752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico assumes the throne.
1294 – John II becomes Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg.
1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
1491 – Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptized by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.
1616 – Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war.
1715 – A total solar eclipse was visible across northern Europe, and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within 4 minutes accuracy.
1791 – The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1802 – Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city after Congress abolishes the Board of Commissioners, the District’s founding government. The “City of Washington” is given a mayor-council form of government.
1808 – Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
1808 – Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío hill.
1815 – Neapolitan War: Joachim Murat, King of Naples is defeated by the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino, the decisive engagement of the war.
1830 – The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened; it is the first steam-hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel.
1837 – The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.
1848 – The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire.
1849 – The May Uprising in Dresden begins: The last of the German revolutions of 1848–49.
1855 – American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
1860 – Charles XV of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
1867 – The Hudson’s Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
1901 – The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, Florida.
1913 – Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film, is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.
1920 – A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
1921 – West Virginia becomes the first state to legislate a broad sales tax, but does not implement it until a number of years later due to enforcement issues.
1921 – The Government of Ireland Act 1920 is passed, dividing Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
1928 – The Jinan incident begins with the deaths of twelve Japanese civilians by Chinese forces in Jinan, China, which leads to Japanese retaliation and the deaths of over 2,000 Chinese civilians in the following days.
1939 – The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
1942 – World War II: Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that results in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.
1945 – World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
1947 – New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
1948 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Shelley v. Kraemer that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities are legally unenforceable.
1951 – London’s Royal Festival Hall opens with the Festival of Britain.
1951 – The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations begin their closed door hearings into the relief of Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
1952 – Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole.
1952 – The Kentucky Derby is televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network.
1957 – Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
1960 – The Off-Broadway musical comedy The Fantasticks opens in New York City’s Greenwich Village, eventually becoming the longest-running musical of all time.
1960 – The Anne Frank House museum opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1963 – The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the “Birmingham campaign” protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing new-found attention to the civil rights movement.
1971 – Erich Honecker becomes First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, remaining in power until 1989
1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world’s tallest building.
1978 – The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as “spam”) is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
1986 – Twenty-one people are killed and forty-one are injured after a bomb explodes on Air Lanka Flight 512 at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka.
1987 – A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line would lead NASCAR to develop the restrictor plate for the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
1999 – The southwestern portion of Oklahoma City is devastated by an F5 tornado, killing forty-five people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado is one of 66 from the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This tornado also produces the highest wind speed ever recorded, measured at 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).
1999 – Infiltration of Pakistani soldiers on Indian side resulted into the kargil war.
2000 – The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.
2001 – The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
2002 – An Indian Air Force MiG-21 crashes into a bank in Jalandhar, killing eight and injuring 17.
2007 – The 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Portugal, starting “the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history”.
2015 – Two gunmen launch an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Garland, Texas, which was held in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
2016 – Eighty-eight thousand people were evacuated from their homes in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada as a wildfire ripped through the community, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings.
