrad of Piacenza
      • Lucy Yi Zhenmei (one of Martyrs of Guizhou)
      • February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of Vasil Levski (Bulgaria)
    • Flag Day (Turkmenistan)
    • Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India)9

  • February 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    February 6 in History

    • AD 60 – The earliest date for which the day of the week is known. A graffito in Pompeii identifies this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday.
    • 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
    • 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
    • 1694 – The warrior queen Dandara, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rather than be returned to a life of slavery.
    • 1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
    • 1778 –New York became the third state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
    • 1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
    • 1806 – Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean.
    • 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
    • 1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia.
    • 1833 – Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
    • 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.
    • 1843 – The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
    • 1851 – The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote give the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry.
    • 1899 – Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
    • 1900 – The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international arbitration court at The Hague, is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
    • 1918 – British women over the age of 30 who meet minimum property qualifications, get the right to vote when Representation of the People Act 1918 is passed by Parliament.
    • 1919 – The American Legion is founded.
    • 1919 – The five-day Seattle General Strike begins, as more than 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington, walk off the job.
    • 1922 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
    • 1934 – Far-right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.
    • 1951 – The Canadian Army enters combat in the Korean War.
    • 1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
    • 1952 – Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
    • 1958 – Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.
    • 1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
    • 1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
    • 1976 – In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
    • 1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of four inches an hour.
    • 1981 – The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
    • 1987 – Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.
    • 1988 – Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.
    • 1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
    • 1996 – Willamette Valley Flood: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
    • 1996 – Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 people on board. This is the deadliest aviation accident involving a Boeing 757.
    • 1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
    • 2000 – Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.
    • 2006 – Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
    • 2016 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes southern Taiwan, killing 117 people.
    • 2018 – SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a super heavy launch vehicle, makes its maiden flight.

