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February 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor
628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II
1336 – Four thousand defenders of Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.
1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000–1500 soldiers surrender after the Last invasion of Britain.
1831 – Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, part of Polish November Uprising against Russian Empire.
1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for the Colt revolver.
1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet Affair (1843).
1848 – Provisional government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc’s motion, guarantees workers’ rights.
1856 – A Peace conference opens in Paris after the Crimean War.
1866 – Miners in Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull – human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons, and elephants had co-existed.
1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
1875 – Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi’s regency.
1901 – J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
1912 – Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
1916 – World War I: The Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
1918 – German occupation of Estonia during World War I: Pernau, Reval, and Pskov are captured.
1919 – Oregon places a one cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
1921 – Tbilisi, capital of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
1928 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a broadcast license for television from the Federal Radio Commission.
1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be designed from the start of construction as an aircraft carrier.
1939 – The first of 2¹⁄₂ million Anderson air raid shelters appeared in North London.
1941 – February strike: In the occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis.
1947 – The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council. The Prussian government had already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.
1948 – Cold War: The Communist Party takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.
1951 – The first Pan American Games were officially opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina by President Juan Perón.
1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
1956 – Cold War: In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
1964 – North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones.
1968 – Vietnam War: One hundred thirty-five unarmed citizens of Hà My village in South Vietnam’s Qu?ng Nam Province are killed and buried en masse by South Korean troops in what would come to be known as the Hà My massacre.
1980 – The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
1986 – People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines’ first woman president.
1987 – Southern Methodist University’s football program is the first college football program to be banned from competition by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.
1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
1991 – Cold War: The Warsaw Pact is abolished.
1992 – Khojaly massacre: About 613 civilians are killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
1994 – Mosque of Abraham massacre: In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more before being subdued and beaten to death by survivors.
1997 – Yi Han-yong, a North Korean defector, was murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea.
2009 – Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.
2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashed during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.
2015 – At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.
2016 – Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.

Births on February 25

1259 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (d. 1321)
1337 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
1475 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York (d. 1499)
1540 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (d. 1614)
1543 – Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Emir of Bitlis (d. 1603)
1591 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and author (d. 1635)
1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1695)
1663 – Peter Anthony Motteux, French-English author, playwright and translator (d. 1718)
1670 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1720)
1682 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (d. 1771)
1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and composer (d. 1793)
1714 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1792)
1728 – John Wood, the Younger, English architect, designed the Royal Crescent (d. 1782)
1752 – John Graves Simcoe, English-Canadian general and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
1755 – François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
1778 – José de San Martín, Argentinian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1850)
1806 – Emma Catherine Embury, American author and poet (d. 1863)
1809 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (d. 1873)
1812 – Carl Christian Hall, Danish lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1888)
1816 – Giovanni Morelli, Italian historian and critic (d. 1891)
1833 – John St. John, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (d. 1919)
1842 – Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1912)
1845 – George Reid, Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
1855 – Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet and author (d. 1886)
1856 – Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian and academic (d. 1915)
1856 – Mathias Zdarsky, Czech-Austrian skier, painter, and sculptor (d. 1940)
1857 – Robert Bond, Canadian politician; first Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
1860 – William Ashley, English historian and academic (d. 1927)
1865 – Andranik, Armenian general (d. 1927)
1866 – Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (d. 1952)
1869 – Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (d. 1940)
1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (d. 1921)
1877 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist and scholar (d. 1935)
1881 – William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (d. 1961)
1881 – Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (d. 1938)
1883 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (d. 1969)
1888 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (d. 1965)
1894 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (d. 1969)
1898 – William Astbury, physicist and molecular biologist (d. 1961)
1901 – Vince Gair, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Queensland (d. 1980)
1901 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian (the youngest of the Marx Brothers) and theatrical agent (d. 1979)
1903 – King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and coach; rated one of the 100 greatest NHL players (d. 1986)
1905 – Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1963)
1906 – Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright; author of Harvey (d. 1981)
1907 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (d. 1948)
1908 – Mary Locke Petermann, cellular biochemist (d. 1975)
1908 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (d. 2001)
1910 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (d. 1992)
1913 – Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter; the voice of Mr. Magoo (d. 1989)
1913 – Gert Fröbe, German actor; title role in Goldfinger (d. 1988)
1917 – Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (d. 1993)
1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player; winner of three major titles, 1939–1941 (d. 1995)
1919 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player and executive (d. 2016)
1920 – Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (d. 1992)
1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1970)
1921 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
1922 – Molly Reilly, Canadian aviator (d. 1980)
1924 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (d. 2013)
1925 – Shehu Shagari, former President of Nigeria (d. 2018)
1925 – Lisa Kirk, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
1926 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic; noted for contributions to algebraic number theory (d. 2003)
1927 – Ralph Stanley, American bluegrass singer and banjo player; member of International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame (d. 2016)
1928 – Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman; winner of four Olympic gold medals, 1948–1960 (d. 2016)
1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., prominent African-American civil rights advocate, author, and federal court judge (d. 1998)
1928 – Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter; creator and producer of M*A*S*H TV series (d. 2009)
1928 – Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (d. 2013)
1932 – Tony Brooks, English racing driver; six Formula One victories, second in 1959 World Championship
1932 – Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist; member of Country Music Hall of Fame (d. 1996)
1934 – Tony Lema, American golfer; winner of the 1964 Open Championship (d. 1966)
1935 – Oktay Sinanoglu, Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist; two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2015)
1937 – Tom Courtenay, award-winning English actor
1937 – Bob Schieffer, American political author, journalist and TV interviewer
1938 – Herb Elliott, Australian 1500 metres runner; 1960 Olympic champion and world record holder
1938 – Farokh Engineer, Indian international cricketer; successful as batsman and wicketkeeper
1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
1941 – David Puttnam, English film producer and academic
1943 – George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer; lead guitarist of The Beatles (d. 2001)
1944 – François Cevert, French racing driver (d. 1973)
1946 – Jean Todt, French racing driver and team manager; FIA President, 2009–2021
1947 – Lee Evans, American sprinter and athletics coach; two gold medals and world 400m record at 1968 Olympics
1949 – Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author
1950 – Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish skier; 1972 Olympic slalom champion (d. 2006)
1950 – Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter and author
1950 – Néstor Kirchner, Argentinian politician; 51st President of Argentina, 2003–2007 (d. 2010)
1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter and coach; four Olympic medals and two world records
1952 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle road racing champion; holds record for most wins (26) at the Isle of Man TT (d. 2000)
1953 – José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004
1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player and coach; four-time NBA Finals champion
1962 – Birgit Fischer, German kayaker; winner of eight Olympic gold medals
1963 – Paul O’Neill, American baseball player and sportscaster; five-time World Series champion
1967 – Ed Balls, British politician; Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
1968 – Oumou Sangaré, Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician
1971 – Sean Astin, American actor, director and producer
1974 – Dominic Raab, British politician; First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
1981 – Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer; the most successful Asian player with 19 career trophies
1982 – Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player; winner of the 2015 US Open
1988 – Tom Marshall, British photo colouriser and artist
1999 – Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian international footballer; youngest goalkeeper to play for Italy

Deaths on February 25

806 – Tarasios, patriarch of Constantinople
891 – Fujiwara no Mototsune, Japanese regent (b. 836)
944 – Lin Ding, Chinese official and chancellor
1246 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Welsh king (b. 1212)
1321 – Beatrice d’Avesnes, consort of Henry VI, Count of Luxembourg
1495 – Sultan Cem, Ottoman politician (b. 1459)
1522 – William Lily, English scholar and educator (b. 1468)
1536 – Berchtold Haller, German-Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1492)
1536 – Jacob Hutter, founder of the Hutterites
1547 – Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara (b. 1490)
1558 – Eleanor of Austria (b. 1498)
1600 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish colonial industrialist and saint (b. 1502)
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1566)
1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general and politician (b. 1583)
1655 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish poet and scholar (b. 1580)
1682 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
1710 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, French soldier and explorer (b. 1639)
1713 – Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
1756 – Eliza Haywood, English actress and poet (b. 1693)
1796 – Samuel Seabury, American bishop (b. 1729)
1798 – Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, French poet and diplomat (b. 1716)
1805 – Thomas Pownall, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1722)
1819 – Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese-French poet and educator (b. 1734)
1822 – William Pinkney, American politician and diplomat, 7th United States Attorney General (b. 1764)
1831 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (b. 1752)
1841 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1783)
1850 – Daoguang Emperor of China (b. 1782)
1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and lyricist (b. 1779)
1865 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (b. 1813)
1870 – Henrik Hertz, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1797)
1875 – Thomas Reynolds, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of South Australia (b. 1818)
1877 – Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
1878 – Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1804)
1888 – Josif Pancic, Serbian botanist and academic (b. 1814)
1899 – Paul Reuter, German-English journalist and businessman, founded Reuters (b. 1816)
1906 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1861)
1910 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter and educator (b. 1820)
1911 – Friedrich Spielhagen, German author, theorist, and translator (b. 1829)
1912 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
1914 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (b. 1820)
1915 – Charles Edwin Bessey, American botanist, author, and academic (b. 1845)
1916 – David Bowman, Australian politician (b. 1860)
1920 – Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, French archaeologist and engineer (b. 1844)
1922 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (b. 1869)
1928 – William O’Brien, Irish journalist and politician (b. 1852)
1934 – Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, American botanist and academic (b. 1857)
1934 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
1945 – Mário de Andrade, Brazilian author, poet, and photographer (b. 1893)
1950 – George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
1953 – Sergei Winogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian microbiologist and ecologist (b. 1856)
1957 – Mark Aldanov, Russian author and critic (b. 1888)
1957 – Bugs Moran, American mob boss (b. 1893)
1963 – Melville J. Herskovits, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1895)
1964 – Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1887)
1964 – Hinrich Lohse, German politician (b. 1896)
1964 – Grace Metalious, American author (b. 1924)
1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (b. 1903)
1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
1972 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (b. 1889)
1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (b. 1897)
1978 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (b. 1920)
1980 – Robert Hayden, American poet and academic (b. 1913)
1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (b. 1911)
1996 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (b. 1940)
1997 – Andrei Sinyavsky, Russian journalist and publisher (b. 1925)
1998 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1914)
1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
2001 – A. R. Ammons, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
2001 – Donald Bradman, Australian international cricketer; holder of world record batting average (b. 1908)
2005 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (b. 1921)
2010 – Ihsan Dogramaci, Turkish pediatrician and academic (b. 1915)
2012 – Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
2015 – Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1930)
2015 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic; noted ichthyologist (b. 1922)
2020 – Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1924)

