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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on February 10

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

Deaths on February 10

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

Holidays and observances on February 10

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

February 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

February 9 in History

474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.
1621 – Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.
1654 – The Capture of Fort Rocher takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
1778 – Rhode Island becomes the fourth US state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1788 – The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp.
1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.
1849 – The new Roman Republic is declared.
1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
1889 – US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.
1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
1900 – The Davis Cup competition is established.
1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Port Arthur concludes.
1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
1913 – A group of meteors is visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
1920 – Under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.
1922 – Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1934 – The Balkan Entente is formed.
1941 – World War II: The Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa, Italy, is struck by a bomb which fails to detonate.
1942 – World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time (aka War Time) is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
1943 – World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1945 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Venturer sinks U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.
1945 – World War II: A force of Allied aircraft unsuccessfully attacked a German destroyer in Førdefjorden, Norway.
1950 – Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.
1951 – Korean War: The two-day Geochang massacre begins as a battalion of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army kills 719 unarmed citizens in Geochang, in the South Gyeongsang district of South Korea
1959 – The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR.
1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.
1965 – The United States Marine Corps sends a MIM-23 Hawk missile battalion to South Vietnam, the first American troops in-country without an official advisory or training mission.
1971 – The 6.5–6.7 M_w  Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 64 and injuring 2,000.
1971 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the USA’s Baseball Hall of Fame.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.
1975 – The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
1976 – Aeroflot Flight 3739, a Tupolev Tu-104, crashes during takeoff from Irkutsk Airport, killing 24.
1978 – The Budd Company unveils its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1986 – Halley’s Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.
1991 – Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares the end to its 18-month ceasefire and explodes a large bomb in London’s Canary Wharf, killing two people.
1996 – Copernicium is discovered, by Sigurd Hofmann, Victor Ninov et al.
2016 – Two passenger trains collided in the German town of Bad Aibling in the state of Bavaria. Twelve people died, and 85 others were injured.
2018 – Winter Olympics: Opening ceremony is performed in Pyeongchang County in South Korea.

Births on February 9

1060 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1130)
1274 – Louis of Toulouse, French bishop (d. 1297)
1313 – Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile, Portuguese infanta (d. 1357)
1344 – Meinhard III, count of Tyrol (d. 1363)
1441 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Turkic poet, linguist, and painter (d. 1501)
1533 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1611)
1579 – Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1639)
1651 – Procopio Cutò, French entrepreneur (d. 1727)
1666 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish field marshal (d. 1737)
1711 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (d. 1762)
1737 – Thomas Paine, English-American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 1809)
1741 – Henri-Joseph Rigel, German-French composer (d. 1799)
1748 – Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1817)
1763 – Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden (d. 1830)
1769 – George W. Campbell, Scottish-American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1848)
1773 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
1775 – Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1856)
1781 – Johann Baptist von Spix, German biologist and explorer (d. 1826)
1783 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (d. 1852)
1789 – Franz Xaver Gabelsberger, German engineer, invented Gabelsberger shorthand (d. 1849)
1800 – Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (d. 1844)
1814 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 28th Governor of New York (d. 1886)
1815 – Federico de Madrazo, Spanish painter (d.1894)
1834 – Felix Dahn, German lawyer, historian, and author (d. 1912)
1826 – Keʻelikōlani, Hawaiian royal and governor (d. 1883)
1837 – José Burgos, Filipino priest and revolutionary (d. 1872)
1839 – Silas Adams, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 1896)
1846 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (d. 1929)
1846 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman and financier (d. 1904)
1847 – Hugh Price Hughes, Welsh-English clergyman and theologian (d. 1902)
1854 – Aletta Jacobs, Dutch physician and suffrage activist (d. 1929)
1856 – Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1921)
1859 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, Japanese general (d. 1930)
1863 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (d. 1933)
1864 – Miina Härma, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1941)
1865 – Mrs. Patrick Campbell, English-French actress (d. 1940)
1865 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer and geophysicist (d. 1949)
1867 – Natsume Sōseki, Japanese author and poet (d. 1916)
1871 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, American pathologist and physician (d. 1910)
1874 – Amy Lowell, American poet, critic, and educator (d. 1925)
1876 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (d. 1963)
1878 – Jack Kirwan, Irish international footballer (d. 1959)
1880 – Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1959)
1883 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (d. 1951)
1885 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1935)
1885 – Clarence H. Haring, American historian and author (d. 1960)
1889 – Larry Semon, American actor, producer, director and screenwriter (d. 1928)
1891 – Ronald Colman, English-American actor (d. 1958)
1892 – Peggy Wood, American actress (d. 1978)
1893 – Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, Greek lawyer and politician, 163rd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1987)
1895 – Hermann Brill, German lawyer and politician, 8th Minister-President of Thuringia (d. 1959)
1896 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1982)
1897 – Charles Kingsford Smith, Australian captain and pilot (d. 1935)
1898 – Jūkichi Yagi, Japanese poet and educator (d. 1927)
1901 – Brian Donlevy, American actor (d. 1972)
1901 – James Murray, American actor (d. 1936)
1905 – David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, English hurdler and politician (d. 1981)
1906 – André Kostolany, Hungarian-French economist and journalist (d. 1999)
1907 – Trường Chinh, Vietnamese politician, 4th President of Vietnam (d. 1988)
1907 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
1909 – Heather Angel, English-American actress (d. 1986)
1909 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1955)
1909 – Dean Rusk, American colonel and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
1910 – Jacques Monod, French biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
1911 – William Orlando Darby, American general (d. 1945)
1912 – Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (d. 1968)
1912 – Ginette Leclerc, French actress (d. 1992)
1914 – Ernest Tubb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1916 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1918 – Lloyd Noel Ferguson, African American chemist (d. 2011)
1920 – Fred Allen, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2012)
1922 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and soprano (d. 2010)
1922 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1986)
1922 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (d. 2014)
1922 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (d. 2005)
1923 – Brendan Behan, Irish rebel, poet, and playwright (d. 1964)
1923 – Tonie Nathan, American radio host, producer, and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – John B. Cobb, American philosopher and theologian
1925 – Burkhard Heim, German physicist and academic (d. 2001)
1926 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2011)
1927 – Richard A. Long, American historian and author (d. 2013)
1928 – Frank Frazetta, American painter and illustrator (d. 2010)
1928 – Rinus Michels, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2005)
1928 – Roger Mudd, American journalist
1929 – A. R. Antulay, Indian social worker and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2014)
1929 – Clement Meadmore, Australian-American sculptor (d. 2005)
1930 – Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist and author (d. 2003)
1931 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1989)
1931 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Robert Morris, American sculptor and painter (d. 2018)
1932 – Tatsuro Hirooka, Japanese baseball player and manager
1932 – Gerhard Richter, German painter and photographer
1935 – Lionel Fanthorpe, English-Welsh priest, journalist, and author
1936 – Clive Swift, English actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
1937 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
1938 – Ron Logan, Disney theatrical producer and professor
1939 – Mahala Andrews, British vertebrae palaeontologist (d. 1997)
1939 – Barry Mann, American pianist, songwriter, and producer
1939 – Janet Suzman, South African-British actress and director
1940 – Brian Bennett, English drummer and songwriter
1940 – J. M. Coetzee, South African-Australian novelist, essayist, and linguist, Nobel Prize laureate
1941 – Kermit Gosnell, American abortionist and serial killer
1941 – Sheila Kuehl, American actress, lawyer, gay rights activist, and politician
1942 – Carole King, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1943 – Barbara Lewis, American soul/R&B singer-songwriter
1943 – Joe Pesci, American actor
1943 – Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1944 – Derryn Hinch, New Zealand-Australian radio and television host and politician
1944 – Alice Walker, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
1945 – Mia Farrow, American actress, activist, and former fashion model
1945 – Yoshinori Ohsumi, Japanese cell biologist, 2016 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
1945 – Carol Wood, American mathematician and academic
1946 – Bob Eastwood, American golfer
1946 – Vince Papale, American football player and sportscaster
1946 – Jim Webb, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of the Navy
1947 – Carla Del Ponte, Swiss lawyer and diplomat
1947 – Joe Ely, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Major Harris, American R&B singer (d. 2012)
1947 – Alexis Smirnoff, Canadian-American wrestler and actor (d. 2019)
1948 – Guy Standing, English economist and academic
1949 – Bernard Gallacher, Scottish golfer and journalist
1949 – Judith Light, American actress
1950 – Richard F. Colburn, American sergeant and politician
1951 – David Pomeranz, American singer, musician, and composer
1952 – Danny White, American football player and sportscaster
1953 – Ciarán Hinds, Irish actor
1953 – Ezechiele Ramin, Italian missionary, priest, and martyr (d. 1985)
1953 – Gabriel Rotello, American journalist and author, founded OutWeek
1954 – Jo Duffy, American author
1954 – Chris Gardner, American businessman and philanthropist
1954 – Kevin Warwick, English cybernetics scientist
1955 – Jerry Beck, American historian and author
1955 – Jimmy Pursey, English singer-songwriter and producer
1955 – Charles Shaughnessy, English actor
1956 – Mookie Wilson, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Terry McAuliffe, American businessman and politician, 72nd Governor of Virginia
1957 – Gordon Strachan, Scottish footballer and manager
1958 – Sandy Lyle, Scottish golfer
1958 – Chris Nilan, American ice hockey player, coach, and radio host
1960 – Holly Johnson, English singer-songwriter and bass player
1960 – David Simon, American journalist, author, screenwriter, and television producer
1960 – Peggy Whitson, American biochemist and astronaut
1961 – John Kruk, American baseball player and sportscaster
1962 – Anik Bissonnette, Canadian ballerina
1963 – Brian Greene, American physicist
1963 – Peter Rowsthorn, Australian comedian and actor
1963 – Travis Tritt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1964 – Debrah Miceli, Italian-American wrestler and manager
1964 – Dewi Morris, English rugby player
1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
1964 – Alejandro Ávila, Mexican telenovela actor
1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
1965 – Dieter Baumann, German runner
1966 – Harald Eia, Norwegian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1967 – Todd Pratt, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Dan Shulman, Canadian sportscaster
1967 – Gaston Browne, Antiguan and Barbudan Prime Minister
1968 – Alejandra Guzmán, Mexican singer-songwriter and actress
1968 – Derek Strong, American basketball player and race car driver
1968 – Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
1969 – Jimmy Smith, American football player
1970 – Glenn McGrath, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1971 – Matt Gogel, American golfer
1971 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer and manager
1972 – Darren Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
1973 – Svetlana Boginskaya, Belarusian gymnast
1973 – Colin Egglesfield, American actor
1973 – Makoto Shinkai, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
1974 – Jordi Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager
1974 – Brad Maynard, American football player
1974 – Amber Valletta, American model
1974 – John Wallace, American basketball player and coach
1975 – Kurt Asle Arvesen, Norwegian cyclist and coach
1975 – Clinton Grybas, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
1975 – Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican-American baseball player
1976 – Charlie Day, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – A. J. Buckley, Irish-Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
1979 – Akinori Iwamura, Japanese baseball player
1979 – Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
1980 – Angelos Charisteas, Greek footballer
1980 – Margarita Levieva, Russian-American actress
1980 – Manu Raju, American journalist
1981 – Tom Hiddleston, English actor, producer, and musical performer
1981 – Daisuke Sekimoto, Japanese wrestler
1982 – Domingo Cisma, Spanish footballer
1982 – Jameer Nelson, American basketball player
1982 – Ami Suzuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
1982 – Chris Weale, English footballer and manager
1983 – Mikel Arruabarrena, Spanish footballer
1984 – Maurice Ager, American basketball player, singer, and producer
1984 – Shōhōzan Yūya, Japanese sumo wrestler
1985 – David Gallagher, American actor
1987 – Sam Coulson, English guitarist
1987 – Michael B. Jordan, American actor
1987 – Davide Lanzafame, Italian footballer
1987 – Magdalena Neuner, German biathlete
1988 – Lotte Friis, Danish swimmer
1989 – Maxime Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier
1990 – Tariq Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
1991 – Logan Ryan, American football player
1992 – Kyle Feldt, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Mitchell Frei, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Avan Jogia, Canadian actor
1993 – Niclas Füllkrug, German footballer
1995 – André Burakovsky, Swedish ice hockey player
1995 – Mario Pašalić, Croatian footballer
1997 – Saquon Barkley, American football player