    Births on February 6

    • 885 – Emperor Daigo of Japan (d. 930)
    • 1402 – Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1458)
    • 1452 – Joanna, Princess of Portugal (d. 1490)
    • 1453 – Girolamo Benivieni, Florentine poet (d. 1542)
    • 1465 – Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician and theorist (d. 1526)
    • 1536 – Sassa Narimasa, Japanese samurai (d. 1588)
    • 1577 – Beatrice Cenci, Italian murderer (d. 1599)
    • 1582 – Mario Bettinus, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (d. 1657)
    • 1608 – António Vieira, Portuguese priest and philosopher (d. 1697)
    • 1611 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (d. 1644)
    • 1612 – Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1694)
    • 1643 – Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, Prussian politician, 1st Minister President of Prussia (d. 1712)
    • 1649 – Augusta Marie of Holstein-Gottorp, German noblewoman (d. 1728)
    • 1664 – Mustafa II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1703)
    • 1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (d. 1714)
    • 1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain (d. 1714)
    • 1695 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1726)
    • 1719 – Alberto Pullicino, Maltese painter (d. 1759)
    • 1726 – Patrick Russell, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (d. 1805)
    • 1732 – Charles Lee, English-American general (d. 1782)
    • 1736 – Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, German-Austrian sculptor (d. 1783)
    • 1744 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (d. 1795)
    • 1748 – Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher and academic, founded the Illuminati (d. 1830)
    • 1753 – Évariste de Parny, French poet and author (d. 1814)
    • 1756 – Aaron Burr, American colonel and politician, 3rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1836)
    • 1758 – Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Belarusian-Polish poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1841)
    • 1769 – Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Austrian general (d. 1862)
    • 1772 – George Murray, Scottish general and politician, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (d. 1830)
    • 1778 – Ugo Foscolo, Italian author and poet (d. 1827)
    • 1781 – John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, Irish general and politician, Governor of Saint Lucia (d. 1844)
    • 1796 – John Stevens Henslow, English botanist and geologist (d. 1861)
    • 1797 – Joseph von Radowitz, Prussian general and politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (d. 1853)
    • 1799 – Imre Frivaldszky, Hungarian botanist and entomologist (d. 1870)
    • 1800 – Achille Devéria, French painter and lithographer (d. 1857)
    • 1802 – Charles Wheatstone, English-French physicist and cryptographer (d. 1875)
    • 1811 – Henry Liddell, English priest, author, and academic (d. 1898)
    • 1814 – Auguste Chapdelaine, French missionary and saint (d. 1856)
    • 1818 – William M. Evarts, American lawyer and politician, 27th United States Secretary of State (d. 1901)
    • 1820 – Thomas C. Durant, American railroad tycoon (d. 1885)
    • 1829 – Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer, French architect, designed the La Santé Prison and Saint-Pierre-de-Montrouge (d. 1914)
    • 1832 – John Brown Gordon, American general and politician, 53rd Governor of Georgia (d. 1904)
    • 1833 – José María de Pereda, Spanish author and academic (d. 1906)
    • 1833 – J. E. B. Stuart, American general (d. 1864)
    • 1834 – Edwin Klebs, German-Swiss pathologist and academic (d. 1913)
    • 1834 – Ema Pukšec, Croatian-German soprano (d. 1889)
    • 1834 – Wilhelm von Scherff, German general and author (d. 1911)
    • 1838 – Henry Irving, English actor and manager (d. 1905)
    • 1838 – Israel Meir Kagan, Lithuanian-Polish rabbi and author (d. 1933)
    • 1839 – Eduard Hitzig, German neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1907)
    • 1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1923)
    • 1843 – Inoue Kowashi, Japanese scholar and politician (d. 1895)
    • 1843 – Frederic William Henry Myers, English poet and philologist, co-founded the Society for Psychical Research (d. 1901)
    • 1845 – Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (d. 1912)
    • 1847 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (d. 1918)
    • 1852 – C. Lloyd Morgan, English zoologist and psychologist (d. 1936)
    • 1852 – Vasily Safonov, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1918)
    • 1861 – Nikolay Zelinsky, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1953)
    • 1864 – John Henry Mackay, Scottish-German philosopher and author (d. 1933)
    • 1866 – Karl Sapper, German linguist and explorer (d. 1945)
    • 1872 – Robert Maillart, Swiss engineer, designed the Salginatobel Bridge and Schwandbach Bridge (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (d. 1937)
    • 1875 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (d. 1915)
    • 1876 – Henry Blogg, English fisherman and sailor (d. 1954)
    • 1879 – Othon Friesz, French painter (d. 1949)
    • 1879 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1937)
    • 1879 – Edwin Samuel Montagu, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1924)
    • 1879 – Carl Ramsauer, German physicist and author (d. 1955)
    • 1880 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (d. 1931)
    • 1884 – Marcel Cohen, French linguist and scholar (d. 1974)
    • 1887 – Josef Frings, German cardinal (d. 1978)
    • 1890 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1890 – James McGirr, Australian politician, 28th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1957)
    • 1892 – Maximilian Fretter-Pico, German general (d. 1984)
    • 1892 – William P. Murphy, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1893 – Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 1st Minister of Foreign Affairs for Pakistan (d. 1985)
    • 1894 – Eric Partridge, New Zealand-English lexicographer and academic (d. 1979)
    • 1894 – Kirpal Singh, Indian spiritual master (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Robert La Follette Jr., American politician (d. 1953)
    • 1895 – María Teresa Vera, Cuban singer, guitarist and composer (d. 1965)
    • 1895 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (d. 1948)
    • 1898 – Harry Haywood, American soldier and politician (d. 1985)
    • 1899 – Ramon Novarro, Mexican-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1968)
    • 1901 – Ben Lyon, American actor (d. 1979)
    • 1902 – George Brunies, American trombonist (d. 1974)
    • 1903 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean pianist and composer (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Władysław Gomułka, Polish politician (d. 1982)
    • 1905 – Jan Werich, Czech actor and playwright (d. 1980)
    • 1906 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (d. 1980)
    • 1908 – Amintore Fanfani, Italian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1999)
    • 1908 – Edward Lansdale, American general and CIA agent (d. 1987)
    • 1908 – Geo Bogza, Romanian poet and journalist (d. 1993)
    • 1908 – Michael Maltese, American actor, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Roman Czerniawski, Polish air force officer and spy (d. 1985)
    • 1910 – Irmgard Keun, German author (d. 1982)
    • 1910 – Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-American gangster (d. 1993)
    • 1911 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Eva Braun, German wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)
    • 1912 – Christopher Hill, English historian and author (d. 2003)
    • 1913 – Mary Leakey, English-Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (d. 2005)
    • 1915 – Kavi Pradeep, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1916 – John Crank, English mathematician and physicist (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Louis-Philippe de Grandpré, Canadian lawyer and jurist (d. 2008)
    • 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (d. 2016)
    • 1918 – Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author and painter (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Takashi Yanase, Japanese poet and illustrator, created Anpanman (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Carl Neumann Degler, American historian and author (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Bob Scott, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Patrick Macnee, English-American actor and costume designer (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Denis Norden, English actor, screenwriter, and television host (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – Haskell Wexler, American director, producer, and cinematographer (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1981)
    • 1924 – Billy Wright, English footballer and manager (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Jin Yong, Hong Kong author and publisher, founded Ming Pao (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Walker Edmiston, American actor and puppeteer (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Gerard K. O’Neill, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1992)
    • 1928 – Allan H. Meltzer, American economist and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Colin Murdoch, New Zealand pharmacist and veterinarian, invented the tranquilliser gun (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Oscar Sambrano Urdaneta, Venezuelan author and critic (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Valentin Yanin, Russian historian and author (d. 2020)
    • 1930 – Jun Kondo, Japanese physicist and academic
    • 1931 – Rip Torn, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Fred Trueman, English cricketer (d. 2006)
    • 1931 – Mamie Van Doren, American actress and model
    • 1931 – Ricardo Vidal, Filipino cardinal (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban soldier and anarchist (d. 1959)
    • 1932 – François Truffaut, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1933 – Leslie Crowther, English comedian, actor, and game show host (d. 1996)
    • 1936 – Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2009)
    • 1938 – Fred Mifflin, Canadian admiral and politician, 19th Minister of Veterans Affairs (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Jean Beaudin, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1939 – Mike Farrell, American actor, director, producer, activist and public speaker
    • 1939 – Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Tom Brokaw, American journalist and author
    • 1940 – Petr Hájek, Czech mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1940 – Jimmy Tarbuck, English comedian and actor
    • 1941 – Stephen Albert, American pianist and composer (d. 1992)
    • 1941 – Dave Berry, English pop singer
    • 1941 – Gigi Perreau, American actress and director
    • 1942 – Sarah Brady, American activist and author (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Charlie Coles, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Ahmad-Jabir Ahmadov Ismail oghlu, Azerbaijani philosopher and academic
    • 1942 – James Loewen, American sociologist and historian
    • 1942 – Tommy Roberts, English fashion designer (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Fabian Forte, American pop singer and actor
    • 1943 – Gayle Hunnicutt, American actress
    • 1944 – Christine Boutin, French politician, French Minister of Housing and Urban Development
    • 1944 – Willie Tee, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1944 – Michael Tucker, American actor and producer
    • 1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
    • 1946 – Richie Hayward, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1946 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1946 – Jim Turner, American captain and politician
    • 1947 – Bill Staines, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Charlie Hickcox, American swimmer (d .2010)
    • 1949 – Mike Batt, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1949 – Manuel Orantes, Spanish tennis player
    • 1949 – Jim Sheridan, Irish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1950 – Natalie Cole, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2015)
    • 1950 – Timothy M. Dolan, American cardinal
    • 1950 – Punky Meadows, American rock guitarist and songwriter
    • 1952 – Ric Charlesworth, Australian cricketer, coach, and politician
    • 1952 – Viktor Giacobbo, Swiss actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Ricardo La Volpe, Argentinian footballer, manager, and coach
    • 1955 – Avram Grant, Israeli football manager
    • 1955 – Michael Pollan, American journalist, author, and academic
    • 1955 – Bruno Stolorz, French rugby player and coach
    • 1956 – Jerry Marotta, American drummer
    • 1957 – Andres Lipstok, Estonian economist and politician, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs
    • 1957 – Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedian
    • 1957 – Simon Phillips, English drummer and producer
    • 1957 – Robert Townsend, American actor and director
    • 1958 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (d. 2004)
    • 1960 – Jeremy Bowen, Welsh journalist
    • 1960 – Megan Gallagher, American actress
    • 1961 – Michael Bolt, Australian rugby league player
    • 1961 – Cam Cameron, American football player and coach
    • 1961 – Bill Lester, American race car driver
    • 1961 – Yury Onufriyenko, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1962 – Stavros Lambrinidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Greece
    • 1962 – Axl Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1963 – David Capel, English cricketer
    • 1963 – Scott Gordon, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1963 – Quentin Letts, English journalist and critic
    • 1964 – Laurent Cabannes, French rugby player
    • 1964 – Gordon Downie, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1964 – Colin Miller, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1964 – Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russian actor and director
    • 1965 – Jan Svěrák, Czech actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Rick Astley, English singer-songwriter
    • 1967 – Anita Cochran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1967 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1968 – Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer
    • 1968 – Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer and producer
    • 1969 – David Hayter, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Masaharu Fukuyama, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1969 – Tim Sherwood, English international footballer midfielder and manager
    • 1969 – Bob Wickman, American baseball player
    • 1970 – Per Frandsen, Danish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Tim Herron, American golfer
    • 1971 – Brad Hogg, Australian cricketer
    • 1971 – Carlos Rogers, American basketball player
    • 1972 – Stefano Bettarini, Italian footballer
    • 1972 – David Binn, American football player
    • 1974 – Aljo Bendijo, Filipino journalist
    • 1975 – Chad Allen, American baseball player and coach
    • 1975 – Orkut Büyükkökten, Turkish computer scientist and engineer, created Orkut
    • 1975 – Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder and educator
    • 1976 – Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast and coach
    • 1977 – Josh Stewart, American actor
    • 1978 – Yael Naim, French-Israeli singer-songwriter
    • 1979 – Dan Bălan, Moldovan singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Kerry Jeremy, Antiguan cricketer
    • 1980 – Kim Poirier, Canadian actress, singer, and producer
    • 1980 – Luke Ravenstahl, American politician, 58th Mayor of Pittsburgh
    • 1981 – Ricky Barnes, American golfer
    • 1981 – Calum Best, American-English model and actor
    • 1981 – Shim Eun-jin, South Korean singer and actress
    • 1981 – Alison Haislip, American actress and producer
    • 1981 – Jens Lekman, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1981 – Ty Warren, American football player
    • 1982 – Tank, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
    • 1982 – Alice Eve, English actress
    • 1982 – Elise Ray, American gymnast
    • 1983 – Melrose Bickerstaff, American model and fashion designer
    • 1983 – Brodie Croyle, American football player
    • 1983 – Dimas Delgado, Spanish footballer
    • 1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer
    • 1983 – Jamie Whincup, Australian race car driver
    • 1984 – Darren Bent, English international footballer, forward
    • 1984 – Piret Järvis, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Antoine Wright, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Ben Creagh, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Kris Humphries, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Dane DeHaan, American actor
    • 1986 – Yunho, South Korean singer and actor
    • 1988 – Bailey Hanks, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1989 – Craig Cathcart, Northern Irish footballer
    • 1989 – Jonny Flynn, American basketball player
    • 1990 – Adam Henrique, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Jermaine Kearse, American football player
    • 1990 – Aida Rybalko, Lithuanian figure skater
    • 1991 – Tobias Eisenbauer, Austrian ice dancer
    • 1991 – Ida Njåtun, Norwegian speed skater
    • 1991 – Eva Wacanno, Dutch tennis player
    • 1991 – Fei Yu, Chinese footballer
    • 1992 – Víctor Mañón, Mexican footballer
    • 1993 – Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011
    • 1993 – Tinashe, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1994 – Charlie Heaton, British actor and musician
    • 1995 – Leon Goretzka, German footballer
    • 1995 – Sam McQueen, English footballer