Holidays and observance on February 25

Christian feast day

Æthelberht of Kent
Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás
Gerland of Agrigento
John Roberts, writer and missionary
Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani
Saint Walpurga (she was canonised on 1 May and Walpurgis Night is celebrated 30 April)

February 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

For superstitious reasons, when the Romans began to intercalate to bring their calendar into line with the solar year, they chose not to place their extra month of Mercedonius after February but within it. February 24 — known in the Roman calendar as “the sixth day before the Kalends of March” — was replaced by the first day of this month since it followed Terminalia, the festival of the Roman god of boundaries. After the end of Mercedonius, the rest of the days of February were observed and the new year began with the first day of March. The overlaid religious festivals of February were so complicated that Julius Caesar opted not to change it at all during his 46 bc calendar reform. The extra day of his system’s leap years was located in the same place as the old intercalary month but he opted to ignore it as a date. Instead, the sixth day before the Kalends of March was simply said to last for 48 hours and all the other days continued to bear their original names. (The Roman practice of inclusive counting initially caused the priests in charge of the calendar to add the extra hours every three years instead of every four and Augustus was obliged to omit them for a span of decades until the system was back to where it should have been.) When the extra hours finally began to be reckoned as two separate days instead of a doubled sixth (“bissextile”) one, the leap day was still taken to be the one following hard on the February 23 Terminalia. Although February 29 has been popularly understood as the leap day of leap years since the beginning of sequential reckoning of the days of months in the late Middle Ages, in Britain and most other countries, no formal replacement of February 24 as the leap day of the Julian and Gregorian calendars has occurred. The exceptions include Sweden and Finland, who enacted legislation to move the day to February 29. This custom still has some effect around the world, for example with respect to name days in Hungary.

February 24 in History

484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
1303 – Battle of Roslin, of the First War of Scottish Independence.
1386 – King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.
1525 – A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia.
1538 – Treaty of Nagyvárad between Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and King John Zápolya of Hungary and Croatia.
1582 – With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.
1607 – L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.
1711 – The London première of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.
1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.
1809 – London’s Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute.
1821 – Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with Plan of Iguala.
1822 – The first Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.
1826 – The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.
1848 – King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.
1854 – A Penny Red with perforations was the first perforated postage stamp to be officially issued for distribution.
1863 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
1868 – Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.
1875 – The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.
1881 – China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.
1895 – Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, that ends with the Spanish–American War in 1898.
1916 – The Governor-General of Korea establishes a clinic called Jahyewon in Sorokdo to segregate Hansen’s disease patients.
1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
1918 – Estonian Declaration of Independence.
1920 – Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom following her election as a Member of Parliament (MP) three months earlier.
1920 – The Nazi Party (NSDAP) was founded by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich, Germany
1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.
1942 – An order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all “persons of Japanese racial origin”.
1944 – Merrill’s Marauders: The Marauders begin their 1,000-mile journey through Japanese-occupied Burma.
1945 – Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.
1946 – Colonel Juan Perón, founder of the political movement that became known as Peronism, is elected to his first term as President of Argentina.
1949 – The Armistice Agreements are signed, to formally end the hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
1971 – The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, is killed three days earlier. P.K. Mookiah Thevar is appointed as the new chairman.
1976 – The current constitution of Cuba is formally proclaimed.
1978 – The Yuba County Five disappear in California. Four of their bodies are found four months later.
1980 – The United States Olympic hockey team completes its Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal.
1981 – The 6.7 M_s Gulf of Corinth earthquake affected Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people were killed, 400 were injured, and damage totaled $812 million.
1983 – A special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.
1984 – Tyrone Mitchell perpetrates the 49th Street Elementary School shooting in Los Angeles, killing two children and injuring 12 more.
1989 – United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, rips open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.
1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
1996 – Two civilian airplanes operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue are shot down in international waters by the Cuban Air Force.
1999 – China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, crashes on approach to Wenzhou Longwan International Airport in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. All 61 people on board are killed.
2004 – The 6.3 M_w Al Hoceima earthquake strikes northern Morocco with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 628 people are killed, 926 are injured, and up to 15,000 are displaced.
2006 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
2007 – Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba and the Council of Ministers after 32 years. He remains as head of the Communist Party for another three years.
2015 – A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California following a collision with a truck, leaving more than 30 injured.
2016 – Tara Air Flight 193, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, crashed, with 23 fatalities, in Solighopte, Myagdi District, Dhaulagiri Zone, while en route from Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport.

Births on February 24

1103 – Emperor Toba of Japan (d. 1156)
1304 – Ibn Battuta, Moroccan jurist
1413 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (d. 1465)
1463 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (d. 1494)
1494 – Johan Friis, Danish statesman (d. 1570)
1500 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)
1536 – Pope Clement VIII (d. 1605)
1545 – John of Austria (d. 1578)
1553 – Cherubino Alberti, Italian engraver and painter (d. 1615)
1557 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619)
1593 – Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and courtier (d. 1625)
1595 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (d. 1640)
1604 – Arcangela Tarabotti, Venetian nun and feminist (d. 1652)
1619 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (d. 1690)
1622 – Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (d. 1665)
1709 – Jacques de Vaucanson, French engineer (d. 1782)
1721 – John McKinly, Irish-American physician and politician, 1st Governor of Delaware (d. 1796)
1723 – John Burgoyne, English general and politician (d. 1792)
1736 – Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1806)
1743 – Joseph Banks, English botanist and explorer (d. 1820)
1762 – Charles Frederick Horn, German-English composer and educator (d. 1830)
1767 – Rama II of Siam (d. 1824)
1774 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (d. 1850)
1786 – Martin W. Bates, American lawyer and politician (d. 1869)
1786 – Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist, author, and academic (d. 1859)
1788 – Johan Christian Dahl, Norwegian-German painter (d. 1857)
1827 – Lydia Becker, English-French activist (d. 1890)
1831 – Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1899)
1835 – Julius Vogel, English-New Zealand journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1899)
1836 – Winslow Homer, American painter and illustrator (d. 1910)
1837 – Rosalía de Castro, Spanish poet (d. 1885)
1842 – Arrigo Boito, Italian journalist, author, and composer (d. 1918)
1848 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1907)
1852 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933)
1868 – Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (d. 1949)
1869 – Zara DuPont, American suffragist (d. 1946)
1874 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1955)
1877 – Rudolph Ganz, Swiss pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1972)
1877 – Ettie Rout, Australian-New Zealand educator and activist (d. 1936)
1885 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (d. 1966)
1885 – Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish author, poet, and painter (d. 1939)
1890 – Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975)
1896 – Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1898 – Kurt Tank, German pilot and engineer (d. 1983)
1900 – Irmgard Bartenieff, German-American dancer and physical therapist, leading pioneer of dance therapy (d. 1981)
1903 – Vladimir Bartol, Italian-Slovene author and playwright (d. 1967)
1908 – Telford Taylor, American general, lawyer, and historian (d. 1998)
1909 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (d. 1971)
1914 – Ralph Erskine, English-Swedish architect, designed The Ark and Byker Wall (d. 2005)
1914 – Weldon Kees, American author, poet, painter, and pianist (d. 1955)
1915 – Jim Ferrier, Australian golfer (d. 1986)
1919 – John Carl Warnecke, American architect (d. 2010)
1921 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (d. 2016)
1922 – Richard Hamilton, English painter and academic (d. 2011)
1922 – Steven Hill, American actor (d. 2016)
1924 – Hal Herring, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1924 – Erik Nielsen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2008)
1925 – Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
1927 – Emmanuelle Riva, French actress (d. 2017)
1929 – Kintaro Ohki, South Korean wrestler (d. 2006)
1930 – Barbara Lawrence, American model and actress (d. 2013)
1931 – Dominic Chianese, American actor and singer
1931 – Brian Close, English cricketer and coach (d. 2015)
1932 – Michel Legrand, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019)
1932 – Zell Miller, American sergeant and politician, 79th Governor of Georgia (d. 2018)
1932 – John Vernon, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
1933 – Judah Folkman, American physician and biologist (d. 2008)
1933 – Ali Mazrui, Kenyan-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 2014)
1933 – David “Fathead” Newman, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2009)
1934 – Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2000)
1934 – Johnny Hills, English footballer, full-back
1934 – Renata Scotto, Italian soprano
1935 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014)
1936 – Guillermo O’Donnell, Argentine political scientist (d. 2011)
1938 – James Farentino, American actor (d. 2012)
1938 – Phil Knight, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Nike, Inc.
1939 – Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (d. 2013)
1940 – Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971)
1940 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (d. 2014)
1940 – Denis Law, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
1941 – Joanie Sommers, American singer and actress
1942 – Colin Bond, Australian race car driver
1942 – Paul Jones, English singer, harmonica player, and actor
1942 – Joe Lieberman, American lawyer and politician
1942 – Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Indian philosopher, theorist, and academic
1943 – Kent Haruf, American novelist (d. 2014)
1943 – Gigi Meroni, Italian footballer (d. 1967)
1943 – Pablo Milanés, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Terry Semel, American businessman
1944 – Nicky Hopkins, English keyboard player (d. 1994)
1944 – Ivica Račan, Croatian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Croatia (d. 2007)
1945 – Barry Bostwick, American actor and singer
1946 – Grigory Margulis, Russian mathematician and academic
1947 – Mike Fratello, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
1947 – Rupert Holmes, English-American singer-songwriter and playwright
1947 – Edward James Olmos, American actor and director
1948 – Jayalalithaa, Indian actress and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2016)
1948 – Walter Smith, Scottish footballer and manager
1948 – Tim Staffell, English singer and guitarist
1948 – Dennis Waterman, English actor
1950 – Steve McCurry, American photographer and journalist
1951 – David Ford, Northern Irish social worker and politician
1951 – Derek Randall, English cricketer
1951 – Debra Jo Rupp, American actress
1951 – Helen Shaver, Canadian actress and director
1951 – Laimdota Straujuma, Latvian economist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Latvia
1953 – Anatoli Kozhemyakin, Soviet footballer (d. 1974)
1954 – Plastic Bertrand, Belgian singer-songwriter and producer
1954 – Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican American award-winning author (d. 2016)
1954 – Aurora Levins Morales, Puerto Rican Jewish writer and activist
1954 – Sid Meier, Canadian-American game designer and programmer, created the Civilization series
1954 – Mike Pickering, English DJ and saxophonist
1955 – Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founded Apple Inc. and Pixar (d. 2011)
1955 – Eddie Johnson, American basketball player
1955 – Alain Prost, French race car driver
1956 – Judith Butler, American philosopher, theorist, and author
1956 – Eddie Murray, American baseball player and coach
1956 – Paula Zahn, American journalist and producer
1958 – Sammy Kershaw, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Mark Moses, American actor
1959 – Beth Broderick, American actress and director
1959 – Mike Whitney, Australian cricketer and television host
1963 – Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro
1963 – Mike Vernon, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Gujarati family, most versatile filmmaker of Hindi cinema.
1964 – Russell Ingall, British-Australian race car driver and sportscaster
1965 – Paul Gruber, American football player
1965 – Jane Swift, American businesswoman and politician, Governor of Massachusetts
1966 – Billy Zane, American actor and producer
1967 – Brian Schmidt, Australian astrophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1968 – Mitch Hedberg, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
1969 – Kim Seung-woo, South Korean actor
1970 – Jeff Garcia, American football player and coach
1970 – Neil Sullivan, English born Scottish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
1970 – Jonathan Ward, American actor
1971 – Josh Bernstein, American anthropologist, explorer, and author
1971 – Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish race car driver
1971 – Brian Savage, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1972 – Teodor Currentzis, Greek conductor and composer
1972 – Manon Rhéaume, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1973 – Stubby Clapp, Canadian baseball player and coach
1973 – Chris Fehn, American drummer
1973 – Alexei Kovalev, Russian ice hockey player and pilot
1974 – Chad Hugo, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
1974 – Mike Lowell, American baseball player and sportscaster
1974 – Bonnie Somerville, American actress
1975 – Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian singer-songwriter and fiddler
1976 – Crista Flanagan, American actress and screenwriter
1976 – Zach Johnson, American golfer
1976 – Bradley McGee, Australian cyclist and coach
1976 – Matt Skiba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Marco Campos, Brazilian Formula 3000 race car driver (d. 1995)
1977 – Jason Akermanis, Australian footballer and coach
1977 – Bronson Arroyo, American baseball player and singer
1977 – Floyd Mayweather, Jr., American boxer
1978 – Gary, South Korean rapper and producer
1978 – Shinya, Japanese drummer and songwriter
1978 – John Nolan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – DeWayne Wise, American baseball player
1978 – Leon Constantine, English footballer
1980 – Shinsuke Nakamura, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1981 – Felipe Baloy, Panamanian footballer
1981 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
1981 – Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer
1982 – Nick Blackburn, American baseball player
1982 – Emanuel Villa, Argentinian footballer
1982 – Klára Koukalová, Czech tennis player
1982 – Fala Chen, Chinese actress and singer
1984 – Corey Graves, American wrestler and sportscaster
1985 – Nakash Aziz, Indian playback singer and music composer
1987 – Kim Kyu-jong, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor
1988 – Mathieu Baudry, French footballer
1989 – Trace Cyrus, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1991 – Madison Hubbell, American ice dancer
1991 – Semih Kaya, Turkish footballer
1996 – Royce Freeman, American football player

