1880

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

    March 1 in History

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

    Births on March 1

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

    Deaths on March 1

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

    Holidays and observances on March 1

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

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

    February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2016, 2020, and 2024. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth’s revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in most of the world. Lunisolar calendars (whose months are based on the phases of the Moon) instead add a leap or intercalary month

    In the Gregorian calendar, years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day; neither will 2100, 2200, and 2300. Conversely, 1600 and 2000 did and 2400 will. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. Years not containing a leap day are called common years. In the Chinese calendar, this day will only occur in years of the monkey, dragon, and rat.

    A leap day is observed because the Earth’s period of orbital revolution around the Sun takes approximately six hours longer than 365 whole days. A leap day compensates for this lag, realigning the calendar with the Earth’s position in the Solar System; otherwise, seasons would occur later than intended in the calendar year. The Julian calendar used in Christendom until the 16th century added a leap day every four years; but this rule adds too many days (roughly three every 400 years), making the equinoxes and solstices shift gradually to earlier dates. By the 16th century the vernal equinox had drifted to March 11, so the Gregorian calendar was introduced both to shift it back by omitting several days, and to reduce the number of leap years via the aforementioned century rule to keep the equinoxes more or less fixed and the date of Easter consistently close to the vernal equinox.

    Leap days can present a particular problem in computing known as the leap year bug when February 29 is not handled correctly in logic that accepts or manipulates dates. For example, this has happened with ATMs and Microsoft’s cloud system Azure.

    Leap years

    Although most modern calendar years have 365 days, a complete revolution around the Sun (one solar year) takes approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (or, for simplicity’s sake, approximately 365 days and 6 hours, or 365.25 days) .An extra 23 hours, 15 minutes, and 4 seconds thus accumulates every four years (again, for simplicity’s sake, approximately an extra 24 hours, or 1 day, every four years), requiring that an extra calendar day be added to align the calendar with the Sun’s apparent position. Without the added day, in future years the seasons would occur later in the calendar, eventually leading to confusion about when to undertake activities dependent on weather, ecology, or hours of daylight.

    Solar years are actually slightly shorter than 365 days and 6 hours (365.25 days), which had been known since the 2nd century BC when Hipparchus stated that it lasted 365 + 1/4 − 1/300 days, but this was ignored by Julius Caesar and his astronomical adviser Sosigenes. The Gregorian calendar corrected this by adopting the length of the tropical year stated in three medieval sources, the Alfonsine tables, De Revolutionibus, and the Prutenic Tables, truncated to two sexagesimal places, 365 14/60 33/3600 days or 365 + 1/4 − 3/400 days or 365.2425 days. The length of the tropical year in 2000 was 365.24217 mean solar daysAdding a calendar day every four years, therefore, results in an excess of around 44 minutes every four years, or about 3 days every 400 years. To compensate for this, three days are removed every 400 years. The Gregorian calendar reform implements this adjustment by making an exception to the general rule that there is a leap year every four years. Instead, a year divisible by 100 is not a leap year unless that year is also divisible by 400. This means that the years 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years, while the years 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300, and 2500 are not leap years.

    Modern (Gregorian) calendar

    The Gregorian calendar repeats itself every 400 years, which is exactly 20,871 weeks including 97 leap days (146,097 days). Over this period, February 29 falls on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday 13 times; Friday and Saturday 14 times; and Monday and Wednesday 15 times. Except for a century mark that is not a multiple of 400, consecutive leap days fall in order Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday, Saturday, Thursday, Tuesday, and repeats again.

    Early Roman calendar

    Adding a leap day (after 23 February) shifts the commemorations in the 1962 Roman Missal.

    Main article: Roman calendar

    The calendar of the Roman king Numa Pompilius had only 355 days (even though it was not a lunar calendar) which meant that it would quickly become unsynchronized with the solar year. An earlier Roman solution to this problem was to lengthen the calendar periodically by adding extra days to February, the last month of the year. February consisted of two parts, each with an odd number of days. The first part ended with the Terminalia on the 23rd, which was considered the end of the religious year, and the five remaining days formed the second part. To keep the calendar year roughly aligned with the solar year, a leap month, called Mensis Intercalaris (“intercalary month”), was added from time to time between these two parts of February. The (usual) second part of February was incorporated in the intercalary month as its last five days, with no change either in their dates or the festivals observed on them. This followed naturally because the days after the Ides (13th) of February (in an ordinary year) or the Ides of Intercalaris (in an intercalary year) both counted down to the Kalends of March (i.e. they were known as “the nth day before the Kalends of March”). The Nones (5th) and Ides of Intercalaris occupied their normal positions.

