1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom.
1329 – Pope John XXII issues his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.
1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reaches the northern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage to Florida.
1625 – Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.
1782 – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1794 – The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
1809 – Peninsular War: A combined Franco-Polish force defeats the Spanish in the Battle of Ciudad Real.
1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
1836 – Texas Revolution: On the orders of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican army massacres 342 Texas POWs at Goliad, Texas.
1866 – President of the United States of America Andrew Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His veto is overridden by Congress and the bill passes into law on April 9.
1871 – The first international rugby football match, when Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.
1884 – A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, attacks members of a jury which had returned a verdict of manslaughter in what was seen as a clear case of murder; over the next few days the mob would riot and eventually destroy the courthouse.
1886 – Geronimo, Apache warrior, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.
1899 – Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino forces for the only time during the Philippine–American War at the Battle of Marilao River.
1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.
1918 – The National Council of Bessarabia proclaims union with the Kingdom of Romania.
1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Taierzhuang begins, resulting several weeks later in the war’s first major Chinese victory over Japan.
1941 – World War II: Yugoslav Air Force officers topple the pro-Axis government in a bloodless coup.
1943 – World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands: In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
1945 – World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan’s ports and waterways begins. Argentina declares war on the Axis Powers.
1958 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
1964 – The Good Friday earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.
1975 – Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
1977 – Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history.
1980 – The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
1980 – Silver Thursday: A steep fall in silver prices, resulting from the Hunt Brothers attempting to corner the market in silver, leads to panic on commodity and futures exchanges.
1981 – The Solidarity movement in Poland stages a warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours.
1986 – A car bomb explodes outside Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, Australia, killing one police officer and injuring 21 people.
1990 – The United States begins broadcasting anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba on TV Martí.
1993 – Jiang Zemin is appointed President of the People’s Republic of China.
1993 – Italian former minister and Christian Democracy leader Giulio Andreotti is accused of mafia allegiance by the tribunal of Palermo.
1998 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
1999 – Kosovo War: An American Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is shot down by a Yugoslav SAM, the first and only Nighthawk to be lost in combat.
2000 – A Phillips Petroleum plant explosion in Pasadena, Texas kills one person and injures 71 others.
2002 – Passover massacre: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover seder in Netanya, Israel.
2002 – Nanterre massacre: In Nanterre, France, a gunman opens fire at the end of a town council meeting, resulting in the deaths of eight councilors; 19 other people are injured.
2004 – HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander-class frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.
2009 – The dam forming Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails, killing at least 99 people.
2014 – Philippines signs a peace accord with the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, ending decades of conflict.
2015 – Al-Shabab militants attack and temporarily occupy a Mogadishu hotel leaving at least 20 people dead.
2016 – A suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore claims over 70 lives and leaves almost 300 others injured. The target of the bombing are Christians celebrating Easter.
2020 – North Macedonia becomes the 30th member of NATO.
Births on March 27
972 – Robert II, king of France (d. 1031)
1401 – Albert III, duke of Bavaria (d. 1460)
1416 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded Order of the Minims (d. 1507)
1546 – Johannes Piscator, German theologian (d. 1625)
1627 – Stephen Fox, English politician (d. 1716)
1676 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (b. 1676)
1679 – Domenico Lalli, Italian poet and librettist (d. 1741)
1681 – Joaquín Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish-Italian cardinal (d. 1760)
1702 – Johann Ernst Eberlin, German organist and composer (d. 1762)
1710 – Joseph Abaco, Belgian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
1712 – Claude Bourgelat, French surgeon and author (d. 1779)
1714 – Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian historian and theologian (d. 1795)
1724 – Jane Colden, American botanist and author (d. 1766)
1745 – Lindley Murray, American-English Quaker and grammarian (d. 1826)
1746 – Michael Bruce, Scottish poet and composer (d. 1767)
1746 – Carlo Buonaparte, Corsican-French lawyer and politician (d. 1785)
1765 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1841)
1781 – Alexander Vostokov, Estonian-Russian philologist and academic (d. 1864)
1784 – Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, Hungarian philologist, orientalist, and author (d. 1842)
1785 – Louis XVII of France (d. 1795)
1797 – Alfred de Vigny, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1863)
1801 – Alexander Barrow, American lawyer and politician (d. 1846)
1802 – Charles-Mathias Simons, German-Luxembourger jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1874)
1809 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann, French engineer, urban planner, and politician (d. 1891)
1811 – Edward William Cooke, English painter and illustrator (d. 1880)
1814 – Charles Mackay, Scottish journalist, anthologist, and author (d. 1889)
1820 – Edward Augustus Inglefield, English admiral and explorer (d. 1894)
1822 – Henri Murger, French novelist and poet (d. 1861)
1824 – Virginia Minor, American women’s suffrage activist (d. 1894)
1839 – John Ballance, Irish-New Zealand journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1893)
1843 – George Frederick Leycester Marshall, English colonel and entomologist (d. 1934)
1844 – Adolphus Greely, American general and explorer, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1935)
1845 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1923)
1845 – Jakob Sverdrup, Norwegian bishop and politician, Norwegian Minister of Education and Church Affairs (d. 1899)
1847 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
1851 – Ruperto Chapí, Spanish composer, co-founded Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (d. 1909)
1851 – Vincent d’Indy, French composer and educator (d. 1931)
1852 – Jan van Beers, Belgian painter and illustrator (d. 1927)
1854 – Giovanni Battista Grassi, Italian physician, zoologist, and entomologist (d. 1925)
1855 – William Libbey, American target shooter, colonel, mountaineer, geographer, geologist, and archaeologist (d. 1927)
1857 – Karl Pearson, English mathematician, eugenicist, and academic (d. 1936)
1859 – George Giffen, Australian cricketer and footballer (d. 1927)
1860 – Frank Frost Abbott, American-Swiss scholar and academic (d. 1924)
1862 – Jelena Dimitrijević, Serbian short story writer, novelist, poet, traveller, social worker, feminist and polyglot (d. 1945)
1862 – Arturo Berutti, Argentinian composer (d. 1938)
1863 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, founded Rolls-Royce Limited (d. 1933)
1866 – John Allan, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Victoria (d. 1936)
1868 – Patty Hill, American songwriter and educator (d. 1946)
1869 – James McNeill, Irish politician, 2nd Governor-General of the Irish Free State (d. 1938)
1869 – J. R. Clynes, English trade unionist and politician, Home Secretary (d. 1949)
1871 – Heinrich Mann, German author and poet (d. 1950)
1871 – Joseph G. Morrison, American captain and Nazarene minister (d. 1939)
1871 – Piet Aalberse, Dutch politician, Minister of Labour (d. 1948)
1875 – Albert Marquet, French painter (d. 1947)
1877 – Oscar Grégoire, Belgian water polo player and swimmer (d. 1947)
1878 – Kathleen Scott, British sculptor (d. 1947)
1879 – Sándor Garbai, Hungarian politician, 19th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1947)
1879 – Miller Huggins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1929)
1879 – Edward Steichen, Luxembourger-American painter and photographer (d. 1973)
1881 – Arkady Averchenko, Russian playwright and satirist (d. 1925)
1882 – Thomas Graham Brown, Scottish mountaineer and physiologist (d. 1965)
1883 – Marie Under, Estonian author and poet (d. 1980)
1884 – Gordon Thomson, English rower and lieutenant (d. 1953)
1885 – Julio Lozano Díaz, Honduran accountant and politician, 40th President of Honduras (d. 1957)
1885 – Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster, English navy officer and politician, Secretary of State for Transport (d. 1961)
1886 – Sergey Kirov, Russian politician (d. 1934)
1886 – Wladimir Burliuk, Ukrainian painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
1886 – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect, designed IBM Plaza and Seagram Building (d. 1969)
1887 – Väinö Siikaniemi, Finnish javelin thrower, poet, and translator (d. 1932)
1888 – George Alfred Lawrence Hearne, English-South African cricketer (d. 1978)
1889 – Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, Egyptian-Turkish journalist, author, and politician (d. 1974)
1889 – Leonard Mociulschi, Romanian general (d. 1979)
1890 – Harald Julin, Swedish swimmer and water polo player (d. 1967)
1890 – Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Scottish admiral (d. 1974)
1891 – Lajos Zilahy, Hungarian novelist and playwright (d. 1974)
1891 – Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski, Belarusian-Lithuanian architect, journalist, and diplomat, created the Flag of Belarus (d. 1959)
1892 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer (d. 1972)
1892 – Thorne Smith, American author (d. 1934)
1893 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (d. 1947)
1893 – G. Lloyd Spencer, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1981)
1893 – George Beranger, Australian-American actor and director (d. 1973)
1894 – René Fonck, French colonel and pilot (d. 1953)
1895 – Roland Leighton, English soldier and poet (d. 1915)
1897 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (d. 1958)
1897 – Fred Keating, American magician, stage and film actor (d. 1961)
1899 – Francis Ponge, French poet and author (d. 1988)
1899 – Herbert Arthur Stuart, German-Swiss physicist and academic (d. 1974)
1899 – Gloria Swanson, American actress and producer (d. 1983)
1901 – Carl Barks, American illustrator and screenwriter (d. 2000)
1901 – Erich Ollenhauer, German politician (d. 1963)
1901 – Eisaku Satō, Japanese politician, 61st Prime Minister of Japan, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
1901 – Kenneth Slessor, Australian journalist and poet (d. 1971)
1902 – Sidney Buchman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1975)
1902 – Charles Lang, American cinematographer (d. 1998)
1903 – Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexican poet and playwright (d. 1950)
1905 – Leroy Carr, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1935)
1905 – Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, German general (d. 1980)
1905 – Elsie MacGill, Canadian-American author and engineer (d. 1980)
1906 – Pee Wee Russell, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 1969)
1909 – Golo Mann, German historian and author (d. 1994)
1909 – Ben Webster, American saxophonist (d. 1973)
1909 – Valery Marakou, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1937)
1910 – Ai Qing, Chinese poet and author (d. 1996)
1911 – Veronika Tushnova, Russian poet and physician (d. 1965)
1912 – James Callaghan, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
1913 – Theodor Dannecker, German SS officer (d. 1945)
1914 – Richard Denning, American actor (d. 1998)
1914 – Budd Schulberg, American author, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2009)
1915 – Robert Lockwood, Jr., American guitarist (d. 2006)
1917 – Cyrus Vance, American lawyer and politician, 57th United States Secretary of State (d. 2002)
1920 – Colin Rowe, English-American architect, theorist and academic (d. 1999)
1921 – Phil Chess, Czech-American record producer, co-founded Chess Records (d. 2016)
1921 – Moacir Barbosa Nascimento, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2000)
1921 – Harold Nicholas, American actor and dancer (d. 2000)
1922 – Dick King-Smith, English author (d. 2011)
