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
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 – 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)
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
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.
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)
1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George’s (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
1798 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
1813 – Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.
1816 – Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
1835 – The 1835 Concepción earthquake destroys Concepción, Chile.
1846 – Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Olustee: The largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
1865 – End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
1877 – Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
1901 – The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
1909 – Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
1913 – King O’Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
1920 – An earthquake kills between 114 and 130 in Georgia and heavily damages the town of Gori.
1931 – The U.S. Congress approves the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.
1933 – The U.S. Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval.
1933 – Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party’s upcoming election campaign.
1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
1942 – Lieutenant Edward O’Hare becomes America’s first World War II flying ace.
1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
1944 – World War II: The “Big Week” began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
1952 – Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
1956 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.
1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
1971 – The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
1979 – An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.
1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
1991 – In the Albanian capital Tirana, a gigantic statue of Albania’s long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down by mobs of angry protesters.
1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
2009 – Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.
2010 – In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago.
2014 – Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters died in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, many reportedly killed by snipers.
2015 – Two trains collide in the Swiss town of Rafz resulting in as many as 49 people injured and Swiss Federal Railways cancelling some services.
2016 – Six people are killed and two injured in multiple shooting incidents in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.
Births on February 20
1358 – Eleanor of Aragon, queen of John I of Castile (d. 1382)
1469 – Thomas Cajetan, Italian philosopher (d. 1534)
1523 – Jan Blahoslav, Czech writer (d. 1571)
1549 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, last Duke of Urbino (d. 1631)
1552 – Sengoku Hidehisa, Daimyō (d. 1614)
1608 – Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (d. 1649)
1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1712)
1633 – Jan de Baen, Dutch painter (d. 1702)
1705 – Nicolas Chédeville, French musette player and composer (d. 1782)
1726 – William Prescott, American colonel (d. 1795)
1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet and politician (d. 1813)
1751 – Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (d. 1826)
1753 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1815)
1759 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician, physiologist, and anatomist (d. 1813)
1774 – Vicente Sebastián Pintado, Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida (d. 1829)
1784 – Judith Montefiore, British linguist, travel writer, philanthropist (d. 1862)
1792 – Eliza Courtney, French daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1859)
1794 – William Carleton, Irish author (d. 1869)
1802 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1870)
1819 – Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician (d. 1882)
1839 – Benjamin Waugh, English activist, founded the NSPCC (d. 1908)
1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1906)
1844 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian sailor and adventurer (d. 1909)
1848 – E. H. Harriman, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1909)
1857 – A. P. Lucas, English cricketer (d. 1923)
1866 – Carl Westman, Swedish architect, designed the Stockholm Court House and Röhsska Museum (d. 1936)
1867 – Louise, Princess Royal of England (d. 1931)
1870 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (d. 1937)
1874 – Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (d. 1967)
1879 – Hod Stuart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1907)
1880 – Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen, French author and poet (d. 1923)
1882 – Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (d. 1946)
1887 – Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
1888 – Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (d. 1948)
1889 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and physician (d. 1948)
1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1993)
1895 – Louis Zborowski, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1924)
1897 – Ivan Albright, American painter (d. 1983)
1898 – Ante Ciliga, Croatian politician, writer and publisher (d. 1992)
1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1992)
1901 – René Dubos, French-American biologist and author (d. 1982)
1901 – Louis Kahn, American architect, designed the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Bangladesh Parliament Building (d. 1974)
1901 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (d. 1984)
1901 – Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (d. 1978)
1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (d. 1984)
1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
1906 – Gale Gordon, American actor (d. 1995)
1912 – Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (d. 1994)
1912 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War (d. 2006)
1913 – Tommy Henrich, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
1914 – John Charles Daly, South African–American journalist and game show host (d. 1991)
1916 – Jean Erdman, American dancer and choreographer
1918 – Leonore Annenberg, American businesswoman and diplomat (d. 2009)
1919 – James O’Meara, English soldier and pilot (d. 1974)
1920 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (d. 2014)
1921 – Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (d. 1992)
1923 – Victor G. Atiyeh, American businessman and politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (d. 2014)
1923 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Guyana (d. 1985)
1923 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress (d. 2004)
1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American actress, fashion designer, and socialite (d. 2019)
1925 – Robert Altman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1925 – Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (d. 1990)
1926 – Matthew Bucksbaum, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded General Growth Properties (d. 2013)
1926 – Gillian Lynne, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2018)
1926 – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1926 – Bob Richards, American Olympic track and field athlete
1926 – María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, Spanish Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1998)
1927 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer and political activist (d. 1986)
1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer and musician (d. 2005)
1927 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat
1928 – Roy Face, American baseball player and carpenter
1928 – Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland
1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
1931 – John Milnor, American mathematician and academic
1932 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino journalist and author (d. 2007)
1934 – Bobby Unser, American race car driver
1935 – Ellen Gilchrist, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
1936 – Marj Dusay, American actress (d. 2020)
1936 – Larry Hovis, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
1937 – David Ackles, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
1937 – Robert Huber, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Roger Penske, American race car driver and businessman
1937 – Robert Evans, Australian minister and amateur astronomer
1937 – Nancy Wilson, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
1938 – Richard Beymer, American actor, director, and cinematographer
1940 – Jimmy Greaves, English international footballer, forward and TV pundit
1941 – Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian lawyer and politician
1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1942 – Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1942 – Mitch McConnell, American lawyer, and politician
1942 – Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1943 – Antonio Inoki, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and politician
1943 – Mike Leigh, English director and screenwriter
1944 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian economist and politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1999)