Deaths on February 24

616 – Æthelberht of Kent (b. 560)
951 – Liu Yun, Chinese governor (jiedushi)
1018 – Borrell, bishop of Vic
1114 – Thomas, archbishop of York
1386 – Charles III of Naples (b. 1345)
1496 – Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1445)
1525 – Jacques de La Palice, French nobleman and military officer (b. 1470)
1525 – Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (b. c. 1488)
1525 – Richard de la Pole, last Yorkist claimant to the English throne (b. 1480)
1563 – Francis, Duke of Guise (b. 1519)
1580 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (b. 1511)
1588 – Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist (b. 1515)
1666 – Nicholas Lanier, English composer and painter (b. 1588)
1685 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland (b. 1629)
1704 – Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer (b. 1643)
1714 – Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1637)
1721 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1648)
1732 – Francis Charteris, Scottish soldier (b. 1675)
1777 – Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)
1785 – Carlo Buonaparte, Corsican lawyer and politician (b. 1746)
1799 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and academic (b. 1742)
1810 – Henry Cavendish, French-English physicist and chemist (b. 1731)
1812 – Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1775)
1815 – Robert Fulton, American engineer (b. 1765)
1825 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (b. 1754)
1856 – Nikolai Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1792)
1876 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian politician, 1st President of Liberia (b. 1809)
1879 – Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 11th Yokozuna (b. 1825)
1910 – Osman Hamdi Bey, Greek archaeologist and painter (b. 1842)
1914 – Joshua Chamberlain, American general and politician, 32nd Governor of Maine (b. 1828)
1925 – Hjalmar Branting, Swedish journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Sweden, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
1927 – Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician (b. 1858)
1929 – André Messager, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1853)
1930 – Hermann von Ihering, German-Brazilian zoologist (b. 1850)
1953 – Robert La Follette Jr., American politician, senator of Wisconsin (b. 1895)
1953 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (b. 1875)
1967 – Mir Osman Ali Khan, Last Nizam of Hyderabad State (b. 1886)
1970 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)
1974 – Margaret Leech, American historian and author (b. 1895)
1975 – Hans Bellmer, German artist (b. 1902)
1975 – Nikolai Bulganin, Russian marshal and politician, 6th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
1978 – Alma Thomas, American painter and educator (b.1891)
1982 – Virginia Bruce, American actress (b. 1910)
1986 – Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian Bharatnatyam dancer (b. 1904)
1986 – Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian minister and politician, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1904)
1990 – Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (b. 1945)
1990 – Malcolm Forbes, American sergeant and publisher (b. 1917)
1990 – Sandro Pertini, Italian journalist and politician, 7th President of Italy (b. 1896)
1990 – Johnnie Ray, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1927)
1991 – John Daly, American journalist and game show host (b. 1914)
1991 – George Gobel, American actor (b. 1919)
1991 – Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
1993 – Danny Gallivan, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1917)
1993 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (b. 1941)
1994 – Jean Sablon, French singer and actor (b. 1906)
1994 – Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
1998 – Antonio Prohías, Cuban-American cartoonist (b. 1921)
1998 – Henny Youngman, English-American comedian and violinist (b. 1906)
1999 – Andre Dubus, American short story writer, essayist, and memoirist (b. 1936)
2001 – Theodore Marier, American composer and educator, founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (b. 1912)
2001 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician, cryptographer, and engineer (b. 1916)
2002 – Leo Ornstein, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1893)
2004 – John Randolph, American actor (b. 1915)
2005 – Coşkun Kırca, Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician (b. 1927)
2006 – Octavia E. Butler, American author and educator (b. 1947)
2006 – Don Knotts, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
2006 – John Martin, Canadian broadcaster, co-founded MuchMusic (b. 1947)
2006 – Dennis Weaver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1924)
2007 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (b. 1906)
2007 – Damien Nash, American football player (b. 1982)
2008 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
2010 – Dawn Brancheau, senior animal trainer at SeaWorld (b. 1969)
2011 – Anant Pai, Indian author and illustrator (b. 1929)
2012 – Agnes Allen, American baseball player and therapist (b. 1930)
2012 – Oliver Wrong, English nephrologist and academic (b. 1925)
2013 – Virgil Johnson, American singer (b. 1935)
2013 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1923)
2014 – Franny Beecher, American guitarist (b. 1921)
2014 – Alexis Hunter, New Zealand-English painter and photographer (b. 1948)
2014 – Carlos Páez Vilaró, Uruguayan painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
2014 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
2015 – Mefodiy, Ukrainian metropolitan (b. 1949)
2015 – Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh politician and diplomat (b. 1962)
2016 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (b. 1943)
2016 – Nabil Maleh, Syrian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
2016 – George C. Nichopoulos, American soldier and physician (b. 1927)
2018 – Sridevi, Indian actress (b. 1963)
2020 – Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances on February 24

Christian feast day:
- Blessed Ascensión Nicol y Goñi
- Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Modest (bishop of Trier)
- Sergius of Cappadocia
- February 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Dragobete (Romania)
Engineer’s Day (Iran)
Flag Day in Mexico
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Estonia from the Russian Empire in 1918; the Soviet period is considered to have been an illegal annexation.
National Artist Day (Thailand)

February 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia.
1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
1554 – Mapuche forces, under the leadership of Lautaro, score a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Marihueñu in Chile.
1653 – The Ballet Royal de la Nuit is first performed at the Salle du Petit-Bourbon in Paris
1739 – At York Castle, the outlaw Dick Turpin is identified by his former schoolteacher. Turpin had been using the name Richard Palmer.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.
1836 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.
1847 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista: In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.
1870 – Reconstruction Era: Post-U.S. Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an anti-trust law.
1885 – Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.
1886 – Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of aluminium from the electrolysis of aluminium oxide, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister, Julia Brainerd Hall.
1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J’Accuse…!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1900 – Second Boer War: During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart’s Hill fails.
1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.
1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world’s first service club.
1909 – The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar).
1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress establishing the Federal Radio Commission (later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission) which was to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.
1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
1934 – Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.
1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California.
1943 – A fire breaks out at Saint Joseph’s Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 35 children and one adult.
1943 – Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded in Greece.
1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free all 2,147 captives of the Los Baños internment camp, in what General Colin Powell later would refer to as “the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies.”
1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.
1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.
1947 – International Organization for Standardization is founded.
1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.
1966 – In Syria, Ba’ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin al-Hafiz, also a Baathist.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d’état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d’état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people.
1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 88. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam, marking the first operational loss of a B-2.
2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2¹⁄₂ million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster.
2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.
2017 – The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army captures Al-Bab from ISIL.
2019 – Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767 freighter, crashes into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, killing all three people on board.