    Deaths on February 6

    • 743 – Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph (b. 691)
    • 797 – Donnchad Midi, Irish king (b. 733)
    • 891 – Photios I of Constantinople (b. 810)
    • 1140 – Thurstan, Archbishop of York
    • 1155 – King Sigurd II of Norway (b. 1133)
    • 1215 – Hōjō Tokimasa, Japanese shikken of the Kamakura bakufu (b. 1138)
    • 1378 – Joanna of Bourbon (b. 1338)
    • 1411 – Esau de’ Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus
    • 1497 – Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1410)
    • 1515 – Aldus Manutius, Italian publisher, founded the Aldine Press (b. 1449)
    • 1519 – Lorenz von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg (b. 1459)
    • 1539 – John III, Duke of Cleves (b. 1491)
    • 1585 – Edmund Plowden, English lawyer and scholar (b. 1518)
    • 1593 – Jacques Amyot, French author and translator (b. 1513)
    • 1593 – Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan (b. 1517)
    • 1597 – Franciscus Patricius, Italian philosopher and scientist (b. 1529)
    • 1612 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1538)
    • 1617 – Prospero Alpini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1553)
    • 1625 – Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1584)
    • 1685 – Charles II of England (b. 1630)
    • 1695 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1643)
    • 1740 – Pope Clement XII (b. 1652)
    • 1775 – William Dowdeswell, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1721)
    • 1783 – Capability Brown, English gardener and architect (b. 1716)
    • 1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian-French playwright (b. 1707)
    • 1804 – Joseph Priestley, English chemist and theologian (b. 1733)
    • 1807 – John Reid, Scottish general (b. 1721)
    • 1833 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist and entomologist (b. 1762)
    • 1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, English explorer (b. 1804)
    • 1865 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (b. 1836)
    • 1899 – Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1874)
    • 1899 – Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1831)
    • 1902 – John Colton, English-Australian politician, 13th Premier of South Australia (b. 1823)
    • 1916 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (b. 1867)
    • 1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1862)
    • 1929 – Maria Christina of Austria (b. 1858)
    • 1931 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (b. 1861)
    • 1932 – John Earle, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1865)
    • 1938 – Marianne von Werefkin, Russian-Swiss painter (b. 1860)
    • 1942 – Jaan Soots, Estonian general and politician, 7th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1880)
    • 1951 – Gabby Street, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1882)
    • 1952 – George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
    • 1958 – victims of the Munich air disaster
      • – Geoff Bent, English footballer (b. 1932)
      • – Roger Byrne, English footballer (b. 1929)
      • – Eddie Colman, English footballer (b. 1936)
      • – Walter Crickmer, English footballer and manager (b. 1900)
      • – Mark Jones, English footballer (b. 1933)
      • – David Pegg, English footballer (b. 1935)
      • – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (b. 1913)
      • – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (b. 1932)
    • 1963 – Piero Manzoni, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1933)
    • 1964 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (b. 1869)
    • 1967 – Martine Carol, French actress (b. 1920)
    • 1972 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (b. 1902)
    • 1976 – Ritwik Ghatak, Bangladeshi-Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 1976 – Vince Guaraldi, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1928)
    • 1981 – Hugo Montenegro, American composer and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 1982 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (b. 1894)
    • 1985 – James Hadley Chase, English-Swiss soldier and author (b. 1906)
    • 1986 – Frederick Coutts, Scottish 8th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1899)
    • 1986 – Dandy Nichols, English actress (b. 1907)
    • 1986 – Minoru Yamasaki, American architect, designed the World Trade Center (b. 1912)
    • 1987 – Julien Chouinard, Canadian lawyer and jurist (b. 1929)
    • 1989 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (b. 1912)
    • 1990 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (b. 1913)
    • 1991 – Salvador Luria, Italian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – Danny Thomas, American actor, producer, and humanitarian (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1943)
    • 1994 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1994 – Jack Kirby, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – James Merrill, American poet and playwright (b. 1926)
    • 1998 – Falco, Austrian pop-rock musician (b. 1957)
    • 1999 – Don Dunstan, Australian lawyer and politician, 35th Premier of South Australia (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Jimmy Roberts, American tenor (b. 1924)
    • 2000 – Phil Walters, American race car driver (b. 1916)
    • 2001 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino theoretician and activist (b. 1953)
    • 2002 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
    • 2004 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and economist (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Karl Haas, German-American pianist, conductor, and radio host (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Frankie Laine, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Willye White, American runner and long jumper (b. 1939)
    • 2008 – Tony Rolt, English race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – Philip Carey, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – James Whitmore, American actor (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Gary Moore, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – David Rosenhan, American psychologist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Antoni Tàpies, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Janice E. Voss, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1956)
    • 2013 – Chokri Belaid, Tunisian lawyer and politician (b. 1964)
    • 2013 – Menachem Elon, German-Israeli academic and jurist (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Vasiľ Biľak, Slovak politician (b. 1917)
    • 2014 – Ralph Kiner, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Maxine Kumin, American author and poet (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Vaçe Zela, Albanian-Swiss singer and guitarist (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – André Brink, South African author and playwright (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Alan Nunnelee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1958)
    • 2015 – Pedro León Zapata, Venezuelan cartoonist (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Dan Gerson, American screenwriter (b. 1966)
    • 2016 – Dan Hicks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2017 – Irwin Corey, American comedian and actor (b. 1914)
    • 2017 – Inge Keller, German actress (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Alec McCowen, English actor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby union footballer (b. 1971)

    Holidays and observances on February 6

    • Christian feast day:
      • Amand
      • Dorothea of Caesarea
      • Hildegund, O.Praem.
      • Jacut
      • Mateo Correa Magallanes (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
      • Mél of Ardagh
      • Paul Miki and Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan
      • Relindis (Renule) of Maaseik
      • Vedastus
      • February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
    • Ronald Reagan Day (California, United States)
    • Sami National Day (Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden)
    • Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in 1840.