1944 – Lew Soloff, American trumpet player, composer, and actor (d. 2015)
1944 – Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
1945 – Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)
1946 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
1946 – Sandy Duncan, American actress, singer, and dancer
1946 – J. Geils, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1947 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
1947 – Peter Strauss, American actor and producer
1948 – Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1948 – Jennifer O’Neill, American model and actress
1949 – Eddie Hemmings, English cricketer
1949 – Ivana Trump, Czech-American socialite and model
1950 – Walter Becker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
1950 – Peter Marinello, Scottish footballer, forward
1950 – Tony Wilson, English journalist and businessman (d. 2007)
1951 – Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
1951 – Gordon Brown, Scottish historian and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1951 – Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
1951 – Phil Neal, English footballer and manager
1953 – Poison Ivy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1954 – Jon Brant, American bass player
1954 – Anthony Head, English actor
1954 – Patty Hearst, American actress and author
1957 – Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)
1959 – David Corn, American journalist and author
1959 – Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
1960 – Joel Hodgson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1960 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas, Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (d. 2014)
1961 – Steve Lundquist, American swimmer
1962 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author, screenwriter, and producer, co-founded Milestone Media (d. 2011)
1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player and sportscaster
1963 – Ian Brown, English singer-songwriter and musician
1963 – Joakim Nystrom, Swedish tennis player
1963 – Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Health
1963 – Cui Yongyuan, Chinese former anchor
1964 – Willie Garson, American actor and director
1964 – Tom Harris, Scottish journalist and politician
1964 – Jeff Maggert, American golfer
1964 – French Stewart, American actor
1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model and businesswoman
1967 – Paul Accola, Swiss alpine skier
1967 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)
1967 – David Herman, American comedian and actor
1967 – Andrew Shue, American actor and activist, founded Do Something
1967 – Lili Taylor, American actress
1967 – Tom Waddle, American football player and sportscaster
1969 – Kjell Ove Hauge, Norwegian school principal and track and field athlete
1969 – Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer and manager
1969 – Danis Tanović, Bosnian director and screenwriter
1971 – Calpernia Addams, American actress, author, and activist
1971 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
1971 – Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby player (d. 2017)
1972 – Neil Primrose, Scottish drummer
1974 – Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer and manager
1975 – Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
1975 – Brian Littrell, American singer-songwriter and actor
1975 – Niclas Wallin, Swedish ice hockey player
1977 – Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
1977 – Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
1978 – Lauren Ambrose, American actress and producer
1980 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
1980 – Luis Gabriel Rey, Colombian footballer
1981 – Tony Hibbert, English footballer
1981 – Fred Jackson, American football player
1982 – Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
1983 – Jose Morales, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
1983 – Justin Verlander, American baseball player
1984 – Brian McCann, American baseball player
1984 – Trevor Noah, South African comedian, actor, and television host
1984 – Ramzee Robinson, American football player
1985 – Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
1985 – Julia Volkova, Russian singer and actress
1985 – TJ Kirk, American YouTube personality and podcast host
1987 – Luke Burgess, English rugby league player
1987 – Miles Teller, American actor
1988 – Kealoha Pilares, American football player
1988 – Ki Bo-bae, South Korean archer
1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian-American singer-songwriter and actress
1988 – Jiah Khan, Indian singer and actress (d. 2013)
1989 – Daly Cherry-Evans, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer
1991 – Hidilyn Diaz, Filipino weightlifter
1991 – Giovanni Kyeremateng, Italian footballer
1991 – Angelique van der Meet, Dutch tennis player
1991 – Antonio Pedroza, English-Mexican footballer
1991 – Jocelyn Rae, English-Scottish tennis player
1992 – Kyle Turner, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Elseid Hysaj, Albanian footballer
Deaths on February 20
789 – Leo of Catania, saint and bishop of Catania (b. 709)
922 – Theodora, Byzantine empress
1054 – Yaroslav the Wise, grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kiev (b. 978)
1154 – Saint Wulfric of Haselbury (b. c. 1080)
1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
1194 – Tancred, King of Sicily (b. 1138)
1258 – Al-Musta’sim, Iraqi caliph (b. 1213)
1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
1431 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
1458 – Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia
1513 – King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1455)
1524 – Tecun Uman, Mayan ruler (b. 1500)
1579 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
1626 – John Dowland, English lute player and composer (b. 1563)
1762 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (b. 1723)
1771 – Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist and astronomer (b. 1678)
1773 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
1778 – Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and scholar (b. 1711)
1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
1806 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (b. 1725)
1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean rebel leader (b. 1767)
1850 – Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843–1844) (b. 1794)
1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1850)
1871 – Paul Kane, Irish-Canadian painter (b. 1810)
1893 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (b. 1818)
1895 – Frederick Douglass, American author and activist (b. 1818)
1900 – Washakie, American tribal leader (b. 1798)
1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
1910 – Boutros Ghali, Egyptian educator and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1846)
1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish journalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
1920 – Jacinta Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1910)
1920 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (b. 1856)
1933 – Takiji Kobayashi, Japanese writer (b. 1903)
197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
1594 – Having already been elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, having succeeded his father John III of Sweden in 1592.
1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
1649 – The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil.
1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
1726 – The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.
1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert.
1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands and claims them in the name of King George III.
1836 – King William IV signs Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia.
1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity.
1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1884 – More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
1913 – Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country.
1915 – World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
1937 – Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
1942 – World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 243 people.
1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps.
1943 – World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
1948 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.
1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
1953 – Book censorship in the United States: The Georgia Literature Commission is established.
1954 – Transfer of Crimea: The Soviet Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.
1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
1960 – China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
1965 – Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm, all Catholics, attempt a coup against the military junta of the Buddhist Nguyễn Khánh.
1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald Ford’s Proclamation 4417.
1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave the hospital.
1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in eastern Sri Lanka.
1989 – Flying Tiger Line flight 66 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four.
2002 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
2003 – An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.
2006 – A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.
2011 – The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
2012 – Forty-four people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico.
