806

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

by
  • AD 64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.
  • 484 – Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is recognized in Antioch and makes it his capital.
  • 711 – Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Battle of Guadalete: Umayyad forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by King Roderic.
  • 939 – Battle of Simancas: King Ramiro II of León defeats the Moorish army under Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III near the city of Simancas.
  • 998 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Battle of Apamea: Fatimids defeat a Byzantine army near Apamea.
  • 1333 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill: The English win a decisive victory over the Scots.
  • 1544 – Italian War of 1542–46: The first Siege of Boulogne begins.
  • 1545 – The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology.
  • 1553 – Lady Jane Grey is replaced by Mary I of England as Queen of England after only nine days on the throne.
  • 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is sighted in the English Channel.
  • 1701 – Representatives of the Iroquois Confederacy sign the Nanfan Treaty, ceding a large territory north of the Ohio River to England.
  • 1702 – Great Northern War: A numerically superior Polish-Saxon army of Augustus II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive position, is defeated by a Swedish army half its size under the command of King Charles XII in the Battle of Klissow.
  • 1817 – Unsuccessful in his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Hawaii for the Russian-American Company, Georg Anton Schäffer is forced to admit defeat and leave Kauai.
  • 1821 – Coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom.
  • 1832 – The British Medical Association is founded as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association by Sir Charles Hastings at a meeting in the Board Room of the Worcester Infirmary.
  • 1843 – Brunel’s steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller, becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.
  • 1845 – Great New York City Fire of 1845: The last great fire to affect Manhattan began early in the morning and was subdued that afternoon. The fire killed four firefighters, 26 civilians, and destroyed 345 buildings.
  • 1848 – Women’s rights: A two-day Women’s Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Morgan’s Raid: At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.
  • 1864 – Taiping Rebellion: Third Battle of Nanking: The Qing dynasty finally defeats the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
  • 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.
  • 1900 – The first line of the Paris Métro opens for operation.
  • 1903 – Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.
  • 1916 – World War I: Battle of Fromelles: British and Australian troops attack German trenches as part of the Battle of the Somme.
  • 1936 – Spanish Civil War: The CNT and UGT call a general strike in Spain – mobilizing workers’ militias against the Nationalist forces.
  • 1940 – World War II: Battle of Cape Spada: The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.
  • 1940 – Field Marshal Ceremony: First occasion in World War II, that Hitler appointed field marshals due to military achievements.
  • 1940 – World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler’s submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.
  • 1943 – World War II: Rome is heavily bombed by more than 500 Allied aircraft, inflicting thousands of casualties.
  • 1947 – Prime Minister of the shadow Burmese government, Bogyoke Aung San and eight others are assassinated.
  • 1947 – Korean politician Lyuh Woon-hyung is assassinated.
  • 1952 – Opening of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
  • 1961 – Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later.
  • 1963 – Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.
  • 1964 – Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Khánh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.
  • 1969 – Chappaquiddick incident: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.
  • 1972 – Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.
  • 1976 – Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.
  • 1977 – The world’s first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal was transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET).
  • 1979 – The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.
  • 1979 – The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill.
  • 1980 – Opening of the Summer Olympics in Moscow.
  • 1981 – In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing the Soviet Union had been stealing American technological research and development.
  • 1982 – In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University of Beirut, is kidnapped.
  • 1983 – The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.
  • 1985 – The Val di Stava dam collapses killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy.
  • 1989 – United Airlines Flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa killing 111.
  • 1992 – A car bomb kills Judge Paolo Borsellino and five members of his escort.
  • 1997 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumes a ceasefire to end their 25-year paramilitary campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
  • 2014 – Gunmen in Egypt’s western desert province of New Valley Governorate attack a military checkpoint, killing at least 21 soldiers. Egypt reportedly declares a state of emergency on its border with Sudan.

