1843

  • February 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings.
    • 1502 – Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.
    • 1541 – Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
    • 1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
    • 1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
    • 1733 – Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.
    • 1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
    • 1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.
    • 1818 – Bernardo O’Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
    • 1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
    • 1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
    • 1855 – Michigan State University is established.
    • 1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, killing one person and wounding 20.
    • 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
    • 1909 – New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
    • 1912 – The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
    • 1915 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
    • 1921 – Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.
    • 1924 – George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue received its premiere in a concert titled “An Experiment in Modern Music”, in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Paul Whiteman and his band, with Gershwin playing the piano.
    • 1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
    • 1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
    • 1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the civil rights movement and partially inspires Orson Welles’ film Touch of Evil.
    • 1947 – The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
    • 1947 – Christian Dior unveils a “New Look”, helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
    • 1961 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
    • 1963 – Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
    • 1965 – Malcolm X visits Smethwick in Birmingham following the racially-charged 1964 United Kingdom general election.
    • 1968 – Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
    • 1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
    • 1983 – One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.
    • 1988 – Cold War: The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S. missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48) is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy in the Soviet territorial waters, while Yorktown claims innocent passage.
    • 1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
    • 1992 – The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
    • 1993 – Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys, who later torture and murder him.
    • 1994 – Four thieves break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream.
    • 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
    • 2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
    • 2002 – The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
    • 2002 – An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
    • 2004 – The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
    • 2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.
    • 2016 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.
    • 2019 – The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.

    Births on February 12

    • AD 41 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (d. 55)
    • 528 – Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Wei
    • 661 – Princess Ōku of Japan (d. 702)
    • 1074 – Conrad II of Italy (d. 1101)
    • 1218 – Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shōgun (d. 1256)
    • 1322 – John Henry, Margrave of Moravia (d. 1375)
    • 1443 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Italian noble (d. 1508)
    • 1480 – Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (d. 1547)
    • 1540 – Won Gyun, Korean general and admiral (d. 1597)
    • 1567 – Thomas Campion, English composer, poet, and physician (d. 1620)
    • 1584 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1648)
    • 1602 – Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Italian painter (d. 1660)
    • 1606 – John Winthrop the Younger, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)
    • 1608 – Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (d. 1685)
    • 1637 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist and zoologist (d. 1680)
    • 1663 – Cotton Mather, English-American minister and author (d. 1728)
    • 1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
    • 1704 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French author (d. 1772)
    • 1706 – Johann Joseph Christian, German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver (d. 1777)
    • 1728 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)
    • 1753 – François-Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
    • 1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1812)
    • 1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)
    • 1775 – Louisa Adams, English-American wife of John Quincy Adams, 6th First Lady of the United States (d. 1852)
    • 1777 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist and academic (d. 1838)
    • 1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German author and poet (d. 1843)
    • 1785 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist and chemist (d. 1838)
    • 1787 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1853)
    • 1788 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
    • 1791 – Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (d. 1883)
    • 1794 – Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player and composer (d. 1867)
    • 1794 – Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843-1844) (d. 1850)
    • 1804 – Heinrich Lenz, German-Italian physicist and academic (d. 1865)
    • 1809 – Charles Darwin, English geologist and theorist (d. 1882)
    • 1809 – Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)
    • 1819 – William Wetmore Story, American sculptor, architect, poet and editor
    • 1824 – Dayananda Saraswati, Indian monk and philosopher, founded Arya Samaj (d. 1883)
    • 1828 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (d. 1909)
    • 1837 – Thomas Moran, British-American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School (d. 1926)
    • 1857 – Eugène Atget, French photographer (d. 1927)
    • 1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer and coach (d. 1943)
    • 1861 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1937)
    • 1866 – Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
    • 1869 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1884)
    • 1870 – Marie Lloyd, English actress and singer (d. 1922)
    • 1876 – 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)
    • 1877 – Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded Renault (d. 1944)
    • 1880 – George Preca, Maltese priest and saint (d. 1962)
    • 1880 – John L. Lewis, American miner and union leader (d. 1969)
    • 1881 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina and actress (d. 1931)
    • 1882 – Walter Nash, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1968)
    • 1884 – Max Beckmann, German painter and sculptor (d. 1950)
    • 1884 – Johan Laidoner, Estonian-Russian general (d. 1953)
    • 1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, American author (d. 1980)
    • 1884 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (d. 1957)
    • 1885 – Julius Streicher, German publisher, founded Der Stürmer (d. 1946)
    • 1889 – Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk, lawyer, and judge (d. 1999)
    • 1893 – Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1984)
    • 1897 – Charles Groves Wright Anderson, South African-Australian colonel and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1897 – Lincoln LaPaz, American astronomer and academic (d. 1985)
    • 1898 – Wallace Ford, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
    • 1900 – Roger J. Traynor, American lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of California (d. 1983)
    • 1902 – William Collier, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1987)
    • 1903 – Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Chick Hafey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1973)
    • 1904 – Ted Mack, American radio and television host (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (d. 1962)
    • 1908 – Jean Effel, French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist (d. 1982)
    • 1908 – Jacques Herbrand, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1931)
    • 1909 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (d. 2005)
    • 1909 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (d. 1945)
    • 1911 – Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – R. F. Delderfield, English author and playwright (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Tex Beneke, American singer, saxophonist, and bandleader (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Johanna von Caemmerer, German mathematician (d. 1971)
    • 1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1915 – Olivia Hooker, African-American sailor (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – Joseph Alioto, American lawyer and politician, 36th Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)
    • 1917 – Al Cervi, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
    • 1917 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 2009)
    • 1918 – Norman Farberow, American psychologist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
    • 1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
    • 1920 – Raymond Mhlaba, South African anti-apartheid and ANC activist (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Hussein Onn, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
    • 1923 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director, producer, and politician (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Sir Anthony Berry, British Conservative politician (d. 1984)
    • 1925 – Joan Mitchell, American-French painter (d. 1992)
    • 1926 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Charles Van Doren, American academic (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Vincent Montana, Jr., American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – John Doyle, Irish hurler and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Arlen Specter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch-American author and translator (d. 2008)
    • 1932 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author and poet (d. 2003)
    • 1932 – Julian Simon, American economist, author, and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1933 – Costa-Gavras, Greek-French director and producer
    • 1933 – Brian Carlson, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
    • 1934 – Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress
    • 1934 – Anne Osborn Krueger, American economist and academic
    • 1934 – Bill Russell, American basketball player and coach
    • 1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1936 – Alan Ebringer, Australian immunologist, professor at King’s College in the University of London
    • 1938 – Judy Blume, Jewish-American author and educator
    • 1939 – Leon Kass, American physician, scientist, and educator
    • 1939 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Hubert Marcoux, Canadian solo sailor and author (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese mountaineer and explorer (d. 1984)
    • 1942 – Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel
    • 1942 – Pat Dobson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
    • 1945 – Maud Adams, Swedish model and actress
    • 1945 – David D. Friedman, American economist, physicist, and scholar
    • 1946 – Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician, Prime Minister of Gabon
    • 1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1948 – Ray Kurzweil, American computer scientist and engineer
    • 1948 – Nicholas Soames, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
    • 1950 – Angelo Branduardi, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1950 – Steve Hackett, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1950 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1952 – Michael McDonald, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1953 – Joanna Kerns, American actress and director
    • 1954 – Joseph Jordania, Georgian-Australian musicologist and academic
    • 1954 – Tzimis Panousis, Greek comedian, singer, and author (d. 2018)
    • 1954 – Phil Zimmermann, American cryptographer and programmer
    • 1955 – Bill Laswell, American bass player and producer
    • 1955 – Chet Lemon, American baseball player and coach
    • 1956 – Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
    • 1956 – Ad Melkert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
    • 1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish rock guitarist and songwriter
    • 1958 – Outback Jack, Australian-American wrestler
    • 1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian environmentalist and politician
    • 1961 – Michel Martelly, Haitian singer and politician, 56th President of Haiti
    • 1961 – Di Farmer, Queensland Member of Parliament
    • 1964 – Omar Hakim, American drummer, producer, arranger, and composer
    • 1965 – Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player and manager
    • 1965 – Christine Elise, American actress and producer
    • 1965 – David Westlake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1966 – Paul Crook, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor
    • 1968 – Chynna Phillips, American singer and actress
    • 1969 – Darren Aronofsky, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1969 – Steve Backley, English javelin thrower
    • 1969 – Anneli Drecker, Norwegian singer and actress
    • 1969 – Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Jim Creeggan, Canadian singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1970 – Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Judd Winick, American author and illustrator
    • 1971 – Scott Menville, American voice actor, singer, actor and musician
    • 1973 – Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
    • 1973 – Tara Strong, Canadian voice actress and singer
    • 1974 – Naseem Hamed, English boxer
    • 1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1977 – Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player and manager
    • 1978 – Paul Anderson, English actor
    • 1978 – Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1979 – Antonio Chatman, American football player
    • 1979 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and violinist
    • 1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
    • 1980 – Sarah Lancaster, American actress
    • 1980 – Christina Ricci, American actress and producer
    • 1980 – Gucci Mane, American rapper
    • 1981 – Wade McKinnon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
    • 1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1983 – Carlton Brewster, American football player and coach
    • 1984 – Brad Keselowski, American race car driver
    • 1984 – Andrei Sidorenkov, Estonian footballer
    • 1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
    • 1988 – DeMarco Murray, American football player
    • 1988 – Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer
    • 1988 – Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1990 – Robert Griffin III, American football player
    • 1991 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
    • 1994 – Arman Hall, American sprinter
    • 1999 – Maggie Coles-Lyster, Canadian cyclist
    • 2000 – Kim Ji-min, South Korean actress

    Deaths on February 12

    • 821 – Benedict of Aniane, French monk and saint (b. 747)
    • 890 – Henjō, Japanese priest and poet (b. 816)
    • 981 – Ælfstan, bishop of Ramsbury
    • 901 – Antony II, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 914 – Li, empress of Yan
    • 941 – Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1247 – Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg, ruler (b. 1185)
    • 1266 – Amadeus of the Amidei, Italian saint
    • 1517 – Catherine of Navarre (b. 1468)
    • 1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (b. 1480)
    • 1554 – Lord Guildford Dudley, English son of Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (b. 1536; executed)
    • 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, de facto monarch of England and Ireland for nine days (b. 1537; executed)
    • 1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English politician and diplomat (b. 1515)
    • 1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and author (b. 1524)
    • 1600 – Edward Denny, Knight Banneret of Bishop’s Stortford, English soldier, privateer and adventurer (b. 1547)
    • 1612 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (b. 1563)
    • 1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist, founded George Heriot’s School (b. 1563)
    • 1713 – Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (b. 1664)
    • 1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian priest and composer (b. 1653)
    • 1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (b. 1688)
    • 1771 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (b. 1710)
    • 1789 – Ethan Allen, American farmer, general, and politician (b. 1738)
    • 1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist and physiologist (b. 1729)
    • 1804 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1724)
    • 1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1768)
    • 1886 – Randolph Caldecott, English-American painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
    • 1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1830)
    • 1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French composer and academic (b. 1811)
    • 1912 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (b. 1841)
    • 1915 – Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1837)
    • 1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (b. 1831)
    • 1929 – Lillie Langtry, English singer and actress (b. 1853)
    • 1931 – Samad bey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijani-Russian general and politician, 3rd Azerbaijani Minister of Defense (b. 1855)
    • 1935 – Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (b. 1846)
    • 1942 – Eugene Esmonde, Irish-English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1909)
    • 1942 – Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (b. 1907)
    • 1942 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (b. 1891)
    • 1947 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (b. 1866)
    • 1949 – Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
    • 1954 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
    • 1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1897)
    • 1960 – Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1887)
    • 1970 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (b. 1903)
    • 1971 – James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (b. 1875)
    • 1975 – Carl Lutz, Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews (b. 1895)
    • 1976 – Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
    • 1977 – Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1894)
    • 1979 – Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
    • 1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and activist (b. 1913)
    • 1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (b. 1902)
    • 1983 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
    • 1984 – Anna Anderson, Polish-American woman, who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (b. 1914)
    • 1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (b. 1931)
    • 1991 – Roger Patterson, American bass player (b. 1968)
    • 1992 – Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
    • 1994 – Donald Judd, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
    • 1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (b. 1952)
    • 1998 – Gardner Ackley, American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Tom Landry, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
    • 2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German actress and producer (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
    • 2005 – Dorothy Stang, American-Brazilian nun and missionary (b. 1931)
    • 2007 – Ann Barzel, American writer and dance critic (b. 1905)
    • 2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
    • 2008 – David Groh, American actor (b. 1939)
    • 2009 – victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407:
      • Alison Des Forges, American historian and activist (b. 1942)
      • Beverly Eckert, American activist (b. 1951)
      • Mat Mathews, Dutch accordion player (b. 1924)
      • Coleman Mellett, American guitarist (b. 1974)
      • Gerry Niewood, American saxophonist (b. 1943)
    • 2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
    • 2011 – Peter Alexander, Austrian singer and actor (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Denis Flannery, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – David Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – John Severin, American illustrator (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (b. 1941)
    • 2013 – Reginald Turnill, English journalist and author (b. 1915)
    • 2013 – Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Sid Caesar, American actor and comedian (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – John Pickstone, English historian and author (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Gary Owens, American radio host and voice actor (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Steve Strange, Welsh singer (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Dominique D’Onofrio, Italian-Belgian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
    • 2016 – Yannis Kalaitzis, Greek cartoonist (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Yan Su, Chinese general and composer (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Al Jarreau, American singer (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Anna Marguerite McCann, first female American underwater archaeologist (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Ren Xinmin, Chinese rocket scientist (b. 1915)
    • 2019 – Gordon Banks, English footballer (b. 1937)
    • 2019 – Lyndon LaRouche, American political activist (b. 1922)
    • 2019 – Pedro Morales, Puerto Rican professional wrestler and commentator (b. 1942)
    • 2020 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (b. 1951)

    Holidays and observances on February 12

    • Christian feast day:
      • Benedict of Aniane
      • Damian of Alexandria
      • Julian the Hospitaller
      • Martyrs of Abitinae
      • February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Darwin Day (International)
    • Georgia Day (Georgia (U.S. state))
    • Lincoln’s Birthday (United States)
    • National Freedom to Marry Day (United States)
    • Red Hand Day (United Nations)
    • Union Day (Myanmar)
    • Youth Day (Venezuela)

  • February 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
    • AD 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
    • 1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
    • 1659 – The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
    • 1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
    • 1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
    • 1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of “gerrymandering” for the first time.
    • 1823 – Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a stampede at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.
    • 1826 – University College London is founded as University of London.
    • 1840 – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
    • 1843 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.
    • 1855 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.
    • 1856 – The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.
    • 1858 – Bernadette Soubirous’s first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
    • 1873 – King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates.
    • 1889 – Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.
    • 1903 – Anton Bruckner’s 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.
    • 1906 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
    • 1919 – Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
    • 1929 – Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
    • 1937 – The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.
    • 1938 – BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot”.
    • 1942 – World War II: Second day of the Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.
    • 1953 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
    • 1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
    • 1959 – The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
    • 1970 – Japan launches Ohsumi, becoming the fourth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
    • 1971 – Cold War: the Seabed Arms Control Treaty opened for signature outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.
    • 1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
    • 1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
    • 1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing’s world Heavyweight title.
    • 1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
    • 1999 – Pluto crosses Neptune’s orbit, ending a nearly 20-year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune’s orbit again until 2231.
    • 2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
    • 2008 – Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
    • 2011 – Arab Spring: The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 17 days of protests.
    • 2013 – The Vatican confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI would resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.
    • 2014 – A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
    • 2015 – A university student was murdered as she resisted an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.
    • 2016 – A man shoots six people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.
    • 2017 – North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
    • 2018 – Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors.

