Bloody Thursday

  • July 5- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 328 – The official opening of Constantine’s Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.
    • 1316 – The Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea meet in the Battle of Manolada.
    • 1594 – Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa begin an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy during the Campaign of Danture in Sri Lanka.
    • 1610 – John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.
    • 1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
    • 1770 – The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins.
    • 1775 – The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition.
    • 1803 – The Convention of Artlenburg is signed, leading to the French occupation of the Electorate of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).
    • 1807 – In Buenos Aires the local militias repel the British soldiers within the Second English Invasion.
    • 1809 – The largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Wagram is fought between the French and Austrian Empires.
    • 1811 – The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is adopted by a congress of the provinces.
    • 1813 – War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York commence.
    • 1814 – War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa: American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.
    • 1833 – Lê Văn Khôi along with 27 soldiers stage a mutiny taking over the Phiên An citadel, developing into the Lê Văn Khôi revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng.
    • 1833 – Admiral Charles Napier vanquishes the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
    • 1841 – Thomas Cook organises the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough.
    • 1884 – Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
    • 1915 – The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit.
    • 1934 – “Bloody Thursday”: Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.
    • 1935 – The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
    • 1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
    • 1940 – World War II: Foreign relations of Vichy France are severed with the United Kingdom.
    • 1941 – World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river.
    • 1943 – World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).
    • 1943 – World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel.
    • 1946 – Micheline Bernardini models the first modern bikini at a swimming pool in Paris.
    • 1948 – National Health Service Acts create the national public health system in the United Kingdom.
    • 1950 – Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.
    • 1950 – Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.
    • 1954 – The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.
    • 1954 – Elvis Presley records his first single, “That’s All Right”, at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
    • 1962 – The official independence of Algeria is proclaimed after an 8-year-long war with France.
    • 1971 – The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
    • 1973 – A boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) in Kingman, Arizona, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, kills eleven firefighters.
    • 1975 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
    • 1975 – Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.
    • 1977 – Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.
    • 1980 – Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980).
    • 1987 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic.
    • 1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned.
    • 1995 – Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.
    • 1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
    • 1997 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP A. Thangathurai is shot dead at Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College in Trincomalee.
    • 1999 – U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
    • 2004 – The first direct Indonesian presidential election is held.
    • 2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.
    • 2009 – A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
    • 2009 – The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in England, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.
    • 2012 – The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).
    • 2016 – The Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.