Births on July 19

  • 810 – Muhammad al-Bukhari, Persian scholar (d. 870)
  • 1223 – Baibars, sultan of Egypt (d. 1277)
  • 1420 – William VIII, Marquess of Montferrat (d. 1483)
  • 1569 – Conrad Vorstius, Dutch theologian (d. 1622)
  • 1670 – Richard Leveridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 1758)
  • 1688 – Giuseppe Castiglione, Italian missionary and painter (d. 1766)
  • 1744 – Heinrich Christian Boie, German author and poet (d. 1806)
  • 1759 – Marianna Auenbrugger, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1782)
  • 1759 – Seraphim of Sarov, Russian monk and saint (d. 1833)
  • 1771 – Thomas Talbot, Irish-Canadian colonel and politician (d. 1853)
  • 1794 – José Justo Corro, Mexican politician and president, (1836-1837) (d. 1864)
  • 1789 – John Martin, English painter, engraver, and illustrator (d. 1854)
  • 1800 – Juan José Flores, Venezuelan general and politician, 1st President of Ecuador (d. 1864)
  • 1814 – Samuel Colt, American businessman, founded the Colt’s Manufacturing Company (d. 1862)
  • 1819 – Gottfried Keller, Swiss author, poet, and playwright (d. 1890)
  • 1822 – Princess Augusta of Cambridge (d. 1916)
  • 1827 – Mangal Pandey, Indian soldier (d. 1857)
  • 1834 – Edgar Degas, French painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1917)
  • 1835 – Justo Rufino Barrios, Guatemalan president (d. 1885)
  • 1842 – Frederic T. Greenhalge, English-American lawyer and politician, 38th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
  • 1846 – Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer and physicist (d. 1919)
  • 1849 – Ferdinand Brunetière, French scholar and critic (d. 1906)
  • 1865 – Georges Friedel, French mineralogist and crystallographer (d. 1933)
  • 1865 – Charles Horace Mayo, American surgeon, founded the Mayo Clinic (d. 1939)
  • 1860 – Lizzie Borden, American woman, tried and acquitted for the murders of her parents in 1892 (d. 1927)
  • 1868 – Florence Foster Jenkins, American soprano and educator (d. 1944)
  • 1869 – Xenophon Stratigos, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister of Transport (d. 1927)
  • 1875 – Alice Dunbar Nelson, African-American poet and activist (d. 1935)
  • 1876 – Joseph Fielding Smith, American religious leader, 10th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1972)
  • 1877 – Arthur Fielder, English cricketer (d. 1949)
  • 1881 – Friedrich Dessauer, German physicist and philosopher (d. 1963)
  • 1883 – Max Fleischer, Austrian-American animator and producer (d. 1972)
  • 1886 – Michael Fekete, Hungarian-Israeli mathematician and academic (d. 1957)
  • 1888 – Enno Lolling, German physician (d. 1945)
  • 1890 – George II of Greece (d. 1947)
  • 1892 – Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1957)
  • 1893 – Vladimir Mayakovsky, Russian actor, playwright, and poet (d. 1930)
  • 1894 – Aleksandr Khinchin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Khawaja Nazimuddin, Bangladeshi-Pakistani politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 1965)
  • 1894 – Percy Spencer, American physicist and inventor of the microwave oven (d. 1969)
  • 1895 – Xu Beihong, Chinese painter and academic (d. 1953)
  • 1896 – Reginald Baker, English film producer (d. 1985)
  • 1896 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and novelist (d. 1981)
  • 1896 – Bob Meusel, American baseball player and sailor (d. 1977)
  • 1898 – Herbert Marcuse, German-American sociologist and philosopher (d. 1979)
  • 1899 – Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay, Indian physician, author, poet, and playwright (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Samudrala Raghavacharya, Indian singer, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1968)
  • 1904 – Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, American lawyer and farmer (d. 1985)
  • 1907 – Isabel Jewell, American actress (d. 1972)
  • 1908 – Daniel Fry, American contactee (d. 1992)
  • 1909 – Balamani Amma, Indian poet and author (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Peter Leo Gerety, American prelate (d. 2016)
  • 1914 – Marius Russo, American baseball player (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Åke Hellman, Finnish painter (d. 2017)
  • 1916 – Phil Cavarretta, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
  • 1917 – William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Patricia Medina, English-American actress (d. 2012)
  • 1919 – Miltos Sachtouris, Greek poet and author (d. 2005)
  • 1919 – Ron Searle, English-Canadian soldier, publisher, and politician, 4th Mayor of Mississauga (d. 2015)
  • 1920 – Robert Mann, American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 2018)
