Wednesday Archives -

769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings.
1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur installs a puppet ruler on the throne.
1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.
1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War.
1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
1736 – Foundation of the Kingdom of Corsica.
1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel receives its premiere performance in London, England.
1755 – Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence) are ratified.
1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President upon Lincoln’s death.
1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.
1907 – Triangle Fraternity is founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.
1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
1942 – The George Cross is awarded “to the island fortress of Malta” by King George VI.
1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s color line.
1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
1955 – McDonald’s restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 onboard.
1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.
1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang’s death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians were gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

Births on April 15

68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
1367 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)
1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat’s eye (d. 1976)
1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist
1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (d. 2006)
1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
1944 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (d. 1996)
1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist, and producer
1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
1947 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer and keyboard player (d. 2010)
1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
1968 – Ed O’Brien, English guitarist
1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
1981 – Andrés D’Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

Deaths on April 15

628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
1719 – Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician
1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster:
- Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
- John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
- Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
- Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
- Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
- Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
- Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
- James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
- William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
- Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
- Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
- William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
- Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
- Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
- John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
- Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan
1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1915)
1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances on April 15

Christian feast day:
- Abbo II of Metz
- Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
- Hunna
- Paternus of Avranches
- April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Sun (North Korea)
Earliest day on which Sechseläuten can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in April. (Zürich)
Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
National American Sign Language Day (United States)
One Boston Day (United States)
Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)
Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
Universal Day of Culture
World Art Day

April 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, leaves up to 20,000 dead.
1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares himself King of Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade.
1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and final Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
1644 – The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins in the Colony of Virginia.
1741 – New York governor George Clarke’s complex at Fort George is burned in an arson attack, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741.
1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
1793 – The first modern republic in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
1793 – Flanders Campaign of the French Revolution, Battle of Neerwinden.
1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
1848 – March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.
1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders the evacuation of Paris.
1874 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.
1892 – Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; it was later named after him as the Stanley Cup.
1900 – AFC Ajax Amsterdam, The Netherlands’s biggest and most successful football club, was founded.
1902 – Macario Sakay issues Presidential Order No. 1 of his Tagalog Republic.
1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
1915 – World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
1921 – The second Peace of Riga is signed between Poland and the Soviet Union.
1921 – The Kronstadt rebellion is suppressed by the Red Army.
1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience, of which he serves only two.
1925 – The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
1937 – The New London School explosion in New London, Texas, kills 300 people, mostly children.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
1938 – Mexico creates Pemex by expropriating all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities.
1940 – World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
1942 – The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.
1944 – Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 26 people, causing thousands to flee their homes, and destroying dozens of Allied bombers.
1948 – Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin Split.
1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.
1959 – The Hawaii Admission Act is signed into law.
1962 – The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.
1965 – Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
1967 – The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
1968 – Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
1969 – The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
1970 – Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
1971 – Peru: a landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
1980 – A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
1990 – Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.
1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
1994 – Bosnia’s Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
1997 – The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 people on board.
2014 – The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.
2015 – The Bardo National Museum in Tunisia is attacked by gunmen. 23 people, almost all tourists, are killed, and at least 50 other people are wounded.

Births on March 18

1075 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian scholar and theologian (d. 1144)
1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military commander (d. 1447)
1495 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
1548 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (d. 1616)
1552 – Polykarp Leyser the Elder, German theologian (d. 1610)
1555 – Francis, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
1578 – Adam Elsheimer, German painter (d. 1610)
1590 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
1597 – Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, French religious leader, founded the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal (d. 1659)
1603 – Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (d. 1697)
1609 – Frederick III of Denmark (d. 1670)
1634 – Madame de La Fayette, French author (d. 1693)
1640 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
1657 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian organist and composer (d. 1743)
1690 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1764)
1701 – Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Swedish East India Company (d. 1776)
1733 – Christoph Friedrich Nicolai, German author and bookseller (d. 1811)
1780 – Miloš Obrenović, Serbian prince (d. 1860)
1782 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
1789 – Charlotte Elliott, English poet, hymn writer, editor (d. 1871)
1798 – Francis Lieber, German-American jurist and philosopher (d. 1872)
1800 – Harriet Smithson, Irish actress, the first wife and muse of Hector Berlioz (d. 1854)
1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (d. 1864)
1814 – Jacob Bunn, American businessman (d. 1897)
1819 – James McCulloch, Scottish-Australian politician, 5th Premier of Victoria (d. 1893)
1820 – John Plankinton, American businessman and industrialist, also noted for philanthropy (d. 1891)
1823 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
1828 – Randal Cremer, English activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1908)
1837 – Grover Cleveland, American lawyer and politician, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (d. 1908)
1840 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (d. 1901)
1842 – Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet and critic (d. 1898)
1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and academic (d. 1908)
1846 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (d. 1904)
1848 – Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, American architect and engineer (d. 1938)
1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German engineer, invented the Diesel engine (d. 1913)
1862 – Eugène Jansson, Swedish painter (d. 1915)
1863 – William Sulzer, American lawyer and politician, 39th Governor of New York (d. 1941)
1869 – Neville Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
1870 – Agnes Sime Baxter, Canadian mathematician (d. 1917)
1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian-French philosopher and theologian (d. 1948)
1877 – Edgar Cayce, American mystic and psychic (d. 1945)
1877 – Clem Hill, Australian cricketer and engineer (d. 1945)
1878 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (d. 1956)
1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer and educator (d. 1973)
1884 – Bernard Cronin, English-Australian journalist and author (d. 1968)
1886 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1970)
1890 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (d. 1969)
1893 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (d. 1978)
1893 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and poet (d. 1918)
1901 – Manly Palmer Hall, Canadian mystic, author and philosopher (d. 1990)
1901 – William Johnson, American painter (d. 1970)
1903 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1944)
1903 – E. O. Plauen, German cartoonist (d. 1944)
1904 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1926)
1904 – Margaret Tucker, Australian author and activist (d. 1996)
1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American physicist and engineer (d. 1985)
1905 – Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
1907 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (d. 1997)
1908 – Loulou Gasté, French composer (d. 1995)
1909 – Ernest Gallo, American businessman, co-founded the E & J Gallo Winery (d. 2007)
1909 – C. Walter Hodges, English author and illustrator (d. 2004)
1911 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1967)
1912 – Art Gilmore, American voice actor and announcer (d. 2010)
1913 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1913 – Werner Mölders, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
1915 – Richard Condon, American author and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1922 – Egon Bahr, German journalist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany (d. 2015)
1922 – Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist and academic (d. 2006)
1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American activist, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (d. 2011)
1923 – Andy Granatelli, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2013)
1925 – Alessandro Alessandroni, Italian musician (d. 2017)
1925 – James Pickles, English journalist, lawyer, and judge (d. 2010)
1926 – Peter Graves, American actor and director (d. 2010)
1927 – John Kander, American pianist and composer
1927 – George Plimpton, American journalist and actor (d. 2003)
1927 – Lillian Vernon, German-American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Lillian Vernon Company (d. 2015)
1928 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist (d. 2013)
1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, Filipino general and politician, 12th President of the Philippines
1929 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-American lawyer and author (d. 2015)
1930 – James J. Andrews, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
1931 – John Fraser, Scottish actor
1932 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 2009)
1933 – Unita Blackwell, American civil rights activist and politician (d. 2019)
1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
1934 – Charley Pride, American country music singer and musician
1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician and statistician
1935 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2016)
1936 – F. W. de Klerk, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd State President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Rudi Altig, German cyclist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
1938 – Carl Gottlieb, American actor and screenwriter
1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor and producer (d. 2017)
1938 – Kenny Lynch, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2019)
1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver (d. 2017)
1938 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (d. 2006)
1939 – Ron Atkinson, English footballer and manager
1939 – Jean-Pierre Wallez, French violinist and conductor
1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1942 – Kathleen Collins, African-American filmmaker and playwright (d. 1988)
1943 – Dennis Linde, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1944 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (d. 2012)
1944 – Frank McRae, American football player and actor
1944 – Dick Smith, Australian publisher and businessman, founded Dick Smith Electronics and Australian Geographic
1945 – Hiroh Kikai, Japanese photographer
1945 – Michael Reagan, American journalist and radio host
1945 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (d. 2012)
1945 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2009)
1946 – Michel Leclère, French race car driver
1947 – Patrick Barlow, English actor and playwright
1947 – Patrick Chesnais, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1947 – David Lloyd, English cricketer, journalist, and sportscaster
1947 – B. J. Wilson, English rock drummer (d. 1990)
1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
1948 – Eknath Solkar, Indian cricketer (d. 2005)
1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture
1950 – James Conlon, American conductor and educator
1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
1950 – Linda Partridge, English geneticist and academic
1950 – Larry Perkins, Australian race car driver
1951 – Paul Barber, English actor
1951 – Ben Cohen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben and Jerry’s
1951 – Bill Frisell, American guitarist and composer
1951 – Timothy N. Philpot, American lawyer, author, and judge
1952 – Will Durst, American journalist and actor
1952 – Pat Eddery, Irish jockey and trainer (d. 2015)
1952 – Bernie Tormé, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
1953 – Franz Wright, Austrian-American poet and translator (d. 2015)
1953 – Takashi Yoshimatsu, Japanese composer
1955 – Francis G. Slay, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of St. Louis
1955 – Jeff Stelling, English journalist and game show host
1956 – Rick Martel, Canadian wrestler
1956 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American madam (d. 2008)
1956 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
1957 – Christer Fuglesang, Swedish physicist and astronaut
1958 – Richard de Zoysa, Sri Lankan journalist and author (d. 1990)
1959 – Luc Besson, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded EuropaCorp
1960 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
1960 – Guy Carbonneau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – James Plaskett, Cypriot-English chess player
1961 – Grant Hart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1962 – Michael Andrews, Australian rugby league player
1962 – Irene Cara, American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
1962 – Brian Fisher, American baseball player
1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor and martial artist
1962 – James McMurtry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor and director
1962 – Volker Weidler, German race car driver and engineer
1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist
1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American model, actress, and singer
1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian race car driver
1964 – Jo Churchill, British politician
1964 – Courtney Pine, English saxophonist and clarinet player
1964 – Isabel Noronha, Mozambican film director
1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1966 – Peter Jones, English businessman
1966 – Brian Watts, Canadian golfer
1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême
1968 – Miguel Herrera, Mexican footballer and manager
1968 – Temur Ketsbaia, Georgian footballer and manager
1968 – Paul Marsden, English businessman and politician
1969 – Andy Cutting, English accordion player and composer
1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
1969 – Shaun Udal, English cricketer
1970 – Queen Latifah, American rapper, producer, and actress
1971 – Wayne Arthurs, Australian tennis player
1971 – Mike Bell, American wrestler (d. 2008)
1971 – Mariaan de Swardt, South African-American tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
1971 – Kitty Ussher, English economist and politician
1972 – Dane Cook, American comedian, actor, director, and producer
1972 – Reince Priebus, American lawyer and politician
1973 – Luci Christian, American voice actress and screenwriter
1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
1974 – Stuart Zender, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
1975 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
1975 – Brian Griese, American football player and sportscaster
1975 – Kimmo Timonen, Finnish ice hockey player
1975 – Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
1976 – Giovanna Antonelli, Brazilian actress and producer
1976 – Tomo Ohka, Japanese baseball player
1976 – Scott Podsednik, American baseball player
1976 – Mike Quackenbush, American wrestler, trainer, and author, founded Chikara wrestling promotion
1977 – Zdeno Chára, Slovak ice hockey player
1977 – Danny Murphy, English international footballer, midfielder and sportscaster
1977 – Fernando Rodney, Dominican-American baseball player
1977 – Willy Sagnol, French footballer and manager
1977 – Terrmel Sledge, American baseball player and coach
1978 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1978 – Brooke Hanson, Australian swimmer
1978 – Brian Scalabrine, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer, coach, and manager
1979 – Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and television personality
1980 – Sébastien Frey, French footballer
1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
1981 – Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
1981 – Fabian Cancellara, Swiss cyclist
1981 – Leslie Djhone, French sprinter
1981 – Jang Na-ra, South Korean singer and actress
1981 – Kasib Powell, American basketball player
1981 – Tom Starke, German footballer
1981 – Doug Warren, American soccer player
1981 – Lovro Zovko, Croatian tennis player
1982 – Mantorras, Angolan footballer
1982 – Chad Cordero, American baseball player
1982 – Timo Glock, German race car driver
1982 – Adam Pally, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1983 – Ethan Carter III, American wrestler
1983 – Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, French tennis player
1983 – Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
1983 – Tomasz Stolpa, Polish footballer
1984 – Simone Padoin, Italian footballer
1984 – Rajeev Ram, American tennis player
1984 – Vonzell Solomon, American singer and actress
1985 – Ana Beatriz, Brazilian race car driver
1985 – Marvin Humes, English singer
1985 – Vince Lia, Australian footballer
1986 – Lykke Li, Swedish singer-songwriter
1986 – Abdennour Chérif El-Ouazzani, Algerian footballer
1987 – Rebecca Soni, American swimmer
1989 – Francesco Checcucci, Italian footballer
1989 – Lily Collins, English-American actress
1989 – Shreevats Goswami, Indian cricketer
1989 – Kana Nishino, Japanese singer-songwriter
1989 – Paul Marc Rousseau, Canadian guitarist and producer
1989 – Ming Xi, Chinese model
1991 – Dylan Mattingly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1991 – Sam Williams, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Ryan Truex, American race car driver
1992 – Takuya Terada, Japanese singer, actor, and model
1997 – Ciara Bravo, American actress
1997 – Rieko Ioane, New Zealand rugby union player