    The third-century writer Censorinus says:

    When it was thought necessary to add (every two years) an intercalary month of 22 or 23 days, so that the civil year should correspond to the natural (solar) year, this intercalation was in preference made in February, between Terminalia [23rd]and Regifugium [24th].

    Julian reform

    Main article: Julian calendar

    The set leap day was introduced in Rome as a part of the Julian reform in the 1st century BCE. As before, the intercalation was made after February 23. The day following the Terminalia (February 23) was doubled, forming the “bis sextum“—literally ‘twice sixth’, since February 24 was ‘the sixth day before the Kalends of March’ using Roman inclusive counting (March 1 was the Kalends of March and was also the first day of the calendar year). Inclusive counting initially caused the Roman priests to add the extra day every three years instead of four; Augustus was compelled to omit leap years for a few decades to return the calendar to its proper position. Although there were exceptions, the first day of the bis sextum (February 24) was usually regarded as the intercalated or “bissextile” day since the 3rd century CE. February 29 came to be regarded as the leap day when the Roman system of numbering days was replaced by sequential numbering in the late Middle Ages, although this has only been formally enacted in Sweden and Finland. In Britain, the extra day added to leap years remains notionally the 24th, although the 29th remains more visible on the calendar.

    Born on February 29

    A person born on February 29 may be called a “leapling”, a “leaper”, or a “leap-year baby”. Some leaplings celebrate their birthday in non-leap years on either February 28 or March 1, while others only observe birthdays on the authentic intercalary date, February 29.

    Legal status: The effective legal date of a leapling’s birthday in non-leap years varies between jurisdictions.

    In the United Kingdom and its former colony Hong Kong, when a person born on February 29 turns 18, they are considered to have their birthday on March 1 in the relevant year.

    In New Zealand, a person born on February 29 is deemed to have their birthday on February 28 in non-leap years, for the purposes of Driver Licensing under §2(2) of the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999. The net result is that for drivers aged 75, or over 80, their driver licence expires at the end of the last day of February, even though their birthday would otherwise fall on the first day in March in non-leap years. Otherwise, New Zealand legislation is silent on when a person born on February 29 has their birthday, although case law would suggest that age is computed based on the number of years elapsed, from the day after the date of birth, and that the person’s birth day then occurs on the last day of the year period. This differs from English common law where a birthday is considered to be the start of the next year, the preceding year ending at midnight on the day preceding the birthday. While a person attains the same age on the same day, it also means that, in New Zealand, if something must be done by the time a person attains a certain age, that thing can be done on the birthday that they attain that age and still be lawful.

    In Taiwan, the legal birthday of a leapling is February 28 in common years:

    If a period fixed by weeks, months, and years does not commence from the beginning of a week, month, or year, it ends with the ending of the day which proceeds the day of the last week, month, or year which corresponds to that on which it began to commence. But if there is no corresponding day in the last month, the period ends with the ending of the last day of the last month.

    Thus, in England and Wales or in Hong Kong, a person born on February 29 will have legally reached 18 years old on March 1. If they were born in Taiwan they legally become 18 on February 28, a day earlier.

    In the United States, according to John Reitz, a professor of law at the University of Iowa, there is no “… statute or general rule that has anything to do with leap day.” Reitz speculates that “March 1 would likely be considered the legal birthday in non-leap years of someone born on leap day,”using the same reasoning as described for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. However, for the purposes of Social Security, a person attains the next age the day before the anniversary of birth. Therefore, Social Security would recognize February 28 as the change in age for leap year births, not March 1

    In fiction

    There are many instances in children’s literature where a person’s claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out to be based on counting only their leap-year birthdays.