Deaths on February 9

966 – Ono no Michikaze, Japanese calligrapher (b. 894)
967 – Sayf al-Dawla, emir of Aleppo (b. 916)
978 – Luitgarde, duchess consort of Normandy
1011 – Bernard I, Duke of Saxony
1014 – Yang Yanzhao, Chinese general
1135 – Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1075)
1199 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (b. 1147)
1251 – Matthias II, duke of Lorraine
1407 – William I, margrave of Meissen (b. 1343)
1450 – Agnès Sorel, French mistress of Charles VII of France (b. 1421)
1555 – John Hooper, English bishop and martyr (b. 1495)
1555 – Rowland Taylor, English priest and martyr (b. 1510)
1588 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (b. 1526)
1600 – John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1542)
1619 – Lucilio Vanini, Italian physician and philosopher (b. 1585)
1640 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1612)
1670 – Frederick III of Denmark (b. 1609)
1675 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (b. 1613)
1709 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (b. 1664)
1777 – Seth Pomeroy, American general and gunsmith (b. 1706)
1803 – Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French soldier, poet, and philosopher (b. 1716)
1857 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and translator (b. 1798)
1874 – Jules Michelet, French historian, philosopher, and academic (b. 1798)
1881 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher (b. 1821)
1891 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (b. 1819)
1903 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (b. 1816)
1906 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1872)
1928 – William Gillies, Australian politician, 21st Premier of Queensland (b. 1868)
1930 – Richard With, Norwegian captain and businessman, founded Hurtigruten (b. 1846)
1932 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and banker (b. 1869)
1932 – A.K. Golam Jilani, Bangladeshi soldier and activist (b. 1904)
1945 – Ella D. Barrier, American educator (b. 1852)
1950 – Ted Theodore, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Queensland (b. 1884)
1951 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist, bandleader, and actor (b. 1910)
1957 – Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (b. 1868)
1960 – Alexandre Benois, Russian painter and critic (b. 1870)
1960 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1877)
1965 – Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi theologian and educator (b. 1874)
1966 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer (b. 1884)
1969 – George “Gabby” Hayes, American actor and singer (b. 1885)
1976 – Percy Faith, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
1977 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian engineer and businessman, founded the Ilyushin Design Company (b. 1894)
1978 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1893)
1979 – Allen Tate, American poet and academic (b. 1899)
1980 – Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and author (b. 1900)
1981 – M. C. Chagla, Indian jurist and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1900)
1981 – Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1925)
1984 – Yuri Andropov, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1914)
1989 – Osamu Tezuka, Japanese illustrator, animator, and producer (b. 1928)
1994 – Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
1995 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
1995 – David Wayne, American actor (b. 1914)
1998 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1911)
2001 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist, economist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
2002 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (b. 1920)
2002 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (b. 1930)
2003 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
2004 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1925)
2005 – Robert Kearns, American engineer, invented the windscreen wiper (b. 1927)
2006 – Freddie Laker, English pilot and businessman, founded Laker Airways (b. 1922)
2007 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1922)
2007 – Ian Richardson, Scottish actor (b. 1934)
2008 – Christopher Hyatt, American occultist and author (b. 1943)
2008 – Jazeh Tabatabai, Iranian painter, poet, and sculptor (b. 1931)
2009 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (b. 1933)
2010 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (b. 1920)
2011 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek lawyer and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (b. 1939)
2012 – O. P. Dutta, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
2012 – John Hick, English philosopher and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Joe Moretti, Scottish-South African guitarist and songwriter (b. 1938)
2013 – Richard Artschwager, American painter, illustrator, and sculptor (b. 1923)
2013 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist and trainer (b. 1913)
2013 – Jimmy Smyth, Irish hurler (b. 1931)
2014 – Gabriel Axel, Danish actor, director, and producer (b. 1918)
2014 – Hal Herring, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
2014 – Logan Scott-Bowden, English general (b. 1920)
2015 – Liu Han, Chinese businessman and philanthropist (b. 1965)
2015 – Ed Sabol, American film producer, co-founded NFL Films (b. 1916)
2016 – Sushil Koirala, Nepalese politician, 37th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1939)
2016 – Zdravko Tolimir, Bosnian Serb military commander (b. 1948)
2017 – André Salvat, French Army colonel (b. 1920)
2018 – Reg E. Cathey, American actor of stage, film, and television (b. 1958)
2018 – Nebojša Glogovac, Serbian actor (b. 1969)
2018 – Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic composer (b. 1969)
2018 – John Gavin, American actor and United States ambassador to Mexico (b. 1931)
2020 – Sergiy Vilkomir, Ukrainian-born computer scientist (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances on February 9

Christian feast day:
- Alto of Altomünster
- Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
- Ansbert of Rouen
- Apollonia
- Bracchio
- Blessed Leopold of Alpandeire
- Maron (Maronite Church)
- Miguel Febres Cordero
- Nebridius
- Sabinus of Canosa
- Teilo (Wales)
- February 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Clean Monday can fall, while March 15 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of Great Lent. (Eastern Christianity)
Earliest day on which People’s Sunday can fall, while March 15 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent. (Malta)
St. Maroun’s Day (public holiday in Lebanon)

February 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

February 8 in History

421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
1575 – Leiden University is founded, and given the motto Praesidium Libertatis.
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
1590 – Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva is tortured by the Inquisition in Mexico, charged with concealing the practice Judaism of his sister and her children.
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Queen Elizabeth I and the revolt is quickly crushed.
1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
1807 – After two days of bitter fighting, the Russians under Bennigsen and the Prussians under L’Estocq concede the Battle of Eylau to Napoleon.
1817 – Las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.
1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was outlawed in the United States, including Delaware, when the Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 6, 1865. Delaware ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 12, 1901, which was the ninety-second anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
1879 – The England cricket team led by Lord Harris is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
1885 – The first government-approved Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii.
1887 – The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
1904 – Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.
1904 – Aceh War: Dutch Colonial Army’s Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch military campaign to capture Gayo Highland, Alas Highland, and Batak Highland in Dutch East Indies’ Northern Sumatra region, which ends with genocide to Acehnese and Bataks people.
1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
1915 – D. W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.
1922 – United States President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House.
1924 – Capital punishment: The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
1942 – World War II: Dutch Colonial Army General Destruction Unit (AVC, Algemene Vernielings Corps) burns Banjarmasin, South Borneo to avoid Japanese capture.
1945 – World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada commence Operation Veritable to occupy the west bank of the Rhine.
1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet inmates from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde on the island of Usedom by hijacking the camp commandant’s Heinkel He 111.
1946 – The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version, is published.
1946 – The People’s Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North, establishing the communist-controlled Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea.
1950 – Cold War: The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
1955 – The Government of Sindh, Pakistan, abolishes the Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km²) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
1960 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
1962 – Charonne massacre. Nine trade unionists are killed by French police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Paris Prefecture of Police.
1963 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
1963 – The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq, Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba’ath Party.
1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing everyone aboard.
1968 – American civil rights movement: The Orangeburg massacre: An attack on black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation at the town’s only bowling alley, leaves three or four dead in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.
1971 – South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration.
1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.
1978 – Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
1981 – Twenty-one association football spectators are trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens F.C.
1983 – The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia’s second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night.
1986 – Hinton train collision: Twenty-three people are killed when a VIA Rail passenger train collides with a 118-car Canadian National freight train near the town of Hinton, Alberta, west of Edmonton. It is the worst rail accident in Canada until the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec derailment in 2013 which killed forty-seven people.
1989 – Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport (Azores) killing all 144 passengers on board.
1993 – General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.
1993 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 and an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 collide in mid-air near Qods, Iran, killing all 133 people on board both aircraft.
1996 – The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
2005 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former MP A. Chandranehru dies of injuries sustained in an ambush the previous day.
2010 – A freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of at least 36 avalanches, burying over two miles of road, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 travelers.
2013 – A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured.