Births on February 23

1417 – Pope Paul II (d. 1471)
1417 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1479)
1443 – Matthias Corvinus, Hungarian king (d. 1490)
1529 – Onofrio Panvinio, Italian historian (d. 1568)
1539 – Henry XI of Legnica, thrice Duke of Legnica (d. 1588)
1539 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (d. 1612)
1583 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer (d. 1656)
1592 – Balthazar Gerbier, Dutch painter (d. 1663)
1633 – Samuel Pepys, English diarist and politician (d. 1703)
1646 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shōgun (d. 1709)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, Canadian politician, 2nd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)
1685 – George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (d. 1759)
1723 – Richard Price, Welsh-English minister and philosopher (d. 1791)
1744 – Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker and businessman (d. 1812)
1792 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (d. 1854)
1831 – Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Dutch painter (d. 1915)
1840 – Carl Menger, Austrian economist and educator (d. 1921)
1842 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (d. 1906)
1850 – César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz Hotel, London and Hôtel Ritz Paris (d. 1918)
1868 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (d. 1963)
1868 – Anna Hofman-Uddgren, Swedish actress, singer, and director (d. 1947)
1873 – Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (d. 1929)
1874 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Estonia (d. 1956)
1878 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and theorist (d. 1935)
1883 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (d. 1969)
1883 – Guy C. Wiggins, American painter (d. 1962)
1889 – Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)
1889 – Cyril Delevanti, English-American actor (d. 1975)
1889 – Victor Fleming, American director, cinematographer, and producer (d. 1949)
1889 – John Gilbert Winant, American captain, pilot, and politician, 60th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1947)
1892 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (d. 1995)
1892 – Agnes Smedley, American journalist and writer (d. 1950)
1894 – Harold Horder, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1978)
1899 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (d. 1974)
1899 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1904 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (d. 1980)
1904 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (d. 1993)
1908 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
1915 – Jon Hall, American actor and director (d. 1979)
1915 – Paul Tibbets, American general and pilot (d. 2007)
1919 – Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (d. 1995)
1920 – Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2018)
1923 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 2014)
1923 – Harry Clarke, English international footballer, defender (d. 2000)
1923 – Ioannis Grivas, Greek judge and politician, 176th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2016)
1923 – Dante Lavelli, American football player (d. 2009)
1923 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (d.1986)
1923 – Mary Francis Shura, American author (d. 1991)
1924 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1925 – Louis Stokes, American lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
1927 – Régine Crespin, French soprano and actress (d. 2007)
1928 – Hans Herrmann, German race car driver
1928 – Vasily Lazarev, Russian colonel, physician, and astronaut (d. 1990)
1929 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (d. 2008)
1929 – Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (d. 1980)
1930 – Paul West, English-American author, poet, and academic (d. 2015)
1931 – Tom Wesselmann, American painter and sculptor (d. 2004)
1932 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (d. 2008)
1937 – Tom Osborne, American football player, coach, and politician
1938 – Sylvia Chase, American broadcast journalist (d. 2019)
1938 – Paul Morrissey, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1938 – Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)
1940 – Peter Fonda, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
1940 – Jackie Smith, American football player
1941 – Ron Hunt, American baseball player
1943 – Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
1943 – Bobby Mitchell, American golfer (d. 2018)
1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author and educator
1944 – Florian Fricke, German keyboard player and composer (d. 2001)
1944 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
1945 – Allan Boesak, South African cleric and politician
1946 – Rusty Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician, Speaker of the Danish Parliament
1947 – Anton Mosimann, Swiss chef and author
1948 – Bill Alexander, English director and producer
1948 – Trevor Cherry, English footballer (d. 2020)
1948 – Steve Priest, English singer-songwriter and bass player
1949 – César Aira, Argentinian author and translator
1949 – Marc Garneau, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and politician
1950 – Rebecca Goldstein, American philosopher and author
1951 – Eddie Dibbs, American tennis player
1951 – Debbie Friedman, American singer-songwriter of Jewish melodies (d. 2011)
1951 – Ed “Too Tall” Jones, American football player and boxer
1951 – Patricia Richardson, American actress
1952 – Brad Whitford, American guitarist and songwriter
1953 – Kenny Bee, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1953 – Satoru Nakajima, Japanese race car driver
1954 – Rajini Thiranagama, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 1989)
1954 – Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian captain and politician, 3rd President of Ukraine
1955 – Howard Jones, English singer-songwriter
1955 – Flip Saunders, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1956 – Sandra Osborne, Scottish politician
1958 – David Sylvian, English singer-songwriter
1959 – Clayton Anderson, American engineer and astronaut
1959 – Nick de Bois, English politician
1959 – Ian Liddell-Grainger, Scottish soldier and politician
1959 – Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress
1960 – Naruhito, Emperor of Japan
1962 – Michael Wilton, American guitarist
1963 – Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player
1963 – Radosław Sikorski, Polish journalist and politician, 11th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
1964 – John Norum, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
1965 – Michael Dell, American businessman
1965 – Helena Suková, Czech-Monacan tennis player
1967 – Steve Stricker, American golfer
1967 – Chris Vrenna, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
1969 – Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
1969 – Martine Croxall, English journalist and television news presenter
1969 – Daymond John, American fashion designer and businessman, founded FUBU
1970 – Niecy Nash, American actress and producer
1971 – Carin Koch, Swedish golfer
1971 – Melinda Messenger, English model and television host
1971 – Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player
1972 – Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer
1972 – Rondell White, American baseball player
1973 – Jeff Nordgaard, American-Polish basketball player
1974 – Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
1974 – Robbi Kempson, South African rugby player
1975 – Michael Cornacchia, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Ryan McCourt, Canadian artist
1976 – Scott Elarton, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress
1976 – Jeff O’Neill, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1977 – Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian skier
1978 – Residente, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
1978 – Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
1979 – S. E. Cupp, American journalist and author
1981 – Gareth Barry, English footballer
1981 – Josh Gad, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1981 – Charles Tillman, American football player
1982 – Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor and screenwriter
1983 – Mido, Egyptian footballer, striker, manager and sportscaster
1983 – Aziz Ansari, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1983 – Emily Blunt, English actress
1986 – Emerson Conceição, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Skylar Grey, American singer-songwriter
1986 – Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
1986 – Jerod Mayo, American football player
1986 – Ola Svensson, Swedish singer-songwriter
1987 – Ab-Soul, American rapper
1987 – Theophilus London, Trinidadian-American singer-songwriter and producer
1987 – Zak Kirkup, Member of the Parliament of Western Australia
1988 – Nicolás Gaitán, Argentinian footballer
1989 – Evan Bates, American ice dancer
1989 – Jérémy Pied, French footballer
1990 – Kevin Connauton, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Terry Hawkridge, English footballer
1990 – Marco Scandella, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Casemiro, Brazilian footballer
1992 – Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
1993 – Chris Grevsmuhl, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress
1995 – Andrew Wiggins, Canadian basketball player
1996 – D’Angelo Russell, American basketball player
1997 – Jamal Murray, Canadian basketball player

Deaths on February 23

715 – Al-Walid I, Umayyad caliph (b. 668)
908 – Li Keyong, Shatuo military governor during the Tang Dynasty in China (b. 856)
943 – Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
943 – David I, prince of Tao-Klarjeti (Georgia)
1011 – Willigis, German archbishop (b. 940)
1100 – Emperor Zhezong of Song (b. 1076)
1270 – Isabel of France (b. 1225)
1447 – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)
1447 – Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
1464 – Emperor Yingzong of Ming (b. 1427)
1473 – Arnold, Duke of Gelderland (b. 1410)
1526 – Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies (b. c. 1479)
1554 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire (b. 1515)
1603 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
1603 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician (b. 1540)
1620 – Nicholas Fuller, English politician (b. 1543)
1704 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (b. 1653)
1766 – Stanisław Leszczyński, Polish king (b. 1677)
1781 – George Taylor, Irish-American blacksmith and politician (b. 1716)
1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (b. 1723)
1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
1848 – John Quincy Adams, American politician, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
1855 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
1859 – Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1812)
1879 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (b. 1803)
1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer and educator (b. 1828)
1900 – Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1867)
1908 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (b. 1823)
1918 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882)
1930 – Horst Wessel, German SA officer (b. 1907)
1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (b. 1861)
1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857)
1944 – Leo Baekeland, Belgian-American chemist and engineer (b. 1863)
1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (b. 1885)
1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-American publisher and educator (b. 1866)
1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (b. 1890)
1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress and producer (b. 1933)
1969 – Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 2nd King of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (b. 1895)
1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887)
1979 – W. A. C. Bennett, Canadian businessman and politician, 25th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1900)
1983 – Herbert Howells, English organist and composer (b. 1892)
1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, Salvadoran engineer and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)
1997 – Tony Williams, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1945)
1998 – Philip Abbott, American actor and director (b. 1924)
1999 – The Renegade, American wrestler (b. 1965)
2000 – Ofra Haza, Israeli singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1957)
2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (b. 1915)
2003 – Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (b. 1955)
2003 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist and academic (b. 1910)
2004 – Vijay Anand, Indian director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1934)
2004 – Sikander Bakht, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1918)
2006 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
2007 – John Ritchie, English footballer (b. 1941)
2008 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (b. 1950)
2008 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (b. 1917)
2010 – Orlando Zapata, Cuban plumber and activist (b. 1967)
2011 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (b. 1923)
2012 – William Raggio, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
2012 – David Sayre, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1924)
2012 – Kazimierz Żygulski, Polish sociologist and activist (b. 1919)
2013 – Eugene Bookhammer, American soldier and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware (b. 1918)
2013 – Joseph Friedenson, Holocaust survivor, Holocaust historian, Yiddish writer, lecturer and editor (b. 1922)
2013 – Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal (b. 1920)
2013 – Lotika Sarkar, Indian lawyer and academic (b. 1945)
2014 – Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-English Holocaust survivor, pianist and educator (b. 1903)
2014 – Roger Hilsman, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1919)
2015 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (b. 1918)
2015 – Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1942)
2015 – W. E. “Bill” Dykes, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
2016 – Peter Lustig, German television host and author (b. 1937)
2016 – Jacqueline Mattson, American baseball player (b. 1928)
2019 – Katherine Helmond, American actress (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances on February 23

Christian feast day:
- Polycarp of Smyrna
- Serenus the Gardener
- February 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
The Emperor’s Birthday, birthday of Naruhito, the current Emperor of Japan (Japan)
Mashramani-Republic Day (Guyana)
Meteņi (Latvia)
National Day (Brunei)
Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy in the former Soviet Union, also held in various former Soviet republics:
- Defender of the Fatherland Day (Russia)
- Defender of the Fatherland and Armed Forces day (Belarus)
- Armed Forces Day (Tajikistan) (Tajikistan)

February 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on February 22

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

Deaths on February 22

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

Holidays and observances on February 22

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

February 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed.
1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
1797 – A force of 1,400 French soldiers invaded Britain at Fishguard in support of the Society of United Irishmen. They were defeated by 500 British reservists.
1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia.
1828 – Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah.
1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
1866 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor becomes the first American woman to graduate from dental school.
1874 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
1878 – The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
1896 – An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fought an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically took place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
1913 – Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.
1916 – World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
1918 – The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
1919 – German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.
1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country’s first constitution.
1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup.
1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
1929 – In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops.1934 – Augusto Sandino is executed.
1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national “volunteers” in the Spanish Civil War.
1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga.
1945 – World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front.
1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first “instant camera”, the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.
1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to “set the people free”.
1952 – The Bengali Language Movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1958 – The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated while giving a talk at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.
1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
1972 – United States President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
1972 – The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108 people.
1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
2013 – At least 17 people are killed and 119 injured following several bombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad.

