202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
1246 – The siege of Jaén ends in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in the Castilian takeover of the city from the Taifa of Jaen.
1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.
1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.
1700 – Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.
1710 – Battle of Helsingborg: 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock. This is the last time Swedish and Danish troops meet on Swedish soil.
1728 – Peshwa Bajirao I of the Maratha Empire defeats Asaf Jah I in the Battle of Palkhed.
1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.
1838 – Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Quebec).
1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing six people, including two United States Cabinet members.
1847 – The Battle of the Sacramento River during the Mexican–American War is a decisive victory for the United States leading to the capture of Chihuahua.
1849 – Regular steamship service from the east to the west coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, four months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor.
1867 – Seventy years of Holy See–United States relations are ended by a Congressional ban on federal funding of diplomatic envoys to the Vatican and are not restored until January 10, 1984.
1870 – The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire.
1874 – One of the longest cases ever heard in an English court ends when the defendant is convicted of perjury for attempting to assume the identity of the heir to the Tichborne baronetcy.
1893 – The USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time, is launched.
1897 – Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch of Madagascar, is deposed by a French military force.
1900 – The Second Boer War: The 118-day “Siege of Ladysmith” is lifted.
1904 – S.L. Benfica is founded in Portugal.
1922 – The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire.
1939 – The erroneous word “dord” is discovered in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.
1940 – Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).
1942 – The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.
1947 – February 28 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the loss of an estimated 30,000 civilians.
1948 – Christiansborg Cross-Roads shooting in the Gold Coast, when a British police officer opens fire on a march of ex-servicemen, killing three of them and sparking major riots and looting in Accra.
1953 – James Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April’s Nature (pub. April 2).
1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public.
1958 – A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in what remains one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.
1959 – Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.
1966 – A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett.
1972 – China–United States relations: The United States and China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.
1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.
1980 – Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.
1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 106 million viewers. It still holds the record for the highest viewership of a season finale.
1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.
1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.
1991 – The first Gulf War ends.
1993 – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four ATF agents and six Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.
1995 – Former Australian Liberal party leader John Hewson resigns from the Australian parliament almost two years after losing the 1993 Australian federal election.
1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 3,000 deaths.
1997 – GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.
1998 – First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.
1998 – Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo.
2002 – During the religious violence in Gujarat, the 97 people killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in Gulbarg Society massacre.
2004 – Over one million Taiwanese participate in the 228 Hand-in-Hand rally form a 500-kilometre (310 mi) long human chain to commemorate the February 28 Incident in 1947.
2005 – A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII, in 1415.
Births on February 28
1119 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (d. 1150)
1155 – Henry the Young King, son and heir of Henry II of England (d. 1183)
1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (d. 1283)
1518 – Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (d. 1536)
1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (d. 1592)
1535 – Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (d. 1578)
1552 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (d. 1632)
1612 – John Pearson, English bishop, theologian, and scholar (d. 1686)
1627 – Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (d. 1703)
1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)
1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (d. 1757)
1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (d. 1760)
1712 – Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French general (d. 1759)
1724 – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1807)
1792 – Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist, meteorologist, and geographer (d. 1876)
1812 – Berthold Auerbach, German poet and author (d. 1882)
1820 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914)
1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)
1840 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (d. 1892)
1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (d. 1899)
1851 – Samuel W. McCall, American journalist and politician, 47th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1923)
1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (d. 1941)
1865 – Wilfred Grenfell, English physician and missionary (d. 1940)
1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1949)
1873 – William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish sailor (d. 1912)
1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1929)
1882 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (d. 1967)
1882 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher, lawyer, and politician, Mexican Secretary of Public Education (d. 1959)
1883 – Seán Mac Diarmada, Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
1884 – Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (d. 1966)
1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1964)
1895 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright and director (d. 1974)
1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (d. 1969)
1900 – Wolf Hirth, German pilot and engineer, co-founded Schempp-Hirth (d. 1959)
1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)
1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)
1909 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (d. 1995)
1911 – Otakar Vávra, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2011)
1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
1915 – Zero Mostel, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
1916 – Cesar Climaco, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th Mayor of Zamboanga City (d. 1984)
1917 – Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, and producer (d. 2007)
1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (d. 2013)
1919 – Brian Urquhart, English soldier and diplomat, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (d. 2014)
1921 – Pierre Clostermann, French pilot, engineer, and author (d. 2006)
1922 – Yuri Lotman, Russian-Estonian historian and scholar (d. 1993)
1923 – Charles Durning, American soldier and actor (d. 2012)
1924 – Uno Prii, Estonian-Canadian architect (d. 2000)
1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (d. 1982)
1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian-American author and educator (d. 2011)
1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (d. 1976)
1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (d. 2011)
1928 – Sylvia del Villard, actress, dancer, choreographer and Afro-Puerto Rican activist (d. 1990)
1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect, designed 8 Spruce Street and Walt Disney Concert Hall
1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (d. 2016)
1929 – Rangaswamy Srinivasan, Indian-American physical chemist and inventor
1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1931 – Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi academic and politician, 14th President of Bangladesh (d. 2012)
1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster
1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor
1931 – Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer, outside forward and scout (d. 1996)
1931 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (d. 2016)
1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician
1934 – Willie Bobo, American Latin Jazz/Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist (d. 1983)
1937 – Jeff Farrell, American swimmer
1938 – Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
1939 – John Fahey, American guitarist (d. 2001)
1939 – Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan philosopher and scholar (d. 1987)
1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, singer, dancer, and director
1940 – Aldo Andretti, Italian-American race car driver