Births on February 19
1461 – Domenico Grimani, Italian cardinal (d. 1523)
1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
1497 – Matthäus Schwarz, German fashion writer (d. 1574)
1519 – Froben Christoph of Zimmern, German author of the Zimmern Chronicle (d. 1566)
1526 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist and academic (d. 1609)
1532 – Jean-Antoine de Baïf, French poet (d. 1589)
1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (d. 1630)
1594 – Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)
1611 – Andries de Graeff, Dutch politician (d. 1678)
1630 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Indian warrior king and the founder of Maratha Empire
1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
1717 – David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (d. 1779)
1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Premier of Canada West (d. 1862)
1800 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun and social worker, founded the Sisters of Providence (d. 1851)
1804 – Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (d. 1878)
1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (d. 1868)
1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
1838 – Lydia Thompson, British burlesque performer (d. 1908)
1841 – Elfrida Andrée, Swedish organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1929)
1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (d. 1952)
1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (d. 1923)
1872 – Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (d. 1944)
1876 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1957)
1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
1880 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 1942)
1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (d. 1928)
1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (d. 1964)
1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
1896 – André Breton, French poet and author (d. 1966)
1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
1899 – Lucio Fontana, Argentinian-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
1902 – Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1992)
1904 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1964)
1904 – Elisabeth Welch, American-English singer and actress (d. 2003)
1911 – Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)
1912 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer (d. 1997)
1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2007)
1913 – Frank Tashlin, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1972)
1914 – Thelma Kench, New Zealand Olympic sprinter (d. 1985)
1915 – John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (d. 2014)
1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (d. 1997)
1917 – Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist (d. 1967)
1918 – Fay McKenzie, American actress (d. 2019)
1920 – C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (d. 2003)
1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (d. 2007)
1920 – George Rose, English actor and singer (d. 1988)
1922 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player and theoretician (d. 2006)
1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
1926 – György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic
1927 – Philippe Boiry, French journalist (d. 2014)
1929 – Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1930 – John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (d. 2002)
1930 – Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut
1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
1935 – Russ Nixon, American MLB catcher and coach (d. 2016)
1936 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1936 – Frederick Seidel, American poet
1937 – Terry Carr, American author and educator (d. 1987)
1937 – Norm O’Neill, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2008)
1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
1939 – Erin Pizzey, English activist and author, founded Refuge
1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer
1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1941 – David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
1942 – Cyrus Chothia, English biochemist and emeritus scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (d. 2019)
1942 – Paul Krause, American football player and politician
1942 – Howard Stringer, Welsh businessman
1942 – Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
1943 – Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter
1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and engineer
1943 – Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate
1944 – Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman
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)
660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
AD 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
1659 – The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of “gerrymandering” for the first time.
1823 – Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a stampede at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.
1826 – University College London is founded as University of London.
1840 – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
1843 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.
1855 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.
1856 – The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.
1858 – Bernadette Soubirous’s first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France.
1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1873 – King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates.
1889 – Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.
1903 – Anton Bruckner’s 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.
1906 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
1919 – Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
1929 – Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
1937 – The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.
1938 – BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot”.
1942 – World War II: Second day of the Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.
1953 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
1959 – The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
1970 – Japan launches Ohsumi, becoming the fourth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
1971 – Cold War: the Seabed Arms Control Treaty opened for signature outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.
1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing’s world Heavyweight title.
1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
1999 – Pluto crosses Neptune’s orbit, ending a nearly 20-year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune’s orbit again until 2231.
2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
2008 – Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
2011 – Arab Spring: The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 17 days of protests.
2013 – The Vatican confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI would resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.
2014 – A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
2015 – A university student was murdered as she resisted an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.
2016 – A man shoots six people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.
2017 – North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
2018 – Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors.
Births on February 11
1380 – Poggio Bracciolini, Italian scholar and translator (d. 1459)
1466 – Elizabeth of York (d. 1503)
1535 – Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)
1568 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and playwright (d. 1625)
1649 – William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (d. 1715)
1657 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French poet and playwright (d. 1757)
1708 – Egidio Duni, Italian composer (d. 1775)
1764 – Joseph Chénier, French poet and playwright (d. 1811)
1776 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek politician, 1st Governor of Greece (d. 1831)
1800 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (d. 1877)
1802 – Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (d. 1880)
1805 – Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Native American-French Canadian explorer (d. 1866)
1812 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
1813 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (d. 1865)
1821 – Auguste Mariette, French archaeologist and scholar (d. 1881)
1830 – Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Prussian pianist and composer (d. 1913)
1833 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1910)
1839 – Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist (d. 1903)
1845 – Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1936)
1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)
1855 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
1860 – Rachilde, French author and playwright (d. 1953)
1863 – John F. Fitzgerald, American politician; Mayor of Boston (d. 1950)
1864 – Louis Bouveault, French chemist (d. 1909)
1869 – Helene Kröller-Müller, German-Dutch art collector and philanthropist, founded the Kröller-Müller Museum (d. 1939)
1869 – Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and author (d. 1945)
1874 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (d. 1953)
1881 – Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (d. 1966)
1897 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (d.1954)
1898 – Leo Szilard, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (d. 1964)
1900 – Ellen Broe, Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (d. 1994)
1900 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (d. 2002)
1900 – Jōsei Toda, Japanese educator and activist (d. 1958)
1902 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (d. 1971)
1904 – Keith Holyoake, New Zealand farmer and politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1983)
1904 – Lucile Randon, French Supercentenarian
1908 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter (d. 1992)
1908 – Vivian Fuchs, English explorer (d. 1999)
1909 – Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
1909 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1912 – Rudolf Firkušný, Czech-American pianist and educator (d. 1994)
1914 – Matt Dennis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2002)
1914 – Josh White, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
1915 – Patrick Leigh Fermor, English soldier, author, and scholar (d. 2011)
1915 – Richard Hamming, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
1917 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1920 – Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
1920 – Daniel F. Galouye, American author (d. 1976)
1920 – Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
1920 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (d. 1978)
1921 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006)
1921 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (d. 2013)
1923 – Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic (d. 2010)
1924 – Budge Patty, American tennis player
1925 – Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
1925 – Kim Stanley, American actress (d. 2001)
1926 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (d. 2018)
1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)
1930 – Roy De Forest, American painter and academic (d. 2007).