Births on February 21

921 – Abe no Seimei, Japanese astrologer (d. 1005)
1397 – Isabella of Portugal (d. 1471)
1462 – Joanna la Beltraneja, princess of Castile (d. 1530)
1484 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1535)
1498 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English Earl (d. 1549)
1541 – Philipp V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1599)
1556 – Sethus Calvisius, German astronomer, composer, and theorist (d. 1615)
1559 – Nurhaci, Manchu emperor (d. 1626)
1609 – Raimondo Montecuccoli, Italian military commander (d. 1680)
1621 – Rebecca Nurse, Massachusetts colonist, executed as a witch (d. 1692)
1705 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, English admiral and politician (d. 1781)
1728 – Peter III of Russia (d. 1762)
1783 – Catharina of Württemberg (d. 1835)
1788 – Francis Ronalds, British scientist, inventor and engineer who was knighted for developing the first working electric telegraph (d. 1873)
1791 – Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1857)
1794 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician, 8th President of Mexico (d. 1876)
1801 – John Henry Newman, English cardinal (d. 1890)
1817 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (d. 1893)
1821 – Charles Scribner I, American publisher, founded Charles Scribner’s Sons (d. 1871)
1836 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (d. 1891)
1844 – Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (d. 1937)
1860 – Goscombe John, Welsh-English sculptor and academic (d. 1952)
1865 – John Haden Badley, English author and educator, founded the Bedales School (d. 1967)
1867 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1934)
1875 – Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian, oldest verified person ever (d. 1997)
1878 – Mirra Alfassa, French-Indian spiritual leader (d. 1973)
1881 – Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (d. 1945)
1885 – Sacha Guitry, Russian-French actor, director, and playwright (d. 1957)
1887 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of War (d. 1945)
1888 – Clemence Dane, English author and playwright (d. 1965)
1892 – Harry Stack Sullivan, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (d. 1949)
1893 – Celia Lovsky, Austrian-American actress (d. 1979)
1893 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)
1894 – Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Indian chemist and academic (d. 1955)
1895 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
1896 – Nirala, Indian poet and author (d. 1961)
1900 – Jeanne Aubert, French singer and actress (d. 1988)
1902 – Arthur Nock, English theologian and academic (d. 1963)
1903 – Anaïs Nin, French-American essayist and memoirist (d. 1977)
1903 – Raymond Queneau, French poet and author (d. 1976)
1907 – W. H. Auden, English-American poet, playwright, and composer (d. 1973)
1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2015)
1910 – Douglas Bader, English captain and pilot (d. 1982)
1912 – Arline Judge, American actress and singer (d. 1974)
1914 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (d. 1999)
1914 – Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)
1914 – Jean Tatlock, American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1944)
1915 – Claudia Jones, Trinidad-British journalist and activist (d. 1964)
1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress and singer (d. 1967)
1915 – Anton Vratuša, Prime Minister of Slovenia (1978–1980) (d. 2017)
1917 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (d. 1996)
1917 – Tadd Dameron, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
1921 – John Rawls, American philosopher and academic (d. 2002)
1921 – Richard T. Whitcomb, American aeronautical engineer (d. 2009)
1924 – Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
1924 – Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean educator and politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe (d. 2019)
1924 – Dorothy Blum, American computer scientist and cryptanalyst (d. 1980)
1925 – Sam Peckinpah, American director and screenwriter (d. 1984)
1925 – Jack Ramsay, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2014)
1927 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (d. 1996)
1929 – Chespirito, Mexican actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1933 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2003)
1934 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (d. 2010)
1935 – Richard A. Lupoff, American author
1936 – Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (d. 1996)
1937 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (d. 2015)
1937 – Harald V of Norway
1938 – Bobby Charles, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
1938 – Kel Tremain, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1992)
1940 – Peter Gethin, English race car driver (d. 2011)
1940 – John Lewis, American activist and politician
1942 – Tony Martin, Trinidadian-American historian and academic (d. 2013)
1942 – Margarethe von Trotta, German actress, director, and screenwriter
1943 – David Geffen, American businessman, co-founded DreamWorks and Geffen Records
1945 – Maurice Bembridge, English golfer
1946 – Tyne Daly, American actress and singer
1946 – Anthony Daniels, English actor and producer
1946 – Alan Rickman, English actor and director (d. 2016)
1946 – Bob Ryan, American journalist and author
1947 – Johnny Echols, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Olympia Snowe, American politician
1948 – Bill Slayback, American baseball player and singer (d. 2015)
1949 – Frank Brunner, American illustrator

1949 – Jerry Harrison, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1949 – Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer
1950 – Larry Drake, American actor (d. 2016)
1951 – Vince Welnick, American keyboard player (d. 2006)
1952 – Jean-Jacques Burnel, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
1952 – Vitaly Churkin, Russian diplomat, former Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations (d. 2017)
1953 – Christine Ebersole, American actress and singer
1953 – William Petersen, American actor and producer
1954 – Christina Rees, British politician
1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor, singer, and producer
1958 – Jake Burns, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Kim Coates, Canadian actor
1958 – Alan Trammell, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1959 – José María Cano, Spanish singer-songwriter and painter
1960 – Plamen Oresharski, Bulgarian economist and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria
1960 – Steve Wynn, American singer-songwriter
1961 – Christopher Atkins, American actor and businessman
1962 – Chuck Palahniuk, American novelist and journalist
1962 – David Foster Wallace, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2008)
1963 – William Baldwin, American actor
1963 – Ranking Roger, English singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2019)
1963 – Greg Turner, New Zealand golfer
1964 – Mark Kelly, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
1964 – Scott Kelly, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
1965 – Mark Ferguson, Australian journalist
1967 – Leroy Burrell, American runner and coach
1967 – Sari Essayah, Finnish athlete and politician
1969 – James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (Manic Street Preachers)
1969 – Aunjanue Ellis, American actress and producer
1969 – Petra Kronberger, Austrian skier
1969 – Tony Meola, American soccer player and manager
1969 – Cathy Richardson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1970 – Michael Slater, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1970 – Eric Wilson, American bass player and drummer
1971 – Pierre Fulke, Swedish golfer
1972 – Seo Taiji, South Korean singer-songwriter
1973 – Heri Joensen, Faroese singer-songwriter and guitarist
1973 – Brian Rolston, American ice hockey player and coach
1974 – Iván Campo, Spanish footballer
1975 – Scott Miller, Australian swimmer
1976 – Ryan Smyth, Canadian ice hockey player
1976 – Michael McIntyre, English comedian, actor and television presenter
1977 – Jonathan Safran Foer, American novelist
1977 – Steve Francis, American basketball player
1977 – Owen King, American author
1977 – Kevin Rose, American businessman and television host, founded Digg
1978 – Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistani-American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcast host
1979 – Pascal Chimbonda, Guadeloupean-French footballer, defender
1979 – Shane Gibson, American guitarist (stOrk and Jonathan Davis and the SFA) (d. 2014)
1979 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and producer
1979 – Carly Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
1979 – Jordan Peele, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1980 – Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Tiziano Ferro, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
1980 – Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 5th King of Bhutan
1980 – Justin Roiland, American animator, writer and voice actor
1981 – Floor Jansen, Dutch singer, songwriter, and vocal coach
1982 – Andre Barrett, American basketball player
1982 – Chantal Claret, American singer-songwriter
1982 – Tebogo Jacko Magubane, South African DJ and producer
1983 – Braylon Edwards, American football player
1983 – Franklin Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Mélanie Laurent, French actress
1984 – Andrew Ellis, New Zealand rugby player
1984 – David Odonkor, German footballer
1984 – Marco Paoloni, Italian footballer
1984 – James Wisniewski, American ice hockey player
1985 – Georgios Samaras, Greek footballer
1985 – Jamaal Westerman, American football player
1986 – Charlotte Church, Welsh singer-songwriter and actress
1987 – Ellen Page, Canadian actress
1989 – Corbin Bleu, American actor, model, dancer, film producer and singer-songwriter
1990 – Mattias Tedenby, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 – Joe Alwyn, English actor
1991 – Riyad Mahrez, Algerian footballer
1991 – Ji So-yun, South Korean footballer
1991 – Devon Travis, American baseball player
1991 – Suppasit Jongcheveevat, Thai actor
1993 – Steve Leo Beleck, Cameroonian footballer
1993 – Davy Klaassen, Dutch footballer
1993 – Masaki Suda, Japanese actor
1994 – Tang Haochen, Chinese tennis player
1994 – Charalampos Mavrias, Greek footballer
1996 – Sophie Turner, English actress