Deaths on March 18

978 – Edward the Martyr, English king (b. 962)
1076 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1018)
1086 – Anselm of Lucca, Italian bishop (b. 1036)
1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
1272 – John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel (b. 1246)
1308 – Yuri I of Galicia
1314 – Jacques de Molay, Frankish knight (b. 1244)
1314 – Geoffroy de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar
1321 – Matthew III Csák, Hungarian oligarch (b. c.1260/5)
1582 – Juan Jauregui, attempted assassin of William I of Orange (b. 1562)
1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
1689 – John Dixwell, English soldier and politician (b. 1607)
1745 – Robert Walpole, English scholar and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish novelist and clergyman (b. 1713)
1781 – Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1727)
1823 – Jean-Baptiste Bréval, French cellist and composer (b. 1753)
1835 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (b. 1769)
1845 – Johnny Appleseed, American gardener and missionary (b. 1774)
1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-English mathematician and academic (b. 1806)
1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American author and activist (b. 1826)
1900 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (b. 1835)
1907 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1827)
1913 – George I of Greece (b. 1845)
1918 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (b. 1847)
1930 – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, American painter (b. 1863)
1936 – Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek journalist, lawyer, and politician, 93rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1864)
1939 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English businessman, founded Lunn Poly (b. 1859)
1941 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
1947 – William C. Durant, American businessman, co-founded General Motors and Chevrolet (b. 1861)
1954 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (b. 1868)
1956 – Louis Bromfield, American environmentalist and author (b. 1896)
1962 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (b. 1880)
1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish businessman, 4th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1870)
1965 – Farouk of Egypt (b. 1920)
1973 – Johannes Aavik, Estonian philologist and poet (b. 1880)
1977 – Marien Ngouabi, Congolese politician, President of the Republic of the Congo (b. 1938)
1977 – Carlos Pace, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1944)
1978 – Leigh Brackett, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
1978 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)
1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
1982 – Patrick Smith, Irish farmer and politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (b. 1901)
1983 – Umberto II of Italy (b. 1904)
1984 – Charley Lau, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)
1986 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1914)
1988 – Billy Butterfield, American trumpet player and cornet player (b. 1917)
1990 – Robin Harris, American comedian (b. 1953)
1993 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English-American economist and activist (b. 1910)
1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian and academic (b. 1909)
2001 – John Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Mamas & the Papas) (b. 1935)
2002 – R. A. Lafferty, American soldier and author (b. 1914)
2003 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
2003 – Adam Osborne, Thai-English engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (b. 1939)
2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman, co-founded McCain Foods (b. 1927)
2006 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer and cinematographer (b. 1922)
2007 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1948)
2008 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
2009 – Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian journalist and blogger (b. 1980)
2009 – Natasha Richardson, English-American actress (b. 1963)
2010 – Fess Parker, American actor and businessman (b. 1924)
2011 – Warren Christopher, American lawyer and politician, 63rd United States Secretary of State (b. 1925)
2012 – Furman Bisher, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
2012 – William R. Charette, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
2012 – William G. Moore Jr., American general (b. 1920)
2012 – George Tupou V of Tonga (b. 1948)
2013 – Muhammad Mahmood Alam, Pakistani general and pilot (b. 1935)
2013 – Henry Bromell, American novelist, screenwriter, and director (b. 1947)
2013 – Clay Ford, American lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
2014 – Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian author, playwright, and academic (b. 1951)
2014 – Kaiser Kalambo, Zambian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1953)
2014 – Lucius Shepard, American author and critic (b. 1943)
2015 – Zhao Dayu, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1961)
2015 – Thomas Hopko, American priest and theologian (b. 1939)
2015 – Grace Ogot, Kenyan nurse, journalist, and politician (b. 1930)
2016 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (b. 1939)
2016 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (b. 1936)
2016 – Tray Walker, American football player (b. 1992)
2016 – Guido Westerwelle, German lawyer and politician, 15th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1961)
2017 – Chuck Berry, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1926)
2020 – Alfred Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances on March 18

Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
Christian feast day:
- Alexander of Jerusalem
- Anselm of Lucca
- Cyril of Jerusalem
- Edward the Martyr
- Fridianus
- Salvator
- March 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
The earliest date on which Holy Wednesday can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the week before Easter. (Christianity)
Flag Day (Aruba)
Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
Men’s and Soldiers’ Day (Mongolia)
Ordnance Factories’ Day (India)
Sheelah’s Day (Ireland, Canada, Australia)
Teacher’s Day (Syria)

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

On This Day

March 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.
1126 – Following the death of his mother Urraca, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg.
1576 – Spanish explorer Diego García de Palacio first sights the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Copán.
1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
1655 – John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in England’s North American colonies where a crime was not committed.
1658 – Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), Frederick III, the King of Denmark–Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
1702 – Queen Anne, the younger sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland
1722 – The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad, pushing Iran into anarchy.
1736 – Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran.
1775 – An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes “African Slavery in America”, the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery.
1777 – Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
1782 – Gnadenhutten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity, are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indian tribes.
1801 – War of the Second Coalition: At the Battle of Abukir, a British force under Sir Ralph Abercromby lands in Egypt with the aim of ending the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.
1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
1844 – King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
1862 – American Civil War: The Naval Battle of Hampton Roads begins.
1868 – Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, Osaka.
1910 – French aviator Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot’s license.
1914 – First flights (for the Royal Thai Air Force) at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok.
1916 – World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila.
1917 – International Women’s Day protests in St. Petersburg mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23rd in the Julian calendar).
1917 – The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
1920 – The Arab Kingdom of Syria, the first modern Arab state to come into existence, is established.
1921 – Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
1924 – A mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
1936 – Daytona Beach and Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.
1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces gave an ultimatum to Dutch East Indies Governor General Jonkheer Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and KNIL Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, to unconditionally surrender.
1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British.
1947 – Thirteen thousand troops of the Republic of China Army arrive in Taiwan after the February 28 Incident and launch crackdowns which kill thousands of people, including many elites. This turns into a major root of the Taiwan independence movement.
1949 – President of France Vincent Auriol and ex-emperor of Annam Bảo Đại sign the Élysée Accords, giving Vietnam greater independence from France and creating the State of Vietnam to oppose Viet Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
1957 – Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.
1957 – The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the U.S. state of Georgia.
1963 – The Ba’ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d’état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
1965 – Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War.
1966 – Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin, Ireland, destroyed by a bomb.
1971 – The Fight of the Century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali commences. Frazier wins in 15 rounds via unanimous decision.
1974 – Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
1979 – Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
1983 – Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an “evil empire”.
1985 – A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills at least 45 and injures 175 others.
2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq’s Governing Council.
2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying a total of 239 people, disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
2017 – The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.