    Births on July 5

    • 465 – Ahkal Mo’ Naab’ I, Mayan ruler (d. 524)
    • 980 – Mokjong of Goryeo, Korean king (d. 1009)
    • 1029 – Al-Mustansir Billah, Fatimid caliph (d. 1094)
    • 1057 – Al-Ghazali, Iranian jurist, philosopher, and mystic (d. 1111)
    • 1321 – Joan of the Tower, English consort of David II of Scotland (d. 1362)
    • 1466 – Giovanni Sforza, Italian nobleman (d. 1510)
    • 1547 – Garzia de’ Medici, Tuscan son of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1562)
    • 1549 – Francesco Maria del Monte, Italian cardinal and art collector (d. 1627)
    • 1554 – Elisabeth of Austria, French queen (d. 1592)
    • 1580 – Carlo Contarini, doge of Venice (d. 1656)
    • 1586 – Thomas Hooker, English-born founder of the Colony of Connecticut (d. 1647)
    • 1593 – Achille d’Étampes de Valençay, French military leader (d. 1646)
    • 1653 – Thomas Pitt, English businessman and politician (d. 1726)
    • 1670 – Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg, countess palatine (d. 1748)
    • 1675 – Mary Walcott, American accuser and witness at the Salem witch trials (d. 1719)
    • 1709 – Étienne de Silhouette, French translator and politician, Controller-General of Finances (d. 1767)
    • 1717 – Peter III, Portuguese king (d. 1786)
    • 1718 – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1794)
    • 1745 – Carl Arnold Kortum, German physician and poet (d. 1824)
    • 1755 – Sarah Siddons, English actress (d. 1831)
    • 1780 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician (d. 1838)
    • 1793 – Pavel Pestel, Russian officer (d. 1826)
    • 1794 – Sylvester Graham, American minister and activist (d. 1851)
    • 1801 – David Farragut, American admiral (d. 1870)
    • 1802 – Pavel Nakhimov, Russian admiral (d. 1855)
    • 1803 – George Borrow, British writer (d. 1881)
    • 1805 – Robert FitzRoy, English captain, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (d. 1865)
    • 1810 – P. T. Barnum, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1891)
    • 1820 – William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1872)
    • 1829 – Ignacio Mariscal, Mexican politician and diplomat, Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico (d. 1910)
    • 1832 – Pavel Chistyakov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1919)
    • 1841 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1904)
    • 1849 – William Thomas Stead, English journalist (d. 1912)
    • 1853 – Cecil Rhodes, English-South African businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (d. 1902)
    • 1857 – Clara Zetkin, German theorist and activist (d. 1933)
    • 1857 – Julien Tiersot, French musicologist and composer (d. 1936)
    • 1860 – Robert Bacon, American colonel and politician, 39th United States Secretary of State (d. 1919)
    • 1860 – Mathieu Jaboulay, French surgeon (d. 1913)
    • 1862 – George Nuttall, American-British bacteriologist (d. 1937)
    • 1862 – Horatio Caro, English chess master (d. 1920)
    • 1864 – Stephan Krehl, German composer (d. 1924)
    • 1867 – A. E. Douglass, American astronomer (d. 1962)
    • 1872 – Édouard Herriot, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1957)
    • 1874 – Eugen Fischer, German physician and academic (d. 1967)
    • 1879 – Dwight F. Davis, American tennis player and politician, 49th United States Secretary of War (d. 1945)
    • 1879 – Wanda Landowska, Polish-French harpsichord player and educator (d. 1959)
    • 1880 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1940)
    • 1880 – Constantin Tănase, Romanian actor and playwright (d. 1945)
    • 1882 – Inayat Khan, Indian mystic and educator (d. 1927)
    • 1883 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian, author, and academic (d. 1975)
    • 1884 – Enrico Dante, Italian cardinal (d. 1967)
    • 1885 – Blas Infante, Spanish historian and politician (d. 1936)
    • 1885 – André Lhote, French sculptor and painter (d. 1962)
    • 1886 – Willem Drees, Dutch politician and historian, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1948–1958) (d. 1988)
    • 1886 – Prince John Konstantinovich of Russia (d. 1918)
    • 1888 – Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1963)
    • 1888 – Louise Freeland Jenkins, American astronomer and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1889 – Jean Cocteau, French novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 1963)
    • 1890 – Frederick Lewis Allen, American historian and journalist (d. 1954)
    • 1891 – John Howard Northrop, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1891 – Tin Ujević, Croatian poet and translator (d. 1955)
    • 1893 – Anthony Berkeley Cox, English writer (d. 1971)
    • 1893 – Giuseppe Caselli, Italian painter (d. 1976)
    • 1894 – Ants Lauter, Estonian actor and director (d. 1973)
    • 1896 – Thomas Playford IV, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (d. 1981)
    • 1898 – Georgios Grivas, Greek general (d. 1974)
    • 1899 – Marcel Achard, French playwright, screenwriter, and author (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Yoshimaro Yamashina, Japanese ornithologist, founded the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology (d. 1989)
    • 1900 – Bernardus Johannes Alfrink, Dutch cardinal (d. 1987)
    • 1901 – Julio Libonatti, Italian-Argentinian footballer (d. 1981)