  • 1920 – Richard Oriani, Salvadoran-American metallurgist and engineer (d. 2015)
  • 1921 – Harold Camping, American evangelist, author, radio host (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – André Moynet, French soldier, race car driver, and politician (d. 1993)
  • 1921 – Elizabeth Spencer, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 2019)
  • 1921 – Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – George McGovern, American lieutenant, historian, and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Rachel Robinson, American professor, registered nurse, and the widow of baseball player Jackie Robinson
  • 1923 – Theo Barker, English historian (d. 2001)
  • 1923 – Alex Hannum, American basketball player and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1923 – Joseph Hansen, American author and poet (d. 2004)
  • 1923 – William A. Rusher, American lawyer and journalist (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Lon Simmons, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Stanley K. Hathaway, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 40th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Pat Hingle, American actor and producer (d. 2009)
  • 1924 – Arthur Rankin Jr., American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Sue Thompson, American singer
  • 1926 – Helen Gallagher, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1928 – Samuel John Hazo, American author
  • 1928 – Choi Yun-chil, South Korean long-distance runner and a two-time national champion in the marathon.
  • 1929 – Gaston Glock, Austrian engineer and businessman, co-founded Glock Ges.m.b.H.
  • 1929 – Orville Turnquest, Bahamian politician
  • 1932 – Buster Benton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
  • 1932 – Jan Lindblad, Swedish biologist and photographer (d. 1987)
  • 1934 – Francisco de Sá Carneiro, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1980)
  • 1935 – Nick Koback, American baseball player and golfer (d. 2015)
  • 1936 – David Colquhoun, English pharmacologist and academic
  • 1937 – George Hamilton IV, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
  • 1938 – Richard Jordan, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1938 – Jayant Narlikar, Indian astrophysicist and astronomer
  • 1938 – Tom Raworth, English poet and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1941 – Vikki Carr, American singer and actress
  • 1941 – Neelie Kroes, Dutch politician and diplomat, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society
  • 1943 – Han Sai Por, Singaporean sculptor and academic
  • 1944 – Tim McIntire, American actor and singer (d. 1986)
  • 1944 – Andres Vooremaa, Estonian chess player
  • 1945 – Paule Baillargeon, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1946 – Alan Gorrie, Scottish singer-songwriter and musician (Average White Band)
  • 1946 – Ilie Năstase, Romanian tennis player and politician
  • 1947 – André Forcier, Canadian director and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Hans-Jürgen Kreische, German footballer and manager
  • 1947 – Bernie Leadon, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1947 – Brian May, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and astrophysicist
  • 1948 – Keith Godchaux, American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1949 – Kgalema Motlanthe, South African politician, 3rd President of South Africa
  • 1950 – Per-Kristian Foss, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Finance
  • 1950 – Freddy Moore, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Adrian Noble, English director and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Abel Ferrara, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1952 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1952 – Jayne Anne Phillips American novelist and short story writer
  • 1954 – Mark O’Donnell, American playwright (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Steve O’Donnell, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1954 – Srđa Trifković, Serbian-American journalist and historian
  • 1955 – Roger Binny, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1955 – Dalton McGuinty, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Premier of Ontario
  • 1956 – Mark Crispin, American computer scientist, designed the IMAP (d. 2012)
  • 1958 – Brad Drewett, Australian tennis player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
  • 1958 – Robert Gibson, American wrestler
  • 1958 – David Robertson, American conductor
  • 1959 – Juan J. Campanella, Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Atom Egoyan, Egyptian-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Kevin Haskins, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1961 – Harsha Bhogle, Indian journalist and author