    A similar device is used in the plot of Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance: as a child, Frederic was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. Having passed his 21st year, he leaves the pirate band and falls in love. However, since he was born on February 29, his 21st birthday will not arrive until he is eighty-eight (since 1900 was not a leap year), so he must leave his fiancée and return to the pirates.

    Since 1967, February 29 has been the official birthday of Superman, but not Clark Kent.

    February 29 in History

    • 1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies.
    • 1644 – Abel Tasman’s second Pacific voyage begins.
    • 1704 – Queen Anne’s War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, killing 56 villagers and taking more than 100 captive.
    • 1712 – February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar.
    • 1720 – Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I on March 24.
    • 1752 – King Alaungpaya founds Konbaung Dynasty, the last dynasty of Burmese monarchy.
    • 1768 – Polish nobles form the Bar Confederation.
    • 1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Kilpatrick–Dahlgren Raid fails: Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
    • 1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated.
    • 1912 – The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.
    • 1916 – Tokelau is annexed by the United Kingdom.
    • 1916 – Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.
    • 1920 – Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.
    • 1936 – February 26 Incident in Tokyo ends.
    • 1940 – 12th Academy Awards: For her performance as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
    • 1940 – Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations.
    • 1940 – In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden’s Consul General in San Francisco.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer led by American General Douglas MacArthur.
    • 1960 – The 5.7 Mw  Agadir earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir, and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.
    • 1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
    • 1980 – Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
    • 1984 – Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.
    • 1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with one hundred other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
    • 1988 – Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.
    • 1992 – First day of Bosnia and Herzegovina independence referendum.
    • 1996 – Faucett Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew die.
    • 1996 – Siege of Sarajevo officially ends.
    • 2000 – Second Chechen War: Eighty-four Russian paratroopers are killed in a rebel attack on a guard post near Ulus Kert.
    • 2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as President of Haiti following a coup.
    • 2008 – The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence decides to withdraw Prince Harry from a tour of Afghanistan “immediately” after a leak leads to his deployment being reported by foreign media.
    • 2008 – Misha Defonseca admits to fabricating her memoir, Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, in which she claims to have lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust.
    • 2012 – Tokyo Skytree construction is completed. It is the tallest tower in the world, 634 meters high, and the second-tallest artificial structure on Earth, next to Burj Khalifa.