1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver
1940 – Joe South, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer (d. 2012)
1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1969)
1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer and manager
1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
1943 – Hans Dijkstal, Egyptian-Dutch educator and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2010)
1943 – Donnie Iris, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress and dancer
1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (d. 2014)
1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager
1944 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (d. 2013)
1945 – Mimsy Farmer, American-French actress and sculptor
1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)
1945 – Linda Preiss Rothschild, American mathematician and academic
1946 – Philip Bailhache, English lawyer and politician
1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2005)
1946 – Syreeta Wright, African-American singer songwriter (d. 2004)
1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress
1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate
1948 – Mike Figgis, English director, screenwriter, and composer
1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author
1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
1948 – Alfred Sant, Maltese politician, 11th Prime Minister of Malta
1951 – Bill Cratty, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)
1951 – Debora Green, American physician convicted of murder
1953 – Ingo Hoffmann, Brazilian race car driver
1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American wrestler, referee, and trainer
1954 – Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
1955 – Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach
1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer
1956 – Terry Leahy, English businessman
1956 – Guy Maddin, Canadian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
1957 – Paul Delph, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 1996)
1957 – Ainsley Harriott, English chef and author
1957 – Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
1957 – John Turturro, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter
1958 – Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (d. 2012)
1958 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian journalist and activist (d. 2009)
1958 – Jeanne Mas, Spanish-French singer-songwriter and actress
1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (d. 2010)
1959 – Jack Abramoff, American businessman and lobbyist
1959 – Megan McDonald, American librarian and author
1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress
1961 – Mark Latham, Australian politician
1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer
1962 – Gary Belcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist
1964 – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistan sprinter and cyclist
1965 – Colum McCann, Irish-American author and academic
1965 – Norman Smiley, English-American wrestler and trainer
1966 – Vincent Askew, American basketball player and coach
1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid
1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager
1967 – Martin Tielli, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1969 – Sean Farrel, English footballer, forward
1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver
1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor
1969 – Patrick Monahan, American singer-songwriter and actor
1970 – Daniel Handler, American journalist, author, and accordion player
1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner
1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer
1971 – Peter Stebbings, Canadian actor and director
1972 – Rory Cochrane, American actor
1972 – Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter
1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Scott McLeod, New Zealand rugby player
1973 – Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver
1973 – Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler
1974 – Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager
1974 – Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager
1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player
1976 – Ali Larter, American actress
1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1977 – Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler
1978 – Jeanne Cherhal, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player
1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player
1979 – Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver
1979 – Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player
1979 – Primož Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper
1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer
1980 – Lucian Bute, Romanian-Canadian boxer
1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer
1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout
1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress
1984 – Noureen DeWulf, American actress
1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress
1985 – Tim Bresnan, English cricketer
1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
1985 – Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Travis Stevens, American judoka
1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player
1988 – Markéta Irglová, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1989 – Carlos Dunlap, American football player
1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
1989 – Kevin Proctor, New Zealand rugby league player
1989 – Angelababy, Chinese actress
1990 – Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
1994 – Jake Bugg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1994 – Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer
1999 – Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player
Deaths on February 28
628 – Khosrow II, Shah of Iran – Sasanian Empire (b. c. 570)
911 – Abu Abdallah al-Shi’i, Muslim Shia imam
1105 – Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse (b. c. 1042)
1261 – Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1230)
1326 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (b. 1290)
1453 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)
1510 – Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer (b. 1450)
1551 – Martin Bucer, German Protestant reformer (b. 1491)
1572 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian and author (b. 1505)
1621 – Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)
1648 – Christian IV of Denmark (b. 1577)
1786 – John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713)
1788 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1725)
1857 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (b. 1809)
1869 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French author and poet (b. 1790)
2002 – Mary Stuart, American actress and singer (b. 1926)
2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (b. 1920)
2003 – Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (b. 1928)
2003 – Fidel Sánchez Hernández, Salvadorian general and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1917)
2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)
2004 – Carmen Laforet, Spanish author (b. 1921)
2004 – Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian sergeant (b. 1982)
2005 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (b. 1941)
2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
2007 – Charles Forte, Baron Forte, Italian-English businessman, founded the Forte Group (b. 1908)
2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)
2007 – Billy Thorpe, English-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)
2008 – Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (b. 1904)
2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (b. 1918)
2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)
2011 – Jane Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
2012 – Frisner Augustin, Haitian drummer and composer (b. 1948)
2012 – Jim Green, American-Canadian educator and politician (b. 1943)
2012 – Hal Roach, Irish comedian and author (b. 1927)
2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
2013 – Neil McCorkell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1912)
2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (b. 1935)
2014 – Lee Lorch, American mathematician and activist (b. 1915)
2015 – Alex Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1942)
2015 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1923)
2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)
2017 – Pierre Pascau, Mauritian-Canadian journalist (b. 1938)
2019 – André Previn, German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (b. 1929)
2020 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe’s (b. 1930)
2020 – Freeman Dyson, British-born American physicist and mathematician (b. 1923)
2020 – Sir Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances on February 28
Christian feast day:
Abercius (martyr)
Anna Julia Cooper and Elizabeth Evelyn Wright (Episcopal Church (USA))
Hilarius
Mar Abba
Oswald of Worcester
Romanus of Condat
Rufinus
February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Rare Disease Day can fall, while February 29 is the latest; observed on the last day of February (international)
The third day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
Día de Andalucía (Andalusia, Spain)
Kalevala Day, the day of Finnish culture. (Finland)
303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia.