1932 – Dennis Skinner, English miner and politician
1934 – Mel Carnahan, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, Governor of Missouri (d. 2000)
1934 – Tina Louise, American actress and singer
1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military leader of Panama (d. 2017)
1934 – Mary Quant, British fashion designer
1934 – David Taylor, English veterinarian and television host (d. 2013)
1935 – Gene Vincent, American singer and guitarist (d. 1971)
1936 – Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (d. 2018)
1937 – Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA (d. 1990)
1937 – Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1937 – Eddie Shack, Canadian ice hockey player
1937 – Phillip Walker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2010)
1938 – Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2018)
1939 – Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (d. 2014)
1940 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
1941 – Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer
1942 – Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1943 – Joselito, Spanish singer and actor
1943 – Alan Rubin, American trumpet player (d. 2011)
1944 – Mike Oxley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
1944 – Joy Williams, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
1946 – Ian Porterfield, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2007)
1947 – Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese engineer and politician and Prime Minister of Japan
1947 – Derek Shulman, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
1951 – Mike Leavitt, American politician, 14th Governor of Utah
1953 – Philip Anglim, American actor
1953 – Jeb Bush, American banker, politician and Governor of Florida
1953 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (d. 2014)
1954 – Wesley Strick, American director and screenwriter
1956 – Didier Lockwood, French violinist (d. 2018)
1959 – Roberto Moreno, Brazilian race car driver
1960 – Richard Mastracchio, American engineer and astronaut
1962 – Tammy Baldwin, American lawyer and politician
1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Sarah Palin, American journalist, politician and Governor of Alaska
1964 – Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and wrestler
1965 – Vicki Wilson, Australian netball player
1968 – Mo Willems, American author and illustrator
1969 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer
1969 – Andreas Hilfiker, Swiss footballer
1969 – John Salako, Nigerian-English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
1971 – Damian Lewis, English actor
1972 – Steve McManaman, English footballer
1973 – Varg Vikernes, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
1974 – Nick Barmby, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
1974 – D’Angelo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Jaroslav Špaček, Czech ice hockey player and coach
1975 – Andy Lally, American race car driver
1975 – Callum Thorp, Australian cricketer
1975 – Jacque Vaughn, American basketball player and coach
1976 – Tony Battie, American basketball player and sportscaster
1979 – Brandy Norwood, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1982 – Ľubomíra Kalinová, Slovak biathlete
1982 – Neil Robertson, Australian snooker player
1983 – Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch international footballer, midfielder
1984 – Maarten Heisen, Dutch sprinter
1984 – Marco Marcato, Italian cyclist
1984 – Maxime Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Šárka Strachová, Czech skier
1987 – Luca Antonelli, Italian footballer
1987 – Juanmi Callejón, Spanish footballer
1987 – Ellen van Dijk, Dutch cyclist
1987 – Brian Matusz, American baseball player
1987 – Jan Smeekens, Dutch speed skater
1988 – Vlad Moldoveanu, Romanian basketball player
1990 – Javier Aquino, Mexican footballer
1991 – Nikola Mirotic, Spanish basketball player
1992 – Lasse Norman Hansen, Danish track and road cyclist
1993 – Ben McLemore, American basketball player
1994 – Dansby Swanson, American baseball player
1996 – Jonathan Tah, German footballer
Deaths on February 11
AD 55 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (b. 41)
244 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (b. 225)
641 – Heraclius, Byzantine emperor (b. 575)
731 – Pope Gregory II (b. 669)
824 – Pope Paschal I
1141 – Hugh of Saint Victor, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1096)
1503 – Elizabeth of York (b. 1466)
1626 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1548)
1650 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1596)
1755 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist, playwright, and critic (b. 1675)
1763 – William Shenstone, English poet and gardener (b. 1714)
1795 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (b. 1740)
1829 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1795)
1862 – Elizabeth Siddal, English poet and artist’s model (b. 1829)
1868 – Léon Foucault, French physicist and academic (b. 1819)
1898 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860-1862) (b. 1813)
1901 – Milan I of Serbia (b. 1855)
1917 – Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician and epidemiologist (b. 1872)
1918 – Alexey Kaledin, Russian general (b. 1861)
1931 – Charles Algernon Parsons, English-Irish engineer, invented the steam turbine (b. 1854)
1940 – John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian historian and politician, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
1940 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
1942 – Jamnalal Bajaj, Indian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1884)
1947 – Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
1948 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
1949 – Axel Munthe, Swedish doctor (b. 1857)
1958 – Ernest Jones, Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1879)
1963 – John Olof Dahlgren, Swedish-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
1963 – Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1932)
1967 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American minister and activist (b. 1885)
1968 – Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1889)
1973 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
1975 – Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy colonel and politician, President of Madagascar (b. 1931)
1976 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
1976 – Alexander Lippisch, German pilot and engineer (b. 1894)
1977 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, President of India (b. 1905)
1977 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
1978 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist and academic (b. 1893)
1978 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1982 – Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
1985 – Henry Hathaway, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1898)
1986 – Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
1989 – George O’Hanlon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1912)
1993 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
1994 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)
1994 – Sorrell Booke, American lieutenant, actor, and director (b. 1930)
1994 – William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
1994 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (b. 1924)
1996 – Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet and author (b. 1930)
2000 – Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (b. 1922)
2000 – Roger Vadim, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
2002 – Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
2002 – Barry Foster, English actor (b. 1931)
2004 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner (b. 1925)
2005 – Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)
2006 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1940)
2006 – Ken Fletcher, Australian tennis player (b. 1940)
2006 – Jackie Pallo, English wrestler and actor (b. 1926)
2008 – Tom Lantos, American lawyer and politician (b. 1928)
2008 – Frank Piasecki, American engineer (b. 1919)
2009 – Estelle Bennett, American singer (b. 1941)
2009 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch-American physician and academic (b. 1911)
2010 – Heward Grafftey, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1928)
2010 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founder of his eponymous brand (b. 1969)
2011 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
2012 – Siri Bjerke, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of the Environment (b. 1958)
2012 – Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (b. 1927)
2012 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963)
2013 – Rick Huxley, English bass player (b. 1940)
2014 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
1920 – About 75 % of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope to overthrow French protectorate over Vietnam.