  • January 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
    • 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
    • 1264 – In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens, a one-sided decision in favour of Henry that later leads to the Second Barons’ War.
    • 1368 – In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.
    • 1546 – Having published nothing for eleven years, François Rabelais publishes the Tiers Livre, his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel.
    • 1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
    • 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.
    • 1571 – The Royal Exchange opens in London.
    • 1579 – The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
    • 1656 – Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
    • 1719 – The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
    • 1789 – Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.).
    • 1793 – Second Partition of Poland.
    • 1795 – After an extraordinary charge across the frozen Zuiderzee, the French cavalry captured 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns, in a rare occurrence of a battle between ships and cavalry.
    • 1846 – Slavery in Tunisia is abolished.
    • 1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor.
    • 1870 – In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.
    • 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke’s Drift ends.
    • 1899 – The Malolos Constitution is inaugurated, establishing the First Philippine Republic. Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as its first President.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces ends in a British defeat.
    • 1904 – Ålesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
    • 1909 – RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
    • 1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
    • 1920 – The Netherlands refuses to surrender the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
    • 1937 – The trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyist center sees seventeen mid-level Communists accused of sympathizing with Leon Trotsky and plotting to overthrow Joseph Stalin’s regime.
    • 1941 – Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Rabaul commences Japan’s invasion of Australia’s Territory of New Guinea.
    • 1943 – World War II: Troops of the British Eighth Army capture Tripoli in Libya from the German–Italian Panzer Army.
    • 1945 – World War II: German admiral Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.
    • 1950 – The Knesset resolves that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
    • 1957 – American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee”.
    • 1958 – After a general uprising and rioting in the streets, President Marcos Pérez Jiménez leaves Venezuela.
    • 1960 – The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
    • 1961 – The Portuguese luxury cruise ship Santa Maria is hijacked by opponents of the Estado Novo regime with the intention of waging war until dictator António de Oliveira Salazar is overthrown.
    • 1963 – The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence officially begins when PAIGC guerrilla fighters attack the Portuguese army stationed in Tite.
    • 1964 – The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
    • 1967 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast are established.
    • 1967 – Milton Keynes (England) is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area enclosed three existing towns and twenty one villages. The area to be developed was largely farmland, with evidence of continuous settlement dating back to the Bronze Age.
    • 1968 – USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is attacked and seized by naval forces of North Korea.
    • 1973 – United States President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
    • 1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
    • 1997 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
    • 1998 – Netscape announced Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
    • 2001 – Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
    • 2002 – U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered.
    • 2003 – A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted.
    • 2018 – A 7.9 Mw  earthquake occurs in the Gulf of Alaska. It is tied as the sixth-largest earthquake ever recorded in the United States, but there are no reports of significant damage or fatalities.
    • 2018 – A double car bombing in Benghazi, Libya, kills at least 33 people and wounds “dozens” of others. The victims include both military personnel and civilians, according to local officials.

