1849

  • March 2- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off.
    • 986 – Louis V becomes King of the Franks.
    • 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë.
    • 1458 – George of Poděbrady is chosen as the king of Bohemia.
    • 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a major defeat in the Battle of Grandson in Canton of Neuchâtel.
    • 1484 – The College of Arms is formally incorporated by Royal Charter signed by King Richard III of England.
    • 1498 – Vasco da Gama’s fleet visits the Island of Mozambique.
    • 1561 – Mendoza, Argentina, is founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro del Castillo.
    • 1657 – Great Fire of Meireki: A fire in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, caused more than 100,000 deaths; it lasted three days
    • 1717 – The Loves of Mars and Venus is the first ballet performed in England.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia units arrest the Royal Governor of Georgia James Wright and attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
    • 1791 – Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris.
    • 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.
    • 1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.
    • 1808 – The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
    • 1811 – Argentine War of Independence: A royalist fleet defeats a small flotilla of revolutionary ships in the Battle of San Nicolás on the River Plate.
    • 1815 – Signing of the Kandyan Convention treaty by British invaders and the leaders of the Kingdom of Kandy.
    • 1825 – Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities.
    • 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico is adopted.
    • 1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.
    • 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.
    • 1865 – East Cape War: The Völkner Incident in New Zealand.
    • 1867 – The U.S. Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act.
    • 1877 – Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 U.S. presidential election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.
    • 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick McLean in Windsor.
    • 1896 – The Battle of Adwa: The Italian Army defeated by the Ethiopian Army in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia.
    • 1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
    • 1901 – The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops.
    • 1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
    • 1917 – The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
    • 1919 – The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
    • 1933 – The film King Kong opens at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
    • 1937 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee signs a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, leading to unionization of the United States steel industry.
    • 1939 – Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.
    • 1941 – World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joins the Axis Pact.
    • 1943 – World War II: Allied aircraft defeat a Japanese attempt to ship troops to New Guinea.
    • 1946 – Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.
    • 1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.
    • 1955 – Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, abdicates the throne in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit.
    • 1961 – John F. Kennedy announces the creation of the Peace Corps in a nationally televised broadcast.
    • 1962 – In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d’état.
    • 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.
    • 1965 – The US and Republic of Vietnam Air Force begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
    • 1968 – Baggeridge Colliery closes marking the end of over 300 years of coal mining in the Black Country.
    • 1969 – In Toulouse, France, the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.
    • 1970 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.
    • 1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
    • 1977 – Libya becomes the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People’s Congress adopted the “Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People”.
    • 1978 – Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
    • 1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.
    • 1989 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
    • 1990 – Nelson Mandela is elected deputy President of the African National Congress.
    • 1991 – Battle at Rumaila oil field brings an end to the 1991 Gulf War.
    • 1992 – Start of the war in Transnistria.
    • 1992 – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations.
    • 1995 – Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.
    • 1995 – Yahoo! is incorporated.
    • 1998 – Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter’s moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
    • 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
    • 2004 – War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
    • 2012 – A tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.
    • 2017 – The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson were officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia.

    Births on March 2

    • 480 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint (d. 543 or 547)
    • 1316 – Robert II of Scotland (d. 1390)
    • 1409 – Jean II, Duke of Alençon (d. 1476)
    • 1432 – Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau (d. 1457)
    • 1453 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
    • 1459 – Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)
    • 1481 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (d. 1523)
    • 1545 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (d. 1613)
    • 1577 – George Sandys, English traveller, colonist and poet (d. 1644)
    • 1628 – Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1684)
    • 1651 – Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (d. 1730)
    • 1705 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1793)
    • 1740 – Nicholas Pocock, English naval painter (d.1821)
    • 1760 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (d. 1794)
    • 1769 – DeWitt Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of New York (d. 1828)
    • 1770 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (d. 1826)
    • 1779 – Joel Roberts Poinsett, American physician and politician, 15th United States Secretary of War (d. 1851)
    • 1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)
    • 1800 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian-Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1844)
    • 1810 – Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903)
    • 1816 – Alexander Bullock, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1882)
    • 1817 – János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet (d. 1882)
    • 1820 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)
    • 1824 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1884)
    • 1829 – Carl Schurz, German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1906)
    • 1836 – Henry Billings Brown, American lawyer and judge (d. 1913)
    • 1842 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer, art collector, and philanthropist (d. 1914)
    • 1846 – Marie Roze, French soprano (d. 1926)
    • 1849 – Robert Means Thompson, American commander, lawyer, and businessman (d. 1930)
    • 1859 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (d. 1961)
    • 1862 – John Jay Chapman, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1933)
    • 1876 – Pope Pius XII (d. 1958)
    • 1878 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American sailor and race car driver (d. 1944)
    • 1886 – Willis H. O’Brien, American animator and director (d. 1962)
    • 1886 – Kurt Grelling, German logician and philosopher (d. 1942)
    • 1900 – Kurt Weill, German-American pianist and composer (d. 1950)
    • 1901 – Grete Hermann, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1984)
    • 1902 – Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (d. 1972)
    • 1902 – Edward Condon, American physicist and academic (d. 1974)
    • 1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Marc Blitzstein, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
    • 1905 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (d. 1985)
    • 1908 – Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)
    • 1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1958)
    • 1912 – Henry Katzman, American pianist, composer, and painter (d. 2001)
    • 1913 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch television host and author (d. 1971)
    • 1913 – Mort Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1958)
    • 1914 – Martin Ritt, American actor and film director (d. 1990)
    • 1915 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986)
    • 1917 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (d. 1967)
    • 1917 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player and coach (d. 1976)
    • 1919 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Eddie Lawrence, American actor, singer, and playwright (d. 2014)
    • 1919 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American ballerina and actress (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Ernst Haas, Austrian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1986)
    • 1922 – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, American saxophonist (d. 1986)
    • 1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Frances Spence, American computer programmer (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (d. 1997)
    • 1924 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian (d. 1995)
    • 1927 – Roger Walkowiak, French cyclist and economist (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – John Cullum, American actor and singer
    • 1930 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, President of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1932 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish journalist and translator (d. 2011)
    • 1934 – Dottie Rambo, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1935 – Gene Stallings, American football player and coach
    • 1936 – Haroon Ahmed, Pakistani-English engineer and academic
    • 1936 – John Tusa, Czech-English journalist and academic
    • 1937 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian soldier and politician, 5th President of Algeria
    • 1938 – Ricardo Lagos, Chilean economist, lawyer, and politician, 33rd President of Chile
    • 1938 – Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1938 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Jan Howard Finder, American author and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
    • 1941 – John Cornell, Australian actor, director, and producer
    • 1941 – David Satcher, American admiral and physician, 16th Surgeon General of the United States
    • 1942 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter
    • 1942 – Claude Larose, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1942 – Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian architect and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Iran
    • 1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Derek Woodley, English footballer (d. 2002)
    • 1943 – George Layton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Peter Straub, American author and poet
    • 1943 – Robert Williams, American painter and cartoonist
    • 1945 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – Harry Redknapp, English footballer and manager
    • 1948 – Larry Carlton, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1948 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1995)
    • 1948 – Jeff Kennett, Australian journalist and politician, 43rd Premier of Victoria
    • 1948 – Carmen Lawrence, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Western Australia
    • 1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (d. 1983)
    • 1952 – Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
    • 1953 – Russ Feingold, American lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Ed Johnstone, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1955 – Dale Bozzio, American pop-rock singer-songwriter
    • 1955 – Jay Osmond, American singer, drummer, actor, and TV/film producer
    • 1955 – Ken Salazar, American lawyer and politician, 50th United States Secretary of the Interior
    • 1955 – Steve Small, Australian cricketer
    • 1956 – John Cowsill, American musician, songwriter, and producer
    • 1956 – Mark Evans, Australian rock bass player
    • 1957 – Hossein Dehghan, Iranian general and politician, Iranian Minister of Defense
    • 1957 – Dito Tsintsadze, Georgian film director and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Mark Dean, American inventor and computer engineer
    • 1958 – Kevin Curren, South African-American tennis player
    • 1958 – Ian Woosnam, English-Welsh golfer
    • 1959 – Larry Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1961 – Simone Young, Australian conductor, director, and composer
    • 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
    • 1962 – Paul Farrelly, English journalist and politician
    • 1962 – Tom Nordlie, Norwegian footballer and coach
    • 1962 – Brendan O’Connor, Australian politician, Australian Minister for Employment
    • 1962 – Raimo Summanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Gabriele Tarquini, Italian race car driver
    • 1963 – Alvin Youngblood Hart, American singer and guitarist
    • 1963 – Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 15th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
    • 1963 – Vidyasagar (composer), Indian composer, musician and singer
    • 1964 – Laird Hamilton, American surfer and actor
    • 1964 – Mike Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1987)
    • 1965 – Ron Gant, American baseball player and journalist
    • 1965 – Lembit Öpik, Northern Irish politician
    • 1966 – Ann Leckie, American author
    • 1966 – Simon Reevell, English lawyer and politician
    • 1968 – Daniel Craig, English actor and producer
    • 1970 – James Purnell, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
    • 1970 – Ciriaco Sforza, Swiss footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Wibi Soerjadi, Dutch pianist and composer
    • 1971 – Dave Gorman, English comedian, author and television presenter
    • 1971 – Method Man, American rapper, record producer and actor
    • 1972 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Dejan Bodiroga, Serbian basketball player
    • 1973 – Trevor Sinclair, English footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Hayley Lewis, Australian swimmer and television host
    • 1975 – Daryl Gibson, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1977 – Dominique Canty, American basketball player and coach
    • 1977 – Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1977 – Stephen Parry, English swimmer and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Andrew Strauss, South African-English cricketer
    • 1978 – Gabby Eigenmann, Filipino actor and singer
    • 1978 – Lee Hodges, English footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Tomáš Kaberle, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Damien Duff, Irish international footballer, winger
    • 1979 – Gayatri Asokan, Indian playback singer
    • 1979 – Jim Troughton, English cricketer
    • 1979 – Nicky Weaver, English footballer
    • 1980 – Chris Barker, English footballer and manager (d. 2020)
    • 1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter
    • 1981 – Lance Cade, American wrestler (d. 2010)
    • 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
    • 1982 – Kevin Kurányi, German footballer
    • 1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
    • 1982 – Corey Webster, American football player
    • 1983 – Deuce, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1983 – Lisandro López, Argentinian footballer
    • 1983 – Jay McClement, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Glen Perkins, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Reggie Bush, American football player
    • 1985 – Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Jonathan D’Aversa, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Jonas Jerebko, Swedish basketball player
    • 1988 – Édgar Andrade, Mexican footballer
    • 1988 – James Arthur, English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Laura Kaeppeler, Miss America 2012
    • 1988 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
    • 1988 – Chris Rainey, American football player
    • 1988 – Geert Arend Roorda, Dutch footballer
    • 1989 – Alemão, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Toby Alderweireld, Belgian international footballer, defender
    • 1989 – André Bernardes Santos, Portuguese footballer
    • 1989 – Marcel Hirscher, Austrian skier
    • 1989 – Shane Vereen, American football player
    • 1989 – Chris Woakes, English cricketer
    • 1990 – Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
    • 1990 – Malcolm Butler, American football player
    • 1990 – Josh McGuire, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
    • 1991 – Nick Franklin, American baseball player
    • 1992 – Jack Stockwell, Australian rugby league player
    • 1995 – Ange-Freddy Plumain, French footballer
    • 1997 – Becky G, American singer and actress
    • 2010 – Hailey Dawson, American with a 3D-printed robotic hand
    • 2016 – Prince Oscar, duke of Skåne and prince of Sweden

    Deaths on March 2

    • 274 – Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism (b. 216)
    • 672 – Chad of Mercia, English bishop and saint (b. 634)
    • 986 – Lothair, king of West Francia (b.941)
    • 968 – William, archbishop of Mainz (b. 929)
    • 1009 – Mokjong, king of Goryeo (b. 980)
    • 1127 – Charles the Good, Count of Flanders (b. 1084)
    • 1316 – Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce (b. 1296)
    • 1333 – Wladyslaw I, king of Poland (b. 1261)
    • 1589 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1520)
    • 1619 – Anne of Denmark, queen of Scotland (b. 1574)
    • 1729 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (b. 1662)
    • 1755 – Louis de Rouvroy, French duke and diplomat (b. 1675)
    • 1791 – John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (b. 1703)
    • 1793 – Carl Gustaf Pilo, Swedish-Danish painter and academic (b. 1711)
    • 1797 – Horace Walpole, English historian and politician (b. 1717)
    • 1829 – Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican revolutionary (b. ca. 1773)
    • 1830 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, anatomist, and anthropologist (b. 1755)
    • 1835 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1768)
    • 1840 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (b. 1758)
    • 1855 – Nicholas I, Russian emperor (b. 1796)
    • 1864 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (b. 1842)
    • 1865 – Carl Sylvius Völkner, German-New Zealand priest and missionary (b. 1819)
    • 1880 – John Benjamin Macneill, Irish engineer (b. 1790)
    • 1895 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
    • 1895 – Isma’il Pasha, Egyptian politician (b. 1830)
    • 1896 – Jubal Early, American general (b. 1816)
    • 1921 – Champ Clark, American lawyer and politician, 41st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1850)
    • 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1885)
    • 1938 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (b. 1871)
    • 1939 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (b. 1874)
    • 1943 – Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician (b.1867)
    • 1944 – Ida Maclean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (b. 1877)
    • 1945 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author (b. 1871)
    • 1946 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1895)
    • 1946 – George E. Stewart, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
    • 1947 – Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, Dutch architect and urban planner (b. 1882)
    • 1949 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (b. 1879)
    • 1953 – James Lightbody, American runner (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician (b. 1874)
    • 1958 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
    • 1962 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (b. 1866)
    • 1967 – José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish author and critic (b. 1873)
    • 1972 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (b. 1877)
    • 1979 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (b. 1920)
    • 1982 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (b. 1928)
    • 1987 – Randolph Scott, American actor and director (b. 1898)
    • 1987 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer and academic (b. 1935)
    • 1991 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (b. 1937)
    • 1994 – Anita Morris, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1943)
    • 1999 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)
    • 2000 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (b. 1963)
    • 2003 – Hank Ballard, American singer-songwriter (b. 1927)
    • 2003 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Cormac McAnallen, Irish footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Marge Schott, American businesswoman (b. 1928)
    • 2005 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
    • 2007 – Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1919)
    • 2007 – Clem Labine, American baseball player (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist (b. 1956)
    • 2007 – Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
    • 2008 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1966)
    • 2009 – João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
    • 2010 – Winston Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2012 – Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author (b. 1950)
    • 2012 – Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Peter Harvey, Australian journalist (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet and translator (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Dave Mackay, Scottish-English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Mal Peet, English author and illustrator (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Benoît Lacroix, Canadian priest, historian, and philosopher (b. 1915)
    • 2016 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (b. 1959)
    • 2018 – Billy Herrington, American actor (b. 1969)
    • 2018 – Lin Hu, Chinese lieutenant general (b. 1927)
    • 2019 – Mike Oliver, British sociologist, disability rights activist (b. 1945)

    Holidays and observances on March 2

    • Air Force Day (Sri Lanka)
    • Baloch Culture Day (Balochistan)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Agnes of Bohemia
      • Angela of the Cross
      • Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
      • Chad of Mercia (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • John Maron
      • March 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Feast of ‘Alá (Loftiness), First day of the 19th month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) and first day of the Baha’i Nineteen Day Fast
    • Jamahiriya Day (Libya)
    • Peasants’ Day (Myanmar)
    • Texas Independence Day
    • Victory at Adwa Day (Ethiopia)

  • March 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    March 1 in History

    • 509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
    • 86 BC – Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus ending the Siege of Athens and Piraeus.
    • 293 – Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi (“Four Rulers of the World”).
    • 317 – Crispus and Constantine II, sons of Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius Iunior, son of Emperor Licinius, are made Caesares.
    • 350 – Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar.
    • 834 – Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. After his re-accession to the throne, his eldest son Lothair I flees to Burgundy.
    • 1457 – The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination.
    • 1476 – Forces of the Catholic Monarchs engage the combined Portuguese-Castilian armies of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro.
    • 1562 – Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
    • 1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
    • 1628 – Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
    • 1633 – Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
    • 1642 – Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine), becomes the first incorporated city in the United States.
    • 1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
    • 1700 – Sweden introduces its own Swedish calendar, in an attempt to gradually merge into the Gregorian calendar, reverts to the Julian calendar on this date in 1712, and introduces the Gregorian calendar on this date in 1753.
    • 1713 – The siege and destruction of Fort Neoheroka begins during the Tuscarora War in North Carolina, effectively opening up the colony’s interior to European colonization.
    • 1781 – The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States.
    • 1790 – The first United States census is authorized.
    • 1793 – French Revolutionary War: Battle of Aldenhoven during the Flanders Campaign.
    • 1796 – The Dutch East India Company is nationalized by the Batavian Republic.
    • 1803 – Ohio becomes the 17th state of The United States.
    • 1805 – Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
    • 1811 – Leaders of the Mamluk dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
    • 1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
    • 1815 – Georgetown University’s congressional charter is signed into law by President James Madison.
    • 1836 – A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
    • 1845 – United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
    • 1852 – Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
    • 1854 – German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg.
    • 1867 – Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.
    • 1868 – The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is founded at the University of Virginia.
    • 1870 – Marshal F. S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War.
    • 1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established as the world’s first national park.
    • 1873 – E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter.
    • 1881 – The first Minnesota State Capitol burns down.
    • 1886 – The Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.
    • 1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
    • 1896 – Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
    • 1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers radioactive decay.
    • 1901 – The Australian Army is formed.
    • 1910 – The deadliest avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.
    • 1914 – The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
    • 1917 – The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
    • 1919 – March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
    • 1921 – The Australian cricket team captained by Warwick Armstrong becomes the first team to complete a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.
    • 1921 – Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the RSFSR, the Kronstadt rebellion began, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.
    • 1932 – Charles Lindbergh’s son is kidnapped.
    • 1936 – The Hoover Dam is completed.
    • 1939 – An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
    • 1941 – World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
    • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces land on Java, the main island of the Dutch East Indies, at Merak and Banten Bay (Banten), Eretan Wetan (Indramayu) and Kragan (Rembang).
    • 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalised.
    • 1947 – The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
    • 1949 – Indonesian Army recaptures and occupies for six hours its capital city Yogyakarta from the Dutch.
    • 1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
    • 1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
    • 1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
    • 1954 – Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
    • 1956 – The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
    • 1956 – Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee.
    • 1958 – Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first U.S. member of the Roman Curia.
    • 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
    • 1961 – Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
    • 1964 – Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.
    • 1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet’s surface.
    • 1966 – The Ba’ath Party takes power in Syria.
    • 1971 – President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
    • 1972 – The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
    • 1973 – Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.
    • 1974 – Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
    • 1981 – Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
    • 1983 – First collection of twelve Swatch models was introduced in Zürich, Switzerland.
    • 1990 – Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
    • 1991 – Uprisings against Saddam Hussein begin in Iraq, leading to the death of more than 25,000 people mostly civilian.
    • 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
    • 1998 – Titanic became the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
    • 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
    • 2002 – The Envisat environmental satellite successfully launches aboard an Ariane 5 rocket to reach an orbit of 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth, which was the then-largest payload at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.
    • 2003 – Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
    • 2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
    • 2005 – In Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the execution of juveniles found guilty of murder is unconstitutional.
    • 2006 – English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.
    • 2007 – Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20 people, including eight at Enterprise High School.
    • 2008 – The Armenian police clash with peaceful opposition rally protesting against allegedly fraudulent presidential elections, as a result ten people are killed.
    • 2014 – Thirty-five people are killed and 143 injured in a mass stabbing at Kunming Railway Station in China.