Births on March 8

1286 – John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
1293 – Beatrice of Castile (d. 1359)
1495 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (d. 1550)
1514 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1562)
1518 – Sidonie of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg (d. 1575)
1550 – William Drury, English politician (d. 1590)
1658 – Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor, British Baron (d. 1730)
1566 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian lute player and composer (d. 1613)
1712 – John Fothergill, English physician and botanist (d. 1780)
1714 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
1726 – Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, English admiral and politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1799)
1746 – André Michaux, French botanist and explorer (d. 1802)
1748 – William V, Prince of Orange (d. 1806)
1761 – Jan Potocki, Polish ethnologist, historian, linguist, and author (d. 1815)
1799 – Simon Cameron, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Secretary of War (d. 1889)
1804 – Alvan Clark, American astronomer and optician (d. 1887)
1822 – Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish inventor and businessman, invented the Kerosene lamp (d. 1882)
1826 – Johann Köler, Estonian painter and academic (d. 1899)
1827 – Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist and anthropologist (d. 1875)
1830 – João de Deus, Portuguese poet and educator (d. 1896)
1839 – Josephine Cochrane, American inventor (d. 1913)
1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and jurist (d. 1935)
1848 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson, American engineer and businessman, developed the roller coaster (d. 1917)
1856 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (d. 1929)
1856 – Colin Campbell Cooper, American painter and academic (d. 1937)
1859 – Kenneth Grahame, Scottish-English banker and author (d. 1932)
1865 – Frederic Goudy, American type designer, created Copperplate Gothic and Goudy Old Style (d. 1947)
1879 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
1886 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1892 – Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet and author (d. 1979)
1896 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian journalist and politician, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (d. 1975)
1899 – Elmer Keith, American gun designer and author (d. 1984)
1900 – Howard H. Aiken, American physicist and computer scientist, created the Harvard Mark I (d. 1973)
1902 – Louise Beavers, American actress and singer (d. 1962)
1902 – Jennings Randolph, American journalist and politician (d. 1998)
1907 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Greece (d. 1998)
1909 – Beatrice Shilling, English motorcycle racer and engineer (d. 1990)
1909 – Paula Strasberg, American actress and acting coach (d. 1966)
1910 – Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
1911 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
1912 – Preston Smith, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
1912 – Meldrim Thomson, Jr., American publisher and politician, 73rd Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2001)
1914 – Yakov Borisovich Zel’dovich, Belarusian-Russian physicist and astronomer (d. 1987)
1918 – Eileen Herlie, Scottish-American actress (d. 2008)
1920 – Douglass Wallop, American author and playwright (d. 1985)
1921 – Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
1921 – Sahir Ludhianvi, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1980)
1922 – Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (d. 2014)
1922 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
1922 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (d. 1989)
1922 – Yevgeny Matveyev, Russian actor and director (d. 2003)
1922 – Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2015)
1924 – Anthony Caro, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 2013)
1924 – Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
1924 – Sean McClory, Irish-American actor and director (d. 2003)
1925 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (d. 2014)
1926 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1929 – Hebe Camargo, Brazilian actress and singer (d. 2012)
1930 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (d. 1996)
1930 – Douglas Hurd, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
1931 – Neil Adcock, South African cricketer (d. 2013)
1931 – John McPhee, American author and educator
1931 – Gerald Potterton, English-Canadian animator, director, and producer
1931 – Neil Postman, American author and critic (d. 2003)
1934 – Marv Breeding, American baseball player and scout (d. 2006)
1935 – George Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader
1936 – Sue Ane Langdon, American actress and singer
1936 – Gábor Szabó, Hungarian guitarist and composer (d. 1982)
1937 – Richard Fariña, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 1966)
1937 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan politician, 2nd President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
1938 – Pete Dawkins, American football player, colonel, and politician
1939 – Jim Bouton, American baseball player and journalist (d. 2019)
1939 – Lynn Seymour, Canadian ballerina and choreographer
1939 – Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed skater and coach
1939 – Robert Tear, Welsh tenor and conductor (d. 2011)
1941 – Norman Stone, Scottish-English historian, author, and academic (d. 2019)
1942 – Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor
1942 – Ann Packer, English sprinter, hurdler, and long jumper
1943 – Susan Clark, Canadian actress and producer
1943 – Michael Grade, English businessman
1943 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (d. 2010)
1943 – Dionysis Simopoulos, Greek physicist and astronomer
1944 – Sergey Nikitin, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Jim Chapman, American lawyer and politician
1945 – Micky Dolenz, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
1945 – Anselm Kiefer, German painter and sculptor
1945 – Sylvia Wiegand, American mathematician
1946 – Robert Jaworski, Filipino basketball player, coach, and politician
1946 – Randy Meisner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1947 – Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter and painter
1947 – Michael S. Hart, American author, founded Project Gutenberg (d. 2011)
1947 – Vladimír Mišík, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Florentino Pérez, Spanish engineer and businessman
1948 – Robert W. Boyd, American physicist and academic
1948 – Gyles Brandreth, German-English actor, screenwriter, and politician
1948 – Mel Galley, English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
1948 – Sam Lacey, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1948 – Peggy March, American pop singer
1948 – Jonathan Sacks, English rabbi, philosopher, and scholar
1949 – Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer
1951 – Phil Edmonds, Zambian-English cricketer and businessman
1951 – Dianne Walker, American tap dancer
1952 – George Allen, American lawyer and politician, 67th Governor of Virginia
1953 – Jim Rice, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
1954 – Steve James, American documentary filmmaker
1954 – David Wilkie, Sri Lankan-Scottish swimmer
1956 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (d. 1989)
1956 – David Malpass, American economist and government official
1957 – Clive Burr, English rock drummer (d. 2013)
1957 – William Edward Childs, American pianist and composer
1957 – Bob Stoddard, American baseball player
1958 – Andy McDonald, English lawyer and politician
1958 – Gary Numan, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1959 – Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
1960 – Jeffrey Eugenides, American author and academic
1960 – Irek Mukhamedov, Russian ballet dancer
1960 – Buck Williams, American basketball player and coach
1961 – Camryn Manheim, American actress
1961 – Larry Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and journalist
1962 – Leon Robinson, American actor and producer
1964 – Kate Betts, American journalist and author
1965 – Kenny Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
1966 – Greg Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, English politician
1966 – Jaime Levy, American computer scientist and academic
1967 – Joel Johnston, American baseball player
1968 – Michael Bartels, German race car driver
1968 – Shawn Mullins, American singer-songwriter
1969 – Juan de Dios Ramírez Perales, Mexican footballer
1970 – Jason Elam, American football player
1971 – Kit Symons, English-Welsh footballer and manager
1972 – Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager
1972 – Matthew Nable, Australian rugby player and actor
1972 – Lena Sundström, Swedish journalist and author
1973 – Boris Kodjoe, Austrian-born American actor and producer
1973 – Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Mauro Briano, Italian footballer
1976 – Gaz Coombes, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1976 – Juan Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
1976 – Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor
1977 – Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
1978 – Nick Zano, American actor and producer
1979 – Apathy, American rapper and producer
1979 – Tom Chaplin, English singer-songwriter
1979 – Andy Ross, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Stephen Milne, Australian footballer
1981 – Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
1981 – Timothy Jordan II, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2005)
1981 – Joost Posthuma, Dutch cyclist
1982 – Nicolas Armindo, French racing driver
1982 – Leonidas Kampantais, Greek footballer
1982 – Isak Strand, Norwegian drummer, composer, and producer
1983 – André Santos, Brazilian footballer
1983 – Mark Worrell, American baseball player
1984 – Rafik Djebbour, Algerian footballer
1984 – Ross Taylor, New Zealand cricketer
1984 – Sasha Vujačić, Slovenian basketball player
1987 – Jonathan Wright, Australian rugby league player
1988 – Benny Blanco, American rapper and producer
1990 – Asier Illarramendi, Spanish footballer
1990 – Petra Kvitová, Czech tennis player
1990 – Nico Salva, Filipino basketball player
1990 – Ben Tozer, English footballer
1991 – Miriam Bryant, Swedish-Finnish singer-songwriter
1991 – Tom English, Australian rugby player
1992 – Uki Satake, Japanese singer, actress, and radio host
1994 – Pablo Dyego, Brazilian footballer
1994 – Claire Emslie, Scottish footballer
1994 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (d. 2014)
1996 – Matthew Hammelmann, Australian rules footballer
1998 – Tali Darsigny, Canadian weightlifter