    Births on January 23

    • 599 – Tai Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 649)
    • 1350 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
    • 1378 – Louis III, Elector Palatine (d. 1436)
    • 1514 – Hai Rui, Chinese politician (d. 1587)
    • 1585 – Mary Ward, English Catholic Religious Sister (d. 1645)
    • 1622 – Abraham Diepraam, Dutch painter (d. 1670)
    • 1719 – John Landen, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1790)
    • 1737 – John Hancock, American general and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1793)
    • 1745 – William Jessop, English engineer, built the Cromford Canal (d. 1814)
    • 1752 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1832)
    • 1780 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (d. 1827)
    • 1783 – Stendhal, French novelist (d. 1842)
    • 1786 – Auguste de Montferrand, French-Russian architect, designed Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and Alexander Column (d. 1858)
    • 1799 – Alois Negrelli, Tyrolean engineer and railroad pioneer active in the Austrian Empire (d. 1858)
    • 1809 – Surendra Sai, Indian activist (d. 1884)
    • 1813 – Camilla Collett, Norwegian novelist and activist (d. 1895)
    • 1828 – Saigō Takamori, Japanese samurai (d. 1877)
    • 1832 – Édouard Manet, French painter (d. 1883)
    • 1833 – Muthu Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1879)
    • 1838 – Marianne Cope, German-American nun and saint (d. 1918)
    • 1840 – Ernst Abbe, German physicist and engineer (d. 1905)
    • 1846 – Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1915)
    • 1855 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (d. 1926)
    • 1857 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (d. 1936)
    • 1862 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1943)
    • 1862 – Frank Shuman, American inventor and engineer (d. 1918)
    • 1872 – Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (d. 1946)
    • 1872 – Jože Plečnik, Slovenian architect, designed Plečnik Parliament (d. 1957)
    • 1876 – Otto Diels, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
    • 1878 – Rutland Boughton, English composer (d. 1960)
    • 1880 – Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama, Mexican politician (d. 1967)
    • 1889 – Claribel Kendall, American mathematician (d.1965)
    • 1894 – Jyotirmoyee Devi, Indian author (d. 1988)
    • 1896 – Alf Blair, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1944)
    • 1896 – Alf Hall, English-South African cricketer (d. 1964)
    • 1897 – Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian activist and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1897 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
    • 1897 – Ieva Simonaitytė, Lithuanian author (d. 1978)
    • 1897 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (d. 1989)
    • 1898 – Georg Kulenkampff, German violinist (d. 1948)
    • 1898 – Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (d. 1978)
    • 1899 – Glen Kidston, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1931)
    • 1900 – William Ifor Jones, Welsh organist and conductor (d. 1988)
    • 1901 – Arthur Wirtz, American businessman (d. 1983)
    • 1903 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Minister of National Education of Colombia (d. 1948)
    • 1905 – Erich Borchmeyer, German sprinter (d. 2000)
    • 1907 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (d. 1968)
    • 1907 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (d. 1953)
    • 1912 – Boris Pokrovsky, Russian director and manager (d. 2009)
    • 1913 – Jean-Michel Atlan, Algerian-French painter (d. 1960)
    • 1913 – Wally Parks, American businessman, founded the National Hot Rod Association (d. 2007)
    • 1915 – Herma Bauma, Austrian javelin thrower and handball player (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – W. Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian-Barbadian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
    • 1915 – Potter Stewart, American lawyer and judge (d. 1985)
    • 1916 – David Douglas Duncan, American photographer and journalist (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – Airey Neave, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (d. 1979)
    • 1918 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Florence Rush, American social worker and theorist (d. 2008)
    • 1919 – Frances Bay, Canadian-American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (d. 1962)
    • 1919 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (d. 1996)
    • 1920 – Gottfried Böhm, German architect
    • 1920 – Henry Eriksson, Swedish runner (d. 2000)
    • 1920 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (d. 2010)
    • 1922 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1922 – Tom Lewis, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Horace Ashenfelter, American runner (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (d. 1996)
    • 1924 – Frank Lautenberg, American soldier, businessman, and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Marty Paich, American pianist, composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1995)
    • 1926 – Bal Thackeray, Indian journalist, cartoonist, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1927 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (d. 1994)
    • 1927 – Fred Williams, Australian painter (d. 1982)
    • 1928 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1928 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Phillip Knightley, Australian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – John Polanyi, German-Canadian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1930 – Filaret, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan
    • 1930 – Mervyn Rose, Australian tennis player (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – George Allen, English footballer (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Larri Thomas, American actress and dancer (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Bill Hayden, Australian politician, 21st Governor General of Australia
    • 1933 – Chita Rivera, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1934 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1935 – Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Tom Reamy, American author (d. 1977)
    • 1935 – Teresa Żylis-Gara, Polish operatic soprano
    • 1936 – Brian Howe, Australian minister and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
    • 1936 – Jerry Kramer, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1936 – Cécile Ousset, French pianist
    • 1938 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and promoter, founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (d. 1999)
    • 1938 – Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
    • 1939 – Ed Roberts, American disability rights activist (d. 1995)
    • 1940 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1940 – Joe Dowell, American pop singer (d. 2016)
    • 1941 – Jock R. Anderson, Australian economist and academic
    • 1941 – João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Laurie Mayne, Australian cricketer
    • 1942 – Herman Tjeenk Willink, Dutch judge and politician
    • 1942 – Phil Clarke, New Zealand rugby union player
    • 1943 – Gary Burton, American vibraphone player and composer
    • 1943 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (d. 2010)
    • 1943 – Gil Gerard, American actor and producer
    • 1944 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, director, and producer (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Mike Harris, Canadian politician, 22nd Premier of Ontario
    • 1946 – Arnoldo Alemán, Nicaraguan lawyer and politician, President of Nicaragua
    • 1946 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-English businessman and mathematician (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Zvonko Bušić, Croatian terrorist, hijacker of TWA Flight 355 (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Don Whittington, American race car driver
    • 1947 – Tom Carper, American captain and politician, 71st Governor of Delaware
    • 1947 – Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesian politician, 5th President of Indonesia
    • 1948 – Anita Pointer, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor, producer, and composer
    • 1950 – Bill Cunningham, American bass and keyboard player
    • 1950 – Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (d. 2018)
    • 1950 – Suzanne Scotchmer, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1950 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (d. 2012)
    • 1951 – Margaret Bailes, American sprinter
    • 1951 – Chesley Sullenberger, American captain and pilot
    • 1952 – Omar Henry, South African cricketer
    • 1953 – John Luther Adams, American composer
    • 1953 – Alister McGrath, Irish priest, historian, and theologian
    • 1953 – Antonio Villaraigosa, American politician, 41st Mayor of Los Angeles
    • 1953 – Robin Zander, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Trevor Hohns, Australian cricketer
    • 1957 – Caroline, Princess of Hanover
    • 1958 – Sergey Litvinov, Russian hammer thrower (d. 2018)
    • 1959 – Clive Bull, English radio host
    • 1960 – Jean-François Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1960 – Greg Ritchie, Australian cricketer
    • 1961 – Neil Henry, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1961 – Yelena Sinchukova, Russian long jumper
    • 1962 – David Arnold, English composer
    • 1962 – Aivar Lillevere, Estonian footballer and coach
    • 1962 – Elvira Lindo, Spanish journalist and author
    • 1964 – Jonatha Brooke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress and producer
    • 1964 – Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyanese economist and politician, 7th President of Guyana
    • 1964 – Mario Roberge, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Louie Clemente, American drummer
    • 1966 – Damien Hardman, Australian surfer
    • 1966 – Haywoode Workman, American basketball player and referee
    • 1967 – Owen Cunningham, Australian rugby league player
    • 1968 – Taro Hakase, Japanese violinist and composer
    • 1968 – Petr Korda, Czech-Monacan tennis player
    • 1969 – Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Brendan Shanahan, Canadian ice hockey player and actor
    • 1969 – Susen Tiedtke, German long jumper
    • 1970 – Spyridon Vasdekis, Greek long jumper
    • 1971 – Scott Gibbs, Welsh-South African rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Kevin Mawae, American football player and coach
    • 1971 – Marc Nelson, American singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Adam Parore, New Zealand cricketer and mountaineer
    • 1971 – Claire Rankin, Canadian actress
    • 1971 – Lisa Snowdon, English television and radio presenter and fashion model
    • 1972 – Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
    • 1973 – Tomas Holmström, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1974 – Glen Chapple, English cricketer
    • 1974 – Rebekah Elmaloglou, Australian actress
    • 1974 – Yosvani Pérez, Cuban baseball player
    • 1974 – Richard T. Slone, English painter
    • 1974 – Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
    • 1975 – Nick Harmer, German musician
    • 1975 – Phil Dawson, American football player
    • 1976 – Brandon Duckworth, American baseball player and scout
    • 1976 – Anne Margrethe Hausken, Norwegian orienteering competitor
    • 1976 – Alex Shaffer, American skier
    • 1979 – Larry Hughes, American basketball player
    • 1979 – Dawn O’Porter, Scottish-English fashion designer and journalist
    • 1979 – Juan Rincón, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
    • 1981 – Rob Friend, Canadian soccer player
    • 1982 – Wily Mo Peña, Dominican baseball player
    • 1982 – Oceana Mahlmann, German singer and songwriter
    • 1982 – Andrew Rock, American sprinter
    • 1983 – Irving Saladino, Panamanian long jumper
    • 1984 – Robbie Farah, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer
    • 1985 – Dong Fangzhuo, Chinese footballer
    • 1985 – Doutzen Kroes, Dutch model and actress
    • 1985 – Yevgeny Lukyanenko, Russian pole vaulter
    • 1985 – Aselefech Mergia, Ethiopian runner
    • 1985 – Jeff Samardzija, American baseball player
    • 1985 – San E, South Korean rapper
    • 1986 – Gelete Burka, Ethiopian runner
    • 1986 – Marc Laird, Scottish footballer
    • 1986 – José Enrique, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Michael Stevens, American YouTuber and educator
    • 1986 – Steven Taylor, English footballer
    • 1986 – Sandro Viletta, Swiss skier
    • 1987 – Leo Komarov, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1990 – Şener Özbayraklı, Turkish footballer
    • 1990 – Alex Silva, Canadian wrestler
    • 1990 – Martyn Waghorn, English footballer
    • 1992 – Reina Triendl, Japanese model and actress
    • 1994 – Addison Russell, American baseball player
    • 1995 – Luke Bateman, Australian rugby league player
    • 1995 – Tuimoala Lolohea, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1998 – XXXTentacion, American rapper (d. 2018)