1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
1940 – Cartoon characters Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army capture Banjarmasin, capital of Borneo in Dutch East Indies.
1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
1962 – Roy Lichtenstein’s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
2007 – Then Illinois senator Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in the 2008 elections, which he later goes on to win.
2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
2018 – 19 people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.
Births on February 10
1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (d. 1529)
1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (d. 1582)
1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Milan (d. 1579)
1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1663)
1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (d. 1642)
1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (d. 1715)
1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (d. 1750)
1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)
1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (d. 1815)
1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (d. 1834)
1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (d. 1836)
1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (d. 1858)
1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (d. 1883)
1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1908)
1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (d. 1898)
1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (d. 1907)
1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (d. 1919)
1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (d. 1927)
1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (d. 1909)
1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (d. 1957)
1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. 1879)
1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (d. 1948)
1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (d. 1959)
1883 – H.V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
1889 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (d. 1982)
1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (d. 1918)
1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (d. 1950)
1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (d. 1980)
1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (d. 1953)
1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (d. 1956)
1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (d. 1992)
1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (d. 1939)
1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (d. 1964)
1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (d. 2004)
1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
1915 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (d. 2016)
1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (d. 2015)
1922 – José Gabriel da Costa later known as Mestre Gabriel, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (d. 1971)
1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (d. 2013)
1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (d. 1993)
1927 – Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
1931 – James Edward Maceo West, American inventor and acoustician
1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2017)
1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (d. 2018)
1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (d. 1983)
1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (d. 1967)
1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer
1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (d. 1994)
1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
1951 – Bob Iger, American media executive
1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
1957 – Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Cliff Burton, American heavy metal bassist (d. 1986)
1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
1969 – James Small, South African rugby player (d. 2019)
1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer, central defender and manager
1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2015)
1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
1974 – Ty Law, American football player
1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
1974 – Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
1981 – Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
1981 – Andrew Johnson, English international footballer, forward and club ambassador
1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
1982 – Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
1990 – Barbara Guarischi, Italian cyclist
1990 – Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
1992 – Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
1993 – Max Kepler, German baseball player
1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer and member of Red Velvet
1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentinian footballer
1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentinian tennis player
2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model
Deaths on February 10
547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
1242 – Saint Verdiana, Italian recluse (b. 1182)
1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
1306 – John “the Red” Comyn, Scottish nobleman
1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (b. 1460)
1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)
1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (b. 1532)
1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (b. 1689)
1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (b. 1702)
1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (b. 1792)
1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (b. 1770)
1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (b. 1804)
1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (b. 1808)
1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1850)
1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.
1621 – Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.
1654 – The Capture of Fort Rocher takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
1778 – Rhode Island becomes the fourth US state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1788 – The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp.
1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.
1849 – The new Roman Republic is declared.
1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
1889 – US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.
1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
1900 – The Davis Cup competition is established.
1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Port Arthur concludes.
1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
1913 – A group of meteors is visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
1920 – Under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.
1922 – Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1934 – The Balkan Entente is formed.
1941 – World War II: The Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa, Italy, is struck by a bomb which fails to detonate.
1942 – World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time (aka War Time) is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
1943 – World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1945 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Venturer sinks U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.
1945 – World War II: A force of Allied aircraft unsuccessfully attacked a German destroyer in Førdefjorden, Norway.
1950 – Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.
1951 – Korean War: The two-day Geochang massacre begins as a battalion of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army kills 719 unarmed citizens in Geochang, in the South Gyeongsang district of South Korea
1959 – The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR.
1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.
1965 – The United States Marine Corps sends a MIM-23 Hawk missile battalion to South Vietnam, the first American troops in-country without an official advisory or training mission.
1971 – The 6.5–6.7 Mw Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 64 and injuring 2,000.
1971 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the USA’s Baseball Hall of Fame.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.
1975 – The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
1976 – Aeroflot Flight 3739, a Tupolev Tu-104, crashes during takeoff from Irkutsk Airport, killing 24.
1978 – The Budd Company unveils its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1986 – Halley’s Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.
1991 – Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares the end to its 18-month ceasefire and explodes a large bomb in London’s Canary Wharf, killing two people.
1996 – Copernicium is discovered, by Sigurd Hofmann, Victor Ninov et al.
2016 – Two passenger trains collided in the German town of Bad Aibling in the state of Bavaria. Twelve people died, and 85 others were injured.
2018 – Winter Olympics: Opening ceremony is performed in Pyeongchang County in South Korea.