1922 – Stefan Wul, French author and surgeon (d. 2003)
1922 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter, printmaker, and sculptor (d. 2007)
1923 – Shūsaku Endō, Japanese author (d. 1996)
1923 – Louis Simpson, Jamaican-American poet, translator, and academic (d. 2012)
1924 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer (d. 1990)
1924 – Ian Black, Scottish international footballer, goalkeeper and lawn bowls player (d. 2012)
1924 – Margaret K. Butler, American mathematician and computer programmer (d. 2013)
1926 – Frank O’Hara, American writer (d. 1966)
1927 – Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2016)
1927 – Anthony Lewis, American journalist and academic (d. 2013)
1927 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (d. 2007)
1928 – Jean Dotto, French cyclist (d. 2000)
1929 – Anne Ramsey, American actress (d. 1988)
1929 – Reg Evans, Australian actor (d. 2009)
1930 – Daniel Spoerri, Romanian-Swiss photographer, writer and artist
1931 – David Janssen, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1980)
1932 – Junior Parker, American singer and harmonica player (d. 1971)
1932 – Bailey Olter, Micronesian politician, 3rd President of the Federated States of Micronesia (d. 1999)
1933 – Lê Văn Hưng, South Vietnamese Brigadier general (d. 1975)
1934 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist, author, and politician (d. 2012)
1935 – Stanley Rother, American Roman Catholic priest and missionary (d. 1981)
1935 – Julian Glover, English actor
1936 – Malcolm Goldstein, American violinist and composer
1937 – Alan Hawkshaw, English keyboard player and songwriter
1939 – Jay Kim, South Korean-American engineer and politician
1939 – Cale Yarborough, American race car driver and businessman
1940 – Sandro Munari, Italian race car driver
1940 – Austin Pendleton, American actor, director, and playwright
1941 – Ivan Gašparovič, Slovak lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Slovakia
1941 – Liese Prokop, Austrian pentathlete and politician, Austrian Minister of the Interior (d. 2006)
1942 – Michael Jackson, English journalist and author (d. 2007)
1942 – John Sulston, English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
1942 – Michael York, English actor
1943 – Mike Curtis, American football player and coach (d. 2020)
1944 – Jesse Brown, American marine and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (d. 2002)
1944 – Bryan Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
1946 – Michael Aris, Cuban-English author and academic (d. 1999)
1947 – Oliver Friggieri, Maltese author, critic, poet and philosopher
1947 – Brian Jones, English balloonist and pilot
1947 – Walt Mossberg, American journalist
1948 – Jens-Peter Bonde, Danish lawyer and politician
1950 – Tony Banks, English keyboardist and songwriter
1950 – Petros Efthymiou, Greek academic and politician, Greek Minister of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs
1950 – Maria Ewing, African-American soprano
1950 – Chris Stewart, English musician and author
1950 – Terry Yorath, Welsh international footballer, Midfielder and international manager
1951 – Andrei Kozyrev, Belgian-Russian politician and diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Russia
1952 – Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austrian skier
1952 – Maria Schneider, French actress (d. 2011)
1953 – Herman Ponsteen, Dutch cyclist
1954 – Gerard Batten, English lawyer and politician
1955 – Patrick McCabe, Irish writer
1955 – Mariano Rajoy, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
1955 – Susan Neiman, Jewish American-German philosopher and author
1956 – Leung Kwok-hung, Hong Kong activist and politician
1956 – Thomas Wassberg, Swedish cross country skier
1957 – Kostas Vasilakakis, Greek footballer and manager
1957 – Stephen Dillane, English actor
1958 – Didier de Radiguès, Belgian race car driver and motorcycle racer
1959 – Andrew Farriss, Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist
1960 – Hans Pflügler, German footballer
1960 – Renato Russo, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1961 – Ellery Hanley, English rugby league player and coach
1961 – Tony Rominger, Swiss professional cyclist
1962 – Jann Arden, Canadian singer-songwriter
1962 – Brett French, Australian rugby league player
1962 – Rob Hollink, Dutch poker player
1962 – John O’Farrell, English journalist and author
1962 – Brad Wright, American-Spanish basketball player
1962 – Kevin J. Anderson, American science fiction writer
1963 – Cory Blackwell, American basketball player
1963 – Randall Cunningham, American football player, coach, and pastor
1963 – Filippos Sachinidis, Greek-Canadian economist and politician
1963 – Gary Stevens, English-Australian footballer and physiotherapist
1963 – Quentin Tarantino, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
1963 – Xuxa, Brazilian actress, singer, businesswoman and television presenter
1965 – Gregor Foitek, Swiss race car driver
1966 – Žarko Paspalj, Serbian basketball player
1967 – Talisa Soto, American actress
1968 – Irina Belova, Russian heptathlete
1969 – Gianluigi Lentini, Italian footballer and manager
1969 – Pauley Perrette, American actress
1970 – Leila Pahlavi, Princess of Iran (d. 2001)
1970 – Derek Aucoin, Canadian baseball player
1970 – Mariah Carey, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1970 – Brent Fitz, Canadian-American multi-instrumentalist and recording artist
1970 – Jarrod McCracken, New Zealand rugby league player
1970 – Elizabeth Mitchell, American actress
1970 – Uwe Rosenberg, German game designer, created Bohnanza
1971 – David Coulthard, Scottish race car driver and sportscaster
1971 – Nathan Fillion, Canadian actor
1972 – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Surinamese-Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
1972 – Charlie Haas, American professional wrestler
1973 – Roger Telemachus, South African cricketer
1974 – Marek Citko, Polish footballer and manager
1974 – George Koumantarakis, Greek-South African footballer
1974 – Gaizka Mendieta, Spanish footballer
1975 – Andrew Blowers, New Zealand rugby player
1975 – Kim Felton, Australian golfer
1975 – Jeff Palmer, American gay porn actor and singer-songwriter
1975 – Fergie, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1975 – Christian Fiedler, German footballer and manager
1976 – Roberta Anastase, Romanian politician, 57th President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania
1980 – Steve Fisher, American author and screenwriter (b. 1912)
1981 – Jakob Ackeret, Swiss engineer and academic (b. 1898)
1982 – Fazlur Khan, Bangladeshi-American engineer and architect, designed the John Hancock Center and Willis Tower (b. 1929)
1987 – William Bowers, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1916)
1988 – Charles Willeford, American author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
1989 – May Allison, American actress (b. 1890)
1989 – Malcolm Cowley, American novelist, poet, and literary critic (b. 1898)
1990 – Percy Beard, American hurdler and coach (b. 1908)
1991 – Aldo Ray, American actor (b. 1926)
1992 – Colin Gibson, English footballer (b. 1923)
1992 – Lang Hancock, Australian businessman (b. 1909)
1992 – James E. Webb, American colonel and politician, 16th Under Secretary of State (b. 1906)
1993 – Kamal Hassan Ali, Egyptian general and politician, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1921)
1993 – Paul László, Hungarian-American architect and interior designer (b. 1900)
1994 – Elisabeth Schmid, German archaeologist and osteologist (b. 1912)
1994 – Lawrence Wetherby, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1908)
1995 – René Allio, French director and screenwriter (b. 1924)
1997 – Lane Dwinell, American businessman and politician, 69th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1906)
1997 – Ella Maillart, Swiss skier, sailor, field hockey player, and photographer (b. 1903)
1998 – David McClelland, American psychologist and academic (b. 1917)
1999 – Michael Aris, Cuban-English author and academic (b. 1946)
2000 – George Allen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1914)
2000 – Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1942)
2002 – Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (b. 1908)
2002 – Dudley Moore, English actor (b. 1935)
2002 – Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
2003 – Edwin Carr, New Zealand composer and educator (b. 1926)
2004 – Robert Merle, French author (b. 1909)
2005 – Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, Canadian soldier and surgeon (b. 1913)
2006 – Dan Curtis, American director and producer (b. 1928)
2006 – Stanisław Lem, Ukrainian-Polish author (b. 1921)
2006 – Rudolf Vrba, Czech Holocaust survivor and educator (b. 1924)
2006 – Neil Williams, English cricketer (b. 1962)
2007 – Nancy Adams, New Zealand botanist and illustrator (b. 1926)
2007 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
2008 – Jean-Marie Balestre, French businessman (b. 1921)
2009 – Irving R. Levine, American journalist and author (b. 1922)
2010 – Dick Giordano, American illustrator (b. 1932)
2011 – Clement Arrindell, Nevisian judge and politician, 1st Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis (b. 1931)
2011 – Farley Granger, American actor (b. 1925)
2012 – Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist and feminist (b. 1929)
2013 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1923)
2013 – Yvonne Brill, Canadian-American scientist and engineer (b. 1924)
2013 – Fay Kanin, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1917)
2014 – Richard N. Frye, American scholar and academic (b. 1920)
2014 – James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense and first United States Secretary of Energy (b. 1929)
2015 – Johnny Helms, American trumpet player, bandleader, and educator (b. 1935)
2015 – T. Sailo, Indian soldier and politician, 2nd Chief Minister of Mizoram (b. 1922)
2016 – Mother Angelica, American Roman Catholic religious leader and media personality (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on March 27
Christian feast day:
Alexander, a Pannonian soldier, martyred in 3rd century.
Amador of Portugal
Augusta of Treviso
Charles Henry Brent (Episcopal Church (USA))
Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh
John of Egypt
Philetus
Romulus of Nîmes, a Benedictine abbot, martyred c. 730.
1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under Charles, Duke of Mayenne, during the French Wars of Religion.
1647 – Thirty Years’ War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
1663 – According to his own account, Otto von Guericke completes his book De Vacuo.
1674 – The Third Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of Ronas Voe results in the Dutch East India Company ship Wapen van Rotterdam being captured with a death toll of up to 300 Dutch crew and soldiers.
1757 – Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch for breach of the Articles of War.
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama, the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans.
1794 – Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.
1885 – The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London.
1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.
1903 – Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
1920 – In the second of the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, about 80% of the population in Zone II votes to remain part of Weimar Germany.
1926 – The El Virilla train accident, Costa Rica, kills 248 people and wounds another 93 when a train falls off a bridge over the Río Virilla between Heredia and Tibás.
1931 – Alam Ara, India’s first talking film, is released.
1939 – Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.
1942 – Anne Miller becomes the first American patient to be treated with penicillin, under the care of Orvan Hess and John Bumstead.
1943 – The liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto is completed.
1945 – The R.A.F. drop the Grand Slam bomb in action for the first time, on a railway viaduct near Bielefeld, Germany.
1951 – Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul for the second time.
1961 – A USAF B-52 bomber crashes near near Yuba City, California whilst carrying nuclear weapons.
1964 – Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy.
1967 – The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.
1978 – The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Litani, a seven-day campaign to invade and occupy southern Lebanon.
1980 – LOT Flight 7 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, Poland, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.
1982 – The South African government bombs the headquarters of the African National Congress in London.
1988 – In the Johnson South Reef Skirmish Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in an altercation over control of one of the Spratly Islands.
1995 – Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle.
2006 – The 2006 Chadian coup d’état attempt ends in failure.
2007 – The Nandigram violence in Nandigram, West Bengal results in the deaths of at least 14 people.
2008 – A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupt in Lhasa and subsequently spread elsewhere in Tibet.
2019 – Cyclone Idai makes landfall near Beira, Mozambique, causing devastating floods and over 1000 deaths.