Births on May 3
490 – K’an Joy Chitam I, ruler of Palenque (d. 565)
612 – Constantine III, Byzantine emperor (d. 641)
1238 – Emilia Bicchieri, Italian saint (d. 1314)
1276 – Louis, Count of Évreux, son of King Philip III of France (d. 1319)
1415 – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (d. 1495)
1428 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (d. 1495)
1446 – Margaret of York (d. 1503)
1461 – Raffaele Riario, Italian cardinal (d. 1521)
1469 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and philosopher (d. 1527)
1479 – Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1552)
1481 – Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, Spanish abbess of the Franciscan Third Order Regular (d. 1534)
1536 – Stephan Praetorius, German theologian (d. 1603)
1632 – Catherine of St. Augustine, French-Canadian nurse and saint, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec (d. 1668)
1662 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect, designed the Pillnitz Castle (d. 1736)
1678 – Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (d. 1747)
1695 – Henri Pitot, French physicist and engineer, invented the Pitot tube (d. 1771)
1729 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Czech composer (d. 1774)
1761 – August von Kotzebue, German playwright and author (d. 1819)
1764 – Princess Élisabeth of France (d. 1794)
1768 – Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and businessman (d. 1838)
1783 – José de la Riva Agüero, Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (d. 1858)
1814 – Adams George Archibald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (d. 1892)
1826 – Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1872)
1844 – Richard D’Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (d. 1901)
1849 – Jacob Riis, Danish-American journalist and photographer (d. 1914)
1849 – Bernhard von Bülow, German soldier and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
1854 – George Gore, American baseball player and manager (d. 1933)
1859 – August Herrmann, American executive in Major League Baseball (d.1931)
1860 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1940)
1867 – Andy Bowen, American boxer (d. 1894)
1867 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
1870 – Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948)
1871 – Emmett Dalton, American criminal (d. 1937)
1873 – Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1945)
1874 – François Coty, French businessman and publisher, founded Coty, Inc. (d. 1934)
1874 – Vagn Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer and academic (d. 1954)
1877 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1925)
1879 – Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman and soldier, co-founded Qantas (d. 1950)
1886 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
1887 – Marika Kotopouli, Greek actress (d. 1954)
1889 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
1889 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (d. 1972)
1891 – Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet and critic (d. 1969)
1891 – Eppa Rixey, American baseball pitcher (d. 1963)
1892 – George Paget Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
1892 – Jacob Viner, Canadian-American economist and academic (d. 1970)
1893 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian author (d. 1975)
1895 – Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher, theologian, and apologist (d. 1987)
1896 – Karl Allmenröder, German soldier and pilot (d. 1917)
1896 – V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 1974)
1896 – Dodie Smith, English author and playwright (d. 1990)
1897 – William Joseph Browne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Solicitor General of Canada (d. 1989)
1898 – Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and activist (d. 1987)
1898 – Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)
1902 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
1903 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977)
1905 – Edmund Black, American hammer thrower (d. 1996)
1905 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1988)
1905 – Red Ruffing, American baseball pitcher and coach (d. 1986)
1906 – Mary Astor, American actress (d. 1987)
1906 – René Huyghe, French historian and author (d. 1997)
1906 – Anna Roosevelt Halsted, American journalist and author (d. 1975)
1906 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2005)
1910 – Norman Corwin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1912 – Virgil Fox, American organist and composer (d. 1980)
1912 – May Sarton, American poet, novelist and memoirist (d. 1995)
1913 – William Inge, American playwright and novelist (d. 1973)