Births on February 8

120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (probable; d. 175)
412 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (probable; d. 485)
882 – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt (d. 946)
1191 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (d. 1246)
1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)
1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1453)
1487 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)
1514 – Daniele Barbaro, Venetian churchman, diplomat and scholar (d. 1570)
1552 – Agrippa d’Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
1577 – Robert Burton, English priest, physician, and scholar (d. 1640)
1591 – Guercino, Italian painter (d. 1666)
1685 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian and author (d. 1770)
1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1782)
1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
1741 – André Grétry, Belgian-French organist and composer (d. 1813)
1762 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1820)
1764 – Joseph Leopold Eybler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1846)
1792 – Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (d. 1873)
1798 – Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (d. 1849)
1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and zoologist (d. 1889)
1817 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (d. 1872)
1819 – John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1900)
1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (d. 1891)
1822 – Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (d. 1894)
1825 – Henry Walter Bates, English geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1892)
1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1905)
1829 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1902)
1830 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1876)
1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1907)
1850 – Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)
1860 – Adella Brown Bailey, American politician and suffragist (d. 1937)
1866 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (d. 1947)
1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (d. 1907)
1878 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and academic (d. 1965)
1880 – Franz Marc, German soldier and painter (d. 1916)
1880 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor and director (d. 1931)
1882 – Thomas Selfridge, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1908)
1883 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and political scientist (d. 1950)
1884 – Snowy Baker, Australian boxer, rugby player, and actor (d. 1953)
1886 – Charlie Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)
1888 – Edith Evans, English actress (d. 1976)
1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (d. 1970)
1890 – Claro M. Recto, Filipino lawyer, jurist, and politician (d. 1960)
1893 – Ba Maw, Burmese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1977)
1894 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1897 – Zakir Hussain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd president of India (d. 1969)
1899 – Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
1903 – Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1977)
1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
1906 – Chester Carlson, American physicist and lawyer, invented Xerography (d. 1968)
1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (d. 2012)
1911 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and author (d. 1979)
1913 – Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
1913 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (d. 1974)
1915 – Georges Guétary, Egyptian-French singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1997)
1918 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
1921 – Barney Danson, Canadian colonel and politician, 21st Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2011)
1921 – Nexhmije Hoxha, Albanian politician (d. 2020)
1921 – Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)
1922 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (d. 1996)
1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (d. 2001)
1926 – Neal Cassady, American author and poet (d. 1968)
1926 – Birgitte Reimer, Danish film actress
1930 – Alejandro Rey, Argentinian-American actor and director (d. 1987)
1931 – James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
1932 – Cliff Allison, English racing driver and businessman (d. 2005)
1932 – John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor
1933 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
1937 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
1937 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
1939 – Jose Maria Sison, Filipino activist and theorist
1940 – Sophie Lihau-Kanza, Congolese politician (d. 1999)
1940 – Ted Koppel, English-American journalist
1941 – Nick Nolte, American actor and producer
1941 – Tom Rush, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1941 – Jagjit Singh, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1942 – Robert Klein, American comedian, actor, and singer
1942 – Terry Melcher, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
1944 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (d. 2014)
1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian photographer and journalist
1947 – J. Richard Gott, American astronomer and academic
1948 – Dan Seals, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Niels Arestrup, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1952 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
1953 – Mary Steenburgen, American actress
1954 – Joe Maddon, American baseball coach and manager
1955 – John Grisham, American lawyer and author
1955 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (d. 2018)
1956 – Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1957 – Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
1958 – Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
1958 – Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
1959 – Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
1959 – Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
1959 – Mauricio Macri, Argentinian businessman and politician, President of Argentina
1960 – Benigno Aquino III, Filipino politician, 15th President of the Philippines
1960 – Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Vince Neil, American singer-songwriter and actor
1963 – Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer and politician
1964 – Arlie Petters, Belizean-American mathematical physicist and academic
1964 – Santosh Sivan, Indian director, cinematographer, producer, and actor
1964 – Trinny Woodall, English fashion designer and author
1966 – Kirk Muller, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
1968 – Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
1969 – Pauly Fuemana, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
1969 – Mary Robinette Kowal, American puppeteer and author
1969 – Mary McCormack, American actress and producer
1970 – Stephanie Courtney, American actress and comedian
1970 – John Filan, Australian footballer and coach
1970 – Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player and executive
1971 – Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
1971 – Mika Karppinen, Swedish-Finnish drummer and songwriter
1972 – Big Show, American wrestler and actor
1974 – Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer, and director
1976 – Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
1976 – Nicolas Vouilloz, French rally driver and mountain biker
1977 – Roman Kostomarov, Russian ice dancer
1978 – Mick de Brenni, Australian politician
1979 – Aaron Cook, American baseball player
1980 – William Jackson Harper, American actor
1981 – Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (d. 2015)
1981 – Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
1983 – Jermaine Anderson, Canadian basketball player
1983 – Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Jim Verraros, American singer and actor
1984 – Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canadian skier
1984 – Cecily Strong, American actress
1984 – Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
1985 – Petra Cetkovská, Czech tennis player
1985 – Jeremy Davis, American bass player and songwriter
1987 – Javi García, Spanish footballer
1987 – Carolina Kostner, Italian figure skater
1988 – Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
1989 – Zac Guildford, New Zealand rugby player
1989 – Julio Jones, American football player
1989 – Courtney Vandersloot, American basketball player
1990 – Emily Scarratt, English rugby union player
1990 – Klay Thompson, American professional basketball player
1991 – Aristidis Soiledis, Greek footballer
1991 – Roberto Soriano, Italian footballer
1991 – Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer and actor with the boy band Infinite.
1992 – Bruno Martins Indi, Portuguese-Dutch footballer
1992 – Carl Jenkinson, English-Finnish footballer
1994 – Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
1994 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer-songwriter
1995 – Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
1996 – Kenedy, Brazilian footballer

Deaths on February 8

538 – Severus of Antioch, patriarch of Antioch
1135 – Elvira of Castile, Queen of Sicily (b.c. 1100)
1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1182)
1229 – Ali ibn Hanzala, sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma’ilism
1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois (b. 1216)
1250 – William II Longespée, English martyr (b. 1212)
1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
1285 – Theodoric of Landsberg (b. 1242)
1296 – Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)
1314 – Helen of Anjou, queen of Serbia (b. 1236)
1382 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (b. 1328)
1537 – Saint Gerolamo Emiliani, Italian humanitarian (b. 1481)
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)
1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1555)
1623 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (b. 1546)
1676 – Alexis of Russia (b. 1629)
1696 – Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
1709 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1658)
1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (b. 1672)
1749 – Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)
1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (b. 1685)
1768 – George Dance the Elder, English architect, designed St Leonard’s and St Botolph’s Aldgate (b. 1695)
1772 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (b. 1719)
1849 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (b. 1781)
1849 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (b. 1800)
1856 – Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist and academic (b. 1773)
1907 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1854)
1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian philosopher and activist (b. 1854)
1914 – Dayrolles Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 4th Baron Ventry, Irish hereditary peer (b. 1828)
1915 – François Langelier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1838)
1921 – George Formby Sr, English actor and singer (b. 1876)
1921 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian zoologist, geographer, and philologist (b. 1842)
1928 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (b. 1857)
1932 – Yordan Milanov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (b. 1867)
1935 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1864)
1936 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (b. 1860)
1945 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer and coach (b. 1866)
1956 – Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (b. 1862)
1957 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
1957 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
1959 – William J. Donovan, American head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (b. 1883)
1960 – J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (b. 1911)
1960 – Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect and engineer, designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral (b. 1880)
1963 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (b. 1908)
1964 – Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist and author (b. 1888)
1968 – Maurice Maillot, French actor (b. 1906)
1972 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1905)
1975 – Robert Robinson, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
1977 – Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and theorist (b. 1901)
1979 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
1980 – Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
1982 – John Hay Whitney, American financier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1904)
1985 – William Lyons, English businessman, co-founded Swallow Sidecar Company (b. 1901)
1987 – Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (b. 1905)
1990 – Del Shannon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
1992 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (b. 1918)
1992 – Denny Wright, British guitarist (b. 1924)
1994 – Raymond Scott, American pianist and composer (b. 1908)
1996 – Del Ennis, American baseball player (b. 1925)
1997 – Corey Scott, American motorcycle stunt rider (b. 1968)
1998 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
1998 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (b. 1912)
1998 – Julian Simon, American economist and author (b. 1932)
1999 – Iris Murdoch, Irish-born British novelist and philosopher (b. 1919)
2000 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1918)
2000 – Derrick Thomas, American football player (b. 1967)
2001 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2002 – Ong Teng Cheong, Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (b. 1936)
2004 – Julius Schwartz, American journalist and author (b. 1915)
2005 – A. Chandranehru, Sri Lankan sailor and politician (b. 1944)
2006 – Elton Dean, English saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1945)
2006 – Thierry Fortineau, French actor (b. 1953)
2006 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
2007 – Anna Nicole Smith, American model and actress (b. 1967)
2007 – Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1918)
2008 – Ruby Garrard Woodson, American educator and cultural historian (b. 1931)
2010 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (b. 1932)
2011 – Tony Malinosky, American baseball player and soldier (b. 1909)
2012 – Wando, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
2012 – Gunther Plaut, German-Canadian rabbi and author (b. 1912)
2012 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
2013 – Giovanni Cheli, Italian cardinal (b. 1918)
2013 – James DePreist, American conductor and educator (b. 1936)
2013 – Maureen Dragone, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
2013 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (b. 1918)
2014 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1932)
2014 – Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (b. 1988)
2014 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (b. 1938)
2015 – Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde, Finnish physician and parapsychologist (b. 1939)
2016 – Amelia Bence, Argentine actress (b. 1914)
2016 – Nida Fazli, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1938)
2016 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1938)
2016 – Violette Verdy, French ballerina (b. 1933)
2017 – Peter Mansfield, English physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1933)
2017 – Rina Matsuno, Japanese idol singer (Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku) (b. 1998)
2017 – Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, English socialite, television presenter, model, and charity patron (b. 1971)
2017 – Alan Simpson, English scriptwriter (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances on February 8

Christian feast day:
- Cuthmann of Steyning
- Elffled of Whitby
- Gerolamo Emiliani
- Josephine Bakhita
- Juventius of Pavia
- Meingold of Huy
- Stephen of Muret
- February 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Feast of Orthodoxy can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated 42 days before Easter. (Orthodoxy)
Parinirvana Day (some Mahayana Buddhism traditions, most celebrate on February 15)
Prešeren Day (Slovenia)
Propose Day

February 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

February 7 in History

457 – Leo I the Thracian becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later king Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
1313 – King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Kingdom
1497 – In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a “Bonfire of the vanities”.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon finds Bennigsen’s Russian forces taking a stand at Eylau. After bitter fighting, the French take the town, but the Russians resume the battle the next day.
1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
1813 – In the action of 7 February 1813 near the Îles de Los, the frigates Aréthuse and Amelia batter each other, but neither can gain the upper hand.
1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
1842 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
1854 – A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855.
1863 – HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
1894 – The Cripple Creek miner’s strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States.
1898 – Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J’Accuse…!.
1900 – Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
1900 – A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
1904 – A fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
1940 – The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
1943 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Allied forces in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
1944 – World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
1951 – Korean War: More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers are massacred by South Korean forces.
1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
1974 – Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1979 – Pluto moves inside Neptune’s orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission: Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
1986 – Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
1990 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.
1991 – Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
1991 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government.
1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
1995 – Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
1997 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
1999 – Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history.
2012 – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
2013 – The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995.
2014 – Scientists announce that the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, date back to more than 800,000 years ago, making them the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa.
2016 – North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.