    Births on February 11

    • 1380 – Poggio Bracciolini, Italian scholar and translator (d. 1459)
    • 1466 – Elizabeth of York (d. 1503)
    • 1535 – Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)
    • 1568 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and playwright (d. 1625)
    • 1649 – William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (d. 1715)
    • 1657 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French poet and playwright (d. 1757)
    • 1708 – Egidio Duni, Italian composer (d. 1775)
    • 1764 – Joseph Chénier, French poet and playwright (d. 1811)
    • 1776 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek politician, 1st Governor of Greece (d. 1831)
    • 1800 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (d. 1877)
    • 1802 – Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (d. 1880)
    • 1805 – Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Native American-French Canadian explorer (d. 1866)
    • 1812 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
    • 1813 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (d. 1865)
    • 1821 – Auguste Mariette, French archaeologist and scholar (d. 1881)
    • 1830 – Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Prussian pianist and composer (d. 1913)
    • 1833 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1910)
    • 1839 – Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist (d. 1903)
    • 1845 – Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1936)
    • 1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)
    • 1855 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
    • 1860 – Rachilde, French author and playwright (d. 1953)
    • 1863 – John F. Fitzgerald, American politician; Mayor of Boston (d. 1950)
    • 1864 – Louis Bouveault, French chemist (d. 1909)
    • 1869 – Helene Kröller-Müller, German-Dutch art collector and philanthropist, founded the Kröller-Müller Museum (d. 1939)
    • 1869 – Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and author (d. 1945)
    • 1874 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (d. 1953)
    • 1881 – Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (d.1954)
    • 1898 – Leo Szilard, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (d. 1964)
    • 1900 – Ellen Broe, Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (d. 1994)
    • 1900 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (d. 2002)
    • 1900 – Jōsei Toda, Japanese educator and activist (d. 1958)
    • 1902 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (d. 1971)
    • 1904 – Keith Holyoake, New Zealand farmer and politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1983)
    • 1904 – Lucile Randon, French Supercentenarian
    • 1908 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Vivian Fuchs, English explorer (d. 1999)
    • 1909 – Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
    • 1909 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1912 – Rudolf Firkušný, Czech-American pianist and educator (d. 1994)
    • 1914 – Matt Dennis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2002)
    • 1914 – Josh White, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
    • 1915 – Patrick Leigh Fermor, English soldier, author, and scholar (d. 2011)
    • 1915 – Richard Hamming, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1917 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
    • 1920 – Daniel F. Galouye, American author (d. 1976)
    • 1920 – Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
    • 1920 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (d. 1978)
    • 1921 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1924 – Budge Patty, American tennis player
    • 1925 – Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Kim Stanley, American actress (d. 2001)
    • 1926 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (d. 2018)
    • 1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Roy De Forest, American painter and academic (d. 2007).
    • 1932 – Dennis Skinner, English miner and politician
    • 1934 – Mel Carnahan, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, Governor of Missouri (d. 2000)
    • 1934 – Tina Louise, American actress and singer
    • 1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military leader of Panama (d. 2017)
    • 1934 – Mary Quant, British fashion designer
    • 1934 – David Taylor, English veterinarian and television host (d. 2013)
    • 1935 – Gene Vincent, American singer and guitarist (d. 1971)
    • 1936 – Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (d. 2018)
    • 1937 – Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA (d. 1990)
    • 1937 – Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Eddie Shack, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1937 – Phillip Walker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2010)
    • 1938 – Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1941 – Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer
    • 1942 – Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1943 – Joselito, Spanish singer and actor
    • 1943 – Alan Rubin, American trumpet player (d. 2011)
    • 1944 – Mike Oxley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1944 – Joy Williams, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
    • 1946 – Ian Porterfield, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2007)
    • 1947 – Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese engineer and politician and Prime Minister of Japan
    • 1947 – Derek Shulman, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1951 – Mike Leavitt, American politician, 14th Governor of Utah
    • 1953 – Philip Anglim, American actor
    • 1953 – Jeb Bush, American banker, politician and Governor of Florida
    • 1953 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (d. 2014)
    • 1954 – Wesley Strick, American director and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Didier Lockwood, French violinist (d. 2018)
    • 1959 – Roberto Moreno, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1960 – Richard Mastracchio, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1962 – Tammy Baldwin, American lawyer and politician
    • 1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Sarah Palin, American journalist, politician and Governor of Alaska
    • 1964 – Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and wrestler
    • 1965 – Vicki Wilson, Australian netball player
    • 1968 – Mo Willems, American author and illustrator
    • 1969 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer
    • 1969 – Andreas Hilfiker, Swiss footballer
    • 1969 – John Salako, Nigerian-English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Damian Lewis, English actor
    • 1972 – Steve McManaman, English footballer
    • 1973 – Varg Vikernes, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
    • 1974 – Nick Barmby, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1974 – D’Angelo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1974 – Jaroslav Špaček, Czech ice hockey player and coach
    • 1975 – Andy Lally, American race car driver
    • 1975 – Callum Thorp, Australian cricketer
    • 1975 – Jacque Vaughn, American basketball player and coach
    • 1976 – Tony Battie, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1979 – Brandy Norwood, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1982 – Ľubomíra Kalinová, Slovak biathlete
    • 1982 – Neil Robertson, Australian snooker player
    • 1983 – Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch international footballer, midfielder
    • 1984 – Maarten Heisen, Dutch sprinter
    • 1984 – Marco Marcato, Italian cyclist
    • 1984 – Maxime Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Šárka Strachová, Czech skier
    • 1987 – Luca Antonelli, Italian footballer
    • 1987 – Juanmi Callejón, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Ellen van Dijk, Dutch cyclist
    • 1987 – Brian Matusz, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Jan Smeekens, Dutch speed skater
    • 1988 – Vlad Moldoveanu, Romanian basketball player
    • 1990 – Javier Aquino, Mexican footballer
    • 1991 – Nikola Mirotic, Spanish basketball player
    • 1992 – Lasse Norman Hansen, Danish track and road cyclist
    • 1993 – Ben McLemore, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Dansby Swanson, American baseball player
    • 1996 – Jonathan Tah, German footballer

    Deaths on February 11

    • AD 55 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (b. 41)
    • 244 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (b. 225)
    • 641 – Heraclius, Byzantine emperor (b. 575)
    • 731 – Pope Gregory II (b. 669)
    • 824 – Pope Paschal I
    • 1141 – Hugh of Saint Victor, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1096)
    • 1503 – Elizabeth of York (b. 1466)
    • 1626 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1548)
    • 1650 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1596)
    • 1755 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist, playwright, and critic (b. 1675)
    • 1763 – William Shenstone, English poet and gardener (b. 1714)
    • 1795 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (b. 1740)
    • 1829 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1795)
    • 1862 – Elizabeth Siddal, English poet and artist’s model (b. 1829)
    • 1868 – Léon Foucault, French physicist and academic (b. 1819)
    • 1898 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860-1862) (b. 1813)
    • 1901 – Milan I of Serbia (b. 1855)
    • 1917 – Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician and epidemiologist (b. 1872)
    • 1918 – Alexey Kaledin, Russian general (b. 1861)
    • 1931 – Charles Algernon Parsons, English-Irish engineer, invented the steam turbine (b. 1854)
    • 1940 – John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian historian and politician, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
    • 1940 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
    • 1942 – Jamnalal Bajaj, Indian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1884)
    • 1947 – Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
    • 1948 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
    • 1949 – Axel Munthe, Swedish doctor (b. 1857)
    • 1958 – Ernest Jones, Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1879)
    • 1963 – John Olof Dahlgren, Swedish-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
    • 1963 – Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1932)
    • 1967 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American minister and activist (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1889)
    • 1973 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
    • 1975 – Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy colonel and politician, President of Madagascar (b. 1931)
    • 1976 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
    • 1976 – Alexander Lippisch, German pilot and engineer (b. 1894)
    • 1977 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, President of India (b. 1905)
    • 1977 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
    • 1978 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist and academic (b. 1893)
    • 1978 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1982 – Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
    • 1985 – Henry Hathaway, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1986 – Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
    • 1989 – George O’Hanlon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1912)
    • 1993 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
    • 1994 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)
    • 1994 – Sorrell Booke, American lieutenant, actor, and director (b. 1930)
    • 1994 – William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
    • 1994 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (b. 1924)
    • 1996 – Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet and author (b. 1930)
    • 2000 – Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (b. 1922)
    • 2000 – Roger Vadim, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 2002 – Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
    • 2002 – Barry Foster, English actor (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner (b. 1925)
    • 2005 – Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)
    • 2006 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2006 – Ken Fletcher, Australian tennis player (b. 1940)
    • 2006 – Jackie Pallo, English wrestler and actor (b. 1926)
    • 2008 – Tom Lantos, American lawyer and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2008 – Frank Piasecki, American engineer (b. 1919)
    • 2009 – Estelle Bennett, American singer (b. 1941)
    • 2009 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch-American physician and academic (b. 1911)
    • 2010 – Heward Grafftey, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2010 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founder of his eponymous brand (b. 1969)
    • 2011 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Siri Bjerke, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of the Environment (b. 1958)
    • 2012 – Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963)
    • 2013 – Rick Huxley, English bass player (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Tito Canepa, Dominican-American painter (b. 1916)
    • 2014 – Fernando González Pacheco, Colombian journalist and actor (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Roger Hanin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Bob Simon, American journalist (b. 1941)
    • 2015 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler (b. 1971)
    • 2016 – Zeng Xuelin, Thai-Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1929)
    • 2017 – Fab Melo, Brazilian basketball player (b. 1990)
    • 2017 – Jaap Rijks, Dutch Olympian (b. 1919)
    • 2018 – Vic Damone, American singer, songwriter and actor (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Asma Jahangir, Pakistani human-rights lawyer and social activist (b. 1952)
    • 2018 – Jan Maxwell, American stage and television actress (b. 1956)
    • 2018 – Qazi Wajid, Pakistani drama actor, writer and artist (b. 1930)

    Holidays and observances on February 11

    • Christian feast day:
      • Blaise Eastern Orthodox liturgics
      • Cædmon, first recorded Christian poet in England, circa 680 CE (Anglicanism)
      • Gobnait
      • Gregory II
      • Lazarus of Milan
    • European 112 Day (European Union)
    • Armed Forces Day (Liberia)
    • Evelio Javier Day (Panay Island, the Philippines)
    • Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic Church), and its related observance
      • World Day of the Sick (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Inventors’ Day (United States)
    • National Foundation Day (Japan)
    • Youth Day (Cameroon)
    • International Day of Women and Girls in Science (UN Women)

  • February 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
    • 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
    • 1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
    • 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
    • 1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
    • 1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
    • 1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
    • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
    • 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
    • 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
    • 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
    • 1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
    • 1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
    • 1920 – About 75 % of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
    • 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
    • 1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope to overthrow French protectorate over Vietnam.
    • 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
    • 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
    • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
    • 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
    • 1940 – Cartoon characters Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
    • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army capture Banjarmasin, capital of Borneo in Dutch East Indies.
    • 1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
    • 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
    • 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
    • 1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
    • 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein’s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
    • 1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
    • 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
    • 1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
    • 1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
    • 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
    • 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
    • 2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
    • 2007 – Then Illinois senator Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in the 2008 elections, which he later goes on to win.
    • 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
    • 2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
    • 2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
    • 2018 – 19 people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.

    Births on February 10

    • 1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (d. 1529)
    • 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (d. 1582)
    • 1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Milan (d. 1579)
    • 1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1663)
    • 1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (d. 1642)
    • 1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (d. 1715)
    • 1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (d. 1750)
    • 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
    • 1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)
    • 1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (d. 1815)
    • 1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (d. 1834)
    • 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (d. 1836)
    • 1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (d. 1858)
    • 1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (d. 1883)
    • 1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1908)
    • 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (d. 1898)
    • 1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (d. 1907)
    • 1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (d. 1919)
    • 1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
    • 1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (d. 1909)
    • 1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
    • 1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (d. 1957)
    • 1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. 1879)
    • 1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
    • 1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (d. 1948)
    • 1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
    • 1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
    • 1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (d. 1959)
    • 1883 – H.V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
    • 1889 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (d. 1982)
    • 1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (d. 1918)
    • 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
    • 1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (d. 1950)
    • 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (d. 1980)
    • 1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
    • 1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
    • 1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
    • 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (d. 1956)
    • 1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
    • 1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (d. 1939)
    • 1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
    • 1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (d. 1964)
    • 1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
    • 1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
    • 1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
    • 1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
    • 1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
    • 1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
    • 1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
    • 1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
    • 1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – José Gabriel da Costa later known as Mestre Gabriel, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (d. 1971)
    • 1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
    • 1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
    • 1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
    • 1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
    • 1931 – James Edward Maceo West, American inventor and acoustician
    • 1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (d. 2018)
    • 1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (d. 1983)
    • 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
    • 1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (d. 1967)
    • 1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
    • 1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
    • 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
    • 1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
    • 1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
    • 1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
    • 1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer
    • 1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
    • 1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
    • 1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (d. 1994)
    • 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
    • 1951 – Bob Iger, American media executive
    • 1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
    • 1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
    • 1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
    • 1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
    • 1957 – Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
    • 1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
    • 1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
    • 1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Cliff Burton, American heavy metal bassist (d. 1986)
    • 1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
    • 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
    • 1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
    • 1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
    • 1969 – James Small, South African rugby player (d. 2019)
    • 1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
    • 1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer, central defender and manager
    • 1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
    • 1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
    • 1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
    • 1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
    • 1974 – Ty Law, American football player
    • 1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
    • 1974 – Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
    • 1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
    • 1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
    • 1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
    • 1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
    • 1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
    • 1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
    • 1981 – Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
    • 1981 – Andrew Johnson, English international footballer, forward and club ambassador
    • 1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
    • 1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
    • 1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
    • 1982 – Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
    • 1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
    • 1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
    • 1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
    • 1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
    • 1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
    • 1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
    • 1990 – Barbara Guarischi, Italian cyclist
    • 1990 – Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
    • 1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
    • 1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
    • 1992 – Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
    • 1993 – Max Kepler, German baseball player
    • 1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
    • 1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
    • 1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer and member of Red Velvet
    • 1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
    • 1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentinian footballer
    • 1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
    • 1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
    • 1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentinian tennis player
    • 2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model

    Deaths on February 10

    • 547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
    • 1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
    • 1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
    • 1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
    • 1242 – Saint Verdiana, Italian recluse (b. 1182)
    • 1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
    • 1306 – John “the Red” Comyn, Scottish nobleman
    • 1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
    • 1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
    • 1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
    • 1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
    • 1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (b. 1460)
    • 1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)
    • 1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (b. 1532)
    • 1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
    • 1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (b. 1689)
    • 1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (b. 1702)
    • 1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
    • 1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
    • 1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (b. 1792)
    • 1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (b. 1770)
    • 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (b. 1804)
    • 1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (b. 1808)
    • 1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
    • 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1850)
    • 1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
    • 1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
    • 1912 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic (b. 1827)
    • 1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (b. 1888)
    • 1917 – John William Waterhouse, English soldier and painter (b. 1849)
    • 1918 – Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1842)
    • 1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1833)
    • 1920 – Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia (b. 1832)
    • 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
    • 1928 – José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint (b. 1913)
    • 1932 – Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (b. 1875)
    • 1939 – Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
    • 1944 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player (b. 1870)
    • 1945 – Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1878)
    • 1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
    • 1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
    • 1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (b. 1899)
    • 1967 – Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author (b. 1884)
    • 1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet (b. 1910)
    • 1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910)
    • 1992 – Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 1995 – Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist (b. 1945)
    • 1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish musician, lead singer The Sweet (b. 1945)
    • 2000 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer (b. 1949)
    • 2001 – Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
    • 2001 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
    • 2003 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (b. 1910)
    • 2003 – Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose (b. 1908)
    • 2003 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary (b. 1939)
    • 2005 – Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (b. 1974)
    • 2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (b. 1932)
    • 2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
    • 2010 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2011 – Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician (b. 1915)
    • 2016 – Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman (b. 1929)
    • 2019 – Carmen Argenziano, American actor (b. 1943)
    • 2019 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on February 10

    • Christian feast day:
      • Austrebertha
      • Charalambos
      • José Sánchez del Río
      • Scholastica
      • February 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck (Malta)
    • Fenkil Day (Eritrea)
    • Kurdish Authors Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
    • National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe (Italy)

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

    February 6 in History

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

    Births on February 6

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

    Deaths on February 6

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

    Holidays and observances on February 6

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

  • February 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice).