    Births on March 1

    • 1105 – Alfonso VII, king of León and Castile (d. 1157)
    • 1261 – Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester (d. 1326)
    • 1389 – Antoninus of Florence, Italian archbishop and saint (d. 1459)
    • 1432 – Isabella of Coimbra (d. 1455)
    • 1456 – Vladislaus II of Hungary (d. 1516)
    • 1547 – Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher and lexicographer (d. 1628)
    • 1554 – William Stafford, English courtier and conspirator (d. 1612)
    • 1577 – Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland (d. 1635)
    • 1597 – Jean-Charles della Faille, Flemish priest and mathematician (d. 1652)
    • 1611 – John Pell, English mathematician and linguist (d. 1685)
    • 1629 – Abraham Teniers, Flemish painter (d. 1670)
    • 1647 – John de Brito, Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr (d. 1693)
    • 1657 – Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian and author (d. 1740)
    • 1683 – Tsangyang Gyatso, sixth Dalai Lama (d. 1706)
    • 1683 – Caroline of Ansbach, British queen and regent (d. 1737)
    • 1732 – William Cushing, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
    • 1760 – François Buzot, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
    • 1769 – François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (d. 1796)
    • 1807 – Wilford Woodruff, American religious leader, 4th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1898)
    • 1810 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1849)
    • 1812 – Augustus Pugin, English architect, co-designed the Palace of Westminster (d. 1852)
    • 1817 – Giovanni Duprè, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1882)
    • 1821 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German bishop and academic (d. 1896)
    • 1835 – Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1919)
    • 1837 – William Dean Howells, American novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 1920)
    • 1842 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter and academic (d. 1901)
    • 1848 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish-American sculptor and academic (d. 1907)
    • 1852 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1923)
    • 1863 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter and set designer (d. 1930)
    • 1870 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and academic (d. 1944)
    • 1876 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman (d. 1942)
    • 1880 – Lytton Strachey, British writer and critic (d. 1932)
    • 1886 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian-Swiss painter, poet, and playwright (d. 1980)
    • 1888 – Ewart Astill, English cricketer and billiards player (d. 1948)
    • 1888 – Fanny Walden, English cricketer and umpire, international footballer, outside right (d. 1949)
    • 1889 – Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese historian and philosopher (d. 1960)
    • 1890 – Theresa Bernstein, Polish-American painter and author (d. 2002)
    • 1891 – Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (d. 1940)
    • 1892 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese author and educator (d. 1927)
    • 1893 – Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1968)
    • 1896 – Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1960)
    • 1896 – Moriz Seeler, German playwright and producer (d. 1942)
    • 1899 – Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, German SS officer (d. 1972)
    • 1904 – Paul Hartman, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1973)
    • 1904 – Glenn Miller, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1944)
    • 1905 – Doris Hare, Welsh-English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2000)
    • 1906 – Phạm Văn Đồng, Vietnamese lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2000)
    • 1909 – Eugene Esmonde, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 1942)
    • 1909 – Winston Sharples, American pianist and composer (d. 1978)
    • 1910 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
    • 1910 – David Niven, English soldier and actor (d. 1983)
    • 1912 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (d. 2003)
    • 1912 – Boris Chertok, Polish-Russian engineer and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1914 – Harry Caray, American sportscaster (d. 1998)
    • 1914 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and literary critic (d. 1994)
    • 1917 – Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)
    • 1918 – João Goulart, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Brazil (d. 1976)
    • 1918 – Gladys Spellman, American educator and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1920 – Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
    • 1921 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (d. 2008)
    • 1921 – Terence Cooke, American cardinal (d. 1983)
    • 1921 – Richard Wilbur, American poet, translator, and essayist (d. 2017)
    • 1922 – William Gaines, American publisher (d. 1992)
    • 1922 – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli general and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
    • 1924 – Arnold Drake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1924 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1993)
    • 1926 – Robert Clary, French-American actor and author
    • 1926 – Cesare Danova, Italian-American actor (d. 1992)
    • 1926 – Pete Rozelle, American businessman and commissioner of the National Football League (d. 1996)
    • 1926 – Allan Stanley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – George O. Abell, American astronomer, professor at UCLA, science popularizer, and skeptic (d. 1983)
    • 1927 – Harry Belafonte, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1927 – Robert Bork, American lawyer and scholar, United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian journalist and author (d. 1978)
    • 1930 – Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (d. 1980)
    • 1934 – Jean-Michel Folon, Belgian painter and sculptor (d. 2005)
    • 1934 – Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)
    • 1935 – Robert Conrad, American actor, radio host and stuntman (d. 2020)
    • 1936 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (d. 1997)
    • 1939 – Leo Brouwer, Cuban guitarist, composer, and conductor
    • 1939 – Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Pakistani author
    • 1940 – Robin Gray, Australian politician, 37th Premier of Tasmania
    • 1940 – Robert Grossman, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 2018)
    • 1941 – Robert Hass, American poet
    • 1942 – Richard Myers, American general
    • 1943 – Gil Amelio, American businessman
    • 1943 – José Ángel Iribar, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1943 – Rashid Sunyaev, Russian-German astronomer and physicist
    • 1944 – Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal
    • 1944 – John Breaux, American lawyer and politician
    • 1944 – Roger Daltrey, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1944 – Mike d’Abo, English singer
    • 1945 – Dirk Benedict, American actor and director
    • 1946 – Gerry Boulet, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1946 – Jim Crace, English author and academic
    • 1947 – Alan Thicke, Canadian-American actor and composer (d. 2016)
    • 1951 – Sergei Kourdakov, Russian-American KGB agent (d. 1973)
    • 1952 – Dave Barr, Canadian golfer
    • 1952 – Nevada Barr, American actress and author
    • 1952 – Leigh Matthews, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1952 – Jerri Nielsen, American physician and explorer (d. 2009)
    • 1952 – Martin O’Neill, Northern Irish footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Sinan Çetin, Turkish actor, director, and producer
    • 1953 – Carlos Queiroz, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1954 – Catherine Bach, American actress
    • 1954 – Ron Howard, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1954 – Rod Reddy, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1956 – Tim Daly, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1956 – Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuanian politician, 6th President of Lithuania
    • 1958 – Nik Kershaw, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1958 – Wayne B. Phillips, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1959 – Nick Griffin, English politician
    • 1961 – Mike Rozier, American football player
    • 1962 – Russell Coutts, New Zealand sailor
    • 1962 – Mark Gardner, American baseball player
    • 1962 – Bill Leen, American bass player and producer
    • 1963 – Bryan Batt, American actor and singer
    • 1963 – Maurice Benard, American actor
    • 1963 – Ron Francis, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1964 – Clinton Gregory, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
    • 1964 – Paul Le Guen, French footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Booker T, American wrestler and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Stewart Elliott, Canadian jockey
    • 1966 – Paul Hollywood, English chef
    • 1966 – Zack Snyder, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1967 – George Eads, American actor
    • 1967 – Aron Winter, Suriname-Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Javier Bardem, Spanish actor and producer
    • 1970 – Jason V Brock, American author, filmmaker, artist, scholar and musician
    • 1971 – Thomas Adès, English pianist, composer, and conductor
    • 1971 – Ivan Cleary, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1973 – Jack Davenport, English actor
    • 1973 – Anton Gunn, American academic and politician
    • 1973 – Chris Webber, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Mark-Paul Gosselaar, American actor
    • 1976 – Travis Kvapil, American race car driver
    • 1977 – Rens Blom, Dutch pole vaulter
    • 1977 – Esther Cañadas, Spanish actress and model
    • 1978 – Jensen Ackles, American actor and director
    • 1979 – Mikkel Kessler, Danish boxer
    • 1979 – Bruno Langlois, Canadian cyclist
    • 1980 – Shahid Afridi, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1980 – Abhay K, Indian poet and diplomat
    • 1980 – Sercan Güvenışık, German-Turkish footballer
    • 1980 – Djimi Traoré, Malian footballer
    • 1981 – Will Power, Australian race car driver
    • 1982 – Juan Manuel Ortiz, Spanish footballer
    • 1983 – Daniel Carvalho, Brazilian footballer
    • 1983 – Lupita Nyong’o, Mexican-Kenyan actress
    • 1983 – Davey Richards, American wrestler
    • 1983 – Anthony Tupou, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Naima Mora, American model and actress
    • 1984 – Alexander Steen, Canadian-Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Andreas Ottl, German footballer
    • 1986 – Big E, American wrestler
    • 1987 – Kesha, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1988 – Yang Hyeon-jong, South Korean baseball player
    • 1989 – Tenille Tayla, Australian professional wrestler
    • 1989 – Carlos Vela, Mexican footballer
    • 1992 – Tom Walsh, New Zealand athlete
    • 1993 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Michael Conforto, American baseball player
    • 1993 – Kurt Mann, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Josh McEachran, English footballer
    • 1994 – Justin Bieber, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1994 – Tyreek Hill, American football player
    • 1996 – Lizzie Arnot, Scottish footballer
    • 1999 – Brogan Hay, Scottish footballer

    Deaths on March 1

    • 492 – Felix III, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 589 – David, Welsh bishop and saint
    • 965 – Leo VIII, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 977 – Rudesind, Galician bishop (b. 907)
    • 991 – En’yū, Japanese emperor (b. 959)
    • 1058 – Ermesinde of Carcassonne, countess and regent of Barcelona (b. 972)
    • 1131 – Stephen II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1101)
    • 1233 – Thomas, count of Savoy (b. 1178)
    • 1244 – Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, Welsh noble, son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1200)
    • 1320 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Chinese emperor (b. 1286)
    • 1383 – Amadeus VI, count of Savoy (b. 1334)
    • 1510 – Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. 1450)
    • 1546 – George Wishart, Scottish minister and martyr (b. 1513)
    • 1620 – Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (b. 1567)
    • 1633 – George Herbert, English poet and orator (b. 1593)
    • 1643 – Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1583)
    • 1661 – Richard Zouch, English judge and politician (b. 1590)
    • 1666 – Ecaterina Cercheza, princess consort of Moldavia (b. 1620)
    • 1697 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician and poet (b. 1626)
    • 1734 – Roger North, English lawyer and author (b. 1653)
    • 1768 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and author (b. 1694)
    • 1773 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect, designed the Palace of Caserta (b. 1700)
    • 1792 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1747)
    • 1792 – Angelo Emo, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1731)1841 – Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1764)
    • 1862 – Peter Barlow, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1776)
    • 1875 – Tristan Corbière, French poet and educator (b. 1845)
    • 1882 – Theodor Kullak, German pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1818)
    • 1884 – Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician and academic (b. 1820)
    • 1906 – José María de Pereda, Spanish author (b. 1833)
    • 1911 – Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff, Dutch-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
    • 1914 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier and politician, 8th Governor General of Canada (b. 1845)
    • 1920 – John H. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician (b. 1842)
    • 1922 – Pichichi, Spanish footballer (b. 1892)
    • 1932 – Frank Teschemacher, American Jazz musician (b. 1906)
    • 1936 – Mikhail Kuzmin, Russian author and poet (b. 1871)
    • 1938 – Gabriele D’Annunzio, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1863)
    • 1940 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (b. 1878)
    • 1942 – George S. Rentz, American commander (b. 1882)
    • 1943 – Alexandre Yersin, Swiss-French physician and bacteriologist (b. 1863)
    • 1952 – Mariano Azuela, Mexican physician and author (b. 1873)
    • 1966 – Fritz Houtermans, Polish-German physicist and academic (b. 1903)
    • 1974 – Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
    • 1976 – Jean Martinon, French conductor and composer (b. 1910)
    • 1978 – Paul Scott, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
    • 1979 – Mustafa Barzani, Iraqi-Kurdistan politician (b. 1903)
    • 1980 – Wilhelmina Cooper, Dutch-American model and businesswoman, founded Wilhelmina Models (b. 1940)
    • 1980 – Dixie Dean, English footballer (b. 1907)
    • 1983 – Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-English journalist and author (b. 1905)
    • 1984 – Jackie Coogan, American actor (b. 1914)
    • 1988 – Joe Besser, American comedian and actor (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – Vasantdada Patil, Indian politician, 5th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1917)
    • 1991 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and businessman, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – César Rodríguez Álvarez, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1920)
    • 1995 – Georges J. F. Köhler, German biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1946)
    • 1998 – Archie Goodwin, American author and illustrator (b. 1937)
    • 2004 – Mian Ghulam Jilani, Pakistani general (b. 1914)
    • 2006 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947)
    • 2006 – Jack Wild, English actor (b.1952)
    • 2010 – Kristian Digby, English television host and director (b. 1977)
    • 2012 – Andrew Breitbart, American journalist and publisher (b. 1969)
    • 2012 – Germano Mosconi, Italian journalist (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress, dancer, and singer (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Minnie Miñoso, Cuban-American baseball player and coach (b. 1922)
    • 2018 – María Rubio, Mexican television, film and stage actress (b. 1934)
    • 2019 – Mike Willesee, Australian journalist and producer (b. 1942)

    Holidays and observances on March 1

    • Beer Day, marked the end of beer prohibition in 1989 (Iceland)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Agnes Tsao Kou Ying (one of the Martyr Saints of China)
      • Albin
      • David
      • Eudokia of Heliopolis
      • Pope Felix III
      • Leoluca
      • Luperculus
      • Monan
      • Rudesind
      • Suitbert
      • March 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of Mustafa Barzani’s Death (Iraqi Kurdistan)
    • Earliest day on which Casimir Pulaski Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (Illinois)
    • Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in March. (New Zealand)
    • Earliest day on which Grandmother’s Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (France)
    • Earliest day on which Laetare Sunday can fall, while April 4 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Carnaval de la Laetare (Stavelot)
      • Mothering Sunday (United Kingdom)
    • Heroes’ Day (Paraguay)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.
    • National “Cursed Soldiers” Remembrance Day (Poland)
    • National Pig Day (United States)
    • Remembrance Day (Marshall Islands)
    • Saint David’s Day or Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant (Wales and Welsh communities)
    • Samiljeol (South Korea)
    • Self-injury Awareness Day
    • Southeastern Europe celebration of the beginning of spring:
      • Baba Marta Day (Bulgaria)
      • Mărțișor (Romania and Moldova)
    • The final day (fourth or fifth) of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith)
    • World Civil Defence Day
    • Yap Day (Yap State)
    • Zero Discrimination Day

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

    • 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
    • 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
    • 1246 – The siege of Jaén ends in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in the Castilian takeover of the city from the Taifa of Jaen.
    • 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.
    • 1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.
    • 1700 – Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.
    • 1710 – Battle of Helsingborg: 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock. This is the last time Swedish and Danish troops meet on Swedish soil.
    • 1728 – Peshwa Bajirao I of the Maratha Empire defeats Asaf Jah I in the Battle of Palkhed.
    • 1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.
    • 1838 – Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Quebec).
    • 1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing six people, including two United States Cabinet members.
    • 1847 – The Battle of the Sacramento River during the Mexican–American War is a decisive victory for the United States leading to the capture of Chihuahua.
    • 1849 – Regular steamship service from the east to the west coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, four months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor.
    • 1867 – Seventy years of Holy See–United States relations are ended by a Congressional ban on federal funding of diplomatic envoys to the Vatican and are not restored until January 10, 1984.
    • 1870 – The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1874 – One of the longest cases ever heard in an English court ends when the defendant is convicted of perjury for attempting to assume the identity of the heir to the Tichborne baronetcy.
    • 1893 – The USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time, is launched.
    • 1897 – Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch of Madagascar, is deposed by a French military force.
    • 1900 – The Second Boer War: The 118-day “Siege of Ladysmith” is lifted.
    • 1904 – S.L. Benfica is founded in Portugal.
    • 1922 – The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
    • 1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
    • 1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire.
    • 1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
    • 1939 – The erroneous word “dord” is discovered in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.
    • 1940 – Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).
    • 1942 – The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.
    • 1947 – February 28 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the loss of an estimated 30,000 civilians.
    • 1948 – Christiansborg Cross-Roads shooting in the Gold Coast, when a British police officer opens fire on a march of ex-servicemen, killing three of them and sparking major riots and looting in Accra.
    • 1953 – James Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April’s Nature (pub. April 2).
    • 1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public.
    • 1958 – A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in what remains one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.
    • 1959 – Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.
    • 1966 – A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett.
    • 1972 – China–United States relations: The United States and China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.
    • 1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.
    • 1980 – Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.
    • 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 106 million viewers. It still holds the record for the highest viewership of a season finale.
    • 1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.
    • 1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.
    • 1991 – The first Gulf War ends.
    • 1993 – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four ATF agents and six Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.
    • 1995 – Former Australian Liberal party leader John Hewson resigns from the Australian parliament almost two years after losing the 1993 Australian federal election.
    • 1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 3,000 deaths.
    • 1997 – GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.
    • 1998 – First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.
    • 1998 – Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo.
    • 2002 – During the religious violence in Gujarat, the 97 people killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in Gulbarg Society massacre.
    • 2004 – Over one million Taiwanese participate in the 228 Hand-in-Hand rally form a 500-kilometre (310 mi) long human chain to commemorate the February 28 Incident in 1947.
    • 2005 – A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.
    • 2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII, in 1415.