    Deaths on January 23

    • 667 – Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledo
    • 989 – Adalbero, archbishop of Reims
    • 1002 – Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
    • 1199 – Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Moroccan caliph (b. 1160)
    • 1252 – Isabella, Queen of Armenia
    • 1297 – Florent of Hainaut, Prince of Achaea (b. c. 1255)
    • 1423 – Margaret of Bavaria, Burgundian regent (b. 1363)
    • 1516 – Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1452)
    • 1548 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian priest, scholar, and composer (b. 1490)
    • 1549 – Johannes Honter, Romanian-Hungarian cartographer and theologian (b. 1498)
    • 1567 – Jiajing Emperor of China (b. 1507)
    • 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Scottish politician (b. 1531)
    • 1620 – John Croke, English politician and judge (b. 1553)
    • 1622 – William Baffin, English explorer and navigator (b. 1584)
    • 1650 – Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (b. 1584)
    • 1744 – Giambattista Vico, Italian historian and philosopher (b. 1668)
    • 1785 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician and academic (b. 1717)
    • 1789 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (b. 1724)
    • 1789 – John Cleland, English author (b. 1709)
    • 1800 – Edward Rutledge, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1749)
    • 1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (b. 1725)
    • 1805 – Claude Chappe, French engineer (b. 1763)
    • 1806 – William Pitt the Younger, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
    • 1810 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776)
    • 1812 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (b. 1764)
    • 1820 – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (b. 1767)
    • 1833 – Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, English admiral and politician (b. 1757)
    • 1837 – John Field, Irish pianist and composer (b. 1782)
    • 1866 – Thomas Love Peacock, English author and poet (b. 1785)
    • 1875 – Charles Kingsley English priest and author (b. 1819)
    • 1883 – Gustave Doré, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1832)
    • 1893 – Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1825)
    • 1893 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1817)
    • 1921 – Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer and conductor (b. 1877)
    • 1922 – René Beeh, Alsatian painter and draughtsman (b. 1886)
    • 1922 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor and academic (b. 1855)
    • 1923 – Max Nordau, Austrian physician and author (b. 1849)
    • 1931 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina (b. 1881)
    • 1937 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (b. 1876)
    • 1939 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (b. 1903)
    • 1943 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (b. 1887)
    • 1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1863)
    • 1947 – Pierre Bonnard, French painter (b. 1867)
    • 1956 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director and producer (b. 1893)
    • 1963 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (b. 1908)
    • 1966 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1895)
    • 1971 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (b. 1871)
    • 1973 – Alexander Onassis, American-Greek businessman (b. 1948)
    • 1973 – Kid Ory, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1886)
    • 1976 – Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and activist (b. 1898)
    • 1977 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (b. 1903)
    • 1978 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 1978 – Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1980 – Giovanni Michelotti, Italian engineer (b. 1921)
    • 1981 – Samuel Barber, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
    • 1983 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1908)
    • 1984 – Muin Bseiso, Palestinian-Egyptian poet and critic (b. 1926)
    • 1985 – James Beard, American chef and cookbook author for whom the James Beard Foundation Awards are named (b.1905)
    • 1986 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and painter (b. 1921)
    • 1988 – Charles Glen King, American biochemist and academic (b. 1896)
    • 1989 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1904)
    • 1989 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish race car driver (b. 1961)
    • 1990 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1952)
    • 1991 – Northrop Frye, Canadian author and critic (b. 1912)
    • 1992 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (b. 1924)
    • 1993 – Keith Laumer, American soldier, author, and diplomat (b. 1925)
    • 1994 – Nikolai Ogarkov, Russian field marshal (b. 1917)
    • 1994 – Brian Redhead, English journalist and author (b. 1929)
    • 1999 – Joe D’Amato, Italian director and cinematographer (b. 1936)
    • 1999 – Jay Pritzker, American businessman, co-founded the Hyatt Corporation (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Paul Aars, American race car driver (b. 1934)
    • 2002 – Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher (b. 1930)
    • 2002 – Robert Nozick, American philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2003 – Nell Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
    • 2004 – Bob Keeshan, American television personality and producer (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Helmut Newton, German-Australian photographer (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Johnny Carson, American talk show host, television personality, and producer (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian sociologist and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2007 – E. Howard Hunt, American CIA officer (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1929)
    • 2010 – Kermit Tyler, American colonel and pilot (b. 1913)
    • 2010 – Earl Wild, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
    • 2011 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness instructor, author, and television host (b. 1914)
    • 2012 – Wesley E. Brown, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1907)
    • 2012 – Maurice Meisner, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Bingham Ray, American businessman, co-founded October Films (b. 1954)
    • 2013 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (b. 1937)
    • 2013 – Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie Vilnet, French bishop (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Yuri Izrael, Russian meteorologist and journalist (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Riz Ortolani, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Prosper Ego, Dutch activist, founded the Oud-Strijders Legioen (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bassist (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1921)
    • 2017 – Bobby Freeman, American singer, songwriter and record producer (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Gorden Kaye, English actor (b. 1941)
    • 2018 – Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, composer and singer (b. 1939)
    • 2018 – Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet (b. 1914)
    • 2018 – Wyatt Tee Walker, American civil rights activist and pastor (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on January 23

    • Bounty Day (Pitcairn Islands)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abakuh
      • Marianne of Molokai
      • Emerentiana
      • Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary
      • Ildefonsus of Toledo
      • Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • January 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Jayanti (Orissa, Tripura, and West Bengal, India)
    • World Freedom Day (Taiwan and South Korea)

  • January 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    January 9 in History

    • 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
    • 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
    • 1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song dynasty.
    • 1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
    • 1431 – The trial of Joan of Arc begins in Rouen.
    • 1760 – Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.<refFrançois Xavier Wendel (1991). Wendel’s memoirs on the origin, growth and present state of Jat power in Hindustan (1768). Institut français de Pondichéry. p. 61.</ref>
    • 1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the Constitution.
    • 1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed.
    • 1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
    • 1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain’s war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
    • 1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul’s Cathedral.
    • 1816 – Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
    • 1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
    • 1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
    • 1857 – The 7.9 Mw  Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).
    • 1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: “Star of the West” incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.
    • 1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
    • 1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
    • 1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
    • 1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
    • 1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
    • 1914 – The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded by African-American students at Howard University in Washington D.C., United States.
    • 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
    • 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
    • 1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
    • 1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
    • 1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
    • 1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations’ decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
    • 1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
    • 1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.
    • 1957 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
    • 1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
    • 1961 – British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland Spy Ring in London.
    • 1964 – Martyrs’ Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
    • 1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
    • 1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
    • 1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
    • 1992 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. They discovered two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.
    • 1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
    • 2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula en route to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28. This is the second deadliest marine disaster in Albanian history.
    • 2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to succeed Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority, replacing interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
    • 2005 – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
    • 2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.
    • 2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Urmia in the northwest of the country, killing 77 people.
    • 2014 – An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.
    • 2015 – The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation; a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market in Vincennes.
    • 2015 – A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involving beer that was contaminated with Burkholderia gladioli leaves 75 dead and over 230 people ill.