Deaths on March 8

865 – Rudolf of Fulda, German theologian
1126 – Urraca of León and Castile (b. 1079)
1137 – Adela of Normandy, by marriage countess of Blois (b. c. 1067)
1144 – Pope Celestine II
1223 – Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish bishop and historian (b. 1161)
1365 – Queen Noguk of Korea
1403 – Bayezid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1360)
1441 – Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria
1466 – Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1401)
1550 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (b. 1495)
1619 – Veit Bach, German baker and miller (b. 1550)
1641 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (b. 1587)
1702 – William III of England (b. 1650)
1717 – Abraham Darby I, English blacksmith (b. 1678)
1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St. Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
1731 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
1771 – Louis August le Clerc, French-Danish sculptor and academic (b. 1688)
1819 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1739)
1844 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
1869 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1803)
1872 – Cornelius Krieghoff, Dutch-Canadian painter (b. 1815)
1874 – Millard Fillmore, American lawyer and politician, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
1887 – Henry Ward Beecher, American minister and activist (b. 1813)
1887 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (b. 1820)
1889 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, designed the USS Monitor (b. 1803)
1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Company (b. 1838)
1923 – Krišjānis Barons, Latvian linguist and author (b. 1835)
1923 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
1930 – William Howard Taft, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
1930 – Edward Terry Sanford, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, United States Assistant Attorney General (b. 1865)
1935 – Hachikō, Japanese dog (b. 1923)
1937 – Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1902)
1941 – Sherwood Anderson, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1876)
1942 – José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player and theoretician (b. 1888)
1944 – Fredy Hirsch, German Jewish athlete who helped thousands of Jewish children in the Holocaust (b. 1916)
1945 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English archaeologist and architect (b. 1864)
1948 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and scientist (b. 1889)
1957 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer and conductor (b. 1886)
1961 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor and composer (b. 1879)
1971 – Harold Lloyd, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
1973 – Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1945)
1975 – George Stevens, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
1976 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian colonel (b. 1908)
1983 – Chabuca Granda, Peruvian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1920)
1983 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1904)
1983 – William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
1985 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
1988 – Amar Singh Chamkila, Indian singer-songwriter (b. 1961)
1988 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (b. 1912)
1991 – John Bellairs, American author and academic (b. 1938)
1993 – Billy Eckstine, American trumpet player (b. 1914)
1996 – Jack Churchill, British colonel (b. 1906)
1997 – Gershon Liebman, French rabbi (b. 1905)
1998 – Ray Nitschke, American football player and actor (b. 1936)
1999 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian journalist and author (b. 1914)
1999 – Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
1999 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player and coach (b. 1914)
2001 – Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
2003 – Adam Faith, English singer (b. 1940)
2003 – Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
2004 – Muhammad Zaidan, Syrian terrorist, founded the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
2005 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (b. 1924)
2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen commander and politician, 3rd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1951)
2007 – John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
2007 – John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach (b. 1947)
2009 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
2009 – Zbigniew Religa, Polish surgeon and politician, Polish Minister of Health (b. 1938)
2011 – Mike Starr, American bass player (b. 1966)
2012 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian author and academic (b. 1921)
2012 – Minoru Mori, Japanese businessman, founded the Mori Art Museum (b. 1934)
2012 – Steven Rubenstein, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1962)
2013 – Haseeb Ahsan, Pakistani cricketer and manager (b. 1939)
2013 – John O’Connell, Irish journalist and politician, 17th Irish Minister of Health (b. 1927)
2013 – Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, German soldier and publisher (b. 1922)
2014 – Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American Holocaust survivor and author (b. 1921)
2014 – William Guarnere, American sergeant (b. 1923)
2015 – Tjol Lategan, South African rugby player (b. 1925)
2015 – Sam Simon, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1955)
2016 – Aldo Ferrer, Argentinian economist and diplomat (b. 1927)
2016 – Ross Hannaford, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
2016 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, and producer (b. 1926)
2018 – Kate Wilhelm, American author (b. 1928)
2019 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (b. 1934)
2019 – Cedrick Hardman, American football player and actor (b. 1948)
2020 – Max von Sydow, Swedish actor (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances on March 8

Christian feast day:
- Edward King (Church of England)
- Felix of Burgundy
- Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (the Church of England, The Episcopal Church (USA))
- John of God
- Philemon the actor
- March 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Canberra Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Australian Capital Territory)
Earliest day on which Commonwealth Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Commonwealth of Nations)
Earliest day on which Decoration Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Wednesday in March (Liberia)
Earliest day on which Passion Sunday can fall, while April 17 is the latest; observed on the fifth Sunday of Lent (Christianity)
International Women’s Day, and its related observances:
- International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day

March 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2016, 2020, and 2024. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth’s revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in most of the world. Lunisolar calendars (whose months are based on the phases of the Moon) instead add a leap or intercalary month

In the Gregorian calendar, years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day; neither will 2100, 2200, and 2300. Conversely, 1600 and 2000 did and 2400 will. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. Years not containing a leap day are called common years. In the Chinese calendar, this day will only occur in years of the monkey, dragon, and rat.

A leap day is observed because the Earth’s period of orbital revolution around the Sun takes approximately six hours longer than 365 whole days. A leap day compensates for this lag, realigning the calendar with the Earth’s position in the Solar System; otherwise, seasons would occur later than intended in the calendar year. The Julian calendar used in Christendom until the 16th century added a leap day every four years; but this rule adds too many days (roughly three every 400 years), making the equinoxes and solstices shift gradually to earlier dates. By the 16th century the vernal equinox had drifted to March 11, so the Gregorian calendar was introduced both to shift it back by omitting several days, and to reduce the number of leap years via the aforementioned century rule to keep the equinoxes more or less fixed and the date of Easter consistently close to the vernal equinox.

Leap days can present a particular problem in computing known as the leap year bug when February 29 is not handled correctly in logic that accepts or manipulates dates. For example, this has happened with ATMs and Microsoft’s cloud system Azure.

Leap years

Although most modern calendar years have 365 days, a complete revolution around the Sun (one solar year) takes approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (or, for simplicity’s sake, approximately 365 days and 6 hours, or 365.25 days) .An extra 23 hours, 15 minutes, and 4 seconds thus accumulates every four years (again, for simplicity’s sake, approximately an extra 24 hours, or 1 day, every four years), requiring that an extra calendar day be added to align the calendar with the Sun’s apparent position. Without the added day, in future years the seasons would occur later in the calendar, eventually leading to confusion about when to undertake activities dependent on weather, ecology, or hours of daylight.

Solar years are actually slightly shorter than 365 days and 6 hours (365.25 days), which had been known since the 2nd century BC when Hipparchus stated that it lasted 365 + 1/4 − 1/300 days, but this was ignored by Julius Caesar and his astronomical adviser Sosigenes. The Gregorian calendar corrected this by adopting the length of the tropical year stated in three medieval sources, the Alfonsine tables, De Revolutionibus, and the Prutenic Tables, truncated to two sexagesimal places, 365 14/60 33/3600 days or 365 + 1/4 − 3/400 days or 365.2425 days. The length of the tropical year in 2000 was 365.24217 mean solar daysAdding a calendar day every four years, therefore, results in an excess of around 44 minutes every four years, or about 3 days every 400 years. To compensate for this, three days are removed every 400 years. The Gregorian calendar reform implements this adjustment by making an exception to the general rule that there is a leap year every four years. Instead, a year divisible by 100 is not a leap year unless that year is also divisible by 400. This means that the years 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years, while the years 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300, and 2500 are not leap years.

Modern (Gregorian) calendar

The Gregorian calendar repeats itself every 400 years, which is exactly 20,871 weeks including 97 leap days (146,097 days). Over this period, February 29 falls on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday 13 times; Friday and Saturday 14 times; and Monday and Wednesday 15 times. Except for a century mark that is not a multiple of 400, consecutive leap days fall in order Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday, Saturday, Thursday, Tuesday, and repeats again.

Early Roman calendar

Adding a leap day (after 23 February) shifts the commemorations in the 1962 Roman Missal.

The calendar of the Roman king Numa Pompilius had only 355 days (even though it was not a lunar calendar) which meant that it would quickly become unsynchronized with the solar year. An earlier Roman solution to this problem was to lengthen the calendar periodically by adding extra days to February, the last month of the year. February consisted of two parts, each with an odd number of days. The first part ended with the Terminalia on the 23rd, which was considered the end of the religious year, and the five remaining days formed the second part. To keep the calendar year roughly aligned with the solar year, a leap month, called Mensis Intercalaris (“intercalary month”), was added from time to time between these two parts of February. The (usual) second part of February was incorporated in the intercalary month as its last five days, with no change either in their dates or the festivals observed on them. This followed naturally because the days after the Ides (13th) of February (in an ordinary year) or the Ides of Intercalaris (in an intercalary year) both counted down to the Kalends of March (i.e. they were known as “the nth day before the Kalends of March”). The Nones (5th) and Ides of Intercalaris occupied their normal positions.

The third-century writer Censorinus says:

When it was thought necessary to add (every two years) an intercalary month of 22 or 23 days, so that the civil year should correspond to the natural (solar) year, this intercalation was in preference made in February, between Terminalia [23rd]and Regifugium [24th].

Julian reform

The set leap day was introduced in Rome as a part of the Julian reform in the 1st century BCE. As before, the intercalation was made after February 23. The day following the Terminalia (February 23) was doubled, forming the “bis sextum“—literally ‘twice sixth’, since February 24 was ‘the sixth day before the Kalends of March’ using Roman inclusive counting (March 1 was the Kalends of March and was also the first day of the calendar year). Inclusive counting initially caused the Roman priests to add the extra day every three years instead of four; Augustus was compelled to omit leap years for a few decades to return the calendar to its proper position. Although there were exceptions, the first day of the bis sextum (February 24) was usually regarded as the intercalated or “bissextile” day since the 3rd century CE. February 29 came to be regarded as the leap day when the Roman system of numbering days was replaced by sequential numbering in the late Middle Ages, although this has only been formally enacted in Sweden and Finland. In Britain, the extra day added to leap years remains notionally the 24th, although the 29th remains more visible on the calendar.