1914 – Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French journalist, author, and poet (d. 2018)
1915 – Stu Hart, Canadian wrestler and trainer, founded Stampede Wrestling (d. 2003)
1915 – Richard Lippold, American sculptor and academic (d. 2002)
1916 – Léopold Simoneau, Canadian tenor and actor (d. 2006)
1917 – Betty Comden, American screenwriter and librettist (d. 2006)
1917 – George Gaynes, Finnish-American actor (d. 2016)
1918 – Ted Bates, English footballer and manager (d. 2003)
1919 – John Cullen Murphy, American soldier and illustrator (d. 2004)
1919 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2014)
1920 – John Lewis, American pianist and composer (d. 2001)
1921 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989)
1922 – Len Shackleton, English footballer and journalist (d. 2000)
1923 – George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 2015)
1923 – Ralph Hall, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2019)
1924 – Yehuda Amichai, German-Israeli author and poet (d. 2000)
1924 – Ken Tyrrell, English race car driver, founded Tyrrell Racing (d. 2001)
1925 – Jean Séguy, French sociologist and author (d. 2007)
1926 – Matt Baldwin, Canadian curler and engineer
1928 – Dave Dudley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1928 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (d. 2001)
1929 – Denise Lor, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
1930 – Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet and author (d. 2014)
1930 – David Harrison, English chemist and academic
1931 – Vasily Rudenkov, Belarusian hammer thrower (d. 1982)
1931 – Sait Maden, Turkish translator, poet, painter and graphic designer (d. 2013)
1932 – Robert Osborne, American actor and historian (d. 2017)
1933 – James Brown, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2006)
1933 – Steven Weinberg, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1934 – Henry Cooper, English boxer and sportscaster (d. 2011)
1934 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1934 – Frankie Valli, American singer and actor
1935 – Ron Popeil, American businessman, founded the Ronco Company
1937 – Nélida Piñon, Brazilian author and academic
1938 – Omar Abdel-Rahman, Egyptian terrorist
1938 – Chris Cannizzaro, American baseball player
1938 – Napoleon XIV, American singer, songwriter and record producer
1939 – Jonathan Harvey, English composer and educator (d. 2012)
1940 – David Koch, American engineer, businessman, and philanthropist (d. 2019)
1940 – Clemens Westerhof, Dutch footballer and manager
1941 – Alexander Harley, English general
1941 – Edward Malloy, American priest and academic
1942 – Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast and coach (d. 2016)
1942 – Dave Marash, American journalist and sportscaster
1942 – Butch Otter, American soldier and politician, 32nd Governor of Idaho
1943 – Yukio Hashi, Japanese singer and actor
1943 – Jim Risch, American lawyer and politician, 31st Governor of Idaho
1943 – Vicente Saldivar, Mexican boxer (d. 1985)
1944 – Peter Doyle, English bishop
1944 – Pete Staples, English bass player
1945 – Jörg Drehmel, German triple jumper and coach
1945 – Davey Lopes, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1946 – Norm Chow, American football player and coach
1946 – Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player
1946 – Greg Gumbel, American sportscaster
1947 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)
1948 – Denis Cosgrove, British-American academic and geographer (d. 2008)
1948 – Chris Mulkey, American actor
1949 – Liam Donaldson, English physician and academic
1949 – Ruth Lister, Baroness Lister of Burtersett, English academic and politician
1949 – Ron Wyden, American academic and politician
1950 – Mary Hopkin, Welsh singer-songwriter
1950 – Dag Arnesen, Norwegian pianist and composer
1951 – Alan Clayson, English singer-songwriter and journalist
1951 – Christopher Cross, American singer-songwriter and producer
1951 – Ashok Gehlot, Indian politician, 21st Chief Minister of Rajasthan
1951 – Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian author and publicist
1952 – Chuck Baldwin, American pastor and politician
1952 – Caitlin Clarke, American actress (d. 2004)
1952 – Joseph W. Tobin, American cardinal
1953 – Bruce Hall, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1953 – Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2014)
1954 – Angela Bofill, American singer-songwriter
1954 – Jean-Marc Roberts, French author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1955 – Stephen D. M. Brown, British geneticist
1955 – Colin Deans, Scottish rugby player
1955 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
1955 – Seishirō Nishida, Japanese actor
1956 – Marc Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician
1957 – Alain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 – Rod Langway, Taiwanese-American ice hockey player and coach
1958 – Bill Sienkiewicz, American author and illustrator
1958 – Sandi Toksvig, Danish-English comedian, writer, and broadcaster
1959 – David Ball, English keyboard player and producer
1959 – Uma Bharti, Indian activist and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
1959 – Ben Elton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1960 – Kathy Smallwood-Cook, English sprinter and educator
1961 – Steve McClaren, English footballer and manager
1961 – David Vitter, American lawyer and politician
1961 – Leyla Zana, Kurdish activist and politician
1962 – Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
1963 – Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player and coach
1963 – Mona Siddiqui, Pakistani-Scottish journalist and academic
1964 – Sterling Campbell, American drummer and songwriter
1964 – Ron Hextall, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
1965 – Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian patriarch
1965 – Mark Cousins, Northern Irish director, writer, cinematographer
1965 – John Jensen, Danish footballer and coach
1965 – Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian businessman
1966 – Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer
1966 – Frank Dietrich, German politician (d. 2011)
1967 – Daniel Anderson, Australian rugby league coach and manager
1967 – Kenneth Joel Hotz, Canadian producer, writer, director, actor, and comedian
1968 – Viliami Ofahengaue, Tongan-Australian rugby player
1971 – Douglas Carswell, British politician, the first elected MP for the UK Independence Party
1972 – Stephen Barclay, English lawyer and politician
1973 – Jamie Baulch, Welsh sprinter and television host
1975 – Willie Geist, American television journalist and host
1976 – Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player
1976 – Brad Scott, Australian footballer and coach
1976 – Chris Scott, Australian footballer and coach
1977 – Eric Church, American country music singer-songwriter
1977 – Ryan Dempster, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
1977 – Tyronn Lue, American basketball player and coach
1977 – Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (d. 2017)
1977 – Ben Olsen, American soccer player and coach
1978 – Christian Annan, Ghanaian-Hong Kong footballer
1978 – Paul Banks, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Dai Tamesue, Japanese hurdler
1978 – Lawrence Tynes, American football player
1979 – Steve Mack, American wrestler
1979 – Anastasiya Shvedova, Belarusian pole vaulter
1980 – Zuzana Ondrášková, Czech tennis player
1982 – Igor Olshansky, Ukrainian-American football player
1982 – Nick Stavinoha, American baseball player
1983 – Joseph Addai, American football player
1983 – Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer
1983 – Jérôme Clavier, French pole vaulter
1983 – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer (d. 2015)
1985 – Ezequiel Lavezzi, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Kadri Lehtla, Estonian biathlete
1985 – Miko Mälberg, Estonian swimmer
1986 – Moon Byung-woo, South Korean footballer
1987 – Lina Grinčikaitė, Lithuanian sprinter
1988 – Ben Revere, American baseball player
1988 – Paddy Holohan, Irish mixed martial artist
1989 – Jesse Bromwich, New Zealand rugby league player
1989 – Katinka Hosszú, Hungarian swimmer
1990 – Brooks Koepka, American golfer
1991 – Samuel Seo, South Korean musician
1992 – Aaron Whitchurch, Australian rugby league player
1995 – Ivan Bukavshin, Russian chess player (d. 2016)
1996 – Mary Cain, American runner
1996 – Alex Iwobi, Nigerian football player
1996 – Domantas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city’s throne.
1632 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems .
1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania).
1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
1878 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
1915 – World War I: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
1946 – The “Long Telegram”, proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
1974 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but is killed by police.
1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
1984 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgraded South Sylhet’s sub-division status to a district and renamed it back to Moulvibazar.
1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
2005 – The 6.4 Mw Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
2011 – New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
2018 – A man throws a grenade at the U.S embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.