    February 4 in History 

    • 211 – Following the death of Rome’s Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarreling sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace.
    • 960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.
    • 1169 – A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.
    • 1454 – In the Thirteen Years’ War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
    • 1555 – John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England.
    • 1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master’s death.
    • 1758 – The city of Macapá in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral.
    • 1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
    • 1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It would be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
    • 1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.
    • 1801 – John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
    • 1810 – Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe.
    • 1820 – The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and two ships.
    • 1825 – The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
    • 1846 – The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.
    • 1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
    • 1899 – The Philippine–American War begins with the Battle of Manila.
    • 1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.
    • 1938 – Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.
    • 1941 – The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
    • 1945 – World War II: Santo Tomas Internment Camp is liberated from Japanese authority.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Yalta Conference between the “Big Three” (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) opens at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea.
    • 1945 – World War II: The British Indian Army and Imperial Japanese Army begin a series of battles known as the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.
    • 1948 – Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
    • 1961 – The Angolan War of Independence and the greater Portuguese Colonial War begin.
    • 1966 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.
    • 1967 – Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.
    • 1969 – Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
    • 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
    • 1974 – M62 coach bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb on a bus carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel in Yorkshire, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians are killed.
    • 1975 – Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
    • 1976 – In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
    • 1977 – A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency’s history.
    • 1992 – A coup d’état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
    • 1997 – En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
    • 1998 – The 5.9 Mw  Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme.
    • 1999 – Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 41 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
    • 2000 – The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France, Jacques Chirac and the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day which is held on February 4 every year.
    • 2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.
    • 2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
    • 2015 – TransAsia Airways Flight 235 with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after take-off, killing 43 people.
    • 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic causes all casinos in Macau to be closed down for 15 days.

    Births on February 4

    • 1447 – Lodovico Lazzarelli, Italian poet (d. 1500)
    • 1495 – Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1535)
    • 1495 – Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1568)
    • 1505 – Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and author (d. 1580)
    • 1575 – Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and theologian, founded the French school of spirituality (d. 1629)
    • 1646 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet and politician (d. 1699)
    • 1676 – Giacomo Facco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753)
    • 1677 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (d. 1731)
    • 1688 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (d. 1763)
    • 1725 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (d. 1804)
    • 1740 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795)
    • 1778 – Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Swiss botanist, mycologist, and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1799 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese journalist and author (d. 1854)
    • 1818 – Emperor Norton, San Francisco eccentric and visionary (d. 1880)citation needed
    • 1831 – Oliver Ames, American financier and politician, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
    • 1848 – Jean Aicard, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1921)
    • 1849 – Jean Richepin, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1926)
    • 1862 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (d. 1942)
    • 1865 – Abe Isoo, Japanese minister and politician (d. 1949)
    • 1868 – Constance Markievicz, Irish revolutionary and first woman elected to the UK House of Commons (d. 1927)
    • 1871 – Friedrich Ebert, German lawyer and politician, 1st President of Germany (d. 1925)
    • 1872 – Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian and Macedonian revolutionary activist (d. 1903)
    • 1873 – Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1905)
    • 1875 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (d. 1953)
    • 1877 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1881 – Eulalio Gutiérrez, Mexican general and politician, President of Mexico (d. 1939)
    • 1881 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
    • 1883 – Reinhold Rudenberg, German-American inventor and a pioneer of electron microscopy (d. 1961)
    • 1891 – M. A. Ayyangar, Indian lawyer and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1978)
    • 1892 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and academic (d. 1964)
    • 1895 – Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953)
    • 1896 – Friedrich Glauser, Austrian-Swiss author (d. 1938)
    • 1896 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1897 – Ludwig Erhard, German soldier and politician, 2nd Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1977)
    • 1899 – Virginia M. Alexander, American physician and founder of the Aspiranto Health Home (d. 1949)
    • 1900 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (d. 1977)
    • 1902 – Charles Lindbergh, American pilot and explorer (d. 1974)
    • 1902 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 2003)
    • 1903 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1904 – MacKinlay Kantor, American author and screenwriter (d. 1977)
    • 1905 – Hylda Baker, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (d. 1945)
    • 1906 – Letitia Dunbar-Harrison, Irish librarian (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (d. 1937)
    • 1912 – Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian banker and politician, Norwegian Minister of Industry (d. 1999)
    • 1912 – Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian-American conductor (d. 1993)
    • 1912 – Byron Nelson, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2006)
    • 1913 – Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author and publisher (d. 1980)
    • 1915 – William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1915 – Norman Wisdom, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Yahya Khan, Pakistan general and politician, 3rd President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
    • 1918 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (d. 1995)
    • 1918 – Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991)
    • 1920 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – Betty Friedan, American author and feminist (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Lotfi Zadeh, Iranian-American mathematician and computer scientist and founder of fuzzy logic (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Russell Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
    • 1925 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Christopher Zeeman, English mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Dave Sands, Australian boxer (d. 1952)
    • 1927 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1928 – Oscar Cabalén, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1967)
    • 1928 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Paul Burlison, American rockabilly guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1929 – Neil Johnston, American basketball player (d. 1978)
    • 1930 – Tibor Antalpéter, Hungarian volleyball player and diplomat, Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Arthur E. Chase, American businessman and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Isabel Martínez de Perón, Argentinian dancer and politician, 41st President of Argentina
    • 1935 – Wallis Mathias, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1994)
    • 1935 – Martti Talvela, Finnish opera singer (d. 1989)
    • 1935 – Collin Wilcox, American actress (d. 2009)
    • 1936 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – David Newman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1938 – Frank J. Dodd, American businessman and politician, president of the New Jersey Senate (d. 2010)
    • 1939 – Stan Lundine, American lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New York
    • 1940 – George A. Romero, American director and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1941 – Russell Cooper, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of Queensland
    • 1941 – Ron Rangi, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
    • 1941 – Jiří Raška, Czech skier and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese journalist and politician, 2nd President of the Regional Government of Madeira
    • 1943 – Wanda Rutkiewicz, Lithuanian-Polish mountaineer (d. 1992)
    • 1943 – Ken Thompson, American computer scientist and programmer, co-developed the B programming language
    • 1944 – Florence LaRue, American singer and actress
    • 1947 – Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and politician, 3rd Director of National Intelligence
    • 1947 – Dan Quayle, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 44th Vice President of the United States
    • 1948 – Alice Cooper, American singer-songwriter
    • 1948 – Rod Grams, American journalist and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1949 – Michael Beck, American actor
    • 1949 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (d. 2010)
    • 1951 – Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
    • 1951 – Phil Ehart, American rock drummer and songwriter
    • 1952 – Jenny Shipley, New Zealand educator and politician, 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1952 – Thomas Silverstein, American prisoner, founder and former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang (d. 2019)
    • 1955 – Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak politician, Prime Minister of Slovakia
    • 1957 – Don Davis, American composer and conductor
    • 1958 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (d. 2005)
    • 1959 – Christian Schreier, German footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Lawrence Taylor, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Siobhan Dowd, English author and activist (d. 2007)
    • 1960 – Adrienne King, American actress, dancer, and painter
    • 1960 – Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (d. 1996)
    • 1961 – Stewart O’Nan, American novelist
    • 1961 – Denis Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Clint Black, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1962 – Stephen Hammond, English banker and politician
    • 1963 – Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss skier
    • 1964 – Elke Philipp, German Paralympic equestrian
    • 1965 – Jerome Brown, American football player (d. 1992)
    • 1966 – Tony Butterfield, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
    • 1967 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995)
    • 1970 – Gabrielle Anwar, English actress
    • 1971 – Rob Corddry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Eric Garcetti, American lieutenant and politician, 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles
    • 1972 – Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian and television host
    • 1972 – Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Oscar De La Hoya, American boxer
    • 1973 – James Hird, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Manny Legace, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1977 – Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter
    • 1979 – Giorgio Pantano, Italian race car driver
    • 1980 – Raimonds Vaikulis, Latvian basketball player
    • 1981 – Jason Kapono, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Johan Vansummeren, Belgian cyclist
    • 1982 – Chris Sabin, American wrestler
    • 1982 – Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
    • 1982 – Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian cyclist
    • 1983 – Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Rebecca White, Australian politician
    • 1984 – Sandeep Acharya, Indian singer (d. 2013)
    • 1984 – Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
    • 1986 – Maximilian Götz, German race car driver
    • 1986 – Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1987 – Darren O’Dea, Irish footballer
    • 1987 – Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
    • 1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
    • 1993 – Bae Noo-ri, South Korean actress
    • 1998 – Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer

    Deaths on February 4

    • 211 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 145)
    • 708 – Pope Sisinnius (b. 650)
    • 856 – Rabanus Maurus, Frankish archbishop and theologian (b. 780)
    • 870 – Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1169 – John of Ajello, Bishop of Catania
    • 1498 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (b. 1429/1433)
    • 1505 – Jeanne de Valois, daughter of Louis XI of France (b. 1464)
    • 1508 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (b. 1459)
    • 1555 – John Rogers, English clergyman and translator (b. 1505)
    • 1590 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1517)
    • 1615 – Giambattista della Porta, Italian playwright and scholar (b. 1535)
    • 1617 – Lodewijk Elzevir, Dutch publisher, co-founded the House of Elzevir (b. 1546)
    • 1713 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (b. 1671)
    • 1774 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701)
    • 1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737)
    • 1799 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect and educator (b. 1728)
    • 1843 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (b. 1770)
    • 1891 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1816)
    • 1905 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (b. 1841)
    • 1926 – İskilipli Âtıf Hodja, Turkish author and scholar (b. 1875)
    • 1928 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
    • 1933 – Archibald Sayce, English linguist and educator (b. 1846)
    • 1940 – Nikolai Yezhov, Russian police officer and politician (b. 1895)
    • 1943 – Frank Calder, English-Canadian ice hockey player and journalist (b. 1877)
    • 1944 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Savielly Tartakower, Russian-French chess player, journalist, and author (b. 1887)
    • 1958 – Henry Kuttner, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
    • 1959 – Una O’Connor, Irish-American actress (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – Neal Cassady, American novelist and poet (b. 1926)
    • 1970 – Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (b. 1897)
    • 1974 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1894)
    • 1975 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1908)
    • 1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
    • 1982 – Georg Konrad Morgen, German lawyer and judge (b. 1909)
    • 1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (b. 1950)
    • 1987 – Liberace, American singer-songwriter and pianist, (b. 1919)
    • 1987 – Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (b. 1956)
    • 1987 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (b. 1902)
    • 1990 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1915)
    • 1992 – John Dehner, American actor (b. 1915)
    • 1995 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1921)
    • 2000 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908)
    • 2002 – Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg (b. 1907)
    • 2003 – Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algerian pharmacist and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Ossie Davis, American actor, director, and playwright (b. 1917)
    • 2006 – Betty Friedan, American author and activist (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian-English poet and translator (b. 1959)
    • 2007 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (b. 1934)
    • 2007 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (b. 1918)
    • 2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish academic and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (b. 1942)
    • 2010 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Estonian-American composer (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Florence Green, English soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2012 – Robert Daniel, American farmer, soldier, and politician (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Mike deGruy, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1951)
    • 2013 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Keith Allen, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Eugenio Corti, Italian soldier, author, and playwright (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Dennis Lota, Zambian footballer (b. 1973)
    • 2015 – Wes Cooley, American soldier and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (b. 1925)
    • 2016 – Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (b. 1949)
    • 2017 – Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – John Mahoney, English-American actor, voice artist, and comedian (b. 1940)
    • 2019 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish Olympic-winning ski jumper and singer (b. 1963)

    Holidays and observances on February 4

    • Christian feast day:
      • Andrew Corsini
      • Gilbert of Sempringham
      • John de Brito
      • Blessed Rabanus Maurus
      • Rimbert
      • Veronica
      • February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
    • Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Christianity)
    • Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
    • Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States)
    • World Cancer Day

  • February 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
    • 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
    • 1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.
    • 1661 – Maratha forces under Chattrapati Shivaji defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Umberkhind.
    • 1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
    • 1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
    • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
    • 1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.
    • 1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays’ Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
    • 1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
    • 1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
    • 1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
    • 1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
    • 1834 – Wake Forest University is established (as Wake Forest Institute) in North Carolina, United States.
    • 1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
    • 1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
    • 1916 – The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of 7 lives.
    • 1917 – First World War: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
    • 1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.
    • 1930 – Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a “Unification Conference” held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.
    • 1931 – The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, New Zealand’s worst natural disaster, kills 258.
    • 1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Third Reich foreign policy.
    • 1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
    • 1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.
    • 1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
    • 1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.
    • 1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.
    • 1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.
    • 1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
    • 1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of “a wind of change”, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.
    • 1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a “Doomsday Plane” is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States’ bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC’s command post.
    • 1966 – The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.
    • 1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption.
    • 1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.
    • 1984 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history’s first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
    • 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger.
    • 1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
    • 1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
    • 1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.
    • 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
    • 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
    • 2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
    • 2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.