Births on February 9
1060 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1130)
1274 – Louis of Toulouse, French bishop (d. 1297)
1313 – Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile, Portuguese infanta (d. 1357)
1344 – Meinhard III, count of Tyrol (d. 1363)
1441 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Turkic poet, linguist, and painter (d. 1501)
1533 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1611)
1579 – Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1639)
1651 – Procopio Cutò, French entrepreneur (d. 1727)
1666 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish field marshal (d. 1737)
1711 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (d. 1762)
1737 – Thomas Paine, English-American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 1809)
1741 – Henri-Joseph Rigel, German-French composer (d. 1799)
1748 – Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1817)
1763 – Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden (d. 1830)
1769 – George W. Campbell, Scottish-American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1848)
1773 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
1775 – Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1856)
1781 – Johann Baptist von Spix, German biologist and explorer (d. 1826)
1783 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (d. 1852)
1789 – Franz Xaver Gabelsberger, German engineer, invented Gabelsberger shorthand (d. 1849)
1800 – Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (d. 1844)
1814 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 28th Governor of New York (d. 1886)
1815 – Federico de Madrazo, Spanish painter (d.1894)
1834 – Felix Dahn, German lawyer, historian, and author (d. 1912)
1826 – Keʻelikōlani, Hawaiian royal and governor (d. 1883)
1837 – José Burgos, Filipino priest and revolutionary (d. 1872)
1839 – Silas Adams, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 1896)
1846 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (d. 1929)
1846 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman and financier (d. 1904)
1847 – Hugh Price Hughes, Welsh-English clergyman and theologian (d. 1902)
1854 – Aletta Jacobs, Dutch physician and suffrage activist (d. 1929)
1856 – Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1921)
1859 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, Japanese general (d. 1930)
1863 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (d. 1933)
1864 – Miina Härma, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1941)
1865 – Mrs. Patrick Campbell, English-French actress (d. 1940)
1865 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer and geophysicist (d. 1949)
1867 – Natsume Sōseki, Japanese author and poet (d. 1916)
1871 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, American pathologist and physician (d. 1910)
1874 – Amy Lowell, American poet, critic, and educator (d. 1925)
1876 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (d. 1963)
1878 – Jack Kirwan, Irish international footballer (d. 1959)
1880 – Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1959)
1883 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (d. 1951)
1885 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1935)
1885 – Clarence H. Haring, American historian and author (d. 1960)
1889 – Larry Semon, American actor, producer, director and screenwriter (d. 1928)
1891 – Ronald Colman, English-American actor (d. 1958)
1892 – Peggy Wood, American actress (d. 1978)
1893 – Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, Greek lawyer and politician, 163rd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1987)
1895 – Hermann Brill, German lawyer and politician, 8th Minister-President of Thuringia (d. 1959)
1896 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1982)
1897 – Charles Kingsford Smith, Australian captain and pilot (d. 1935)
1898 – Jūkichi Yagi, Japanese poet and educator (d. 1927)
1901 – Brian Donlevy, American actor (d. 1972)
1901 – James Murray, American actor (d. 1936)
1905 – David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, English hurdler and politician (d. 1981)
1906 – André Kostolany, Hungarian-French economist and journalist (d. 1999)
1907 – Trường Chinh, Vietnamese politician, 4th President of Vietnam (d. 1988)
1907 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
1909 – Heather Angel, English-American actress (d. 1986)
1909 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1955)
1909 – Dean Rusk, American colonel and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
1910 – Jacques Monod, French biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
1911 – William Orlando Darby, American general (d. 1945)
1912 – Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (d. 1968)
1912 – Ginette Leclerc, French actress (d. 1992)
1914 – Ernest Tubb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1916 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1918 – Lloyd Noel Ferguson, African American chemist (d. 2011)
1920 – Fred Allen, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2012)
1922 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and soprano (d. 2010)
1922 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1986)
1922 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (d. 2014)
1922 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (d. 2005)
1923 – Brendan Behan, Irish rebel, poet, and playwright (d. 1964)
1923 – Tonie Nathan, American radio host, producer, and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – John B. Cobb, American philosopher and theologian
1925 – Burkhard Heim, German physicist and academic (d. 2001)
1926 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2011)
1927 – Richard A. Long, American historian and author (d. 2013)
1928 – Frank Frazetta, American painter and illustrator (d. 2010)
1928 – Rinus Michels, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2005)
1928 – Roger Mudd, American journalist
1929 – A. R. Antulay, Indian social worker and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2014)
1929 – Clement Meadmore, Australian-American sculptor (d. 2005)
1930 – Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist and author (d. 2003)
1931 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1989)
1931 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Robert Morris, American sculptor and painter (d. 2018)
1932 – Tatsuro Hirooka, Japanese baseball player and manager
1932 – Gerhard Richter, German painter and photographer
1935 – Lionel Fanthorpe, English-Welsh priest, journalist, and author
1936 – Clive Swift, English actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
1937 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
1938 – Ron Logan, Disney theatrical producer and professor
1939 – Mahala Andrews, British vertebrae palaeontologist (d. 1997)
1939 – Barry Mann, American pianist, songwriter, and producer
1939 – Janet Suzman, South African-British actress and director
1940 – Brian Bennett, English drummer and songwriter
1940 – J. M. Coetzee, South African-Australian novelist, essayist, and linguist, Nobel Prize laureate
1941 – Kermit Gosnell, American abortionist and serial killer
1941 – Sheila Kuehl, American actress, lawyer, gay rights activist, and politician
1942 – Carole King, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1943 – Barbara Lewis, American soul/R&B singer-songwriter
1943 – Joe Pesci, American actor
1943 – Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1944 – Derryn Hinch, New Zealand-Australian radio and television host and politician
1944 – Alice Walker, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
1945 – Mia Farrow, American actress, activist, and former fashion model
1945 – Yoshinori Ohsumi, Japanese cell biologist, 2016 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
1945 – Carol Wood, American mathematician and academic
1946 – Bob Eastwood, American golfer
1946 – Vince Papale, American football player and sportscaster
1946 – Jim Webb, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of the Navy
1947 – Carla Del Ponte, Swiss lawyer and diplomat
1947 – Joe Ely, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Major Harris, American R&B singer (d. 2012)
1947 – Alexis Smirnoff, Canadian-American wrestler and actor (d. 2019)
1948 – Guy Standing, English economist and academic
1949 – Bernard Gallacher, Scottish golfer and journalist
1949 – Judith Light, American actress