Births on February 22
1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian jurist and theologian (died 1085)
1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
1302 – Gegeen Khan, Emperor Yingzong of Yuan (d. 1323)
1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (d. 1576)
1520 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (d. 1572)
1550 – Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (d. 1616)
1592 – Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (d. 1637)
1631 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (d. 1702)
1649 – Bon Boullogne, French painter (d. 1717)
1715 – Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (d. 1790)
1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (d. 1818)
1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1848)
1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
1860 – Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (d. 1939)
1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
1899 – George O’Hara, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1966)
1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (d. 1983)
1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1930)
1906 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (d. 1991)
1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
1908 – John Mills, English soldier and actor (d. 2005)
1910 – George Hunt, English international footballer, forward (d. 1996)
1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1915 – Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (d. 1964)
1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
1918 – Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (d. 1940)
1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
1923 – François Cavanna, French author and editor (d. 2014)
1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet and academic
1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (d. 2017)
1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
1929 – Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
1932 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (d. 2012)
1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
1933 – Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (d. 2001)
1933 – Bobby Smith, English international footballer, centre forward (d. 2010)
1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Tommy Aaron, American golfer
1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1938 – Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer, goalkeeper
1938 – Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (d. 2017)
1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
1943 – Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player
1943 – Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1944 – Mick Green, English rock & roll guitarist (d. 2010)
1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
1945 – Oliver, American pop singer (d. 2000)
1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1947 – Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer
1947 – John Radford, English footballer and manager
1947 – Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
1949 – John Duncan, Scottish footballer, forward and manager
1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (d. 2019)
1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and author
1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
1952 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (d. 2020)
1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
1959 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (d. 2006)
1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1963 – Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1964 – Andy Gray, English footballer, midfielder and manager
1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German-English actor
1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer and producer
1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer
1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian international footballer, winger
1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
1999 – Harry Brook, English cricketer
Deaths on February 22
556 – Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna (b. 499)
606 – Sabinian, pope of the Catholic Church
793 – Sicga, Anglo-Saxon nobleman and regicide
845 – Wang, Chinese empress dowager
954 – Guo Wei, Chinese emperor (b. 904)
965 – Otto, duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
970 – García I, king of Pamplona
978 – Lambert, count of Chalon (b. 930)
1071 – Arnulf III, count of Flanders
1072 – Peter Damian, Italian cardinal
1079 – John of Fécamp, Italian Benedictine abbot
1111 – Roger Borsa, king of Sicily (b. 1078)
1297 – Margaret of Cortona, Italian penitent (b. 1247)
1371 – David II, king of Scotland (b. 1324)
1452 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (b. 1425)
1500 – Gerhard VI, German nobleman (b. 1430)
1511 – Henry, duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
1904 – Leslie Stephen, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1832)
1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
1913 – Francisco I. Madero, Mexican president and author (b. 1873)
1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1881)
1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist (b. 1869)
1945 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (b. 1888)
1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and critic (b. 1905)
1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1889)
1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
1971 – Frédéric Mariotti, French actor (b. 1883)
1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author (b. 1899)
1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III publicly executed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
1002 – At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles, Arduin of Ivrea is restored to his domains and crowned King of Italy.
1113 – Pope Paschal II issues Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, recognizing the Order of Hospitallers.
1214 – During the Anglo-French War (1213–1214), an English invasion force led by John, King of England, lands at La Rochelle in France.
1493 – While on board the Niña, Christopher Columbus writes an open letter (widely distributed upon his return to Portugal) describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World.
1637 – Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1690 – Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire.
1764 – The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana (now in Missouri, USA).
1798 – The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier.
1835 – Serbia’s Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect.
1862 – American Civil War: Confederates commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attack General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union forces Fort Donelson, Tennessee. Unable to break the fort’s encirclement, Lloyd surrenders the following day.
1870 – Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, USA and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering.
1879 – Women’s rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
1891 – Allmänna Idrottsklubben (AIK) (Swedish Sports Club) is founded.
1898 – The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing 274. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
1901 – The association football club Alianza Lima is founded in Lima, Peru, under the name Sport Alianza.
1909 – The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico kills 250.
1921 – Kingdom of Romania establishes its legation in Helsinki.
1923 – Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.
1925 – The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska.
1933 – In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate US President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.
1942 – World War II: Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
1944 – World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.
1944 – World War II: The Narva Offensive begins.
1945 – World War II: Third day of bombing in Dresden.
1946 – ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
1949 – Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
1952 – King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
1954 – Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.
1961 – Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team along with several of their coaches and family members.
1965 – A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.
1971 – The decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day.
1972 – Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
1972 – José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.
1982 – The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers.
1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
1991 – The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
1992 – Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison.
1992 – Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes near Toledo Express Airport in Ohio, killing all four people on board.
1996 – At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing many people.
2001 – The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.
2003 – Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between eight million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.