Born on February 29

A person born on February 29 may be called a “leapling”, a “leaper”, or a “leap-year baby”. Some leaplings celebrate their birthday in non-leap years on either February 28 or March 1, while others only observe birthdays on the authentic intercalary date, February 29.

Legal status: The effective legal date of a leapling’s birthday in non-leap years varies between jurisdictions.

In the United Kingdom and its former colony Hong Kong, when a person born on February 29 turns 18, they are considered to have their birthday on March 1 in the relevant year.

In New Zealand, a person born on February 29 is deemed to have their birthday on February 28 in non-leap years, for the purposes of Driver Licensing under §2(2) of the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999. The net result is that for drivers aged 75, or over 80, their driver licence expires at the end of the last day of February, even though their birthday would otherwise fall on the first day in March in non-leap years. Otherwise, New Zealand legislation is silent on when a person born on February 29 has their birthday, although case law would suggest that age is computed based on the number of years elapsed, from the day after the date of birth, and that the person’s birth day then occurs on the last day of the year period. This differs from English common law where a birthday is considered to be the start of the next year, the preceding year ending at midnight on the day preceding the birthday. While a person attains the same age on the same day, it also means that, in New Zealand, if something must be done by the time a person attains a certain age, that thing can be done on the birthday that they attain that age and still be lawful.

In Taiwan, the legal birthday of a leapling is February 28 in common years:

If a period fixed by weeks, months, and years does not commence from the beginning of a week, month, or year, it ends with the ending of the day which proceeds the day of the last week, month, or year which corresponds to that on which it began to commence. But if there is no corresponding day in the last month, the period ends with the ending of the last day of the last month.

Thus, in England and Wales or in Hong Kong, a person born on February 29 will have legally reached 18 years old on March 1. If they were born in Taiwan they legally become 18 on February 28, a day earlier.

In the United States, according to John Reitz, a professor of law at the University of Iowa, there is no “… statute or general rule that has anything to do with leap day.” Reitz speculates that “March 1 would likely be considered the legal birthday in non-leap years of someone born on leap day,”using the same reasoning as described for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. However, for the purposes of Social Security, a person attains the next age the day before the anniversary of birth. Therefore, Social Security would recognize February 28 as the change in age for leap year births, not March 1

In fiction

There are many instances in children’s literature where a person’s claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out to be based on counting only their leap-year birthdays.

A similar device is used in the plot of Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance: as a child, Frederic was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. Having passed his 21st year, he leaves the pirate band and falls in love. However, since he was born on February 29, his 21st birthday will not arrive until he is eighty-eight (since 1900 was not a leap year), so he must leave his fiancée and return to the pirates.

Since 1967, February 29 has been the official birthday of Superman, but not Clark Kent.

February 29 in History

1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies.
1644 – Abel Tasman’s second Pacific voyage begins.
1704 – Queen Anne’s War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, killing 56 villagers and taking more than 100 captive.
1712 – February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar.
1720 – Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I on March 24.
1752 – King Alaungpaya founds Konbaung Dynasty, the last dynasty of Burmese monarchy.
1768 – Polish nobles form the Bar Confederation.
1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
1864 – American Civil War: Kilpatrick–Dahlgren Raid fails: Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated.
1912 – The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.
1916 – Tokelau is annexed by the United Kingdom.
1916 – Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.
1920 – Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.
1936 – February 26 Incident in Tokyo ends.
1940 – 12th Academy Awards: For her performance as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
1940 – Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations.
1940 – In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden’s Consul General in San Francisco.
1944 – World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer led by American General Douglas MacArthur.
1960 – The 5.7 M_w  Agadir earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir, and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.
1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
1980 – Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
1984 – Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.
1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with one hundred other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
1988 – Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.
1992 – First day of Bosnia and Herzegovina independence referendum.
1996 – Faucett Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew die.
1996 – Siege of Sarajevo officially ends.
2000 – Second Chechen War: Eighty-four Russian paratroopers are killed in a rebel attack on a guard post near Ulus Kert.
2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as President of Haiti following a coup.
2008 – The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence decides to withdraw Prince Harry from a tour of Afghanistan “immediately” after a leak leads to his deployment being reported by foreign media.
2008 – Misha Defonseca admits to fabricating her memoir, Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, in which she claims to have lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust.
2012 – Tokyo Skytree construction is completed. It is the tallest tower in the world, 634 meters high, and the second-tallest artificial structure on Earth, next to Burj Khalifa.

Births on February 29

1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
1528 – Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1579)
1528 – Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (d. 1604)
1572 – Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (d. 1638)
1576 – Antonio Neri, Florentine priest and glassmaker (d. 1614)
1640 – Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher and author whose name was given to Keach’s Catechism (d. 1704)
1692 – John Byrom, English poet and educator (d. 1763)
1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer (d. 1822)
1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founded the Shakers (d. 1784)
1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (d. 1868)
1812 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (d. February 29, 1880)
1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet, and activist (d. 1921)
1836 – Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (d. 1908)
1852 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian lawyer and judge, 4th Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1936)
1860 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founded the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (d. 1929)
1876 – William Stewart, Scottish footballer
1884 – Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician (d. 1941)
1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor (d. 1962)
1896 – Morarji Desai, Indian civil servant and politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)
1896 – William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1957)
1904 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
1908 – Balthus, French-Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 2001)
1908 – Dee Brown, American historian and author (d. 2002)
1908 – Alf Gover, English cricketer and coach (d. 2001)
1908 – Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (d. 1968)
1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
1916 – James B. Donovan, American lawyer (d. 1970)
1916 – Leonard Shoen, founder of U-Haul Corp. (d. 1999)
1920 – Fyodor Abramov, Russian author and critic (d. 1983)
1920 – Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)
1920 – James Mitchell, American actor and dancer (d. 2010)
1920 – Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer (d. 2016)
1920 – Howard Nemerov, American poet and academic (d. 1991)
1920 – Rolland W. Redlin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand judge and politician, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)
1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador (d. 2017)
1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
1928 – Joss Ackland, English actor
1928 – Jean Adamson, British writer and illustrator
1928 – Vance Haynes, American archaeologist, geologist, and author
1928 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician and computer scientist, co-created the Logo programming language (d. 2016)
1932 – Gene H. Golub, American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
1932 – Masten Gregory, American race car driver (d. 1985)
1932 – Reri Grist, American soprano and actress
1932 – Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist
1932 – Gavin Stevens, Australian cricketer
1936 – Jack Lousma, American colonel, astronaut, and politician
1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)
1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
1936 – Nh. Dini, Indonesian writer (d. 2018)
1940 – Sonja Barend, Dutch talk show host
1940 – Bartholomew I of Constantinople
1940 – William H. Turner, Jr., American horse trainer
1944 – Ene Ergma, Estonian physicist and politician
1944 – Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (d. 2013)
1944 – Nicholas Frayling, English priest and academic
1944 – Phyllis Frelich, American actress (d. 2014)
1944 – Steve Mingori, American baseball player (d. 2008)
1944 – Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian author and illustrator
1944 – Lennart Svedberg, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1972).
1948 – Hermione Lee, English author, critic, and academic
1948 – Manoel Maria, Brazilian footballer
1948 – Patricia A. McKillip, American author
1948 – Henry Small, American-born Canadian singer
1952 – Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush, American journalist and producer
1952 – Tim Powers, American author and educator
1952 – Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier
1952 – Bart Stupak, American police officer and politician
1956 – Jonathan Coleman, English-Australian radio and television host
1956 – Bob Speller, Canadian businessman and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Agriculture
1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
1960 – Lucian Grainge, English businessman
1960 – Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer (d. 2013)
1964 – Dave Brailsford, English cyclist and coach
1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
1964 – Mervyn Warren, American tenor, composer, and producer
1968 – Chucky Brown, American basketball player and coach
1968 – Pete Fenson, American curler and sportscaster
1968 – Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress and model
1968 – Bryce Paup, American football player and coach
1968 – Howard Tayler, American author and illustrator
1968 – Eugene Volokh, Ukrainian-American lawyer and educator
1968 – Frank Woodley, Australian actor, producer, and screenwriter
1972 – Mike Pollitt, English footballer and coach
1972 – Sylvie Lubamba, Italian showgirl
1972 – Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Italian-American model and actor
1972 – Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain
1972 – Dave Williams, American singer (d. 2002)
1972 – Saul Williams, American singer-songwriter
1972 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban-American activist and educator (d. 1994)
1976 – Vonteego Cummings, American basketball player
1976 – Gehad Grisha, Egyptian soccer referee
1976 – Katalin Kovács, Hungarian sprint kayaker
1976 – Terrence Long, American baseball player
1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
1980 – Çağdaş Atan, Turkish footballer and coach
1980 – Chris Conley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Patrick Côté, Canadian mixed martial artist
1980 – Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Rubén Plaza, Spanish cyclist
1980 – Peter Scanavino, American actor
1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league player
1980 – Taylor Twellman, American soccer player and sportscaster
1984 – Rica Imai, Japanese model and actress
1984 – Cullen Jones, American swimmer
1984 – Nuria Martínez, Spanish basketball player
1984 – Adam Sinclair, Indian field hockey player
1984 – Rakhee Thakrar, English actress
1984 – Dennis Walger, German rugby player
1984 – Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Mark Foster, American singer, songwriter and musician
1988 – Lena Gercke, German model and television host
1988 – Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
1988 – Brent Macaffer, Australian Rules footballer
1988 – Bobby Sanguinetti, American ice hockey player
1988 – Milan Melindo, Filipino boxer
1992 – Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer
1992 – Ben Hampton, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Eric Kendricks, American football player
1992 – Caitlin EJ Meyer, American actress
1996 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Reece Prescod, British sprinter
1996 – Claudia Williams, New Zealand tennis player
2000 – Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer

Deaths on February 29

468 – Pope Hilarius
992 – Oswald of Worcester, Anglo-Saxon archbishop and saint (b. 925)
1212 – Hōnen, Japanese monk, founded Jōdo-shū (b. 1133)
1460 – Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (b. 1401)
1528 – Patrick Hamilton, Scottish Protestant reformer and martyr (b. 1504)
1592 – Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer and diplomat (b. 1540)
1600 – Caspar Hennenberger, German pastor, historian and cartographer (b. 1529)
1604 – John Whitgift, English archbishop and academic (b. 1530)
1740 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal (b. 1667)
1744 – John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-English physicist and philosopher (b. 1683)
1792 – Johann Andreas Stein, German piano builder (b. 1728)
1820 – Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German historian and critic (b. 1743)
1848 – Louis-François Lejeune, French general, painter and lithographer (b. 1775)
1852 – Matsudaira Katataka, Japanese daimyō (b. 1806)
1868 – Ludwig I of Bavaria (b. 1786)
1880 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (b. February 29, 1812)
1908
- Pat Garrett, American sheriff (b. 1850)
- John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish-Australian politician, 1st Governor-General of Australia (b. 1860)
1920 – Ernie Courtney, American baseball player (b. 1875)
1928
- Adolphe Appia, Swiss architect and theorist (b. 1862)
- Ina Coolbrith, American poet and librarian (b. 1841)
1940 – E. F. Benson, English archaeologist and author (b. 1867)
1944 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Finnish lawyer, judge and politician, 3rd President of Finland (b. 1861)
1948
- Robert Barrington-Ward, English lawyer and journalist (b. 1891)
- Rebel Oakes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1883)
1952 – Quo Tai-chi, Chinese politician and diplomat, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations (b. 1888)
1956 – Elpidio Quirino, Filipino lawyer and politician, 6th President of the Philippines (b. 1890)
1960
- Melvin Purvis, American police officer and FBI agent (b. 1903)
- Walter Yust, American journalist and author (b. 1894)
1964 – Frank Albertson, American actor and singer (b. 1909)
1968
- Lena Blackburne, American baseball player, coach and manager (b. 1886)
- Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet and educator (b. 1886)
1972 – Tom Davies, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
1976 – Florence P. Dwyer, American politician (b. 1902)
1980
- Yigal Allon, Israeli general and politician, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1918)
- Gil Elvgren, American painter and illustrator (b. 1914)
1984 – Ludwik Starski, Polish screenwriter and songwriter (b. 1903)
1988 – Sidney Harmon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1907)
1992 – Ruth Pitter, English poet and author (b. 1897)
1996
- Wes Farrell, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)
- Ralph Rowe, American baseball player, coach and manager (b. 1924)
2000 – Dennis Danell, American guitarist (b. 1961)
2004
- Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (b. 1923)
- Jerome Lawrence, American playwright and author (b. 1915)
- Harold Bernard St. John, Barbadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1931)
- Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (b. 1943)
2008
- Janet Kagan, American author (b. 1946)
- Erik Ortvad, Danish painter and illustrator (b. 1917)
- Akira Yamada, Japanese scholar and philosopher (b. 1922)
2012
- Roland Bautista, American guitarist (b. 1951)
- Davy Jones, English singer, guitarist and actor (b. 1945)
- Sheldon Moldoff, American illustrator (b. 1920)
- P. K. Narayana Panicker, Indian social leader (b. 1930)
2016
- Wenn V. Deramas, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1966)
- Gil Hill, American police officer, actor and politician (b. 1931)
- Josefin Nilsson, Swedish singer (b. 1969)
- Louise Rennison, English author (b. 1951)
- Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistani assassin (b. 1985)

Holidays and observances on February 29

As a Christian feast day:
- Auguste Chapdelaine (one of the Martyr Saints of China)
- Oswald of Worcester (in leap year only)
- Saint John Cassian
- February 29 in the Orthodox church
The fourth day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (observed on this date only if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz falls on March 21)
Rare Disease Day (in leap years; celebrated in common years on February 28)
Bachelor’s Day (Ireland, United Kingdom)

Folk traditions

There is a popular tradition known as Bachelor’s Day in some countries allowing a woman to propose marriage to a man on February 29If the man refuses, he then is obliged to give the woman money or buy her a dress. In upper-class societies in Europe, if the man refuses marriage, he then must purchase 12 pairs of gloves for the woman, suggesting that the gloves are to hide the woman’s embarrassment of not having an engagement ring. In Ireland, the tradition is supposed to originate from a deal that Saint Bridget struck with Saint Patrick.

In the town of Aurora, Illinois, single women are deputized and may arrest single men, subject to a four-dollar fine, every February 29.

In Greece, it is considered unlucky to marry on a leap day.

February 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on February 16

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

Deaths on February 16

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

Holidays and observances on February 16

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

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

On This Day

February 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

February 6 in History

AD 60 – The earliest date for which the day of the week is known. A graffito in Pompeii identifies this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday.
1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
1694 – The warrior queen Dandara, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rather than be returned to a life of slavery.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
1778 –New York became the third state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1806 – Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean.
1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia.
1833 – Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.
1843 – The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
1851 – The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria.
1862 – American Civil War: Forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote give the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry.
1899 – Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
1900 – The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international arbitration court at The Hague, is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
1918 – British women over the age of 30 who meet minimum property qualifications, get the right to vote when Representation of the People Act 1918 is passed by Parliament.
1919 – The American Legion is founded.
1919 – The five-day Seattle General Strike begins, as more than 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington, walk off the job.
1922 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
1934 – Far-right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.
1951 – The Canadian Army enters combat in the Korean War.
1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
1952 – Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
1958 – Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.
1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
1976 – In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of four inches an hour.
1981 – The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
1987 – Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.
1988 – Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.
1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
1996 – Willamette Valley Flood: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
1996 – Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 people on board. This is the deadliest aviation accident involving a Boeing 757.
1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
2000 – Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.
2006 – Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
2016 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes southern Taiwan, killing 117 people.
2018 – SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a super heavy launch vehicle, makes its maiden flight.