    • 1902 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American colonel and politician, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1985)
    • 1904 – Harold Acton, English scholar and author (d. 1994)
    • 1904 – Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (d. 2005)
    • 1904 – Milburn Stone, American actor (d. 1980)
    • 1905 – Madeleine Sylvain-Bouchereau, Haitian sociologist and educator (d. 1970)
    • 1908 – Henri of Orléans, (d. 1999)
    • 1908 – Lyman S. Ayres II, American businessman (d. 1996)
    • 1910 – Georges Vedel, French lawyer and academic (d. 2002)
    • 1911 – Endel Aruja, Estonian-Canadian physicist and academic (d. 2008)
    • 1911 – Haydn Bunton, Sr., Australian footballer and coach (d. 1955)
    • 1911 – Giorgio Borġ Olivier, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1980)
    • 1911 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (d. 1974)
    • 1913 – George Costakis, Russian art collector (d. 1990)
    • 1913 – Smiley Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1966)
    • 1914 – John Thomas Dunlop, American administrator and labor scholar (d. 2003)
    • 1914 – Annie Fischer, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1995)
    • 1915 – Babe Paley, American socialite (d. 1978)
    • 1915 – John Woodruff, American runner and commander (d. 2007)
    • 1915 – Al Timothy, Trinidadian musician and songwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1916 – Lívia Rév, Hungarian classical pianist (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – Ivor Powell, Welsh footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – K. Karunakaran, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Kerala (d. 2010)
    • 1918 – Brian James, Australian actor (d. 2009)
    • 1918 – Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian general and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – George Rochberg, American composer and educator (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Viktor Kulikov, Russian marshal (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Nanos Valaoritis, Greek author, poet, and playwright (d. 2019)
    • 1923 – George Moore, Australian jockey (d. 2008)
    • 1923 – Mitsuye Yamada, Japanese American activist
    • 1924 – János Starker, Hungarian-American cellist and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Edward Cassidy, Australian Roman Catholic cardinal priest
    • 1925 – Fernando de Szyszlo, Peruvian painter and sculptor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Jean Raspail, French author and explorer (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
    • 1928 – Pierre Mauroy, French educator and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Warren Oates, American actor (d. 1982)
    • 1929 – Jimmy Carruthers, Australian boxer (d. 1990)
    • 1929 – Katherine Helmond, American actress and director (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Tony Lock, English cricketer (d. 1995)
    • 1929 – Jovan Rašković, Serbian psychiatrist, academic, and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1929 – Jiří Reynek, Czech poet and graphic artist (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Chikao Ohtsuka, Japanese voice actor (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Ismail Mahomed, South African lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Justice of South Africa (d. 2000)
    • 1932 – Gyula Horn, Hungarian politician, 37th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Paul-Gilbert Langevin, French musicologist, critic and physicist (d. 1986)
    • 1936 – Shirley Knight, American actress (d. 2020)
    • 1936 – James Mirrlees, Scottish economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
    • 1938 – Ronnie Self, American singer-songwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1940 – Chuck Close, American painter and photographer
    • 1941 – Terry Cashman, American singer-songwriter and record producer
    • 1941 – Epeli Nailatikau, Fijian chief, President of Fiji
    • 1942 – Matthias Bamert, Swiss composer and conductor
    • 1942 – Hannes Löhr, German footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2016)
    • 1943 – Curt Blefary, American baseball player and coach (d. 2001)
    • 1943 – Mark Cox, English tennis player, coach and sportscaster
    • 1943 – Robbie Robertson, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
    • 1943 – Pierre Villepreux, French rugby player and coach
    • 1944 – Leni Björklund, Swedish politician, 28th Swedish Minister of Defence for Sweden
    • 1945 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Humberto Benítez Treviño, Mexican lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Mexico
    • 1946 – Pierre-Marc Johnson, Canadian lawyer, physician, and politician, 24th Premier of Quebec
    • 1946 – Paul Smith, English fashion designer
    • 1946 – Gerard ‘t Hooft, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1946 – Vladimir Mikhailovich Zakharov, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Todd Akin, American politician
    • 1949 – Ludwig G. Strauss, German physician and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1950 – Carlos Caszely, Chilean footballer
    • 1950 – Huey Lewis, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1950 – Michael Monarch, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1951 – Goose Gossage, American baseball player