Births on March 14
1638 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (d. 1710)
1790 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (d. 1863)
1800 – James Bogardus, American inventor and architect (d. 1874)
1801 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson, Estonian poet (d. 1822)
1804 – Johann Strauss I, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1849)
1813 – Joseph P. Bradley, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1892)
1820 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (d. 1878)
1822 – Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies (d. 1889)
1823 – Théodore de Banville, French poet and critic (d. 1891)
1833 – Frederic Shields, English painter and illustrator (d. 1911)
1833 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor, American dentist and educator (d. 1910)
1835 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (d. 1910)
1836 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (d. 1865)
1837 – Charles Ammi Cutter, American librarian (d. 1903)
1844 – Umberto I of Italy (d. 1900)
1844 – Arthur O’Shaughnessy, English poet and herpetologist (d. 1881)
1847 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet and playwright (d. 1871)
1853 – Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
1854 – Paul Ehrlich, German physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1915)
1854 – John Lane, English publisher, co-founded The Bodley Head (d. 1925)
1854 – Alexandru Macedonski, Romanian author and poet (d. 1920)
1854 – Thomas R. Marshall, American lawyer and politician, 28th Vice President of the United States of America (d. 1925)
1862 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (d. 1951)
1863 – Casey Jones, American engineer (d. 1900)
1868 – Emily Murphy, Canadian jurist, author, and activist (d. 1933)
1869 – Algernon Blackwood, English author and playwright (d. 1951)
1874 – Anton Philips, Dutch businessman, co-founded Philips Electronics (d. 1951)
1879 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
1882 – Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1969)
1885 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (d. 1918)
1886 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (d. 1964)
1887 – Sylvia Beach, American-French publisher, founded Shakespeare and Company (d. 1962)
1898 – Reginald Marsh, French-American painter and illustrator (d. 1954)
1899 – K. C. Irving, Canadian businessman, founded Irving Oil (d. 1992)
1901 – Sid Atkinson, South African hurdler and long jumper (d. 1977)
1903 – Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (d. 1974)
1904 – Doris Eaton Travis, American actress and dancer (d. 2010)
1905 – Raymond Aron, French journalist, sociologist, and philosopher (d. 1983)
1906 – Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Turkish composer and educator (d. 1972)
1908 – Ed Heinemann, American designer of military aircraft (d. 1991)
1908 – Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French philosopher and academic (d. 1961)
1908 – Philip Conrad Vincent, English engineer and businessman, founded Vincent Motorcycles (d. 1979)
1911 – Akira Yoshizawa, Japanese origamist (d. 2005)
1912 – Cliff Bastin, English footballer (d. 1991)
1912 – Les Brown, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2001)
1912 – W. Graham Claytor, Jr. American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1994)
1912 – W. Willard Wirtz, American lawyer and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 2010)
1914 – Lee Hays, American singer-songwriter (d. 1981)
1914 – Bill Owen, English actor and songwriter (d. 1999)
1914 – Lee Petty, American race car driver and businessman, founded Petty Enterprises (d. 2000)
1915 – Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 2005)
1916 – Horton Foote, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1917 – Alan Smith, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 2013)
1918 – Zoia Horn, American librarian (d. 2014)
1919 – Max Shulman, American author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1920 – Hank Ketcham, American author and cartoonist, created Dennis the Menace (d. 2001)
1920 – Dorothy Tyler-Odam, English high jumper (d. 2014)
1921 – S. Truett Cathy, American businessman, founded Chick-fil-A (d. 2014)
1921 – Ada Louise Huxtable, American author and critic (d. 2013)
1922 – Les Baxter, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1923 – Diane Arbus, American photographer (d. 1971)
1925 – William Clay Ford, Sr., American businessman (d. 2014)
1925 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (d. 2013)
1926 – François Morel, Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, and educator (d. 2018)
1928 – Frank Borman, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1928 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish environmentalist (d. 1980)
1929 – Bob Goalby, American golfer
1932 – Mark Murphy, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
1932 – Naina Yeltsina, Russian wife of Boris Yeltsin, First Lady of Russia
1933 – Michael Caine, English actor and author
1933 – Quincy Jones, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
1934 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
1934 – Paul Rader, American 15th General of The Salvation Army
1936 – Bob Charles, New Zealand golfer
1937 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (d. 2013)
1938 – Eleanor Bron, English actress and screenwriter
1938 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (d. 2016)
1938 – John Gleeson, Australian cricketer (d. 2016)
1939 – Raymond J. Barry, American actor
1939 – Bertrand Blier, French director and screenwriter
1939 – Yves Boisset, French director and screenwriter
1941 – Wolfgang Petersen, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter
1942 – Rita Tushingham, English actress
1943 – Anita Morris, American actress and singer (d. 1994)
1944 – Boris Brott, Canadian composer and conductor
1944 – Václav Nedomanský, Czech ice hockey player and manager
1944 – Bobby Smith, English footballer and manager
1944 – Tom Stannage, Australian historian and academic (d. 2012)
1945 – Jasper Carrott, English comedian, actor, and game show host
1945 – Michael Martin Murphey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Walter Parazaider, American saxophonist
1946 – William Lerach, American securities and class action attorney
1946 – Wes Unseld, American basketball player, coach, and manager
1947 – Roy Budd, English pianist and composer (d. 1993)
1947 – William J. Jefferson, American lawyer and politician
1947 – Jona Lewie, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1948 – Tom Coburn, American physician and politician (d. 2020)
1948 – Billy Crystal, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1948 – Theo Jansen, Dutch sculptor
1950 – Rick Dees, American actor and radio host
1951 – Jerry Greenfield, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben & Jerry’s
1953 – Nick Keir, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1955 – Jonathan Kaufer, American director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1956 – Alexey Pajitnov, Russian video game designer and computer engineer, creator of Tetris
1956 – Butch Wynegar, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Tad Williams, American author
1958 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco
1959 – Laila Robins, American actress
1959 – Tamara Tunie, American actress
1960 – Heidi Hammel, American astronomer and academic
1961 – Garry Jack, Australian rugby league player and coach
1961 – Mike Lazaridis, Turkish–Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded BlackBerry Limited
1963 – Bruce Reid, Australian cricketer and coach
1965 – Kevin Brown, American baseball player and coach
1965 – Aamir Khan, Indian film actor, producer, and director
1965 – Billy Sherwood, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1965 – Kevin Williamson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Jonas Elmer, Danish actor, director, and screenwriter
1966 – Elise Neal, American actress and producer
1968 – Megan Follows, Canadian-American actress
1969 – Larry Johnson, American basketball player and actor
1970 – Kristian Bush, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Irom Chanu Sharmila, Indian poet and activist
1973 – Rohit Shetty, Indian film director and producer
1974 – Patrick Traverse, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Steve Harper, English footballer and referee
1975 – Dmitri Markov, Belarusian-Australian pole vaulter
1976 – Phil Vickery, English rugby player and sportscaster
1977 – Vadims Fjodorovs, Latvian footballer and coach
1977 – Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (d. 2011)
1977 – Jeremy Paul, New Zealand-Australian rugby player
1978 – Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
1979 – Nicolas Anelka, French footballer and manager
1979 – Chris Klein, American actor
1979 – Sead Ramović, German-Bosnian footballer
1980 – Aaron Brown, English footballer and coach
1980 – Ben Herring, New Zealand rugby player
1981 – Bobby Jenks, American baseball player
1981 – George Wilson, American football player
1982 – Carlos Marinelli, Argentinian footballer
1982 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (d. 2008)
1983 – Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakh boxer
1986 – Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwean cricketer
1986 – Jessica Gallagher, Australian skier and cyclist
1986 – Andy Taylor, English footballer
1988 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player
1988 – Rico Freimuth, German decathlete
1989 – Kevin Lacroix, Canadian race car driver
1990 – Joe Allen, Welsh footballer
1990 – Tamás Kádár, Hungarian footballer
1990 – Haru Kuroki, Japanese actress
1990 – Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, Icelandic footballer
1991 – Emir Bekrić, Serbian hurdler
1991 – László Szűcs, Hungarian footballer
1991 – Steven Zellner, German footballer
1993 – Philipp Ziereis, German footballer
1994 – Ansel Elgort, American actor and DJ
1996 – Batuhan Altıntaş, Turkish footballer
1997 – Simone Biles, American gymnast
2008 – Abby Ryder Fortson, American actress
Deaths on March 14
840 – Einhard, Frankish scholar
968 – Matilda of Ringelheim, Saxon queen (b. c. 896)
1555 – John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (b. 1485)
1647 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (b. 1584)
1648 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general and politician (b. 1584)
1696 – Jean Domat, French lawyer and jurist (b. 1625)
1748 – George Wade, Irish field marshal and politician (b. 1673)
1757 – John Byng, British admiral and politician, 11th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1704)
1791 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and critic (b. 1725)
1803 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet (b. 1724)
1811 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1735)
1823 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1739)
1860 – Carl Ritter von Ghega, Italian engineer, designed the Semmering railway (b. 1802)
1877 – Juan Manuel de Rosas, Argentinian general and politician, 17th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (b. 1793)
1883 – Karl Marx, German philosopher and theorist (b. 1818)
1884 – Quintino Sella, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Finances (b. 1827)
1932 – George Eastman, American inventor and businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (b. 1854)
1953 – Klement Gottwald, Czechoslovak Communist politician and 14th President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1896)
222 – Alexander Severus becomes emperor of Rome, replacing his cousin, 18-year-old Elagabalus. The bodies of the assassinated emperor and his mother, Julia Soaemias, are dragged through the streets of the city and thrown into the Tiber.
1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: English condottiero Sir John Hawkwood leads Padova to victory in a factional clash with Verona.
1641 – Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina.
1649 – The Frondeurs and the French sign the Peace of Rueil.
1702 – The Daily Courant, England’s first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.
1708 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.
1784 – The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.
1811 – During André Masséna’s retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, a division led by French Marshal Michel Ney fights off a combined Anglo-Portuguese force to give Masséna time to escape.
1824 – The United States Department of War creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1845 – Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand.
1848 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.
1851 – The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.
1861 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.
1864 – The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.
1872 – Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
1879 – Shō Tai formally abdicated his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.
1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.
1917 – World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Stanley Maude.
1927 – In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.
1931 – Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
1941 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
1945 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
1945 – World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established with Bảo Đại as its ruler.
1946 – Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.
1975 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerrilla forces establish control over Buôn Ma Thuột commune from the South Vietnamese army.
1977 – The 1977 Hanafi Siege: More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.
1978 – Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel’s Operation Litani.
1981 – Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.
1983 – Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon.
1983 – Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.
1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union making Gorbachev the USSR’s de facto, and last, head of state.
1990 – Lithuania declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.
1990 – Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.
1993 – Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.
1999 – Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
2004 – Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush-hour trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 192 people.
2006 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile.
2007 – Georgia claims Russian helicopters attacked the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia, an accusation that Russia categorically denies later.
2009 – Winnenden school shooting: Sixteen are killed and 11 are injured before recent-graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.
2010 – Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile, while three earthquakes, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9 and all centered next to Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro province, hit central Chile during the ceremony.
2011 – An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
2012 – A U.S. soldier kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.
2016 – At least 21 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in and around São Paulo, Brazil, following heavy rain.
2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus.
Births on March 11
1279 – Mary of Woodstock, daughter of Edward I of England (d. c.1332)
1503 – George Harper, English politician (d. 1558)
1530 – Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1573)
1544 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and educator (d. 1595)
1634 – Nicholas Gassaway, English colonial military and political leader (d. 1691)
1738 – Benjamin Tupper, American general (d. 1792)
1745 – Bodawpaya, Burmese king (d. 1819)
1785 – John McLean, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Postmaster General (d. 1861)
1787 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (d. 1852)
1806 – Louis Boulanger, French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator (d. 1867)
1811 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1877)
1815 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879)
1818 – Marius Petipa, French-Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1910)
1819 – Henry Tate, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Tate & Lyle (d. 1899)
1822 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (d. 1900)
1854 – Jane Meade Welch, American journalist and lecturer (d. 1931)
1863 – Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1915)
1870 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1946)
1872 – Kathleen Clarice Groom, Australian-English author and screenwriter (d. 1954)
1873 – David Horsley, English-American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (d. 1933)
1876 – Carl Ruggles, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
1878 – Umegatani Tōtarō II, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1927)
1880 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist and sociologist (d. 1943)
1884 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish minister and hymn-writer (d. 1974)
1884 – Ömer Seyfettin, Turkish soldier, author, and educator (d. 1920)
1885 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver and journalist (d. 1948)
1887 – Raoul Walsh, American actor and director (d. 1980)
1887 – Kâzım Orbay, Turkish general and politician (d. 1964)
1890 – Vannevar Bush, American engineer and academic (d. 1974)
1893 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (d. 1946)
1895 – Shemp Howard, American actor (d. 1955)
1896 – Olivério Pinto, Brazilian zoologist and physician (d. 1981)
1897 – Henry Cowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
1898 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968)
1899 – James H. Douglas, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 1988)
1899 – Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972)
1900 – Hanna Bergas, German teacher who contributed to the rescue of Jewish children during WWII (d. 1987)
1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (d. 1989)
1903 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (d. 1992)
1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
1908 – Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1997)
1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (d. 1982)
1911 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Egyptian-Scottish general and politician (d. 1996)
1913 – Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (d. 1944)
1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004)
1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (d. 1990)
1916 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (d. 1983)
1916 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
1921 – Frank Harary, American mathematician and academic (d. 2005)
1921 – Jeff Stollmeyer, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1989)
1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (d. 1992)
1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (d. 1997)
1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor and director (d. 2009)
1922 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)
1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (d. 2014)
1925 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (d. 1983)
1925 – İlhan Selçuk, Turkish lawyer, journalist, and author (d. 2010)
1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990)
1927 – Joachim Fuchsberger, German actor and television host (d. 2014)
1927 – Col Geelan, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1996)
1927 – Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (d. 2015)
1927 – Robert Mosbacher, American sailor, businessman, and politician, 25th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
1927 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
1928 – Albert Salmi, American actor (d. 1990)
1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1929 – Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
1930 – David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver
1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1931 – Janosch, Polish-German author and illustrator
1931 – Marisa Del Frate, Italian actress and singer (d. 2015)
1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate
1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (Revolutionary Ensemble) (d. 2007)
1932 – Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
1934 – Sam Donaldson, American journalist
1936 – Hollis Frampton, American director, screenwriter, and photographer (d. 1984)