Deaths on February 21

4 AD – Gaius Caesar, Roman consul and grandson of Augustus (b. 20 BC)
675 – Randoald of Grandval, prior of the Benedictine monastery of Grandval
1184 – Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Japanese shōgun (b. 1154)
1267 – Baldwin of Ibelin, Seneschal of Cyprus
1437 – James I of Scotland (b. 1394; assassinated)
1471 – Jan Rokycana, Czech bishop and theologian (b. 1396)
1513 – Pope Julius II (b. 1443)
1543 – Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Somalian general (b. 1507)
1554 – Hieronymus Bock, German botanist and physician (b. 1498)
1572 – Cho Shik, Korean poet and scholar (d. 1501)
1590 – Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, English nobleman and general (b. 1528)
1595 – Robert Southwell, English priest and poet (b. 1561)
1677 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1632)
1715 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English politician (b. 1637)
1730 – Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)
1821 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German jurist and diplomat (b. 1756)
1824 – Eugène de Beauharnais, French general (b. 1781)
1829 – Kittur Chennamma, Indian queen and freedom fighter (b. 1778)
1846 – Emperor Ninkō of Japan (b. 1800)
1862 – Justinus Kerner, German poet and physician (b. 1786)
1888 – William Weston, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1804)
1891 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant and police officer (b. 1846)
1919 – Kurt Eisner, German journalist and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (b. 1867)
1926 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
1934 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (b. 1895)
1938 – George Ellery Hale, American astronomer and academic (b. 1868)
1941 – Frederick Banting, Canadian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
1944 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-French race car driver (b. 1873)
1945 – Eric Liddell, Scottish rugby player and runner (b. 1902)
1946 – José Streel, Belgian journalist (b. 1911)
1958 – Duncan Edwards, English footballer (b. 1936)
1965 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (b. 1925; assassinated)
1967 – Charles Beaumont, American author and screenwriter (b. 1929)
1968 – Howard Florey, Australian pathologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
1972 – Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (b. 1914)
1972 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian-American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
1972 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (b. 1884)
1974 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, co-founded Tim Hortons (b. 1930)
1980 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author (b. 1914)
1982 – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli historian and philosopher (b. 1897)
1984 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
1985 – Louis Hayward, South African-American actor (b. 1909)
1986 – Helen Hooven Santmyer, American novelist (b. 1895)
1991 – Dorothy Auchterlonie Green, Australian poet, critic, and academic (b. 1915)
1993 – Inge Lehmann, Danish seismologist and geophysicist (b. 1888)
1994 – Johannes Steinhoff, German general and pilot (b. 1913)
1996 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1913)
1999 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
1999 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (b. 1914)
1999 – Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player and politician (b. 1930)
2002 – John Thaw, English actor and producer (b. 1942)
2004 – John Charles, Welsh footballer and manager (b. 1931)
2005 – Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban author, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1929)
2005 – Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor (b. 1929)
2008 – Ben Chapman, American actor (b. 1928)
2011 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author and screenwriter, co-founded Milestone Media (b. 1962)
2011 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (b. 1926)
2012 – H. M. Darmstandler, American general (b. 1922)
2013 – Hasse Jeppson, Swedish footballer (b. 1925)
2014 – Héctor Maestri, Cuban-American baseball player (b. 1935)
2014 – Matthew Robinson, Australian snowboarder (b. 1985)
2014 – Cornelius Schnauber, German–American historian, playwright, and academic (b. 1939)
2015 – Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1931)
2015 – Sadeq Tabatabaei, Iranian journalist and politician (b. 1943)
2015 – Clark Terry, American trumpet player, composer, and educator (b. 1920)
2016 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (b. 1919)
2017 – Jeanne Martin Cissé, Guinean teacher and politician (b. 1926)
2018 – Billy Graham, American evangelist (b. 1918)
2019 – Stanley Donen, American film director (b. 1924)
2019 – Peter Tork, American musician and actor (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances on February 21

Armed Forces Day (South Africa)
Birthday of King Harald V (Norway)
Christian feast day:
- Felix of Hadrumetum
- Pepin of Landen
- Peter Damian
- Randoald of Grandval
- February 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Father Lini Day (Vanuatu)
Language Movement Day (Bangladesh)
- International Mother Language Day (UNESCO)
The first day of the Birth Anniversary of Fifth Druk Gyalpo, celebrated until February 23. (Bhutan)
The first day of the Musikahan Festival, celebrated until February 27. (Tagum City, Philippines)
Feralia (Ancient Rome)

February 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George’s (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
1798 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
1813 – Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.
1816 – Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
1835 – The 1835 Concepción earthquake destroys Concepción, Chile.
1846 – Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Olustee: The largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
1865 – End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
1877 – Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
1901 – The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
1909 – Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
1913 – King O’Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
1920 – An earthquake kills between 114 and 130 in Georgia and heavily damages the town of Gori.
1931 – The U.S. Congress approves the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.
1933 – The U.S. Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval.
1933 – Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party’s upcoming election campaign.
1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
1942 – Lieutenant Edward O’Hare becomes America’s first World War II flying ace.
1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
1944 – World War II: The “Big Week” began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
1952 – Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
1956 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.
1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
1971 – The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
1979 – An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H₂S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.
1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
1991 – In the Albanian capital Tirana, a gigantic statue of Albania’s long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down by mobs of angry protesters.
1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
2009 – Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.
2010 – In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago.
2014 – Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters died in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, many reportedly killed by snipers.
2015 – Two trains collide in the Swiss town of Rafz resulting in as many as 49 people injured and Swiss Federal Railways cancelling some services.
2016 – Six people are killed and two injured in multiple shooting incidents in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.

Births on February 20

1358 – Eleanor of Aragon, queen of John I of Castile (d. 1382)
1469 – Thomas Cajetan, Italian philosopher (d. 1534)
1523 – Jan Blahoslav, Czech writer (d. 1571)
1549 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, last Duke of Urbino (d. 1631)
1552 – Sengoku Hidehisa, Daimyō (d. 1614)
1608 – Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (d. 1649)
1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1712)
1633 – Jan de Baen, Dutch painter (d. 1702)
1705 – Nicolas Chédeville, French musette player and composer (d. 1782)
1726 – William Prescott, American colonel (d. 1795)
1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet and politician (d. 1813)
1751 – Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (d. 1826)
1753 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1815)
1759 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician, physiologist, and anatomist (d. 1813)
1774 – Vicente Sebastián Pintado, Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida (d. 1829)
1784 – Judith Montefiore, British linguist, travel writer, philanthropist (d. 1862)
1792 – Eliza Courtney, French daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1859)
1794 – William Carleton, Irish author (d. 1869)
1802 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1870)
1819 – Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician (d. 1882)
1839 – Benjamin Waugh, English activist, founded the NSPCC (d. 1908)
1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1906)
1844 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian sailor and adventurer (d. 1909)
1848 – E. H. Harriman, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1909)
1857 – A. P. Lucas, English cricketer (d. 1923)
1866 – Carl Westman, Swedish architect, designed the Stockholm Court House and Röhsska Museum (d. 1936)
1867 – Louise, Princess Royal of England (d. 1931)
1870 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (d. 1937)
1874 – Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (d. 1967)
1879 – Hod Stuart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1907)
1880 – Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen, French author and poet (d. 1923)
1882 – Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (d. 1946)
1887 – Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
1888 – Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (d. 1948)
1889 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and physician (d. 1948)
1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1993)
1895 – Louis Zborowski, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1924)
1897 – Ivan Albright, American painter (d. 1983)
1898 – Ante Ciliga, Croatian politician, writer and publisher (d. 1992)
1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1992)
1901 – René Dubos, French-American biologist and author (d. 1982)
1901 – Louis Kahn, American architect, designed the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Bangladesh Parliament Building (d. 1974)
1901 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (d. 1984)
1901 – Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (d. 1978)
1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (d. 1984)
1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
1906 – Gale Gordon, American actor (d. 1995)
1912 – Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (d. 1994)
1912 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War (d. 2006)
1913 – Tommy Henrich, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
1914 – John Charles Daly, South African–American journalist and game show host (d. 1991)
1916 – Jean Erdman, American dancer and choreographer
1918 – Leonore Annenberg, American businesswoman and diplomat (d. 2009)
1919 – James O’Meara, English soldier and pilot (d. 1974)
1920 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (d. 2014)
1921 – Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (d. 1992)
1923 – Victor G. Atiyeh, American businessman and politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (d. 2014)
1923 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Guyana (d. 1985)
1923 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress (d. 2004)
1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American actress, fashion designer, and socialite (d. 2019)
1925 – Robert Altman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1925 – Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (d. 1990)
1926 – Matthew Bucksbaum, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded General Growth Properties (d. 2013)
1926 – Gillian Lynne, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2018)
1926 – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1926 – Bob Richards, American Olympic track and field athlete
1926 – María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, Spanish Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1998)
1927 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer and political activist (d. 1986)
1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer and musician (d. 2005)
1927 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat
1928 – Roy Face, American baseball player and carpenter
1928 – Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland
1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
1931 – John Milnor, American mathematician and academic
1932 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino journalist and author (d. 2007)
1934 – Bobby Unser, American race car driver
1935 – Ellen Gilchrist, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
1936 – Marj Dusay, American actress (d. 2020)
1936 – Larry Hovis, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
1937 – David Ackles, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
1937 – Robert Huber, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Roger Penske, American race car driver and businessman
1937 – Robert Evans, Australian minister and amateur astronomer
1937 – Nancy Wilson, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
1938 – Richard Beymer, American actor, director, and cinematographer
1940 – Jimmy Greaves, English international footballer, forward and TV pundit
1941 – Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian lawyer and politician
1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1942 – Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1942 – Mitch McConnell, American lawyer, and politician
1942 – Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1943 – Antonio Inoki, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and politician
1943 – Mike Leigh, English director and screenwriter
1944 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian economist and politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1999)
1944 – Lew Soloff, American trumpet player, composer, and actor (d. 2015)
1944 – Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
1945 – Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)
1946 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
1946 – Sandy Duncan, American actress, singer, and dancer
1946 – J. Geils, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1947 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
1947 – Peter Strauss, American actor and producer
1948 – Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1948 – Jennifer O’Neill, American model and actress
1949 – Eddie Hemmings, English cricketer
1949 – Ivana Trump, Czech-American socialite and model
1950 – Walter Becker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
1950 – Peter Marinello, Scottish footballer, forward
1950 – Tony Wilson, English journalist and businessman (d. 2007)
1951 – Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
1951 – Gordon Brown, Scottish historian and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1951 – Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
1951 – Phil Neal, English footballer and manager
1953 – Poison Ivy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1954 – Jon Brant, American bass player
1954 – Anthony Head, English actor
1954 – Patty Hearst, American actress and author
1957 – Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)
1959 – David Corn, American journalist and author
1959 – Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
1960 – Joel Hodgson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1960 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas, Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (d. 2014)
1961 – Steve Lundquist, American swimmer
1962 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author, screenwriter, and producer, co-founded Milestone Media (d. 2011)
1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player and sportscaster
1963 – Ian Brown, English singer-songwriter and musician
1963 – Joakim Nystrom, Swedish tennis player
1963 – Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Health
1963 – Cui Yongyuan, Chinese former anchor
1964 – Willie Garson, American actor and director
1964 – Tom Harris, Scottish journalist and politician
1964 – Jeff Maggert, American golfer
1964 – French Stewart, American actor
1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model and businesswoman
1967 – Paul Accola, Swiss alpine skier
1967 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)
1967 – David Herman, American comedian and actor
1967 – Andrew Shue, American actor and activist, founded Do Something
1967 – Lili Taylor, American actress
1967 – Tom Waddle, American football player and sportscaster
1969 – Kjell Ove Hauge, Norwegian school principal and track and field athlete
1969 – Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer and manager
1969 – Danis Tanović, Bosnian director and screenwriter
1971 – Calpernia Addams, American actress, author, and activist
1971 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
1971 – Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby player (d. 2017)
1972 – Neil Primrose, Scottish drummer
1974 – Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer and manager
1975 – Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
1975 – Brian Littrell, American singer-songwriter and actor
1975 – Niclas Wallin, Swedish ice hockey player
1977 – Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
1977 – Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
1978 – Lauren Ambrose, American actress and producer
1980 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
1980 – Luis Gabriel Rey, Colombian footballer
1981 – Tony Hibbert, English footballer
1981 – Fred Jackson, American football player
1982 – Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
1983 – Jose Morales, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
1983 – Justin Verlander, American baseball player
1984 – Brian McCann, American baseball player
1984 – Trevor Noah, South African comedian, actor, and television host
1984 – Ramzee Robinson, American football player
1985 – Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
1985 – Julia Volkova, Russian singer and actress
1985 – TJ Kirk, American YouTube personality and podcast host
1987 – Luke Burgess, English rugby league player
1987 – Miles Teller, American actor
1988 – Kealoha Pilares, American football player
1988 – Ki Bo-bae, South Korean archer
1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian-American singer-songwriter and actress
1988 – Jiah Khan, Indian singer and actress (d. 2013)
1989 – Daly Cherry-Evans, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer
1991 – Hidilyn Diaz, Filipino weightlifter
1991 – Giovanni Kyeremateng, Italian footballer
1991 – Angelique van der Meet, Dutch tennis player
1991 – Antonio Pedroza, English-Mexican footballer
1991 – Jocelyn Rae, English-Scottish tennis player
1992 – Kyle Turner, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Elseid Hysaj, Albanian footballer