Births on February 7

574 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622)
1102 – Empress Matilda, Holy Roman Empress, and claimant to the English throne (probable; d. 1167)
1478 – Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1535)
1487 – Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort (d. 1557)
1500 – João de Castro, viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English playwright and manager (d. 1683)
1622 – Vittoria della Rovere, Italian noble (d. 1694)
1693 – Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
1722 – Azar Bigdeli, Iranian anthologist and poet (d. 1781)
1726 – Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter (d. 1766)
1741 – Henry Fuseli, Swiss-English painter and academic (d. 1825)
1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech tenor and composer (d. 1826)
1796 – Thomas Gregson, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania (baptism date; d. 1874)
1802 – Louisa Jane Hall, American poet, essayist, and literary critic (d. 1892)
1804 – John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886)
1812 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (d. 1870)
1825 – Karl Möbius, German zoologist and ecologist (d. 1908)
1834 – Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe, French architect (d. 1895)
1837 – James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
1864 – Arthur Collins, American baritone singer (d. 1933)
1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish psychologist and therapist (d. 1937)
1871 – Wilhelm Stenhammar, Swedish pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1927)
1873 – Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder and businessman, designed the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and geneticist (d. 1947)
1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
1885 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
1887 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (d. 1983)
1889 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish-American engineer and theorist (d. 1976)
1893 – Joseph Algernon Pearce, Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1988)
1893 – Nicanor Abelardo, Filipino pianist, composer and teacher (d. 1934)
1895 – Anita Stewart, American actress (d. 1961)
1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (d. 1989)
1904 – Ernest E. Debs, American politician, California State Assembly member, Los Angeles city councilman, and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (d. 2002)
1905 – Paul Nizan, French philosopher and author (d. 1940)
1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
1906 – Puyi, Chinese emperor (d. 1967)
1906 – Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, Russian engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company (d. 1984)
1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
1908 – Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian journalist and author (d. 2000)
1909 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (d. 1999)
1909 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian soldier (d. 2010)
1912 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (d. 1981)
1915 – Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch (d. 2007)
1915 – Eddie Bracken, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
1916 – Frank Hyde, Australian rugby player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2007)
1919 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (d. 1989)
1919 – Desmond Doss, American army corporal and combat medic, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and author (d. 2016)
1920 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990)
1921 – Athol Rowan, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur (d. 2014)
1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (d. 2012)
1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2009)
1926 – Bill Hoest, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress
1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-Russian runner and coach (d. 1975)
1927 – Lalo Ríos, Mexican actor (d. 1973)
1928 – Lincoln D. Faurer, American general (d. 2014)
1929 – Jim Langley, English international footballer, full back and manager (d. 2007)
1932 – Gay Talese, American journalist and memoirist
1932 – Alfred Worden, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2020)
1933 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Sri Lankan Minister of Finance (d. 2015)
1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Malta
1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist and producer (d. 1971)
1934 – Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2003)
1935 – Cliff Jones, Welsh international footballer, winger
1935 – Herb Kohl, American businessman and politician
1935 – Jörg Schneider, Swiss actor and author (d. 2015)
1936 – Jas Gawronski, Italian journalist and politician
1937 – Peter Jay, English economist, journalist, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
1940 – Tony Tan, Singaporean academic and politician, 7th President of Singapore
1941 – Kevin Crossley-Holland, English author and poet
1943 – Eric Foner, American historian, author, and academic
1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player and journalist
1946 – Héctor Babenco, Argentinian-Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1946 – Sammy Johns, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician
1949 – Joe English, American drummer and songwriter
1950 – Karen Joy Fowler, American author
1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (d. 1998)
1954 – Dieter Bohlen, German singer-songwriter and producer
1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player and game show host
1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor and director (d. 2017)
1956 – John Nielsen, Danish racing driver
1956 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player and coach
1958 – Giuseppe Baresi, Italian footballer and manager
1958 – Terry Marsh, English boxer and politician
1958 – Matt Ridley, English journalist, author, and politician
1959 – Mick McCarthy, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1960 – James Spader, American actor and producer
1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – David Bryan, American keyboard player and songwriter
1962 – Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor, and producer
1963 – Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, American Naval officer and astronaut
1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian journalist, author, and screenwriter
1965 – Chris Rock, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer
1968 – Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-Slovak ice hockey player and manager
1968 – Sully Erna, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
1969 – Andrew Micallef, Maltese painter and musician
1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer-songwriter
1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player and coach
1974 – J Dilla, American rapper and producer (d. 2006)
1974 – Nujabes, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (d. 2010)
1974 – Steve Nash, South African-Canadian basketball player
1975 – Wes Borland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Rémi Gaillard, French comedian and actor
1976 – Chito Miranda, Filipino singer-songwriter
1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
1978 – David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
1978 – Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
1978 – Ashton Kutcher, American model, actor, producer, and entrepreneur
1978 – Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian football player
1979 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer and coach
1979 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
1979 – Sam J. Miller, American author
1981 – Darcy Dolce Neto, Brazilian footballer
1981 – Lee Ok-sung, South Korean boxer
1982 – Osamu Mukai, Japanese actor
1982 – Mickaël Piétrus, French basketball player
1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese footballer
1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian race car driver
1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer
1984 – Trey Hardee, American decathlete
1985 – Tina Majorino, American actress
1988 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer and actress
1989 – Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
1989 – Elia Viviani, Italian cyclist
1989 – Isaiah Thomas, American basketball player
1990 – Gianluca Lapadula, Italian footballer
1990 – Dalilah Muhammad, American hurdler
1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
1991 – Ryan O’Reilly, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Sergi Roberto, Spanish footballer
1992 – Ksenia Stolbova, Russian figure skater
1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer and actress
1993 – Chris Mears, English diver
1994 – Riley Barber, American ice hockey player
1995 – Roberto Osuna, Mexican baseball player
1996 – Pierre Gasly, French racing driver
1997 – Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer

Deaths on February 7

199 – Lü Bu, Chinese warlord
318 – Jin Mindi, emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 300)
999 – Boleslaus II the Pious, Duke of Bohemia (b. 932)
1045 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
1065 – Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim (b. c. 1010)
1127 – Ava, German poet (b. 1060)
1165 – Marshal Stephen of Armenia
1259 – Thomas, Count of Flanders
1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont (b. 1256)
1320 – Jan Muskata, Bishop of Kraków (b. 1250)
1333 – Nikko, Japanese priest, founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (b. 1246)
1520 – Alfonsina de’ Medici, Regent of Florence (b. 1472)
1560 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Florentine sculptor (b. 1493)
1603 – Bartholomäus Sastrow, German politician (b. 1520)
1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
1642 – William Bedell, English bishop and academic (b. 1571)
1693 – Paul Pellisson, French lawyer and author (b. 1624)
1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1666)
1779 – William Boyce, English organist and composer (b. 1711)
1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish-German painter and academic (b. 1726)
1819 – August Wilhelm Hupel, German-Estonian linguist and author (b. 1737)
1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English author (b. 1764)
1837 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
1849 – Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president (1845-1846) (b. 1797)
1862 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1787)
1864 – Vuk Karadžić, Serbian philologist and linguist (b. 1787)
1871 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (b. 1797)
1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (b. 1814)
1878 – Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
1891 – Marie Louise Andrews, American story writer and journalist (b. 1849)
1897 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer (b. 1847)
1919 – William Halford, English-American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
1920 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral and explorer (b. 1874)
1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1850)
1921 – John J. Gardner, American politician (b. 1845)
1937 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
1938 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (b. 1868)
1939 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1886)
1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (b. 1876)
1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1874)
1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African minister and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
1959 – Guitar Slim, American singer and guitarist (b. 1926)
1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1903)
1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist and manager (b. 1902)
1964 – Sofoklis Venizelos, Greek captain and politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
1968 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
1972 – Walter Lang, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
1979 – Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician (b. 1911)
1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (b. 1923)
1990 – Alan Perlis, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1922)
1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (b. 1905)
1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli colonel (b. 1920)
1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (b. 1913)
1996 – Phillip Davidson, American general (b. 1915)
1999 – King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
1999 – Bobby Troup, American actor, pianist, and composer (b. 1918)
2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician and politician (b. 1947)
2001 – Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1912)
2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and pilot (b. 1906)
2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1932)
2006 – Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1914)
2009 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1964)
2012 – Harry Keough, American soccer player and coach (b. 1927)
2013 – Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
2014 – Doug Mohns, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
2015 – Billy Casper, American golfer and architect (b. 1931)
2015 – Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and author (b. 1934)
2015 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (b. 1931)
2015 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (b. 1922)
2017 – Richard Hatch, American actor (b. 1945)
2017 – Hans Rosling, Swedish academic (b. 1948)
2017 – Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian philosopher (b. 1939)
2019 – John Dingell, American politician (b. 1926)
2019 – Albert Finney, English actor (b. 1936)
2019 – Jan Olszewski, Polish politician, 3rd Prime Minister (b. 1930)
2019 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances on February 7

Christian feast day:
- Richard the Pilgrim
- Blessed Eugénie Smet
- Blessed Pope Pius IX
- Chrysolius
- Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph
- Colette of Corbie
- February 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church Typically observed on the Sunday closest to January 25 (O.S.)/February 7 (N.S.)
Independence Day (Grenada), celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)

February 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

February 6 in History

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

Births on February 6

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

Deaths on February 6

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

Holidays and observances on February 6

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

February 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

AD 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
756 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang Dynasty, declares himself emperor and establishes the state of Yan.
789 – Idris I reaches Volubilis and founds the Idrisid dynasty, ceding Morocco from the Abbasid caliphate and founding the first Moroccan state.
1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society.
1649 – Charles Stuart, the son of King Charles I, is declared King Charles II of England and Scotland by the Scottish Parliament.
1778 – South Carolina becomes the second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1782 – Spanish defeat British forces and capture Menorca.
1783 – In Calabria, a sequence of strong earthquakes begins.
1807 – HMS Blenheim and HMS Java disappear off the coast of Rodrigues.
1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.
1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
1849 – University of Wisconsin–Madison’s first class meets at Madison Female Academy.
1852 – The New Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public.
1859 – Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, is also elected as the prince of Wallachia, joining the two principalities as a personal union called the United Principalities, an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire, which ushered the birth of the modern Romanian state.
1862 – Moldavia and Wallachia formally unite to create the Romanian United Principalities.
1869 – The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the “Welcome Stranger”, is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
1885 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.
1905 – In Mexico, the General Hospital of Mexico is inaugurated, started with four basic specialties.
1907 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic.
1913 – Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis perform the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane.
1917 – The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
1917 – The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto.
1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane; this is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
1918 – SS Tuscania is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland; it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.
1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith launch United Artists.
1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal.
1933 – Mutiny on Royal Netherlands Navy warship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën off the coast of Sumatra, Dutch East Indies.
1939 – Generalísimo Francisco Franco becomes the 68th “Caudillo de España“, or Leader of Spain.
1941 – World War II: Allied forces begin the Battle of Keren to capture Keren, Eritrea.
1945 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.
1958 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic.
1958 – A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
1962 – French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
1963 – The European Court of Justice’s ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen establishes the principle of direct effect, one of the most important, if not the most important, decisions in the development of European Union law.
1971 – Astronauts land on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission.
1975 – Riots break in Lima, Peru after the police forces go on strike the day before. The uprising (locally known as the Limazo) is bloodily suppressed by the military dictatorship.
1985 – Ugo Vetere, then the mayor of Rome, and Chedli Klibi, then the mayor of Carthage meet in Tunis to sign a treaty of friendship officially ending the Third Punic War which lasted 2,131 years.
1988 – Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.
1994 – Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
1994 – Markale massacres, more than 60 people are killed and some 200 wounded as a mortar shell explodes in a downtown marketplace in Sarajevo.
1997 – The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
2000 – Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.
2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills 57.
2020 – United States President Donald Trump is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