    Births on February 3

    • 1338 – Joanna of Bourbon (d. 1378)
    • 1392 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and military commander (d. 1455)
    • 1428 – Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1458)
    • 1478 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (d. 1521)
    • 1504 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)
    • 1677 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the Karlova Koruna Chateau (d. 1723)
    • 1689 – Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
    • 1690 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (d. 1755)
    • 1721 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
    • 1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and theorist (d. 1809)
    • 1747 – Samuel Osgood, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Postmaster General (d. 1813)
    • 1757 – Joseph Forlenze, Italian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1833)
    • 1763 – Caroline von Wolzogen, German author (d. 1847)
    • 1777 – John Cheyne, Scottish physician and author (d. 1836)
    • 1790 – Gideon Mantell, English scientist (d. 1852)
    • 1795 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (d. 1830)
    • 1807 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general and politician (d. 1891)
    • 1809 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1847)
    • 1811 – Horace Greeley, American journalist and politician (d. 1872)
    • 1816 – Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the Non-cooperation movement
    • 1817 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
    • 1817 – Émile Prudent, French pianist and composer (d. 1863)
    • 1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
    • 1824 – Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1894)
    • 1826 – Walter Bagehot, English journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
    • 1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
    • 1842 – Sidney Lanier, American composer and poet (d. 1881)
    • 1843 – William Cornelius Van Horne, American-Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
    • 1857 – Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor, designed the Vulcan statue (d. 1935)
    • 1859 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (d. 1935)
    • 1862 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge (d. 1946)
    • 1867 – Charles Henry Turner, American biologist, educator and zoologist (d. 1923)
    • 1872 – Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
    • 1874 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946)
    • 1878 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
    • 1887 – Georg Trakl, Austrian pharmacist and poet (d. 1914)
    • 1889 – Artur Adson, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1977)
    • 1889 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Juan Negrín, Spanish physician and politician, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1956)
    • 1893 – Gaston Julia, Algerian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1894 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
    • 1898 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designed the Finlandia Hall and Aalto Theatre (d. 1976)
    • 1899 – Café Filho, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th President of Brazil (d. 1970)
    • 1900 – Mabel Mercer, English-American singer (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 1973)
    • 1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
    • 1905 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (d. 1990)
    • 1905 – Arne Beurling, Swedish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – James A. Michener, American author and philanthropist (d. 1997)
    • 1909 – André Cayatte, French lawyer and director (d. 1989)
    • 1909 – Simone Weil, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1943)
    • 1911 – Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (d. 1940)
    • 1912 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2018)
    • 1915 – Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler and hammer thrower (d. 1998)
    • 1917 – Shlomo Goren, Polish-Israeli rabbi and general (d. 1994)
    • 1918 – Joey Bishop, American actor and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1918 – Helen Stephens, American runner, baseball player, and manager (d. 1994)
    • 1920 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Tony Gaze, Australian race car driver and pilot (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and author (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – E. P. Thompson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
    • 1924 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Shelley Berman, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – John Fiedler, American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Hans-Jochen Vogel, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin
    • 1927 – Kenneth Anger, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1927 – Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2003)
    • 1933 – Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician
    • 1934 – Juan Carlos Calabró, Argentinian actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1935 – Johnny “Guitar” Watson, American blues, soul, and funk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
    • 1936 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1936 – Bob Simpson, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1937 – Billy Meier, Swiss author and photographer
    • 1938 – Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
    • 1938 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1940 – Fran Tarkenton, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1941 – Dory Funk, Jr., American wrestler and trainer
    • 1941 – Howard Phillips, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress
    • 1943 – Dennis Edwards, American soul/R&B singer (d. 2018)
    • 1943 – Eric Haydock, English bass player (d. 2019)
    • 1943 – Shawn Phillips, American-South African singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Johnny Cymbal, Scottish-American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
    • 1945 – Bob Griese, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1947 – Paul Auster, American novelist, essayist, and poet
    • 1947 – Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor and director
    • 1948 – Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Jim Thorpe, American golfer
    • 1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress
    • 1950 – Grant Goldman, Australian radio and television host (d. 2020)
    • 1951 – Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
    • 1952 – Fred Lynn, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1954 – Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1956 – John Jefferson, American football player and coach
    • 1956 – Nathan Lane, American actor and comedian
    • 1957 – Eric Lander, American mathematician, geneticist, and academic
    • 1958 – Joe F. Edwards, Jr., American commander, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1958 – Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American economist
    • 1958 – Greg Mankiw, American economist and academic
    • 1959 – Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th Colombian Minister of Finance
    • 1960 – Tim Chandler, American bass player (d. 2018)
    • 1960 – Marty Jannetty, American wrestler and trainer
    • 1960 – Joachim Löw, German footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1993)
    • 1961 – Linda Eder, American singer and actress
    • 1963 – Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic
    • 1964 – Indrek Tarand, Estonian historian, journalist, and politician
    • 1965 – Maura Tierney, American actress and producer
    • 1966 – Frank Coraci, American director and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Tim Flowers, English footballer and coach
    • 1967 – Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
    • 1968 – Vlade Divac, Serbian-American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Marwan Khoury, Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer
    • 1969 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)
    • 1969 – Retief Goosen, South African golfer
    • 1970 – Óscar Córdoba, Colombian footballer
    • 1970 – Warwick Davis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Hong Seok-cheon, South Korean actor
    • 1972 – Jesper Kyd, Danish pianist and composer
    • 1973 – Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer
    • 1976 – Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress
    • 1977 – Daddy Yankee, American-Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
    • 1977 – Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
    • 1979 – Paul Franks, English cricketer and coach
    • 1982 – Becky Bayless, American wrestler
    • 1982 – Marie-Ève Drolet, Canadian speed skater
    • 1984 – Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos
    • 1985 – Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress
    • 1985 – Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Lucas Duda, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater
    • 1986 – Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress
    • 1988 – Cho Kyuhyun, South Korean singer
    • 1989 – Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
    • 1990 – Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
    • 1990 – Martin Taupau, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Corey Norman, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player

    Deaths on February 3

    • AD 6 – Ping, emperor of the Han Dynasty (b. 9 BC)
    • 456 – Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II, ruler of Tikal
    • 639 – K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I, ruler of Piedras Negras
    • 699 – Werburgh, English nun and saint
    • 865 – Ansgar, Frankish archbishop (b. 801)
    • 929 – Guy, margrave of Tuscany
    • 938 – Zhou Ben, Chinese general (b. 862)
    • 994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
    • 1014 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
    • 1116 – Coloman, king of Hungary
    • 1161 – Inge I, king of Norway (b. 1135)
    • 1252 – Sviatoslav III, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1196)
    • 1399 – John of Gaunt, Belgian-English politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1340)
    • 1428 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1386)
    • 1451 – Murad II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1404)
    • 1468 – Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher, invented the Printing press (b. 1398)
    • 1537 – Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (b. 1513)
    • 1566 – George Cassander, Flemish theologian and author (b. 1513)
    • 1618 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1573)
    • 1619 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1564)
    • 1737 – Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1648)
    • 1802 – Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish statesman and economist (b. 1723)
    • 1813 – Juan Bautista Cabral, Argentinian sergeant (b. 1789)
    • 1820 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1762)
    • 1832 – George Crabbe, English surgeon and poet (b. 1754)
    • 1862 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1774)
    • 1866 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet, author, and historian (b. 1809)
    • 1873 – Isaac Baker Brown, English gynecologist and surgeon (b. 1811)
    • 1922 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
    • 1924 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian, academic, and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
    • 1929 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1878)
    • 1935 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (b. 1859)
    • 1944 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1865)
    • 1945 – Roland Freisler, German lawyer and judge (b. 1893)
    • 1947 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (b. 1887)
    • 1952 – Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, 32nd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1874)
    • 1955 – Vasily Blokhin, Russian general (b. 1895)
    • 1956 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and academic (b. 1871)
    • 1956 – Johnny Claes, English-Belgian race car driver and trumpet player (b. 1916)
    • 1959 – The Day the Music Died
      • The Big Bopper, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1930)
      • Buddy Holly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
      • Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 1960 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
    • 1961 – William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, Scottish-Australian captain and politician, 14th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1893)
    • 1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
    • 1963 – Benjamin R. Jacobs (b. 1879)
    • 1967 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
    • 1969 – C. N. Annadurai, Indian journalist and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (b. 1909)
    • 1969 – Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican activist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 1975 – William D. Coolidge, American physicist and engineer (b. 1873)
    • 1975 – Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1904)
    • 1985 – Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1989 – John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 1989 – Lionel Newman, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1916)
    • 1991 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1927)
    • 1996 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (b. 1922)
    • 1999 – Gwen Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1950)
    • 2005 – Zurab Zhvania, Georgian biologist and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)
    • 2005 – Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (b. 1904)
    • 2006 – Al Lewis, American actor and activist (b. 1923)
    • 2009 – Sheng-yen, Chinese monk and scholar, founded the Dharma Drum Mountain (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Frances Reid, American actress (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Maria Schneider, French actress (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Ben Gazzara, American actor and director (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Terence Hildner, American general (b. 1962)
    • 2012 – Raj Kanwar, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1961)
    • 2012 – Zalman King, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Andrzej Szczeklik, Polish physician and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Cardiss Collins, American politician (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – James Muri, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Martin Gilbert, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2015 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Charlie Sifford, American golfer (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Nasim Hasan Shah, Pakistani lawyer and judge, 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Balram Jakhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Madhya Pradesh (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – József Kasza, Serbian politician and economist (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist and conductor (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Dritëro Agolli, Albanian poet, writer and politician (b. 1931)
    • 2019 – Julie Adams, American actress (b. 1926)
    • 2019 – Kristoff St. John, American actor (b. 1966)
    • 2020 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1929)

    Holidays and observances on February 3

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
      • Ansgar
      • Berlinda of Meerbeke
      • Blaise
      • Celsa and Nona
      • Claudine Thévenet
      • Dom Justo Takayama (Philippines and Japan)
      • Hadelin
      • Margaret of England
      • Werburgh
      • February 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the Virgin of Suyapa (Honduras)
    • Earliest day on which Shrove Tuesday can fall, while March 9 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity)
    • Four Chaplains Day (United States, also considered a Feast Day by the Episcopal Church)
    • Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary (Vietnam)
    • Heroes’ Day (Mozambique)
    • Martyrs’ Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)
    • Setsubun (Japan)
    • Veterans’ Day (Thailand)

  • January 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 904 – Sergius III is consecrated pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
    • 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.
    • 1258 – First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the Mongols to withdraw from the country.
    • 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
    • 1819 – Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.
    • 1845 – “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.
    • 1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
    • 1856 – Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.
    • 1861 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
    • 1863 – The Bear River Massacre: A detachment of California Volunteers led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor engage the Shoshone at Bear River, Washington Territory, killing hundreds of men, women and children.
    • 1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
    • 1891 – Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
    • 1907 – Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
    • 1911 – Mexican Revolution: Mexicali is captured by the Mexican Liberal Party, igniting the Magonista rebellion of 1911.
    • 1916 – World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
    • 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kiev, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty.
    • 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later.
    • 1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
    • 1940 – Three trains on the Nishinari Line; present Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. One hundred and eighty-one people are killed.
    • 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis becomes Prime Minister of Greece upon the sudden death of his predecessor, dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
    • 1943 – World War II: The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, USS Chicago (CA-29) is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
    • 1944 – World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units.
    • 1944 – In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is completely destroyed in an air-raid, during the Second World War.
    • 1948 – The Pakistan Socialist Party is founded in Karachi.
    • 1959 – The first Melodifestivalen is held in Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden.
    • 1963 – The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.
    • 1967 – The “ultimate high” of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
    • 1980 – The Rubik’s Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in Earl’s Court, London.
    • 1989 – Cold War: Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins.
    • 1996 – President Jacques Chirac announces a “definitive end” to French nuclear weapons testing.
    • 2001 – Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
    • 2002 – In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes “regimes that sponsor terror” as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
    • 2005 – The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.
    • 2009 – The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents.
    • 2009 – Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama.
    • 2013 – SCAT Airlines Flight 760 crashes near the Kazakh city of Almaty, killing 21 people.
    • 2013 – Alabama bunker hostage crisis: After shooting and killing of school bus driver, 66 years old Charles Albert Poland, Jr, by 65 year old Vietnam War era veteran, Jimmy Lee Dykes.
    • 2017 – Quebec City mosque shooting: Alexandre Bissonnette opens fire at mosque in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, killing six and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.

    Births on January 29

    • 919 – Shi Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 951)
    • 1455 – Johann Reuchlin, German-born humanist and scholar (d. 1522)
    • 1475 – Giuliano Bugiardini, Italian painter (d. 1555)
    • 1499 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther; formerly a Roman Catholic nun (d. 1552)
    • 1525 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian humanist and reformer (d. 1562)
    • 1584 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
    • 1591 – Franciscus Junius, pioneer of Germanic philology (d. 1677)
    • 1602 – Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1651)
    • 1632 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (d. 1703)
    • 1650 – Juan de Galavís, Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop of Santo Domingo and Bogotá (d. 1739)
    • 1688 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1772)
    • 1711 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)
    • 1715 – Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1777)
    • 1717 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, English field marshal and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1797)
    • 1718 – Paul Rabaut, French pastor (d. 1794)
    • 1737 – Thomas Paine, prominent for publishing Common Sense (1776), which established him as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (d. 1809)
    • 1749 – Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)
    • 1754 – Moses Cleaveland, American general, lawyer, and politician, founded Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1806)
    • 1756 – Henry Lee III, American general and politician, 9th Governor of Virginia (d. 1818)
    • 1761 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)
    • 1782 – Daniel Auber, French composer (d. 1871)
    • 1801 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1857)
    • 1810 – Ernst Kummer, Polish-German mathematician and academic (d. 1893)
    • 1810 – Mary Whitwell Hale, American teacher, school founder, and hymnwriter (d. 1862)
    • 1843 – William McKinley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
    • 1846 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1915)
    • 1852 – Frederic Hymen Cowen, Jamaican-English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1935)
    • 1858 – Henry Ward Ranger, American painter and academic (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer (d. 1904)
    • 1861 – Florida Ruffin Ridley, African-American civil rights activist, teacher, editor, and writer (d. 1943)
    • 1862 – Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
    • 1866 – Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
    • 1866 – Romain Rolland, French historian, author, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1944)
    • 1867 – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1928)
    • 1870 – Süleyman Nazif, Turkish poet and civil servant (d. 1927)
    • 1874 – John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1960)
    • 1876 – Havergal Brian, English composer (d. 1972)
    • 1877 – Georges Catroux, French general and diplomat (d. 1969)
    • 1880 – W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 1946)
    • 1881 – Alice Catherine Evans, American microbiologist (d. 1975)
    • 1884 – Juhan Aavik, Estonian-Swedish composer and conductor (d. 1982)
    • 1888 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)
    • 1888 – Wellington Koo, Chinese statesman (d. 1985)
    • 1891 – Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 1975)
    • 1891 – R. Norris Williams, Swiss-American tennis player and banker (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German American film director, producer, writer, and actor (d. 1947)
    • 1895 – Muna Lee, American poet and author (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – Allen B. DuMont, American engineer and broadcaster, founded the DuMont Television Network (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – E. P. Taylor, Canadian businessman and horse breeder (d. 1989)
    • 1903 – Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Russian-Israeli biochemist and philosopher (d. 1994)
    • 1905 – Barnett Newman, American painter and etcher (d. 1970)
    • 1906 – Joe Primeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
    • 1915 – Bill Peet, American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – John Serry Sr., Italian-American concert accordionist and composer (d.2003)
    • 1917 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Geraldine Pittman Woods, American science administrator and embryologist (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Jack Burke Jr., American golfer
    • 1923 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author and screenwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1926 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani-British physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
    • 1926 – Amelita Ramos, 11th First Lady of the Philippines
    • 1927 – Edward Abbey, American environmentalist and author (d. 1989)
    • 1929 – Elio Petri, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1929 – Joseph Kruskal, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2010)
    • 1931 – Leslie Bricusse, English playwright and composer
    • 1931 – Ferenc Mádl, Hungarian academic and politician, 2nd President of Hungary (d. 2011)
    • 1932 – Raman Subba Row, English cricketer and referee
    • 1932 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
    • 1933 – Sacha Distel, French singer and guitarist (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1936 – Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1937 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Bobby Scott, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1990)
    • 1939 – Germaine Greer, Australian journalist and author
    • 1940 – Katharine Ross, American actress and author
    • 1940 – Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and race car driver
    • 1941 – Robin Morgan, American actress, journalist, and author
    • 1943 – Tony Blackburn, English radio and television host
    • 1943 – Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English record producer and manager
    • 1944 – Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican lawyer and judge
    • 1944 – Pauline van der Wildt, Dutch swimmer
    • 1945 – Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Malian academic and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
    • 1945 – Jim Nicholson, Northern Irish politician
    • 1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor and businessman
    • 1946 – Bettye LaVette, American singer-songwriter
    • 1947 – Linda B. Buck, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1947 – David Byron, English singer-songwriter (d. 1985)
    • 1947 – Marián Varga, Slovak organist and composer
    • 1948 – Raymond Keene, English chess player and author
    • 1949 – doris davenport, American poet and teacher
    • 1949 – Evgeny Lovchev, Russian footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1950 – Ann Jillian, American actress and singer
    • 1950 – Jody Scheckter, South African race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Fereydoon Forooghi, Iranian singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1951 – Andy Roberts, Caribbean cricketer
    • 1953 – Peter Baumann, German keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1953 – Charlie Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1953 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (d. 1995)
    • 1954 – Christian Bjelland IV, Norwegian businessman and art collector
    • 1954 – Terry Kinney, American actor and director
    • 1954 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host, actress, and producer, founded Harpo Productions
    • 1956 – Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
    • 1957 – Philippe Dintrans, French rugby player
    • 1957 – Ron Franscell, American author and journalist
    • 1957 – Grażyna Miller, Italian journalist and poet
    • 1959 – Mike Foligno, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Gia Carangi, American supermodel (d. 1986)
    • 1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver and author
    • 1961 – Petra Thümer, German swimmer and photographer
    • 1962 – Nicholas Turturro, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – John Anthony Gallagher, English-New Zealand rugby player
    • 1965 – Dominik Hašek, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Romário, Brazilian footballer, manager, and politician
    • 1967 – Stacey King, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Edward Burns, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1968 – Susi Erdmann, German luger and bobsledder
    • 1970 – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian colonel and politician
    • 1970 – Heather Graham, American actress
    • 1970 – Jörg Hoffmann, German swimmer
    • 1970 – Paul Ryan, American economist and politician, 62nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    • 1970 – Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian Islamist leader, founded Boko Haram (d. 2009)
    • 1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress, producer, and talk show host
    • 1980 – Ivan Klasnic, German-Croatian footballer
    • 1982 – Adam Lambert, American singer, songwriter and actor
    • 1984 – Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer
    • 1984 – Nuno Morais, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
    • 1987 – José Abreu, Cuban baseball player
    • 1988 – Tatyana Chernova, Russian heptathlete
    • 1988 – Shay Logan, English footballer
    • 1988 – Aydın Yılmaz, Turkish footballer
    • 1989 – Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
    • 1993 – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese singer