1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
1554 – Mapuche forces, under the leadership of Lautaro, score a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Marihueñu in Chile.
1653 – The Ballet Royal de la Nuit is first performed at the Salle du Petit-Bourbon in Paris
1739 – At York Castle, the outlaw Dick Turpin is identified by his former schoolteacher. Turpin had been using the name Richard Palmer.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.
1836 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.
1847 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista: In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.
1870 – Reconstruction Era: Post-U.S. Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an anti-trust law.
1885 – Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.
1886 – Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of aluminium from the electrolysis of aluminium oxide, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister, Julia Brainerd Hall.
1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J’Accuse…!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1900 – Second Boer War: During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart’s Hill fails.
1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.
1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world’s first service club.
1909 – The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar).
1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress establishing the Federal Radio Commission (later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission) which was to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.
1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
1934 – Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.
1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California.
1943 – A fire breaks out at Saint Joseph’s Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 35 children and one adult.
1943 – Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded in Greece.
1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free all 2,147 captives of the Los Baños internment camp, in what General Colin Powell later would refer to as “the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies.”
1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.
1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.
1947 – International Organization for Standardization is founded.
1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.
1966 – In Syria, Ba’ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin al-Hafiz, also a Baathist.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d’état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d’état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people.
1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 88. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam, marking the first operational loss of a B-2.
2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 21⁄2 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster.
2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.
2017 – The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army captures Al-Bab from ISIL.
2019 – Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767 freighter, crashes into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, killing all three people on board.
Births on February 23
1417 – Pope Paul II (d. 1471)
1417 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1479)
1443 – Matthias Corvinus, Hungarian king (d. 1490)
1529 – Onofrio Panvinio, Italian historian (d. 1568)
1539 – Henry XI of Legnica, thrice Duke of Legnica (d. 1588)
1539 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (d. 1612)
1583 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer (d. 1656)
1592 – Balthazar Gerbier, Dutch painter (d. 1663)
1633 – Samuel Pepys, English diarist and politician (d. 1703)
1646 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shōgun (d. 1709)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, Canadian politician, 2nd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)
1685 – George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (d. 1759)
1723 – Richard Price, Welsh-English minister and philosopher (d. 1791)
1744 – Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker and businessman (d. 1812)
1792 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (d. 1854)
1831 – Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Dutch painter (d. 1915)
1840 – Carl Menger, Austrian economist and educator (d. 1921)
1842 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (d. 1906)
1850 – César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz Hotel, London and Hôtel Ritz Paris (d. 1918)
1868 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (d. 1963)
1868 – Anna Hofman-Uddgren, Swedish actress, singer, and director (d. 1947)
1873 – Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (d. 1929)
1874 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Estonia (d. 1956)
1878 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and theorist (d. 1935)
1883 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (d. 1969)
1883 – Guy C. Wiggins, American painter (d. 1962)
1889 – Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)
1889 – Cyril Delevanti, English-American actor (d. 1975)
1889 – Victor Fleming, American director, cinematographer, and producer (d. 1949)
1889 – John Gilbert Winant, American captain, pilot, and politician, 60th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1947)
1892 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (d. 1995)
1892 – Agnes Smedley, American journalist and writer (d. 1950)
1894 – Harold Horder, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1978)
1899 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (d. 1974)
1899 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1904 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (d. 1980)
1904 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (d. 1993)
1908 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
1915 – Jon Hall, American actor and director (d. 1979)
1915 – Paul Tibbets, American general and pilot (d. 2007)
1919 – Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (d. 1995)
1920 – Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2018)
1923 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 2014)
1923 – Harry Clarke, English international footballer, defender (d. 2000)
1923 – Ioannis Grivas, Greek judge and politician, 176th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2016)
1923 – Dante Lavelli, American football player (d. 2009)
1923 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (d.1986)
1923 – Mary Francis Shura, American author (d. 1991)
1924 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1925 – Louis Stokes, American lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
1927 – Régine Crespin, French soprano and actress (d. 2007)
1928 – Hans Herrmann, German race car driver
1928 – Vasily Lazarev, Russian colonel, physician, and astronaut (d. 1990)
1929 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (d. 2008)
1929 – Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (d. 1980)
1930 – Paul West, English-American author, poet, and academic (d. 2015)
1931 – Tom Wesselmann, American painter and sculptor (d. 2004)
1932 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (d. 2008)
1937 – Tom Osborne, American football player, coach, and politician
1938 – Sylvia Chase, American broadcast journalist (d. 2019)
1938 – Paul Morrissey, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1938 – Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)
1940 – Peter Fonda, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
1940 – Jackie Smith, American football player
1941 – Ron Hunt, American baseball player
1943 – Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
1943 – Bobby Mitchell, American golfer (d. 2018)
1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author and educator
1944 – Florian Fricke, German keyboard player and composer (d. 2001)
1944 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
1945 – Allan Boesak, South African cleric and politician
1946 – Rusty Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician, Speaker of the Danish Parliament
1947 – Anton Mosimann, Swiss chef and author
1948 – Bill Alexander, English director and producer
1948 – Trevor Cherry, English footballer (d. 2020)
1948 – Steve Priest, English singer-songwriter and bass player
1949 – César Aira, Argentinian author and translator
1949 – Marc Garneau, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and politician
1950 – Rebecca Goldstein, American philosopher and author
1951 – Eddie Dibbs, American tennis player
1951 – Debbie Friedman, American singer-songwriter of Jewish melodies (d. 2011)
1951 – Ed “Too Tall” Jones, American football player and boxer
1951 – Patricia Richardson, American actress
1952 – Brad Whitford, American guitarist and songwriter
1953 – Kenny Bee, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1953 – Satoru Nakajima, Japanese race car driver
1954 – Rajini Thiranagama, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 1989)
1954 – Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian captain and politician, 3rd President of Ukraine