  • 1961 – Maria Filatova, Russian gymnast
  • 1961 – Lisa Lampanelli, American comedian, actress, and author
  • 1961 – Benoît Mariage, Belgian director and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Hideo Nakata, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Campbell Scott, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1962 – Anthony Edwards, American actor and director
  • 1963 – Thomas Gabriel Fischer, Swiss musician
  • 1963 – Garth Nix, Australian author
  • 1964 – Teresa Edwards, American basketball player
  • 1964 – Masahiko Kondō, Japanese singer-songwriter and race car driver
  • 1965 – Evelyn Glennie, Scottish musician
  • 1965 – Claus-Dieter Wollitz, German footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Yael Abecassis, Israeli model and actress
  • 1967 – Jean-François Mercier, Canadian comedian, screenwriter, and television host
  • 1968 – Robb Flynn, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1968 – Pavel Kuka, Czech footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Jim Norton, American comedian, actor, and author
  • 1969 – Matthew Libatique, American cinematographer
  • 1970 – Bill Chen, American poker player and software designer
  • 1970 – Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish lawyer and politician, First Minister of Scotland
  • 1971 – Rene Busch, Estonian tennis player and coach
  • 1971 – Vitali Klitschko, Ukrainian boxer and politician, Mayor of Kiev
  • 1971 – Michael Modest, American wrestler
  • 1971 – Catriona Rowntree, Australian television host
  • 1971 – Lesroy Weekes, Montserratian cricketer
  • 1972 – Ebbe Sand, Danish footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Martin Powell, English keyboard player and songwriter
  • 1973 – Scott Walker, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1974 – Rey Bucanero, Mexican wrestler
  • 1974 – Francisco Copado, German footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Josée Piché, Canadian ice dancer
  • 1974 – Vince Spadea, American tennis player
  • 1974 – Preston Wilson, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Luca Castellazzi, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Benedict Cumberbatch, English actor
  • 1976 – Gonzalo de los Santos, Uruguayan footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Jean-Sébastien Aubin, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Tony Mamaluke, American wrestler and manager
  • 1977 – Ed Smith, English cricketer and journalist
  • 1979 – Rick Ankiel, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Josué Anunciado de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
  • 1979 – Dilhara Fernando, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1979 – Luke Young, English footballer
  • 1980 – Xavier Malisse, Belgian tennis player
  • 1980 – Giorgio Mondini, Italian race car driver
  • 1981 – Nenê, Brazilian footballer
  • 1981 – David Bernard, Jamaican cricketer
  • 1981 – Mark Gasnier, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1981 – Jimmy Gobble, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Grégory Vignal, French footballer
  • 1982 – Christopher Bear, American drummer
  • 1982 – Phil Coke, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Jared Padalecki, American actor
  • 1982 – Jess Vanstrattan, Australian footballer
  • 1983 – Helen Skelton, English television host and actress
  • 1983 – Fedor Tyutin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Andrea Libman, Canadian voice actress
  • 1984 – Adam Morrison, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Ryan O’Byrne, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Lewis Price, Welsh footballer
  • 1985 – LaMarcus Aldridge, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Zhou Haibin, Chinese footballer
  • 1985 – Marina Kuzina, Russian basketball player
  • 1985 – Hadi Norouzi, Iranian footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1986 – Leandro Greco, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Jon Jones, American mixed martial artist
  • 1987 – Marc Murphy, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Shane Dawson, American comedian and actor
  • 1988 – Kevin Großkreutz, German footballer
  • 1988 – Jakub Kovář, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Sam McKendry, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1991 – Eray İşcan, Turkish footballer
  • 1992 – Jake Nicholson, English footballer
  • 1994 – Christian Welch, Australian rugby league player
  • 1998 – Erin Cuthbert, footballer
  • 1998 – Ronaldo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean footballer