    Deaths on January 29

    • 661 – Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (b. 601)
    • 702 – Princess Ōku of Japan (b. 661)
    • 757 – An Lushan, Chinese general (b. 703)
    • 870 – Salih ibn Wasif, Muslim general
    • 1119 – Pope Gelasius II (b. 1060)
    • 1327 – Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1300)
    • 1465 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (b. 1413)
    • 1597 – Elias Ammerbach, German organist and composer (b. 1530)
    • 1608 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1557)
    • 1647 – Francis Meres, English priest and author (b. 1565)
    • 1678 – Jerónimo Lobo, Portuguese missionary and author (b. 1593)
    • 1706 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
    • 1737 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish-English field marshal and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1666)
    • 1743 – André-Hercule de Fleury, French cardinal (b. 1653)
    • 1763 – Louis Racine, French poet (b. 1692)
    • 1820 – George III of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)
    • 1829 – Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras, French captain and politician (b. 1755)
    • 1829 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovenian priest and poet (b. 1760)
    • 1870 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
    • 1871 – Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, Canadian author (b. 1786)
    • 1888 – Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (b. 1812)
    • 1899 – Alfred Sisley, French-English painter (b. 1839)
    • 1906 – Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
    • 1928 – Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Scottish field marshal (b. 1861)
    • 1931 – Henri Mathias Berthelot, French general during World War I (b. 1861)
    • 1933 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (b. 1884)
    • 1934 – Fritz Haber, Polish-German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
    • 1941 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1871)
    • 1944 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (b. 1868)
    • 1946 – Harry Hopkins, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1890)
    • 1948 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta (b. 1900)
    • 1950 – Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1885)
    • 1951 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1880)
    • 1956 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and critic (b. 1880)
    • 1959 – Winifred Brunton, South African painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1962 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (b. 1875)
    • 1963 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (b. 1874)
    • 1964 – Alan Ladd, American actor (b. 1913)
    • 1969 – Allen Welsh Dulles, American banker, lawyer, and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1893)
    • 1970 – B. H. Liddell Hart, French-English soldier, historian, and journalist (b. 1895)
    • 1977 – Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (b. 1954)
    • 1978 – Frank Nicklin, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Queensland (b. 1895)
    • 1980 – Jimmy Durante, American entertainer (b. 1893)
    • 1991 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese author and poet (b. 1907)
    • 1992 – Willie Dixon, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1915)
    • 1993 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (b. 1906)
    • 1994 – Ulrike Maier, Austrian skier (b. 1967)
    • 1999 – Lili St. Cyr, American model and dancer (b. 1918)
    • 2002 – Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (b. 1914)
    • 2003 – Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author and poet (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Nam June Paik, South Korean-American artist, (b. 1932)
    • 2008 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (b. 1924)
    • 2009 – Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (b. 1913)
    • 2011 – Milton Babbitt, American composer, educator, and theorist (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Ranjit Singh Dyal, Indian general and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Italian lawyer and politician, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Camilla Williams, American soprano and educator (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – François Cavanna, French journalist and author (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 2016 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1928)
    • 2019 – George Fernandes, Indian politician (b. 1930)
    • 2019 – James Ingram, American musician (b. 1952)

    Holidays and observances on January 29

    • Christian feast day:
      • Andrei Rublev (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Aquilinus of Milan
      • Constantius of Perugia
      • Dallán Forgaill
      • Gildas
      • Juniper
      • Sabinian of Troyes
      • Sulpitius I of Bourges
      • Valerius of Trèves
      • January 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Fat Thursday can fall, while March 4 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before Ash Wednesday. (Christianity)
    • Kansas Day (Kansas, United States)

  • January 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.
    • 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
    • 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy.
    • 1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
    • 1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father’s death.
    • 1568 – The Edict of Torda prohibited the persecution of individuals on the religious ground in John Sigismund Zápolya’s Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
    • 1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
    • 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
    • 1671 – Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo).
    • 1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
    • 1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
    • 1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
    • 1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
    • 1851 – Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.
    • 1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
    • 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
    • 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.
    • 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
    • 1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
    • 1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
    • 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
    • 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
    • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
    • 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
    • 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
    • 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
    • 1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
    • 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
    • 1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
    • 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
    • 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
    • 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
    • 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
    • 1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
    • 1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
    • 1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
    • 1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumps 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
    • 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
    • 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
    • 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
    • 1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
    • 1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
    • 1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
    • 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
    • 2006 – The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.

    Births on January 28

    • 1312 – Joan II, queen of Navarre (d. 1349)
    • 1368 – Razadarit, king of Hanthawaddy (d. 1421)
    • 1457 – Henry VII, king of England (d. 1509)
    • 1533 – Paul Luther, German scientist (d. 1593)
    • 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1610)
    • 1582 – John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (d. 1621)
    • 1600 – Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1669)
    • 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
    • 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (d. 1687)
    • 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
    • 1693 – Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (d. 1766)
    • 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
    • 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
    • 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (d. 1761)
    • 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
    • 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1749)
    • 1726 – Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (d. 1802)
    • 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (d. 1830)
    • 1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
    • 1797 – Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (d. 1867)
    • 1818 – George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905)
    • 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
    • 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885)
    • 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-American explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
    • 1843 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1890)
    • 1853 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (d. 1895)
    • 1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1900)
    • 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
    • 1858 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934)
    • 1861 – Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (d. 1944)
    • 1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (d. 1918)
    • 1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
    • 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (d. 1928)
    • 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952)
    • 1873 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (d. 1954)
    • 1873 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (d. 1930)
    • 1875 – Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1965)
    • 1878 – Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (d. 1940)
    • 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (d. 1970)
    • 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (d. 1962)
    • 1885 – Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1920)
    • 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (d. 1973)
    • 1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (d. 1982)
    • 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (d. 1971)
    • 1906 – Pat O’Callaghan, Irish athlete (d. 1991)
    • 1906 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (d. 1998)
    • 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
    • 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
    • 1911 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (d. 2018)
    • 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
    • 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
    • 1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (d. 1976)
    • 1925 – Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (d. 1960)
    • 1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1927 – Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (d. 1996)
    • 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1927 – Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator
    • 1929 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist
    • 1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat
    • 1930 – Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier
    • 1933 – Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
    • 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
    • 1935 – David Lodge, English author and critic
    • 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer
    • 1937 – Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1938 – Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso
    • 1942 – Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater
    • 1942 – Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer
    • 1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1944 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Frank Doubleday, American actor (d. 2018)
    • 1945 – Maxwell Fuller, Australian chess player (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director
    • 1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
    • 1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire
    • 1948 – Bob Moses, American drummer
    • 1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
    • 1949 – Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach
    • 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model
    • 1950 – Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king
    • 1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
    • 1950 – Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic
    • 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
    • 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1951 – Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player
    • 1952 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1954 – Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian
    • 1954 – Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
    • 1955 – Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
    • 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France
    • 1956 – Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator
    • 1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer
    • 1957 – Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author
    • 1959 – Frank Darabont, American director and producer
    • 1960 – Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician
    • 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – David Lawrence, English cricketer
    • 1966 – Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer
    • 1967 – Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1968 – Rakim, American rapper
    • 1969 – Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
    • 1969 – Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist
    • 1969 – Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician
    • 1972 – Mark Regan, English rugby player
    • 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist
    • 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
    • 1974 – Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet
    • 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician
    • 1975 – Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist
    • 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach
    • 1976 – Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player
    • 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach
    • 1976 – Rick Ross, American rapper and producer
    • 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
    • 1977 – Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach
    • 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
    • 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality
    • 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
    • 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
    • 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
    • 1978 – Stephen Farrelly, Irish professional wrestler
    • 1978 – Big Freedia, New Orleans musician, “Queen of Bounce”
    • 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1980 – Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer
    • 1980 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1980 – Brian Fallon, American singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
    • 1984 – Ben Clucas, English race car driver
    • 1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American football player
    • 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
    • 1984 – Anne Panter, English field hockey player
    • 1985 – J. Cole, American singer
    • 1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
    • 1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
    • 1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler
    • 1986 – Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor
    • 1986 – Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1988 – Paul Henry, English footballer
    • 1988 – Seiya Sanada, Japanese wrestler
    • 1989 – Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer
    • 1991 – Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer
    • 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress

    Deaths on January 28

    • 592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
    • 814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (pleurisy; b. 742)
    • 919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general
    • 929 – Gao Jixing, founder of Chinese Jingnan (b. 858)
    • 947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892)
    • 1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
    • 1142 – Yue Fei, Chinese general (b. 1103)
    • 1256 – William II, Count of Holland, King of Germany (b. 1227)
    • 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247)
    • 1290 – Dervorguilla of Galloway, Scottish noble, mother of king John Balliol of Scotland (b. c. 1210)
    • 1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
    • 1501 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)
    • 1547 – Henry VIII, king of England (b. 1491)
    • 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
    • 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
    • 1666 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (b. 1591)
    • 1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
    • 1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
    • 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (b. 1611)
    • 1688 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)
    • 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645)
    • 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
    • 1782 – Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1697)
    • 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
    • 1859 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
    • 1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (b. 1799)
    • 1873 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (b. 1809)
    • 1903 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (b. 1847)
    • 1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist and theorist (b. 1819)
    • 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872)
    • 1921 – Mustafa Suphi, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1930 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano and poet (b. 1878)
    • 1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1859)
    • 1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and target shooter (b. 1862)
    • 1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (b. 1909)
    • 1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast and triathlete (b. 1881)
    • 1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1924)
    • 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
    • 1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
    • 1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
    • 1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1953 – James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
    • 1953 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher and poet (b. 1879)
    • 1959 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
    • 1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (b. 1891)
    • 1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
    • 1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
    • 1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867)
    • 1971 – Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
    • 1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
    • 1976 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (b. 1924)
    • 1978 – Ward Moore, American author (b. 1903)
    • 1983 – Billy Fury. English pop star (b. 1940)
    • 1983 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger crew
      • Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
      • Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
      • Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
      • Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
      • Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
      • Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
      • Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
    • 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1989 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (b. 1938)
    • 1993 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (b. 1905)
    • 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
    • 1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist and author (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
    • 1998 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1938)
    • 1999 – Valery Gavrilin, Russian composer (b. 1939)
    • 2001 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 2002 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (b. 1946)
    • 2003 – Mieke Pullen, Dutch runner (b. 1957)
    • 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (b. 1948)
    • 2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss cyclist (b. 1929)
    • 2007 – Robert Drinan, American priest, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (b. 1963)
    • 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938)
    • 2009 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Roman Juszkiewicz, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Don Starkell, Canadian adventurer and author (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Florentino Fernández, Cuban-American boxer and coach (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – John Cacavas, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Jorge Obeid, Argentinian engineer and politician, Governor of Santa Fe (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Franklin Gene Bissell, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Buddy Cianci, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Providence (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Bob Tizard, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1924)
    • 2017 – Alexander Chancellor, British journalist (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948)
    • 2019 – Pepe Smith, Filipino rock musician (b. 1947)

    Holidays and observances on January 28

    • Christian feast day:
      • Joseph Freinademetz
      • Julian of Cuenca
      • Thomas Aquinas
      • January 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Army Day (Armenia)
    • Data Privacy Day

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

    • AD 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
    • 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
    • 1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
    • 1458 – Matthias Corvinus is elected King of Hungary.
    • 1536 – King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behaviour and possible impotence.
    • 1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
    • 1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1758 – During the Seven Years’ War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763).
    • 1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
    • 1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
    • 1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.
    • 1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.
    • 1859 – The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) is formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
    • 1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
    • 1915 – World War I: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper’s battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
    • 1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
    • 1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars effective February 14 (New Style).
    • 1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
    • 1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán, killing approximately 28,000 people.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
    • 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
    • 1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
    • 1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the “barricades week”, during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
    • 1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa.
    • 1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
    • 1977 – The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.
    • 1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
    • 1984 – Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.
    • 1989 – Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.
    • 1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
    • 2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
    • 2009 – Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
    • 2011 – At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.