1936 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2016)
1938 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2011)
1939 – Lorraine Hunt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Lieutenant Governor of Nevada
1939 – Orlando Quevedo, Filipino cardinal
1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
1942 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian and author (d. 2015)
1942 – Joel Steiger, American director, producer and screenwriter
1943 – Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver
1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
1945 – Harvey Mandel, American guitarist
1946 – Mark Metcalf, American actor and producer
1947 – Geoff Hunt, Australian squash player
1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer and educator
1948 – Roy Barnes, American lawyer and politician, 80th Governor of Georgia
1949 – Griselda Pollock, South African-English historian and academic
1950 – Sam Kekovich, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1950 – Bobby McFerrin, American singer-songwriter, producer, and conductor
1950 – Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1951 – Andres Metspalu, Estonian geneticist and academic
1951 – Dominique Sanda, French model and actress
1952 – Douglas Adams, English author and playwright (d. 2001)
1953 – László Bölöni, Romanian-Hungarian footballer and manager
1953 – Derek Daly, Irish-American race car driver and sportscaster
1953 – Jimmy Iovine, American record producer and businessman, co-founded Interscope Records and Beats Electronics
1953 – Bernie LaBarge, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – David Newman, American composer and conductor
1954 – Gale Norton, American lawyer and politician, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior
1955 – Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer
1955 – Nina Hagen, German singer and actress
1955 – D. J. MacHale, American author, director, and screenwriter
1956 – Willie Banks, American triple jumper
1956 – Curtis Brown, American colonel, pilot and astronaut
1956 – Helen Rollason, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 1999)
1957 – The Lady Chablis, American drag queen performer (d. 2016)
1958 – Ian Horrocks, English computer scientist and academic
1958 – Tetsurō Oda, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
1958 – James Pinkerton, American journalist and author
1958 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (d. 1976)
1958 – Flemming Rose, Danish journalist and author
1959 – Manuel Negrete Arias, Mexican footballer and coach
1959 – Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress/director, sex educator, sex-positive feminist, and author
1959 – Margus Oopkaup, Estonian actor
1959 – Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American journalist and poet
1960 – Christophe Gans, French director, producer, and screenwriter
1960 – Junichi Sato, Japanese animator and director
1960 – Warwick Taylor, New Zealand rugby player
1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor
1961 – Bruce Watson, Canadian-Scottish guitarist
1962 – Mary Gauthier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Matt Mead, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of Wyoming
1963 – Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager
1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress
1963 – David LaChapelle, American photographer and director
1964 – Peter Berg, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 2018)
1964 – Shane Richie, English actor and singer
1965 – Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager
1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician
1965 – Wallace Langham, American actor
1965 – Jenny Packham, English fashion designer
1965 – Allan Vainola, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1966 – Robbie Brookside, English wrestler and trainer
1966 – John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach
1966 – Ilias Zouros, Greek basketball player and coach
1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer
1967 – Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician, United States Under Secretary of the Army
1967 – Renzo Gracie, Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and trainer
1967 – Cynthia Klitbo, Mexican actress
1968 – Stéphane Bédard, Canadian lawyer and politician
1968 – Simone Buchanan, Australian actress
1968 – Lisa Loeb, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress
1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor and producer
1969 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2006)
1970 – Andre Nickatina, American rapper and producer
1971 – Johnny Knoxville, American actor, stuntman, and producer
1971 – Martin Ručinský, Czech ice hockey player
1972 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
1973 – Martin Hiden, Austrian footballer and coach
1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player
1975 – João Barbosa, Portuguese racing driver
1975 – Shawn Springs, American football player
1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer
1976 – Kotomitsuki Keiji, Japanese sumo wrestler
1977 – Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach
1978 – Scott Calderwood, English-Scottish footballer and manager
1978 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
1978 – Albert Luque, Spanish footballer
1979 – Elton Brand, American basketball player
1979 – Fred Jones, American basketball player
1979 – Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter and producer
1979 – Keren Peles, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
1979 – Kirk Reynoldson, Australian rugby league player
1980 – Paul Scharner, Austrian footballer
1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player
1981 – Heidi Cortez, American businesswoman and author
1981 – Luke Johnson, English drummer and songwriter
1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress
1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player
1982 – Thora Birch, American actress
1982 – Hasan Raza, Pakistani cricketer
1983 – Lucy DeVito, American actress
1985 – Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer
1985 – Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist
1985 – Luis Hernández, Mexican figure skater
1985 – Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer
1985 – Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer
1985 – Derek Schouman, American football player
1985 – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer
1985 – Hakuhō Shō, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 69th Yokozuna
1986 – Dario Cologna, Swiss skier
1986 – Mariko Shinoda, Japanese singer and actress
1987 – Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist
1987 – Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper
1987 – Colin Munro, South African-New Zealand cricketer
1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
1988 – Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (d. 2015)
1988 – Katsuhiko Nakajima, Japanese wrestler
1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016)
1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player
1991 – Kamohelo Mokotjo, South African footballer
1992 – Austin Swift, American actor
1992 – KZ Tandingan, Filipina singer and rapper
1993 – Jodie Comer, British actress
1993 – Anthony Davis, American basketball player
1994 – Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer
Deaths on March 11
222 – Elagabalus, Roman emperor (b. 203)
452 – Tai Wu Di, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 408)
638 – Sophronius of Jerusalem (b. 560)
857 – Eulogius of Córdoba, Spanish martyr and saint (b. 819)
1198 – Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (b. 1145)
1296 – John le Romeyn, Archbishop of York
1353 – Theognostus, metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow
1486 – Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1414)
1514 – Donato Bramante, Italian architect, designed the San Pietro in Montorio (b. 1444)
1575 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (b. 1520)
1602 – Emilio de’ Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (b. 1550)
1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (b. 1543)
1646 – Stanisław Koniecpolski, Polish soldier and statesman (b. c. 1592)
1665 – Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c. 1575)
1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (b. 1670)
1759 – John Forbes, Scottish general (b. 1710)
1820 – Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (b. 1738)
1851 – Marie Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (b. 1778)
1851 – George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1790)
1854 – Willard Richards, American journalist and religious leader (b. 1804)
1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803)
1869 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1803)
1870 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (b. 1786)
1874 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (b. 1811)
1898 – William Rosecrans, American general and politician (b. 1819)
1898 – Tigran Chukhajian, Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1837)
1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (b. 1847)
1908 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (b. 1846)
1908 – Benjamin Waugh, American minister and activist (b. 1839)
1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (b. 1826)
1920 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1865)
1927 – Xenophon Stratigos, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister of Transport (b. 1869)
1931 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1888)
1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (b. 1860)
1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (b. 1882)
1944 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)
1949 – Anastasios Charalambis, Greek general and politician, 109th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1862)
1949 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (b. 1879)
1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885)
1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
1955 – Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (b. 1859)
1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888)
1958 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded The Lego Group (b. 1891)
1959 – Lester Dent, American author (b. 1904)
1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (b. 1884)
1965 – Harry Altham, English cricketer, historian and coach (b. 1888)
1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (b. 1882)
1968 – Haşim İşcan, Turkish educator and politician, 18th Mayor of İstanbul (b. 1898)
1969 – John Daly, Irish runner (b. 1880)
1969 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (b. 1903)
1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (b. 1889)
1971 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906)
1971 – Whitney Young, American activist (b. 1921)
1977 – Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1893)
1978 – Claude François, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1939)
1980 – Chandra Bhanu Gupta, Indian politician, 4th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (b. 1902)
1982 – Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (b. 1926)
1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (b. 1898)
1983 – Will Glickman, American playwright (b. 1910)
241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.
947 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.
1607 – Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.
1629 – Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
1735 – An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.
1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.
1814 – Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
1830 – The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
1861 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.
1873 – The first Azerbaijani play “The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran” prepared by Akhundov was performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.
1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
1891 – Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe’s worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
1909 – By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.
1922 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
1933 – The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area leaving around 108 people dead.
1944 – Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1949 – Mildred Gillars (“Axis Sally”) is convicted of treason.
1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.
1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
1966 – Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.
1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.
1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.
1975 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.
1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.
1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
2017 – The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country’s Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.
2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes, leading to all 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.
Births on March 10
1452 – Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León (d. 1516)
1503 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1564)
1536 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (d. 1572)
1604 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (d. 1670)
1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
1628 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (d. 1694)
1656 – Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor (d. 1732)
1653 – John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1702)
1709 – Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer (d. 1746)
1749 – Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet (d. 1838)
1769 – Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1840)
1772 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1829)
1777 – Louis Hersent, French painter (d. 1860)
1787 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1862)
1787 – William Etty, English painter and academic (d. 1849)
1788 – Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1857)
1788 – Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor (d. 1867)
1789 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (d. 1850)
1795 – Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure (d. 1855)
1810 – Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer (d. 1886)
1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (d. 1908)
1844 – Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1927)
1845 – Alexander III of Russia (d. 1894)
1846 – Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1850)
1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, African-American educator, writer and activist (d. 1949)
1850 – Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (d. 1906)
1853 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1867 – Hector Guimard, French-American architect (d. 1942)
1867 – Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement (d. 1940)
1870 – David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician (d. 1938)
1873 – Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author (d. 1934)
1876 – Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor (d. 1973)
1877 – Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president (1930-1932) (d. 1963)
1881 – Jessie Boswell, English painter (d. 1956)
1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (d. 1961)
1890 – Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1939)
1892 – Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator (d. 1955)
1892 – Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1952)
1896 – Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author (d. 1973)
12 BCE – The Roman Emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada’) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
845 – Execution of the 42 Martyrs of Amorium at Samarra.
961 – Byzantine conquest of Chandax by Nikephoros Phokas, end of the Emirate of Crete.
1204 – The Siege of Château Gaillard ends in a French victory over King John of England, who loses control of Normandy to King Philip II Augustus.
1323 – Treaty of Paris of 1323 is signed.
1454 – Thirteen Years’ War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledge allegiance to King Casimir IV of Poland who agrees to commit his forces in aiding the Confederation’s struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.
1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam.
1665 – The first joint Secretary of the Royal Society, Henry Oldenburg, publishes the first issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the world’s longest-running scientific journal.
1788 – The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.
1820 – The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, brings Maine into the Union as a free state, and makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.
1834 – York, Upper Canada, is incorporated as Toronto.
1836 – Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo: After a thirteen-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers, including frontiersman Davy Crockett and colonel Jim Bowie, defending the Alamo are killed and the fort is captured.
1857 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
1882 – The Serbian kingdom is re-founded.
1899 – Bayer registers “Aspirin” as a trademark.
1902 – Real Madrid CF is founded.
1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces become the first to use airships in war, as two dirigibles drop bombs on Turkish troops encamped at Janzur, from an altitude of 6,000 feet.
1921 – Portuguese Communist Party is founded as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International.
1930 – International Unemployment Day demonstrations globally initiated by the Comintern.
1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a “bank holiday”, closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
1943 – Norman Rockwell published Freedom from Want in The Saturday Evening Post with a matching essay by Carlos Bulosan as part of the Four Freedoms series.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, ends with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion, the bulk of the garrison of the town of Grevena, leading to its liberation a fortnight later.
1944 – World War II: Soviet Air Forces bomb an evacuated town of Narva in German-occupied Estonia, destroying the entire historical Swedish-era town.
1945 – World War II: Cologne is captured by American troops. On the same day, Operation Spring Awakening, the last major German offensive of the war, begins.
1946 – Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
1951 – Cold War: The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.
1953 – Georgy Malenkov succeeds Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1957 – Ghana becomes the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence from the British.
1964 – Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad officially gives boxing champion Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali.
1964 – Constantine II becomes King of Greece.
1965 – Premier Tom Playford of South Australia loses power after 27 years in office.
1967 – Cold War: Joseph Stalin’s daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the United States.
1968 – Three rebels are executed by Rhodesia, the first executions since UDI, prompting international condemnation.
1970 – An explosion at the Weather Underground safe house in Greenwich Village kills three.
1975 – For the first time the Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy is shown in motion to a national TV audience by Robert J. Groden and Dick Gregory.
1975 – Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement of their border dispute.
1983 – The first United States Football League games are played.
1984 – In the United Kingdom, a walkout at Cortonwood Colliery in Brampton Bierlow signals the start of a strike that lasted almost a year and involved the majority of the country’s miners.
1987 – The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds, killing 193.
1988 – Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in Operation Flavius.
1992 – The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.
2003 – Air Algérie Flight 6289 crashes at the Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport in Tamanrasset, Algeria, killing 102 out of the 103 people on board.
2008 – A suicide bomber kills 68 people (including first responders) in Baghdad on the same day that a gunman kills eight students in Jerusalem.