Deaths on February 20

789 – Leo of Catania, saint and bishop of Catania (b. 709)
922 – Theodora, Byzantine empress
1054 – Yaroslav the Wise, grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kiev (b. 978)
1154 – Saint Wulfric of Haselbury (b. c. 1080)
1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
1194 – Tancred, King of Sicily (b. 1138)
1258 – Al-Musta’sim, Iraqi caliph (b. 1213)
1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
1431 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
1458 – Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia
1513 – King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1455)
1524 – Tecun Uman, Mayan ruler (b. 1500)
1579 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
1626 – John Dowland, English lute player and composer (b. 1563)
1762 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (b. 1723)
1771 – Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist and astronomer (b. 1678)
1773 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
1778 – Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and scholar (b. 1711)
1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
1806 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (b. 1725)
1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean rebel leader (b. 1767)
1850 – Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843–1844) (b. 1794)
1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1850)
1871 – Paul Kane, Irish-Canadian painter (b. 1810)
1893 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (b. 1818)
1895 – Frederick Douglass, American author and activist (b. 1818)
1900 – Washakie, American tribal leader (b. 1798)
1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
1910 – Boutros Ghali, Egyptian educator and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1846)
1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish journalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
1920 – Jacinta Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1910)
1920 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (b. 1856)
1933 – Takiji Kobayashi, Japanese writer (b. 1903)
1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
1957 – Sadri Maksudi Arsal, Turkish scholar and politician (b. 1878)
1961 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (b. 1882)
1963 – Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer(b. 1879)
1966 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
1968 – Anthony Asquith, English director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
1969 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1972 – Walter Winchell, American journalist and actor (b. 1897)
1976 – René Cassin, French lawyer and judge, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, healing evangelist, known for belief in Holy Spirit (b. 1907)
1981 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-American banker and publisher (b. 1904)
1987 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (b. 1905)
1992 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (b. 1898)
1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, founded Lamborghini (b. 1916)
1993 – Ernest L. Massad, American general (b. 1908)
1996 – Solomon Asch, American psychologist and academic (b. 1907)
1996 – Audrey Munson, American model (b. 1891)
1996 – Toru Takemitsu, Japanese pianist, guitarist, and composer (b. 1930)
1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
1999 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (b. 1946)
2000 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Saint Petersburg (b. 1937)
2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
2001 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)
2003 – Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani air marshal (b. 1947)
2003 – Maurice Blanchot, French philosopher and author (b. 1907)
2003 – Orville Freeman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 29th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1918)
2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1942)
2005 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1921)2005 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (b. 1917)
2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
2006 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
2006 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (b. 1920)
2008 – Emily Perry, English actress and dancer (b. 1907)
2009 – Larry H. Miller, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1944)
2010 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (b. 1924)
2012 – Knut Torbjørn Eggen, Norwegian footballer and manager (b. 1960)
2012 – Katie Hall, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
2013 – Kenji Eno, Japanese game designer and composer (b. 1970)
2013 – David S. McKay, American biochemist and geologist (b. 1936)
2013 – Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer (b. 1932)
2014 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (b. 1923)
2014 – Walter D. Ehlers, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1921)
2014 – Garrick Utley, American journalist (b. 1939)
2015 – Govind Pansare, Indian author and activist (b. 1933)
2015 – Henry Segerstrom, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1923)
2015 – John C. Willke, American physician, author, and activist (b. 1925)
2016 – Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest and politician (b. 1934)
2017 – Vitaly Churkin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (b. 1952)
2017 – Mildred Dresselhaus, American physicist (b. 1930)
2017 – Steve Hewlett, British journalist (b. 1958)
2020 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP

Holidays and observances on February 20

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

February 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on February 19

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

Deaths on February 19

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

Holidays and observances on February 19

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

February 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on February 18

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

Deaths on February 18

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

Holidays and observances on February 18

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

February 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

February 17 in History

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

Births on February 17

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

Deaths on February 17

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

Holidays and observances on February 17

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

February 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse.
1630 – Dutch forces led by Hendrick Lonck capture Olinda in what was to become part of Dutch Brazil.
1646 – Battle of Torrington, Devon: The last major battle of the first English Civil War.
1699 – First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania.
1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
1796 – Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their invasion of Ceylon.
1804 – First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
1866 – Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British Secretary of State for War.
1881 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1).
1899 – Iceland’s first football club, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, is founded.
1918 – The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.
1923 – Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
1930 – The Romanian Football Federation joins FIFA.
1934 – The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund.
1936 – The Popular Front wins the 1936 Spanish general election.
1937 – Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon.
1940 – World War II: Altmark incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.
1943 – World War II: In the early phases of the Third Battle of Kharkov, Red Army troops re-enter the city.
1945 – World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines.
1959 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton begins Operation Sandblast, setting sail from New London, Connecticut, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
1961 – Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.
1962 – Flooding in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people.
1968 – In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
1978 – The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).
1983 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.
1985 – Hezbollah is founded.
1986 – The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
1986 – China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in Taiwan, killing all 13 aboard.
1991 – Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.
1996 – A Chicago-bound Amtrak train, the Capitol Limited, collides with a MARC commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people.
1998 – China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and seven more on the ground.
2005 – The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
2005 – The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs.
2006 – The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.
2013 – A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others.