    • 1951 – Roger Wicker, American colonel, lawyer, and politician
    • 1953 – Caryn Navy, American mathematician and computer scientist
    • 1954 – Jimmy Crespo, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1954 – John Wright, New Zealand cricketer and coach
    • 1955 – Tony Hadley, English footballer
    • 1955 – Peter McNamara, Australian tennis player and coach (d. 2019)
    • 1956 – Horacio Cartes, Paraguayan businessman and politician, President of Paraguay
    • 1956 – James Lofton, American football player and coach
    • 1957 – Carlo Thränhardt, German high jumper
    • 1957 – Doug Wilson, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
    • 1958 – Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (d. 1996)
    • 1958 – Bill Watterson, American author and illustrator
    • 1959 – Marc Cohn, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1960 – Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor and director
    • 1962 – Sarina Hülsenbeck, German swimmer
    • 1963 – Edie Falco, American actress
    • 1964 – Ronald D. Moore, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1965 – Kathryn Erbe, American actress
    • 1965 – Eyran Katsenelenbogen, Israeli-American pianist and educator
    • 1966 – Susannah Doyle, English actress, director, and playwright
    • 1966 – Gianfranco Zola, Italian footballer and coach
    • 1968 – Ken Akamatsu, Japanese illustrator
    • 1968 – Kenji Ito, Japanese pianist and composer
    • 1968 – Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1968 – Hedi Slimane, French fashion designer and photographer
    • 1968 – Alex Zülle, Swiss cyclist
    • 1968 – Susan Wojcicki, Polish-American technology executive, CEO of YouTube
    • 1969 – Jenji Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1969 – Armin Kõomägi, Estonian author and screenwriter
    • 1969 – John LeClair, American ice hockey player
    • 1969 – RZA, American rapper, producer, actor, and director
    • 1970 – Mac Dre, American rapper and producer, founded Thizz Entertainment (d. 2004)
    • 1970 – Valentí Massana, Spanish race walker
    • 1971 – Derek McInnes, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Matthew Birir, Kenyan runner
    • 1972 – Robert Esmie, Canadian sprinter
    • 1972 – Gary Shteyngart, American writer
    • 1973 – Marcus Allbäck, Swedish footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Bengt Lagerberg, Swedish drummer
    • 1973 – Róisín Murphy, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Márcio Amoroso, Brazilian footballer
    • 1975 – Hernán Crespo, Argentinian footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Ai Sugiyama, Japanese tennis player
    • 1976 – Bizarre, American rapper
    • 1976 – Nuno Gomes, Portuguese footballer
    • 1977 – Nicolas Kiefer, German tennis player
    • 1977 – Steven Sharp Nelson, American cellist
    • 1978 – Britta Oppelt, German rower
    • 1978 – Allan Simonsen, Danish race car driver (d. 2013)
    • 1978 – İsmail YK, German-Turkish singer-songwriter
    • 1979 – Shane Filan, Irish singer-songwriter
    • 1979 – Amélie Mauresmo, French-Swiss tennis player
    • 1979 – Stiliyan Petrov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
    • 1980 – David Rozehnal, Czech footballer
    • 1980 – Mads Tolling, Danish-American violinist and composer
    • 1980 – Jason Wade, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1982 – Fabrício de Souza, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Alexander Dimitrenko, Ukrainian-German boxer
    • 1982 – Alberto Gilardino, Italian footballer
    • 1982 – Philippe Gilbert, Belgian cyclist
    • 1982 – Kate Gynther, Australian water polo player
    • 1982 – Dave Haywood, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1982 – Paíto, Mozambican footballer
    • 1982 – Javier Paredes, Spanish footballer
    • 1982 – Szabolcs Perenyi, Romanian-Hungarian footballer
    • 1982 – Beno Udrih, Slovenian basketball player
    • 1983 – Marco Estrada, Mexican baseball player
    • 1983 – Jonás Gutiérrez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1983 – Zheng Jie, Chinese tennis player
    • 1983 – Taavi Peetre, Estonian shot putter (d. 2010)
    • 1984 – Danay Garcia, Cuban actress
    • 1984 – Zack Miller, American golfer
    • 1985 – Alexandre R. Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Megan Rapinoe, American soccer player
    • 1986 – Iurii Cheban, Ukrainian canoe sprinter
    • 1986 – Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1986 – Alexander Radulov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Owl City, American singer, songwriter and composer
    • 1987 – Ji Chang-wook, South Korean actor
    • 1987 – Mohd Safiq Rahim, Malaysian footballer
    • 1987 – Andrija Kaluđerović, Serbian footballer
    • 1987 – Alexander Kristoff, Norwegian cyclist
    • 1988 – Martin Liivamägi, Estonian swimmer
    • 1988 – Samir Ujkani, Albanian footballer
    • 1989 – Charlie Austin, English footballer
    • 1989 – Georgios Efrem, Cypriot footballer
    • 1989 – Dwight King, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Abeba Aregawi, Ethiopian-Swedish runner
    • 1992 – Alberto Moreno, Spanish footballer
    • 1992 – Chiara Scholl, American tennis player
    • 1993 – Yaroslav Kosov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1994 – Diana Harkusha, Ukrainian lawyer, dancer, model and beauty queen
    • 1994 – Shohei Ohtani, Japanese baseball player