Births on March 6
1340 – John of Gaunt (d. 1399)
1405 – John II of Castile (d. 1454)
1459 – Jakob Fugger, German merchant and banker (d. 1525)
1475 – Michelangelo, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1564)
1483 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (d. 1540)
1493 – Juan Luis Vives, Spanish scholar and humanist (d. 1540)
1495 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and diplomat (d. 1556)
1536 – Santi di Tito, Italian painter (d. 1603)
1619 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French author and playwright (d. 1655)
1663 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop and poet (d. 1732)
1706 – George Pocock, English admiral (d. 1792)
1716 – Pehr Kalm, Swedish-Finnish botanist and explorer (d. 1779)
1724 – Henry Laurens, English-American merchant and politician, 5th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1792)
1761 – Antoine-François Andréossy, French general and diplomat (d. 1828)
1779 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, Swiss-French general (d. 1869)
1780 – Lucy Barnes, American writer (d. 1809)
1785 – Karol Kurpiński, Polish composer and conductor (d. 1857)
1787 – Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist and astronomer (d. 1826)
1806 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English-Italian poet and translator (d. 1861)
1812 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American businessman, co-founded the Waltham Watch Company (d. 1895)
1817 – Princess Clémentine of Orléans (d. 1907)
1818 – William Claflin, American businessman and politician, 27th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1905)
1823 – Charles I of Württemberg (d. 1891)
1831 – Philip Sheridan, Irish-American general (d. 1888)
1834 – George du Maurier, French-English author and illustrator (d. 1896)
1841 – Viktor Burenin, Russian author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1926)
1849 – Georg Luger, Austrian gun designer, designed the Luger pistol (d. 1923)
1864 – Richard Rushall, British businessman (d. 1953)
1870 – Oscar Straus, Viennese composer and conductor (d. 1954)
1871 – Afonso Costa, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 59th Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1937)
1872 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (d. 1938)
1879 – Jimmy Hunter, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1962)
1882 – F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect, co-designed Villa Vizcaya (d. 1980)
1882 – Guy Kibbee, American actor and singer (d. 1956)
1884 – Molla Mallory, Norwegian-American tennis player (d. 1959)
1885 – Ring Lardner, American journalist and author (d. 1933)
1886 – Jam Handy, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1983)
1886 – Nella Walker, American actress and vaudevillian (d. 1971)
1892 – Bert Smith, English international footballer, right half (d. 1969)
1893 – Furry Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
1893 – Ella P. Stewart, pioneering Black American pharmacist (d. 1987)
1895 – Albert Tessier, Canadian priest and historian (d. 1976)
1898 – Gus Sonnenberg, American football player and wrestler (d. 1944)
1900 – Gina Cigna, French-Italian soprano and actress (d. 2001)
1900 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (d. 1975)
1900 – Henri Jeanson, French journalist and author (d. 1970)
1903 – Empress Kōjun of Japan (d. 2000)
1904 – José Antonio Aguirre, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Basque Country (d. 1960)
1905 – Bob Wills, American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1975)
1906 – Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (d. 1959)
1909 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 1987)
1909 – Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Polish poet and author (d. 1966)
1910 – Ella Logan, Scottish-American singer and actress (d. 1969)
1912 – Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da’i al-Mutlaq (d. 2014)
1917 – Donald Davidson, American philosopher and academic (d. 2003)
1917 – Will Eisner, American illustrator and publisher (d. 2005)
1917 – Frankie Howerd, English comedian (d. 1992)
1918 – Howard McGhee, American trumpeter (d. 1987)
1920 – Lewis Gilbert, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1921 – Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American holocaust survivor and author (d. 2014)
1923 – Ed McMahon, American comedian, game show host, and announcer (d. 2009)
1923 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1968)
1924 – Ottmar Walter, German footballer (d. 2013)
1924 – William H. Webster, American lawyer and jurist, 14th Director of Central Intelligence
1926 – Ann Curtis, American swimmer (d. 2012)
1926 – Alan Greenspan, American economist and politician
1926 – Ray O’Connor, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 2013)
1926 – Andrzej Wajda, Polish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1927 – William J. Bell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
1927 – Gordon Cooper, American engineer, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2004)
1927 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
1929 – Tom Foley, American lawyer and politician, 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 2013)
1929 – David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (d. 2005)
1930 – Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 2014)
1932 – Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (d. 2010)
1932 – Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2008)
1933 – Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1933 – William Davis, German-English journalist and economist (d. 2019)
1933 – Augusto Odone, Italian economist and inventor of Lorenzo’s oil (d. 2013)
1934 – Red Simpson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1935 – Ron Delany, Irish runner and coach
1935 – Derek Kevan, English footballer (d. 2013)
1936 – Bob Akin, American race car driver and journalist (d. 2002)
1936 – Marion Barry, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Mayor of the District of Columbia (d. 2014)
1936 – Choummaly Sayasone, Laotian politician, 5th President of Laos
1937 – Ivan Boesky, American businessman
1937 – Valentina Tereshkova, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut
1938 – Keishu Tanaka, Japanese politician, 17th Japanese Minister of Justice
1939 – Kit Bond, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Missouri
1939 – Adam Osborne, Thai-Indian engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (d. 2003)
1940 – Ken Danby, Canadian painter (d. 2007)
1940 – Joanna Miles, French-born American actress
1940 – R. H. Sikes, American golfer
1940 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player and coach (d. 2001)
1940 – Jeff Wooller, English accountant and banker
1941 – Peter Brötzmann, German saxophonist and clarinet player
1941 – Marilyn Strathern, Welsh anthropologist and academic
1942 – Ben Murphy, American actor
1944 – Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (d. 2015)
1944 – Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano and actress
1944 – Mary Wilson, American singer
1945 – Angelo Castro, Jr., Filipino actor and journalist (d. 2012)
1946 – David Gilmour, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Richard Noble, Scottish race car driver and businessman
1947 – Kiki Dee, English singer-songwriter
1947 – Dick Fosbury, American high jumper
1947 – Anna Maria Horsford, American actress
1947 – Rob Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and activist
1947 – Jean Seaton, English historian and academic
1947 – John Stossel, American journalist and author
1948 – Stephen Schwartz, American composer and producer
1949 – Shaukat Aziz, Pakistani economist and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Pakistan
1949 – Martin Buchan, Scottish footballer and manager
1950 – Arthur Roche, English archbishop
1951 – Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (d. 2004)
1952 – Denis Napthine, Australian politician, 47th Premier of Victoria
1953 – Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepali banker and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Nepal
1953 – Carolyn Porco, American astronomer and academic
1953 – Phil Alvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Jeff Greenwald, American author, photographer, and monologist
1954 – Harald Schumacher, German footballer and manager
1955 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (d. 1994)
1955 – Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (d. 2015)
1956 – Peter Roebuck, English cricketer, journalist, and sportcaster (d. 2011)
1956 – Steve Vizard, Australian television host, actor, and producer
1960 – Sleepy Floyd, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Alison Nicholas, British golfer
1963 – D. L. Hughley, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Linda Pearson, Scottish sport shooter
1965 – Allan Bateman, Welsh rugby player
1965 – Jim Knight, English politician
1966 – Alan Davies, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
1967 – Julio Bocca, Argentinian ballet dancer and director
1967 – Connie Britton, American actress
1967 – Glenn Greenwald, American journalist and author
1967 – Shuler Hensley, American actor and singer
1968 – Moira Kelly, American actress and director
1971 – Darrick Martin, American basketball player and coach
1972 – Shaquille O’Neal, American basketball player, actor, and rapper
1972 – Jaret Reddick, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1973 – Michael Finley, American basketball player
1973 – Peter Lindgren, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
1973 – Greg Ostertag, American basketball player
1973 – Trent Willmon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Guy Garvey, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Matthew Guy, Australian politician
1974 – Brad Schumacher, American swimmer
1974 – Beanie Sigel, American rapper
1975 – Aracely Arámbula, Mexican actress and singer
1975 – Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Canadian pianist and conductor
1976 – Ken Anderson, American wrestler and actor
1977 – Nantie Hayward, South African cricketer
1977 – Giorgos Karagounis, Greek international footballer, midfielder
1977 – Shabani Nonda, DR Congolese footballer
1977 – Marcus Thames, American baseball player and coach
2014 – Martin Nesbitt, American lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
2014 – Manlio Sgalambro, Italian philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1924)
2015 – Fred Craddock, American minister and academic (b. 1928)
2015 – Ram Sundar Das, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1921)
2015 – Enrique “Coco” Vicéns, Puerto Rican-American basketball player and politician (b. 1926)
2016 – Nancy Reagan, American actress, 42nd First Lady of the United States (b. 1921)
2016 – Sheila Varian, American horse trainer and breeder (b. 1937)
2017 – Robert Osborne, American actor and historian (b. 1932)
2018 – Peter Nicholls, Australian science fiction critic and encyclopedist (b. 1939)
Holidays and observances on March 6
Christian feast day:
Chrodegang
Colette
Fridolin
Kyneburga, Kyneswide and Tibba
Marcian of Tortona
William W. Mayo and Charles Frederick Menninger (Episcopal Church (USA))
Olegarius
March 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
European Day of the Righteous, commemorates those who have stood up against crimes against humanity and totalitarism with their own moral responsibility. (Europe)
Foundation Day (Norfolk Island), the founding of Norfolk Island in 1788.
Independence Day (Ghana), celebrates the independence of Ghana from the UK in 1957.
The Day of the Dude, celebrated by the adherents of Dudeism
AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
1238 – The Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus’.
1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. The United States Bill of Rights is written and proposed to Congress.
1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
1791 – The Constitutional Act of 1791 is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).
1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
1804 – Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
1813 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
1814 – Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated.
1848 – Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d’Italia.
1849 – President-Elect Zachary Taylor and Vice President-Elect Millard Fillmore did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the “Stars and Bars”) is adopted.
1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
1882 – Britain’s first electric trams run in east London.
1890 – The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 1,710 feet (520 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
1899 – Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
1909 – U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution’s Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.
1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States.
1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena.
1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles’ John Lennon declares that the band is “more popular than Jesus now”.
1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
1974 – People magazine is published for the first time in the United States as People Weekly.
1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister.
1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley’s Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
1990 – American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference Tournament game.
1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
2001 – BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
2009 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.
2012 – A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
2015 – At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.
2018 – Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.
2019 – The Indian Attack submarine was spotted by the Pakistan Navy.
2020 – Former Daredevil Nik Wallenda is the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
Births on March 4
895 – Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the Later Han Dynasty (d. 948)
977 – Al-Musabbihi, Fatimid historian and official (d. 1030)
1188 – Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (d. 1252)
1394 – Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (d. 1460)
1484 – George, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1543)
1492 – Francesco de Layolle, Italian organist and composer (d. 1540)
1502 – Elisabeth of Hesse, princess of Saxony (d. 1557)
1519 – Hindal Mirza, Mughal emperor (d. 1551)
1526 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (d. 1596)
1602 – Kanō Tan’yū, Japanese painter (d. 1674)
1634 – Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (d. 1689)
1651 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English lawyer, jurist, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1716)
1655 – Fra Galgario, Italian painter (d. 1743)
1665 – Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d. 1694)
1678 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
1702 – Jack Sheppard, English criminal (d. 1724)
1706 – Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect, designed the Hermitage Hunting Lodge and Gammel Holtegård (d. 1759)
1715 – James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, English historian and politician (d. 1763)
1719 – George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, English politician (d. 1777)
1729 – Anne d’Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (d. 1794)
1745 – Charles Dibdin, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1814)
1745 – Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (d. 1779)
1756 – Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter and educator (d. 1823)
1760 – William Payne, English painter (d. 1830)
1760 – Hugh Ronalds, British nurseryman who cultivated and documented 300 varieties of apples (d. 1833)
1769 – Muhammad Ali, Ottoman military leader and pasha (d. 1849)
1770 – Joseph Jacotot, French philosopher and academic (d. 1840)
1778 – Robert Emmet, Irish commander (d. 1803)
1781 – Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (d. 1869)
1782 – Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1830)
1792 – Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (d. 1886)
1793 – Karl Lachmann, German philologist and critic (d. 1851)
1814 – Napoleon Collins, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War (d. 1875)
1817 – Edwards Pierrepont, American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General (d. 1892)
1820 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian rebel leader (d. 1856)
1822 – Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
1823 – George Caron, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1902)
1826 – August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist, ethnographer, and theologian (d. 1907)
1826 – John Buford, American general (d. 1863)
1826 – Elme Marie Caro, French philosopher and academic (d. 1887)
1826 – Theodore Judah, American engineer, founded the Central Pacific Railroad (d. 1863)
1828 – Owen Wynne Jones, Welsh clergyman and poet (d. 1870)
1838 – Paul Lacôme, French pianist, cellist, and composer (d. 1920)
1847 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (d. 1904)
1851 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (d. 1911)
1854 – Napier Shaw, English meteorologist and academic (d. 1945)
1856 – Alfred William Rich, English painter, author, and educator (d. 1921)
1861 – Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian and author (d. 1933)
1862 – Jacob Robert Emden, Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist (d. 1940)
1863 – R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (d. 1947)
1863 – John Henry Wigmore, American academic and jurist (d. 1943)
1864 – David W. Taylor, American admiral, architect, and engineer (d. 1940)
1866 – Eugène Cosserat, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1931)
1867 – Jacob L. Beilhart, American activist, founded the Spirit Fruit Society (d. 1908)
1867 – Charles Pelot Summerall, senior United States Army officer (d. 1955)
1870 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author and poet (d. 1944)
1871 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
1873 – Guy Wetmore Carryl, American journalist and poet (d. 1904)
1873 – John H. Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 70th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1961)
1875 – Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of the Hungary (d. 1955)
1875 – Enrique Larreta, Argentinian historian and author (d. 1961)
1876 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet and author (d. 1947)
1876 – Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-American magician (d. 1945)
1877 – Alexander Goedicke, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1957)
1877 – Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist (d. 1934)
1877 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (d. 1963)
1878 – Takeo Arishima, Japanese author and critic (d. 1923)