Births on February 6

885 – Emperor Daigo of Japan (d. 930)
1402 – Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1458)
1452 – Joanna, Princess of Portugal (d. 1490)
1453 – Girolamo Benivieni, Florentine poet (d. 1542)
1465 – Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician and theorist (d. 1526)
1536 – Sassa Narimasa, Japanese samurai (d. 1588)
1577 – Beatrice Cenci, Italian murderer (d. 1599)
1582 – Mario Bettinus, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (d. 1657)
1608 – António Vieira, Portuguese priest and philosopher (d. 1697)
1611 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (d. 1644)
1612 – Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1694)
1643 – Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, Prussian politician, 1st Minister President of Prussia (d. 1712)
1649 – Augusta Marie of Holstein-Gottorp, German noblewoman (d. 1728)
1664 – Mustafa II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1703)
1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (d. 1714)
1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain (d. 1714)
1695 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1726)
1719 – Alberto Pullicino, Maltese painter (d. 1759)
1726 – Patrick Russell, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (d. 1805)
1732 – Charles Lee, English-American general (d. 1782)
1736 – Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, German-Austrian sculptor (d. 1783)
1744 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (d. 1795)
1748 – Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher and academic, founded the Illuminati (d. 1830)
1753 – Évariste de Parny, French poet and author (d. 1814)
1756 – Aaron Burr, American colonel and politician, 3rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1836)
1758 – Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Belarusian-Polish poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1841)
1769 – Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Austrian general (d. 1862)
1772 – George Murray, Scottish general and politician, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (d. 1830)
1778 – Ugo Foscolo, Italian author and poet (d. 1827)
1781 – John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, Irish general and politician, Governor of Saint Lucia (d. 1844)
1796 – John Stevens Henslow, English botanist and geologist (d. 1861)
1797 – Joseph von Radowitz, Prussian general and politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (d. 1853)
1799 – Imre Frivaldszky, Hungarian botanist and entomologist (d. 1870)
1800 – Achille Devéria, French painter and lithographer (d. 1857)
1802 – Charles Wheatstone, English-French physicist and cryptographer (d. 1875)
1811 – Henry Liddell, English priest, author, and academic (d. 1898)
1814 – Auguste Chapdelaine, French missionary and saint (d. 1856)
1818 – William M. Evarts, American lawyer and politician, 27th United States Secretary of State (d. 1901)
1820 – Thomas C. Durant, American railroad tycoon (d. 1885)
1829 – Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer, French architect, designed the La Santé Prison and Saint-Pierre-de-Montrouge (d. 1914)
1832 – John Brown Gordon, American general and politician, 53rd Governor of Georgia (d. 1904)
1833 – José María de Pereda, Spanish author and academic (d. 1906)
1833 – J. E. B. Stuart, American general (d. 1864)
1834 – Edwin Klebs, German-Swiss pathologist and academic (d. 1913)
1834 – Ema Pukšec, Croatian-German soprano (d. 1889)
1834 – Wilhelm von Scherff, German general and author (d. 1911)
1838 – Henry Irving, English actor and manager (d. 1905)
1838 – Israel Meir Kagan, Lithuanian-Polish rabbi and author (d. 1933)
1839 – Eduard Hitzig, German neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1907)
1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1923)
1843 – Inoue Kowashi, Japanese scholar and politician (d. 1895)
1843 – Frederic William Henry Myers, English poet and philologist, co-founded the Society for Psychical Research (d. 1901)
1845 – Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (d. 1912)
1847 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (d. 1918)
1852 – C. Lloyd Morgan, English zoologist and psychologist (d. 1936)
1852 – Vasily Safonov, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1918)
1861 – Nikolay Zelinsky, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1953)
1864 – John Henry Mackay, Scottish-German philosopher and author (d. 1933)
1866 – Karl Sapper, German linguist and explorer (d. 1945)
1872 – Robert Maillart, Swiss engineer, designed the Salginatobel Bridge and Schwandbach Bridge (d. 1940)
1874 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (d. 1937)
1875 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (d. 1915)
1876 – Henry Blogg, English fisherman and sailor (d. 1954)
1879 – Othon Friesz, French painter (d. 1949)
1879 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1937)
1879 – Edwin Samuel Montagu, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1924)
1879 – Carl Ramsauer, German physicist and author (d. 1955)
1880 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (d. 1931)
1884 – Marcel Cohen, French linguist and scholar (d. 1974)
1887 – Josef Frings, German cardinal (d. 1978)
1890 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (d. 1988)
1890 – James McGirr, Australian politician, 28th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1957)
1892 – Maximilian Fretter-Pico, German general (d. 1984)
1892 – William P. Murphy, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
1893 – Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 1st Minister of Foreign Affairs for Pakistan (d. 1985)
1894 – Eric Partridge, New Zealand-English lexicographer and academic (d. 1979)
1894 – Kirpal Singh, Indian spiritual master (d. 1974)
1895 – Robert La Follette Jr., American politician (d. 1953)
1895 – María Teresa Vera, Cuban singer, guitarist and composer (d. 1965)
1895 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (d. 1948)
1898 – Harry Haywood, American soldier and politician (d. 1985)
1899 – Ramon Novarro, Mexican-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1968)
1901 – Ben Lyon, American actor (d. 1979)
1902 – George Brunies, American trombonist (d. 1974)
1903 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean pianist and composer (d. 1991)
1905 – Władysław Gomułka, Polish politician (d. 1982)
1905 – Jan Werich, Czech actor and playwright (d. 1980)
1906 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (d. 1980)
1908 – Amintore Fanfani, Italian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1999)
1908 – Edward Lansdale, American general and CIA agent (d. 1987)
1908 – Geo Bogza, Romanian poet and journalist (d. 1993)
1908 – Michael Maltese, American actor, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1981)
1910 – Roman Czerniawski, Polish air force officer and spy (d. 1985)
1910 – Irmgard Keun, German author (d. 1982)
1910 – Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-American gangster (d. 1993)
1911 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (d. 2004)
1912 – Eva Braun, German wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)
1912 – Christopher Hill, English historian and author (d. 2003)
1913 – Mary Leakey, English-Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist (d. 1996)
1914 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (d. 2005)
1915 – Kavi Pradeep, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1998)
1916 – John Crank, English mathematician and physicist (d. 2006)
1917 – Louis-Philippe de Grandpré, Canadian lawyer and jurist (d. 2008)
1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (d. 2016)
1918 – Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author and painter (d. 2007)
1919 – Takashi Yanase, Japanese poet and illustrator, created Anpanman (d. 2013)
1921 – Carl Neumann Degler, American historian and author (d. 2014)
1921 – Bob Scott, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2012)
1922 – Patrick Macnee, English-American actor and costume designer (d. 2015)
1922 – Denis Norden, English actor, screenwriter, and television host (d. 2018)
1922 – Haskell Wexler, American director, producer, and cinematographer (d. 2015)
1923 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1981)
1924 – Billy Wright, English footballer and manager (d. 1994)
1924 – Jin Yong, Hong Kong author and publisher, founded Ming Pao (d. 2018)
1925 – Walker Edmiston, American actor and puppeteer (d. 2007)
1927 – Gerard K. O’Neill, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1992)
1928 – Allan H. Meltzer, American economist and academic (d. 2017)
1929 – Colin Murdoch, New Zealand pharmacist and veterinarian, invented the tranquilliser gun (d. 2008)
1929 – Oscar Sambrano Urdaneta, Venezuelan author and critic (d. 2011)
1929 – Valentin Yanin, Russian historian and author (d. 2020)
1930 – Jun Kondo, Japanese physicist and academic
1931 – Rip Torn, American actor (d. 2019)
1931 – Fred Trueman, English cricketer (d. 2006)
1931 – Mamie Van Doren, American actress and model
1931 – Ricardo Vidal, Filipino cardinal (d. 2017)
1932 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban soldier and anarchist (d. 1959)
1932 – François Truffaut, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
1933 – Leslie Crowther, English comedian, actor, and game show host (d. 1996)
1936 – Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2009)
1938 – Fred Mifflin, Canadian admiral and politician, 19th Minister of Veterans Affairs (d. 2013)
1939 – Jean Beaudin, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2019)
1939 – Mike Farrell, American actor, director, producer, activist and public speaker
1939 – Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (d. 2014)
1940 – Tom Brokaw, American journalist and author
1940 – Petr Hájek, Czech mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
1940 – Jimmy Tarbuck, English comedian and actor
1941 – Stephen Albert, American pianist and composer (d. 1992)
1941 – Dave Berry, English pop singer
1941 – Gigi Perreau, American actress and director
1942 – Sarah Brady, American activist and author (d. 2015)
1942 – Charlie Coles, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1942 – Ahmad-Jabir Ahmadov Ismail oghlu, Azerbaijani philosopher and academic
1942 – James Loewen, American sociologist and historian
1942 – Tommy Roberts, English fashion designer (d. 2012)
1943 – Fabian Forte, American pop singer and actor
1943 – Gayle Hunnicutt, American actress
1944 – Christine Boutin, French politician, French Minister of Housing and Urban Development
1944 – Willie Tee, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2007)
1944 – Michael Tucker, American actor and producer
1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
1946 – Richie Hayward, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2010)
1946 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
1946 – Jim Turner, American captain and politician
1947 – Bill Staines, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Charlie Hickcox, American swimmer (d .2010)
1949 – Mike Batt, English singer-songwriter and producer
1949 – Manuel Orantes, Spanish tennis player
1949 – Jim Sheridan, Irish director, producer, and screenwriter
1950 – Natalie Cole, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2015)
1950 – Timothy M. Dolan, American cardinal
1950 – Punky Meadows, American rock guitarist and songwriter
1952 – Ric Charlesworth, Australian cricketer, coach, and politician
1952 – Viktor Giacobbo, Swiss actor, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Ricardo La Volpe, Argentinian footballer, manager, and coach
1955 – Avram Grant, Israeli football manager
1955 – Michael Pollan, American journalist, author, and academic
1955 – Bruno Stolorz, French rugby player and coach
1956 – Jerry Marotta, American drummer
1957 – Andres Lipstok, Estonian economist and politician, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs
1957 – Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedian
1957 – Simon Phillips, English drummer and producer
1957 – Robert Townsend, American actor and director
1958 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (d. 2004)
1960 – Jeremy Bowen, Welsh journalist
1960 – Megan Gallagher, American actress
1961 – Michael Bolt, Australian rugby league player
1961 – Cam Cameron, American football player and coach
1961 – Bill Lester, American race car driver
1961 – Yury Onufriyenko, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1962 – Stavros Lambrinidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Greece
1962 – Axl Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer
1963 – David Capel, English cricketer
1963 – Scott Gordon, American ice hockey player and coach
1963 – Quentin Letts, English journalist and critic
1964 – Laurent Cabannes, French rugby player
1964 – Gordon Downie, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
1964 – Colin Miller, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1964 – Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russian actor and director
1965 – Jan Svěrák, Czech actor, director, and screenwriter
1966 – Rick Astley, English singer-songwriter
1967 – Anita Cochran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1967 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1968 – Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer
1968 – Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer and producer
1969 – David Hayter, American actor and screenwriter
1969 – Masaharu Fukuyama, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1969 – Tim Sherwood, English international footballer midfielder and manager
1969 – Bob Wickman, American baseball player
1970 – Per Frandsen, Danish footballer and manager
1970 – Tim Herron, American golfer
1971 – Brad Hogg, Australian cricketer
1971 – Carlos Rogers, American basketball player
1972 – Stefano Bettarini, Italian footballer
1972 – David Binn, American football player
1974 – Aljo Bendijo, Filipino journalist
1975 – Chad Allen, American baseball player and coach
1975 – Orkut Büyükkökten, Turkish computer scientist and engineer, created Orkut
1975 – Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder and educator
1976 – Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast and coach
1977 – Josh Stewart, American actor
1978 – Yael Naim, French-Israeli singer-songwriter
1979 – Dan Bălan, Moldovan singer-songwriter and producer
1980 – Kerry Jeremy, Antiguan cricketer
1980 – Kim Poirier, Canadian actress, singer, and producer
1980 – Luke Ravenstahl, American politician, 58th Mayor of Pittsburgh
1981 – Ricky Barnes, American golfer
1981 – Calum Best, American-English model and actor
1981 – Shim Eun-jin, South Korean singer and actress
1981 – Alison Haislip, American actress and producer
1981 – Jens Lekman, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Ty Warren, American football player
1982 – Tank, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
1982 – Alice Eve, English actress
1982 – Elise Ray, American gymnast
1983 – Melrose Bickerstaff, American model and fashion designer
1983 – Brodie Croyle, American football player
1983 – Dimas Delgado, Spanish footballer
1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer
1983 – Jamie Whincup, Australian race car driver
1984 – Darren Bent, English international footballer, forward
1984 – Piret Järvis, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Antoine Wright, American basketball player
1985 – Ben Creagh, Australian rugby league player
1985 – Kris Humphries, American basketball player
1986 – Dane DeHaan, American actor
1986 – Yunho, South Korean singer and actor
1988 – Bailey Hanks, American actress, singer, and dancer
1989 – Craig Cathcart, Northern Irish footballer
1989 – Jonny Flynn, American basketball player
1990 – Adam Henrique, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Jermaine Kearse, American football player
1990 – Aida Rybalko, Lithuanian figure skater
1991 – Tobias Eisenbauer, Austrian ice dancer
1991 – Ida Njåtun, Norwegian speed skater
1991 – Eva Wacanno, Dutch tennis player
1991 – Fei Yu, Chinese footballer
1992 – Víctor Mañón, Mexican footballer
1993 – Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011
1993 – Tinashe, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1994 – Charlie Heaton, British actor and musician
1995 – Leon Goretzka, German footballer
1995 – Sam McQueen, English footballer