Births on February 5

976 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (d. 1017)
1321 – John II, marquess of Montferrat (d. 1372)
1438 – Philip II, duke of Savoy (d. 1497)
1505 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss statesman and historian (d. 1572)
1519 – René of Châlon, prince of Orange (d. 1544)
1525 – Juraj Drašković, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1587)
1533 – Andreas Dudith, Croatian-Hungarian nobleman and diplomat (d. 1589)
1534 – Giovanni de’ Bardi, Italian soldier, composer, and critic (d. 1612)
1589 – Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet and educator (d. 1669)
1594 – Biagio Marini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1663)
1605 – Bernard of Corleone, Italian saint (d. 1667)
1608 – Gaspar Schott, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1666)
1626 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (d. 1696)
1650 – Anne Jules de Noailles, French general (d. 1708)
1703 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-American minister (d. 1764)
1723 – John Witherspoon, Scottish-American minister and academic (d. 1794)
1725 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German composer and conductor (d. 1798)
1788 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1850)
1795 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist, geologist, and physicist (d. 1871)
1804 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet and hymn-writer (d. 1877)
1808 – Carl Spitzweg, German painter and poet (d. 1885)
1810 – Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist and composer (d. 1880)
1827 – Peter Lalor, Irish-Australian activist and politician (d. 1889)
1837 – Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist and publisher, founded Moody Church, Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers (d. 1899)
1840 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish businessman, co-founded Dunlop Rubber (d. 1921)
1840 – Hiram Maxim, American engineer, invented the Maxim gun (d. 1916)
1847 – Eduard Magnus Jakobson, Estonian missionary and engraver (d. 1903)
1848 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (d. 1907)
1848 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean lieutenant (d. 1882)
1852 – Terauchi Masatake, Japanese field marshal and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1919)
1866 – Domhnall Ua Buachalla, Irish politician, 3rd and last Governor-General of the Irish Free State (d. 1963)
1870 – Charles Edmund Brock, British painter and book illustrator (d. 1938)
1876 – Ernie McLea, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1931)
1878 – André Citroën, French engineer and businessman, founded Citroën (d. 1935)
1880 – Gabriel Voisin, French pilot and engineer (d. 1973)
1889 – Patsy Hendren, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1962)
1889 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (d. 1962)
1889 – Recep Peker, Turkish officer and politician (d. 1950)
1891 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (d. 1976)
1892 – Elizabeth Ryan, American tennis player (d. 1979)
1897 – Dirk Stikker, Dutch businessman and politician, 3rd Secretary General of NATO (d. 1979)
1900 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier, politician, and diplomat, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1965)
1903 – Koto Matsudaira, Japanese diplomat, ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1994)
1903 – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 1975)
1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)
1907 – Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (d. 2007)
1907 – Pierre Pflimlin, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2000)
1908 – Marie Baron, Dutch swimmer and diver (d. 1948)
1908 – Peg Entwistle, Welsh-American actress (d. 1932)
1908 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, English conjoined twins (d. 1969)
1908 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (d. 1939)
1909 – Grażyna Bacewicz, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1969)
1910 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (d. 2007)
1910 – Francisco Varallo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2010)
1911 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960)
1914 – William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1997)
1914 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist, biophysicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1915 – Robert Hofstadter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
1917 – Edward J. Mortola, American academic and president of Pace University (d. 2002)
1917 – Isuzu Yamada, Japanese actress (d. 2012)
1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
1919 – Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973)
1919 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
1921 – Ken Adam, German-born English production designer and art director (d. 2016)
1923 – Claude King, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1923 – James E. Bowman, American physician and academic (d. 2011)
1924 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (d. 2014)
1927 – Robert Allen, American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
1927 – Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch captain and pilot (d. 1977)
1928 – Tage Danielsson, Swedish author, actor, and director (d. 1985)
1928 – Andrew Greeley, American priest, sociologist, and author (d. 2013)
1928 – P. J. Vatikiotis, Israeli-American historian and political scientist (d. 1997)
1929 – Hal Blaine, American session drummer (d. 2019)
1929 – Luc Ferrari, French pianist and composer (d. 2005)
1929 – Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician, 19th Chancellor of Austria (d. 2008)
1932 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (d. 2016)
1933 – Jörn Donner, Finnish director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
1933 – B. S. Johnson, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1973)
1934 – Hank Aaron, American baseball player
1934 – Don Cherry, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
1935 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
1935 – Johannes Geldenhuys, South African military commander (d. 2018)
1936 – K. S. Nissar Ahmed, Indian poet and academic
1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor and singer
1937 – Larry Hillman, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1937 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian runner
1937 – Alar Toomre, Estonian-American astronomer and mathematician
1937 – Wang Xuan, Chinese computer scientist and academic (d. 2006)
1938 – Rafael Nieto Navia, Colombian lawyer, jurist, and diplomat
1939 – Brian Luckhurst, English cricketer (d. 2005)
1940 – H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (d. 2014)
1940 – Luke Graham, American wrestler (d. 2006)
1941 – Stephen J. Cannell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1941 – Henson Cargill, American country music singer (d. 2007)
1941 – David Selby, American actor and playwright
1941 – Barrett Strong, American soul singer-songwriter and pianist
1941 – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss engineer and politician, 85th President of the Swiss Confederation
1941 – Cory Wells, American pop-rock singer (d. 2015)
1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player, sportscaster, and businessman
1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American engineer and businessman, founded Atari, Inc.
1943 – Michael Mann, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1943 – Craig Morton, American football player and sportscaster
1943 – Dušan Uhrin, Czech and Slovak footballer and manager
1944 – J. R. Cobb, American guitarist and songwriter
1944 – Henfil, Brazilian journalist, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
1944 – Al Kooper, American singer-songwriter and producer
1944 – Tamanoumi Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 51st Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1945 – Douglas Hogg, English lawyer and politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
1946 – Amnon Dankner, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2013)
1946 – Charlotte Rampling, English actress
1947 – Mary L. Cleave, American engineer and astronaut
1947 – Clemente Mastella, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Justice
1947 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster
1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish footballer and manager
1948 – Christopher Guest, American actor and director
1948 – Barbara Hershey, American actress
1948 – Errol Morris, American director and producer
1948 – Tom Wilkinson, English actor
1949 – Kurt Beck, German politician
1949 – Yvon Vallières, Canadian educator and politician
1950 – Jonathan Freeman, American actor and singer
1950 – Rafael Puente, Mexican footballer
1951 – Nikolay Merkushkin, Mordovian engineer and politician, 1st Head of the Republic of Mordovia
1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1986)
1952 – Vladimir Moskovkin, Ukrainian-Russian geographer, economist, and academic
1953 – Freddie Aguilar, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – John Beilein, American basketball player and coach
1953 – Gustavo Benítez, Paraguayan footballer and manager
1954 – Cliff Martinez, American drummer and songwriter
1954 – Frank Walker, Australian journalist and author
1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player and manager
1956 – Vinnie Colaiuta, American drummer
1956 – Héctor Rebaque, Mexican race car driver
1956 – David Wiesner, American author and illustrator
1956 – Mao Daichi, Japanese actress
1957 – Jüri Tamm, Estonian hammer thrower and politician
1959 – Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Michigan
1960 – Aris Christofellis, Greek soprano and musicologist
1960 – Bonnie Crombie, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 6th Mayor of Mississauga
1960 – Micky Hazard, English footballer, central midfielder
1961 – Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager
1961 – Tim Meadows, American actor and screenwriter
1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress, screenwriter, producer and director
1963 – Steven Shainberg, American film director and producer
1964 – Laura Linney, American actress
1964 – Ha Seungmoo, Korean Poet, Pastor, Historical theologian
1964 – Duff McKagan, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1965 – Tarik Benhabiles, Algerian-French tennis player and coach
1965 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer and manager
1965 – Keith Moseley, American bass player and songwriter
1965 – Quique Sánchez Flores, Spanish footballer and manager
1966 – José María Olazábal, Spanish golfer
1966 – Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
1967 – Chris Parnell, American actor and comedian
1968 – Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
1968 – Marcus Grönholm, Finnish race car driver
1969 – Bobby Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1969 – Michael Sheen, Welsh actor and director
1969 – Derek Stephen Prince, American voice actor
1970 – Jean-Marc Jaumin, Belgian basketball player and coach
1970 – Darren Lehmann, Australian cricketer and coach
1971 – Michel Breistroff, French ice hockey player (d. 1996)
1971 – Sara Evans, American country singer
1972 – Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
1972 – Brad Fittler, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
1973 – Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1973 – Trijntje Oosterhuis, Dutch singer-songwriter
1973 – Luke Ricketson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1974 – Michael Maguire, Australian rugby league player and coach
1975 – Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer and manager
1976 – John Aloisi, Australian footballer and manager
1976 – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
1977 – Ben Ainslie, English sailor
1977 – Adam Dykes, Australian rugby league player
1977 – Adam Everett, American baseball player and coach
1978 – Brian Russell, American football player
1978 – Samuel Sánchez, Spanish cyclist
1979 – Nate Holzapfel, American entrepreneur and television personality
1980 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer, created LiveJournal
1980 – Jo Swinson, Scottish politician
1981 – Mia Hansen-Løve, French director and screenwriter
1981 – Loukas Vyntra, Czech-Greek footballer
1982 – Laura del Rio, Spanish footballer
1982 – Kevin Everett, American football player
1982 – Tomáš Kopecký, Slovak ice hockey player
1982 – Rodrigo Palacio, Argentinian footballer
1983 – Anja Hammerseng-Edin, Norwegian handball player
1984 – Carlos Tevez, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Lloyd Johansson, Australian rugby player
1985 – Laurence Maroney, American football player
1985 – Paul Vandervort, American actor, film producer, and former model
1985 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Vedran Ćorluka, Croatian footballer, centre back
1986 – Marcos Díaz, Argentinian footballer
1986 – Kevin Gates, American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur
1986 – Sekope Kepu, Australian rugby player
1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer
1986 – Reed Sorenson, American race car driver
1986 – Carlos Villanueva, Chilean footballer
1987 – Darren Criss, American actor, singer, and entrepreneur
1987 – Curtis Jerrells, American basketball player
1987 – Alex Kuznetsov, Ukrainian-American tennis player
1987 – Linus Omark, Swedish ice hockey player
1987 – Donald Sanford, American-Israeli sprinter
1988 – Karin Ontiveros, Mexican model
1989 – Marina Melnikova, Russian tennis player
1990 – Dmitry Andreikin, Russian chess player
1990 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Indian cricketer
1990 – Jordan Rhodes, Scottish footballer
1991 – Nabil Bahoui, Swedish footballer
1991 – Gerald Tusha, Albanian footballer
1992 – Stefan de Vrij, Dutch footballer
1992 – Neymar, Brazilian footballer
1993 – Leilani Latu, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Ty Rattie, Canadian ice hockey player
1995 – Adnan Januzaj, Belgian-Albanian footballer
1996 – Stina Blackstenius, Swedish footballer
1997 – Patrick Roberts, English footballer
2016 – Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutanese prince