    Births on February 28

    • 1119 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (d. 1150)
    • 1155 – Henry the Young King, son and heir of Henry II of England (d. 1183)
    • 1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (d. 1283)
    • 1518 – Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (d. 1536)
    • 1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (d. 1592)
    • 1535 – Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (d. 1578)
    • 1552 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (d. 1632)
    • 1612 – John Pearson, English bishop, theologian, and scholar (d. 1686)
    • 1627 – Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (d. 1703)
    • 1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)
    • 1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (d. 1757)
    • 1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (d. 1760)
    • 1712 – Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French general (d. 1759)
    • 1724 – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1807)
    • 1792 – Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist, meteorologist, and geographer (d. 1876)
    • 1812 – Berthold Auerbach, German poet and author (d. 1882)
    • 1820 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914)
    • 1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)
    • 1840 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (d. 1892)
    • 1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (d. 1899)
    • 1851 – Samuel W. McCall, American journalist and politician, 47th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1923)
    • 1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (d. 1941)
    • 1865 – Wilfred Grenfell, English physician and missionary (d. 1940)
    • 1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1949)
    • 1873 – William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish sailor (d. 1912)
    • 1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1929)
    • 1882 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (d. 1967)
    • 1882 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher, lawyer, and politician, Mexican Secretary of Public Education (d. 1959)
    • 1883 – Seán Mac Diarmada, Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
    • 1884 – Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
    • 1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (d. 1966)
    • 1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1964)
    • 1895 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright and director (d. 1974)
    • 1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
    • 1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (d. 1969)
    • 1900 – Wolf Hirth, German pilot and engineer, co-founded Schempp-Hirth (d. 1959)
    • 1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
    • 1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)
    • 1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
    • 1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)
    • 1909 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (d. 1995)
    • 1911 – Otakar Vávra, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1915 – Zero Mostel, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
    • 1916 – Cesar Climaco, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th Mayor of Zamboanga City (d. 1984)
    • 1917 – Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Brian Urquhart, English soldier and diplomat, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
    • 1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Pierre Clostermann, French pilot, engineer, and author (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Yuri Lotman, Russian-Estonian historian and scholar (d. 1993)
    • 1923 – Charles Durning, American soldier and actor (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Uno Prii, Estonian-Canadian architect (d. 2000)
    • 1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (d. 1982)
    • 1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian-American author and educator (d. 2011)
    • 1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (d. 1976)
    • 1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (d. 2011)
    • 1928 – Sylvia del Villard, actress, dancer, choreographer and Afro-Puerto Rican activist (d. 1990)
    • 1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect, designed 8 Spruce Street and Walt Disney Concert Hall
    • 1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Rangaswamy Srinivasan, Indian-American physical chemist and inventor
    • 1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1931 – Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi academic and politician, 14th President of Bangladesh (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster
    • 1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor
    • 1931 – Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer, outside forward and scout (d. 1996)
    • 1931 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician
    • 1934 – Willie Bobo, American Latin Jazz/Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist (d. 1983)
    • 1937 – Jeff Farrell, American swimmer
    • 1938 – Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
    • 1939 – John Fahey, American guitarist (d. 2001)
    • 1939 – Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan philosopher and scholar (d. 1987)
    • 1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, singer, dancer, and director
    • 1940 – Aldo Andretti, Italian-American race car driver
    • 1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver
    • 1940 – Joe South, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer (d. 2012)
    • 1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1969)
    • 1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1943 – Hans Dijkstal, Egyptian-Dutch educator and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2010)
    • 1943 – Donnie Iris, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress and dancer
    • 1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Mimsy Farmer, American-French actress and sculptor
    • 1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)
    • 1945 – Linda Preiss Rothschild, American mathematician and academic
    • 1946 – Philip Bailhache, English lawyer and politician
    • 1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2005)
    • 1946 – Syreeta Wright, African-American singer songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress
    • 1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1948 – Mike Figgis, English director, screenwriter, and composer
    • 1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author
    • 1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
    • 1948 – Alfred Sant, Maltese politician, 11th Prime Minister of Malta
    • 1951 – Bill Cratty, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)
    • 1951 – Debora Green, American physician convicted of murder
    • 1953 – Ingo Hoffmann, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American wrestler, referee, and trainer
    • 1954 – Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1955 – Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach
    • 1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer
    • 1956 – Terry Leahy, English businessman
    • 1956 – Guy Maddin, Canadian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
    • 1957 – Paul Delph, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1957 – Ainsley Harriott, English chef and author
    • 1957 – Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1957 – John Turturro, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (d. 2012)
    • 1958 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian journalist and activist (d. 2009)
    • 1958 – Jeanne Mas, Spanish-French singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (d. 2010)
    • 1959 – Jack Abramoff, American businessman and lobbyist
    • 1959 – Megan McDonald, American librarian and author
    • 1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress
    • 1961 – Mark Latham, Australian politician
    • 1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer
    • 1962 – Gary Belcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist
    • 1964 – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistan sprinter and cyclist
    • 1965 – Colum McCann, Irish-American author and academic
    • 1965 – Norman Smiley, English-American wrestler and trainer
    • 1966 – Vincent Askew, American basketball player and coach
    • 1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
    • 1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid
    • 1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager
    • 1967 – Martin Tielli, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Sean Farrel, English footballer, forward
    • 1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver
    • 1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor
    • 1969 – Patrick Monahan, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1970 – Daniel Handler, American journalist, author, and accordion player
    • 1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner
    • 1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer
    • 1971 – Peter Stebbings, Canadian actor and director
    • 1972 – Rory Cochrane, American actor
    • 1972 – Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1973 – Scott McLeod, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1973 – Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver
    • 1973 – Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler
    • 1974 – Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player
    • 1976 – Ali Larter, American actress
    • 1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1977 – Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler
    • 1978 – Jeanne Cherhal, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
    • 1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player
    • 1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player
    • 1979 – Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver
    • 1979 – Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player
    • 1979 – Primož Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper
    • 1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer
    • 1980 – Lucian Bute, Romanian-Canadian boxer
    • 1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer
    • 1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout
    • 1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress
    • 1984 – Noureen DeWulf, American actress
    • 1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress
    • 1985 – Tim Bresnan, English cricketer
    • 1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
    • 1985 – Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Travis Stevens, American judoka
    • 1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player
    • 1988 – Markéta Irglová, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
    • 1989 – Carlos Dunlap, American football player
    • 1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
    • 1989 – Kevin Proctor, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1989 – Angelababy, Chinese actress
    • 1990 – Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1994 – Jake Bugg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1994 – Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer
    • 1999 – Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player

    Deaths on February 28

    • 628 – Khosrow II, Shah of Iran – Sasanian Empire (b. c. 570)
    • 911 – Abu Abdallah al-Shi’i, Muslim Shia imam
    • 1105 – Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse (b. c. 1042)
    • 1261 – Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1230)
    • 1326 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (b. 1290)
    • 1453 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)
    • 1510 – Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer (b. 1450)
    • 1551 – Martin Bucer, German Protestant reformer (b. 1491)
    • 1572 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian and author (b. 1505)
    • 1621 – Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)
    • 1648 – Christian IV of Denmark (b. 1577)
    • 1786 – John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713)
    • 1788 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1725)
    • 1857 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (b. 1809)
    • 1869 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French author and poet (b. 1790)
    • 1879 – Hortense Allart, Italian-French author (b. 1801)
    • 1891 – George Hearst, American businessman and politician (b. 1820)
    • 1916 – Henry James, American novelist, short writer, and critic (b. 1843)
    • 1925 – Friedrich Ebert, German politician, 1st President of Germany (b. 1871)
    • 1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician and immunologist (b. 1874)
    • 1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (b. 1851)
    • 1935 – Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1847)
    • 1936 – Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
    • 1941 – Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)
    • 1942 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (b. 1889)
    • 1959 – Maxwell Anderson, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1888)
    • 1963 – Rajendra Prasad, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st President of India (b. 1884)
    • 1966 – Charles Bassett, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1931)
    • 1966 – Elliot See, American commander, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
    • 1967 – Henry Luce, American publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (b. 1898)
    • 1977 – Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, American actor and comedian (b. 1905)
    • 1978 – Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)
    • 1978 – Eric Frank Russell, English author (b. 1905)
    • 1983 – Winifred Atwell, Trinidadian pianist (b. 1910 or 1914)
    • 1987 – Stephen Tennant, English author (b. 1906)
    • 1991 – Wassily Hoeffding, Finnish-American statistician and theorist (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
    • 1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress and dancer (b. 1909)
    • 1998 – Dermot Morgan, Irish comedian and actor (b. 1952)
    • 1998 – Arkady Shevchenko, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1930)
    • 2002 – Mary Stuart, American actress and singer (b. 1926)
    • 2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (b. 1920)
    • 2003 – Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (b. 1928)
    • 2003 – Fidel Sánchez Hernández, Salvadorian general and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)
    • 2004 – Carmen Laforet, Spanish author (b. 1921)
    • 2004 – Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian sergeant (b. 1982)
    • 2005 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (b. 1941)
    • 2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Charles Forte, Baron Forte, Italian-English businessman, founded the Forte Group (b. 1908)
    • 2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)
    • 2007 – Billy Thorpe, English-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)
    • 2008 – Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (b. 1904)
    • 2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (b. 1918)
    • 2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)
    • 2011 – Jane Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Frisner Augustin, Haitian drummer and composer (b. 1948)
    • 2012 – Jim Green, American-Canadian educator and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Hal Roach, Irish comedian and author (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Neil McCorkell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1912)
    • 2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Lee Lorch, American mathematician and activist (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Alex Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1942)
    • 2015 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Pierre Pascau, Mauritian-Canadian journalist (b. 1938)
    • 2019 – André Previn, German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (b. 1929)
    • 2020 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe’s (b. 1930)
    • 2020 – Freeman Dyson, British-born American physicist and mathematician (b. 1923)
    • 2020 – Sir Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (b. 1917)

    Holidays and observances on February 28

    • Christian feast day:
      • Abercius (martyr)
      • Anna Julia Cooper and Elizabeth Evelyn Wright (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Hilarius
      • Mar Abba
      • Oswald of Worcester
      • Romanus of Condat
      • Rufinus
      • February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Rare Disease Day can fall, while February 29 is the latest; observed on the last day of February (international)
    • The third day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
    • Día de Andalucía (Andalusia, Spain)
    • Kalevala Day, the day of Finnish culture. (Finland)
    • National Science Day (India)
    • Peace Memorial Day (Taiwan)
    • Teachers’ Day (Arab states)
  • |

    February 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
    • 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
    • 907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, establishing the Liao dynasty in northern China.
    • 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland.
    • 1594 – Henry IV is crowned King of France.
    • 1617 – Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
    • 1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
    • 1700 – The island of New Britain is discovered by Europeans.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
    • 1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
    • 1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
    • 1809 – Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.
    • 1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
    • 1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
    • 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
    • 1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
    • 1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
    • 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
    • 1898 – King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
    • 1900 – The British Labour Party is founded.
    • 1900 – Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.
    • 1902 – Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
    • 1916 – Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives.
    • 1921 – The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
    • 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
    • 1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility.
    • 1939 – United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.
    • 1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
    • 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
    • 1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
    • 1943 – In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest.
    • 1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
    • 1961 – The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
    • 1962 – Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
    • 1963 – The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
    • 1964 – The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
    • 1971 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.
    • 1973 – The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government.
    • 1976 – The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
    • 1988 – Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated”.
    • 2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport. Subsequent investigations criticize Ryanair’s handling of the evacuation.
    • 2002 – Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
    • 2004 – A bombing of a Superferry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines’ worst terrorist attack kills 116.
    • 2004 – Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
    • 2007 – The Chinese Correction: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest drop in ten years.
    • 2010 – An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggers a tsunami which strikes Hawaii shortly after.
    • 2013 – A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured.
    • 2015 – Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated.

    Births on February 27

    • 272 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (d. 337)
    • 1343 – Alberto d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara (d. 1393)
    • 1427 – Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1480)
    • 1500 – João de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
    • 1535 – Min Phalaung, Burmese monarch (d. 1593)
    • 1567 – William Alabaster, English poet (d. 1640)
    • 1572 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
    • 1575 – John Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1616)
    • 1622 – Carel Fabritius, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
    • 1630 – Roche Braziliano, Dutch pirate (d. 1671)
    • 1659 – William Sherard, English botanist (d. 1728)
    • 1667 – Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, Prussian-Lithuanian wife of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1695)
    • 1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, director, historian, and geographer (d. 1775)
    • 1703 – Lord Sidney Beauclerk, English politician (d. 1744)
    • 1711 – Constantine Mavrocordatos, Ottoman ruler (d. 1769)
    • 1724 – Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1767)
    • 1732 – Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin, French cardinal (d. 1804)
    • 1746 – Louis-Jérôme Gohier, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1830)
    • 1748 – Anders Sparrman, Swedish physician and activist (d. 1820)
    • 1767 – Jacques-Charles Dupont de l’Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (d. 1855)
    • 1779 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (d. 1842)
    • 1789 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1818)
    • 1795 – José Antonio Navarro, American merchant and politician (d. 1871)
    • 1799 – Edward Belcher, British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer (d. 1877)
    • 1799 – Frederick Catherwood, British artist, architect and explorer (d. 1854)
    • 1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (d. 1882)
    • 1809 – Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
    • 1816 – William Nicholson, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1865)
    • 1847 – Ellen Terry, English actress (d. 1928)
    • 1848 – Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (d. 1918)
    • 1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, Austrian-German activist and author (d. 1936)
    • 1863 – Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
    • 1863 – George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1935)
    • 1867 – Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (d. 1947)
    • 1867 – Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and critic (d. 1942)
    • 1869 – Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1872 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Romanian politician, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
    • 1875 – Vladimir Filatov, Russian-Ukrainian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1956)
    • 1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (d. 1952)
    • 1877 – Joseph Grinnell, American zoologist and biologist (d. 1939)
    • 1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, American businessman and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
    • 1880 – Xenophon Kasdaglis, Greek-Egyptian tennis player (d. 1943)
    • 1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
    • 1881 – L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1886 – Hugo Black, American captain, jurist, and politician (d. 1971)
    • 1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (d. 1914)
    • 1888 – Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1974)
    • 1888 – Lotte Lehmann, German-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
    • 1890 – Mabel Keaton Staupers, American nurse and advocate (d. 1989)
    • 1891 – David Sarnoff, American businessman, founded RCA (d. 1971)
    • 1892 – William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
    • 1895 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
    • 1897 – Marian Anderson, American singer (d. 1993)
    • 1899 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – Marino Marini, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1980)
    • 1901 – Kotama Okada, Japanese religious leader (d. 1974)
    • 1902 – Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (d. 1998)
    • 1902 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1902 – John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
    • 1903 – Reginald Gardiner, English-American actor and singer (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Hans Rohrbach, German mathematician (d. 1993)
    • 1903 – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Belorussian-American rabbi and philosopher (d. 1993)
    • 1904 – James T. Farrell, American author and poet (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – André Leducq, French cyclist (d. 1980)
    • 1904 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1996)
    • 1905 – Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1968)
    • 1907 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
    • 1907 – Momčilo Đujić, Serbian-American priest and commander (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Peter De Vries, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Kelly Johnson, American engineer, co-founded Skunk Works (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Oscar Heidenstam, English bodybuilder (d. 1991)
    • 1912 – Kusumagraj, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1999)
    • 1912 – Lawrence Durrell, Indian-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1913 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1915 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (d. 1993)
    • 1920 – Reg Simpson, English cricketer (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Hans Rookmaaker, Dutch historian, author, and scholar (d. 1977)
    • 1923 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1925 – Pia Sebastiani, Argentine pianist and composer (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Kenneth Koch, American poet, playwright and professor (d. 2002)
    • 1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Peter Whittle, English-New Zealand mathematician and theorist
    • 1928 – René Clemencic, Austrian composer, recorder player, harpsichordist, conductor and clavichord player
    • 1929 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Patricia Ward Hales, British tennis player (d. 1985)
    • 1930 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2003)
    • 1930 – Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Joanne Woodward, American actress
    • 1932 – Dame Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (d. 2011)
    • 1932 – David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
    • 1933 – Raymond Berry, American football player and coach
    • 1933 – Malcolm Wallop, American politician (d. 2011)
    • 1934 – Vincent Fourcade, French interior designer (d. 1992)
    • 1934 – Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist
    • 1935 – Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress (d. 2020)
    • 1935 – Uri Shulevitz, American author and illustrator
    • 1936 – Sonia Johnson, American feminist activist and author
    • 1936 – Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1936 – Roger Mahony, American cardinal
    • 1937 – Barbara Babcock, American actress
    • 1938 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Don McKinnon, English-New Zealand farmer and politician, 12th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1939 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (d. 1974)
    • 1940 – Pierre Duchesne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
    • 1940 – Howard Hesseman, American actor
    • 1940 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
    • 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British captain and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1942 – Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1942 – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1942 – Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
    • 1942 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
    • 1943 – Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1943 – Morten Lauridsen, American composer and conductor
    • 1943 – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Ken Grimwood, American author (d. 2003)
    • 1944 – Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer and coach
    • 1944 – Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (d. 2020)
    • 1947 – Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist
    • 1947 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
    • 1950 – Annabel Goldie, Scottish lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
    • 1951 – Carl A. Anderson, 13th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
    • 1951 – Lee Atwater, American journalist, activist and political strategist (d. 1991)
    • 1951 – Walter de Silva, Italian car designer
    • 1951 – Steve Harley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – Gavin Esler, Scottish journalist and author
    • 1953 – Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana
    • 1953 – Stelios Kouloglou, Greek journalist, author, director and politician
    • 1954 – Neal Schon, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter
    • 1956 – Belus Prajoux, Chilean tennis player
    • 1957 – Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Kevin Curran, American screenwriter and television producer (d. 2016)
    • 1957 – Robert de Castella, Australian runner
    • 1957 – Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1957 – Timothy Spall, English actor
    • 1958 – Naas Botha, South African rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Maggie Hassan, American politician, 81st Governor and United States Senator of New Hampshire
    • 1960 – Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
    • 1960 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1962 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
    • 1963 – Nasty Suicide, Finnish musician and pharmacist
    • 1964 – Jeffrey Pasley, American educator and academic
    • 1965 – Noah Emmerich, American actor
    • 1965 – Pedro Chaves, Portuguese race car driver
    • 1966 – Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director
    • 1966 – Oliver Reck, German footballer and manager
    • 1966 – Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer
    • 1967 – Dănuț Lupu, Romanian footballer
    • 1967 – Jony Ive, English industrial designer, former chief design officer (CDO) of Apple
    • 1968 – Matt Stairs, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Gareth Llewellyn, Welsh rugby union player
    • 1969 – Juan E. Gilbert, American computer scientist, inventor, and academic
    • 1970 – Kent Desormeaux, American jockey
    • 1970 – Patricia Petibon, French soprano and actress
    • 1971 – Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx
    • 1971 – Derren Brown, English magician and painter
    • 1971 – David Rikl, Czech-English tennis player
    • 1971 – Roman Giertych, Polish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
    • 1971 – Rozonda Thomas, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (TLC)
    • 1973 – Peter Andre, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1973 – Mark Taylor, Welsh rugby player and manager
    • 1974 – Carte Goodwin, American lawyer and politician
    • 1975 – Aitor González, Spanish racing driver
    • 1975 – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete
    • 1976 – Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist
    • 1978 – James Beattie, English footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician
    • 1978 – Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist
    • 1978 – Simone Di Pasquale, Italian ballet dancer
    • 1980 – Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic
    • 1980 – Scott Prince, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1981 – Natalie Grandin, English-South African tennis player
    • 1981 – Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter
    • 1982 – Ali Bastian, English actress
    • 1982 – Pat Richards, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
    • 1983 – Devin Harris, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Kate Mara, American actress
    • 1984 – Aníbal Sánchez, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
    • 1984 – Akseli Kokkonen, Norwegian ski jumper
    • 1985 – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
    • 1985 – Braydon Coburn, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Vladislav Kulik, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
    • 1985 – Asami Abe, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1985 – Thiago Neves, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Brett Stewart, Australian rugby league player
    • 1986 – Yovani Gallardo, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Jonathan Moreira, Brazilian footballer
    • 1986 – Sandeep Singh, Indian field hockey player
    • 1987 – Scott Davies, English footballer
    • 1987 – Bridie Kean, Australian wheelchair basketball player
    • 1987 – Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan runner
    • 1987 – Sandy Paillot, French footballer
    • 1987 – Valeriy Andriytsev, Ukrainian wrestler
    • 1987 – Maximiliano Moralez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Iain Ramsay, Australian footballer
    • 1988 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – David Button, English footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1989 – Lloyd Rigby, English footballer
    • 1990 – Elijah Taylor, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Azeem Rafiq, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1992 – Ty Dillon, American race car driver
    • 1992 – Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
    • 1992 – Filip Krajinović, Serbian tennis player
    • 1992 – Ioannis Potouridis, Greek footballer
    • 1992 – Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
    • 1995 – Laura Gulbe, Latvian tennis player
    • 1998 – Todd Cantwell, English footballer