1955 – Howard Jones, English singer-songwriter
1955 – Flip Saunders, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1956 – Sandra Osborne, Scottish politician
1958 – David Sylvian, English singer-songwriter
1959 – Clayton Anderson, American engineer and astronaut
1959 – Nick de Bois, English politician
1959 – Ian Liddell-Grainger, Scottish soldier and politician
1959 – Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress
1960 – Naruhito, Emperor of Japan
1962 – Michael Wilton, American guitarist
1963 – Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player
1963 – Radosław Sikorski, Polish journalist and politician, 11th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
1964 – John Norum, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
1965 – Michael Dell, American businessman
1965 – Helena Suková, Czech-Monacan tennis player
1967 – Steve Stricker, American golfer
1967 – Chris Vrenna, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
1969 – Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
1969 – Martine Croxall, English journalist and television news presenter
1969 – Daymond John, American fashion designer and businessman, founded FUBU
1970 – Niecy Nash, American actress and producer
1971 – Carin Koch, Swedish golfer
1971 – Melinda Messenger, English model and television host
1971 – Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player
1972 – Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer
1972 – Rondell White, American baseball player
1973 – Jeff Nordgaard, American-Polish basketball player
1974 – Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
1974 – Robbi Kempson, South African rugby player
1975 – Michael Cornacchia, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Ryan McCourt, Canadian artist
1976 – Scott Elarton, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress
1976 – Jeff O’Neill, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1977 – Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian skier
1978 – Residente, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
1978 – Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
1979 – S. E. Cupp, American journalist and author
1981 – Gareth Barry, English footballer
1981 – Josh Gad, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1981 – Charles Tillman, American football player
1982 – Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor and screenwriter
1983 – Mido, Egyptian footballer, striker, manager and sportscaster
1983 – Aziz Ansari, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1983 – Emily Blunt, English actress
1986 – Emerson Conceição, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Skylar Grey, American singer-songwriter
1986 – Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
1986 – Jerod Mayo, American football player
1986 – Ola Svensson, Swedish singer-songwriter
1987 – Ab-Soul, American rapper
1987 – Theophilus London, Trinidadian-American singer-songwriter and producer
1987 – Zak Kirkup, Member of the Parliament of Western Australia
1988 – Nicolás Gaitán, Argentinian footballer
1989 – Evan Bates, American ice dancer
1989 – Jérémy Pied, French footballer
1990 – Kevin Connauton, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Terry Hawkridge, English footballer
1990 – Marco Scandella, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Casemiro, Brazilian footballer
1992 – Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
1993 – Chris Grevsmuhl, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress
1995 – Andrew Wiggins, Canadian basketball player
1996 – D’Angelo Russell, American basketball player
1997 – Jamal Murray, Canadian basketball player
Deaths on February 23
715 – Al-Walid I, Umayyad caliph (b. 668)
908 – Li Keyong, Shatuo military governor during the Tang Dynasty in China (b. 856)
943 – Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
943 – David I, prince of Tao-Klarjeti (Georgia)
1011 – Willigis, German archbishop (b. 940)
1100 – Emperor Zhezong of Song (b. 1076)
1270 – Isabel of France (b. 1225)
1447 – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)
1447 – Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
1464 – Emperor Yingzong of Ming (b. 1427)
1473 – Arnold, Duke of Gelderland (b. 1410)
1526 – Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies (b. c. 1479)
1554 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire (b. 1515)
1603 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
1603 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician (b. 1540)
1620 – Nicholas Fuller, English politician (b. 1543)
1704 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (b. 1653)
1766 – Stanisław Leszczyński, Polish king (b. 1677)
1781 – George Taylor, Irish-American blacksmith and politician (b. 1716)
1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (b. 1723)
1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
1848 – John Quincy Adams, American politician, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
1855 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
1859 – Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1812)
1879 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (b. 1803)
1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer and educator (b. 1828)
1900 – Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1867)
1908 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (b. 1823)
1918 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882)
1930 – Horst Wessel, German SA officer (b. 1907)
1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (b. 1861)
1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857)
1944 – Leo Baekeland, Belgian-American chemist and engineer (b. 1863)
1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (b. 1885)
1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-American publisher and educator (b. 1866)
1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (b. 1890)
1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress and producer (b. 1933)
1969 – Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 2nd King of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (b. 1895)
1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887)
1979 – W. A. C. Bennett, Canadian businessman and politician, 25th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1900)
1983 – Herbert Howells, English organist and composer (b. 1892)
1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, Salvadoran engineer and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)
1997 – Tony Williams, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1945)
1998 – Philip Abbott, American actor and director (b. 1924)
1999 – The Renegade, American wrestler (b. 1965)
2000 – Ofra Haza, Israeli singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1957)
2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (b. 1915)
2003 – Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (b. 1955)
2003 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist and academic (b. 1910)
2004 – Vijay Anand, Indian director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1934)
2004 – Sikander Bakht, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1918)
2006 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
2007 – John Ritchie, English footballer (b. 1941)
2008 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (b. 1950)
2008 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (b. 1917)
2010 – Orlando Zapata, Cuban plumber and activist (b. 1967)
2011 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (b. 1923)
2012 – William Raggio, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
2012 – David Sayre, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1924)
2012 – Kazimierz Żygulski, Polish sociologist and activist (b. 1919)
2013 – Eugene Bookhammer, American soldier and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware (b. 1918)
2013 – Joseph Friedenson, Holocaust survivor, Holocaust historian, Yiddish writer, lecturer and editor (b. 1922)
2013 – Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal (b. 1920)
2013 – Lotika Sarkar, Indian lawyer and academic (b. 1945)
2014 – Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-English Holocaust survivor, pianist and educator (b. 1903)
2014 – Roger Hilsman, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1919)
2015 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (b. 1918)
2015 – Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1942)
2015 – W. E. “Bill” Dykes, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
2016 – Peter Lustig, German television host and author (b. 1937)
2016 – Jacqueline Mattson, American baseball player (b. 1928)
2019 – Katherine Helmond, American actress (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances on February 23
Christian feast day:
Polycarp of Smyrna
Serenus the Gardener
February 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
The Emperor’s Birthday, birthday of Naruhito, the current Emperor of Japan (Japan)
Mashramani-Republic Day (Guyana)
Meteņi (Latvia)
National Day (Brunei)
Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy in the former Soviet Union, also held in various former Soviet republics:
Defender of the Fatherland Day (Russia)
Defender of the Fatherland and Armed Forces day (Belarus)
705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city’s throne.