    Births on January 24

    • AD 76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
    • 1287 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1345)
    • 1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
    • 1540 – Edmund Campion, English priest and martyr (d. 1581)
    • 1547 – Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (d. 1578)
    • 1602 – Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, English politician (d. 1666)
    • 1619 – Yamazaki Ansai, Japanese philosopher (d. 1682)
    • 1643 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and politician, Lord Chamberlain of Great Britain (d. 1706)
    • 1664 – John Vanbrugh, English architect and dramatist (d. 1726)
    • 1670 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (d. 1729)
    • 1672 – Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt, German Lieutenant General (d. 1731)
    • 1674 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)
    • 1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (d. 1754)
    • 1684 – Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, German noble (d. 1737)
    • 1705 – Farinelli, Italian castrato singer (d. 1782)
    • 1709 – Dom Bédos de Celles, French monk and organist (d. 1779)
    • 1712 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
    • 1732 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and financier (d. 1799)
    • 1739 – Jean Nicolas Houchard, French General of the French Revolution (d. 1793)
    • 1746 – Gustav III of Sweden (d. 1792)
    • 1749 – Charles James Fox, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1806)
    • 1754 – Andrew Ellicott, American soldier and surveyor (d. 1820)
    • 1761 – Louis Klein, French general (d. 1845)
    • 1763 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1831)
    • 1776 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German jurist, author, and composer (d. 1822)
    • 1787 – Christian Ludwig Brehm, German pastor and ornithologist (d. 1864)
    • 1804 – Delphine de Girardin, French author (d. 1855)
    • 1814 – Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, French Crown Princess (d. 1858)
    • 1814 – John Colenso, British mathematician (d. 1883)
    • 1816 – Wilhelm Henzen, German philologist and epigraphist (d. 1887)
    • 1828 – Ferdinand Cohn, German biologist (d. 1898)
    • 1829 – Yechiel Michel Epstein, Rabbi and posek (d. 1908)
    • 1836 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist (d. 1909)
    • 1843 – Josip Stadler, Croatian archbishop (d. 1918)
    • 1848 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
    • 1850 – Hermann Ebbinghaus, German psychologist (d. 1909)
    • 1853 – Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser, German psychiatrist (d. 1931)
    • 1856 – Friedrich Grünanger, Transylvanian Hungarian-German architect (d. 1929)
    • 1858 – Constance Naden, English poet and philosopher (d. 1889)
    • 1862 – Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1937)
    • 1863 – August Adler, Czech and Austrian mathematician (d. 1923)
    • 1864 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (d. 1936)
    • 1864 – Gaetano Giardino, Italian soldier and Marshal of Italy (d. 1935)
    • 1866 – Jaan Poska, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1920)
    • 1870 – Herbert Kilpin, English footballer (d. 1916)
    • 1871 – Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, Czech poet, writer and literary critic (d. 1951)
    • 1871 – Thomas Jaggar, American volcanologist (d. 1953)
    • 1872 – Yuly Aykhenvald, Russian literary critic (d. 1928)
    • 1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
    • 1872 – Morris Travers, English chemist and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1873 – Dmitry Ushakov, Russian philologist and lexicographer (d. 1942)
    • 1882 – Harold D. Babcock, American astronomer (d. 1968)
    • 1882 – Ödön Bodor, Hungarian athlete (d. 1927)
    • 1886 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1887 – Jean-Henri Humbert, French botanist (d. 1967)
    • 1888 – Vicki Baum, Austrian author and screenwriter (d. 1960)
    • 1888 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman, founded the Heinkel Aircraft Manufacturing Company (d. 1958)
    • 1889 – Victor Eftimiu, Romanian poet and playwright (d. 1972)
    • 1889 – Charles Hawes, American historian and author (d. 1923)
    • 1889 – Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, German general of paratroop forces during World War II (d. 1968)
    • 1891 – Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)
    • 1892 – Franz Aigner, Austrian weightlifter (d. 1970)
    • 1895 – Eugen Roth, German poet and songwriter (d. 1976)
    • 1897 – Paul Fejos, Hungarian-born American director (d. 1963)
    • 1899 – Hoyt Vandenberg, U.S. Air Force general (d. 1954)
    • 1900 – René Guillot, French writer (d. 1969)
    • 1901 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
    • 1901 – Cassandre, French painter (d. 1968)
    • 1901 – Edward Turner, English engineer (d. 1973)
    • 1905 – J. Howard Marshall, American lawyer and businessman (d. 1995)
    • 1906 – Wilfred Jackson, American animator and composer (d. 1988)
    • 1907 – Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 1979)
    • 1907 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1999)
    • 1907 – Jean Daetwyler, Swiss composer and musician (d. 1994)
    • 1909 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (d. 2005)
    • 1910 – Doris Haddock, American political activist (d. 2010)
    • 1912 – Frederick Ashworth, American admiral (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Norman Dello Joio, American organist and composer (d. 2008)
    • 1913 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1983)
    • 1915 – Vítězslava Kaprálová, Czech composer and conductor (d. 1940)
    • 1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (d. 1991)
    • 1916 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (d. 2009)
    • 1916 – Gene Mako, Hungarian-American tennis player and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d. 2012)
    • 1917 – Wilhelmus Demarteau, Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – Gottfried von Einem, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – Oral Roberts, American evangelist, founded Oral Roberts University and Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
    • 1919 – Leon Kirchner, American composer and educator (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Jimmy Forrest, American saxophonist (d. 1980)
    • 1920 – Jerry Maren, American actor (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – Daniel Boulanger, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Neil Franklin, English footballer (d. 1996)
    • 1923 – Geneviève Asse, French painter
    • 1925 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina and actress (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Ruth Asawa, American sculptor (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Georges Lautner, French director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Sir Patrick Macnaghten, 11th Baronet, Scottish lieutenant (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Paula Hawkins, American politician (d. 2009)
    • 1928 – Desmond Morris, English zoologist, ethologist, and painter
    • 1928 – Michel Serrault, French actor (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Mahmoud Farshchian, Iranian-Persian painter and academic
    • 1930 – John Romita Sr., American comic book artist
    • 1931 – Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Ib Nørholm, Danish composer and organist
    • 1932 – Éliane Radigue, French electronic music composer
    • 1933 – Kamran Baghirov, the 12th First Secretary of Azerbaijan Communist Party (d. 2000)
    • 1933 – Asim Ferhatović, Bosnian footballer (d. 1987)
    • 1934 – Leonard Goldberg, American producer (d. 2019)
    • 1934 – Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)
    • 1935 – Eric Ashton, English rugby player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1935 – Shivabalayogi, Indian religious leader (d. 1994)
    • 1936 – Doug Kershaw, American fiddle player and singer
    • 1937 – Trevor Edwards, Welsh footballer
    • 1938 – Julius Hemphill, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1995)
    • 1939 – Renate Garisch-Culmberger, German shot putter
    • 1939 – Ray Stevens, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1940 – Vito Acconci, American designer (d. 2017)
    • 1940 – Joachim Gauck, German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany
    • 1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1941 – Aaron Neville, American singer
    • 1941 – Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1942 – Ingo Friedrich, German Member of the European Parliament
    • 1942 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (d. 2008)
    • 1943 – Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Barry Mealand, English footballer, right back (d. 2013)
    • 1943 – Sharon Tate, American model and actress (d. 1969)
    • 1943 – Tony Trimmer, English race car driver
    • 1943 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer (d. 2016)
    • 1944 – David Gerrold, American science fiction screenwriter and author
    • 1944 – Gian-Franco Kasper, Swiss ski official
    • 1945 – John Garamendi, American football player and politician, 1st United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
    • 1945 – Subhash Ghai, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
    • 1945 – Eva Janko, Austrian javelin thrower
    • 1946 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
    • 1947 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1947 – Michio Kaku, American physicist and academic
    • 1947 – Masashi Ozaki, Japanese baseball player and golfer
    • 1947 – Warren Zevon, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1948 – Elliott Abrams, American diplomat, lawyer and political scientist
    • 1948 – Michael Des Barres, English singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1949 – John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1949 – Bart Gordon, American lawyer
    • 1949 – Nadezhda Ilyina, Russian athlete and mother of Russian tennis player Nadia Petrova (d. 2013)
    • 1949 – Rihoko Yoshida, Japanese voice actress
    • 1950 – Daniel Auteuil, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1951 – Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American comedian and actor
    • 1953 – Yuri Bashmet, Russian violinist, viola player, and conductor
    • 1953 – Moon Jae-in, 19th President of South Korea
    • 1954 – Jo Gartner, Austrian race car driver (d. 1986)
    • 1955 – Jim Montgomery, American swimmer
    • 1955 – Alan Sokal, American physicist and author
    • 1955 – Lynda Weinman, American businesswoman and author
    • 1956 – Agus Martowardojo, governor of Bank Indonesia
    • 1957 – Mark Eaton, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Ade Edmondson, English comedian and musician
    • 1958 – Kim Eui-kon, Korean wrestler
    • 1958 – Jools Holland, English singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1958 – Frank Ullrich, German biathlete
    • 1959 – Akira Maeda, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
    • 1959 – Michel Preud’homme, Belgian footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Jorge Barrios, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1961 – Guido Buchwald, German footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Christa Kinshofer, German ski racer
    • 1961 – Nastassja Kinski, German-American actress and producer
    • 1961 – William Van Dijck, Belgian runner
    • 1963 – Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer
    • 1964 – Annika Dahlman, Swedish cross country skier
    • 1965 – Robin Dutt, German footballer
    • 1965 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Margaret Urlich, New Zealand singer-songwriter
    • 1965 – Pagonis Vakalopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Kim Sung-moon, South Korean wrestler
    • 1966 – Julie Dreyfus, French actress
    • 1966 – Karin Viard, French actress
    • 1967 – Michael Kiske, German singer
    • 1967 – Mark Kozelek, American singer and musician
    • 1967 – Phil LaMarr, American actor, singer, and screenwriter
    • 1967 – John Myung, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1968 – Fernando Escartín, Spanish cyclist
    • 1968 – Antony Garrett Lisi, American theoretical physicist
    • 1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
    • 1968 – Tymerlan Huseynov, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1969 – Yoo Ho-jeong, South Korean actress
    • 1969 – Carlos Rômulo Gonçalves e Silva, bishop of Montenegro
    • 1970 – Roberto Bonano, Argentine footballer
    • 1970 – Neil Johnson, Zimbabwean cricketer
    • 1970 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
    • 1971 – José Carlos Fernandez, Bolivian footballer
    • 1972 – Beth Hart, American blues-rock singer and piano player
    • 1974 – Cyril Despres, French rally racer
    • 1974 – Ed Helms, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Melissa Tkautz, Australian actress and singer
    • 1974 – Rokia Traoré, Malian singer
    • 1975 – Gianluca Basile, Italian former professional basketball player
    • 1975 – Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Reto Hug, Swiss triathlonist
    • 1975 – Henna Raita, Finnish alpine skier
    • 1976 – Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer, coach, and choreographer
    • 1976 – Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist
    • 1977 – Andrija Gerić, Serbian volleyball player
    • 1977 – Michelle Hunziker, Swiss-Dutch actress, model and singer
    • 1978 – Veerle Baetens, Belgian actress and singer
    • 1978 – Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor and musician
    • 1978 – Kristen Schaal, American actress, voice artist, comedian and writer
    • 1979 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
    • 1979 – Leandro Desábato, Argentinian footballer
    • 1979 – Busy Signal, Jamaican dancehall reggae artist
    • 1979 – Nik Wallenda, American acrobat
    • 1980 – Jofre Mateu, Spanish footballer
    • 1980 – Suzy, Portuguese singer
    • 1981 – Mario Eggimann, Swiss footballer
    • 1981 – Zaur Hashimov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager
    • 1981 – Elena Kolomina, Kazakhstani cross country skier
    • 1982 – Céline Deville, French footballer
    • 1982 – Daveed Diggs, American actor, rapper and singer
    • 1982 – Claudia Heill, Austrian judoka
    • 1982 – Aitor Hernández, Spanish racing cyclist
    • 1983 – Davide Biondini, Italian footballer
    • 1983 – Wyatt Crockett, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1983 – Evgeny Drattsev, Russian swimmer
    • 1983 – Craig Horner, Australian actor and musician
    • 1983 – Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer
    • 1983 – Scott Speed, American race car driver
    • 1984 – Emerse Faé, French-born Ivorian footballer
    • 1984 – Yotam Halperin, Israeli basketball player
    • 1984 – Jung Jin-sun, South Korean fencer
    • 1984 – Scott Kazmir, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Paulo Sérgio Moreira Gonçalves, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Fabiana Claudino, Brazilian volleyball player
    • 1985 – Trey Gilder, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Cristiano Araújo, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1986 – Mohammad Bagheri Motamed, Iranian taekwondo practitioner
    • 1986 – Mischa Barton, English-American actress
    • 1986 – Vladislav Ivanov, Russian footballer
    • 1986 – Michael Kightly, English footballer
    • 1986 – Ricky Ullman, Israeli-American actor
    • 1987 – Wayne Hennessey, Welsh footballer
    • 1987 – Luis Suárez, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1987 – Davide Valsecchi, Italian racing driver
    • 1987 – Kia Vaughn, American born Czech basketball player
    • 1987 – Guan Xin, Chinese basketball player
    • 1988 – Selina Jörg, German snowboarder
    • 1989 – Serdar Kesimal, Turkish footballer
    • 1989 – Gong Lijiao, Chinese shot putter
    • 1989 – Ki Sung-yueng, South Korean footballer
    • 1990 – Mao Abe, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1991 – Zhan Beleniuk, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler
    • 1991 – Tatiana Kashirina, Russian weightlifter
    • 1991 – Zé Luís, Cape Verdean footballer
    • 1991 – Li Xuerui, Chinese badminton player
    • 1992 – Becky Downie, English gymnast
    • 1992 – Phiwa Nkambule, South African entrepreneur
    • 1992 – Felitciano Zschusschen, Curaçao footballer
    • 1994 – Tommie Hoban, English footballer
    • 1995 – Dylan Everett, Canadian actor
    • 1997 – Nirei Fukuzumi, Japanese racer
    • 1999 – Vitalie Damașcan, Moldovan footballer
    • 2012 – Princess Athena of Denmark, younger child of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark

    Deaths onJanuary 24

    • AD 41 – Caligula, Roman emperor (b. 12)
    • 817 – Pope Stephen IV (b. 770)
    • 901 – Liu Jishu, general of the Tang Dynasty
    • 1046 – Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen (b. c. 985)
    • 1125 – David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)
    • 1336 – Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
    • 1376 – Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1306)
    • 1473 – Conrad Paumann, German organist and composer (b. 1410)
    • 1525 – Franciabigio, Florentine painter (b. 1482)
    • 1595 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (b. 1529)
    • 1626 – Samuel Argall, English captain and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1572)
    • 1639 – Jörg Jenatsch, Swiss pastor and politician (b. 1596)
    • 1666 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (b. 1588)
    • 1709 – George Rooke, English admiral and politician (b. 1650)
    • 1877 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (b. 1796)
    • 1881 – James Collinson, English painter (b. 1825)
    • 1883 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
    • 1895 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1849)
    • 1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
    • 1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician, created Muesli (b. 1867)
    • 1943 – John Burns, English trade union leader and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1858)
    • 1960 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
    • 1961 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (b. 1884)
    • 1962 – André Lhote, French sculptor and painter (b. 1885)
    • 1962 – Stanley Lord, English naval captain (b. 1877)
    • 1962 – Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Turkish author, poet, and scholar (b. 1901)
    • 1965 – Winston Churchill, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
    • 1966 – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1970 – Caresse Crosby, American fashion designer and publisher, co-founded the Black Sun Press (b. 1891)
    • 1971 – Bill W., American activist, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
    • 1973 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1896)
    • 1975 – Larry Fine, American comedian (b. 1902)
    • 1982 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (b. 1918)
    • 1983 – George Cukor, American director and producer (b. 1899)
    • 1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (b. 1911)
    • 1986 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
    • 1988 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1905)
    • 1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)
    • 1990 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
    • 1991 – Jack Schaefer, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
    • 1992 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
    • 1993 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (b. 1908)
    • 2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese commander and politician (b. 1956)
    • 2003 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (b. 1921)
    • 2004 – Leônidas, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician (b. 1930)
    • 2007 – Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1916)
    • 2007 – İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1940)
    • 2007 – Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian academic and politician (b. 1956)
    • 2007 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, Puerto Rican-American soldier (b. 1891)
    • 2010 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 2011 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Shulamit Aloni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 11th Israeli Minister of Education (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Rafael Pineda Ponce, Honduran academic and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (b. 1960)
    • 2017 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (b. 1947)
    • 2018 – Mark E. Smith, British singer-songwriter (b. 1957)
    • 2019 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, American United States Naval Aviator (b. 1953)

    Holidays and observances on January 24

    • Christian feast day:
      • Babylas of Antioch
      • Cadoc (Wales)
      • Exuperantius of Cingoli
      • Felician of Foligno
      • Francis de Sales
      • Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church)
      • January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Saturday of Souls can fall, while February 27 (or 28 during Leap Year) is the latest; observed 57 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
    • Feast of Our Lady of Peace (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances:
      • Feria de Alasitas (La Paz)
    • Unification Day (Romania)
    • Uttar Pradesh Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)

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

    • 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
    • 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
    • 1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
    • 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
    • 1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
    • 1774 – Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
    • 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
    • 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
    • 1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
    • 1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
    • 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
    • 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
    • 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
    • 1919 – A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.
    • 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
    • 1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
    • 1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
    • 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
    • 1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
    • 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
    • 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
    • 1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.
    • 1960 – A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
    • 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
    • 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
    • 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
    • 1980 – Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.
    • 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
    • 1985 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.
    • 1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
    • 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
    • 2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
    • 2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
    • 2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
    • 2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
    • 2009 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
    • 2011 – Anti government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Five people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister’s office. To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.
    • 2017 – Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women’s march, on Donald Trump’s first full day as President of the United States.
    • 2018 – Rocket Lab’s Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.