    Deaths on February 27

    • 640 – Pepin of Landen, Frankish lord (b. 580)
    • 906 – Conrad the Elder, Frankish nobleman
    • 956 – Theophylact, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 917)
    • 1167 – Robert of Melun, English theologian and bishop
    • 1416 – Eleanor of Castile, queen consort of Navarre (b. c. 1363)
    • 1425 – Prince Vasily I of Moscow (b. 1371)
    • 1483 – William VIII of Montferrat (b. 1420)
    • 1558 – Johann Faber of Heilbronn, controversial Catholic preacher (b. 1504)
    • 1558 – Kunigunde of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, German Noblewoman (b. 1524)
    • 1659 – Henry Dunster, English-American clergyman and academic (b. 1609)
    • 1699 – Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1625)
    • 1706 – John Evelyn, English gardener and author (b. 1620)
    • 1712 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1645)
    • 1720 – Samuel Parris, English-American minister (b. 1653)
    • 1735 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish physician and polymath (b. 1667)
    • 1784 – Count of St. Germain, European adventurer (b. 1710)
    • 1795 – Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
    • 1844 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and politician (b. 1786)
    • 1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and chemist (b. 1833)
    • 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer and businessman, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821)
    • 1902 – Harry “Breaker” Morant, English-Australian lieutenant (b. 1864)
    • 1921 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1871)
    • 1931 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906)
    • 1936 – Joshua W. Alexander, American judge and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
    • 1936 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1849)
    • 1937 – Hosteen Klah, Navajo artist, medicine man, and weaver (b. 1867)
    • 1937 – Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint, foundress of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (b. 1862)
    • 1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1859)
    • 1956 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1888)
    • 1964 – Orry-Kelly, Australian-American costume designer (b. 1897)
    • 1968 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
    • 1969 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1973 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
    • 1977 – John Dickson Carr, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
    • 1980 – George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
    • 1985 – Ray Ellington, English singer and drummer (b. 1916)
    • 1985 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician and diplomat, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – J. Pat O’Malley, English-American actor and singer (b. 1904)
    • 1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1929)
    • 1987 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
    • 1987 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (b. 1921)
    • 1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1992 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician (b. 1906)
    • 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
    • 1998 – George H. Hitchings, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
    • 1998 – J. T. Walsh, American actor (b. 1943)
    • 1999 – Horace Tapscott, American pianist and composer (b. 1934)
    • 2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish soldier, actor, comedian, and author (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
    • 2003 – Fred Rogers, American minister and television host (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and journalist (b. 1910)
    • 2006 – Otis Chandler, American publisher (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American general and author (b. 1908)
    • 2006 – Linda Smith, English comedian and author (b. 1958)
    • 2007 – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, German general (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and journalist, founded the National Review (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Ivan Rebroff, German vocalist of Russian descent with four and a half octave range (b. 1931)
    • 2010 – Nanaji Deshmukh, Indian educator and activist (b. 1916)
    • 2011 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2011 – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish engineer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Duke Snider, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Gary Winick, American director and producer (b. 1961)
    • 2012 – Ma Jiyuan, Chinese general (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Tina Strobos, Dutch physician and psychiatrist (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Helga Vlahović, Croatian journalist and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1969)
    • 2013 – Dale Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Adolfo Zaldívar, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2014 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and author (b. 1960)
    • 2014 – Terry Rand, American basketball player (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian academic and politician, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Julio César Strassera, Argentinian lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
    • 2016 – Yi Cheol-seung, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – James Z. Davis, American lawyer and judge (b. 1943)
    • 2018 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1959)
    • 2019 – France-Albert René, Seychellois politician, 2nd President of Seychelles (b. 1935)

    Holidays and observances on February 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
      • George Herbert (Anglicanism)
      • Honorina
      • Leander
      • February 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The second day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Note: this observance is only on this date in the Gregorian calendar if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it does not in all years)
    • Doctors’ Day (Vietnam)
    • Independence Day (Dominican Republic), celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844.
    • Majuba Day (some Afrikaners in South Africa)
    • Marathi Language Day (Maharashtra, India)
    • World NGO Day
    • International Polar Bear Day

  • February 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
    • 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
    • 1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
    • 1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city’s throne.
    • 1632 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems .
    • 1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
    • 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
    • 1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
    • 1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
    • 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
    • 1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
    • 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
    • 1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
    • 1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania).
    • 1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
    • 1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
    • 1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
    • 1878 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
    • 1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
    • 1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
    • 1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
    • 1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
    • 1915 – World War I: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
    • 1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
    • 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
    • 1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
    • 1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
    • 1946 – The “Long Telegram”, proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
    • 1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
    • 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
    • 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
    • 1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
    • 1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
    • 1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
    • 1974 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but is killed by police.
    • 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
    • 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
    • 1984 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgraded South Sylhet’s sub-division status to a district and renamed it back to Moulvibazar.
    • 1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
    • 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
    • 1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
    • 1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
    • 2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
    • 2005 – The 6.4 Mw  Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
    • 2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
    • 2011 – New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
    • 2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
    • 2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
    • 2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
    • 2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
    • 2018 – A man throws a grenade at the U.S embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.

    Births on February 22

    • 1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian jurist and theologian (died 1085)
    • 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
    • 1302 – Gegeen Khan, Emperor Yingzong of Yuan (d. 1323)
    • 1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
    • 1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
    • 1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
    • 1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (d. 1576)
    • 1520 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (d. 1572)
    • 1550 – Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (d. 1616)
    • 1592 – Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (d. 1637)
    • 1631 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (d. 1702)
    • 1649 – Bon Boullogne, French painter (d. 1717)
    • 1715 – Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (d. 1790)
    • 1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
    • 1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (d. 1818)
    • 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
    • 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
    • 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
    • 1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
    • 1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1848)
    • 1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
    • 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
    • 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
    • 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
    • 1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
    • 1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
    • 1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
    • 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
    • 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
    • 1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
    • 1860 – Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (d. 1939)
    • 1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
    • 1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
    • 1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
    • 1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
    • 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
    • 1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
    • 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
    • 1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
    • 1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
    • 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
    • 1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
    • 1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
    • 1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
    • 1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
    • 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
    • 1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
    • 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
    • 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
    • 1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
    • 1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
    • 1899 – George O’Hara, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1966)
    • 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (d. 1983)
    • 1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1930)
    • 1906 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
    • 1908 – John Mills, English soldier and actor (d. 2005)
    • 1910 – George Hunt, English international footballer, forward (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
    • 1915 – Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (d. 1964)
    • 1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
    • 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
    • 1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (d. 1940)
    • 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
    • 1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
    • 1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – François Cavanna, French author and editor (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
    • 1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet and academic
    • 1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
    • 1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
    • 1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
    • 1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
    • 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
    • 1929 – Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
    • 1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
    • 1932 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
    • 1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
    • 1933 – Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (d. 2001)
    • 1933 – Bobby Smith, English international footballer, centre forward (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Tommy Aaron, American golfer
    • 1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
    • 1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
    • 1938 – Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1938 – Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
    • 1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
    • 1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
    • 1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
    • 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
    • 1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
    • 1943 – Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player
    • 1943 – Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
    • 1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
    • 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1944 – Mick Green, English rock & roll guitarist (d. 2010)
    • 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
    • 1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
    • 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
    • 1945 – Oliver, American pop singer (d. 2000)
    • 1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
    • 1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer
    • 1947 – John Radford, English footballer and manager
    • 1947 – Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
    • 1949 – John Duncan, Scottish footballer, forward and manager
    • 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (d. 2019)
    • 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
    • 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
    • 1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
    • 1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and author
    • 1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
    • 1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
    • 1952 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (d. 2020)
    • 1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
    • 1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
    • 1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
    • 1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
    • 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
    • 1959 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (d. 2006)
    • 1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
    • 1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1963 – Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
    • 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
    • 1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
    • 1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1964 – Andy Gray, English footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
    • 1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
    • 1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
    • 1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German-English actor
    • 1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
    • 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
    • 1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
    • 1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
    • 1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
    • 1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
    • 1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
    • 1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
    • 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
    • 1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer and producer
    • 1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
    • 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
    • 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
    • 1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer
    • 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
    • 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
    • 1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
    • 1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
    • 1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
    • 1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
    • 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian international footballer, winger
    • 1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
    • 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
    • 1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
    • 1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
    • 1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
    • 1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
    • 1999 – Harry Brook, English cricketer

    Deaths on February 22

    • 556 – Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna (b. 499)
    • 606 – Sabinian, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 793 – Sicga, Anglo-Saxon nobleman and regicide
    • 845 – Wang, Chinese empress dowager
    • 954 – Guo Wei, Chinese emperor (b. 904)
    • 965 – Otto, duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
    • 970 – García I, king of Pamplona
    • 978 – Lambert, count of Chalon (b. 930)
    • 1071 – Arnulf III, count of Flanders
    • 1072 – Peter Damian, Italian cardinal
    • 1079 – John of Fécamp, Italian Benedictine abbot
    • 1111 – Roger Borsa, king of Sicily (b. 1078)
    • 1297 – Margaret of Cortona, Italian penitent (b. 1247)
    • 1371 – David II, king of Scotland (b. 1324)
    • 1452 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (b. 1425)
    • 1500 – Gerhard VI, German nobleman (b. 1430)
    • 1511 – Henry, duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
    • 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
    • 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
    • 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
    • 1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
    • 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
    • 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
    • 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
    • 1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
    • 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
    • 1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
    • 1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
    • 1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
    • 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
    • 1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
    • 1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
    • 1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
    • 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
    • 1904 – Leslie Stephen, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1832)
    • 1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
    • 1913 – Francisco I. Madero, Mexican president and author (b. 1873)
    • 1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
    • 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
    • 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1881)
    • 1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
    • 1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
    • 1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
    • 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist (b. 1869)
    • 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (b. 1888)
    • 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
    • 1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and critic (b. 1905)
    • 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1889)
    • 1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
    • 1971 – Frédéric Mariotti, French actor (b. 1883)
    • 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
    • 1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author (b. 1899)
    • 1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
    • 1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
    • 1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
    • 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
    • 1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
    • 1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
    • 1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1889)
    • 1986 – John Donnelly, Australian rugby league player (b. 1955)
    • 1987 – David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (b. 1920)
    • 1987 – Andy Warhol, American painter and photographer (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (b. 1906)
    • 1994 – Papa John Creach, American violinist (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 1997 – Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
    • 1998 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1910)
    • 1999 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (b. 1918)
    • 1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)
    • 2002 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Chuck Jones, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan general, founded UNITA (b. 1934)
    • 2004 – Andy Seminick, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Lee Eun-ju, South Korean actress and singer (b. 1980)
    • 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
    • 2007 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English politician, Leader of the House of Lords (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Dennis Johnson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
    • 2012 – Sukhbir, Indian author and poet (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Frank Carson, Irish-English comedian and actor (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Marie Colvin, American journalist (b. 1956)
    • 2012 – Rémi Ochlik, French photographer and journalist (b. 1983)
    • 2013 – Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Jean-Louis Michon, French-Swiss scholar and translator (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand–Australian television host (b. 1966)
    • 2014 – Trebor Jay Tichenor, American pianist and composer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Chris Rainbow, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1946)
    • 2016 – Yolande Fox, American model and singer, Miss America 1951 (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Forges, Spanish cartoonist (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (b. 1970)
    • 2019 – Morgan Woodward, American actor (b. 1925)

    Holidays and observances on February 22

    • Birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell, and its related observance:
      • Founder’s Day or “B.-P. day” (World Organization of the Scout Movement)
      • World Thinking Day (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Baradates
      • Eric Liddell (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Margaret of Cortona
      • February 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Crime Victims Day (Europe)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom in 1979.

  • February 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
    • 1268 – The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov.
    • 1332 – Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
    • 1478 – George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
    • 1637 – Eighty Years’ War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
    • 1781 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
    • 1791 – Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state.
    • 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
    • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.
    • 1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
    • 1861 – With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
    • 1873 – Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
    • 1878 – John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
    • 1885 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
    • 1906 – Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.
    • 1911 – The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away.
    • 1930 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
    • 1930 – Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
    • 1932 – The Empire of Japan creates the independent state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) free from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi as Chief Executive of the State.
    • 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed “Nanking International Rescue Committee”, and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
    • 1943 – World War II: Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
    • 1946 – Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors
    • 1947 – First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to mountains.
    • 1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
    • 1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
    • 1957 – Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
    • 1957 – Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
    • 1965 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
    • 1970 – The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
    • 1972 – The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state’s death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
    • 1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden “flight” on top of a Boeing 747.
    • 1979 – Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.
    • 1983 – Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
    • 1991 – The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
    • 2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
    • 2001 – Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
    • 2003 – Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
    • 2004 – Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
    • 2007 – Samjhauta Express bombings occurred around midnight in Diwana near the Indian city of Panipat, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of New Delhi, India.
    • 2010 – WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.
    • 2013 – Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.
    • 2014 – At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kiev, Ukraine.