    Births on January 9

    • 727 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (d. 779)
    • 1418 – Juan Ramón Folch III de Cardona, Aragonese admiral (d. 1485)
    • 1475 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and author (d. 1507)
    • 1554 – Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
    • 1571 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, French commander (d. 1621)
    • 1590 – Simon Vouet, French painter (d. 1649)
    • 1606 – William Dugard, English printer (d. 1662)
    • 1624 – Empress Meishō of Japan (d. 1696)
    • 1645 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English noble and politician (d. 1712)
    • 1674 – Reinhard Keiser, German composer (d. 1739)
    • 1685 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (d. 1766)
    • 1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic (d. 1790)
    • 1735 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (d. 1823)
    • 1745 – Caleb Strong, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
    • 1753 – Luísa Todi, Portuguese soprano and actress (d. 1833)
    • 1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter and illustrator (d. 1845)
    • 1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer (d. 1846)
    • 1811 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English journalist and author (d. 1856)
    • 1818 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (d. 1881)
    • 1819 – James Francis, English-Australian businessman and politician, 9th Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
    • 1822 – Carol Benesch, Czech-Romanian architect, designed the Peleș Castle (d. 1896)
    • 1823 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (d. 1908)
    • 1829 – Thomas William Robertson, English director and playwright (d. 1871)
    • 1829 – Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (d. 1857)
    • 1832 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, Canadian journalist and politician, 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
    • 1839 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and academic (d. 1906)
    • 1848 – Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
    • 1849 – John Hartley, English tennis player (d. 1935)
    • 1854 – Lady Randolph Churchill, American-born wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, mother of Sir Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
    • 1856 – Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
    • 1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist, founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women (d. 1947)
    • 1864 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1926)
    • 1868 – S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1939)
    • 1870 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co-designed the Golden Gate Bridge (d. 1938)
    • 1873 – Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1934)
    • 1873 – Thomas Curtis, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 1944)
    • 1873 – John Flanagan, Irish-American hammer thrower (d. 1938)
    • 1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (d. 1942)
    • 1879 – John B. Watson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1958)
    • 1881 – Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (d. 1938)
    • 1881 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1956)
    • 1885 – Charles Bacon, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
    • 1886 – Lloyd Loar, American sound engineer and instrument designer (d. 1943)
    • 1889 – Vrindavan Lal Verma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1969)
    • 1890 – Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright (d. 1938)
    • 1890 – Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (d. 1935)
    • 1891 – August Gailit, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1960)
    • 1892 – Eva Bowring, American lawyer and politician (d. 1985)
    • 1893 – Edwin Baker, Canadian soldier and educator, co-founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (d. 1968)
    • 1896 – Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-English conductor and director (d. 1971)
    • 1897 – Karl Löwith, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1973)
    • 1898 – Gracie Fields, English actress and singer (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Harald Tammer, Estonian journalist and weightlifter (d. 1942)
    • 1900 – Richard Halliburton, American journalist and author (d. 1939)
    • 1901 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1991)
    • 1901 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
    • 1902 – Rudolf Bing, American impresario and businessman (d. 1997)
    • 1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (d. 1975)
    • 1907 – Eldred G. Smith, American patriarch (d. 2013)
    • 1907 – Earl W. Renfroe, African American orthodontist, educator, and activist (d. 2000)
    • 1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author (d. 1986)
    • 1909 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese lawyer and politician, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
    • 1909 – Patrick Peyton, Irish-American priest, television personality, and activist (d. 1992)
    • 1910 – Tom Evenson, English runner (d. 1997)
    • 1912 – Ralph Tubbs, English architect, designed the Dome of Discovery (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – Richard Nixon, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
    • 1914 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – Anita Louise, American actress (d. 1970)
    • 1916 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1982)
    • 1916 – Vic Mizzy, American soldier, pianist, and composer (d. 2009)
    • 1918 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and golfer (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – William Morris Meredith, Jr., American poet and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Clive Dunn, English actor (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician, 20th Governor of Sindh (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
    • 1921 – Lister Sinclair, Indian-Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate (d. 2011)
    • 1922 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (d. 1984)
    • 1924 – Sergei Parajanov, Georgian-Armenian director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1925 – Len Quested, English footballer defender and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
    • 1926 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
    • 1928 – Judith Krantz, American novelist (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and politician (d. 1994)
    • 1929 – Brian Friel, Irish author, playwright, and director (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Heiner Müller, German poet, playwright, and director (d. 1995)
    • 1931 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Robert García, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Roy Dwight, English footballer, outside forward
    • 1933 – Wilbur Smith, Zambian-English journalist and author
    • 1934 – Bart Starr, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
    • 1935 – Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Dick Enberg, American sportscaster (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – John Graham, New Zealand rugby player and educator (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – Brian Harradine, Australian politician (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Anne Rivers Siddons, American author
    • 1936 – Marko Veselica, Croatian academic and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1938 – Claudette Boyer, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Susannah York, English actress and activist (d. 2011)
    • 1940 – Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
    • 1940 – Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss journalist and politician, 86th President of the Swiss Confederation
    • 1941 – Joan Baez, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist
    • 1941 – Gilles Vaillancourt, Canadian politician
    • 1942 – John Dunning, American author
    • 1942 – Judy Malloy, American poet and author
    • 1943 – Robert Drewe, Australian author and playwright
    • 1943 – Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2019)
    • 1944 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1944 – Mihalis Violaris, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1945 – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Syrian-Armenian scholar and politician, 1st President of Armenia
    • 1946 – Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician, 45th Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1947 – Ronnie Landfield, American painter and educator
    • 1948 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1948 – Jan Tomaszewski, Polish footballer, manager, and politician
    • 1950 – Alec Jeffreys, English geneticist and academic
    • 1950 – David Johansen, American musician and actor
    • 1950 – Sandy Martin, American actress
    • 1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1952 – Kaushik Basu, Indian economist and academic
    • 1952 – Hugh Bayley, English politician
    • 1952 – Mike Capuano, American lawyer and politician
    • 1953 – Javad Alizadeh, Iranian cartoonist and painter
    • 1954 – Philippa Gregory, Kenyan-English author and academic
    • 1955 – Michiko Kakutani, American journalist and critic
    • 1955 – J.K. Simmons, American actor
    • 1956 – Waltraud Meier, German soprano and actress
    • 1956 – Imelda Staunton, English actress and singer
    • 1958 – Stephen Neale, English philosopher and academic
    • 1959 – Mark Martin, American race car driver and coach
    • 1959 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1959 – Otis Nixon, American baseball player
    • 1960 – Lisa Walters, Canadian golfer
    • 1961 – Didier Camberabero, French rugby player
    • 1961 – Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Henry Omaga-Diaz, Filipino journalist
    • 1962 – Ray Houghton, Scottish-born footballer
    • 1963 – Irwin McLean, Northern Irish biologist and academic
    • 1964 – Stan Javier, Dominican baseball player and manager
    • 1965 – Iain Dowie, English-Northern Irish footballer and coach
    • 1965 – Eric Erlandson, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer and musician
    • 1965 – Andrei Nazarov, Estonian decathlete and coach
    • 1965 – Joely Richardson, English actress
    • 1966 – Stephen Metcalfe, English politician
    • 1967 – Matt Bevin, American politician, 62nd governor of Kentucky
    • 1967 – Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
    • 1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1967 – Gary Teichmann, South African rugby player
    • 1968 – Jimmy Adams, Jamaican cricketer and coach
    • 1968 – Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
    • 1968 – Mardi Lunn, Australian golfer
    • 1968 – Giorgos Theofanous, Greek-Cypriot composer and producer
    • 1970 – Lara Fabian, Belgian-Italian singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1971 – Angie Martinez, American rapper, actress, and radio host
    • 1971 – Hal Niedzviecki, Canadian author and critic
    • 1971 – Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Jay Powell, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Rawson Stovall, American video game producer and author
    • 1973 – Sean Paul, Jamaican rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor
    • 1975 – James Beckford, Jamaican long jumper
    • 1976 – Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Chad Johnson, American football player and actor
    • 1978 – AJ McLean, American singer
    • 1980 – Édgar Álvarez, Honduran footballer
    • 1980 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
    • 1980 – Luke Patten, Australian rugby league player and referee
    • 1980 – Francisco Pavón, Spanish footballer
    • 1980 – Wang Zulan, Hong Kong singer
    • 1981 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer and manager
    • 1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
    • 1984 – Drew Brown, American musician and songwriter
    • 1984 – Benjamin Danso, German rugby player
    • 1985 – Juan Francisco Torres, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Jéferson Gomes, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Uwe Hünemeier, German footballer
    • 1986 – Amanda Mynhardt, South African netball player
    • 1987 – Sam Bird, English race car driver
    • 1987 – Lucas Leiva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1987 – Jami Puustinen, Finnish footballer
    • 1988 – Katherine Copely, American ice dancer
    • 1988 – Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Lee Yeon-hee, South Korean actress
    • 1989 – Michael Beasley, American basketball player
    • 1989 – Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress
    • 1989 – Michaëlla Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
    • 1989 – Yana Maksimava, Belarusian heptathlete
    • 1989 – Chris Sandow, Australian rugby league player
    • 1989 – Jordan Turner, English rugby league player
    • 1990 – Justin Blackmon, American football player
    • 1991 – Edon Hasani, Albanian football player
    • 1991 – Alvaro Soler, Spanish singer-songwriter
    • 1993 – Katarina Johnson-Thompson, English long jumper and heptathlete
    • 1993 – Marcus Peters, American football player
    • 1993 – Kevin Korjus, Estonian race car driver
    • 1995 – Braden Uele, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1999 – Shannon Tavarez, American actress (d. 2010)