    Births on January 21

    • 1264 – Alexander, Prince of Scotland (d. 1284)
    • 1277 – Galeazzo I Visconti, lord of Milan
    • 1338 – Charles V of France (d. 1380)
    • 1493 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1556)
    • 1598 – Matsudaira Tadamasa, Japanese samurai and daimyō (d. 1645)
    • 1612 – Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, count of Nassau-Dietz (d. 1640)
    • 1636 – Melchiorre Cafà, Maltese Baroque sculptor (baptised; d. 1667)
    • 1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)
    • 1659 – Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter (d. 1722)
    • 1675 – Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, Margravine of Baden-Baden (d. 1733)
    • 1714 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, Spanish anatomist (d. 1774)
    • 1717 – Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer and governor of Cuba (d. 1779)
    • 1721 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1794)
    • 1724 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French rococo painter (d. 1805)
    • 1732 – Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1797)
    • 1738 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789)
    • 1741 – Chaim of Volozhin, Orthodox rabbi (d. 1821)
    • 1763 – Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (d. 1794)
    • 1775 – Manuel Garcia, Spanish opera singer and composer (d. 1832)
    • 1784 – Peter De Wint, English painter (d. 1849)
    • 1788 – William Henry Smyth, Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist
    • 1796 – Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1880)
    • 1797 – Joseph Méry, French author and journalist (d. 1866)
    • 1800 – Theodor Fliedner, German Lutheran minister (d. 1864)
    • 1801 – John Batman, Australian entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1839)
    • 1804 – Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter (d. 1871)
    • 1808 – Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, 16th President of Peru (d. 1875)
    • 1810 – Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French general (d. 1892)
    • 1811 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, British statesman (d. 1885)
    • 1813 – John C. Frémont, American general, explorer, and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (d. 1890)
    • 1813 – Giuseppe Montanelli, Italian statesman and author (d. 1862)
    • 1814 – Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, German bibliographer and historian (d. 1885)
    • 1815 – Horace Wells, American dentist (d. 1848)
    • 1820 – Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (d. 1899)
    • 1820 – Egide Walschaerts, Belgian mechanical engineer (d. 1901)
    • 1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (d. 1863)
    • 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1900)
    • 1829 – Oscar II of Sweden (d. 1907)
    • 1839 – Caterina Volpicelli, Italian Roman Catholic nun (d. 1894)
    • 1840 – Sophia Jex-Blake, English physician and feminist (d. 1912)
    • 1841 – Édouard Schuré, French philosopher and author (d. 1929)
    • 1843 – Émile Levassor, French engineer (d. 1897)
    • 1845 – Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
    • 1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1923)
    • 1846 – Albert Lavignac, French music scholar (d. 1916)
    • 1847 – Joseph Achille Le Bel, French chemist (d. 1930)
    • 1848 – Henri Duparc, French soldier and composer (d. 1933)
    • 1851 – Giuseppe Allamano, Italian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1926)
    • 1854 – Karl Julius Beloch, German classical and economic historian (d. 1929)
    • 1854 – Eusapia Palladino, Italian Spiritualist (d. 1918)
    • 1855 – Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1874)
    • 1860 – Karl Staaff, Swedish lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
    • 1864 – Israel Zangwill, British author (d. 1926)
    • 1865 – Heinrich Albers-Schonberg, German gynecologist and radiologist (d. 1921)
    • 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German paramedic and author (d. 1921)
    • 1867 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (d. 1965)
    • 1868 – Felix Hoffmann, German chemist (d. 1946)
    • 1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian Mystic (d. 1916)
    • 1871 – Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina (d. 1962)
    • 1873 – Arturo Labriola, Italian revolutionary syndicalist (d. 1959)
    • 1874 – René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (d. 1932)
    • 1875 – Paul E. Kahle, German orientalist (d. 1964)
    • 1877 – Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
    • 1878 – Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1948)
    • 1879 – Joseph Roffo, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1933)
    • 1880 – George Van Biesbroeck, Belgian–American astronomer (d. 1974)
    • 1881 – Ernst Fast, Swedish runner (d. 1959)
    • 1881 – André Godard, French archaeologist, architect and historian (d. 1965)
    • 1881 – Ivan Ribar, Yugoslav politician (d. 1968)
    • 1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician and theologian (d. 1937)
    • 1882 – Francis Gailey, Australian-American swimmer (d. 1972)
    • 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and educator (d. 1929)
    • 1883 – Mathias Hynes, British tug of war competitor (d. 1926)
    • 1885 – Duncan Grant, British painter and designer (d. 1978)
    • 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian engineer and explorer (d. 1978)
    • 1885 – Harold A. Wilson, English runner (d. 1932)
    • 1886 – John M. Stahl, American director and producer (d. 1950)
    • 1887 – Wolfgang Köhler, German psychologist and phenomenologist (d. 1967)
    • 1887 – Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer (d. 1960)
    • 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
    • 1889 – Pitirim Sorokin, American sociologist and political activist (d. 1968)
    • 1891 – Albert Battel, German Army lieutenant and lawyer (d. 1952)
    • 1891 – Francisco Lázaro, Portuguese marathon runner (d. 1912)
    • 1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (d. 1972)
    • 1895 – Daniel Chalonge, French astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1977)
    • 1895 – Noe Itō, Japanese anarchist, author and feminist (d. 1923)
    • 1896 – Guy Gilpatric, American pilot and journalist (d. 1950)
    • 1896 – Paula Hitler, younger sister of Adolf Hitler (d. 1960)
    • 1896 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (d. 1973)
    • 1896 – Masa Perttilä, Finnish wrestler (d. 1968)
    • 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
    • 1898 – Rudolph Maté, Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, producer and director (d. 1964)
    • 1898 – Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Persia (d. 1930)
    • 1898 – Eduard Zintl, German chemist (d. 1941)
    • 1899 – John Bodkin Adams, British general practitioner and convict (d. 1983)
    • 1899 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1969)
    • 1899 – Edith Tolkien, wife and muse of J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1971)
    • 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
    • 1900 – Elof Ahrle, Swedish actor and director (d. 1965)
    • 1900 – Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (d. 1994)
    • 1900 – Bernhard Rensch, German evolutionary biologist (d. 1990)
    • 1900 – Fernando Quiroga Palacios, Spanish Cardinal (d. 1971)
    • 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – William Lyon, American film editor (d. 1974)
    • 1903 – Raymond Suvigny, French weightlifter (d. 1945)
    • 1904 – Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (d. 1984)
    • 1904 – John Porter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (d. 1957)
    • 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978)
    • 1906 – Leo Halle, Dutch footballer (d. 1992)
    • 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
    • 1907 – Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Jānis Mendriks, Latvian Catholic priest (d. 1953)
    • 1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1909 – Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer (d. 1970)
    • 1910 – Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer (d. 1975)
    • 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
    • 1910 – Rosa Kellner, German athlete (d. 1984)
    • 1910 – Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter (d. 1976)
    • 1911 – Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager (d. 2003)
    • 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
    • 1915 – André Lichnerowicz, French mathematician (d. 1998)
    • 1915 – Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (d. 1981)
    • 1916 – Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish midwife; American and Yiddish-language actress; producer of the Yiddish stage (d. 2002)
    • 1917 – Erling Persson, H&M founder (d. 2002)
    • 1918 – Jimmy Hagan, English footballer (d. 1998)
    • 1918 – Richard Winters, American soldier (d. 2011)
    • 1918 – Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist and conductor (d. 1989)
    • 1919 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (d. 2016)
    • 1920 – Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 1987)
    • 1921 – Lincoln Alexander, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
    • 1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – Predrag Vranicki, Croatian Marxist Humanist, and member of the Praxis school in the 1960s in Yugoslavia (d. 2002)
    • 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1995)
    • 1923 – Alberto de Mendoza, Argentine actor (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1925 – Charles Aidman, American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1925 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (d. 2010)
    • 1925 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Clive Donner, British director (d. 2010)
    • 1926 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (d. 1980)
    • 1926 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder (d. 2000)
    • 1926 – Roger Taillibert, French architect (d. 2019)
    • 1926 – Robert J. White, American neurosurgeon (d. 2010)
    • 1927 – Rudolf Kraus, German footballer (d. 2003)
    • 1928 – Gene Sharp, American political scientist and academic, founded the Albert Einstein Institution (d. 2018)
    • 1928 – Reynaldo Bignone, Argentinian general and politician, 41st President of Argentina (d. 2018)
    • 1929 – Radley Metzger, American filmmaker (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2001)
    • 1931 – Yoshiko Kuga, Japanese actress
    • 1933 – Habib Thiam, Senegalese politician (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Tony Marchi, English footballer, wing half
    • 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
    • 1934 – Antonio Karmany, Spanish cyclist
    • 1934 – Alfonso Portugal, Mexican footballer (d. 2016)
    • 1934 – Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (d. 2017)
    • 1936 – Dick Davies, American basketball player (d. 2012)
    • 1937 – Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi, Hungarian fencer (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
    • 1938 – Sandy Barr, American wrestler and referee (d. 2007)
    • 1938 – Romano Fogli, Italian footballer
    • 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American radio host (d. 1995)
    • 1938 – Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
    • 1939 – Paul Genevay, French sprinter
    • 1939 – Friedel Lutz, German footballer
    • 1939 – Steve Paxton, American dancer and choreographer
    • 1939 – Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1940 – Patrick Robinson, British novelist
    • 1941 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor and conductor
    • 1941 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Mike Medavoy, Chinese-American film producer, co-founded Orion Pictures
    • 1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-American wrestler and bodybuilder
    • 1941 – Elaine Showalter, American author and critic
    • 1942 – Freddy Breck, German singer, producer, and news anchor (d. 2008)
    • 1942 – Eugène Camara, Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Han Pil-hwa, North Korean speed skater
    • 1942 – Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1942 – Michael G. Wilson, American producer and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Zdravko Hebel, Croatian water polo player (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Arnar Jónsson, Icelandic actor
    • 1943 – Alfons Peeters, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Kenzo Yokoyama, Japanese footballer
    • 1944 – Uto Ughi, Italian violinist
    • 1945 – Pete Kircher, English drummer
    • 1945 – Martin Shaw, English actor and producer
    • 1946 – Ichiro Hosotani, Japanese footballer
    • 1946 – Nella Martinetti, Swiss singer (d. 2011)
    • 1946 – Tomás Pineda, El Salvadoran footballer
    • 1946 – Miguel Reina, Spanish footballer
    • 1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
    • 1947 – Andrzej Bachleda, Polish former alpine skier
    • 1947 – Dorian M. Goldfeld, American mathematician
    • 1947 – Pye Hastings, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1947 – Joseph Nicolosi, American clinical psychologist (d. 2017)
    • 1947 – Giuseppe Savoldi, Italian footballer
    • 1947 – Roberto Zywica, Argentine footballer
    • 1948 – Zygmunt Kukla, Polish footballer (d. 2016)
    • 1948 – Hugo Tocalli, Argentine footballer
    • 1949 – Trương Tấn Sang, Vietnamese politician and 7th President of Vietnam
    • 1949 – Clifford Ray, American basketball coach and player
    • 1950 – Marion Becker, German javelin thrower
    • 1950 – Gary Locke, American politician and diplomat, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
    • 1950 – José Marín, Spanish racewalker
    • 1950 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation
    • 1951 – Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General
    • 1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss activist and murderer
    • 1952 – Werner Grissmann, Austrian alpine skier
    • 1952 – Mikhail Umansky, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
    • 1953 – Paul Allen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft (d. 2018)
    • 1953 – Felipe Yáñez, Spanish cyclist
    • 1954 – Thomas de Maizière, German politician of the Christian Democratic Union
    • 1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
    • 1955 – Peter Fleming, American tennis player
    • 1955 – Jeff Koons, American painter and sculptor
    • 1955 – Nello Musumeci, Italian politician and President of Sicily
    • 1956 – Robby Benson, American actor and director
    • 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress and producer
    • 1958 – Matt Salmon, American politician
    • 1958 – Hussein Saeed, Iraqi footballer
    • 1958 – Sergei Walter, Ukrainian politician (d. 2015)
    • 1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
    • 1959 – Sergei Alifirenko, Russian pistol shooter
    • 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Sidney Lowe, American basketball player
    • 1960 – Mike Terrana, American hard rock and heavy metal drummer
    • 1961 – Kevin Cramer, American politician
    • 1961 – Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier
    • 1961 – Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (d. 2008)
    • 1961 – Gary Shaw, English footballer
    • 1961 – Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist
    • 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist and academic
    • 1962 – Isabelle Nanty, French actress, director and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Gabriele Pin, Italian footballer and coach
    • 1962 – Zoran Thaler, Slovenian politician
    • 1962 – Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist
    • 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
    • 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player
    • 1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Andreas Bauer, German ski jumper
    • 1964 – Tony Dolan, English musician and actor
    • 1964 – Gérald Passi, French footballer
    • 1964 – Ricardo Serna, Spanish footballer
    • 1964 – Aleksandar Šoštar, Serbian water polo player
    • 1964 – Danny Wallace, English footballer
    • 1965 – Robert Del Naja, British artist, musician and singer
    • 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (d. 2002)
    • 1965 – Masahiro Wada, Japanese footballer
    • 1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess player
    • 1967 – Alfred Jermaniš, Slovenian footballer
    • 1967 – Gorō Miyazaki, Japanese film director and landscaper
    • 1968 – Dmitry Fomin, Soviet and Russian volleyball player
    • 1968 – Ilya Smirin, Israeli chess Grandmaster
    • 1968 – Artur Dmitriev, Soviet and Russian ice skater
    • 1968 – Sébastien Lifshitz, French director
    • 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
    • 1969 – John Ducey, American actor
    • 1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
    • 1969 – Karina Lombard, French-American actress and singer
    • 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese comic artist
    • 1970 – Alen Bokšić, former Croatian footballer
    • 1970 – Marina Foïs, French actress
    • 1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
    • 1970 – Oren Peli, Israeli-American director, producer and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Uni Arge, Faroese footballer and entertainer
    • 1971 – Rafael Berges, Spanish footballer
    • 1971 – Doug Edwards, American basketball player
    • 1971 – Dmitri Khlestov, Russian footballer
    • 1971 – Dylan Kussman, American actor
    • 1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater
    • 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish businessman and politician
    • 1972 – Sead Kapetanović, Bosnian footballer
    • 1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer and producer
    • 1972 – Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress
    • 1972 – Shawn Rojeski, American curler
    • 1972 – Sabina Valbusa, Italian cross-country skier
    • 1973 – Rob Hayles, English cyclist
    • 1973 – Chris Kilmore, American musician and DJ
    • 1973 – Edvinas Krungolcas, Lithuanian modern pentathlete
    • 1973 – Flavio Maestri, Peruvian footballer
    • 1974 – Malena Alterio, Spanish actress
    • 1974 – Maxwell Atoms, American animator, screenwriter and voice actor
    • 1974 – Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist
    • 1974 – Arthémon Hatungimana, Burundian middle distance runner
    • 1974 – Vincent Laresca, American actor
    • 1974 – Ulrich Le Pen, French footballer
    • 1974 – Marco Zanotti, Italian cyclist
    • 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Casey FitzRandolph, American speedskater
    • 1975 – Yuji Ide, Japanese race car driver
    • 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Willem Korsten, Dutch footballer, left winger
    • 1975 – Jason Moran, American jazz pianist, composer and educator
    • 1975 – Florin Șerban, Romanian director
    • 1975 – Alyaksandr Yermakovich, Belarusian footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Aivaras Abromavičius, Lithuanian-Ukrainian banker and politician; 15th Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development
    • 1976 – Raivis Belohvoščiks, Latvian cyclist
    • 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer
    • 1976 – Lars Eidinger, German actor
    • 1976 – Giorgio Frezzolini, Italian footballer
    • 1976 – Igors Stepanovs, Latvian footballer
    • 1977 – Hussein Abdulghani, Saudi Arabian footballer
    • 1977 – Bradley Carnell, South African footballer
    • 1977 – John DeSantis, Canadian actor
    • 1977 – Kirsten Klose, German hammer thrower
    • 1977 – Denis Lunghi, Italian cyclist
    • 1977 – Ulrike Maisch, German runner
    • 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer and manager
    • 1977 – Michael Ruffin, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1978 – Faris Al-Sultan, German triathlete
    • 1978 – Peter von Allmen, Swiss cross-country skier
    • 1978 – Hernán Rodrigo López, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Quinton Jacobs, Namibian footballer
    • 1979 – Byung-hyun Kim, South Korean baseball player
    • 1979 – Spider Loc, American rapper and actor
    • 1979 – Melendi, Spanish singer
    • 1979 – Brian O’Driscoll, Irish rugby player
    • 1979 – Sebastian Schindzielorz, German footballer
    • 1980 – Troy Dumais, American diver
    • 1980 – Karsten Forsterling, Australian rower
    • 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer and manager
    • 1980 – Lee Kyung-won, South Korean badminton player
    • 1980 – Kevin McKenna, Canadian soccer player
    • 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
    • 1980 – Alexander Os, former Norwegian biathlete
    • 1980 – Xavier Pons, Spanish rally diver
    • 1980 – Mari Possa, El Salvadoran pornographic actress
    • 1980 – Bratislav Ristić, Serbian footballer
    • 1981 – Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
    • 1981 – Roberto Guana Italian footballer
    • 1981 – Wu Hanxiong, Chinese fencer
    • 1981 – Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Andy Lee, South Korean singer and actor
    • 1981 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress, dancer, and producer
    • 1981 – Shawn Redhage, American-Australian basketball player
    • 1981 – Michel Teló, Brazilian singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Jung Ryeo-won, South Korean actress
    • 1981 – David F. Sandberg, Swedish filmmaker
    • 1982 – Richard José Blanco, Venezuelan footballer
    • 1982 – Adriano Ferreira Martins, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
    • 1982 – Sarah Ourahmoune, French boxer
    • 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
    • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
    • 1983 – Alex Acker, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Monique Adamczak, Australian tennis player
    • 1983 – Victor Leandro Bagy, Brazilian footballer
    • 1983 – Ranko Despotović, Serbian footballer
    • 1983 – Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress
    • 1983 – Marieke van den Ham, Dutch water polo player
    • 1983 – Billy Mwanza, Zambian footballer
    • 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, French-Canadian wrestler
    • 1983 – Álvaro Quirós, Spanish golfer
    • 1983 – Francesca Segat, Italian swimmer
    • 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer, right back, football pundit and scout
    • 1983 – Kelly VanderBeek, Canadian alpine skier
    • 1984 – Leonardo Burián, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1984 – Luke Grimes, American actor
    • 1984 – Amy Hastings, American track and fielder
    • 1984 – Alex Koslov, Moldovan-American wrestler
    • 1984 – Dejan Milovanović, Serbian footballer
    • 1984 – Wes Morgan, Jamaican footballer
    • 1984 – Haloti Ngata, American footballer
    • 1985 – Markus Berger, Austrian footballer
    • 1985 – Artur Beterbiev, Russian boxer
    • 1985 – Aura Dione, Danish singer and songwriter
    • 1985 – Nick Gehlfuss, American actor
    • 1985 – Salvatore Giunta, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient
    • 1985 – Yumi Hara, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1985 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model and actress
    • 1985 – Rodrigo San Miguel, Spanish basketball player
    • 1985 – Ri Se-gwang, North Korean artistic gymnast
    • 1985 – Dmitri Sokolov, Russian basketball player
    • 1985 – Ryan Suter, American ice hockey player
    • 1986 – César Arzo, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Edson Barboza, Brazilian mixed martial artist
    • 1986 – João Gomes Júnior, Brazilian swimmer
    • 1986 – Javi López, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Gina Mambrú, volleyball player from Dominican Republic
    • 1986 – Jonathan Quick, American ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Mike Taylor, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Óscar Vílchez, Peruvian footballer
    • 1986 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor
    • 1987 – Ioannis Athanasoulas, Greek basketball player
    • 1987 – Andrei Cojocari, Moldovan footballer
    • 1987 – Alexander Dercho, German footballer
    • 1987 – Aida Hadzialic, Swedish politician
    • 1987 – Shaun Keeling, South African rower
    • 1987 – Augustine Kiprono Choge, Kenyan runner
    • 1987 – Kevin Kratz, German footballer
    • 1987 – Danny Munyao, Zambian footballer
    • 1987 – Henrico Drost, Dutch footballer
    • 1987 – Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Will Johnson, Canadian footballer
    • 1987 – Mulopo Kudimbana, Congolese footballer
    • 1987 – Nyasha Mushekwi, Zimbabwean footballer
    • 1987 – Dominik Roels, German cyclist
    • 1987 – Maša Zec Peškirič, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1987 – Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Japanese actress
    • 1988 – Glaiza de Castro, Filipino actress and singer
    • 1988 – Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
    • 1988 – Rolands Freimanis, Latvian basketball player
    • 1988 – Vanessa Hessler, Italian-American model and actress
    • 1988 – Aleksandar Lazevski, Macedonian footballer
    • 1988 – Ángel Mena, Ecuadorian footballer
    • 1988 – Valérie Tétreault, Canadian tennis player
    • 1988 – Pieter Timmers, Belgian swimmer
    • 1988 – Nemanja Tomić, Serbian footballer
    • 1988 – Ben Turner, English footballer
    • 1989 – Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player
    • 1989 – Kayla Banwarth, American indoor volleyball player
    • 1989 – Férébory Doré, Congolese footballer
    • 1989 – Sergey Fesikov, Russian swimmer
    • 1989 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer
    • 1989 – Matteo Pelucchi, Italian cyclist
    • 1989 – Zhang Shuai, Chinese tennis player
    • 1990 – Arash Afshin, Iranian footballer
    • 1990 – Diogo Amado, Portuguese footballer
    • 1990 – Andriy Bohdanov, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1990 – Kelly Rohrbach, American model and actress
    • 1990 – André Martins, Portuguese footballer
    • 1990 – Knowledge Musona, Zimbabwean footballer
    • 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
    • 1990 – Doni Tata Pradita, Indonesian motorcycle racer
    • 1991 – Ali Al-Busaidi, Omani footballer
    • 1991 – Javier Calvo, Spanish actor and director
    • 1991 – Mohammad Ghadir, Arab-Israeli footballer
    • 1991 – Jan Hirt, Czech cyclist
    • 1991 – Mateusz Mika, Polish volleyball player
    • 1991 – Alfredo Ortuño, Spanish footballer
    • 1991 – Marta Pagnini, Italian gymnast
    • 1991 – Craig Roberts, Welsh actor and director
    • 1991 – Luis Alfonso Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
    • 1992 – Verónica Cepede Royg, Paraguayan tennis player
    • 1992 – Sven Erik Bystrøm, Norwegian cyclist
    • 1992 – James Duckworth, Australian tennis player
    • 1992 – Kwame Karikari, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1992 – Nicolás Mezquida, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1992 – Roland Szolnoki, Hungarian footballer
    • 1993 – Clément Mignon, French swimmer
    • 1993 – Muralha, Brazilian footballer
    • 1993 – Chiara Pierobon, Italian cyclist (d. 2015)
    • 1994 – Amin Affane, Swedish footballer
    • 1994 – Laura Robson, Australian-English tennis player
    • 1994 – Kang Seung-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1994 – Nils Allen “Booboo” Stewart Jr., American actor
    • 1994 – Lim Kim, South Korean singer and actress
    • 1995 – Yulia Belorukova, Russian cross-country skier
    • 1995 – Nguyễn Công Phượng, Vietnamese footballer
    • 1995 – Marine Johannes, French basketball player
    • 1995 – Alanna Kennedy, Australian footballer player
    • 1996 – Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
    • 1996 – Aldo Kalulu, French footballer
    • 1996 – Cristian Pavón, Argentine footballer
    • 1997 – Jeremy Shada, American actor, musician and singer
    • 1998 – Borna Sosa, Croatian footballer
    • 1999 – Rubina Ali, Indian actress
    • 2003 – Natalie Garcia, rhythmic gymnast
    • 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 2nd in line for the Norwegian throne