1632 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems .
1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania).
1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
1878 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
1915 – World War I: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
1946 – The “Long Telegram”, proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
1974 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but is killed by police.
1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
1984 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgraded South Sylhet’s sub-division status to a district and renamed it back to Moulvibazar.
1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
2005 – The 6.4 Mw Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
2011 – New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
2018 – A man throws a grenade at the U.S embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.
Births on February 22
1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian jurist and theologian (died 1085)
1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
1302 – Gegeen Khan, Emperor Yingzong of Yuan (d. 1323)
1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (d. 1576)
1520 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (d. 1572)
1550 – Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (d. 1616)
1592 – Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (d. 1637)
1631 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (d. 1702)
1649 – Bon Boullogne, French painter (d. 1717)
1715 – Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (d. 1790)
1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (d. 1818)
1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1848)
1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
1860 – Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (d. 1939)
1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
1899 – George O’Hara, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1966)
1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (d. 1983)
1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1930)
1906 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (d. 1991)
1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
1908 – John Mills, English soldier and actor (d. 2005)
1910 – George Hunt, English international footballer, forward (d. 1996)
1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1915 – Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (d. 1964)
1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
1918 – Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (d. 1940)
1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
1923 – François Cavanna, French author and editor (d. 2014)
1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet and academic
1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (d. 2017)
1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
1929 – Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
1932 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (d. 2012)
1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
1933 – Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (d. 2001)
1933 – Bobby Smith, English international footballer, centre forward (d. 2010)
1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Tommy Aaron, American golfer
1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1938 – Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer, goalkeeper
1938 – Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (d. 2017)
1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
1943 – Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player
1943 – Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1944 – Mick Green, English rock & roll guitarist (d. 2010)
1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
1945 – Oliver, American pop singer (d. 2000)
1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1947 – Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer
1947 – John Radford, English footballer and manager
1947 – Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
1949 – John Duncan, Scottish footballer, forward and manager
1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (d. 2019)
1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and author
1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
1952 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (d. 2020)
1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
1959 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (d. 2006)
1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1963 – Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1964 – Andy Gray, English footballer, midfielder and manager
1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German-English actor
1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer and producer
1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer
1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian international footballer, winger
1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
1999 – Harry Brook, English cricketer
Deaths on February 22
556 – Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna (b. 499)
606 – Sabinian, pope of the Catholic Church
793 – Sicga, Anglo-Saxon nobleman and regicide
845 – Wang, Chinese empress dowager
954 – Guo Wei, Chinese emperor (b. 904)
965 – Otto, duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
970 – García I, king of Pamplona
978 – Lambert, count of Chalon (b. 930)
1071 – Arnulf III, count of Flanders
1072 – Peter Damian, Italian cardinal
1079 – John of Fécamp, Italian Benedictine abbot
1111 – Roger Borsa, king of Sicily (b. 1078)
1297 – Margaret of Cortona, Italian penitent (b. 1247)
1371 – David II, king of Scotland (b. 1324)
1452 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (b. 1425)
1500 – Gerhard VI, German nobleman (b. 1430)
1511 – Henry, duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
1904 – Leslie Stephen, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1832)
1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
1913 – Francisco I. Madero, Mexican president and author (b. 1873)
1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1881)
1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist (b. 1869)
1945 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (b. 1888)
1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and critic (b. 1905)
1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1889)
1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
1971 – Frédéric Mariotti, French actor (b. 1883)
1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author (b. 1899)
1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
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
AD 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule, the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
1302 – Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence.
1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.
1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.
1695 – Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox’s “noble train of artillery” arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast.
1825 – The U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears”.
1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Toba–Fushimi begins, between forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and pro-Imperial factions; it will end in defeat for the shogunate, and is a pivotal point in the Meiji Restoration.
1869 – Boshin War: Tokugawa rebels establish the Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō.
1880 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his incandescent lamp.
1916 – World War I: The British government passed a legislation that introduced conscription in the United Kingdom.
1918 – Beginning of the Finnish Civil War.
1927 – Ibn Saud takes the title of King of Nejd.
1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
1943 – World War II: The Eighth Air Force sorties ninety-one B-17s and B-24s to attack the U-boat construction yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. This was the first American bombing attack on Germany.