2010 – Two trains collide in the Halle train collision in Halle, Belgium, killing 19 and injuring 171 people.
2012 – Three hundred sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua.
2013 – A meteor explodes over Russia, injuring 1,500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks buildings. This happens unexpectedly only hours before the expected closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid 2012 DA14.
Births on February 15
1377 – Ladislaus of Naples (d. 1414)
1458 – Ivan the Young, son of Ivan III of Russia (d. 1490)
1471 – Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (d. 1503)
1506 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (d. 1580)
1519 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (d. 1574)
1557 – Alfonso Fontanelli, Italian composer (d. 1622)
1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (d. 1642)
1571 – Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (probable; d. 1621)
1612 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French soldier, founded Montreal (d. 1676)
1627 – Charles Morton, Cornish nonconformist minister (d. 1698)
1638 – Zeb-un-Nissa, Mughal princess and poet (d. 1702)
1705 – Charles-André van Loo, French painter (d. 1765)
1710 – Louis XV of France (d. 1774)
1725 – Abraham Clark, American surveyor, lawyer, and politician (d. 1794)
1734 – William Stacy, American colonel (d. 1802)
1739 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Paris Bourse (d. 1813)
1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (d. 1832)
1759 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and critic (d. 1824)
1760 – Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer and educator (d. 1837)
1797 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (d. 1871)
1809 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (d. 1857)
1809 – Cyrus McCormick, American journalist and businessman, co-founded International Harvester (d. 1884)
1810 – Mary S. B. Shindler, American poet, writer, and editor (d. 1883)
1811 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian journalist and politician, 7th President of Argentina (d. 1888)
1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (d. 1902)
1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist and activist (d. 1906)
1825 – Carter Harrison, Sr., American lawyer and politician, 29th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1893)
1834 – V. A. Urechia, Moldavian-Romanian historian, author, and playwright (d. 1901)
1835 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek businessman and philanthropist (d. 1908)
1840 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian philosopher, academic, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1917)
1841 – Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Brazil (d. 1913)
1845 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
1847 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1927)
1849 – Rickman Godlee, English surgeon and academic (d. 1925)
1850 – Sophie Bryant, Irish mathematician, academic and activist (d. 1922)
1851 – Spiru Haret, Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician, 55th Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs (d. 1912)
1856 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1926)
1861 – Martin Burns, American wrestler and coach (d. 1937)
1861 – Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1938)
1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1947)
1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
1874 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish captain and explorer (d. 1922)
1883 – Sax Rohmer, English-American author (d. 1959)
1890 – Robert Ley, German politician (d. 1945)
1892 – James Forrestal, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1949)
1892 – Roy Rene, Australian comedian (d. 1954)
1893 – Roman Najuch, Polish professional tennis player (d. 1967)
1896 – Arthur Shields, Irish republican and actor (d. 1970)
1897 – Gerrit Kleerekoper, Jewish-Dutch gymnast and coach (d. 1943)
1898 – Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1967)
1899 – Georges Auric, French composer (d. 1983)
1899 – Gale Sondergaard, Danish-American actress (d. 1985)
1904 – Mary Adshead, English painter (d. 1995)
1904 – Antonin Magne, French cyclist and manager (d. 1983)
1905 – Harold Arlen, Jewish-American composer (d. 1986)
1907 – Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (d. 1991)
1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (d. 1994)
1908 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1980)
1909 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (d. 2010)
1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian, Righteous Gentile (d. 2008)
1912 – George Mikes, Jewish Hungarian-English journalist and author (d. 1987)
1913 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (d. 1997)
1914 – Hale Boggs, American lawyer and politician (d. 1972)