    Deaths on January 21

    • 420 – Yazdegerd I, king of the Sassanid Empire
    • 496 – Epiphanius of Pavia, Italian bishop and saint (b. 438)
    • 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. 880)
    • 918 – Liu Zhijun, Chinese general
    • 939 – Yang Pu, Chinese emperor (b. 900)
    • 942 – An Chongrong, Chinese general (Five Dynasties)
    • 945 – Yang Tan, Chinese general and governor
    • 1118 – Pope Paschal II (b. 1050)
    • 1203 – Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1139)
    • 1320 – Árni Helgason, Icelandic bishop (b. c. 1260)
    • 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish explorer (b. 1489)
    • 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1491)
    • 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French historian and scholar (b. 1540)
    • 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. 1570)
    • 1670 – Claude Duval, French highwayman (b. 1643)
    • 1683 – Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1621)
    • 1699 – Obadiah Walker, English historian and academic (b. 1616)
    • 1706 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
    • 1710 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic and critic (b. 1638)
    • 1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1661)
    • 1731 – Ignjat Đurđević, Croatian poet and translator (b. 1675)
    • 1773 – Alexis Piron, French playwright and author (b. 1689)
    • 1774 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1717)
    • 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel (b. 1742)
    • 1789 – Baron d’Holbach, French-German philosopher and author (b. 1723)
    • 1793 – Louis XVI of France (b. 1754)
    • 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator and explorer (b. 1728)
    • 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American engineer and politician (b. 1729)
    • 1814 – Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French botanist and author (b. 1737)
    • 1823 – Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentinian cleric, journalist, and poet (b. 1761)
    • 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (b. 1781)
    • 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German actor and composer (b. 1801)
    • 1862 – Božena Němcová, Austrian-Czech author and poet (b. 1820)
    • 1870 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (b. 1812)
    • 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian playwright and poet (b. 1791)
    • 1881 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
    • 1891 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (b. 1842)
    • 1901 – Elisha Gray, American engineer, co-founded Western Electric (b. 1835)
    • 1914 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1857)
    • 1918 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (b. 1857)
    • 1919 – Gojong of Korea (b. 1852)
    • 1919 – Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 277th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1839)
    • 1924 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
    • 1926 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
    • 1928 – George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer (b. 1858)
    • 1931 – Felix Blumenfeld, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)
    • 1932 – Lytton Strachey, English writer and critic (b. 1880)
    • 1933 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and critic (b. 1852)
    • 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1898)
    • 1938 – Georges Méliès, French actor, director, and producer (b. 1861)
    • 1945 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and engineer (b. 1886)
    • 1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (b. 1876)
    • 1950 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (b. 1903)
    • 1955 – Archie Hahn, German-American runner and coach (b. 1880)
    • 1956 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (b. 1883)
    • 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881)
    • 1959 – Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (b. 1882)
    • 1959 – Carl Switzer, American child actor and hunting guide (b. 1927)
    • 1960 – Matt Moore, Irish-American actor and director (b. 1888)
    • 1961 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss author and poet (b. 1887)
    • 1963 – Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Indian author, poet, and academic (b. 1893)
    • 1963 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (b. 1881)
    • 1965 – Gwynne Evans, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
    • 1968 – Will Lang, Jr., American journalist (b. 1914)
    • 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet and journalist (b. 1906)
    • 1978 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (b. 1898)
    • 1983 – Lamar Williams, American bass player (b. 1949)
    • 1984 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek playwright and poet (b. 1893)
    • 1984 – Jackie Wilson, American singer (b. 1934)
    • 1985 – James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
    • 1985 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
    • 1987 – Charles Goodell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1926)
    • 1988 – Vincent Lingiari, Australian Aboriginal rights activist (b. 1919)
    • 1989 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
    • 1989 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1903)
    • 1994 – Bassel al-Assad, Son of the former President of the Syrian Arab Republic Hafez al-Assad (b. 1962)
    • 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
    • 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
    • 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
    • 2003 – Paul Haines, American-Canadian poet and songwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2003 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian author and playwright (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Theun de Vries, Dutch author and poet (b. 1907)
    • 2005 – John L. Hess, American journalist and critic (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Kaljo Raid, Estonian cellist, composer, and pastor (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
    • 2009 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian author, playwright, guitarist, and composer (b. 1953)
    • 2011 – Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (b. 1922)
    • 2011 – Dennis Oppenheim, American sculptor and photographer (b. 1938)
    • 2011 – E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Turkish geophysicist and academic (b. 1941)
    • 2013 – Chumpol Silpa-archa, Thai academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Michael Winner, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian, and author (b. 1942)
    • 2015 – Leon Brittan, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (b. 1946)
    • 2016 – Bill Johnson, American skier (b. 1960)
    • 2016 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, a 1992-Padma Bhushan award winner Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. (b. 1918)
    • 2019 – Kaye Ballard, American actress (b. 1925)
    • 2019 – Henri, Count of Paris, Head of the House of Orléans (b. 1933)
    • 2019 – Emiliano Sala, Argentine footballer (b. 1990)
    • 2019 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (b. 1926)
    • 2020 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
    • 2020 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (b. 1931)

    Holidays and observances on January 21

    • Babinden (Bulgaria, Serbia)
    • Birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra (Norway)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Agnes
      • Demiana (Coptic Church)
      • Fructuosus
      • John Yi Yun-il (one of The Korean Martyrs)
      • Meinrad of Einsiedeln
      • January 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Errol Barrow Day (Barbados)
    • Flag Day (Quebec)
    • Grandmother’s Day (Poland)
    • Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)
    • Lincoln Alexander Day (Canada)