    Births on February 29

    • 1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
    • 1528 – Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1579)
    • 1528 – Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (d. 1604)
    • 1572 – Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (d. 1638)
    • 1576 – Antonio Neri, Florentine priest and glassmaker (d. 1614)
    • 1640 – Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher and author whose name was given to Keach’s Catechism (d. 1704)
    • 1692 – John Byrom, English poet and educator (d. 1763)
    • 1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer (d. 1822)
    • 1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founded the Shakers (d. 1784)
    • 1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (d. 1868)
    • 1812 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (d. February 29, 1880)
    • 1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet, and activist (d. 1921)
    • 1836 – Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (d. 1908)
    • 1852 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian lawyer and judge, 4th Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1936)
    • 1860 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founded the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (d. 1929)
    • 1876 – William Stewart, Scottish footballer
    • 1884 – Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician (d. 1941)
    • 1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor (d. 1962)
    • 1896 – Morarji Desai, Indian civil servant and politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)
    • 1896 – William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
    • 1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1957)
    • 1904 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
    • 1908 – Balthus, French-Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 2001)
    • 1908 – Dee Brown, American historian and author (d. 2002)
    • 1908 – Alf Gover, English cricketer and coach (d. 2001)
    • 1908 – Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (d. 1968)
    • 1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
    • 1916 – James B. Donovan, American lawyer (d. 1970)
    • 1916 – Leonard Shoen, founder of U-Haul Corp. (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – Fyodor Abramov, Russian author and critic (d. 1983)
    • 1920 – Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)
    • 1920 – James Mitchell, American actor and dancer (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer (d. 2016)
    • 1920 – Howard Nemerov, American poet and academic (d. 1991)
    • 1920 – Rolland W. Redlin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
    • 1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand judge and politician, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)
    • 1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Joss Ackland, English actor
    • 1928 – Jean Adamson, British writer and illustrator
    • 1928 – Vance Haynes, American archaeologist, geologist, and author
    • 1928 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician and computer scientist, co-created the Logo programming language (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Gene H. Golub, American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1932 – Masten Gregory, American race car driver (d. 1985)
    • 1932 – Reri Grist, American soprano and actress
    • 1932 – Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist
    • 1932 – Gavin Stevens, Australian cricketer
    • 1936 – Jack Lousma, American colonel, astronaut, and politician
    • 1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)
    • 1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Nh. Dini, Indonesian writer (d. 2018)
    • 1940 – Sonja Barend, Dutch talk show host
    • 1940 – Bartholomew I of Constantinople
    • 1940 – William H. Turner, Jr., American horse trainer
    • 1944 – Ene Ergma, Estonian physicist and politician
    • 1944 – Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Nicholas Frayling, English priest and academic
    • 1944 – Phyllis Frelich, American actress (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Steve Mingori, American baseball player (d. 2008)
    • 1944 – Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian author and illustrator
    • 1944 – Lennart Svedberg, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1972).
    • 1948 – Hermione Lee, English author, critic, and academic
    • 1948 – Manoel Maria, Brazilian footballer
    • 1948 – Patricia A. McKillip, American author
    • 1948 – Henry Small, American-born Canadian singer
    • 1952 – Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush, American journalist and producer
    • 1952 – Tim Powers, American author and educator
    • 1952 – Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier
    • 1952 – Bart Stupak, American police officer and politician
    • 1956 – Jonathan Coleman, English-Australian radio and television host
    • 1956 – Bob Speller, Canadian businessman and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Agriculture
    • 1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
    • 1960 – Lucian Grainge, English businessman
    • 1960 – Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
    • 1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Dave Brailsford, English cyclist and coach
    • 1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
    • 1964 – Mervyn Warren, American tenor, composer, and producer
    • 1968 – Chucky Brown, American basketball player and coach
    • 1968 – Pete Fenson, American curler and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress and model
    • 1968 – Bryce Paup, American football player and coach
    • 1968 – Howard Tayler, American author and illustrator
    • 1968 – Eugene Volokh, Ukrainian-American lawyer and educator
    • 1968 – Frank Woodley, Australian actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1972 – Mike Pollitt, English footballer and coach
    • 1972 – Sylvie Lubamba, Italian showgirl
    • 1972 – Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Italian-American model and actor
    • 1972 – Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain
    • 1972 – Dave Williams, American singer (d. 2002)
    • 1972 – Saul Williams, American singer-songwriter
    • 1972 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban-American activist and educator (d. 1994)
    • 1976 – Vonteego Cummings, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Gehad Grisha, Egyptian soccer referee
    • 1976 – Katalin Kovács, Hungarian sprint kayaker
    • 1976 – Terrence Long, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
    • 1980 – Çağdaş Atan, Turkish footballer and coach
    • 1980 – Chris Conley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1980 – Patrick Côté, Canadian mixed martial artist
    • 1980 – Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Rubén Plaza, Spanish cyclist
    • 1980 – Peter Scanavino, American actor
    • 1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1980 – Taylor Twellman, American soccer player and sportscaster
    • 1984 – Rica Imai, Japanese model and actress
    • 1984 – Cullen Jones, American swimmer
    • 1984 – Nuria Martínez, Spanish basketball player
    • 1984 – Adam Sinclair, Indian field hockey player
    • 1984 – Rakhee Thakrar, English actress
    • 1984 – Dennis Walger, German rugby player
    • 1984 – Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Mark Foster, American singer, songwriter and musician
    • 1988 – Lena Gercke, German model and television host
    • 1988 – Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
    • 1988 – Brent Macaffer, Australian Rules footballer
    • 1988 – Bobby Sanguinetti, American ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Milan Melindo, Filipino boxer
    • 1992 – Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer
    • 1992 – Ben Hampton, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Eric Kendricks, American football player
    • 1992 – Caitlin EJ Meyer, American actress
    • 1996 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1996 – Reece Prescod, British sprinter
    • 1996 – Claudia Williams, New Zealand tennis player
    • 2000 – Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer

    Deaths on February 29

    • 468 – Pope Hilarius
    • 992 – Oswald of Worcester, Anglo-Saxon archbishop and saint (b. 925)
    • 1212 – Hōnen, Japanese monk, founded Jōdo-shū (b. 1133)
    • 1460 – Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (b. 1401)
    • 1528 – Patrick Hamilton, Scottish Protestant reformer and martyr (b. 1504)
    • 1592 – Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer and diplomat (b. 1540)
    • 1600 – Caspar Hennenberger, German pastor, historian and cartographer (b. 1529)
    • 1604 – John Whitgift, English archbishop and academic (b. 1530)
    • 1740 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal (b. 1667)
    • 1744 – John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-English physicist and philosopher (b. 1683)
    • 1792 – Johann Andreas Stein, German piano builder (b. 1728)
    • 1820 – Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German historian and critic (b. 1743)
    • 1848 – Louis-François Lejeune, French general, painter and lithographer (b. 1775)
    • 1852 – Matsudaira Katataka, Japanese daimyō (b. 1806)
    • 1868 – Ludwig I of Bavaria (b. 1786)
    • 1880 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (b. February 29, 1812)
    • 1908
      • Pat Garrett, American sheriff (b. 1850)
      • John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish-Australian politician, 1st Governor-General of Australia (b. 1860)
    • 1920 – Ernie Courtney, American baseball player (b. 1875)
    • 1928
      • Adolphe Appia, Swiss architect and theorist (b. 1862)
      • Ina Coolbrith, American poet and librarian (b. 1841)
    • 1940 – E. F. Benson, English archaeologist and author (b. 1867)
    • 1944 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Finnish lawyer, judge and politician, 3rd President of Finland (b. 1861)
    • 1948
      • Robert Barrington-Ward, English lawyer and journalist (b. 1891)
      • Rebel Oakes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1883)
    • 1952 – Quo Tai-chi, Chinese politician and diplomat, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations (b. 1888)
    • 1956 – Elpidio Quirino, Filipino lawyer and politician, 6th President of the Philippines (b. 1890)
    • 1960
      • Melvin Purvis, American police officer and FBI agent (b. 1903)
      • Walter Yust, American journalist and author (b. 1894)
    • 1964 – Frank Albertson, American actor and singer (b. 1909)
    • 1968
      • Lena Blackburne, American baseball player, coach and manager (b. 1886)
      • Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet and educator (b. 1886)
    • 1972 – Tom Davies, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
    • 1976 – Florence P. Dwyer, American politician (b. 1902)
    • 1980
      • Yigal Allon, Israeli general and politician, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1918)
      • Gil Elvgren, American painter and illustrator (b. 1914)
    • 1984 – Ludwik Starski, Polish screenwriter and songwriter (b. 1903)
    • 1988 – Sidney Harmon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1907)
    • 1992 – Ruth Pitter, English poet and author (b. 1897)
    • 1996
      • Wes Farrell, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)
      • Ralph Rowe, American baseball player, coach and manager (b. 1924)
    • 2000 – Dennis Danell, American guitarist (b. 1961)
    • 2004
      • Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (b. 1923)
      • Jerome Lawrence, American playwright and author (b. 1915)
      • Harold Bernard St. John, Barbadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1931)
      • Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (b. 1943)
    • 2008
      • Janet Kagan, American author (b. 1946)
      • Erik Ortvad, Danish painter and illustrator (b. 1917)
      • Akira Yamada, Japanese scholar and philosopher (b. 1922)
    • 2012
      • Roland Bautista, American guitarist (b. 1951)
      • Davy Jones, English singer, guitarist and actor (b. 1945)
      • Sheldon Moldoff, American illustrator (b. 1920)
      • P. K. Narayana Panicker, Indian social leader (b. 1930)
    • 2016
      • Wenn V. Deramas, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1966)
      • Gil Hill, American police officer, actor and politician (b. 1931)
      • Josefin Nilsson, Swedish singer (b. 1969)
      • Louise Rennison, English author (b. 1951)
      • Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistani assassin (b. 1985)

    Holidays and observances on February 29

    • As a Christian feast day:
      • Auguste Chapdelaine (one of the Martyr Saints of China)
      • Oswald of Worcester (in leap year only)
      • Saint John Cassian
      • February 29 in the Orthodox church
    • The fourth day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (observed on this date only if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz falls on March 21)
    • Rare Disease Day (in leap years; celebrated in common years on February 28)
    • Bachelor’s Day (Ireland, United Kingdom)