1878 – Egbert Van Alstyne, American pianist and songwriter (d. 1951)
1879 – Bernhard Kellermann, German author and poet (d. 1951)
1880 – Channing Pollock, American playwright and critic (d. 1946)
1881 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian educator and activist (d. 1924)
1881 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (d. 1965)
1881 – Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (d. 1948)
1882 – Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian academic and politician, 61st Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1941)
1883 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1971)
1883 – Robert Emmett Keane, American actor (d. 1981)
1883 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (d. 1956)
1884 – Red Murray, American baseball player (d. 1958)
1884 – Lee Shumway, American actor (d. 1959)
1886 – Paul Bazelaire, French cellist and composer (d. 1958)
1888 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (d. 1942)
1888 – Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball player (d. 1972)
1888 – Emma Richter, German paleontologist (d. 1956)
1888 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)
1889 – Oscar Chisini, Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1967)
1889 – Oren E. Long, American soldier and politician, 10th Territorial Governor of Hawaii (d. 1965)
1889 – Pearl White, American actress (d. 1938)
1889 – Robert William Wood, English-American painter (d. 1979)
1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (d. 1939)
1891 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (d. 1961)
1893 – Charles Herbert Colvin, American engineer, co-founded the Pioneer Instrument Company (d. 1985)
1893 – Adolph Lowe, German sociologist and economist (d. 1995)
1894 – Charles Corm, Lebanese businessman and philanthropist (d. 1963)
1895 – Milt Gross, American animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
1896 – Kai Holm, Danish actor and director (d. 1985)
1897 – Lefty O’Doul, American baseball player and manager (d. 1969)
1898 – Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (d. 1986)
1898 – Hans Krebs, German general (d. 1945)
1899 – Peter Illing, Austrian born, British film and television actor (d. 1966)
1899 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and author (d. 1962)
1900 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (d. 1971)
1901 – Wilbur R. Franks, Canadian scientist, invented the g-suit (d. 1986)
1901 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (d. 1991)
1901 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
1902 – Rachel Messerer, Lithuanian-Russian actress (d. 1993)
1902 – Russell Reeder, American soldier and author (d. 1998)
1903 – William C. Boyd, American immunologist and chemist (d. 1983)
1903 – Malcolm Dole, American chemist and academic (d. 1990)
1903 – Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress and singer (d. 1990)
1903 – John Scarne, American magician and author (d. 1985)
1904 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (d. 1973)
1904 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (d. 1968)
1904 – Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
1906 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (d. 1991)
1906 – Avery Fisher, American violinist and engineer, founded Fisher Electronics (d. 1994)
1906 – Georges Ronsse, Belgian cyclist and manager (d. 1969)
1907 – Edgar Barrier, American actor (d. 1964)
1908 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (d. 1976)
1908 – Thomas Shaw, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
1909 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (d. 1997)
1909 – George Edward Holbrook, American chemist and engineer (d. 1987)
1910 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (d. 1985)
1911 – Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, English actor (d. 1984)
1912 – Afro Basaldella, Italian painter and academic (d. 1976)
1912 – Ferdinand Leitner, German conductor and composer (d. 1996)
1912 – Carl Marzani, Italian-American activist and publisher (d. 1994)
1913 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian singer and author (d. 1976)
1913 – John Garfield, American actor and singer (d. 1952)
1914 – Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (d. 1939)
1914 – Ward Kimball, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1914 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor, and architect (d. 2000)
1915 – László Csatáry, Hungarian art dealer (d. 2013)
1915 – Frank Sleeman, Australian lieutenant and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2000)
1915 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish-Catalan composer and conductor (d. 1997)
1916 – William Alland, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
1916 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (d. 2000)
1916 – Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (d. 1997)
1917 – Clyde McCullough, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1982)
1918 – Kurt Dahlmann, German pilot, lawyer, and journalist (d. 2017)
1918 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (d. 2012)
1919 – Buck Baker, American race car driver (d. 2002)
1919 – Tan Chee Khoon, Malaysian physician and politician (d. 1996)
1920 – Jean Lecanuet, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1993)
1920 – Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish-English actor (d. 2002)
1921 – Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-American composer and educator (d. 2017)
1921 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (d. 1987)
1921 – Dinny Pails, English-Australian tennis player (d. 1986)
1922 – Richard E. Cunha, American director and cinematographer (d. 2005)
1922 – Dina Pathak, Indian actor and director (d. 2002)
1923 – Russell Freeburg, American journalist and author
1923 – Francis King, English author and poet (d. 2011)
1923 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (d. 2012)
1924 – Kenneth O’Donnell, American soldier and politician (d. 1977)
1925 – Alan R. Battersby, English chemist and academic (d. 2018)
1925 – Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (d. 2006)
1926 – Henri de Contenson, French archaeologist and academic (d. 2019)
1926 – Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, French businessman, soldier and race car driver (d. 2018)
1926 – Richard DeVos, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway (d. 2018)
1926 – Pascual Pérez, Argentinian boxer (d. 1977)
1926 – Don Rendell, English saxophonist and flute player (d. 2015)
1927 – Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho
1927 – Thayer David, American actor (d. 1978)
1927 – Jacques Dupin, French poet and critic (d. 2012)
1927 – Robert Orben, American magician and author
1927 – Dick Savitt, American tennis player and businessman
1928 – Samuel Adler, German-American composer and conductor
1928 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (d. 2010)
1929 – Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor
1929 – Peter Swerling, American theoretician and engineer (d. 2000)
1931 – Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
1931 – Bob Johnson, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
1931 – William Henry Keeler, American cardinal (d. 2017)
1931 – Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician (d. 2019)
1932 – Sigurd Jansen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor
1932 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (d. 2007)
1932 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2008)
1932 – Ed Roth, American illustrator (d. 2001)
1932 – Frank Wells, American businessman (d. 1994)
1933 – Nino Vaccarella, Italian race car driver
1934 – Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian-American composer and academic (d. 2019)
1934 – John Duffey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1934 – Anne Haney, American actress (d. 2001)
1934 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (d. 2007)
1934 – Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player
1934 – Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1935 – Edward Dębicki, Ukrainian-Polish poet and composer
1935 – Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (d. 2010)
1936 – Eric Allandale, Dominican trombonist and songwriter (d. 2001)
1936 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (d. 1968)
1936 – Aribert Reimann, German pianist and composer
1937 – José Araquistáin, Spanish footballer
1937 – William Deverell, Canadian lawyer, author, and activist
1937 – Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
1937 – Leslie H. Gelb, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
1937 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and explorer (d. 2003)
1937 – Barney Wilen, French saxophonist and composer (d. 1996)
1937 – Richard B. Wright, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2017)
1938 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English negotiator (d. 2006)
1938 – Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
1938 – Allan Kornblum, American police officer and judge (d. 2010)
1938 – Angus MacLise, American drummer and composer (d. 1979)
1938 – Don Perkins, American football player and sportscaster
1938 – Paula Prentiss, American actress
1938 – Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
1939 – Jack Fisher, American baseball player
1939 – Robert Shaye, American film producer
1940 – Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German scholar and judge
1940 – David Plante, American novelist
1941 – John Hancock, American film and television actor (d. 1992)
1941 – Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – James Zagel, American lawyer and judge
1942 – Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter
1942 – Charles C. Krulak, American general
1942 – David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer
1942 – Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author
1942 – James Gustave Speth, American lawyer and politician
1942 – Zorán Sztevanovity, Serbian-Hungarian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2012)
1943 – Aldo Rico, Argentinian commander and politician
1944 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (d. 1999)
1944 – Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
1944 – Len Walker, English footballer and manager
1944 – Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
1945 – Tommy Svensson, Swedish footballer and manager
1945 – Gary Williams, American basketball player and coach
1946 – Michael Ashcroft, English businessman and politician
1946 – Danny Frisella, American baseball player (d. 1977)
1946 – Haile Gerima, Ethiopian born US filmmaker
1946 – Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author
1947 – David Franzoni, American screenwriter and film producer
1947 – Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
1947 – Bob Lewis, American guitarist
1947 – Pēteris Plakidis, Latvian pianist and composer (d. 2017)
1948 – Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, New Zealand-Australian author
1948 – James Ellroy, American writer
1948 – Tom Grieve, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
1948 – Mike Moran, English musician, songwriter and record producer
1948 – Jean O’Leary, American nun and activist (d. 2005)
1948 – Chris Squire, English singer-songwriter and bass guitarist (d. 2015)
1948 – Shakin’ Stevens, British singer-songwriter
1949 – Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (d. 2011)
1949 – Carroll Baker, Canadian singer-songwriter
1950 – Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter
1950 – Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
1950 – Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (d. 2015)
1951 – Edelgard Bulmahn, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Education and Research
1951 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-American author, director, and producer (d. 1982)
1951 – Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
1951 – Pete Haycock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1951 – Peter O’Sullivan, Welsh international footballer, winger
1951 – Sam Perlozzo, American baseball player and manager
1951 – Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Glenis Willmott, English scientist and politician
1951 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
1952 – Peter Kuhfeld, English painter
1952 – Ronn Moss, American singer-songwriter and actor
1952 – Svend Robinson, American-Canadian lawyer and politician
1952 – Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
1953 – John Edwards, Australian director and producer
1953 – Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American drummer and producer
1953 – Paweł Janas, Polish footballer and manager
1953 – Ray Price, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1953 – Reinhold Roth, German motorcycle racer
1953 – Chris Smith, American lawyer and politician
1953 – Agustí Villaronga, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
1953 – Daniel Woodrell, American novelist and short story writer
1954 – Timur Apakidze, Russian general and pilot (d. 2001)
1954 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Korean American author (d. 1982)
1954 – François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
1954 – Peter Jacobsen, American golfer and sportscaster
1954 – Catherine O’Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian
1954 – Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author (d. 2017)
1955 – Tim Costello, Australian minister and politician
1955 – Joey Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
1957 – Nicholas Coleridge, English journalist and businessman
1957 – Ron Fassler, American film and television actor and author
1957 – Mykelti Williamson, American actor and director
1958 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
1958 – Massimo Mascioletti, Italian rugby player and coach
1958 – Tina Smith, American politician, junior senator of Minnesota
1959 – Rick Ardon, Australian journalist
1959 – Plamen Getov, Bulgarian footballer
1960 – Chonda Pierce, American comedian
1961 – Ray Mancini, American boxer
1961 – Steven Weber, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Roger Wessels, South African golfer and educator
1962 – Simon Bisley, English author and illustrator
1962 – Paul Canoville, English footballer
1962 – Stephan Reimertz, German historian and author
1963 – Jason Newsted, American heavy metal singer-songwriter and bass player
1964 – Dave Colclough, Welsh computer programmer and poker player (d. 2016)
1964 – Brian Crowley, Irish lawyer and politician
1964 – Tom Lampkin, American baseball player and sportscaster
1964 – Paolo Virzì, Italian director and screenwriter
1965 – Greg Alexander, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1965 – Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Andrew Collins, English journalist and screenwriter
1965 – Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist
1965 – Yury Lonchakov, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1965 – John Murphy British film composer
1966 – Emese Hunyady, Hungarian speed skater
1966 – Kevin Johnson, American basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento
1966 – Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician
1966 – Helmut Mayer, Austrian skier
1966 – Glen Nissen, Australian rugby league player
1966 – Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
1966 – Grand Puba, American rapper
1966 – Mike Small, American golfer and coach
1967 – Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer and coach
1967 – Evan Dando, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1967 – Ivan Lewis, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1967 – Terry Matterson, Australian rugby league player and coach
1967 – Dave Rayner, English cyclist (d. 1994)
1967 – Sam Taylor-Johnson, English filmmaker and photographer
1967 – Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Swiss footballer
1967 – Tim Vine, English comedian, actor, and author
1968 – Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
1968 – Jorge Celedón, Colombian singer
1968 – Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
1968 – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician, Prime Minister of Greece
1968 – Graham Westley, English footballer and manager
1969 – Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
1969 – Wayne Collins, English footballer, midfielder
1969 – Annie Yi, Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer
1970 – Àlex Crivillé, Spanish motorcycle racer
1970 – Will Keen, English actor
1970 – Caroline Vis, Dutch tennis player
1971 – Iain Baird, Canadian soccer player and manager
1971 – Claire Baker, Scottish politician
1971 – Emily Bazelon, American journalist
1971 – Jason Croot, English actor and director
1971 – Anders Kjølholm, Danish bass player
1971 – Satoshi Motoyama, Japanese race car driver
1971 – Geraldine O’Rawe, Northern Irish actress
1972 – Katherine Center, American journalist and author
1972 – Nocturno Culto, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Robert Smith, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer
1972 – Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
1972 – Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
1973 – Massimo Brambilla, Italian footballer and coach
1973 – Phillip Daniels, American football player and coach
1973 – Valery Kobelev, Russian ski jumper
1973 – Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
1973 – Linus of Hollywood, American singer-songwriter and producer
1973 – Len Wiseman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1973 – Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Indian director and screenwriter
1974 – Crowbar, American wrestler
1974 – Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
1974 – Karol Kučera, Slovak tennis player
1974 – Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
1974 – Tommy Phelps, South Korean-American baseball player and coach
1974 – ICS Vortex, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – David Wagner, American tennis player and educator
1974 – Bill Young, Australian rugby player
1975 – Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bassist and composer
1975 – Patrick Femerling, German basketball player
1975 – Antti Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
1975 – Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player
1975 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Robbie Blake, English footballer
1976 – Tommy Jönsson, Swedish footballer
1977 – Nacho Figueras, Argentinian polo player and model
1977 – Traver Rains, American fashion designer and photographer
1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Denis Dallan, Italian rugby player and singer
1978 – Jean-Marc Pelletier, American ice hockey player
1979 – Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer
1980 – Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
1980 – Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
1980 – Suzanna Choffel, American singer-songwriter
1980 – Giedrius Gustas, Lithuanian basketball player
1980 – Scott Hamilton, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1980 – Jack Hannahan, American baseball player
1980 – Michael Henrich, American ice hockey player