Deaths on February 5

523 – Avitus of Vienne, Gallo-Roman bishop
806 – Kanmu, emperor of Japan (b. 736)
994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
1015 – Adelaide, German abbess and saint
1036 – Alfred Aetheling, Anglo-Saxon prince
1146 – Zafadola, Arab emir of Zaragoza
1578 – Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian painter (b. 1520)
1661 – Shunzhi, Chinese emperor of the Qing Dynasty (b. 1638)
1705 – Philipp Spener, German theologian and author (b. 1635)
1751 – Henri François d’Aguesseau, French jurist and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1668)
1754 – Nicolaas Kruik, Dutch astronomer and cartographer (b. 1678)
1766 – Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
1775 – Eusebius Amort, German theologian and academic (b. 1692)
1790 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (b. 1710)
1807 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican commander and politician (b. 1725)
1818 – Charles XIII, king of Sweden (b. 1748)
1881 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, historian, and academic (b. 1795)
1882 – Adolfo Rivadeneyra, Spanish orientalist and diplomat (b. 1841)
1892 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish author (b. 1807)
1915 – Ross Barnes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1850)
1917 – Jaber II Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1860)
1922 – Christiaan de Wet, South African general and politician, State President of the Orange Free State (b. 1854)
1922 – Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer, invented the mechanical pencil (b. 1871)
1927 – Inayat Khan, Indian mystic and educator (b. 1882)
1931 – Athanasios Eftaxias, Greek politician, 118th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1849)
1933 – Josiah Thomas, English-Australian miner and politician (b. 1863)
1937 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1861)
1938 – Hans Litten, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1903)
1941 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1864)
1941 – Otto Strandman, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1875)
1946 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (b. 1868)
1948 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b. 1883)
1952 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (b. 1877)
1954 – Hossein Sami’i, Iranian politician, diplomat, writer and poet (b. 1876)
1955 – Victor Houteff, Bulgarian religious reformer and author (b. 1885)
1957 – Sami Ibrahim Haddad, Lebanese surgeon and author (b. 1890)
1962 – Jacques Ibert, French-Swiss composer (b. 1890)
1967 – Leon Leonwood Bean, American businessman, founded L.L.Bean (b. 1872)
1969 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902)
1970 – Rudy York, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1913)
1971 – Lew “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, drag racer (b. 1933)
1972 – Marianne Moore, American poet, author, critic, and translator (b. 1887)
1976 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (b. 1926)
1977 – Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1894)
1981 – Ella T. Grasso, American politician, 83rd Governor of Connecticut (b. 1919)
1982 – Neil Aggett, Kenyan-South African physician and union leader (b. 1953)
1983 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
1987 – William Collier, Jr., American actor and producer (b. 1902)
1989 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (b. 1937)
1991 – Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
1992 – Miguel Rolando Covian, Argentinian-Brazilian physiologist and academic (b. 1913)
1993 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1922)
1993 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
1993 – William Pène du Bois, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
1995 – Doug McClure, American actor (b. 1935)
1997 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (b. 1920)
1997 – René Huyghe, French historian and author (b. 1906)
1998 – Tim Kelly, American guitarist (b. 1963)
1999 – Wassily Leontief, Russian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
2000 – Claude Autant-Lara, French director and screenwriter (b. 1901)
2004 – John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
2005 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Togolese general and politician, President of Togo (b. 1937)
2005 – Michalina Wisłocka, Polish gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1921)
2006 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (b. 1927)
2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, New Zealand-American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (b. 1930)
2007 – Alfred Worm, Austrian journalist, author, and academic (b. 1945)
2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru, founded Transcendental Meditation (b. 1918)
2010 – Brendan Burke, Canadian ice hockey player and activist (b. 1988)
2010 – Harry Schwarz, South African lawyer, anti-apartheid leader, and diplomat, 13th South Africa Ambassador to United States (b. 1924)
2011 – Brian Jacques, English author and radio host (b. 1939)
2011 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (b. 1921)
2012 – Sam Coppola, American actor (b. 1932)
2012 – Al De Lory, American keyboard player, conductor, and producer (b. 1930)
2012 – John Turner Sargent, Sr., American publisher (b. 1924)
2012 – Jo Zwaan, Dutch sprinter (b. 1922)
2013 – Reinaldo Gargano, Uruguayan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Uruguay (b. 1934)
2013 – Egil Hovland, Norwegian composer and conductor (b. 1924)
2013 – Tom McGuigan, New Zealand soldier and politician, 23rd New Zealand Minister of Health (b. 1921)
2014 – Robert A. Dahl, American political scientist and academic (b. 1915)
2015 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka (b. 1933)
2015 – Marisa Del Frate, Italian actress and singer (b. 1931)
2015 – Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
2015 – Herman Rosenblat, Polish-American author (b. 1929)
2016 – Ciriaco Cañete, Filipino martial artist (b. 1919)
2020 – Kirk Douglas, American actor (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances on February 5

Christian feast day:
- Adelaide of Vilich
- Agatha of Sicily
- Avitus of Vienne
- Bertulf (Bertoul) of Renty
- Ingenuinus (Jenewein)
- Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan (in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Anglican Church in Japan)
- February 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Mexico)
Crown Princess Mary’s birthday (Denmark)
Kashmir Solidarity Day (Pakistan)
Liberation Day (San Marino)
Runeberg’s Birthday (Finland)
Unity Day (Burundi)

February 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

February 4 in History

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

Births on February 4

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

Deaths on February 4

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

Holidays and observances on February 4

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

February 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on February 3

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

Deaths on February 3

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

Holidays and observances on February 3

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

February 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of “Roman law”.
880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony.
962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy.
1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.
1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.
1438 – Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda.
1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.
1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1645 – Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Inverlochy.
1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
1850 – Brigham Young declares war on Timpanogos in the Battle at Fort Utah.
1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground.
1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia’s capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
1909 – The Paris Film Congress opens. An attempt by European producers to form an equivalent to the MPCC cartel in the United States.
1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
1935 – Leonarde Keeler administers polygraph tests to two murder suspects, the first time polygraph evidence was admitted in U.S. courts.
1942 – The Osvald Group is responsible for the first, active event of anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German troops in the city.
1959 – Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances.
1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
1982 – Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama.
1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.
2002 – Wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti
2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
2005 – The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.
2007 – Police officer Filippo Raciti is killed when a clash breaks out in the Sicily derby between Catania and Palermo, in the Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. This event led to major changes in stadium regulations in Italy.
2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146-165 dead.

Births on February 2

1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
1282 – Maud Chaworth, Countess of Leicester (d. 1322).
1425 (or 1426) – Eleanor of Navarre, Queen regnant of Navarre (d. 1479)
1443 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1486)
1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
1457 – Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
1467 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican sister (d. 1501)
1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
1509 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)
1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
1536 – Piotr Skarga, Polish writer (d. 1612)
1551 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)
1576 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (d. 1622)
1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter (d. 1662)
1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s only son (baptised; d. 1596)
1588 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
1611 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (d. 1633)
1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679)
1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (d. 1687)
1651 – William Phips, Royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)
1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)
1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)
1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)
1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)
1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French general and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)
1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835)
1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)
1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887)
1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)
1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884)
1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909)
1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)
1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)
1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913)
1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
1856 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (d. 1905)
1857 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (d. 1918)
1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)
1862 – Cornelius McKane, American physician, educator, and hospital founder (d. 1912)
1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)
1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956)
1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)
1877 – Frank L. Packard, Canadian author (d. 1942)
1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)
1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
1883 – Julia Nava de Ruisánchez, Mexican activist and writer (d. 1964)
1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)
1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)
1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)
1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924)
1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981)
1895 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (d. 1964)
1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson’s (d. 1972)
1897 – Gertrude Blanch, Russian-American mathematician (d. 1996)
1900 – Anni Frind, German lyric soprano (d. 1987)
1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)
1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-born American violinist and educator (d. 1987)
1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
1902 – John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1995)
1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)
1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
1911 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (d. 1968)
1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)
1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor and singer (d. 1985)
1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004)
1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)
1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)
1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985)
1917 – Mary Ellis, British World War II ferry pilot (d. 2018)
1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2018)
1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011)
1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)
1920 – George Hardwick, English footballer and coach (d. 2004)
1920 – John Russell, American Olympic equestrian
1920 – Arthur Willis, English footballer, full-back, player-manager (d. 1987)
1922 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
1922 – Robert Chef d’Hôtel, French athlete (d. 2019)
1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002)
1922 – Stoyanka Mutafova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2019)
1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
1923 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (d. 1997)
1923 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster (d.2012)
1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)
1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)
1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
1926 – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France
1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1928 – Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy
1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
1928 – Tommy Harmer, English footballer, inside forward, youth team coach (d. 2007)
1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011)
1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor (d. 2018)
1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician
1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
1932 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (d. 2002)
1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor (d. 2018)
1933 – M’el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor (d. 2006)
1933 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic
1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)
1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991)
1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach
1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015)
1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist
1937 – Alexandra Strelchenko, Russian Singer (d. 2019)
1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
1939 – Jackie Burroughs, English-born Canadian actress (d. 2010)
1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000)
1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)
1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach
1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer
1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)
1942 – Bo Hopkins, American actor
1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor
1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali
1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)
1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009)
1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author
1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)
1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer
1949 – Ross Valory, American rock bass player and songwriter
1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler
1950 – Libby Purves, British journalist and author
1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host
1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
1952 – Rick Dufay, French-American guitarist and songwriter
1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
1954 – Christie Brinkley, American actress, model, and businesswoman
1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
1954 – Nelson Ne’e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)
1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author
1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
1955 – Michael Talbott, American actor
1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish theorist and author
1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress and academic
1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player
1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
1962 – Kate Raison, Australian actress
1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist
1963 – Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist
1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach
1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1966 – Adam Ferrara, American actor and comedian
1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general
1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
1969 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter
1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and singer
1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress
1971 – Arly Jover, Spanish actress
1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby league player and coach
1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer
1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer
1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer
1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress
1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
1978 – Adam Christopher, New Zealand writer
1978 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer
1978 – Annabel Ellwood, Australian tennis player
1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
1978 – Faye White, English footballer
1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler and sprinter
1979 – Christine Lampard, Irish television host
1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player
1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist
1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler
1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer
1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer
1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host
1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper
1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
1984 – Mao Miyaji, Japanese actress
1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
1985 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player
1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
1986 – Miwa Asao, Japanese volleyball player
1987 – Anthony Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Saia Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Faydee, Australian singer
1987 – Athena Imperial, Filipino journalist, Miss Earth-Water 2011
1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer
1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player
1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
1987 – Victoria Song, Chinese singer and actress
1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor and producer
1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
1989 – Harrison Smith, American football player
1989 – Southside, American record producer
1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
1991 – Shohei Nanba, Japanese actor
1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)
1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
1993 – Bobby Decordova-Reid, English born Jamaican international footballer, forward
1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer
1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakstani student and computer prodigy (d. 2012)
1996 – Harry Winks, English international footballer, midfielder