Births on February 16

1222 – Nichiren, founder of Nichiren Buddhism (d. 1282)
1304 – Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür, Chinese emperor (d. 1332)
1331 – Coluccio Salutati, Italian political leader (d. 1406)
1419 – John I, Duke of Cleves (d. 1481)
1470 – Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1540)
1471 – Krishnadevaraya, emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire (d. 1529)
1497 – Philip Melanchthon, German astronomer, theologian, and academic (d. 1560)
1514 – Georg Joachim Rheticus, Austrian cartographer and instrument maker (d. 1574)
1519 – Gaspard II de Coligny, French admiral (d. 1572)
1543 – Kanō Eitoku, Japanese painter and educator (d. 1590)
1620 – Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1688)
1643 – John Sharp, English archbishop (d. 1714)
1698 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1758)
1727 – Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian botanist, chemist, and mycologist (d. 1817)
1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)
1761 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
1774 – Pierre Rode, French violinist and composer (d. 1830)
1786 – Maria Pavlovna, Russian Grand Duchess (d. 1859)
1802 – Phineas Quimby, American mystic and philosopher (d. 1866)
1804 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist and zoologist (d. 1885)
1812 – Henry Wilson, American colonel and politician, 18th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
1821 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer and scholar (d. 1865)
1822 – Francis Galton, English biologist and statistician (d. 1911)
1824 – Peter Kosler, Slovenian lawyer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1879)
1826 – Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet and author (d. 1886)
1830 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (d. 1902)
1831 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (d. 1895)
1834 – Ernst Haeckel, German biologist, physician, and philosopher (d. 1919)
1838 – Henry Adams, American journalist, historian, and author (d. 1918)
1841 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter (d. 1927)
1843 – Henry M. Leland, American engineer and businessman, founded Cadillac and Lincoln (d. 1932)
1845 – George Kennan, American journalist and explorer (d. 1924)
1848 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist, geneticist, and academic (d. 1935)
1848 – Octave Mirbeau, French journalist, novelist, and playwright (d. 1917)
1856 – Ossian Everett Mills, American academic, founded Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (d. 1920)
1866 – Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (d. 1940)
1868 – Edward S. Curtis, American ethnologist and photographer (d. 1952)
1873 – Radoje Domanović, Serbian journalist and author (d. 1908)
1876 – G. M. Trevelyan, English historian and academic (d. 1962)
1878 – Pamela Colman Smith, English occultist and illustrator (d. 1951)
1878 – James Colosimo, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1920)
1884 – Robert J. Flaherty, German-Irish American director and producer (d. 1951)
1886 – Andy Ducat, English international footballer (forward and manager) and Cricketer (d. 1942)
1887 – Kathleen Clifford, American actress (d. 1962)
1891 – Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist and academic (d. 1968)
1893 – Katharine Cornell, American actress and producer (d. 1974)
1896 – Eugénie Blanchard, French super-centenarian (d. 2010)
1901 – Wayne King, American singer-songwriter and conductor (d. 1985)
1901 – Chester Morris, American actor (d. 1970)
1902 – Cyril Vincent, South African cricketer (d. 1968)
1903 – Edgar Bergen, Swedish-American ventriloquist and actor (d. 1978)
1904 – James Baskett, African-American actor and singer (d. 1948)
1904 – George F. Kennan, Scotch-Irish American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (d. 2005)
1905 – Henrietta Barnett, British Women’s Royal Air Force officer (d. 1985)
1906 – Vera Menchik, British-Czechoslovak-Russian chess player (d. 1944)
1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor and director (d. 1982)
1909 – Richard McDonald, Irish-American businessman, co-founded McDonald’s (d. 1998)
1914 – Jimmy Wakely, American country music singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1982)
1916 – Bill Doggett, African-American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1919 – Georges Ulmer, Danish-French actor and composer (d. 1989)
1920 – Anna Mae Hays, American general (d. 2018)
1921 – Vera-Ellen, German-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
1921 – Jean Behra, French race car driver (d. 1959)
1921 – John Galbraith Graham, English priest and academic (d. 2013)
1922 – Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, German soldier and pilot (d. 1950)
1923 – Samuel Willenberg, Polish-Israeli sculptor and painter (d. 2016)
1926 – Margot Frank, German-Dutch holocaust victim (d. 1945)
1926 – John Schlesinger, English actor and director (d. 2003)
1927 – June Brown, English actress
1929 – Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer and architect (d. 1980)
1929 – Peter Porter, Australian-English poet and educator (d. 2010)
1931 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2002)
1931 – Ken Takakura, Japanese actor and singer (d. 2014)
1932 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2014)
1932 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2007)
1934 – August Coppola, American author and academic (d. 2009)
1934 – Marlene Hagge, American golfer
1935 – Brian Bedford, English-American actor and director (d. 2016)
1935 – Sonny Bono, American actor, singer, and politician (d. 1998)
1935 – Stephen Gaskin, American activist, co-founded The Farm (d. 2014)
1935 – Bradford Parkinson, American colonel and engineer
1935 – Kenneth Price, American painter and sculptor (d. 2012)
1937 – Paul Bailey, British novelist, critic, and biographer
1937 – Yuri Manin, Russian-German mathematician and academic
1938 – John Corigliano, American composer and academic
1939 – Adolfo Azcuna, Filipino lawyer and judge
1940 – Hannelore Schmatz, German mountaineer (d. 1979)
1941 – Kim Jong-il, North Korean commander and politician, 2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 2011)
1942 – Richard Williams, American tennis player and coach
1944 – Glyn Davies, Welsh farmer and politician
1944 – Richard Ford, American novelist and short story writer
1944 – Sigiswald Kuijken, Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor
1944 – António Mascarenhas Monteiro, Cape Verdean politician, 2nd President of Cape Verde (d. 2016)
1947 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (d. 2020)
1948 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler and coach (d. 2014)
1949 – Bob O’Reilly, Australian rugby league player
1950 – Peter Hain, Kenyan-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1951 – Barry Foote, American baseball player and coach
1952 – William Katt, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1952 – Peter Kitchen, English footballer, striker
1952 – James Ingram, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2019)
1953 – John Bradbury, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 2015)
1953 – Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1953 – Roberta Williams, American video game designer, co-founded Sierra Entertainment
1954 – Iain Banks, Scottish author and playwright (d. 2013)
1954 – Margaux Hemingway, American model and actress (d. 1996)
1954 – Michael Holding, Jamaican cricketer and sportscaster
1956 – Vincent Ward, New Zealand director and screenwriter
1957 – LeVar Burton, German-born American actor, director, and producer
1958 – Natalie Angier, American author
1958 – Ice-T, American rapper and actor
1958 – Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball player
1958 – Herb Williams, American basketball player and coach
1959 – John McEnroe, German-American tennis player and sportscaster
1959 – Kelly Tripucka, American basketball player and sportscaster
1960 – Pete Willis, English guitarist and songwriter
1961 – Des Hasler, Australian rugby league player and coach
1961 – Liu Kang, Chinese footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1961 – Andy Taylor, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1962 – John Balance, English singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
1964 – Bebeto, Brazilian footballer and manager
1964 – Christopher Eccleston, English actor
1965 – Dave Lombardo, Cuban-American drummer
1967 – Keith Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Warren Ellis, English author and screenwriter
1970 – Angelo Peruzzi, Italian footballer and manager
1971 – Michael Avenatti, American attorney and pundit
1971 – Craig Laundy, Australian politician
1972 – Jerome Bettis, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Zoran Čampara, Bosnian football player
1972 – Sarah Clarke, American actress
1972 – Naomi Nishida, Japanese actress
1972 – Darrell Trindall, Australian rugby league player
1973 – Cathy Freeman, Australian sprinter
1974 – Mahershala Ali, American actor
1974 – José Dominguez, Portuguese international footballer, winger and manager
1976 – Eric Byrnes, American baseball player and sportscaster
1976 – Kyo, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
1977 – Ian Clarke, Irish-American computer scientist, founded Freenet
1977 – Ahman Green, American football player
1978 – Tia Hellebaut, Belgian high jumper and chemist
1978 – Wasim Jaffer, Indian cricketer
1978 – John Tartaglia, American actor, singer, and puppeteer
1979 – Stéphane Dalmat, French footballer, midfielder
1979 – Eric Mun, American-South Korean singer and actor
1979 – Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer
1980 – Longineu W. Parsons III, French-American drummer
1981 – Jay Howard, English race car driver
1981 – Jerry Owens, American baseball player
1981 – Qyntel Woods, American basketball player
1982 – Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Estonian footballer
1982 – Rickie Lambert, English footballer
1982 – Lupe Fiasco, American rapper
1983 – Agyness Deyn, English model, actress, and singer
1984 – Sofia Arvidsson, Swedish tennis player
1984 – Oussama Mellouli, Tunisian swimmer
1985 – Simon Francis, English footballer
1985 – Stacy Lewis, American golfer
1985 – Ron Vlaar, Dutch footballer
1986 – Diego Godín, Uruguayan footballer
1987 – Luc Bourdon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
1987 – Theresa Goh, Singaporean swimmer
1987 – Hasheem Thabeet, Tanzanian basketball player
1988 – Diego Capel, Spanish footballer
1988 – Zhang Jike, Chinese table tennis player
1988 – Denílson Pereira Neves, Brazilian footballer
1988 – Andrea Ranocchia, Italian footballer
1988 – Kim Soo-hyun, South Korean actor and singer
1989 – Elizabeth Olsen, American actress
1990 – Dunamis Lui, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
1990 – The Weeknd, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1991 – Sergio Canales, Spanish footballer
1992 – Nicolai Boilesen, Danish footballer
1992 – Zsófia Susányi, Hungarian tennis player
1994 – Annika Beck, German tennis player
1994 – Federico Bernardeschi, Italian footballer
1994 – Ava Max, American singer and songwriter
1995 – Katy Dunne, English tennis player
1995 – Carina Witthöft, a German tennis player

Deaths on February 16

549 – Zhu Yi, Chinese general (b. 483)
902 – Mary the Younger, Byzantine saint (b. 875)
1184 – Richard of Dover, Archbishop of Canterbury
1247 – Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
1279 – Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1210)
1281 – Gertrude of Hohenberg, queen consort of Germany (b. c.1225)
1390 – Rupert I, Elector Palatine (b. 1309)
1391 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1332)
1531 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1452)
1560 – Jean du Bellay, French cardinal and diplomat (b. 1493)
1579 – Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (b. 1509)
1645 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (b. 1585)
1710 – Esprit Fléchier, French bishop and author (b. 1632)
1721 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1686)
1754 – Richard Mead, English physician (b. 1673)
1820 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish general (b. 1758)
1862 – William Pennington American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1796)
1898 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1843)
1899 – Félix Faure, French merchant and politician, 7th President of France (b. 1841)
1907 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
1912 – Nicholas of Japan, Russian-Japanese monk and saint (b. 1836)
1917 – Octave Mirbeau, French journalist, novelist, and playwright ( (b. 1848)
1919 – Vera Kholodnaya, Ukrainian actress (b. 1893)
1928 – Eddie Foy Sr., American actor and dancer (b. 1856)
1932 – Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1841)
1932 – Edgar Speyer, American-English financier and philanthropist (b. 1862)
1944 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1870)
1957 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1876)
1961 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (b. 1891)
1967 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1911)
1974 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand Rifle(b. 1888)
1975 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (b. 1903)
1977 – Janani Luwum, bishop, Church of Uganda, martyr (b. c.1922)
1977 – Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1905)
1980 – Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (b. 1895)
1984 – M. A. G. Osmani, Bangladeshi general (b. 1918)
1990 – Keith Haring, American painter and activist (b. 1958)
1991 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan lieutenant and engineer (b. 1932)
1992 – Angela Carter, English novelist, short story writer (b. 1940)
1992 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician, 22nd President of Brazil (b. 1917)
1992 – Herman Wold, Norwegian-Swedish economist and statistician (b. 1908)
1996 – Roberto Aizenberg, Argentinian painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
1996 – Roger Bowen, American actor and author (b. 1932)
1996 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (b. 1905)
1996 – Brownie McGhee, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1915)
1997 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist and academic (b. 1912)
1998 – Mary Amdur, American toxicologist and public health researcher (b. 1908)
2000 – Marceline Day, American actress (b. 1908)
2000 – Lila Kedrova, Russian-French actress and singer
2000 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-American businessman, founded PING (b. 1911)
2001 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (b. 1916)
2001 – William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)
2002 – Walter Winterbottom, English footballer and manager (b. 1913)
2003 – Rusty Magee, American actor and composer (b. 1955)
2004 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
2006 – Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (b. 1966)
2006 – Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (b. 1925)
2009 – Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korean cardinal (b. 1921)
2011 – Len Lesser, American actor (b. 1922)
2011 – Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (b. 1930)
2012 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (b. 1954)
2012 – Elyse Knox, American model, actress, and fashion designer (b. 1917)
2012 – John Macionis, American swimmer and lieutenant (b. 1916)
2012 – Anthony Shadid, American journalist (b. 1968)
2013 – Colin Edwards, Guyanese footballer (b. 1991)
2013 – Grigory Pomerants, Russian philosopher and author (b. 1918)
2013 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
2014 – Ken Farragut, American football player (b. 1928)
2014 – Gert Krawinkel, German guitarist (b. 1947)
2014 – Michael Shea, American author (b. 1946)
2015 – Lasse Braun, Algerian-Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
2015 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
2015 – R. R. Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1957)
2015 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (b. 1971)
2016 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and diplomat, 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations (b. 1922)
2019 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances on February 16

Christian feast day:
- Abda of Edessa
- Elias and companions
- Juliana of Nicomedia (Catholic Church)
- Onesimus
- Charles Todd Quintard (Episcopal Church (USA))
- February 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong-il’s Birthday) (North Korea)
Restoration of Lithuania’s Statehood Day, celebrate the independence of Lithuania from Russia and Germany in 1918 (Lithuania)

February 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

2004

Births on February 25

Deaths on February 25

Holidays and observance on February 25

Christian feast day

February 24 in History

Births on February 24

Deaths on February 24

Holidays and observances on February 24

Births on February 23

Deaths on February 23

Holidays and observances on February 23

February 22 in History

Births on February 22

Deaths on February 22

Holidays and observances on February 22

Births on February 21

Deaths on February 21

Holidays and observances on February 21

Births on February 20

Deaths on February 20

Holidays and observances on February 20

Births on February 19

Deaths on February 19

Holidays and observances on February 19

Births on February 18

Deaths on February 18

Holidays and observances on February 18

February 17 in History

Births on February 17

Deaths on February 17

Holidays and observances on February 17

Births on February 16

Deaths on February 16

Holidays and observances on February 16