    Births on February 18

    • 1201 – Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (d. 1274)
    • 1372 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (d. 1448)
    • 1486 – Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Indian monk and saint (d. 1534)
    • 1516 – Mary I of England (d. 1558)
    • 1530 – Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese daimyō (d. 1578)
    • 1543 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
    • 1547 – Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī, founder of Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy (d. 1621)
    • 1559 – Isaac Casaubon, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1614)
    • 1589 – Henry Vane the Elder, English politician (d. 1655)
    • 1589 – Maarten Gerritsz Vries, Dutch explorer (d. 1646)
    • 1602 – Per Brahe the Younger, Swedish soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (d. 1680)
    • 1609 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1674)
    • 1626 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician (d. 1697)
    • 1632 – Giovanni Battista Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1692)
    • 1642 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)
    • 1658 – Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French philosopher and author (d. 1743)
    • 1732 – Johann Christian Kittel, German organist and composer (d. 1809)
    • 1745 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, invented the battery (d. 1827)
    • 1814 – Samuel Fenton Cary, American lawyer and politician (d. 1900)
    • 1817 – Lewis Armistead, American general (d. 1863)
    • 1836 – Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Indian mystic and yogi (d. 1886)
    • 1838 – Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1916)
    • 1846 – Wilson Barrett, English actor, playwright, and manager (d. 1904)
    • 1848 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (d. 1933)
    • 1849 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician (d. 1906)
    • 1850 – George Henschel, German-English singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 1934)
    • 1855 – Jean Jules Jusserand, French historian, author, and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States (d. 1932)
    • 1860 – Anders Zorn, Swedish artist (d. 1920)
    • 1862 – Charles M. Schwab, American businessman, co-founded Bethlehem Steel (d. 1939)
    • 1867 – Hedwig Courths-Mahler, German writer (d. 1950)
    • 1870 – William Laurel Harris, American painter and author (d. 1924)
    • 1871 – Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)
    • 1883 – Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek philosopher, author, and playwright (d. 1957)
    • 1885 – Henri Laurens, French sculptor and illustrator (d. 1954)
    • 1893 – Maksim Haretski, Belarusian prose writer, journalist and activist (d. 1938)
    • 1890 – Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
    • 1890 – Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
    • 1892 – Wendell Willkie, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 1944)
    • 1896 – Li Linsi, Chinese educator and diplomat (d. 1970)
    • 1898 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (d. 1988)
    • 1898 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet and politician, 1st Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (d. 1980)
    • 1899 – Arthur Bryant, English historian and journalist (d. 1985)
    • 1903 – Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (d. 1983)
    • 1905 – Queenie Leonard, English actress (d. 2002)
    • 1906 – Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician and academic (d. 1980)
    • 1909 – Wallace Stegner, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Pee Wee King, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2000)
    • 1915 – Phyllis Calvert, English actress (d. 2002)
    • 1916 – Jean Drapeau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1999)
    • 1919 – Jack Palance, American boxer and actor (d. 2006)
    • 1920 – Bill Cullen, American game show panelist and host (d. 1990)
    • 1920 – Rolande Falcinelli, French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Mary Amdur, American toxicologist and public health researcher (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian pianist and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician, 1st Prime Minister of Grenada (d. 1997)
    • 1922 – Helen Gurley Brown, American journalist and author (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Allan Melvin, American actor (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – George Kennedy, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1925 – Halit Kıvanç, Turkish journalist and sportscaster
    • 1925 – Ghafar Baba, Malaysian politician (d. 2006)
    • 1926 – Wallace Berman, American painter and illustrator (d. 1976)
    • 1927 – Luis Arroyo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, manager, and scout (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – Fazal Mahmood, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – John Warner, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Navy
    • 1928 – Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Len Deighton, English historian and author
    • 1929 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 1968)
    • 1931 – Johnny Hart, American cartoonist, co-created The Wizard of Id (d. 2007)
    • 1931 – Toni Morrison, American novelist and editor, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019).
    • 1931 – Swraj Paul, Baron Paul, Indian-English businessman and philanthropist
    • 1931 – John Ryden, Scottish footballer, centre half (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Bob St. Clair, American football player (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Miloš Forman, Czech-American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1933 – Yoko Ono, Japanese-American multimedia artist and musician
    • 1933 – Bobby Robson, English international footballer, inside forward and international manager (d. 2009)
    • 1933 – Mary Ure, Scottish-English actress (d. 1975)
    • 1934 – Skip Battin, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Dave Dunmore, English footballer, centre forward
    • 1934 – Audre Lorde, American poet, essayist, memoirist, and activist (d. 1992)
    • 1934 – Paco Rabanne, Spanish-French fashion designer
    • 1936 – Jean M. Auel, American author
    • 1938 – Manny Mota, Dominican baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1938 – Sadanoyama Shinmatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 50th Yokozuna (d. 2017)
    • 1938 – István Szabó, Hungarian director and screenwriter
    • 1939 – Claude Ake, Nigerian political scientist and academic (d. 1996)
    • 1939 – Bobby Hart, American singer-songwriter
    • 1939 – Marlos Nobre, Brazilian composer
    • 1940 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
    • 1940 – Prue Leith, English restaurateur and journalist
    • 1941 – Herman Santiago, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
    • 1941 – Irma Thomas, American singer
    • 1943 – Graeme Garden, Scottish comedian, actor, and author
    • 1944 – Pat Bowlen, American businessman (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Judy Rankin, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1946 – Michael Buerk, English journalist
    • 1947 – Dennis DeYoung, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1947 – Eliot Engel, American educator and politician
    • 1948 – Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
    • 1948 – Bruce Francis, Australian cricketer
    • 1948 – Keith Knudsen, American singer-songwriter and drummer (d. 2005)
    • 1949 – Gary Ridgway, American criminal, Green River Killer
    • 1950 – Nana Amba Eyiaba I, Ghanaian queen mother and advocate
    • 1950 – Cristina Ferrare, American model, actress, author, and television host
    • 1950 – John Hughes, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1950 – Cybill Shepherd, American actress and singer
    • 1951 – Queen Komal of Nepal
    • 1951 – Isabel Preysler, Filipino-Spanish journalist
    • 1952 – Randy Crawford, American jazz and R&B singer
    • 1952 – Maurice Lucas, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1952 – Juice Newton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – Bernard Valcourt, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1953 – Robbie Bachman, Canadian rock drummer
    • 1953 – Derek Pellicci, English-Australian drummer
    • 1954 – Charlie Fowler, American mountaineer, author, and photographer (d. 2006)
    • 1954 – Paul Rendall, English rugby player
    • 1954 – John Travolta, American actor and producer
    • 1955 – Cheetah Chrome, American musician
    • 1955 – Miles Tredinnick, English singer-songwriter and playwright
    • 1955 – Lisa See, American writer and novelist
    • 1956 – Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1956 – Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian businessman and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Georgia
    • 1957 – Marita Koch, German sprinter
    • 1957 – Vanna White, American model and game show host
    • 1959 – Jayne Atkinson, English-American actress
    • 1959 – James Metzger, American businessman and philanthropist
    • 1960 – Andy Moog, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1960 – Greta Scacchi, Italian-Australian actress
    • 1963 – Rob Andrew, English rugby player and cricketer
    • 1964 – Matt Dillon, American actor and director
    • 1964 – Paul Hanley, English drummer and songwriter
    • 1965 – Dr. Dre, American rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1966 – Phillip DeFreitas, Dominican-English cricketer
    • 1967 – Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer
    • 1967 – Colin Jackson, Welsh sprinter and hurdler
    • 1968 – Molly Ringwald, American actress
    • 1969 – Tomaž Humar, Slovenian mountaineer (d. 2009)
    • 1969 – Alexander Mogilny, Russian-American ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Susan Egan, American actress and singer
    • 1970 – James H. Fowler, American political scientist and author
    • 1970 – Raine Maida, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1970 – Massimo Taibi, Italian footballer
    • 1971 – Thomas Bjorn, Danish golfer
    • 1971 – Merritt Gant, American guitarist
    • 1972 – Fabian Picardo, Gibraltarian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Gibraltar
    • 1973 – Shawn Estes, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Claude Makélélé, French footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Carrie Ann Baade, American painter and academic
    • 1974 – Jamey Carroll, American baseball player
    • 1974 – Radek Černý, Czech international footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1974 – Ruby Dhalla, Canadian chiropractor and politician
    • 1974 – Julia Butterfly Hill, American environmentalist and author
    • 1974 – Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russian tennis player
    • 1974 – Jillian Michaels, American fitness trainer and author
    • 1975 – Gary Neville, English footballer and coach
    • 1976 – Leilani Munter, American race car driver and environmentalist
    • 1976 – Chanda Rubin, American tennis player
    • 1976 – Bernadette Sembrano, Filipino journalist
    • 1978 – Josip Šimunić, Croatian footballer
    • 1979 – Tinu Yohannan, Indian cricketer
    • 1980 – Aivar Anniste, Estonian footballer
    • 1980 – Nik Antropov, Kazakhstani-Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Regina Spektor, Russian-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1981 – Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
    • 1981 – Alex Ríos, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Ivan Sproule, Northern Irish footballer
    • 1981 – Larry Sweeney, American wrestler and manager (d. 2011)
    • 1982 – Juelz Santana, American rapper and actor
    • 1982 – Christian Tiffert, German footballer
    • 1983 – Jermaine Jenas, English international footballer, midfielder, pundit
    • 1984 – Carlos Kameni, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1985 – Anton Ferdinand, English footballer
    • 1985 – Lee Boyd Malvo, Jamaican-American murderer
    • 1985 – Jos van Emden, Dutch cyclist
    • 1986 – Robert DeLong, American singer-songwriter
    • 1986 – Marc Torrejón, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Cristian Tănase, Romanian footballer
    • 1988 – Changmin, South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
    • 1990 – Didi Gregorius, Dutch baseball player
    • 1990 – Cody Hodgson, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Sebastian Neumann, German footballer
    • 1991 – Henry Surtees, English race car driver (d. 2009)
    • 1994 – Jake Trbojevic, Australian rugby league player
    • 1994 – J-Hope, South Korean rapper, dancer, singer-songwriter

    Deaths on February 18

    • 675 – Colmán, bishop of Lindisfarne
    • 814 – Angilbert, Frankish monk and diplomat (b. 760)
    • 901 – Thābit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and physician (b. 826)
    • 999 – Gregory V, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 972)
    • 1139 – Yaropolk II, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1082)
    • 1218 – Berthold V, duke of Zähringen (b. 1160)
    • 1225 – Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, Norman nobleman
    • 1294 – Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor (b. 1215)
    • 1379 – Albert II, duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1318)
    • 1397 – Enguerrand VII, French nobleman (b. 1340)
    • 1405 – Timur, Turco-Mongol ruler (b. 1336)
    • 1455 – Fra Angelico, Italian priest and painter (b. 1395)
    • 1478 – George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, English nobleman (b. 1449)
    • 1502 – Hedwig Jagiellon, duchess of Bavaria (b. 1457)
    • 1535 – Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, German magician, astrologer, and theologian (b. 1486)
    • 1546 – Martin Luther, German priest and theologian, leader of the Protestant Reformation (b. 1483)
    • 1564 – Michelangelo, Italian sculptor and painter (b. 1475)
    • 1654 – Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French author (b. 1594)
    • 1658 – John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck, English courtier (b. c. 1591)
    • 1683 – Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
    • 1695 – William Phips, governor of Massachusetts (b. 1650)
    • 1712 – Louis, Dauphin of France, (b. 1682)
    • 1743 – Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, Italian noble (b. 1667)
    • 1748 – Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)
    • 1772 – Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Danish politician (b. 1712)
    • 1778 – Joseph Marie Terray, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1715)
    • 1780 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian pastor and poet (b. 1714)
    • 1788 – John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (b. 1713)
    • 1803 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet and educator (b. 1719)
    • 1851 – Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician and academic (b. 1804)
    • 1873 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian activist, founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization (b. 1837)
    • 1880 – Nikolay Zinin, Russian organic chemist (b. 1812)
    • 1893 – Serranus Clinton Hastings, American lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Justice of California (b. 1814)
    • 1902 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
    • 1906 – John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (b. 1830)
    • 1910 – Lucy Stanton, American activist (b. 1831)
    • 1911 – Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
    • 1915 – Frank James, American soldier and criminal (b. 1843)
    • 1923 – Alois Rašín, Czech economist and politician (b. 1867)
    • 1931 – Milan Šufflay, Croatian historian, author, and politician (b. 1879)
    • 1931 – Louis Wolheim, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1880)
    • 1933 – James J. Corbett, American boxer and actor (b. 1866)
    • 1938 – David King Udall, American missionary and politician (b. 1851)
    • 1942 – Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author (b. 1872)
    • 1945 – Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Russian general (b. 1906)
    • 1956 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
    • 1957 – Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan rebel leader (b. 1920)
    • 1957 – Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and academic (b. 1877)
    • 1960 – Gertrude Vanderbilt, American stage actress (b. c. 1885)
    • 1964 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Bombardier Inc. (b. 1907)
    • 1966 – Robert Rossen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
    • 1967 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (b. 1904)
    • 1969 – Dragiša Cvetković, Serbian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1893)
    • 1973 – Frank Costello, Italian-American gangster (b. 1891)
    • 1976 – Wallace Berman, American painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 1977 – Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1978 – Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
    • 1981 – Jack Northrop, American engineer and businessman, founded the Northrop Corporation (b. 1895)
    • 1982 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b. 1895)
    • 1989 – Mildred Burke, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1915)
    • 1990 – Richard de Zoysa, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1958)
    • 1993 – Jacqueline Hill, English actress (b. 1929)
    • 1995 – Eddie Gilbert, American wrestler (b. 1961)
    • 1995 – Bob Stinson, American guitarist (b. 1959)
    • 1997 – Emily Hahn, American journalist and author (b. 1905)
    • 1998 – Harry Caray, American sportscaster (b. 1914)
    • 2001 – Balthus, Polish-Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1908)
    • 2001 – Dale Earnhardt, American stock car racer and team owner (b. 1951)
    • 2001 – Eddie Mathews, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2003 – Isser Harel, Belarusian-Israeli intelligence officer (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer and guitarist (b. 1948)
    • 2008 – Alain Robbe-Grillet, French director, screenwriter, and novelist (b. 1922)
    • 2009 – Tayeb Salih, Sudanese journalist and author (b. 1929)
    • 2009 – Miika Tenkula, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1974)
    • 2010 – John Babcock, Canadian soldier (b. 1900)
    • 2012 – George Brizan, Grenadian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Grenada (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Elizabeth Connell, South African-English soprano (b. 1946)
    • 2013 – Kevin Ayers, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – Jerry Buss, American chemist and businessman (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Mavis Gallant, Canadian-French author and playwright (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Kristof Goddaert, Belgian cyclist (b. 1986)
    • 2014 – Nikhil Baran Sengupta, Indian art director and production designer (b. 1943)
    • 2014 – Maria Franziska von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (b. 1914)
    • 2015 – Cass Ballenger, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Jerome Kersey, American basketball player and coach (b. 1962)
    • 2016 – Abdul Rashid Khan, Indian singer-songwriter (b. 1908)
    • 2016 – Pantelis Pantelidis, Greek singer (b. 1983)
    • 2017 – Ivan Koloff, Canadian wrestler (b. 1942)
    • 2017 – Norma McCorvey, American abortion rights activist; Plaintiff, Roe v. Wade (b. 1947)
    • 2017 – Clyde Stubblefield, American drummer (b. 1943)
    • 2019 – Alessandro Mendini, Italian designer and architect (b.1931)

    Holidays and observances on February 18

    • Christian feast day:
      • Bernadette Soubirous (France)
      • Colmán of Lindisfarne
      • Flavian of Constantinople
      • Geltrude Comensoli
      • Simeon of Jerusalem (Western Christianity)
      • February 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Dialect Day (Amami Islands, Japan)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Gambia from the United Kingdom in 1965.
    • Kurdish Students Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
    • National Democracy Day, celebrates the 1951 overthrow of the Rana dynasty (Nepal)
    • Wife’s Day (Konudagur) (Iceland)

  • February 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    February 17 in History

    • 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
    • 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
    • 1500 – Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
    • 1600 – On his way to be burned at the stake for heresy, at Campo de’ Fiori in Rome, the philosopher Giordano Bruno has a wooden vise put on his tongue to prevent him continuing to speak.
    • 1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.
    • 1676 – Sixteen men of Pascual de Iriate’s expedition are lost at Evangelistas Islets at the western end of the Strait of Magellan.
    • 1739 – The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.
    • 1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
    • 1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr, Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
    • 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.
    • 1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
    • 1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
    • 1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
    • 1859 – Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captured the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress that was manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.
    • 1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
    • 1867 – The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.
    • 1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
    • 1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
    • 1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
    • 1919 – The Ukrainian People’s Republic asks Entente and the US for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
    • 1933 – Newsweek magazine is first published.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins: The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
    • 1944 – World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan’s main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
    • 1949 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
    • 1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
    • 1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
    • 1964 – Gabonese president Léon M’ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
    • 1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the “Sea of Tranquility” would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
    • 1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
    • 1972 – Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
    • 1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
    • 1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.
    • 1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
    • 1980 – First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
    • 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.
    • 1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
    • 1996 – In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
    • 1996 – NASA’s Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
    • 1996 – The 8.2 Mw  Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving one-hundred sixty-six people dead or missing and 423 injured.
    • 2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
    • 2008 – Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
    • 2011 – Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
    • 2015 – Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.
    • 2016 – Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.

    Births on February 17

    • 624 – Wu Zetian, Chinese empress consort (d. 705)
    • 1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian scholar and imam (d. 1085)
    • 1490 – Charles III, duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)
    • 1519 – Francis, French Grand Chamberlain (d. 1563)
    • 1524 – Charles de Lorraine, French cardinal (d. 1574)
    • 1646 – Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)
    • 1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1713)
    • 1723 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (d. 1762)
    • 1740 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and meteorologist (d. 1799)
    • 1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (d. 1831)
    • 1754 – Nicolas Baudin, French cartographer and explorer (d. 1803)
    • 1758 – John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (d. 1826)
    • 1781 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826)
    • 1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician and botanist (d. 1866)
    • 1817 – Édouard Thilges, Luxembourgian jurist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
    • 1820 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1881)
    • 1821 – Lola Montez, Irish-American actress and dancer (d. 1861)
    • 1832 – Richard Henry Park, American sculptor (d. 1902)
    • 1836 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1870)
    • 1843 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913)
    • 1848 – Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and publisher (d. 1920)
    • 1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German businessman (d. 1902)
    • 1861 – Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, duchess of Albany (d. 1922)
    • 1862 – Mori Ōgai, Japanese general, author, and poet (d. 1922)
    • 1864 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak priest, botanist, and painter (d. 1929)
    • 1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1874 – Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (d. 1956)
    • 1877 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and author (d. 1904)
    • 1877 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (d. 1932)
    • 1881 – Mary Carson Breckinridge, American nurse midwife, founded Frontier Nursing Service (d. 1965)
    • 1887 – Joseph Bech, Luxembourgian lawyer and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
    • 1887 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer and critic (d. 1947)
    • 1888 – Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
    • 1890 – Ronald Fisher, English-Australian statistician, biologist, and geneticist (d. 1962)
    • 1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
    • 1893 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Jibanananda Das, Bangladeshi-Indian poet and author (d. 1954)
    • 1900 – Ruth Clifford, American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1903 – Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian-French author and translator (d. 1951)
    • 1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1980)
    • 1905 – Ruth Baldwin, British socialite (d. 1937)
    • 1905 – Rózsa Politzer, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1977)
    • 1906 – Mary Brian, American actress (d. 2002)
    • 1908 – Red Barber, American sportscaster (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Bo Yibo, Chinese general and politician, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Marc Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1911 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (d. 1984)
    • 1912 – Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Wayne Morris, American actor and producer (d. 1959)
    • 1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian rugby player and pilot (d. 1940)
    • 1916 – Don Tallon, Australian cricketer (d. 1984)
    • 1916 – Raf Vallone, Italian footballer and actor (d. 2002)
    • 1918 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Jacqueline Ferrand, French mathematician (d. 2014)
    • 1919 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
    • 1919 – Joe Hunt, American tennis player (d. 1945)
    • 1920 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1920 – Annie Castor, American disability and communication disorder advocate (d. 2020)
    • 1920 – Curt Swan, American soldier and illustrator (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Tommy Edwards, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 1969)
    • 1923 – John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (d. 1988)
    • 1923 – Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director
    • 1928 – Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean-French director and screenwriter
    • 1929 – Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author (d. 2002)
    • 1929 – Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (d. 1993)
    • 1929 – Patricia Routledge, English actress and singer
    • 1930 – Roger Craig, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1930 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Ruth Rendell, English author (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Jiřina Jirásková, Czech actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Buddy Ryan, American football coach (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage), Australian comedian, actor, and author
    • 1935 – Christina Pickles, English-American actress
    • 1936 – Jim Brown, American football player and actor
    • 1937 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Vicente Fernández, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, and producer
    • 1941 – Julia McKenzie, English actress, singer, and director
    • 1941 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989)
    • 1944 – Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboard player, and composer (Soft Machine)
    • 1945 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
    • 1946 – Shahrnush Parsipur, Iranian-American author and academic
    • 1948 – José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1948 – Rick Majerus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Fred Frith, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1949 – Dennis Green, American football player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1951 – Rashid Minhas, Pakistani soldier and pilot (d. 1971)
    • 1952 – Karin Büttner-Janz, German gymnast and physician
    • 1952 – Vladimír Padrůněk, Czech bass player (d. 1991)
    • 1954 – Lou Ann Barton, American blues singer-songwriter
    • 1954 – Miki Berkovich, Israeli basketball player
    • 1954 – Rene Russo, American actress
    • 1955 – Mo Yan, Chinese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Richard Karn, American actor and game show host
    • 1957 – Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, accordion player, and pianist
    • 1959 – Aryeh Deri, Moroccan-Israeli rabbi and politician, Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs
    • 1959 – Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Lindy Ruff, Canadian hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Angela Eagle, English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
    • 1961 – Maria Eagle, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1961 – Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist, historian, and sociologist
    • 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director
    • 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and voice actor
    • 1963 – Alison Hargreaves, English mountaineer (d. 1995)
    • 1963 – Jen-Hsun Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia
    • 1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player and actor
    • 1964 – Sherry Hawco, Canadian gymnast (d. 1991)
    • 1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer
    • 1965 – Danny Lee, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Quorthon, Swedish guitarist and songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1966 – Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and actor
    • 1968 – Wu’erkaixi, Chinese journalist and activist
    • 1968 – Giuseppe Signori, Italian footballer
    • 1969 – David Douillet, French martial artist and politician
    • 1969 – Vasily Kudinov, Russian handball player (d. 2017)
    • 1970 – Dominic Purcell, English-born Irish-Australian actor and producer
    • 1971 – Denise Richards, American model and actress
    • 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
    • 1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
    • 1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and drummer
    • 1972 – Valeria Mazza, Argentinian model and businesswoman
    • 1972 – Lars Göran Petrov, Swedish singer and drummer
    • 1973 – Goran Bunjevčević, Serbian FR Yugoslavia international footballer, defender (d. 2018)
    • 1973 – Raphaël Ibañez, French rugby player
    • 1974 – Kaoru, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1974 – Jerry O’Connell, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1975 – Václav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright
    • 1980 – Al Harrington, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer
    • 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman
    • 1981 – Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
    • 1982 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Brian Bruney, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Daniel Merriweather, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Kevin Rudolf, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1984 – AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
    • 1984 – Jimmy Jacobs, American wrestler
    • 1984 – Katie Hill, Australian 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player
    • 1984 – Drew Miller, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Marcin Gortat, Polish basketball player
    • 1985 – Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
    • 1988 – Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer
    • 1989 – Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer
    • 1989 – Chord Overstreet, American actor and singer
    • 1990 – Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian speed skater
    • 1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1991 – Bonnie Wright, English actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1993 – Nicola Leali, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Marc Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer

    Deaths on February 17

    • 364 – Jovian, Roman emperor (b. 331)
    • 440 – Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian monk, linguist, and theologian (b. 360)
    • 923 – Al-Tabari, Persian scholar (b. 839)
    • 1178 – Evermode of Ratzeburg, bishop of Ratzeburg
    • 1220 – Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine
    • 1339 – Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)
    • 1371 – Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
    • 1500 – Adolph, Count of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, German noble (b. before 1463)
    • 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1548)
    • 1609 – Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
    • 1624 – Juan de Mariana, Spanish priest and historian (b. 1536)
    • 1659 – Abel Servien, French politician, French Minister of Finance (b. 1593)
    • 1673 – Molière, French actor and playwright (b. 1622)
    • 1680 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English politician (b. 1599)
    • 1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist, zoologist, and entomologist (b. 1637)
    • 1715 – Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (b. 1646)
    • 1732 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (b. 1669)
    • 1768 – Arthur Onslow, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1691)
    • 1841 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1770)
    • 1849 – María de las Mercedes Barbudo, Puerto Rican political activist, the first woman Independentista in the island (b. 1773)
    • 1854 – John Martin, English painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1789)
    • 1856 – Heinrich Heine, German journalist and poet (b. 1797)
    • 1874 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician, and sociologist (b. 1796)
    • 1890 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American publisher and politician (b. 1819)
    • 1905 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1815)
    • 1909 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829)
    • 1912 – Edgar Evans, Welsh sailor and explorer (b. 1876)
    • 1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
    • 1934 – Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
    • 1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (b. 1862)
    • 1939 – Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (b. 1859)
    • 1946 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)
    • 1961 – Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (b. 1887)
    • 1961 – Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1894)
    • 1962 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
    • 1962 – Bruno Walter, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1876)
    • 1966 – Hans Hofmann, German-American painter (b. 1880)
    • 1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli novelist, short story writer, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
    • 1970 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)
    • 1972 – Friday Hassler, American race car driver (b. 1935)
    • 1977 – Janani Luwum, Ugandan archbishop and saint (b. 1922)
    • 1979 – William Gargan, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1982 – Nestor Chylak, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1922)
    • 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (b. 1917)
    • 1982 – Lee Strasberg, American actor and director (b. 1901)
    • 1986 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (b. 1895)
    • 1988 – John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (b. 1923)
    • 1988 – Karpoori Thakur, Indian educator and politician, 11th Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
    • 1990 – Jean-Marc Boivin, French mountaineer, skier, and pilot (b. 1951)
    • 1994 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (b. 1951)
    • 1998 – Ernst Jünger, German soldier, philosopher, and author (b. 1895)
    • 2003 – Steve Bechler, American baseball player (b. 1979)
    • 2004 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 51st President of Mexico, 1976-1982 (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Dan O’Herlihy, Irish-American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2005 – Omar Sívori, Argentinian footballer and manager (b. 1935)
    • 2006 – Ray Barretto, American drummer (b. 1929)
    • 2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
    • 2009 – Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter and journalist (b. 1922)
    • 2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Robert Carr, English engineer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Michael Davis, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Ulric Neisser, German-American psychologist and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Richard Briers, English actor (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Shmulik Kraus, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Sophie Kurys, American baseball player (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (b. 1975)
    • 2014 – Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1952)
    • 2014 – Peter Florin, German politician and diplomat, President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Wayne Smith, Jamaican singer (b. 1965)
    • 2015 – John Barrow, American-Canadian football player and manager (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Liu Yudi, Chinese general and pilot (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Andy Ganteaume, Trinidadian cricketer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Claude Jeancolas, French historian, author, and journalist (b. 1949)
    • 2016 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Andrzej Żuławski, Polish film director (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Robert H. Michel, American politician (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Michael Novak, American Roman Catholic theologian (b. 1933)
    • 2020 – Ror Wolf, German writer, poet, and artist (b. 1932)

    Holidays and observances on February 17

    • Christian feast day:
      • Seven Founders of the Servite Order
        • Alexis Falconieri
      • Constabilis
      • Donatus, Romulus, Secundian, and Companions
      • Fintan of Clonenagh
      • Janani Luwum (Anglican Communion)
      • Lommán of Trim
      • February 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Kosovo in 2008, still partially recognized.
    • Revolution Day (Libya)

  • February 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    February 15 in History

    • 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
    • 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III publicly executed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
    • 1002 – At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles, Arduin of Ivrea is restored to his domains and crowned King of Italy.
    • 1113 – Pope Paschal II issues Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, recognizing the Order of Hospitallers.
    • 1214 – During the Anglo-French War (1213–1214), an English invasion force led by John, King of England, lands at La Rochelle in France.
    • 1493 – While on board the Niña, Christopher Columbus writes an open letter (widely distributed upon his return to Portugal) describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World.
    • 1637 – Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1690 – Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1764 – The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana (now in Missouri, USA).
    • 1798 – The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.
    • 1835 – Serbia’s Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Confederates commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attack General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union forces Fort Donelson, Tennessee. Unable to break the fort’s encirclement, Lloyd surrenders the following day.
    • 1870 – Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, USA and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering.
    • 1879 – Women’s rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
    • 1891 – Allmänna Idrottsklubben (AIK) (Swedish Sports Club) is founded.
    • 1898 – The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing 274. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
    • 1901 – The association football club Alianza Lima is founded in Lima, Peru, under the name Sport Alianza.
    • 1909 – The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico kills 250.
    • 1921 – Kingdom of Romania establishes its legation in Helsinki.
    • 1923 – Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.
    • 1925 – The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska.
    • 1933 – In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate US President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.
    • 1942 – World War II: Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
    • 1944 – World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Narva Offensive begins.
    • 1945 – World War II: Third day of bombing in Dresden.
    • 1946 – ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
    • 1949 – Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
    • 1952 – King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
    • 1954 – Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.
    • 1961 – Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team along with several of their coaches and family members.
    • 1965 – A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.
    • 1971 – The decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day.
    • 1972 – Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
    • 1972 – José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.
    • 1982 – The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers.
    • 1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
    • 1991 – The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
    • 1992 – Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison.
    • 1992 – Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes near Toledo Express Airport in Ohio, killing all four people on board.
    • 1996 – At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing many people.
    • 2001 – The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.
    • 2003 – Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between eight million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.
    • 2010 – Two trains collide in the Halle train collision in Halle, Belgium, killing 19 and injuring 171 people.
    • 2012 – Three hundred sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua.
    • 2013 – A meteor explodes over Russia, injuring 1,500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks buildings. This happens unexpectedly only hours before the expected closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid 2012 DA14.

    Births on February 15

    • 1377 – Ladislaus of Naples (d. 1414)
    • 1458 – Ivan the Young, son of Ivan III of Russia (d. 1490)
    • 1471 – Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (d. 1503)
    • 1506 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (d. 1580)
    • 1519 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (d. 1574)
    • 1557 – Alfonso Fontanelli, Italian composer (d. 1622)
    • 1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (d. 1642)
    • 1571 – Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (probable; d. 1621)
    • 1612 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French soldier, founded Montreal (d. 1676)
    • 1627 – Charles Morton, Cornish nonconformist minister (d. 1698)
    • 1638 – Zeb-un-Nissa, Mughal princess and poet (d. 1702)
    • 1705 – Charles-André van Loo, French painter (d. 1765)
    • 1710 – Louis XV of France (d. 1774)
    • 1725 – Abraham Clark, American surveyor, lawyer, and politician (d. 1794)
    • 1734 – William Stacy, American colonel (d. 1802)
    • 1739 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Paris Bourse (d. 1813)
    • 1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (d. 1832)
    • 1759 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and critic (d. 1824)
    • 1760 – Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer and educator (d. 1837)
    • 1797 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (d. 1871)
    • 1809 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (d. 1857)
    • 1809 – Cyrus McCormick, American journalist and businessman, co-founded International Harvester (d. 1884)
    • 1810 – Mary S. B. Shindler, American poet, writer, and editor (d. 1883)
    • 1811 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian journalist and politician, 7th President of Argentina (d. 1888)
    • 1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (d. 1902)
    • 1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist and activist (d. 1906)
    • 1825 – Carter Harrison, Sr., American lawyer and politician, 29th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1893)
    • 1834 – V. A. Urechia, Moldavian-Romanian historian, author, and playwright (d. 1901)
    • 1835 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek businessman and philanthropist (d. 1908)
    • 1840 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian philosopher, academic, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1917)
    • 1841 – Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Brazil (d. 1913)
    • 1845 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
    • 1847 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1927)
    • 1849 – Rickman Godlee, English surgeon and academic (d. 1925)
    • 1850 – Sophie Bryant, Irish mathematician, academic and activist (d. 1922)
    • 1851 – Spiru Haret, Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician, 55th Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs (d. 1912)
    • 1856 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1926)
    • 1861 – Martin Burns, American wrestler and coach (d. 1937)
    • 1861 – Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1947)
    • 1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
    • 1874 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish captain and explorer (d. 1922)
    • 1883 – Sax Rohmer, English-American author (d. 1959)
    • 1890 – Robert Ley, German politician (d. 1945)
    • 1892 – James Forrestal, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1949)
    • 1892 – Roy Rene, Australian comedian (d. 1954)
    • 1893 – Roman Najuch, Polish professional tennis player (d. 1967)
    • 1896 – Arthur Shields, Irish republican and actor (d. 1970)
    • 1897 – Gerrit Kleerekoper, Jewish-Dutch gymnast and coach (d. 1943)
    • 1898 – Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1967)
    • 1899 – Georges Auric, French composer (d. 1983)
    • 1899 – Gale Sondergaard, Danish-American actress (d. 1985)
    • 1904 – Mary Adshead, English painter (d. 1995)
    • 1904 – Antonin Magne, French cyclist and manager (d. 1983)
    • 1905 – Harold Arlen, Jewish-American composer (d. 1986)
    • 1907 – Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)
    • 1908 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1980)
    • 1909 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (d. 2010)
    • 1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian, Righteous Gentile (d. 2008)
    • 1912 – George Mikes, Jewish Hungarian-English journalist and author (d. 1987)
    • 1913 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Hale Boggs, American lawyer and politician (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Kevin McCarthy, Jewish-Irish American actor (d. 2010)
    • 1916 – Mary Jane Croft, American actress (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Allan Arbus, Jewish-American actor and photographer (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Ducky Detweiler, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Endicott Peabody, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1997)
    • 1920 – Eio Sakata, Japanese Go player (d. 2010)
    • 1922 – John B. Anderson, Swedish-American lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Yelena Bonner, Jewish Soviet-Russian activist (d. 2011)
    • 1924 – Robert Drew, American director and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Angella D. Ferguson, American pediatrician
    • 1927 – Frank Dunlop, English actor and director
    • 1927 – Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (d. 2008)
    • 1927 – Yehoshua Neuwirth, Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Norman Bridwell, American author and illustrator, created Clifford the Big Red Dog (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Graham Hill, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1975)
    • 1929 – James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Bruce Dawe, Australian poet and academic
    • 1931 – Claire Bloom, English actress
    • 1931 – Jonathan Steele, English journalist and author
    • 1934 – Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
    • 1934 – Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (d. 2005)
    • 1934 – Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language
    • 1934 – Abe Woodson, American football player and minister (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Susan Brownmiller, American journalist and author
    • 1935 – Roger B. Chaffee, American lieutenant, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1967)
    • 1935 – Gene Hickerson, American football player (d. 2008)
    • 1937 – Gregory Mcdonald, American author (d. 2008)
    • 1937 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
    • 1940 – İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2007)
    • 1940 – John Hadl, American football player and coach
    • 1940 – Hamzah Haz, Indonesian journalist and politician, 9th Vice President of Indonesia
    • 1940 – Vaino Vahing, Estonian psychiatrist, author, and playwright (d. 2008)
    • 1941 – Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress
    • 1941 – Brian Holland, American songwriter and producer
    • 1944 – Mick Avory, English drummer
    • 1945 – Jack Dann, American-Australian author and poet
    • 1945 – John Helliwell, English saxophonist and keyboard player
    • 1945 – Douglas Hofstadter, American author and academic
    • 1946 – Clare Short, English civil servant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development
    • 1947 – John Adams, American composer
    • 1947 – Marisa Berenson, American model and actress
    • 1948 – Art Spiegelman, Swedish-American cartoonist and critic
    • 1949 – Ken Anderson, American football quarterback and coach
    • 1951 – Markku Alén, Finnish race car driver
    • 1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1951 – Jane Seymour, English-American actress, producer, and jewelry designer
    • 1952 – Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 4th President of Serbia
    • 1952 – Nikolai Sorokin, Russian actor and director (d. 2013)
    • 1953 – Tony Adams, Irish-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
    • 1953 – Ernie Howe, English footballer, defender and manager
    • 1954 – Matt Groening, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Janice Dickinson, American model, agent, and author
    • 1955 – Christopher McDonald, American actor
    • 1956 – Desmond Haynes, Barbadian cricketer and coach
    • 1956 – Ann Westin, Swedish comedian
    • 1957 – Jake E. Lee, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1957 – Jimmy Spencer, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Chrystine Brouillet, Canadian author
    • 1958 – Tony McKegney, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1958 – Matthew Ward, American singer-songwriter
    • 1959 – Adam Boulton, English journalist
    • 1959 – Ali Campbell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1959 – Brian Propp, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Martin Rowson, English author and illustrator
    • 1959 – Hugo Savinovich, Ecuadorian wrestler and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Darrell Green, American football player
    • 1960 – Jock Hobbs, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2012)
    • 1962 – Milo Đukanović, Montenegrin politician, 29th Prime Minister of Montenegro
    • 1964 – Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (d. 1997)
    • 1964 – Leland D. Melvin, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1964 – Mark Price, American basketball player and coach
    • 1965 – Craig Matthews, South African cricketer
    • 1967 – Jane Child, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1967 – Syed Kamall, English academic and politician
    • 1967 – Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Birdman, American rapper and producer
    • 1970 – Shepard Fairey, American artist and activist
    • 1971 – Alex Borstein, American actress, voice artist, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Renee O’Connor, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1972 – Jaromír Jágr, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1973 – Kateřina Neumannová, Czech skier
    • 1973 – Amy van Dyken, American swimmer
    • 1974 – Miranda July, American actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1974 – Alexander Wurz, Austrian race car driver and businessman
    • 1975 – Serge Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1975 – Annemarie Kramer, Dutch sprinter
    • 1975 – Brendon Small, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor
    • 1976 – Brandon Boyd, American singer-songwriter
    • 1976 – Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
    • 1979 – Josh Low, English footballer
    • 1979 – Hamish Marshall, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1979 – James Marshall, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1979 – Scott Severin, Scottish footballer
    • 1979 – Gordon Shedden, Scottish race car driver
    • 1980 – Conor Oberst, American singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian international footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1981 – Matt Hoopes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1981 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
    • 1981 – Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer
    • 1981 – Vivek Shraya, Canadian singer and songwriter
    • 1982 – Shameka Christon, American basketball player
    • 1982 – James Yap, Filipino basketball player
    • 1983 – Don Cowie, Scottish footballer
    • 1983 – David Degen, Swiss footballer
    • 1983 – Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
    • 1983 – Alan Didak, Australian footballer
    • 1983 – Russell Martin, Canadian baseball player
    • 1985 – Serkan Kırıntılı, Turkish footballer
    • 1986 – Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
    • 1986 – Johnny Cueto, Dominican baseball player
    • 1986 – Laura Sallés, Andorran judoka
    • 1987 – Jarrod Sammut, Australian rugby league player
    • 1988 – Jarryd Hayne, Australian rugby league player and football player
    • 1988 – Hironori Kusano, Japanese singer and actor
    • 1988 – Tim Mannah, Australian-born Lebanese rugby league player
    • 1988 – Rui Patrício, Portuguese footballer
    • 1990 – Charles Pic, French race car driver
    • 1991 – Ángel Sepúlveda, Mexican footballer
    • 1993 – Ravi, South Korean rapper

    Deaths on February 15

    • 670 – Oswiu, king of Northumbria (b. c. 612)
    • 706 – Leontios, Byzantine emperor
    • 706 – Tiberios III, Byzantine emperor
    • 956 – Su Yugui, Chinese chancellor (b. 895)
    • 1043 – Gisela of Swabia, Holy Roman Empress (b. 990)
    • 1145 – Lucius II, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 1152 – Conrad III, king of Germany (b. 1093)
    • 1382 – William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (b. c. 1339)
    • 1417 – Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (b. 1385)
    • 1508 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, tyrant of Bologna (b. 1443)
    • 1600 – José de Acosta, Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist (b. 1540)
    • 1621 – Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (b. 1571)
    • 1637 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1578)
    • 1738 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)
    • 1781 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1729)
    • 1818 – Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (b. 1746)
    • 1835 – Henry Hunt, English farmer and politician (b. 1773)
    • 1839 – François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian rebel (b. 1803)
    • 1842 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (b. 1754)
    • 1844 – Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)
    • 1847 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (b. 1794)
    • 1848 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (b. 1771)
    • 1849 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician and theorist (b. 1804)
    • 1857 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)
    • 1869 – Ghalib, Indian poet and educator (b. 1796)
    • 1885 – Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian geologist and engineer (b. 1803)
    • 1897 – Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian lawyer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1816)
    • 1905 – Lew Wallace, American author, general, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (b. 1827)
    • 1911 – Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (b. 1859)
    • 1924 – Lionel Monckton, English composer (b. 1861)
    • 1928 – H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)
    • 1932 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (b. 1865)
    • 1933 – Pat Sullivan, Australian animator and producer, co-created Felix the Cat (b. 1887)
    • 1935 – Basil Hall Chamberlain, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (b. 1850)
    • 1939 – Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter and author (b. 1878)
    • 1956 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (b. 1878)
    • 1959 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
    • 1961 – Laurence Owen, American figure skater (b. 1944)
    • 1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (b. 1919)
    • 1966 – Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (b. 1909)
    • 1966 – Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian priest and theologian (b. 1929)
    • 1967 – Antonio Moreno, Spanish-American actor and director (b. 1887)
    • 1970 – Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish air marshal (b. 1882)
    • 1973 – Wally Cox, American actor (b. 1924)
    • 1973 – Tim Holt, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 1974 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer and engineer (b. 1887)
    • 1981 – Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1943)
    • 1981 – Karl Richter, German organist and conductor (b. 1926)
    • 1984 – Avon Long, American actor and singer (b. 1910)
    • 1984 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (b. 1908)
    • 1988 – Richard Feynman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 1992 – María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)
    • 1992 – William Schuman, American composer and academic (b. 1910)
    • 1996 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
    • 1998 – Martha Gellhorn, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
    • 1999 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist and mountaineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Big L, American rapper (b. 1974)
    • 2000 – Angus MacLean, Canadian commander and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1914)
    • 2002 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (b. 1914)
    • 2002 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
    • 2004 – Jens Evensen, Norwegian lawyer, judge, and politician, Norwegian Minister of Trade (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2005 – Samuel T. Francis, American historian and journalist (b. 1947)
    • 2007 – Walker Edmiston, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Ray Evans, American songwriter (b. 1915)
    • 2008 – Johnny Weaver, American wrestler and sportscaster (b. 1935)
    • 2010 – Jeanne M. Holm, American general (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Cyril Domb, English-Israel physicist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Sanan Kachornprasart, Thai general and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Ahmed Rajib Haider, Bangladeshi atheist blogger
    • 2014 – Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Christopher Malcolm, Scottish-Canadian actor, director, and producer (b. 1946)
    • 2015 – Haron Amin, Afghan diplomat, Afghan Ambassador to Japan (b. 1969)
    • 2015 – Arnaud de Borchgrave, American journalist and author (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1979)
    • 2016 – George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (b. 1917)
    • 2016 – Vanity, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (b. 1959)
    • 2017 – Stuart McLean, Canadian radio broadcaster (b. 1948)
    • 2019 – Lee Radziwill, American socialite (b. 1933)
    • 2020 – Caroline Flack, English Actress and TV Presenter (b. 1979)