1980 – Phil McGuire, Scottish footballer and manager
1980 – Aja Volkman, American singer-songwriter
1981 – Ariza Makukula, Portuguese footballer
1981 – Helen Wyman, English cyclist
1982 – Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
1982 – Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author
1982 – Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast
1982 – Yasemin Mori, Turkish singer
1983 – Samuel Contesti, French-Italian figure skater
1983 – Adam Deacon, English film actor, rapper, writer and director
1983 – Jaque Fourie, South African rugby player
1983 – Drew Houston, American billionaire and Internet entrepreneur
1984 – Josh Bowman, English actor
1984 – Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
1984 – Anders Grøndal, Norwegian race car driver
1984 – Spencer Larsen, American football player
1984 – Jeremy Loops, South African singer-songwriter and record producer
1984 – Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter
1984 – Zak Whitbread, American-English footballer
1985 – Jake Buxton, English footballer
1985 – Chinedum Ndukwe, American football player
1985 – Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author
1986 – Steven Burke, English road and track cyclist
1986 – Tom De Mul, Belgian footballer
1986 – Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram
1986 – Siim Roops, Estonian footballer
1986 – Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer
1986 – Manu Vatuvei, New Zealand rugby league player
1986 – Margo Harshman, American actress
1987 – Ben McKinley, Australian footballer
1987 – Cameron Wood, Australian footballer
1987 – Tamzin Merchant, English actress
1988 – Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
1988 – Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
1988 – Adam Watts, English footballer
1989 – Benjamin Kiplagat, Ugandan long-distance runner
1990 – Andrea Bowen, American actress
1990 – Draymond Green, American basketball player
1990 – Paddy Madden, Irish footballer
1990 – Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
1992 – Nick Castellanos, American baseball player
1992 – Erik Lamela, Argentinian international footballer, midfielder
1992 – Bernd Leno, German footballer
1992 – Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer
1993 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
1993 – Richard Peniket, English footballer
1994 – Callum Harriott, English footballer
1994 – AJ Tracey, British hip-hop artist and record producer
1995 – Chlöe Howl, British singer-songwriter
1995 – Bill Milner, English actor
1996 – Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer
2002 – Jacob Hopkins, American actor
Deaths on March 4
306 – Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrs
480 – Landry of Sées, French bishop and saint
561 – Pelagius I, pope of the Catholic Church
934 – Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (b. 873)
1172 – Stephen III, king of Hungary (b. 1147)
1193 – Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid Sultanate (b. 1137)
1238 – Joan of England, queen of Scotland (b. 1210)
1238 – Yuri II, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1189)
1303 – Daniel of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1261)
1314 – Jakub Świnka, Polish priest and archbishop
1371 – Jeanne d’Évreux, queen consort of France (b. 1310)
1388 – Thomas Usk, English author
1484 – Saint Casimir, Polish prince (b. 1458)
1496 – Sigismund, archduke of Austria (b. 1427)
1583 – Bernard Gilpin, English priest and theologian (b. 1517)
1604 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and educator (b. 1539)
1615 – Hans von Aachen, German painter and educator (b. 1552)
1710 – Louis III, duke of Bourbon (b. 1668)
1733 – Claude de Forbin, French admiral and politician (b. 1656)
1744 – John Anstis, English historian and politician (b. 1669)
1762 – Johannes Zick, German painter (b. 1702)
1793 – Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre (b. 1725)
1795 – John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1717)
1805 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (b. 1725)
1807 – Abraham Baldwin, American minister, lawyer, and politician (b. 1754)
705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city’s throne.
1632 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems .
1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania).
1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
1878 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
1915 – World War I: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
1946 – The “Long Telegram”, proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
1974 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but is killed by police.
1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
1984 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgraded South Sylhet’s sub-division status to a district and renamed it back to Moulvibazar.
1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
2005 – The 6.4 Mw Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
2011 – New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
2018 – A man throws a grenade at the U.S embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.
Births on February 22
1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian jurist and theologian (died 1085)
1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
1302 – Gegeen Khan, Emperor Yingzong of Yuan (d. 1323)
1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (d. 1576)
1520 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (d. 1572)
1550 – Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (d. 1616)
1592 – Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (d. 1637)
1631 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (d. 1702)
1649 – Bon Boullogne, French painter (d. 1717)
1715 – Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (d. 1790)
1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (d. 1818)
1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1848)
1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
1860 – Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (d. 1939)
1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
1899 – George O’Hara, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1966)
1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (d. 1983)
1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1930)
1906 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (d. 1991)
1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
1908 – John Mills, English soldier and actor (d. 2005)
1910 – George Hunt, English international footballer, forward (d. 1996)
1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1915 – Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (d. 1964)
1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
1918 – Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (d. 1940)
1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
1923 – François Cavanna, French author and editor (d. 2014)
1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet and academic
1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (d. 2017)
1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
1929 – Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
1932 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (d. 2012)
1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
1933 – Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (d. 2001)
1933 – Bobby Smith, English international footballer, centre forward (d. 2010)
1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Tommy Aaron, American golfer
1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1938 – Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer, goalkeeper
1938 – Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (d. 2017)
1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
1943 – Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player
1943 – Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1944 – Mick Green, English rock & roll guitarist (d. 2010)
1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
1945 – Oliver, American pop singer (d. 2000)
1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1947 – Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer
1947 – John Radford, English footballer and manager
1947 – Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
1949 – John Duncan, Scottish footballer, forward and manager
1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (d. 2019)
1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and author
1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
1952 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (d. 2020)
1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
1959 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (d. 2006)
1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1963 – Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1964 – Andy Gray, English footballer, midfielder and manager
1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German-English actor
1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer and producer
1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer
1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian international footballer, winger
1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
1999 – Harry Brook, English cricketer
Deaths on February 22
556 – Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna (b. 499)
606 – Sabinian, pope of the Catholic Church
793 – Sicga, Anglo-Saxon nobleman and regicide
845 – Wang, Chinese empress dowager
954 – Guo Wei, Chinese emperor (b. 904)
965 – Otto, duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
970 – García I, king of Pamplona
978 – Lambert, count of Chalon (b. 930)
1071 – Arnulf III, count of Flanders
1072 – Peter Damian, Italian cardinal
1079 – John of Fécamp, Italian Benedictine abbot
1111 – Roger Borsa, king of Sicily (b. 1078)
1297 – Margaret of Cortona, Italian penitent (b. 1247)
1371 – David II, king of Scotland (b. 1324)
1452 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (b. 1425)
1500 – Gerhard VI, German nobleman (b. 1430)
1511 – Henry, duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
1904 – Leslie Stephen, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1832)
1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
1913 – Francisco I. Madero, Mexican president and author (b. 1873)
1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1881)
1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist (b. 1869)
1945 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (b. 1888)
1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and critic (b. 1905)
1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1889)
1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
1971 – Frédéric Mariotti, French actor (b. 1883)
1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author (b. 1899)
1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
1268 – The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov.
1332 – Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
1478 – George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
1637 – Eighty Years’ War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
1781 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
1791 – Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state.
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.
1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
1861 – With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
1873 – Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
1878 – John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
1885 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
1900 – Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
1906 – Édouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.
1911 – The first official flight with airmail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away.
1930 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
1930 – Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
1932 – The Empire of Japan creates the independent state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) free from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi as Chief Executive of the State.
1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed “Nanking International Rescue Committee”, and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.
1943 – World War II: The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
1943 – World War II: Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
1946 – Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors
1947 – First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to mountains.
1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.
1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
1957 – Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
1957 – Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
1965 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1970 – The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
1972 – The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state’s death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden “flight” on top of a Boeing 747.
1979 – Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.
1983 – Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
1991 – The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2001 – Sampit conflict: Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, ultimately resulting in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
2003 – Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
2004 – Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
2007 – Samjhauta Express bombings occurred around midnight in Diwana near the Indian city of Panipat, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of New Delhi, India.
2010 – WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.
2013 – Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50 million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium.
2014 – At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kiev, Ukraine.
Births on February 18
1201 – Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (d. 1274)
1372 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (d. 1448)
1486 – Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Indian monk and saint (d. 1534)
1516 – Mary I of England (d. 1558)
1530 – Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese daimyō (d. 1578)
1543 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
1547 – Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī, founder of Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy (d. 1621)
1559 – Isaac Casaubon, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1614)
1589 – Henry Vane the Elder, English politician (d. 1655)
1589 – Maarten Gerritsz Vries, Dutch explorer (d. 1646)
1602 – Per Brahe the Younger, Swedish soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (d. 1680)
1609 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1674)
1626 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician (d. 1697)
1632 – Giovanni Battista Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1692)
1642 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)
1658 – Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French philosopher and author (d. 1743)
1732 – Johann Christian Kittel, German organist and composer (d. 1809)
1745 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, invented the battery (d. 1827)
1814 – Samuel Fenton Cary, American lawyer and politician (d. 1900)
1817 – Lewis Armistead, American general (d. 1863)
1836 – Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Indian mystic and yogi (d. 1886)
1838 – Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1916)
1846 – Wilson Barrett, English actor, playwright, and manager (d. 1904)
1848 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (d. 1933)
1849 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author, playwright, and politician (d. 1906)
1850 – George Henschel, German-English singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 1934)
1855 – Jean Jules Jusserand, French historian, author, and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States (d. 1932)
1860 – Anders Zorn, Swedish artist (d. 1920)
1862 – Charles M. Schwab, American businessman, co-founded Bethlehem Steel (d. 1939)
1867 – Hedwig Courths-Mahler, German writer (d. 1950)
1870 – William Laurel Harris, American painter and author (d. 1924)
1871 – Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)
1883 – Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek philosopher, author, and playwright (d. 1957)
1885 – Henri Laurens, French sculptor and illustrator (d. 1954)
1893 – Maksim Haretski, Belarusian prose writer, journalist and activist (d. 1938)
1890 – Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
1890 – Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
1892 – Wendell Willkie, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 1944)
1896 – Li Linsi, Chinese educator and diplomat (d. 1970)
1898 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (d. 1988)
1898 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet and politician, 1st Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (d. 1980)
1899 – Arthur Bryant, English historian and journalist (d. 1985)
1903 – Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (d. 1983)
1905 – Queenie Leonard, English actress (d. 2002)
1906 – Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician and academic (d. 1980)
1909 – Wallace Stegner, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1993)
1914 – Pee Wee King, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2000)
1915 – Phyllis Calvert, English actress (d. 2002)
1916 – Jean Drapeau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1999)
1919 – Jack Palance, American boxer and actor (d. 2006)
1920 – Bill Cullen, American game show panelist and host (d. 1990)
1920 – Rolande Falcinelli, French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue (d. 2006)
1921 – Mary Amdur, American toxicologist and public health researcher (d. 1998)
1921 – Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian pianist and composer (d. 2013)
1922 – Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician, 1st Prime Minister of Grenada (d. 1997)
1922 – Helen Gurley Brown, American journalist and author (d. 2012)
1922 – Allan Melvin, American actor (d. 2008)
1925 – George Kennedy, American actor (d. 2016)
1925 – Halit Kıvanç, Turkish journalist and sportscaster
1925 – Ghafar Baba, Malaysian politician (d. 2006)
1926 – Wallace Berman, American painter and illustrator (d. 1976)
1927 – Luis Arroyo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, manager, and scout (d. 2016)
1927 – Fazal Mahmood, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2005)
1927 – John Warner, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Navy
1928 – Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2011)
1929 – Len Deighton, English historian and author
1929 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 1968)
1931 – Johnny Hart, American cartoonist, co-created The Wizard of Id (d. 2007)
1931 – Toni Morrison, American novelist and editor, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019).