    Deaths on January 9

    • 710 – Adrian of Canterbury, abbot and scholar
    • 1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (b. 1119)
    • 1202 – Birger Brosa, Jarl of Sweden
    • 1282 – Abû ‘Uthmân Sa’îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, Minorcan ruler (b. 1204)
    • 1283 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (b. 1236)
    • 1367 – Giulia della Rena, Italian saint (b. 1319)
    • 1450 – Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester
    • 1463 – William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, English soldier (b. 1405)
    • 1499 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
    • 1511 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek scholar and academic (b. 1423)
    • 1514 – Anne of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France and Louis XII of France (b. 1477)
    • 1529 – Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (b. 1472)
    • 1534 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (b. 1477)
    • 1543 – Guillaume du Bellay, French general and diplomat (b. 1491)
    • 1561 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
    • 1571 – Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French admiral (b. 1510)
    • 1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet and scholar (b. 1553)
    • 1612 – Leonard Holliday, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1550)
    • 1622 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (b. 1576)
    • 1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1657)
    • 1762 – Antonio de Benavides, colonial governor of Florida (b. 1678)
    • 1766 – Thomas Birch, English historian and author (b. 1705)
    • 1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1718)
    • 1800 – Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
    • 1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American physician and politician (b. 1723)
    • 1843 – William Hedley, English engineer (b. 1773)
    • 1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (b. 1750)
    • 1856 – Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator (b. 1770)
    • 1858 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician; 4th President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1798)
    • 1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (b. 1808)
    • 1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist (b. 1801)
    • 1878 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
    • 1895 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American-English businessman (b. 1812)
    • 1901 – Richard Copley Christie, English lawyer and academic (b. 1830)
    • 1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter (b. 1832)
    • 1908 – Abraham Goldfaden, Russian actor, playwright, and author (b. 1840)
    • 1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American violinist and composer (b. 1853)
    • 1911 – Edvard Rusjan, Italian-Slovene pilot and engineer (b. 1886)
    • 1917 – Luther D. Bradley, American cartoonist (b. 1853)
    • 1918 – Charles-Émile Reynaud, French scientist and educator, invented the Praxinoscope (b. 1844)
    • 1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1888)
    • 1924 – Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sri Lankan civil servant and politician (b. 1853)
    • 1927 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (b. 1855)
    • 1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author (b. 1863)
    • 1931 – Wayne Munn, American football player and wrestler (b. 1896)
    • 1936 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1899)
    • 1939 – Johann Strauss III, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
    • 1941 – Dimitrios Golemis, Greek runner (b. 1874)
    • 1945 – Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese admiral and pilot (b. 1908)
    • 1945 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1890)
    • 1945 – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1890)
    • 1946 – Countee Cullen, American poet and playwright (b. 1903)
    • 1947 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (b. 1893)
    • 1960 – Elsie J. Oxenham, English author and educator (b. 1880)
    • 1961 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
    • 1964 – Halide Edib Adıvar, Turkish author and academic (b. 1884)
    • 1971 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player and scout (b. 1876)
    • 1972 – Ted Shawn, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
    • 1975 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1897)
    • 1975 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1901)
    • 1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect, designed the Tour de la Bourse and Pirelli Tower (b. 1891)
    • 1981 – Kazimierz Serocki, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 1984 – Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (b. 1909)
    • 1985 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
    • 1987 – Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1988 – Peter L. Rypdal, Norwegian fiddler and composer (b. 1909)
    • 1989 – Bill Terry, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
    • 1990 – Spud Chandler, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1907)
    • 1990 – Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and journalist (b. 1931)
    • 1992 – Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 1992 – Bill Naughton, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1910)
    • 1993 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
    • 1994 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
    • 1995 – Souphanouvong, Laotian politician, 1st President of Laos (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Peter Cook, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1937)
    • 1996 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (b. 1923)
    • 1996 – Abdullah al-Qasemi, Saudi atheist, writer, and intellectual (b. 1907)
    • 1997 – Edward Osóbka-Morawski, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
    • 1997 – Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 1998 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Slovakian-Israeli martial artist, founded Krav Maga (b. 1910)
    • 2000 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer and academic (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Maurice Prather, American photographer and director (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Will McDonough, American journalist (b. 1935)
    • 2004 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and academic (b. 1909)
    • 2006 – Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
    • 2006 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)
    • 2007 – Jean-Pierre Vernant, French anthropologist and historian (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2008 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and television host (b. 1924)
    • 2009 – Rob Gauntlett, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1987)
    • 2009 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Makinti Napanangka, Australian painter (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Augusto Gansser-Biaggi, Swiss geologist and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2012 – William G. Roll, German-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissau politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
    • 2012 – László Szekeres, Hungarian physician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Brigitte Askonas, Austrian-English immunologist and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – James M. Buchanan, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – Robert L. Rock, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – John Wise, Canadian farmer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Josep Maria Castellet, Spanish poet and critic (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Paul du Toit, South African painter and sculptor (b. 1965)
    • 2014 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Michel Jeury, French author (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Robert V. Keeley, Lebanese-American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Greece (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
    • 2015 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster and businessman, founded the Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, Malaysian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
    • 2016 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Angus Scrimm, American actor and author (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Zygmunt Bauman, Polish sociologist (b. 1925)
    • 2018 – Kato Ottio, Papua New Guinean rugby league player (b. 1994)
    • 2019 – Verna Bloom, American actress (b. 1938)
    • 2019 – Paul Koslo, German-Canadian actor (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on January 9

    • Christian feast day:
      • Adrian of Canterbury
      • Berhtwald
      • Translation of the Black Nazarene (Manila, Philippines)
      • Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow
      • Julia Chester Emery (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Stephen (old calendar Eastern Orthodox)
      • January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Start of Hōonkō (Nishi Honganji) January 9–16 (Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Panama)
    • Non-Resident Indian Day (India)