1944 – World War II: The 900-day Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
1945 – World War II: The Soviet 322nd Rifle Division liberates the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
1951 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with Operation Ranger.
1961 – The Soviet submarine S-80 sinks when its snorkel malfunctions, flooding the boat.
1967 – Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
1967 – Cold War: The Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
1973 – The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde is killed in action becoming the conflict’s last recorded American combat casualty.
1980 – Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.
1983 – The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world’s longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.
1996 – In a military coup, Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane.
1996 – Germany first observes the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
2002 – An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least 1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others.
2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.
2010 – The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis ends when Porfirio Lobo Sosa becomes the new President of Honduras.
2011 – Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution begins as over 16,000 protestors demonstrate in Sana’a.
2013 – Two hundred and forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.
Births on January 27
1365 – Edward of Angoulême, English noble (d. 1370)
1443 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
1546 – Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)
1571 – Abbas I of Persia (d. 1629)
1585 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
1603 – Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (d. 1685)
1603 – Humphrey Mackworth, English politician, lawyer and judge (d. 1654)
1621 – Thomas Willis, English physician and anatomist (d. 1675)
1662 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (d. 1742)
1663 – George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1733)
1687 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German engineer and architect, designed Würzburg Residence and Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (d. 1753)
1701 – Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian and theologian (d. 1790)
1708 – Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (d. 1728)
1741 – Hester Thrale, Welsh author (d. 1821)
1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1791)
1775 – Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1854)
1790 – Juan Álvarez, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1867)
1795 – Eli Whitney Blake, American engineer, invented the Mortise lock (d. 1886)
1803 – Eunice Hale Waite Cobb, American writer, public speaker, and activist (d. 1880)
1805 – Maria Anna of Bavaria (d. 1877)
1805 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and etcher (d. 1881)
1806 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer and educator (d. 1826)
1808 – David Strauss, German theologian and author (d. 1874)
1814 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect, designed the Lausanne Cathedral (d. 1879)
1821 – John Chivington, American colonel and pastor (d. 1892)
1823 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (d. 1892)
1824 – Urbain Johnson, Canadian farmer and political figure (d. 1917)
1826 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist and author (d. 1889)
1826 – Richard Taylor, American general, historian, and politician (d. 1879)
1832 – Lewis Carroll, English novelist, poet, and mathematician (d. 1898)
1832 – Carl Friedrich Schmidt, Estonian-Russian geologist and botanist (d. 1908)
1836 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (d. 1895)
1842 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian-Russian painter (d. 1910)
1848 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (d. 1934)
1850 – John Collier, English painter and author (d. 1934)
1850 – Samuel Gompers, English-American labor leader (d. 1924)
1850 – Edward Smith, English captain (d. 1912)
1858 – Neel Doff, Dutch-Belgian author (d. 1942)
1859 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (d. 1941)
1869 – Will Marion Cook, American violinist and composer (d. 1944)
1878 – Dorothy Scarborough, American author (d. 1935)
1885 – Jerome Kern, American composer and songwriter (d. 1945)
1885 – Seison Maeda, Japanese painter (d. 1977)
1886 – Radhabinod Pal, Indian academic and jurist (d. 1967)
1889 – Balthasar van der Pol, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1959)
1891 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian journalist and author (d. 1967)
1893 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese politician, Honorary President of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1981)
1895 – Joseph Rosenstock, Polish-American conductor and manager (d. 1985)
1895 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1974)
1900 – Hyman G. Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)
1901 – Willy Fritsch, German actor (d. 1973)
1901 – Art Rooney, American football player and coach, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (d. 1988)
1903 – John Eccles, Australian-Swiss neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
1903 – Otto P. Weyland, American general (d. 1979)
1904 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1979)
1905 – Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American journalist and publisher (d. 1993)
1910 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general, economist, and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1979)
1912 – Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher and environmentalist (d. 2009)
1912 – Francis Rogallo, American engineer, invented the Rogallo wing (d. 2009)
1915 – Jules Archer, American historian and author (d. 2008)
1915 – Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian-American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1985)
1918 – Skitch Henderson, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2005)
1918 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
1918 – William Seawell, American general (d. 2005)
1919 – Tom Addington, English captain (d. 2011)
1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (d. 1972)
1920 – Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japanese lieutenant and pilot (d. 1944)
1920 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (d. 2002)
1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)
1924 – Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (d. 2012)
1924 – Brian Rix, English actor, producer, and politician (d. 2016)
1924 – Harvey Shapiro, American poet (d. 2013)
1926 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian flute player and journalist (d. 2003)
1926 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (d. 2004)
1928 – Michael Craig, Indian-English actor and screenwriter
1928 – Hans Modrow, Polish-German lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of East Germany
613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing.
1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.
1517 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya.
1555 – The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar.
1689 – The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland, had vacated the thrones of England and Ireland when he fled to France in 1688.
1808 – The Portuguese royal family arrives in Brazil after fleeing the French army’s invasion of Portugal two months earlier.
1824 – The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.
1849 – Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender.
1863 – The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation by Russia.
1879 – The Battle of Isandlwana during the Anglo-Zulu War results in a British defeat.
1879 – The Battle of Rorke’s Drift, also during the Anglo-Zulu War and just some 15 km away from Isandlwana, results in a British victory.
1889 – Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.
1890 – The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1901 – Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
1905 – Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution.
1906 – SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.
1915 – Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.
1917 – World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for “peace without victory” in Europe.
1919 – Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
1924 – Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1927 – Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury.
1941 – World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.
1943 – World War II: Australian and American forces defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly fought Battle of Buna–Gona.