Deaths on February 2

619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint
880 – Bruno, duke of Saxony
1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)
1237 – Joan, Lady of Wales
1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
1347 – Thomas Bek, Bishop of Lincoln, was the bishop of Lincoln (b. 1282)
1348 – Narymunt, Prince of Pinsk
1435 – Joan II of Naples, Queen of Naples (b. 1371)
1446 – Vittorino da Feltre, Italian humanist (b. 1378)
1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)
1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty (b. c. 1400)
1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478)
1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyō (b. 1558)
1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525)
1648 – George Abbot, English author and politician (b. 1603)
1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608)
1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596)
1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)
1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610)
1704 – Guillaume de l’Hôpital, French mathematician and academic (b. 1661)
1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639)
1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643)
1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (b. 1666)
1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1689)
1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713)
1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749)
1831 – Vincenzo Dimech, Maltese sculptor (b. 1768)
1836 – Letizia Ramolino, Italian noblewoman (b. 1750)
1861 – Théophane Vénard, French Catholic missionary (b. 1829)
1881 – Henry Parker, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1808)
1904 – Ernest Cashel, American-Canadian criminal (b. 1882)
1904 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1841)
1905 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Le Crédit Lyonnais (b. 1824)
1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (b. 1834)
1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
1913 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer (b. 1845)
1918 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (b. 1858)
1919 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian lieutenant (b. 1894)
1925 – Antti Aarne, Finnish historian and academic (b. 1867)
1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch speed skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general and politician (b. 1848)
1932 – Agha Petros, Assyrian general and politician (b. 1880)
1939 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (b. 1879)
1942 – Ado Birk, Estonian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1883)
1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1905)
1942 – Hugh D. McIntosh, Australian businessman (b. 1876)
1945 – Alfred Delp, German priest and philosopher (b. 1907)
1945 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German economist and politician (b. 1884)
1945 – Johannes Popitz, German lawyer and politician (b. 1884)
1948 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1870)
1948 – Bevil Rudd, South African runner and journalist (b. 1894)
1950 – Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician and academic (b. 1873)
1952 – Callistratus of Georgia, Georgian patriarch (b. 1866)
1954 – Hella Wuolijoki, Estonian-Finnish author and politician (b. 1886)
1956 – Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
1956 – Truxtun Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (b. 1878)
1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)
1957 – Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1890)
1962 – Shlomo Hestrin, Canadian-Israeli biochemist and academic (b. 1914)
1966 – Hacı Ömer Sabancı, Turkish businessman (b. 1906)
1968 – Tullio Serafin, Italian conductor and director (b. 1878)
1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
1970 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898)
1970 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)
1972 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
1973 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian academic and politician, 9th Mayor of Ghent (b. 1902)
1974 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian-English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1922)
1975 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1883)
1979 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (b. 1930)
1979 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (b. 1957)
1980 – William Howard Stein, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
1983 – Sam Chatmon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1897)
1986 – Anita Cobby, Australian murder victim (b. 1959)
1986 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (b. 1957)
1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1927)
1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (b. 1922)
1988 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater and coach (b. 1951)
1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (b. 1901)
1990 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (b. 1905)
1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)
1992 – Bert Parks, American actor, singer, television personality; Miss America telecast presenter (b. 1914)
1993 – François Reichenbach, French director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
1994 – Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian-American archeologist (b. 1921)
1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor and actor (b. 1917)
1995 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player (b. 1909)
1995 – Donald Pleasence, English-French actor (b. 1919)
1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912)
1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)
1997 – Sanford Meisner, American actor and coach (b. 1904)
1998 – Haroun Tazieff, German-French geologist and cinematographer (b. 1914)
1999 – David McComb, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1962)
2002 – Paul Baloff, American singer-songwriter (b. 1960)
2002 – Claude Brown, American author (b. 1937)
2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer and educator (b. 1917)
2004 – Bernard McEveety, American director and producer (b. 1924)
2005 – Birgitte Federspiel, Danish actress (b. 1925)
2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
2007 – Vijay Arora, Indian actor (b. 1944)
2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (b. 1939)
2007 – Joe Hunter, American pianist (b. 1927)
2007 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
2007 – Eric Von Schmidt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)
2007 – Masao Takemoto, Japanese gymnast (b. 1919)
2008 – Barry Morse, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
2008 – Katoucha Niane, Guinean model and author (b. 1960)
2011 – Edward Amy, Canadian general (b. 1918)
2011 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress (b. 1975)
2011 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)
2012 – Joyce Barkhouse, Canadian author (b. 1913)
2012 – Frederick William Danker, American lexicographer and scholar (b. 1920)
2012 – George Esper, American journalist and academic (b. 1932)
2012 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (b. 1923)
2012 – James F. Lloyd, American pilot and politician (b. 1922)
2013 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (b. 1961)
2013 – John Kerr, American actor and lawyer (b. 1931)
2013 – Chris Kyle, American soldier and sniper (b. 1974)
2013 – Lino Oviedo, Paraguayan general and politician (b. 1943)
2013 – Pepper Paire, American baseball player (b. 1924)
2013 – P. Shanmugam, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Puducherry (b. 1927)
2013 – Walt Sweeney, American football player (b. 1941)
2013 – Guy F. Tozzoli, American architect (b. 1922)
2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935)
2014 – Tommy Aquino, American motorcycle racer (b. 1992)
2014 – Nicholas Brooks, English historian (b. 1941)
2014 – Eduardo Coutinho, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)
2014 – Luis Raúl, Puerto Rican comedian and actor (b. 1962)
2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican singer (b. 1948)
2014 – Nigel Walker, English footballer (b. 1959)
2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949)
2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953)
2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1968)
2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
2015 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (b. 1922)
2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances on February 2

Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
Christian Feast Day:
- Adalbard
- Cornelius the Centurion
- Martyrs of Ebsdorf
- February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Philippines)
Day of Youth (Azerbaijan)
Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:
- Bun Day (Iceland)
- Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway)
- Nickanan Night (Cornwall)
- Rosenmontag (Germany)
Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
- A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
- Celebration of Yemanja or Our Lady of Navigators (Candomblé)
- Le Jour des Crêpes (France)
- Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics)
- Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
Groundhog Day (United States and Canada), and its related observances:
- Marmot Day (Alaska)
Inventor’s Day (Thailand)
Trader’s Day (Poland)
Victory of the Battle of Stalingrad (Russia)
World Wetlands Day

February 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).
1662 – The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
1713 – The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman sultan’s order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1796 – The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
1814 – Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, the most devastating eruption of the volcano.
1835 – Slavery is abolished in Mauritius.
1861 – American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
1864 – Second Schleswig War: Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig, starting the war.
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
1895 – Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
1896 – La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
1897 – Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
1908 – Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon.
1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
1924 – Russia–United Kingdom relations are restored, over six years after the Communist revolution.
1942 – World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.
1942 – World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls–Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater.
1942 – Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers.
1942 – Mao Zedong makes a speech on “Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature”, which puts into motion the Yan’an Rectification Movement.
1946 – Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General.
1946 – The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic.
1960 – Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1964 – The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
1968 – Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken by Eddie Adams.
1968 – Canada’s three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.
1968 – The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.
1972 – Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
1974 – A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.
1979 – Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.
1989 – The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder.
1991 – A runway collision between USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport results in the deaths of 34 people, and injuries to 30 others.
1992 – The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal disaster case.
1996 – The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1998 – Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
2002 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, kidnapped January 23, 2002, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
2004 – Hajj pilgrimage stampede: In a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured.
2005 – King Gyanendra of Nepal carries out a coup d’état to capture the democracy, becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
2009 – The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country’s first female prime minister and the world’s first openly gay head of government.
2012 – Seventy-four people are killed and over 500 injured as a result of clashes between fans of Egyptian football teams Al Masry and Al Ahly in the city of Port Said.
2013 – The Shard, the sixth-tallest building in Europe, is opened to the public.