    Holidays and observances on February 15

    • Christian feast day:
      • Blessed Michał Sopoćko
      • Claude de la Colombière
      • Faustinus and Jovita
      • Oswiu
      • Quinidius
      • Sigfrid of Sweden
      • Thomas Bray (Episcopal Church)
      • Walfrid
      • February 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Family Day can fall, while February 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in February. (parts of Canada)
    • Earliest day on which Washington’s Birthday can fall, while February 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in February. (United States)
    • Traditionally the feast day for the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia
    • International Duties Memorial Day (Russia, regional)
    • John Frum Day (Vanuatu)
    • Liberation Day (Afghanistan)
    • National Flag of Canada Day (Canada)
    • Parinirvana Day, also celebrated on February 8. (Mahayana Buddhism)
    • Singles Awareness Day
    • Statehood Day (Serbia)
    • Susan B. Anthony Day (Florida, United States)
    • The ENIAC Day (Philadelphia, United States)
    • Total Defence Day (Singapore)

  • February 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
    • 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
    • 1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1076 – Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1130 – Pope Innocent II is elected.
    • 1349 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg.
    • 1400 – Richard II of England dies, most probably from starvation, in Pontefract Castle, on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke.
    • 1530 – Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.
    • 1556 – Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
    • 1556 – Coronation of Akbar.
    • 1655 – The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
    • 1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
    • 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
    • 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
    • 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
    • 1804 – Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
    • 1835 – The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
    • 1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
    • 1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
    • 1855 – Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
    • 1859 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
    • 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
    • 1879 – The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
    • 1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
    • 1900 – British forces begin the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
    • 1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
    • 1912 – Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.
    • 1912 – The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.
    • 1919 – The Polish–Soviet War begins.
    • 1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
    • 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
    • 1929 – Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone’s gang, are murdered in Chicago.
    • 1942 – Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
    • 1943 – World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.
    • 1943 – World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim’s Fifth Panzer Army launches a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.
    • 1944 – World War II: In the Action of 14 February 1944, a Royal Navy submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian submarine in the Strait of Malacca.
    • 1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden.
    • 1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by an American squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet’s Vistula–Oder Offensive.
    • 1945 – World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans
    • 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.
    • 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalized.
    • 1949 – The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time.
    • 1949 – The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
    • 1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
    • 1966 – Australian currency is decimalized.
    • 1979 – In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
    • 1983 – United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.
    • 1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
    • 1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.
    • 1990 – Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.
    • 1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.
    • 1998 – An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which killed 120.
    • 2000 – The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
    • 2004 – In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.
    • 2005 – In Beirut, 23 people, including former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are killed when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated while Hariri’s motorcade drives through the city.
    • 2005 – Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos City, all in the Philippines.
    • 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.
    • 2008 – Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opens fire in a lecture hall of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb County, Illinois, resulting in six fatalities (including the gunman) and 21 injuries.
    • 2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a ‘Day of Rage’.
    • 2018 – Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa.
    • 2018 – A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 15 injuries.
    • 2019 – Pulwama attack takes place in Lethpora in Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a suicide bomber were killed and 35 were injured.

    Births on February 14

    • 1404 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (d. 1472)
    • 1408 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel (d. 1435)
    • 1452 – Pandolfo Petrucci, tyrant of Siena (d. 1512)
    • 1468 – Johannes Werner, German priest and mathematician (d. 1522)
    • 1483 – Babur, Moghul emperor (d. 1530)
    • 1490 – Valentin Friedland, German scholar and educationist of the Reformation (d. 1556)
    • 1513 – Domenico Ferrabosco, Italian composer (d. 1573)
    • 1545 – Lucrezia de’ Medici, Duchess of Ferrara (d. 1561)
    • 1602 – Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676)
    • 1614 – John Wilkins, English bishop, academic and natural philosopher (d. 1672)
    • 1625 – Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken, Swedish princess (d. 1687)
    • 1628 – Valentine Greatrakes, Irish faith healer (d. 1683)
    • 1640 – Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (d. 1693)
    • 1670 – Rajaram Raj Bhonsle, third Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1700)
    • 1679 – Georg Friedrich Kauffmann, German organist and composer (d. 1735)
    • 1692 – Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French author and playwright (d. 1754)
    • 1701 – Enrique Flórez, Spanish historian and author (d. 1773)
    • 1763 – Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813)
    • 1782 – Eleanora Atherton, English philanthropist (d. 1870)
    • 1784 – Heinrich Baermann, German clarinetist (d. 1847)
    • 1799 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter and illustrator (d. 1842)
    • 1800 – Emory Washburn, American historian, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1877)
    • 1808 – Michael Costa, Italian-English conductor and composer (d. 1884)
    • 1813 – Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (d. 1884)
    • 1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (d. 1890)
    • 1824 – Winfield Scott Hancock, American general and politician (d. 1886)
    • 1828 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (d. 1885)
    • 1835 – Piet Paaltjens, Dutch minister and poet (d. 1894)
    • 1838 – Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (d. 1914)
    • 1846 – Julian Scott, American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1901)
    • 1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist (d. 1919)
    • 1848 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (d. 1934)
    • 1855 – Frank Harris, Irish author and journalist (d. 1931)
    • 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896)
    • 1860 – Eugen Schiffer, German lawyer and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 1954)
    • 1869 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
    • 1878 – Julius Nieuwland, Belgian priest, chemist and academic (d. 1936)
    • 1882 – John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)
    • 1884 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish actor and director (d. 1947)
    • 1884 – Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1974)
    • 1890 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh-English painter and author (d. 1956)
    • 1890 – Dick Richards Welsh international footballer, forward
    • 1891 – Katherine Stinson, American aviator (d. 1977)
    • 1892 – Radola Gajda, Czech commander and politician (d. 1948)
    • 1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and producer (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (d. 1945)
    • 1895 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)
    • 1898 – Bill Tilman, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1977)
    • 1898 – Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Jessica Dragonette, American singer (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
    • 1905 – Thelma Ritter, American actress and singer (d. 1969)
    • 1907 – Johnny Longden, English-American jockey and trainer (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian lawyer, explorer, and author (d. 1988)
    • 1913 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (d. 1987)
    • 1913 – Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (d. 1975)
    • 1913 – James Pike, American bishop (d. 1969)
    • 1916 – Marcel Bigeard, French general (d. 2010)
    • 1916 – Sally Gray, English actress and singer (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1916 – Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)
    • 1917 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
    • 1921 – Hugh Downs, American journalist, game show host, and producer
    • 1921 – Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 3rd Mayor of Mississauga
    • 1923 – Jay Hebert, American golfer (d. 1997)
    • 1924 – Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (d. 2017)
    • 1927 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress (d. 2007)
    • 1928 – William Allain, American soldier and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Vic Morrow, American actor and director (d. 1982)
    • 1931 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2006)
    • 1931 – Brian Kelly, American actor and director (d. 2005)
    • 1932 – Harriet Andersson, Swedish actress
    • 1934 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, Scottish academic and diplomat, 27th Governor of Hong Kong
    • 1936 – Anna German, Polish singer (d. 1982)
    • 1937 – John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, English politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1937 – Magic Sam, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969)
    • 1939 – Razzy Bailey, American country music singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1939 – Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – James Maynard, American businessman, co-founded Golden Corral
    • 1941 – Donna Shalala, American academic and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
    • 1941 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1942 – Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City
    • 1942 – Andrew Robinson, American actor and director
    • 1942 – Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican race car driver (d. 1962)
    • 1943 – Eric Andersen, American singer-songwriter
    • 1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist
    • 1943 – Aaron Russo, American director and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author
    • 1944 – Alan Parker, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Ronnie Peterson, Swedish race car driver (d. 1978)
    • 1945 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
    • 1945 – Rod Masterson, American lieutenant and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauru politician, President of Nauru (d. 2003)
    • 1946 – Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003)
    • 1947 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
    • 1947 – Judd Gregg, American lawyer and politician, 76th Governor of New Hampshire
    • 1948 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American actress and dancer
    • 1948 – Pat O’Brien, American journalist and author
    • 1948 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1948 – Teller, American magician and actor
    • 1950 – Roger Fisher, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1951 – Terry Gross, American radio host and producer
    • 1951 – Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager
    • 1952 – Sushma Swaraj, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (d. 2019)
    • 1954 – Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (d. 2013)
    • 1955 – Carol Kalish, American publisher (d. 1991)
    • 1956 – Howard Davis Jr., American boxer and trainer (d. 2015)
    • 1956 – Dave Dravecky, American baseball player
    • 1956 – Katharina Fritsch, German sculptor and academic
    • 1957 – Alan Hunter, American television host and actor
    • 1957 – Soile Isokoski, Finnish soprano and actress
    • 1957 – Alan Smith, English bishop
    • 1958 – Grant Thomas, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1959 – Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress
    • 1960 – Philip Jones, English admiral
    • 1960 – Jim Kelly, American football player and businessman
    • 1960 – Meg Tilly, American actress and author
    • 1963 – Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor, director, and producer
    • 1963 – John Marzano, American baseball player (d. 2008)
    • 1964 – Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Petr Svoboda, Czech ice hockey player and agent
    • 1967 – Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Greek-English businessman, founded easyJet
    • 1967 – Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian-Swiss tennis player
    • 1967 – Mark Rutte, Dutch businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    • 1968 – Jules Asner, American model and television host
    • 1968 – Chris Lewis, Guyanese-English cricketer
    • 1968 – Scott McClellan, American civil servant and author, 25th White House Press Secretary
    • 1969 – Meg Hillier, English journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
    • 1970 – Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist
    • 1970 – Sean Hill, American ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Simon Pegg, English actor, director, and producer
    • 1971 – Kris Aquino, Filipino talk show host, actress, and producer
    • 1971 – Gheorghe Mureșan, Romanian basketball player
    • 1972 – Drew Bledsoe, American football player and coach
    • 1972 – Musōyama Masashi, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1972 – Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress and singer
    • 1972 – Jaan Tallinn, Estonian computer programmer, co-developed Skype
    • 1972 – Rob Thomas, American singer-songwriter
    • 1973 – H. D. Ackerman, South African cricketer
    • 1973 – Tyus Edney, American basketball player and coach
    • 1973 – Steve McNair, American football player (d. 2009)
    • 1973 – Annalisa Buffa, Italian mathematician
    • 1974 – Valentina Vezzali, Italian fencer and politician
    • 1976 – Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer-songwriter
    • 1976 – Rie Rasmussen, Danish model, film director, writer, photographer, and actress
    • 1977 – Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist
    • 1977 – Jim Jefferies, Australian comedian and actor
    • 1977 – Darren Purse, English footballer
    • 1977 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (d. 2007)
    • 1977 – Anna Erschler, Russian mathematician
    • 1977 – Robert J. Jackson Jr., American law professor
    • 1978 – Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
    • 1978 – Darius Songaila, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1980 – Josh Senter, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress and producer
    • 1981 – Matteo Brighi, Italian footballer
    • 1981 – Randy de Puniet, French motorcycle racer
    • 1981 – Brad Halsey, American baseball player (d. 2014)
    • 1982 – Marián Gáborík, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1982 – John Halls, English footballer and model
    • 1982 – Lenka Tvarošková, Slovak tennis player
    • 1983 – Callix Crabbe, Virgin Islander baseball player
    • 1983 – Rocky Elsom, Australian rugby player
    • 1983 – Bacary Sagna, French footballer
    • 1985 – Karima Adebibe, English model and actress
    • 1985 – Tyler Clippard, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Heart Evangelista, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1985 – Philippe Senderos, Swiss international footballer, centre back
    • 1985 – Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress
    • 1986 – Michael Ammermüller, German race car driver
    • 1986 – Oliver Lee, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1986 – Gao Lin, Chinese footballer
    • 1987 – Edinson Cavani, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1987 – Tom Pyatt, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – David Wheater, English footballer
    • 1988 – Katie Boland, Canadian actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1988 – Ángel Di María, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Siim Liivik, Estonian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Asia Nitollano, American singer and dancer
    • 1989 – Néstor Calderón, Mexican footballer
    • 1989 – Adam Matuszczyk, Polish footballer
    • 1989 – Emma Miskew, Canadian curler
    • 1989 – Brandon Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Jurij Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
    • 1989 – Kristian Thomas, English gymnast
    • 1990 – Sefa Yılmaz, German-Turkish footballer
    • 1991 – Daniela Mona Lambin, Estonian footballer
    • 1991 – Chris Rowney, English footballer
    • 1992 – Christian Eriksen, Danish footballer
    • 1992 – Freddie Highmore, English actor
    • 1996 – Lucas Hernandez, French footballer

    Deaths on February 14

    • 869 – Cyril, Greek missionary bishop (b. 827)
    • 945 – Lian Chongyu, Chinese general
    • 945 – Zhu Wenjin, Chinese emperor
    • 1009 – Bruno of Querfurt, German missionary bishop
    • 1010 – Fujiwara no Korechika, Japanese nobleman (b. 974)
    • 1140 – Leo I, Armenian prince
    • 1140 – Sobĕslav I, duke of Bohemia
    • 1164 – Sviatoslav Olgovich, Kievan prince
    • 1229 – Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, king of the Isles
    • 1317 – Margaret of France, queen of England
    • 1400 – Richard II, king of England (b. 1367)
    • 1440 – Dietrich of Oldenburg, German nobleman
    • 1489 – Nicolaus von Tüngen, prince-bishop of Warmia
    • 1528 – Edzard I, German nobleman (b. 1462)
    • 1549 – Il Sodoma, Italian painter (b. 1477)
    • 1571 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal (b. 1517)
    • 1676 – Abraham Bosse, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1602)
    • 1714 – Maria Luisa of Savoy, queen of Spain (b. 1688)
    • 1737 – Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, English lawyer and politician Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
    • 1744 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (b. 1682)
    • 1779 – James Cook, English captain, cartographer, and explorer (b. 1728)
    • 1780 – William Blackstone, English jurist and politician (b. 1723)
    • 1782 – Singu Min, Burmese king (b. 1756)
    • 1808 – John Dickinson, American lawyer and politician 5th Governor of Delaware (b. 1732)
    • 1831 – Vicente Guerrero, Mexican general and politician, 2nd President of Mexico (b. 1782)
    • 1831 – Henry Maudslay, English engineer (b. 1771)
    • 1870 – St. John Richardson Liddell, American general (b. 1815)
    • 1881 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1812)
    • 1884 – Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (b. 1813)
    • 1885 – Jules Vallès, French journalist and author (b. 1832)
    • 1891 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (b. 1820)
    • 1894 – Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (b. 1814)
    • 1901 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1819)
    • 1910 – Giovanni Passannante, Italian anarchist (b. 1849)
    • 1922 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1929 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and lawyer (b. 1875)
    • 1930 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1853)
    • 1933 – Carl Correns, German botanist and geneticist (b. 1864)
    • 1942 – Adnan Saidi, Malayan lieutenant (b. 1915)
    • 1943 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (b. 1899)
    • 1943 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1862)
    • 1948 – Mordecai Brown, American baseball player and manager (b. 1876)
    • 1949 – Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi politician (b. 1901)
    • 1950 – Karl Guthe Jansky, American physicist and engineer (b. 1905)
    • 1952 – Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
    • 1958 – Abdur Rab Nishtar, Pakistani politician, 2nd Governor of Punjab (b. 1899)
    • 1959 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (b. 1898)
    • 1967 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
    • 1969 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
    • 1970 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (b. 1880)
    • 1974 – Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer and coach (b. 1903)
    • 1975 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1887)
    • 1975 – P. G. Wodehouse, English novelist and playwright (b. 1881)
    • 1979 – Adolph Dubs, American lieutenant and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (b. 1920)
    • 1983 – Lina Radke, German runner and coach (b. 1903)
    • 1986 – Edmund Rubbra, English composer and conductor (b. 1901)
    • 1987 – Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1904)
    • 1988 – Frederick Loewe, German-American composer (b. 1901)
    • 1989 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (b. 1900)
    • 1989 – Vincent Crane, English pianist (b. 1943)
    • 1994 – Andrei Chikatilo, Soviet serial killer (b. 1936)
    • 1994 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (b. 1932)
    • 1995 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor and playwright (b. 1923)
    • 1995 – U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1907)
    • 1996 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (b. 1919)
    • 1999 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer and politician, 12th White House Counsel (b. 1925)
    • 1999 – Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
    • 2002 – Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Mick Tucker, English drummer (b. 1947)
    • 2003 – Johnny Longden, English jockey and trainer (b. 1907)
    • 2004 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)
    • 2005 – Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1944; assassinated)
    • 2006 – Lynden David Hall, English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1974)
    • 2007 – Ryan Larkin, Canadian animator and director (b. 1943)
    • 2007 – Gareth Morris, English flute player and educator (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Bernard Ashley, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Laura Ashley plc (b. 1926)
    • 2009 – Louie Bellson, American drummer and composer (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Doug Fieger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
    • 2010 – Dick Francis, Welsh jockey and author (b. 1920)
    • 2010 – Linnart Mäll, Estonian historian, orientalist, and translator (b. 1938)
    • 2011 – George Shearing, English-American pianist and composer (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Mike Bernardo, South African boxer and martial artist (b. 1969)
    • 2012 – Tonmi Lillman, Finnish drummer and producer (b. 1973)
    • 2012 – Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Péter Rusorán, Hungarian swimmer, water polo player, and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Glenn Boyer, American historian and author (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Tom Finney, English footballer (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Chris Pearson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Yukon (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Alaska Territory (b. 1919)
    • 2015 – Louis Jourdan, French-American actor and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Philip Levine, American poet and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English lieutenant, engineer, and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Steven Stucky, American composer and academic (b. 1949)
    • 2018 – Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician and diplomat, Prime Minister and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1939)
    • 2018 – Morgan Tsvangirai, 2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (b. 1952).