1914 – Kevin McCarthy, Jewish-Irish American actor (d. 2010)
1916 – Mary Jane Croft, American actress (d. 1999)
1918 – Allan Arbus, Jewish-American actor and photographer (d. 2013)
1918 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1919 – Ducky Detweiler, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
1920 – Endicott Peabody, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1997)
1920 – Eio Sakata, Japanese Go player (d. 2010)
1922 – John B. Anderson, Swedish-American lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
1923 – Yelena Bonner, Jewish Soviet-Russian activist (d. 2011)
1924 – Robert Drew, American director and producer (d. 2014)
1925 – Angella D. Ferguson, American pediatrician
1927 – Frank Dunlop, English actor and director
1927 – Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (d. 2008)
1927 – Yehoshua Neuwirth, Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2013)
1928 – Norman Bridwell, American author and illustrator, created Clifford the Big Red Dog (d. 2014)
1928 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (d. 2014)
1929 – Graham Hill, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1975)
1929 – James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2014)
1930 – Bruce Dawe, Australian poet and academic
1931 – Claire Bloom, English actress
1931 – Jonathan Steele, English journalist and author
1934 – Jimmy Bloomfield, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
1934 – Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (d. 2005)
1934 – Niklaus Wirth, Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language
1934 – Abe Woodson, American football player and minister (d. 2014)
1935 – Susan Brownmiller, American journalist and author
1935 – Roger B. Chaffee, American lieutenant, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1967)
1935 – Gene Hickerson, American football player (d. 2008)
1937 – Gregory Mcdonald, American author (d. 2008)
1937 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
1940 – İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2007)
1940 – John Hadl, American football player and coach
1940 – Hamzah Haz, Indonesian journalist and politician, 9th Vice President of Indonesia
1940 – Vaino Vahing, Estonian psychiatrist, author, and playwright (d. 2008)
1941 – Florinda Bolkan, Brazilian actress
1941 – Brian Holland, American songwriter and producer
1944 – Mick Avory, English drummer
1945 – Jack Dann, American-Australian author and poet
1945 – John Helliwell, English saxophonist and keyboard player
1945 – Douglas Hofstadter, American author and academic
1946 – Clare Short, English civil servant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development
1947 – John Adams, American composer
1947 – Marisa Berenson, American model and actress
1948 – Art Spiegelman, Swedish-American cartoonist and critic
1949 – Ken Anderson, American football quarterback and coach
1951 – Markku Alén, Finnish race car driver
1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer-songwriter and actress
1951 – Jane Seymour, English-American actress, producer, and jewelry designer
1952 – Tomislav Nikolić, Serbian politician, 4th President of Serbia
1952 – Nikolai Sorokin, Russian actor and director (d. 2013)
1953 – Tony Adams, Irish-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
1953 – Ernie Howe, English footballer, defender and manager
1954 – Matt Groening, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1955 – Janice Dickinson, American model, agent, and author
1955 – Christopher McDonald, American actor
1956 – Desmond Haynes, Barbadian cricketer and coach
1956 – Ann Westin, Swedish comedian
1957 – Jake E. Lee, American guitarist and songwriter
1957 – Jimmy Spencer, American race car driver and sportscaster
1958 – Chrystine Brouillet, Canadian author
1958 – Tony McKegney, Canadian ice hockey player
1958 – Matthew Ward, American singer-songwriter
1959 – Adam Boulton, English journalist
1959 – Ali Campbell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Brian Propp, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1959 – Martin Rowson, English author and illustrator
1959 – Hugo Savinovich, Ecuadorian wrestler and sportscaster
1960 – Darrell Green, American football player
1960 – Jock Hobbs, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2012)
1962 – Milo Đukanović, Montenegrin politician, 29th Prime Minister of Montenegro
1964 – Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (d. 1997)
1964 – Leland D. Melvin, American engineer and astronaut
1964 – Mark Price, American basketball player and coach
1965 – Craig Matthews, South African cricketer
1967 – Jane Child, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1967 – Syed Kamall, English academic and politician
1967 – Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1969 – Birdman, American rapper and producer
1970 – Shepard Fairey, American artist and activist