1950 – Richard F. Colburn, American sergeant and politician
1951 – David Pomeranz, American singer, musician, and composer
1952 – Danny White, American football player and sportscaster
1953 – Ciarán Hinds, Irish actor
1953 – Ezechiele Ramin, Italian missionary, priest, and martyr (d. 1985)
1953 – Gabriel Rotello, American journalist and author, founded OutWeek
1954 – Jo Duffy, American author
1954 – Chris Gardner, American businessman and philanthropist
1954 – Kevin Warwick, English cybernetics scientist
1955 – Jerry Beck, American historian and author
1955 – Jimmy Pursey, English singer-songwriter and producer
1955 – Charles Shaughnessy, English actor
1956 – Mookie Wilson, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Terry McAuliffe, American businessman and politician, 72nd Governor of Virginia
1957 – Gordon Strachan, Scottish footballer and manager
1958 – Sandy Lyle, Scottish golfer
1958 – Chris Nilan, American ice hockey player, coach, and radio host
1960 – Holly Johnson, English singer-songwriter and bass player
1960 – David Simon, American journalist, author, screenwriter, and television producer
1960 – Peggy Whitson, American biochemist and astronaut
1961 – John Kruk, American baseball player and sportscaster
1962 – Anik Bissonnette, Canadian ballerina
1963 – Brian Greene, American physicist
1963 – Peter Rowsthorn, Australian comedian and actor
1963 – Travis Tritt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1964 – Debrah Miceli, Italian-American wrestler and manager
1964 – Dewi Morris, English rugby player
1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
1964 – Alejandro Ávila, Mexican telenovela actor
1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
1965 – Dieter Baumann, German runner
1966 – Harald Eia, Norwegian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1967 – Todd Pratt, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Dan Shulman, Canadian sportscaster
1967 – Gaston Browne, Antiguan and Barbudan Prime Minister
1968 – Alejandra Guzmán, Mexican singer-songwriter and actress
1968 – Derek Strong, American basketball player and race car driver
1968 – Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
1969 – Jimmy Smith, American football player
1970 – Glenn McGrath, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1971 – Matt Gogel, American golfer
1971 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer and manager
1972 – Darren Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
1973 – Svetlana Boginskaya, Belarusian gymnast
1973 – Colin Egglesfield, American actor
1973 – Makoto Shinkai, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
1974 – Jordi Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager
1974 – Brad Maynard, American football player
1974 – Amber Valletta, American model
1974 – John Wallace, American basketball player and coach
1975 – Kurt Asle Arvesen, Norwegian cyclist and coach
1975 – Clinton Grybas, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
1975 – Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican-American baseball player
1976 – Charlie Day, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – A. J. Buckley, Irish-Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
1575 – Leiden University is founded, and given the motto Praesidium Libertatis.
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
1590 – Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva is tortured by the Inquisition in Mexico, charged with concealing the practice Judaism of his sister and her children.
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Queen Elizabeth I and the revolt is quickly crushed.
1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
1807 – After two days of bitter fighting, the Russians under Bennigsen and the Prussians under L’Estocq concede the Battle of Eylau to Napoleon.
1817 – Las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.
1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was outlawed in the United States, including Delaware, when the Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 6, 1865. Delaware ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 12, 1901, which was the ninety-second anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
1879 – The England cricket team led by Lord Harris is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
1885 – The first government-approved Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii.
1887 – The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
1904 – Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.
1904 – Aceh War: Dutch Colonial Army’s Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch military campaign to capture Gayo Highland, Alas Highland, and Batak Highland in Dutch East Indies’ Northern Sumatra region, which ends with genocide to Acehnese and Bataks people.
1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
1915 – D. W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.
1922 – United States President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House.
1924 – Capital punishment: The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
1942 – World War II: Dutch Colonial Army General Destruction Unit (AVC, Algemene Vernielings Corps) burns Banjarmasin, South Borneo to avoid Japanese capture.
1945 – World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada commence Operation Veritable to occupy the west bank of the Rhine.
1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet inmates from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde on the island of Usedom by hijacking the camp commandant’s Heinkel He 111.
1946 – The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version, is published.
1946 – The People’s Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North, establishing the communist-controlled Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea.
1950 – Cold War: The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
1955 – The Government of Sindh, Pakistan, abolishes the Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km2) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
1960 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
1962 – Charonne massacre. Nine trade unionists are killed by French police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Paris Prefecture of Police.
1963 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
1963 – The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq, Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba’ath Party.
1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing everyone aboard.
1968 – American civil rights movement: The Orangeburg massacre: An attack on black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation at the town’s only bowling alley, leaves three or four dead in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.
1971 – South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration.
1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.
1978 – Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
1981 – Twenty-one association football spectators are trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens F.C.
1983 – The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia’s second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night.
1986 – Hinton train collision: Twenty-three people are killed when a VIA Rail passenger train collides with a 118-car Canadian National freight train near the town of Hinton, Alberta, west of Edmonton. It is the worst rail accident in Canada until the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec derailment in 2013 which killed forty-seven people.
1989 – Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport (Azores) killing all 144 passengers on board.
1993 – General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.
1993 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 and an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 collide in mid-air near Qods, Iran, killing all 133 people on board both aircraft.
1996 – The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
2005 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former MP A. Chandranehru dies of injuries sustained in an ambush the previous day.
2010 – A freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of at least 36 avalanches, burying over two miles of road, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 travelers.
2013 – A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured.