1944 – World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio and Nettuno, Italy.
1946 – In Iran, Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people’s Republic of Mahabad at Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad; he becomes the new president and Haji Baba Sheikh becomes the prime minister.
1946 – Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.
1947 – KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood.
1957 – Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.
1957 – The New York City “Mad Bomber”, George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
1963 – The Élysée Treaty of cooperation between France and Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.
1968 – Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.
1968 – Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.
1970 – The Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
1971 – The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued.
1973 – The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.
1973 – The crew of Apollo 17 addresses a joint session of Congress after the completion of the final Apollo moon landing mission.
1973 – A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria, killing 176.
1973 – In a bout for the world heavyweight boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica, challenger George Foreman knocks down champion Joe Frazier six times in the first two rounds before the fight is stopped by referee Arthur Mercante.
1984 – The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during a Super Bowl XVIII television commercial.
1987 – Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13.
1992 – Rebel forces occupy Zaire’s national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government’s resignation.
1992 – Space Shuttle program: the space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space.
1995 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid massacre: In central Israel, near Netanya, two Gazans blow themselves up at a military transit point, killing 19 Israelis.
1998 – Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavor launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
1999 – Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.
2002 – Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2006 – Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country’s first indigenous president.
2007 – At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.
2015 – An explosion near a civilian trolley-bus in Donetsk kills at least thirteen people.
Births on January 22
826 – Emperor Montoku of Japan (d. 858)
1263 – Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian scholar and theologian (d. 1328)
1440 – Ivan III of Russia (d. 1505)
1522 – Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans, (d. 1545)
1552 – Walter Raleigh, English poet, soldier, courtier, and explorer (d. 1618)
1561 – Francis Bacon, English philosopher and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1626)
1570 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (d. 1631)
1573 – John Donne, English poet and cleric in the Church of England, wrote the Holy Sonnets (d. 1631)
1592 – Pierre Gassendi, French mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (d. 1655)
1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor and pirate hunter (probable; d. 1701)
1654 – Richard Blackmore, English physician and poet (d. 1729)
1690 – Nicolas Lancret, French painter (d. 1743)
1729 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and author (d. 1781)
1733 – Philip Carteret, English admiral and explorer (d. 1796)
1740 – Noah Phelps, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 1809)
1781 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (d. 1849)
1788 – Lord Byron, English poet and playwright (d. 1824)
1792 – Lady Lucy Whitmore, English noblewoman, hymn writer (d. 1840)
1796 – Karl Ernst Claus, Estonian-Russian chemist, botanist, and academic (d. 1864)
1797 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (d. 1826)
1799 – Ludger Duvernay, Canadian journalist, publisher, and politician (d. 1852)
1802 – Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (d. 1878)
1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; the Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army beats Brandenburg.
1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1875 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.
1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi, the world’s third oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.
1912 – The 6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.
1913 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.
1919 – The German Workers’ Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.
1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
1941 – 37-year-old pilot Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.
1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic.
1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
1949 – In his “State of the Union” address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
1950 – In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.
1953 – The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.
1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine
1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the “Prague Spring”
1969 – The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTCfrom Baikonur.
1970 – The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.
1974 – The warmest reliably measured temperature within the Antarctic Circle, of +59 °F (+15 °C), is recorded at Vanda Station.
1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.
1976 – The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.
1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
1991 – Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.
1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
2014 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.
Births on January 5
1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English prince, nominal King of Germany (d. 1272)
1530 – Gaspar de Bono, monk of the Order of the Minims (d. 1571)
1548 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1617)
1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (d. 1641)
1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (d. 1666)
1620 – Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (d. 1664)
1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (d. 1713)
1735 – Claude Martin, French-English general and explorer (d. 1800)
1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (d. 1832)
1779 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (d. 1820)
1779 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (d. 1813)
1781 – Gaspar Flores de Abrego, three terms mayor of San Antonio, in Spanish Texas (d. 1836)
1793 – Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (d. 1855)
1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (d. 1881)
1834 – William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (d. 1861)
1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (d. 1922)
1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
1846 – Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1878)
1855 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)
1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and manager (d. 1911)
1867 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1922)
1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer and academic (d. 1940)
1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1967)
1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic (d. 1946)
1880 – Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1951)
1881 – Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 1934)
1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (d. 1958)
1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant (d. 1940)
1886 – Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer (d. 1976)
1892 – Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse (d. 1984)
1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian-American guru and philosopher (d. 1952)
1897 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1945)
1900 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (d. 1955)
1902 – Hubert Beuve-Méry, French journalist (d. 1989)
1902 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist and author (d. 1989)
1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian pilot and navigator (d. 1957)
1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (d. 1997)
1904 – Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995)
1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1978)
1907 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (d. 1969)
1908 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (d. 1963)
1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-American sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1995)
1909 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1994)
1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and journalist (d. 1949)
1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1914 – Nicolas de Staël, Russian-French painter and illustrator (d. 1955)
1914 – George Reeves, American actor and director (d. 1959)
1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian geographer and cartographer (d. 2004)
1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2006)
1917 – Wieland Wagner, German director and producer (d. 1966)
1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)
1919 – Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan theorist and politician (d. 2012)
1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (d. 1992)