Deaths on July 19

  • 514 – Symmachus, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 806 – Li Shigu, Chinese general (b. 778)
  • 973 – Kyunyeo, Korean monk and poet (b. 917)
  • 998 – Damian Dalassenos, Byzantine general (b. 940)
  • 1030 – Adalberon, French bishop
  • 1234 – Floris IV, Dutch nobleman (b. 1210)
  • 1249 – Jacopo Tiepolo, doge of Venice
  • 1333 – John Campbell, Scottish nobleman
  • 1333 – Alexander Bruce, Scottish nobleman
  • 1333 – Sir Archibald Douglas, Scottish nobleman
  • 1333 – Maol Choluim II, Scottish nobleman
  • 1333 – Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland
  • 1374 – Petrarch, Italian poet and scholar (b. 1304)
  • 1415 – Philippa of Lancaster, Portuguese queen (b. 1360)
  • 1543 – Mary Boleyn, English daughter of Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (b. 1499)
  • 1631 – Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher and academic (b. 1550)
  • 1742 – William Somervile, English poet and author (b. 1675)
  • 1810 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prussian queen (b. 1776)
  • 1814 – Matthew Flinders, English navigator and cartographer (b. 1774)
  • 1824 – Agustín de Iturbide, Mexican general and emperor (b. 1783)
  • 1838 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist and chemist (b. 1785)
  • 1850 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (b. 1810)
  • 1855 – Konstantin Batyushkov, Russian poet and translator (b. 1787)
  • 1857 – Stefano Franscini, Swiss statistician and politician (b. 1796)
  • 1878 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1847)
  • 1896 – Abraham H. Cannon, American publisher and religious leader (b. 1859)
  • 1913 – Clímaco Calderón, Colombian lawyer and politician, 15th President of Colombia (b. 1852)
  • 1925 – John Indermaur, British lawyer (b. 1851)
  • 1930 – Robert Stout, Scottish-New Zealand politician, 13th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1844)
  • 1933 – Kaarle Krohn, Finnish historian and academic (b. 1863)
  • 1939 – Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet and author (b. 1850)
  • 1943 – Yekaterina Budanova, Russian captain and pilot (b. 1916)
  • 1947 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (b. 1898)
  • 1947 – Aung San, Burmese general and politician (b. 1915)
  • 1947 – Lyuh Woon-hyung, South Korean politician (b. 1886)
  • 1963 – William Andrew, English priest (b. 1884)
  • 1965 – Syngman Rhee, South Korean journalist and politician, 1st President of South Korea (b. 1875)
  • 1967 – Odell Shepard, American poet and politician, 66th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut (b. 1884)
  • 1969 – Stratis Myrivilis, Greek soldier and author (b. 1890)
  • 1974 – Ernő Schwarz, Hungarian-American soccer player and coach (b. 1904)
  • 1975 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
  • 1977 – Karl Ristikivi, Estonian geographer, author, and poet (b. 1912)
  • 1980 – Margaret Craven, American journalist and author (b. 1901)
  • 1980 – Nihat Erim, Turkish jurist and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1912)
  • 1980 – Hans Morgenthau, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1904)
  • 1981 – Roger Doucet, Canadian tenor (b. 1919)
  • 1982 – Hugh Everett III, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1930)
  • 1984 – Faina Ranevskaya, Russian actress (b. 1896)
  • 1984 – Aziz Sami, Iraqi writer and translator (b. 1895)
  • 1985 – Janusz Zajdel, Polish author (b. 1938)
  • 1989 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish businessman and politician, President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1913)
  • 1990 – Eddie Quillan, American actor (b. 1907)
  • 1992 – Paolo Borsellino, Italian lawyer and judge (b. 1940)
  • 1994 – Victor Barbeau, Canadian author and academic (b. 1896)
  • 1998 – Elmer Valo, Polish-American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2002 – Dave Carter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
  • 2002 – Alan Lomax, American historian, scholar, and activist (b. 1915)
  • 2003 – Bill Bright, American evangelist and author, founded the Campus Crusade for Christ (b. 1921)
  • 2003 – Pierre Graber, Swiss politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1908)
  • 2004 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (b. 1902)
  • 2004 – J. Gordon Edwards, American entomologist, mountaineer, and DDT advocate (b. 1919)
  • 2004 – Francis A. Marzen, American priest, and journalist (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – Zenkō Suzuki, Japanese politician, 70th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Edward Bunker, American author and screenwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2006 – Jack Warden, American actor (b. 1920)