1971 – Alex Borstein, American actress, voice artist, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Renee O’Connor, American actress, director, and producer
1972 – Jaromír Jágr, Czech ice hockey player
1973 – Kateřina Neumannová, Czech skier
1973 – Amy van Dyken, American swimmer
1974 – Miranda July, American actress, director, and screenwriter
1974 – Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan baseball player
1974 – Alexander Wurz, Austrian race car driver and businessman
1975 – Serge Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1975 – Annemarie Kramer, Dutch sprinter
1975 – Brendon Small, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor
1976 – Brandon Boyd, American singer-songwriter
1976 – Óscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
1979 – Josh Low, English footballer
1979 – Hamish Marshall, New Zealand cricketer
1979 – James Marshall, New Zealand cricketer
1979 – Scott Severin, Scottish footballer
1979 – Gordon Shedden, Scottish race car driver
1980 – Conor Oberst, American singer-songwriter
1981 – Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian international footballer, goalkeeper
1981 – Matt Hoopes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
1981 – Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer
1981 – Vivek Shraya, Canadian singer and songwriter
1982 – Shameka Christon, American basketball player
1982 – James Yap, Filipino basketball player
1983 – Don Cowie, Scottish footballer
1983 – David Degen, Swiss footballer
1983 – Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
1983 – Alan Didak, Australian footballer
1983 – Russell Martin, Canadian baseball player
1985 – Serkan Kırıntılı, Turkish footballer
1986 – Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
1986 – Johnny Cueto, Dominican baseball player
1986 – Laura Sallés, Andorran judoka
1987 – Jarrod Sammut, Australian rugby league player
1988 – Jarryd Hayne, Australian rugby league player and football player
1988 – Hironori Kusano, Japanese singer and actor
1988 – Tim Mannah, Australian-born Lebanese rugby league player
1988 – Rui Patrício, Portuguese footballer
1990 – Charles Pic, French race car driver
1991 – Ángel Sepúlveda, Mexican footballer
1993 – Ravi, South Korean rapper
Deaths on February 15
670 – Oswiu, king of Northumbria (b. c. 612)
706 – Leontios, Byzantine emperor
706 – Tiberios III, Byzantine emperor
956 – Su Yugui, Chinese chancellor (b. 895)
1043 – Gisela of Swabia, Holy Roman Empress (b. 990)
1145 – Lucius II, pope of the Catholic Church
1152 – Conrad III, king of Germany (b. 1093)
1382 – William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (b. c. 1339)
1417 – Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (b. 1385)
1508 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, tyrant of Bologna (b. 1443)
1600 – José de Acosta, Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist (b. 1540)
1621 – Michael Praetorius, German organist and composer (b. 1571)
1637 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1578)
1738 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)
1781 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1729)
1818 – Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (b. 1746)
1835 – Henry Hunt, English farmer and politician (b. 1773)
1839 – François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian rebel (b. 1803)
1842 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (b. 1754)
1844 – Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)
1847 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (b. 1794)
1848 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (b. 1771)
1849 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician and theorist (b. 1804)
1857 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)
1869 – Ghalib, Indian poet and educator (b. 1796)
1885 – Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian geologist and engineer (b. 1803)
1897 – Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian lawyer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1816)
1905 – Lew Wallace, American author, general, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (b. 1827)
1911 – Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (b. 1859)
1924 – Lionel Monckton, English composer (b. 1861)
1928 – H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)
1932 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (b. 1865)
1933 – Pat Sullivan, Australian animator and producer, co-created Felix the Cat (b. 1887)
1935 – Basil Hall Chamberlain, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (b. 1850)
1939 – Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Russian painter and author (b. 1878)
1956 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (b. 1878)
1959 – Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
1961 – Laurence Owen, American figure skater (b. 1944)
1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and pianist (b. 1919)
1966 – Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (b. 1909)