Births on February 8
120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (probable; d. 175)
412 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (probable; d. 485)
882 – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt (d. 946)
1191 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (d. 1246)
1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)
1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1453)
1487 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)
1514 – Daniele Barbaro, Venetian churchman, diplomat and scholar (d. 1570)
1552 – Agrippa d’Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
1577 – Robert Burton, English priest, physician, and scholar (d. 1640)
1591 – Guercino, Italian painter (d. 1666)
1685 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian and author (d. 1770)
1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1782)
1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
1741 – André Grétry, Belgian-French organist and composer (d. 1813)
1762 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1820)
1764 – Joseph Leopold Eybler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1846)
1792 – Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (d. 1873)
1798 – Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (d. 1849)
1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and zoologist (d. 1889)
1817 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (d. 1872)
1819 – John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1900)
1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (d. 1891)
1822 – Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (d. 1894)
1825 – Henry Walter Bates, English geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1892)
1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1905)
1829 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1902)
1830 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1876)
1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1907)
1850 – Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)
1860 – Adella Brown Bailey, American politician and suffragist (d. 1937)
1866 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (d. 1947)
1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (d. 1907)
1878 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and academic (d. 1965)
1880 – Franz Marc, German soldier and painter (d. 1916)
1880 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor and director (d. 1931)
1882 – Thomas Selfridge, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1908)
1883 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and political scientist (d. 1950)
1884 – Snowy Baker, Australian boxer, rugby player, and actor (d. 1953)
1886 – Charlie Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)
1888 – Edith Evans, English actress (d. 1976)
1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (d. 1970)
1890 – Claro M. Recto, Filipino lawyer, jurist, and politician (d. 1960)
1893 – Ba Maw, Burmese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1977)
1894 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1897 – Zakir Hussain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd president of India (d. 1969)
1899 – Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
1903 – Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1977)
1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
1906 – Chester Carlson, American physicist and lawyer, invented Xerography (d. 1968)
1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (d. 2012)
1911 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and author (d. 1979)
1913 – Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
1913 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (d. 1974)
1915 – Georges Guétary, Egyptian-French singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1997)
1918 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
1921 – Barney Danson, Canadian colonel and politician, 21st Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2011)
1921 – Nexhmije Hoxha, Albanian politician (d. 2020)
1921 – Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)
1922 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (d. 1996)
1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (d. 2001)
1926 – Neal Cassady, American author and poet (d. 1968)
1926 – Birgitte Reimer, Danish film actress
1930 – Alejandro Rey, Argentinian-American actor and director (d. 1987)
1931 – James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
1932 – Cliff Allison, English racing driver and businessman (d. 2005)
1932 – John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor
1933 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
1937 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
1937 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
1939 – Jose Maria Sison, Filipino activist and theorist
1940 – Sophie Lihau-Kanza, Congolese politician (d. 1999)
1940 – Ted Koppel, English-American journalist
1941 – Nick Nolte, American actor and producer
1941 – Tom Rush, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1941 – Jagjit Singh, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1942 – Robert Klein, American comedian, actor, and singer
1942 – Terry Melcher, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
1944 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (d. 2014)
1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian photographer and journalist
1947 – J. Richard Gott, American astronomer and academic
1948 – Dan Seals, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Niels Arestrup, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1952 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
1953 – Mary Steenburgen, American actress
1954 – Joe Maddon, American baseball coach and manager
1955 – John Grisham, American lawyer and author
1955 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (d. 2018)
1956 – Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1957 – Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
1958 – Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
1958 – Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
1959 – Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
1959 – Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
1959 – Mauricio Macri, Argentinian businessman and politician, President of Argentina
1960 – Benigno Aquino III, Filipino politician, 15th President of the Philippines
1960 – Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Vince Neil, American singer-songwriter and actor
1963 – Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer and politician
1964 – Arlie Petters, Belizean-American mathematical physicist and academic
1964 – Santosh Sivan, Indian director, cinematographer, producer, and actor
1964 – Trinny Woodall, English fashion designer and author
1966 – Kirk Muller, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
1968 – Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
1969 – Pauly Fuemana, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
1969 – Mary Robinette Kowal, American puppeteer and author
1969 – Mary McCormack, American actress and producer
1970 – Stephanie Courtney, American actress and comedian
1970 – John Filan, Australian footballer and coach
1970 – Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player and executive
1971 – Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
1971 – Mika Karppinen, Swedish-Finnish drummer and songwriter
1972 – Big Show, American wrestler and actor
1974 – Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer, and director
1976 – Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
1976 – Nicolas Vouilloz, French rally driver and mountain biker
1977 – Roman Kostomarov, Russian ice dancer
1978 – Mick de Brenni, Australian politician
1979 – Aaron Cook, American baseball player
1980 – William Jackson Harper, American actor
1981 – Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (d. 2015)
1981 – Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
1983 – Jermaine Anderson, Canadian basketball player
1983 – Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Jim Verraros, American singer and actor
1984 – Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canadian skier
1984 – Cecily Strong, American actress
1984 – Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
1985 – Petra Cetkovská, Czech tennis player
1985 – Jeremy Davis, American bass player and songwriter
1987 – Javi García, Spanish footballer
1987 – Carolina Kostner, Italian figure skater
1988 – Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
1989 – Zac Guildford, New Zealand rugby player
1989 – Julio Jones, American football player
1989 – Courtney Vandersloot, American basketball player
1990 – Emily Scarratt, English rugby union player
1990 – Klay Thompson, American professional basketball player
1991 – Aristidis Soiledis, Greek footballer
1991 – Roberto Soriano, Italian footballer
1991 – Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer and actor with the boy band Infinite.
1992 – Bruno Martins Indi, Portuguese-Dutch footballer
1992 – Carl Jenkinson, English-Finnish footballer
1994 – Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
1994 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer-songwriter
1995 – Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
1996 – Kenedy, Brazilian footballer
Deaths on February 8
538 – Severus of Antioch, patriarch of Antioch
1135 – Elvira of Castile, Queen of Sicily (b.c. 1100)
1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1182)
1229 – Ali ibn Hanzala, sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma’ilism
1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois (b. 1216)
1250 – William II Longespée, English martyr (b. 1212)
1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
1285 – Theodoric of Landsberg (b. 1242)
1296 – Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)
1314 – Helen of Anjou, queen of Serbia (b. 1236)
1382 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (b. 1328)
1537 – Saint Gerolamo Emiliani, Italian humanitarian (b. 1481)
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)
1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1555)
1623 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (b. 1546)
1676 – Alexis of Russia (b. 1629)
1696 – Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
1709 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1658)
1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (b. 1672)
1749 – Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)
1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (b. 1685)
1768 – George Dance the Elder, English architect, designed St Leonard’s and St Botolph’s Aldgate (b. 1695)
1772 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (b. 1719)
1849 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (b. 1781)
1849 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (b. 1800)
1856 – Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist and academic (b. 1773)
1907 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1854)
1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian philosopher and activist (b. 1854)