    Deaths on July 5

    • 905 – Cui Yuan, Chinese chancellor
    • 905 – Dugu Sun, Chinese chancellor
    • 905 – Lu Yi, Chinese chancellor (b. 847)
    • 905 – Pei Shu, Chinese chancellor (b. 841)
    • 905 – Wang Pu, Chinese chancellor
    • 936 – Xu Ji, Chinese official and chancellor
    • 967 – Murakami, Japanese emperor (b. 926)
    • 1080 – Ísleifur Gissurarson, Icelandic bishop (b. 1006)
    • 1091 – William of Hirsau, German abbot
    • 1316 – Ferdinand, prince of Majorca (b. 1278)
    • 1375 – Charles III, French nobleman (b. 1337)
    • 1413 – Musa Çelebi, Ottoman prince and co-ruler
    • 1507 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and academic (b. 1475)
    • 1539 – Anthony Maria Zaccaria, Italian saint (b. 1502)
    • 1661 – Sir Hugh Speke, 1st Baronet
    • 1666 – Albert VI, German nobleman (b. 1584)
    • 1676 – Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish field marshal and politician (b. 1613)
    • 1715 – Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat (b. 1659)
    • 1719 – Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, German-English general (b. 1641)
    • 1773 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian and philologist (b. 1719)
    • 1819 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (b.1744)
    • 1826 – Stamford Raffles, English politician, founded Singapore (b. 1782)
    • 1833 – Nicéphore Niépce, French inventor, created the first known photograph (b. 1765)
    • 1859 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (b. 1777)
    • 1862 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist and paleontologist (b. 1800)
    • 1863 – Lewis Armistead, American general (b. 1817)
    • 1884 – Victor Massé, French composer (b. 1822)
    • 1908 – Jonas Lie, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1833)
    • 1920 – Max Klinger, German painter and sculptor (b. 1857)
    • 1927 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
    • 1929 – Henry Johnson, American sergeant (b. 1897)
    • 1932 – Sasha Chorny, Russian poet and author (b. 1880)
    • 1935 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (b. 1870)
    • 1937 – Daniel Sawyer, American golfer (b. 1884)
    • 1943 – Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski, Polish actor (b. 1880)
    • 1943 – Karin Swanström, Swedish actress, director, and producer (b. 1873)
    • 1945 – John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885)
    • 1948 – Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (b. 1888)
    • 1948 – Carole Landis, American actress (b. 1919)
    • 1948 – Piet Aalberse, Dutch politician (b. 1871)
    • 1957 – Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
    • 1965 – Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican race car driver, polo player, and diplomat (b. 1909)
    • 1966 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
    • 1969 – Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist and educator (b. 1884)
    • 1969 – Walter Gropius, German architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building and Werkbund Exhibition (b. 1883)
    • 1969 – Tom Mboya, Kenyan politician, 1st Kenyan Minister of Justice (b. 1930)
    • 1969 – Leo McCarey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1898)
    • 1975 – Gilda dalla Rizza, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1892)
    • 1983 – Harry James, American trumpet player and actor (b. 1916)
    • 1984 – Chic Murray, Canadian politician, 2nd Mayor of Mississauga (b. 1914)
    • 1991 – Howard Nemerov, American poet and essayist (b. 1920)
    • 1995 – Jüri Järvet, Estonian actor and screenwriter (b. 1919)
    • 1997 – A. Thangathurai, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (b. 1936)
    • 1998 – Sid Luckman, American football player (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (b. 1924)
    • 2002 – Ted Williams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1918)
    • 2004 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1923)
    • 2004 – Rodger Ward, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – James Stockdale, American admiral (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Gert Fredriksson, Swedish canoe racer (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Thirunalloor Karunakaran, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (b. 1942)
    • 2006 – Amzie Strickland, American actress (b. 1919)
    • 2007 – Régine Crespin, French soprano (b. 1927)
    • 2007 – George Melly, English singer-songwriter and critic (b. 1926)
    • 2008 – Hasan Doğan, Turkish businessman (b. 1956)
    • 2010 – Bob Probert, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host (b. 1965)
    • 2011 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter, sculptor, and photographer (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Rob Goris, Belgian cyclist (b. 1982)
    • 2012 – Gerrit Komrij, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (b. 1944)
    • 2012 – Colin Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge, English businessman and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Ruud van Hemert, Dutch actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Bud Asher, American lawyer and politician (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – David Cargo, American politician, 22nd Governor of New Mexico (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Lambert Jackson Woodburne, South African admiral (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Rosemary Murphy, American actress (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Volodymyr Sabodan, Ukrainian metropolitan (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Hans-Ulrich Wehler, German historian and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Brett Wiesner, American soccer player (b. 1983)
    • 2015 – Archduchess Dorothea of Austria (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Uffe Haagerup, Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1949)
    • 2015 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)

    Holidays and observances on July 5

    • Bloody Thursday (International Longshore and Warehouse Union)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Anthony Maria Zaccaria, priest (d. 1539)
      • Cyril and Methodius (a public holiday in Czech Republic and Slovakia)
      • Zoe of Rome (Roman Catholic Church)
      • July 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Armenia)
    • Independence Day (Algeria), celebrating the independence of Algeria from France in 1962.
    • Independence Day (Cape Verde), celebrating the independence of Cape Verde from Portugal in 1975.
    • Independence Day (Venezuela), celebrating the independence of Venezuela from Spain in 1811; also National Armed Forces Day.
    • Tynwald Day, if July 5 is on a weekend, the holiday is the following Monday. (Isle of Man)

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

    February 17 in History

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

    Births on February 17

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

    Deaths on February 17

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

    Holidays and observances on February 17

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