1931 – Swraj Paul, Baron Paul, Indian-English businessman and philanthropist
1931 – John Ryden, Scottish footballer, centre half (d. 2013)
1931 – Bob St. Clair, American football player (d. 2015)
1932 – Miloš Forman, Czech-American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1933 – Yoko Ono, Japanese-American multimedia artist and musician
1933 – Bobby Robson, English international footballer, inside forward and international manager (d. 2009)
1933 – Mary Ure, Scottish-English actress (d. 1975)
1934 – Skip Battin, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2003)
1934 – Dave Dunmore, English footballer, centre forward
1934 – Audre Lorde, American poet, essayist, memoirist, and activist (d. 1992)
660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
AD 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
1659 – The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of “gerrymandering” for the first time.
1823 – Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a stampede at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.
1826 – University College London is founded as University of London.
1840 – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
1843 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.
1855 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.
1856 – The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.
1858 – Bernadette Soubirous’s first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France.
1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1873 – King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates.
1889 – Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.
1903 – Anton Bruckner’s 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.
1906 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
1919 – Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
1929 – Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
1937 – The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.
1938 – BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot”.
1942 – World War II: Second day of the Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.
1953 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
1959 – The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
1970 – Japan launches Ohsumi, becoming the fourth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
1971 – Cold War: the Seabed Arms Control Treaty opened for signature outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.
1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing’s world Heavyweight title.
1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
1999 – Pluto crosses Neptune’s orbit, ending a nearly 20-year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune’s orbit again until 2231.
2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
2008 – Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
2011 – Arab Spring: The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 17 days of protests.
2013 – The Vatican confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI would resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.
2014 – A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
2015 – A university student was murdered as she resisted an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.
2016 – A man shoots six people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.
2017 – North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
2018 – Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors.
Births on February 11
1380 – Poggio Bracciolini, Italian scholar and translator (d. 1459)
1466 – Elizabeth of York (d. 1503)
1535 – Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)
1568 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and playwright (d. 1625)
1649 – William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (d. 1715)
1657 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French poet and playwright (d. 1757)
1708 – Egidio Duni, Italian composer (d. 1775)
1764 – Joseph Chénier, French poet and playwright (d. 1811)
1776 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek politician, 1st Governor of Greece (d. 1831)
1800 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (d. 1877)
1802 – Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (d. 1880)
1805 – Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Native American-French Canadian explorer (d. 1866)
1812 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
1813 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (d. 1865)
1821 – Auguste Mariette, French archaeologist and scholar (d. 1881)
1830 – Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Prussian pianist and composer (d. 1913)
1833 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1910)
1839 – Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist (d. 1903)
1845 – Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1936)
1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)
1855 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
1860 – Rachilde, French author and playwright (d. 1953)
1863 – John F. Fitzgerald, American politician; Mayor of Boston (d. 1950)
1864 – Louis Bouveault, French chemist (d. 1909)
1869 – Helene Kröller-Müller, German-Dutch art collector and philanthropist, founded the Kröller-Müller Museum (d. 1939)
1869 – Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and author (d. 1945)
1874 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (d. 1953)
1881 – Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (d. 1966)
1897 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (d.1954)
1898 – Leo Szilard, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (d. 1964)
1900 – Ellen Broe, Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (d. 1994)
1900 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (d. 2002)
1900 – Jōsei Toda, Japanese educator and activist (d. 1958)
1902 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (d. 1971)
1904 – Keith Holyoake, New Zealand farmer and politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1983)
1904 – Lucile Randon, French Supercentenarian
1908 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter (d. 1992)
1908 – Vivian Fuchs, English explorer (d. 1999)
1909 – Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
1909 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1912 – Rudolf Firkušný, Czech-American pianist and educator (d. 1994)
1914 – Matt Dennis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2002)
1914 – Josh White, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
1915 – Patrick Leigh Fermor, English soldier, author, and scholar (d. 2011)
1915 – Richard Hamming, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
1917 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1920 – Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
1920 – Daniel F. Galouye, American author (d. 1976)
1920 – Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
1920 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (d. 1978)
1921 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006)
1921 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (d. 2013)
1923 – Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic (d. 2010)
1924 – Budge Patty, American tennis player
1925 – Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
1925 – Kim Stanley, American actress (d. 2001)
1926 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (d. 2018)
1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)
1930 – Roy De Forest, American painter and academic (d. 2007).
1932 – Dennis Skinner, English miner and politician
1934 – Mel Carnahan, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, Governor of Missouri (d. 2000)
1934 – Tina Louise, American actress and singer
1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military leader of Panama (d. 2017)
1934 – Mary Quant, British fashion designer
1934 – David Taylor, English veterinarian and television host (d. 2013)
1935 – Gene Vincent, American singer and guitarist (d. 1971)
1936 – Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (d. 2018)
1937 – Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA (d. 1990)
1937 – Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1937 – Eddie Shack, Canadian ice hockey player
1937 – Phillip Walker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2010)
1938 – Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2018)
1939 – Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (d. 2014)
1940 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
1941 – Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer
1942 – Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1943 – Joselito, Spanish singer and actor
1943 – Alan Rubin, American trumpet player (d. 2011)
1944 – Mike Oxley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
1944 – Joy Williams, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
1946 – Ian Porterfield, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2007)
1947 – Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese engineer and politician and Prime Minister of Japan
1947 – Derek Shulman, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
1951 – Mike Leavitt, American politician, 14th Governor of Utah
1953 – Philip Anglim, American actor
1953 – Jeb Bush, American banker, politician and Governor of Florida
1953 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (d. 2014)
1954 – Wesley Strick, American director and screenwriter
1956 – Didier Lockwood, French violinist (d. 2018)
1959 – Roberto Moreno, Brazilian race car driver
1960 – Richard Mastracchio, American engineer and astronaut
1962 – Tammy Baldwin, American lawyer and politician
1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Sarah Palin, American journalist, politician and Governor of Alaska
1964 – Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and wrestler
1965 – Vicki Wilson, Australian netball player
1968 – Mo Willems, American author and illustrator
1969 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer
1969 – Andreas Hilfiker, Swiss footballer
1969 – John Salako, Nigerian-English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
1971 – Damian Lewis, English actor
1972 – Steve McManaman, English footballer
1973 – Varg Vikernes, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
1974 – Nick Barmby, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
1974 – D’Angelo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1974 – Jaroslav Špaček, Czech ice hockey player and coach
1975 – Andy Lally, American race car driver
1975 – Callum Thorp, Australian cricketer
1975 – Jacque Vaughn, American basketball player and coach
1976 – Tony Battie, American basketball player and sportscaster
1979 – Brandy Norwood, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1982 – Ľubomíra Kalinová, Slovak biathlete
1982 – Neil Robertson, Australian snooker player
1983 – Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch international footballer, midfielder
1984 – Maarten Heisen, Dutch sprinter
1984 – Marco Marcato, Italian cyclist
1984 – Maxime Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Šárka Strachová, Czech skier
1987 – Luca Antonelli, Italian footballer
1987 – Juanmi Callejón, Spanish footballer
1987 – Ellen van Dijk, Dutch cyclist
1987 – Brian Matusz, American baseball player
1987 – Jan Smeekens, Dutch speed skater
1988 – Vlad Moldoveanu, Romanian basketball player
1990 – Javier Aquino, Mexican footballer
1991 – Nikola Mirotic, Spanish basketball player
1992 – Lasse Norman Hansen, Danish track and road cyclist
1993 – Ben McLemore, American basketball player
1994 – Dansby Swanson, American baseball player
1996 – Jonathan Tah, German footballer
Deaths on February 11
AD 55 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (b. 41)
244 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (b. 225)
641 – Heraclius, Byzantine emperor (b. 575)
731 – Pope Gregory II (b. 669)
824 – Pope Paschal I
1141 – Hugh of Saint Victor, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1096)
1503 – Elizabeth of York (b. 1466)
1626 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1548)
1650 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1596)
1755 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist, playwright, and critic (b. 1675)
1763 – William Shenstone, English poet and gardener (b. 1714)
1795 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (b. 1740)
1829 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1795)
1862 – Elizabeth Siddal, English poet and artist’s model (b. 1829)
1868 – Léon Foucault, French physicist and academic (b. 1819)
1898 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860-1862) (b. 1813)
1901 – Milan I of Serbia (b. 1855)
1917 – Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician and epidemiologist (b. 1872)
1918 – Alexey Kaledin, Russian general (b. 1861)
1931 – Charles Algernon Parsons, English-Irish engineer, invented the steam turbine (b. 1854)
1940 – John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian historian and politician, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
1940 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
1942 – Jamnalal Bajaj, Indian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1884)
1947 – Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
1948 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
1949 – Axel Munthe, Swedish doctor (b. 1857)
1958 – Ernest Jones, Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1879)
1963 – John Olof Dahlgren, Swedish-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
1963 – Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1932)
1967 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American minister and activist (b. 1885)
1968 – Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1889)
1973 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
1975 – Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy colonel and politician, President of Madagascar (b. 1931)
1976 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
1976 – Alexander Lippisch, German pilot and engineer (b. 1894)
1977 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, President of India (b. 1905)
1977 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
1978 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist and academic (b. 1893)
1978 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1982 – Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
1985 – Henry Hathaway, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1898)
1986 – Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
1989 – George O’Hanlon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1912)
1993 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
1994 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)
1994 – Sorrell Booke, American lieutenant, actor, and director (b. 1930)
1994 – William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
1994 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (b. 1924)
1996 – Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet and author (b. 1930)
2000 – Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (b. 1922)
2000 – Roger Vadim, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
2002 – Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
2002 – Barry Foster, English actor (b. 1931)
2004 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner (b. 1925)
2005 – Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)
2006 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1940)
2006 – Ken Fletcher, Australian tennis player (b. 1940)
2006 – Jackie Pallo, English wrestler and actor (b. 1926)
2008 – Tom Lantos, American lawyer and politician (b. 1928)
2008 – Frank Piasecki, American engineer (b. 1919)
2009 – Estelle Bennett, American singer (b. 1941)
2009 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch-American physician and academic (b. 1911)
2010 – Heward Grafftey, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1928)
2010 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founder of his eponymous brand (b. 1969)
2011 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
2012 – Siri Bjerke, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of the Environment (b. 1958)
2012 – Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (b. 1927)
2012 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963)
2013 – Rick Huxley, English bass player (b. 1940)
2014 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
1920 – About 75 % of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope to overthrow French protectorate over Vietnam.
1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
1940 – Cartoon characters Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army capture Banjarmasin, capital of Borneo in Dutch East Indies.
1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
1962 – Roy Lichtenstein’s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
2007 – Then Illinois senator Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in the 2008 elections, which he later goes on to win.
2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
2018 – 19 people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.
Births on February 10
1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (d. 1529)
1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (d. 1582)
1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Milan (d. 1579)
1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1663)
1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (d. 1642)
1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (d. 1715)
1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (d. 1750)
1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)
1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (d. 1815)
1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (d. 1834)
1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (d. 1836)
1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (d. 1858)
1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (d. 1883)
1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1908)
1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (d. 1898)
1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (d. 1907)
1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (d. 1919)
1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (d. 1927)
1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (d. 1909)
1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (d. 1957)
1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. 1879)
1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (d. 1948)
1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (d. 1959)
1883 – H.V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
1889 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (d. 1982)
1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (d. 1918)
1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (d. 1950)
1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (d. 1980)
1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (d. 1953)
1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (d. 1956)
1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (d. 1992)
1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (d. 1939)
1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (d. 1964)
1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (d. 2004)
1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
1915 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (d. 2016)
1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (d. 2015)
1922 – José Gabriel da Costa later known as Mestre Gabriel, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (d. 1971)
1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (d. 2013)
1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (d. 1993)
1927 – Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
1931 – James Edward Maceo West, American inventor and acoustician
1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2017)
1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (d. 2018)
1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (d. 1983)
1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (d. 1967)
1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer
1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (d. 1994)
1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
1951 – Bob Iger, American media executive
1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
1957 – Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Cliff Burton, American heavy metal bassist (d. 1986)
1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
1969 – James Small, South African rugby player (d. 2019)
1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer, central defender and manager
1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2015)
1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
1974 – Ty Law, American football player
1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
1974 – Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
1981 – Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
1981 – Andrew Johnson, English international footballer, forward and club ambassador
1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
1982 – Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
1990 – Barbara Guarischi, Italian cyclist
1990 – Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
1992 – Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
1993 – Max Kepler, German baseball player
1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer and member of Red Velvet
1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentinian footballer
1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentinian tennis player
2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model
Deaths on February 10
547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
1242 – Saint Verdiana, Italian recluse (b. 1182)
1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
1306 – John “the Red” Comyn, Scottish nobleman
1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (b. 1460)
1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)
1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (b. 1532)
1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (b. 1689)
1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (b. 1702)
1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (b. 1792)
1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (b. 1770)
1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (b. 1804)
1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (b. 1808)
1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1850)
1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