Births on February 1

1261 – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop and politician, Lord High Treasurer (d. 1326)
1435 – Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (d. 1472)
1447 – Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1504)
1459 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (d. 1508)
1462 – Johannes Trithemius, German lexicographer, historian, and cryptographer (d. 1516)
1552 – Edward Coke, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1634)
1561 – Henry Briggs, British mathematician (d. 1630)
1635 – Marquard Gude, German archaeologist and scholar (d. 1689)
1648 – Elkanah Settle, English poet and playwright (d. 1724)
1659 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (d. 1729)
1663 – Ignacia del Espíritu Santo, Filipino nun, founded the Religious of the Virgin Mary (d. 1748)
1666 – Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, Princess of Conti and titular queen of Poland (d.1732)
1687 – Johann Adam Birkenstock, German violinist and composer (d. 1733)
1690 – Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1768)
1701 – Johan Agrell, Swedish-German pianist and composer (d. 1765)
1761 – Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, South African-French mycologist and academic (d. 1836)
1763 – Thomas Campbell, Irish minister and theologian (d. 1854)
1796 – Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich, Swiss minister, poet, and educator (d. 1865)
1801 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer and philosopher (d. 1881)
1820 – George Hendric Houghton, American clergyman and theologian (d. 1897)
1836 – Emil Hartmann, Danish organist and composer (d. 1898)
1844 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist and academic (d. 1924)
1851 – Durham Stevens, American lawyer and diplomat (d. 1908)
1858 – Ignacio Bonillas, Mexican diplomat (d. 1942)
1859 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1924)
1866 – Agda Meyerson, Swedish nurse and healthcare activist (d. 1924)
1868 – Ștefan Luchian, Romanian painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
1870 – Erik Adolf von Willebrand, Finnish physician (d. 1949)
1872 – Clara Butt, English opera singer (d. 1936)
1872 – Jerome F. Donovan, American lawyer and politician (d. 1949)
1873 – John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1901)
1874 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1929)
1878 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer and architect, designed the Grand Hotel Aranybika (d. 1955)
1878 – Milan Hodža, Slovak journalist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (d. 1944)
1881 – Tip Snooke, South African cricketer (d. 1966)
1882 – Louis St. Laurent, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)
1884 – Bradbury Robinson, American football player and physician (d. 1949)
1884 – Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (d. 1937)
1887 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American lieutenant, pilot, and author (d. 1947)
1890 – Nikolai Reek, Estonian general and politician, 11th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1942)
1894 – John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)
1894 – James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (d. 1955)
1895 – Conn Smythe, Canadian businessman (d. 1980)
1897 – Denise Robins, English journalist and author (d. 1985)
1898 – Leila Denmark, American pediatrician and author (d. 2012)
1901 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (d. 2011)
1901 – Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
1902 – Therese Brandl, German concentration camp guard (d. 1947)
1902 – Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (d. 1967)
1904 – S.J. Perelman, American humorist and screenwriter (d. 1979)
1905 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
1906 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (d. 1993)
1907 – Günter Eich, German author and songwriter (d. 1972)
1907 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian pianist and composer (d. 1993)
1908 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (d. 1980)
1908 – Louis Rasminsky, Canadian economist and banker (d. 1998)
1909 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1910 – Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Chinese general and politician (d. 2009)
1915 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
1917 – José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (d. 2013)
1917 – Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player and soldier (d. 1944)
1918 – Muriel Spark, Scottish playwright and poet (d. 2006)
1918 – Ignacy Tokarczuk, Polish archbishop (d. 2012)
1920 – Mike Scarry, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
1920 – Zao Wou-Ki, Chinese-French painter (d. 2013)
1921 – Teresa Mattei, Italian feminist partisan and politician (d. 2013)
1921 – Peter Sallis, English actor (d. 2017)
1921 – Patricia Robins, British writer and WAAF officer (d. 2016).
1922 – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano and actress (d. 2004)
1923 – Ben Weider, Canadian businessman, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (d. 2008)
1924 – Richard Hooker, American novelist (d. 1997)
1924 – Emmanuel Scheffer, German-Israeli footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2012)
1927 – Galway Kinnell, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
1928 – Sam Edwards, Welsh physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1928 – Tom Lantos, Hungarian-American academic and politician (d. 2008)
1930 – Shahabuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi judge and politician, 12th President of Bangladesh
1930 – Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Indian-Bangladeshi general and politician, 10th President of Bangladesh (d. 2019)
1931 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (d. 2007)
1932 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (d. 2016)
1934 – Nicolae Breban, Romanian author, poet, and playwright
1936 – Tuncel Kurtiz, Turkish actor, playwright, and director (d. 2013)
1936 – Azie Taylor Morton, American educator and politician, 36th Treasurer of the United States (d. 2003)
1937 – Don Everly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1937 – Garrett Morris, American actor and comedian
1938 – Jimmy Carl Black, American drummer and singer (d. 2008)
1938 – Jacky Cupit, American golfer
1938 – Sherman Hemsley, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
1939 – Fritjof Capra, Austrian physicist, author, and academic
1939 – Claude François, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and dancer (d. 1978)
1939 – Paul Gillmor, American lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
1939 – Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina (d. 2009)
1939 – Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (d. 2014)
1941 – Jerry Spinelli, American author
1942 – Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)
1942 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
1942 – David Sincock, Australian cricketer
1944 – Petru Popescu, Romanian-American director, producer, and author
1944 – Burkhard Ziese, German footballer and manager (d. 2010)
1945 – Serge Joyal, Canadian lawyer and politician, 50th Secretary of State for Canada
1945 – Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1945 – Mary Jane Reoch, American cyclist (d. 1993)
1946 – Elisabeth Sladen, English actress (d. 2011)
1946 – Karen Krantzcke, Australian tennis player (d. 1977)
1947 – Adam Ingram, Scottish computer programmer and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
1947 – Normie Rowe, Australian singer-songwriter and actor
1947 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
1948 – Rick James, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
1950 – Mike Campbell, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1950 – Ali Haydar Konca, Turkish politician, 4th Turkish Minister of European Union Affairs
1950 – Rich Williams, American guitarist and songwriter
1951 – Sonny Landreth, American guitarist and songwriter
1952 – Owoye Andrew Azazi, Nigerian general (d. 2012)
1954 – Chuck Dukowski, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1956 – Exene Cervenka, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi Arabian businessman (d. 2007)
1957 – Gilbert Hernandez, American author and illustrator
1958 – Luther Blissett, Jamaican-English footballer and manager
1958 – Eleanor Laing, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
1961 – Volker Fried, German field hockey player and coach
1961 – Daniel M. Tani, American engineer and astronaut
1961 – Kaduvetti Guru, Indian politician (d. 2018)
1962 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2004)
1962 – Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Takashi Murakami, Japanese painter and sculptor
1964 – Jani Lane, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
1964 – Mario Pelchat, Canadian singer-songwriter
1964 – Linus Roache, English actor
1965 – Stéphanie of Monaco, designer, singer and princess
1965 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (d. 1993)
1965 – Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
1966 – Michelle Akers, American soccer player
1967 – Meg Cabot, American author and screenwriter
1968 – Lisa Marie Presley, American singer-songwriter and actress
1968 – Mark Recchi, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1969 – Gabriel Batistuta, Argentinian footballer
1969 – Andrew Breitbart, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 2012)
1969 – Brian Krause, American actor and screenwriter
1969 – Franklyn Rose, Jamaican cricketer
1969 – Patrick Wilson, American drummer
1970 – Yasuyuki Kazama, Japanese racing driver
1970 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (d. 2000)
1971 – Harald Brattbakk, Norwegian footballer and pilot
1971 – Michael C. Hall, American actor and producer
1972 – Christian Ziege, German footballer
1973 – Andrew DeClercq, American basketball player and coach
1973 – Óscar Pérez Rojas, Mexican footballer
1974 – Walter McCarty, American basketball player and coach
1975 – Martijn Reuser, Dutch footballer
1976 – Phil Ivey, American poker player
1976 – Mat Rogers, Australian rugby player
1977 – Lari Ketner, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1977 – Robert Traylor, American basketball player (d. 2011)
1978 – Tim Harding, Australian singer and actor
1978 – K’naan, Somali-Canadian hip-hop artist
1979 – Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1979 – Jason Isbell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Juan Silveira dos Santos, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Héctor Luna, Dominican baseball player
1980 – Moisés Muñoz, Mexican footballer
1980 – Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2005)
1981 – Hins Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter
1981 – Christian Giménez, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Graeme Smith, South African cricketer
1982 – Gavin Henson, Welsh rugby player
1982 – Shoaib Malik, Pakistani cricketer
1983 – Heather DeLoach, American actress
1983 – Kevin Martin, American basketball player
1983 – Jurgen Van den Broeck, Belgian cyclist
1984 – Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer
1985 – Dean Shiels, Irish footballer
1986 – Jorrit Bergsma, Dutch speed skater
1986 – Lauren Conrad, American fashion designer and author
1987 – Sebastian Boenisch, Polish footballer
1987 – Moises Henriques, Portuguese-Australian cricketer
1987 – Austin Jackson, American baseball player
1987 – Ronda Rousey, American mixed martial artist and actress
1987 – Giuseppe Rossi, Italian footballer
1988 – Brett Anderson, American baseball player
1989 – Ricky Pinheiro, Portuguese footballer
1991 – Kyle Palmieri, American hockey player
1993 – Diego Mella, Italian footballer
1994 – Joe Boyce, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Harry Styles, English singer-songwriter

Deaths on February 1

583 – Kan B’alam I, ruler of Palenque (b. 524)
772 – Pope Stephen III (b. 720)
850 – Ramiro I, king of Asturias
992 – Jawhar as-Siqilli, Fatimid statesman
1222 – Alexios Megas Komnenos, first Emperor of Trebizond
1248 – Henry II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1207)
1328 – Charles IV of France (b. 1294)
1501 – Sigismund of Bavaria (b. 1439)
1542 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (b. 1480)
1563 – Menas of Ethiopia
1590 – Lawrence Humphrey, English theologian and academic (b. 1527)
1691 – Pope Alexander VIII (b. 1610)
1718 – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1660)
1733 – Augustus II the Strong, Polish king (b. 1670)
1734 – John Floyer, English physician and author (b. 1649)
1743 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian organist and composer (b. 1657)
1750 – Bakar of Georgia (b. 1699)
1761 – Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French priest and historian (b. 1682)
1768 – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, English field marshal and politician (b. 1685)
1793 – William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1717)
1832 – Archibald Murphey, American judge and politician (b. 1777)
1851 – Mary Shelley, English novelist and playwright (b. 1797)
1871 – Alexander Serov, Russian composer and critic (b. 1820)
1893 – George Henry Sanderson, American lawyer and politician, 22nd Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1824)
1897 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (b. 1826)
1903 – Sir George Stokes, Anglo-Irish physicist, mathematician, and politician (b. 1819)
1907 – Léon Serpollet, French businessman (b. 1858)
1908 – Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)
1922 – William Desmond Taylor, American actor and director (b. 1872)
1924 – Maurice Prendergast, American painter (b. 1858)
1928 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
1936 – Georgios Kondylis, Greek general and politician, 128th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1878)
1940 – Philip Francis Nowlan, American author, created Buck Rogers (b. 1888)
1940 – Zacharias Papantoniou, Greek journalist and critic (b. 1877)
1944 – Piet Mondrian, Dutch-American painter (b. 1872)
1949 – Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, Romanian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1880)
1949 – Herbert Stothart, American conductor and composer (b. 1885)
1957 – Friedrich Paulus, German general (b. 1890)
1958 – Clinton Davisson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
1959 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan, American actress (b. 1873)
1966 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and journalist (b. 1885)
1966 – Buster Keaton, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1895)
1968 – Echol Cole and Robert Walker – sparking the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
1970 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1921)
1976 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
1976 – George Whipple, American physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1878)
1979 – Abdi İpekçi, Turkish journalist and activist (b. 1929)
1981 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American engineer and businessman, founded the Douglas Aircraft Company (b. 1892)
1981 – Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian pianist and composer (b. 1908)
1986 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
1987 – Alessandro Blasetti, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
1989 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter and academic (b. 1918)
1992 – Jean Hamburger, French physician and surgeon (b. 1909)
1996 – Ray Crawford, American race car driver, pilot, and businessman (b. 1915)
1997 – Herb Caen, American journalist and author (b. 1916)
1999 – Paul Mellon, American art collector and philanthropist (b. 1907)
2001 – André D’Allemagne, Canadian political scientist and academic (b. 1929)
2002 – Aykut Barka, Turkish geologist and academic (b. 1951)
2002 – Hildegard Knef, German actress and singer (b. 1925)
2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia crew
- Michael P. Anderson, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1959)
- David M. Brown, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1956)
- Kalpana Chawla, Indian-American engineer and astronaut (b. 1961)
- Laurel Clark, American captain, surgeon, and astronaut (b. 1961)
- Rick Husband, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1957)
- William C. McCool, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1961)
- Ilan Ramon, Israeli colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1954)
2003 – Mongo Santamaría, Cuban-American drummer and bandleader (b. 1922)
2004 – Suha Arın, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
2005 – John Vernon, Canadian-American actor (b. 1932)
2007 – Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-American playwright and composer (b. 1911)
2008 – Beto Carrero, Brazilian actor and businessman (b. 1937)
2012 – Don Cornelius, American television host and producer (b. 1936)
2012 – Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
2013 – Helene Hale, American politician (b. 1918)
2013 – Ed Koch, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 105th Mayor of New York City (b. 1924)
2013 – Shanu Lahiri, Indian painter and educator (b. 1928)
2013 – Cecil Womack, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
2014 – Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1938)
2014 – Vasily Petrov, Russian marshal (b. 1917)
2014 – Rene Ricard, American poet, painter, and critic (b. 1946)
2014 – Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
2015 – Aldo Ciccolini, Italian-French pianist (b. 1925)
2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1935)
2015 – Monty Oum, American animator, director, and screenwriter (b. 1981)
2016 – Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, Guatemalan general and politician, 27th President of Guatemala (b. 1930)
2017 – Desmond Carrington, British actor and broadcaster (b. 1926)
2018 – Barys Kit, Belarusian rocket scientist (b. 1910)
2018 – Mowzey Radio, Ugandan singer and songwriter (b. 1985)
2019 – Jeremy Hardy, English comedian, radio host and panelist (b. 1961)
2019 – Clive Swift, English actor (b. 1936)
2019 – Wade Wilson, American football player and coach (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances on February 1

Abolition of Slavery Day (Mauritius)
Air Force Day (Nicaragua)
Christian feast day:
- Astina (Syrian Church)
- Blessed Candelaria of San José
- Brigid, patron saint of Ireland (Saint Brigid’s Day)
- Verdiana
- February 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Constitution Day can fall, while February 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in February. (Mexico)
Federal Territory Day (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Malaysia)
Heroes Day (Rwanda)
Imbolc (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, and some Neopagan groups in the Northern hemisphere)
Memorial Day of the Republic (Hungary)
National Freedom Day (United States)
The start of Black History Month (United States and Canada)

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