  • 2007 – A. K. Faezul Huq, Bangladeshi journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1945)
  • 2007 – Roberto Fontanarrosa, Argentinian cartoonist (b. 1944)
  • 2008 – Dercy Gonçalves, Brazilian comedian and actress (b. 1907)
  • 2009 – Frank McCourt, American author and educator (b. 1930)
  • 2009 – Henry Surtees, English race car driver (b. 1991)
  • 2010 – Cécile Aubry, French actress, author, television screenwriter and director (b. 1928)
  • 2010 – Jon Cleary, Australian author and playwright (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Humayun Ahmed, Bangladeshi director and playwright (b. 1948)
  • 2012 – Tom Davis, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1952)
  • 2012 – Mohammad Hassan Ganji, Iranian meteorologist and academic (b. 1912)
  • 2012 – Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general, and politician, 16th Vice President of Egypt (b. 1935)
  • 2012 – Sylvia Woods, American businesswoman, co-founded Sylvia’s Restaurant of Harlem (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Valiulla Yakupov, Islamic cleric (b. 1963)
  • 2013 – Mikhail Gorsheniov, Russian singer-songwriter (b. 1973)
  • 2013 – Geeto Mongol, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Mel Smith, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Bert Trautmann, German footballer and manager (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Phil Woosnam, Welsh-American soccer player and manager (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Peter Ziegler, Swiss geologist and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Leyla Erbil, Turkish author (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Rubem Alves, Brazilian theologian (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – David Easton, Canadian-American political scientist and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2014 – Paul M. Fleiss, American pediatrician and author (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – James Garner, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Jerzy Jurka, Polish biologist (b. 1950)
  • 2014 – Ray King, English footballer and manager (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Ingemar Odlander, Swedish journalist (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Harry Pougher, English cricketer (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Leen Vleggeert, Dutch politician (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – John Winkin, American baseball player, coach, and journalist (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Van Alexander, American composer and conductor (b. 1915)
  • 2015 – Galina Prozumenshchikova, Ukrainian-Russian swimmer and journalist (b. 1948)
  • 2015 – Carmino Ravosa, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Gennadiy Seleznyov, Russian journalist and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Duma (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Garry Marshall, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1934)
  • 2018 – Jon Schnepp, American producer, director, voice actor, editor, writer, cartoonist, animator, and cinematographer (b. 1967)
  • 2018 – Denis Ten, Kazakhstani figure skater (b. 1993)
  • 2019 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, director, and producer (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances on July 19

  • Christian feast day:
    • Arsenius (Catholic Church)
    • Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht
    • Justa and Rufina
    • Kirdjun (or Abakerazum)
    • Macrina the Younger, Sister of St. Basil the Great
    • Symmachus
    • July 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Martyrs’ Day (Myanmar)
  • Sandinista Day or Liberation Day (Nicaragua)

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

by
  • 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 2​1⁄2 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

Further information: February 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • 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 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

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

Births on February 5

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

Deaths on February 5

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

Holidays and observances on February 5

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