    Folk traditions

    There is a popular tradition known as Bachelor’s Day in some countries allowing a woman to propose marriage to a man on February 29If the man refuses, he then is obliged to give the woman money or buy her a dress. In upper-class societies in Europe, if the man refuses marriage, he then must purchase 12 pairs of gloves for the woman, suggesting that the gloves are to hide the woman’s embarrassment of not having an engagement ring. In Ireland, the tradition is supposed to originate from a deal that Saint Bridget struck with Saint Patrick.

    In the town of Aurora, Illinois, single women are deputized and may arrest single men, subject to a four-dollar fine, every February 29.

    In Greece, it is considered unlucky to marry on a leap day.

  • |

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

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

    Births on February 27

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

    Deaths on February 27

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

    Holidays and observances on February 27

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

  • February 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era.
    • 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor
    • 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
    • 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
    • 1365 – The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya
    • 1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.
    • 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
    • 1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates
    • 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
    • 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
    • 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
    • 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
    • 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
    • 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
    • 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
    • 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
    • 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
    • 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
    • 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
    • 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
    • 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
    • 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
    • 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
    • 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
    • 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
    • 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
    • 1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
    • 1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
    • 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
    • 2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
    • 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
    • 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

    Births on February 26

    • 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
    • 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448)
    • 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
    • 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
    • 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)
    • 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685)
    • 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)
    • 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
    • 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
    • 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
    • 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
    • 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
    • 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1806)
    • 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
    • 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
    • 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
    • 1799 – Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (d. 1864)
    • 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
    • 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
    • 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
    • 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
    • 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
    • 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
    • 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
    • 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
    • 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
    • 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
    • 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
    • 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
    • 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
    • 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
    • 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
    • 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
    • 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
    • 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
    • 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
    • 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
    • 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
    • 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
    • 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
    • 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
    • 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)
    • 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)
    • 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
    • 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
    • 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
    • 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
    • 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
    • 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971)
    • 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
    • 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
    • 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978)
    • 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
    • 1913 – George Barker, English author and poet (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
    • 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980)
    • 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
    • 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
    • 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
    • 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
    • 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
    • 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
    • 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
    • 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
    • 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
    • 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
    • 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
    • 1931 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
    • 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
    • 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
    • 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018)
    • 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
    • 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
    • 1943 – Bob “The Bear” Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981)
    • 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
    • 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
    • 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian race car driver (d. 2006)
    • 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
    • 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer
    • 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
    • 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
    • 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
    • 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
    • 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano
    • 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
    • 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
    • 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
    • 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
    • 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
    • 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
    • 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
    • 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer
    • 1958 – Paul Ackford, English rugby player
    • 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
    • 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
    • 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
    • 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
    • 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
    • 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
    • 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
    • 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
    • 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
    • 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
    • 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
    • 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
    • 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
    • 1970 – Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
    • 1971 – Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
    • 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
    • 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
    • 1974 – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
    • 1976 – Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
    • 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
    • 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
    • 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
    • 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer, midfielder
    • 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
    • 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
    • 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
    • 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
    • 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
    • 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
    • 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer, forward
    • 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
    • 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer, striker
    • 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
    • 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
    • 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
    • 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
    • 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
    • 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
    • 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer

    Deaths on February 26

    • 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
    • 943 – Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech (Ireland)
    • 1154 – Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
    • 1266 – Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
    • 1275 – Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots (b. 1240)
    • 1349 – Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (b. c.1260)
    • 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328)
    • 1462 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408)
    • 1548 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)
    • 1577 – Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
    • 1603 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II (b. 1528)
    • 1608 – John Still, English bishop (b. 1543)
    • 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533)
    • 1625 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess (b. 1568)
    • 1630 – William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560)
    • 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581)
    • 1723 – Thomas d’Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653)
    • 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
    • 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692)
    • 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730)
    • 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718)
    • 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762)
    • 1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)
    • 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737)
    • 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753)
    • 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807)
    • 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
    • 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician (b. 1865)
    • 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
    • 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)
    • 1906 – Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer (b. 1874)
    • 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835)
    • 1921 – Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840)
    • 1930 – Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
    • 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
    • 1936 – February 26 Incident:
      • Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
      • Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
      • Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874)
    • 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892)
    • 1945 – Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860)
    • 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868)
    • 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870)
    • 1951 – Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist (b. 1912) executed with 20 others
    • 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878)
    • 1961 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878)
    • 1961 – Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
    • 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
    • 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
    • 1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)
    • 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896)
    • 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
    • 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911)
    • 1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)
    • 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
    • 1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)
    • 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
    • 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
    • 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
    • 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943)
    • 2006 – Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (b. 1905)
    • 2008 – Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
    • 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Jun Seba, also known as “Nujabes”, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (b. 1974)
    • 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
    • 2013 – Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960)
    • 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Joseph Wapner, American lieutenant and judge (b. 1919)

    Holidays and observances on February 26

    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexander of Alexandria
      • Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Isabelle of France
      • Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)
      • Porphyry of Gaza
      • February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The first day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
    • Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)
    • Liberation Day (Kuwait)
    • Saviours’ Day (Nation of Islam)

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

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

    Births on February 22

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

    Deaths on February 22

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

    Holidays and observances on February 22

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

  • February 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 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)
    • 1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
    • 1957 – Sadri Maksudi Arsal, Turkish scholar and politician (b. 1878)
    • 1961 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (b. 1882)
    • 1963 – Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer(b. 1879)
    • 1966 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Anthony Asquith, English director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
    • 1969 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
    • 1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 1972 – Walter Winchell, American journalist and actor (b. 1897)
    • 1976 – René Cassin, French lawyer and judge, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
    • 1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, healing evangelist, known for belief in Holy Spirit (b. 1907)
    • 1981 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-American banker and publisher (b. 1904)
    • 1987 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (b. 1905)
    • 1992 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (b. 1898)
    • 1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, founded Lamborghini (b. 1916)
    • 1993 – Ernest L. Massad, American general (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Solomon Asch, American psychologist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1996 – Audrey Munson, American model (b. 1891)
    • 1996 – Toru Takemitsu, Japanese pianist, guitarist, and composer (b. 1930)
    • 1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
    • 1999 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (b. 1946)
    • 2000 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Saint Petersburg (b. 1937)
    • 2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
    • 2001 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)
    • 2003 – Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani air marshal (b. 1947)
    • 2003 – Maurice Blanchot, French philosopher and author (b. 1907)
    • 2003 – Orville Freeman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 29th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1918)
    • 2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1942)
    • 2005 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1921)2005 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
    • 2006 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (b. 1920)
    • 2008 – Emily Perry, English actress and dancer (b. 1907)
    • 2009 – Larry H. Miller, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1944)
    • 2010 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Knut Torbjørn Eggen, Norwegian footballer and manager (b. 1960)
    • 2012 – Katie Hall, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Kenji Eno, Japanese game designer and composer (b. 1970)
    • 2013 – David S. McKay, American biochemist and geologist (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Walter D. Ehlers, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Garrick Utley, American journalist (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Govind Pansare, Indian author and activist (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Henry Segerstrom, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – John C. Willke, American physician, author, and activist (b. 1925)
    • 2016 – Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2017 – Vitaly Churkin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (b. 1952)
    • 2017 – Mildred Dresselhaus, American physicist (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Steve Hewlett, British journalist (b. 1958)
    • 2020 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP

    Holidays and observances on February 20

    • Christian feast day:
      • Eleutherius of Tournai
      • Eucherius of Orléans
      • Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto
      • Frederick Douglass (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Wulfric of Haselbury
      • February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Heavenly Hundred Heroes (Ukraine)
    • World Day of Social Justice

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

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

    Births on February 19

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

    Deaths on February 19

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

    Holidays and observances on February 19

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

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

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

    Births on February 18

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

    Deaths on February 18

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

    Holidays and observances on February 18

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

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

    February 17 in History

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

    Births on February 17

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

    Deaths on February 17

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

    Holidays and observances on February 17

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

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

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

    Births on February 14

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

    Deaths on February 14

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

    Holidays and observances on February 14

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