1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist and educator (d. 1995)
1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1990)
1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat (d. 2019)
1921 – John H. Reed, American politician and diplomat, 67th Governor of Maine (d. 2012)
1922 – Anthony Synnot, Australian admiral (d. 2001)
1923 – Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (d. 2003)
1926 – Veikko Karvonen, Finnish runner (d. 2007)
1926 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (d. 2009)
1926 – Hosea Williams, American businessman and activist (d. 2000)
1927 – Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, American guru and author, founded Iraivan Temple (d. 2001)
1928 – Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2016)
1928 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (d. 1979)
1928 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States
1929 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (d. 1989)
1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist, poet, and author
1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (d. 2016)
1932 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1934 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (d. 2013)
1934 – Murli Manohar Joshi, Indian politician
1936 – Florence King, American journalist and memoirist (d. 2016)
1938 – Juan Carlos I of Spain
1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenyan author and playwright
1939 – M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1997)
1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer-songwriter and bassist
1941 – Bob Cunis, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2008)
1941 – Chuck McKinley, American tennis player (d. 1986)
1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
1941 – Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
1942 – Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist and conductor
1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
1943 – Mary Gaudron, Australian lawyer and judge
1943 – Murtaz Khurtsilava, Georgian footballer and manager
1944 – Ed Rendell, American politician, 45th Governor of Pennsylvania
1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman
1947 – Mike DeWine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Ohio
1950 – Ioan P. Culianu, Romanian historian, philosopher, and author (d. 1991)
1950 – Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
1950 – John Manley, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
1950 – Chris Stein, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1952 – Uli Hoeneß, German footballer and manager
1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
1953 – Mike Rann, English-Australian journalist and politician, 44th Premier of South Australia
1953 – George Tenet, American civil servant and academic, 18th Director of Central Intelligence
1954 – Alex English, American basketball player and coach
1954 – László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian author and screenwriter
1955 – Mamata Banerjee, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
1956 – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German academic and politician, 14th Vice-Chancellor of Germany
1958 – Ron Kittle, American baseball player and manager
1959 – Nancy Delahunt, Canadian curler
1960 – Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer and sportscaster
1961 – Iris DeMent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Suzy Amis, American actress and model
1962 – Danny Jackson, American baseball player and manager
1963 – Jeff Fassero, American baseball player and coach
1965 – Vinnie Jones, English/Welsh footballer and actor
1965 – Patrik Sjöberg, Swedish high jumper
1968 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
1968 – Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player and engineer
1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director
1969 – Shaun Micheel, American golfer
1971 – Stian Carstensen, Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and composer
1972 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1973 – Uday Chopra, Bollywood actor and filmmaker
1974 – Iwan Thomas, Welsh sprinter and coach
1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer
1975 – Warrick Dunn, American football player
1975 – Mike Grier, American ice hockey player and scout
1976 – Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer
1978 – January Jones, American actress
1979 – Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
1981 – Deadmau5 (Joel Thomas Zimmerman), Canadian musician
1982 – Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier
1984 – Derrick Atkins, Bahamian sprinter
1985 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer
1986 – Deepika Padukone, Indian actress
1988 – Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist
1988 – Luke Daniels, English footballer
1989 – Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer
1990 – Mark Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on January 5
842 – Al-Mu’tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 796)
941 – Zhang Yanhan, Chinese chancellor (b. 884)
1066 – Edward the Confessor, English king (b. 1004)
1173 – Bolesław IV the Curly, High Duke of Poland (b. 1120)
1382 – Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster (b. 1355)
1400 – John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1350)
1430 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1394)
1477 – Charles, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1433)
1524 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss martyr (b. 1498)
1578 – Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian painter (b. 1498)
1580 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (b. 1542)
1589 – Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
1713 – Jean Chardin, French explorer and author (b. 1643)
1740 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer and educator (b. 1667)
1762 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
1771 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1710)
1796 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1731)
1823 – George Johnston, Scottish-Australian colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales (b. 1764)
1845 – Robert Smirke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1753)
1846 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American painter and illustrator (b. 1812)
1858 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
1860 – John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (b. 1811)
1883 – Charles Tompson, Australian poet and public servant (b. 1806)
1885 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (b. 1812)
1888 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1803)
1899 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1818)
1904 – Karl Alfred von Zittel, German paleontologist and geologist (b. 1839)
1910 – Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and academic (b. 1834)
1917 – Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (b. 1865)
1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (b. 1874)
1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and activist (b. 1896)
1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (b. 1864)
1951 – Soh Jaipil, South Korean-American journalist and activist (b. 1864)
1951 – Andrei Platonov, Russian journalist and author (b. 1899)
1952 – Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish colonel and politician, 46th Governor-General of India (b. 1887)
1952 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian-Italian physician and activist (b. 1869)
1954 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player and manager (b. 1891)
1956 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (b. 1875)
1963 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
1970 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
1970 – Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer and scholar (b. 1896)
1971 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian-American sound designer and engineer (b. 1899)
1972 – Tevfik Rüştü Aras, Turkish physician and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
1974 – Lev Oborin, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1907)
1976 – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1891)
1978 – Wyatt Emory Cooper, American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
1979 – Billy Bletcher, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1894
1979 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, bandleader (b. 1922)
1981 – Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
1981 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1901)
1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)
1982 – Edmund Herring, Australian general and politician, 7th Chief Justice of Victoria (b. 1892)1985 – Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)1987 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (b. 1926)
1987 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (b. 1875)
1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
1991 – Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (b. 1922)
1994 – Tip O’Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1912)
1997 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1924)
1997 – Burton Lane, American composer and songwriter (b. 1912)
1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935)
2000 – Kumar Ponnambalam, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
2003 – Roy Jenkins, Welsh politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1920)
2004 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (b. 1911)
2006 – Merlyn Rees, Welsh educator and politician, Home Secretary (b. 1920)