    Holidays and observances on February 14

    • Christian feast day:
      • Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Manchan
      • Valentine (Valentine’s Day)
      • February 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Statehood Day (Arizona, United States)
    • Statehood Day (Oregon, United States)
    • Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church)
    • Parents’ Worship Day (parts of India)

  • February 13 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    February 13 in History

    • 951 – Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou.
    • 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
    • 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
    • 1462 – The Treaty of Westminster is finalised between Edward IV of England and the Scottish Lord of the Isles.
    • 1503 – Challenge of Barletta: Tournament between 13 Italian and 13 French knights near Barletta.
    • 1542 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
    • 1633 – Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.
    • 1660 – With the accession of young Charles XI of Sweden, his regents begin negotiations to end the Second Northern War.
    • 1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.
    • 1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: Almost 80 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.
    • 1726 – Parliament of Negrete between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile bring an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26.
    • 1755 – Treaty of Giyanti signed by VOC, Pakubuwono III and Prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divides the Javanese kingdom of Mataram into 2: Sunanate of Surakarta and Sultanate of Yogyakarta.
    • 1849 – The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized.
    • 1861 – Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
    • 1867 – Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels’s primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.
    • 1880 – Thomas Edison observes Thermionic emission.
    • 1913 – The 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibetan independence following a period of domination by Manchu Qing dynasty and initiated a period of almost four decades of independence.
    • 1914 – Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
    • 1920 – The Negro National League is formed.
    • 1931 – The British Raj completes its transfer from Calcutta to New Delhi.
    • 1935 – A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.
    • 1945 – World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.
    • 1945 – World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the “high-water mark” of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.
    • 1954 – Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game.
    • 1955 – Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
    • 1960 – With the success of a nuclear test codenamed “Gerboise Bleue”, France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.
    • 1960 – Black college students stage the first of the Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.
    • 1961 – An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug.
    • 1967 – American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.
    • 1975 – Fire at One World Trade Center (North Tower) of the World Trade Center in New York.
    • 1978 – Hilton bombing: a bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.
    • 1979 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a ​1⁄2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
    • 1981 – A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.
    • 1983 – A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people.
    • 1984 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
    • 1990 – German reunification: An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided “smart bombs” destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.
    • 1996 – The Nepalese Civil War is initiated in the Kingdom of Nepal by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre).
    • 1999 – The last hockey game is played in Maple Leaf Gardens: the Toronto Maple Leafs lose 6–2 to the Chicago Blackhawks.
    • 2001 – An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter magnitude scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 944.
    • 2004 – The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe’s largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star “Lucy” after The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.
    • 2007 – Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.
    • 2008 – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.
    • 2010 – A bomb explodes in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, killing 17 and injuring 60 more.
    • 2011 – For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.
    • 2012 – The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the first launch of the European Vega rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
    • 2017 – Kim Jong-nam, brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, is assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

    Births on February 13

    • 1440 – Hartmann Schedel, German physician (d. 1514)
    • 1457 – Mary of Burgundy, Sovereign Duchess regnant of Burgundy, married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1482)
    • 1469 – Elia Levita, Renaissance Hebrew grammarian (d. 1549)
    • 1480 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (d. 1542)
    • 1523 – Valentin Naboth, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1593)
    • 1539 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine (d. 1582)
    • 1569 – Johann Reinhard I, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1625)
    • 1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)
    • 1602 – William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1637)
    • 1672 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (d. 1731)
    • 1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)
    • 1719 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician (d. 1792)
    • 1721 – John Reid, Scottish general (d. 1807)
    • 1728 – John Hunter, Scottish surgeon and anatomist (d. 1793)
    • 1766 – Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist and scholar (d. 1834)
    • 1768 – Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (d. 1835)
    • 1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1844)
    • 1805 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (d. 1859)
    • 1811 – François Achille Bazaine, French general (d. 1888)
    • 1815 – Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American anthologist, editor, poet and critic (d. 1857)
    • 1831 – John Aaron Rawlins, American general and politician, 29th United States Secretary of War (d. 1869)
    • 1834 – Heinrich Caro, Sephardic Jewish Polish-German chemist and academic (d. 1910)
    • 1835 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader (d. 1908)
    • 1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1895)
    • 1855 – Paul Deschanel, Belgian-French politician, 11th President of France (d. 1922)
    • 1863 – Hugo Becker, German cellist and composer (d. 1941)
    • 1867 – Harold Mahony, Scottish-Irish tennis player (d. 1905)
    • 1870 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1938)
    • 1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – Fritz Buelow, German-American baseball player and umpire (d. 1933)
    • 1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (d. 1949)
    • 1880 – Dimitrie Gusti, Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1955)
    • 1881 – Eleanor Farjeon, Jewish-English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1965)
    • 1883 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
    • 1883 – Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Russian-Armenian actor and director (d. 1922)
    • 1884 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (d. 1961)
    • 1885 – Bess Truman, American wife of Harry S. Truman, 35th First Lady of the United States (d. 1982)
    • 1887 – Géza Csáth, Hungarian playwright and critic (d. 1919)
    • 1888 – Georgios Papandreou, Greek lawyer, economist, and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
    • 1889 – Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and director (d. 1974)
    • 1891 – Kate Roberts, Welsh author and activist (d. 1985)
    • 1891 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (d. 1942)
    • 1892 – Robert H. Jackson, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 57th United States Attorney General (d. 1954)
    • 1898 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (d. 1979)
    • 1900 – Barbara von Annenkoff, Russian-born German film and stage actress (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Paul Lazarsfeld, Austrian-American sociologist and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1902 – Harold Lasswell, American political scientist and theorist (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Georgy Beriev, Georgian-Russian engineer, founded the Beriev Aircraft Company (d. 1979)
    • 1903 – Georges Simenon, Belgian-Swiss author (d. 1989)
    • 1906 – Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher and author (d. 1994)
    • 1907 – Katy de la Cruz, Filipino-American singer and actress (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – William Shockley, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
    • 1911 – Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Indian-Pakistani poet and journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1911 – Jean Muir, American actress and educator (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – Harald Riipalu, Russian-Estonian commander (d. 1961)
    • 1912 – Margaretta Scott, English actress (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Khalid of Saudi Arabia (d. 1982)
    • 1915 – Lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – Aung San, Burmese general and politician, 5th Premier of British Crown Colony of Burma (d. 1947)
    • 1916 – Dorothy Bliss, American invertebrate zoologist (d. 1987)
    • 1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer and actor (d. 1991)
    • 1919 – Eddie Robinson, American football player and coach (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)
    • 1920 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Jeanne Demessieux, French pianist and composer (d. 1968)
    • 1921 – Aung Khin, Burmese painter (d. 1996)
    • 1922 – Francis Pym, Baron Pym, Welsh soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – Gordon Tullock, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American soldier, judge, and politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2002)
    • 1923 – Chuck Yeager, American general and pilot; first test pilot to break the sound barrier
    • 1924 – Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist and politician (d. 2006)
    • 1926 – Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, American nuclear physicist (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Gerald Regan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian commander and politician, Military Leader of Panama (d. 1981)
    • 1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Israel Kirzner, English-American economist, author, and academic
    • 1932 – Susan Oliver, American actress (d. 1990)
    • 1933 – Paul Biya, Cameroon politician, 2nd President of Cameroon
    • 1933 – Kim Novak, American actress
    • 1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer (d. 2019)
    • 1934 – George Segal, American actor
    • 1937 – Ali El-Maak, Sudanese author and academic (d. 1992)
    • 1937 – Angelo Mosca, American-Canadian football player and wrestler
    • 1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)
    • 1940 – Bram Peper, Dutch sociologist and politician, Mayor of Rotterdam
    • 1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter and photographer (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Bo Svenson, Swedish-American actor, director, and producer
    • 1942 – Carol Lynley, American model and actress (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Peter Tork, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Donald E. Williams, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2016)
    • 1943 – Elaine Pagels, American theologian and academic
    • 1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress
    • 1944 – Jerry Springer, English-American television host, actor, and politician, 56th Mayor of Cincinnati
    • 1945 – Marian Dawkins, English biologist and academic
    • 1945 – King Floyd, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1945 – Simon Schama, English historian and author
    • 1945 – William Sleator, American author and composer (d. 2011)
    • 1946 – Richard Blumenthal, American sergeant and politician, 23rd Attorney General of Connecticut
    • 1946 – Janet Finch, English sociologist and academic
    • 1946 – Colin Matthews, English composer and educator
    • 1947 – Stephen Hadley, American soldier and diplomat, 21st United States National Security Advisor
    • 1947 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach
    • 1947 – Bogdan Tanjević, Montenegrin-Bosnian professional basketball coach
    • 1947 – Kevin Bloody Wilson, Australian comedian, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
    • 1949 – Peter Kern, Austrian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1950 – Vera Baird, English lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Peter Gabriel, English singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1952 – Ed Gagliardi, American bass player (d. 2014)
    • 1953 – Akio Sato, Japanese wrestler and manager
    • 1954 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (d. 1989)
    • 1955 – Joe Birkett, American lawyer, judge, and politician
    • 1956 – Peter Hook, English singer, songwriter, bass player, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer
    • 1957 – Denise Austin, American fitness trainer and author
    • 1958 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress
    • 1958 – Marc Emery, Canadian publisher and activist
    • 1958 – Jean-François Lisée, Canadian journalist and politician
    • 1958 – Derek Riggs, English painter and illustrator
    • 1958 – Øivind Elgenes, Norwegian vocalist, guitarist and composer
    • 1959 – Gaston Gingras, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1960 – Pierluigi Collina, Italian footballer and referee
    • 1960 – John Healey, English journalist and politician
    • 1960 – Gary Patterson, American football player and coach
    • 1960 – Artur Yusupov, Russian-German chess player and author
    • 1961 – Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – cEvin Key, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1961 – Henry Rollins, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1962 – Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Puerto Rican lawyer and politician
    • 1962 – Baby Doll, American wrestler and manager
    • 1962 – Michele Greene, American actress
    • 1964 – Stephen Bowen, American engineer, captain, and astronaut
    • 1964 – Ylva Johansson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Employment
    • 1965 – Peter O’Neill, Papua New Guinean accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
    • 1966 – Neal McDonough, American actor and producer
    • 1966 – Jeff Waters, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1966 – Freedom Williams, American rapper and singer
    • 1967 – Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer and coach
    • 1968 – Kelly Hu, American actress
    • 1969 – Joyce DiDonato, American soprano and actress
    • 1970 – Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1971 – Sonia Evans, English singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1971 – Todd Williams, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuanian discus thrower
    • 1972 – Charlie Garner, American football player
    • 1974 – Fonzworth Bentley, American rapper and actor
    • 1974 – Robbie Williams, English singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Ben Collins, English race car driver
    • 1975 – Katie Hopkins, English media personality and columnist
    • 1976 – Jörg Bergmeister, German race car driver
    • 1976 – Shannon Nevin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1977 – Randy Moss, American football player and coach
    • 1978 – Niklas Bäckström, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Philippe Jaroussky, French countertenor
    • 1979 – Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian murderer
    • 1979 – Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer
    • 1979 – Rachel Reeves, English economist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
    • 1979 – Mena Suvari, American actress and fashion designer
    • 1980 – Carlos Cotto, Puerto Rican-American wrestler and boxer
    • 1981 – Luisão, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Even Helte Hermansen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
    • 1982 – Michael Turner, American football player
    • 1983 – Mike Nickeas, Canadian baseball player
    • 1983 – Anna Watkins, English rower
    • 1984 – Hinkelien Schreuder, Dutch swimmer
    • 1985 – Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress
    • 1986 – Luke Moore, English footballer
    • 1986 – Aqib Talib, American football player
    • 1987 – Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer
    • 1988 – Ryan Goins, American baseball player
    • 1988 – Eddy Pettybourne, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
    • 1989 – Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian footballer
    • 1991 – Eliaquim Mangala, French footballer
    • 1991 – Junior Roqica, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
    • 1991 – Vianney, French singer
    • 1994 – Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on February 13

    • 106 – Emperor He of Han (Han Hedi) of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty (b. AD 79)
    • 721 – Chilperic II, Frankish king (b. 672)
    • 858 – Kenneth MacAlpin, Scottish king (probable; b. 810)
    • 921 – Vratislaus I, duke of Bohemia
    • 936 – Xiao Wen, empress of the Liao Dynasty
    • 942 – Muhammad ibn Ra’iq, Abbasid emir and regent
    • 988 – Adalbert Atto, Lombard nobleman
    • 1021 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 985)
    • 1130 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1060
    • 1141 – Béla II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1110)
    • 1199 – Stefan Nemanja, Serbian grand prince (b. 1113)
    • 1219 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shōgun (b. 1192)
    • 1332 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1259)
    • 1351 – Kō no Morofuyu, Japanese general
    • 1539 – Isabella d’Este, Italian noblewoman (b. 1474)
    • 1542 – Catherine Howard, English wife of Henry VIII of England (executed;b. 1521)
    • 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1500)
    • 1585 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish priest and scholar (b. 1515)
    • 1602 – Alexander Nowell, English clergyman and theologian (b. 1507)
    • 1660 – Charles X Gustav, king of Sweden (b. 1622)
    • 1662 – Elizabeth Stuart, queen of Bohemia (b. 1596)
    • 1693 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (b. 1627)
    • 1727 – William Wotton, English linguist and scholar (b. 1666)
    • 1728 – Cotton Mather, American minister and author (b. 1663)
    • 1732 – Charles-René d’Hozier, French historian and author (b. 1640)
    • 1741 – Johann Joseph Fux, Austrian composer and theorist (b. 1660)
    • 1787 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1711)
    • 1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French lawyer and politician, Foreign Minister of France (b. 1717)
    • 1813 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1725)
    • 1818 – George Rogers Clark, American general (b. 1752)
    • 1826 – Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Russian general and politician, Governor-General of Baltic provinces (b. 1745)
    • 1831 – Edward Berry, English admiral (b. 1768)
    • 1837 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1809)
    • 1845 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-German philosopher and poet (b. 1773)
    • 1877 – Costache Caragiale, Romanian actor and manager (b. 1815)
    • 1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)
    • 1888 – Jean-Baptiste Lamy, French-American archbishop (b. 1814)
    • 1892 – Provo Wallis, Canadian-English admiral (b. 1791)
    • 1893 – Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Mexican intellectual and journalist (b. 1834)
    • 1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)
    • 1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)
    • 1934 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (b. 1864)
    • 1942 – Otakar Batlička, Czech journalist (b. 1895)
    • 1942 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian lawyer, judge, and politician, 11th President of Brazil (b. 1865)
    • 1950 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian-English novelist and short story writer (b. 1875)
    • 1951 – Lloyd C. Douglas, American minister and author (b. 1877)
    • 1952 – Josephine Tey, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1896)
    • 1954 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1956 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish mathematician and philosopher (b. 1878)
    • 1958 – Christabel Pankhurst, English activist, co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (b. 1880)
    • 1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (b. 1871)
    • 1964 – Paulino Alcántara, Filipino-Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1896)
    • 1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (b. 1902)
    • 1967 – Yoshisuke Aikawa, entrepreneur, businessman, and politician, founded Nissan Motor Company (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Abelardo L. Rodríguez, substitute president of Mexico (1932-1934) (b. 1889)
    • 1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)
    • 1968 – Portia White, Canadian opera singer (b. 1911)
    • 1973 – Marinus Jan Granpré Molière, Dutch architect and educator (b. 1883)
    • 1975 – André Beaufre, French general (b. 1902)
    • 1976 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian general and politician, 4th President of Nigeria (b. 1938)
    • 1976 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (b. 1904)
    • 1980 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
    • 1984 – Cheong Eak Chong, Singaporean entrepreneur (b. 1888)
    • 1986 – Yuri Ivask, Russian-American poet and critic (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – Wayne Hays, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1991 – Arno Breker, German sculptor and illustrator (b. 1900)
    • 1992 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and physicist (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 1997 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Mark Krasnosel’skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – Anders Aalborg, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1914)
    • 2000 – James Cooke Brown, American sociologist and author (b. 1921)
    • 2000 – John Leake, English soldier (b. 1949)
    • 2002 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)
    • 2003 – Kid Gavilán, Cuban-American boxer (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Walt Whitman Rostow, American economist; 7th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – François Tavenas, Canadian engineer and academic (b. 1942)
    • 2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Chechen politician, 2nd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1952)
    • 2005 – Nelson Briles, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1943)
    • 2005 – Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun (b. 1907)
    • 2006 – P. F. Strawson, English philosopher and author (b. 1919)
    • 2007 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2007 – Charlie Norwood, American captain and politician (b. 1941)
    • 2007 – Richard Gordon Wakeford, English air marshal (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
    • 2009 – Edward Upward, English author and educator (b. 1903)
    • 2010 – Lucille Clifton, American poet and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2010 – Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Louise Cochrane, American-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Daniel C. Gerould, American playwright and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Gerry Day, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Miles J. Jones, American pathologist and physician (b. 1952)
    • 2013 – Pieter Kooijmans, Dutch judge and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for The Netherlands (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Andrée Malebranche, Haitian artist (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Yuko Tojo, Japanese activist and politician (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Richard Møller Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Ralph Waite, American actor and activist (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Faith Bandler, Australian activist and author (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Stan Chambers, American journalist and actor (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – O. N. V. Kurup, Indian poet and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1936)
    • 2017 – Ricardo Arias Calderón, Panamanian politician, Vice President (1990–1992) (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Aileen Hernandez, American union organizer and activist (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Seijun Suzuki, Japanese filmmaker (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Kim Jong-nam, North Korean politician (b. 1971)
    • 2017 – E-Dubble, American rapper (b. 1982)
    • 2018 – Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, French-born Danish royal (b. 1934)

    Holidays and observances on February 13

    • Children’s Day (Myanmar)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Absalom Jones (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Beatrice of Ornacieux
      • Castor of Karden
      • Catherine of Ricci
      • Ermenilda of Ely
      • Fulcran
      • Jordan of Saxony
      • Polyeuctus (Roman Catholic Church)
      • February 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • World Radio Day