Deaths on February 6

743 – Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph (b. 691)
797 – Donnchad Midi, Irish king (b. 733)
891 – Photios I of Constantinople (b. 810)
1140 – Thurstan, Archbishop of York
1155 – King Sigurd II of Norway (b. 1133)
1215 – Hōjō Tokimasa, Japanese shikken of the Kamakura bakufu (b. 1138)
1378 – Joanna of Bourbon (b. 1338)
1411 – Esau de’ Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus
1497 – Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1410)
1515 – Aldus Manutius, Italian publisher, founded the Aldine Press (b. 1449)
1519 – Lorenz von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg (b. 1459)
1539 – John III, Duke of Cleves (b. 1491)
1585 – Edmund Plowden, English lawyer and scholar (b. 1518)
1593 – Jacques Amyot, French author and translator (b. 1513)
1593 – Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan (b. 1517)
1597 – Franciscus Patricius, Italian philosopher and scientist (b. 1529)
1612 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1538)
1617 – Prospero Alpini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1553)
1625 – Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1584)
1685 – Charles II of England (b. 1630)
1695 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1643)
1740 – Pope Clement XII (b. 1652)
1775 – William Dowdeswell, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1721)
1783 – Capability Brown, English gardener and architect (b. 1716)
1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian-French playwright (b. 1707)
1804 – Joseph Priestley, English chemist and theologian (b. 1733)
1807 – John Reid, Scottish general (b. 1721)
1833 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist and entomologist (b. 1762)
1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, English explorer (b. 1804)
1865 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (b. 1836)
1899 – Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1874)
1899 – Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1831)
1902 – John Colton, English-Australian politician, 13th Premier of South Australia (b. 1823)
1916 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (b. 1867)
1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1862)
1929 – Maria Christina of Austria (b. 1858)
1931 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (b. 1861)
1932 – John Earle, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1865)
1938 – Marianne von Werefkin, Russian-Swiss painter (b. 1860)
1942 – Jaan Soots, Estonian general and politician, 7th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1880)
1951 – Gabby Street, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1882)
1952 – George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
1958 – victims of the Munich air disaster
- – Geoff Bent, English footballer (b. 1932)
- – Roger Byrne, English footballer (b. 1929)
- – Eddie Colman, English footballer (b. 1936)
- – Walter Crickmer, English footballer and manager (b. 1900)
- – Mark Jones, English footballer (b. 1933)
- – David Pegg, English footballer (b. 1935)
- – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (b. 1913)
- – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (b. 1932)
1963 – Piero Manzoni, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1933)
1964 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (b. 1869)
1967 – Martine Carol, French actress (b. 1920)
1972 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (b. 1902)
1976 – Ritwik Ghatak, Bangladeshi-Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
1976 – Vince Guaraldi, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1928)
1981 – Hugo Montenegro, American composer and conductor (b. 1925)
1982 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (b. 1894)
1985 – James Hadley Chase, English-Swiss soldier and author (b. 1906)
1986 – Frederick Coutts, Scottish 8th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1899)
1986 – Dandy Nichols, English actress (b. 1907)
1986 – Minoru Yamasaki, American architect, designed the World Trade Center (b. 1912)
1987 – Julien Chouinard, Canadian lawyer and jurist (b. 1929)
1989 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (b. 1912)
1990 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (b. 1913)
1991 – Salvador Luria, Italian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
1991 – Danny Thomas, American actor, producer, and humanitarian (b. 1914)
1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1943)
1994 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (b. 1905)
1994 – Jack Kirby, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
1995 – James Merrill, American poet and playwright (b. 1926)
1998 – Falco, Austrian pop-rock musician (b. 1957)
1999 – Don Dunstan, Australian lawyer and politician, 35th Premier of South Australia (b. 1926)
1999 – Jimmy Roberts, American tenor (b. 1924)
2000 – Phil Walters, American race car driver (b. 1916)
2001 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino theoretician and activist (b. 1953)
2002 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
2004 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and economist (b. 1920)
2005 – Karl Haas, German-American pianist, conductor, and radio host (b. 1913)
2007 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player and coach (b. 1926)
2007 – Frankie Laine, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1913)
2007 – Willye White, American runner and long jumper (b. 1939)
2008 – Tony Rolt, English race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
2009 – Philip Carey, American actor (b. 1925)
2009 – James Whitmore, American actor (b. 1921)
2011 – Gary Moore, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1952)
2012 – David Rosenhan, American psychologist and academic (b. 1929)
2012 – Antoni Tàpies, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
2012 – Janice E. Voss, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1956)
2013 – Chokri Belaid, Tunisian lawyer and politician (b. 1964)
2013 – Menachem Elon, German-Israeli academic and jurist (b. 1923)
2014 – Vasiľ Biľak, Slovak politician (b. 1917)
2014 – Ralph Kiner, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
2014 – Maxine Kumin, American author and poet (b. 1925)
2014 – Vaçe Zela, Albanian-Swiss singer and guitarist (b. 1939)
2015 – André Brink, South African author and playwright (b. 1935)
2015 – Alan Nunnelee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1958)
2015 – Pedro León Zapata, Venezuelan cartoonist (b. 1929)
2016 – Dan Gerson, American screenwriter (b. 1966)
2016 – Dan Hicks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
2017 – Irwin Corey, American comedian and actor (b. 1914)
2017 – Inge Keller, German actress (b. 1923)
2017 – Alec McCowen, English actor (b. 1925)
2017 – Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby union footballer (b. 1971)

Holidays and observances on February 6

Christian feast day:
- Amand
- Dorothea of Caesarea
- Hildegund, O.Praem.
- Jacut
- Mateo Correa Magallanes (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
- Mél of Ardagh
- Paul Miki and Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan
- Relindis (Renule) of Maaseik
- Vedastus
- February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
Ronald Reagan Day (California, United States)
Sami National Day (Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden)
Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in 1840.

February 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice).

February 4 in History

211 – Following the death of Rome’s Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarreling sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace.
960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.
1169 – A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.
1454 – In the Thirteen Years’ War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
1555 – John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England.
1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master’s death.
1758 – The city of Macapá in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral.
1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It would be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.
1801 – John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
1810 – Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe.
1820 – The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and two ships.
1825 – The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
1846 – The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.
1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.
1861 – American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
1899 – The Philippine–American War begins with the Battle of Manila.
1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.
1938 – Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.
1941 – The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
1945 – World War II: Santo Tomas Internment Camp is liberated from Japanese authority.
1945 – World War II: The Yalta Conference between the “Big Three” (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) opens at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea.
1945 – World War II: The British Indian Army and Imperial Japanese Army begin a series of battles known as the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.
1948 – Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
1961 – The Angolan War of Independence and the greater Portuguese Colonial War begin.
1966 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.
1967 – Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.
1969 – Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
1974 – M62 coach bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb on a bus carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel in Yorkshire, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians are killed.
1975 – Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
1976 – In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
1977 – A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency’s history.
1992 – A coup d’état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
1997 – En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
1998 – The 5.9 M_w  Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme.
1999 – Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 41 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
2000 – The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France, Jacques Chirac and the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day which is held on February 4 every year.
2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.
2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
2015 – TransAsia Airways Flight 235 with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after take-off, killing 43 people.
2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic causes all casinos in Macau to be closed down for 15 days.

Births on February 4

1447 – Lodovico Lazzarelli, Italian poet (d. 1500)
1495 – Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1535)
1495 – Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1568)
1505 – Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and author (d. 1580)
1575 – Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and theologian, founded the French school of spirituality (d. 1629)
1646 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet and politician (d. 1699)
1676 – Giacomo Facco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753)
1677 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (d. 1731)
1688 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (d. 1763)
1725 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (d. 1804)
1740 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795)
1778 – Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Swiss botanist, mycologist, and academic (d. 1841)
1799 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese journalist and author (d. 1854)
1818 – Emperor Norton, San Francisco eccentric and visionary (d. 1880)^{citation needed}
1831 – Oliver Ames, American financier and politician, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
1848 – Jean Aicard, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1921)
1849 – Jean Richepin, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1926)
1862 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (d. 1942)
1865 – Abe Isoo, Japanese minister and politician (d. 1949)
1868 – Constance Markievicz, Irish revolutionary and first woman elected to the UK House of Commons (d. 1927)
1871 – Friedrich Ebert, German lawyer and politician, 1st President of Germany (d. 1925)
1872 – Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian and Macedonian revolutionary activist (d. 1903)
1873 – Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1905)
1875 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (d. 1953)
1877 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (d. 1953)
1881 – Eulalio Gutiérrez, Mexican general and politician, President of Mexico (d. 1939)
1881 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
1883 – Reinhold Rudenberg, German-American inventor and a pioneer of electron microscopy (d. 1961)
1891 – M. A. Ayyangar, Indian lawyer and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1978)
1892 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and academic (d. 1964)
1895 – Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953)
1896 – Friedrich Glauser, Austrian-Swiss author (d. 1938)
1896 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist and academic (d. 1997)
1897 – Ludwig Erhard, German soldier and politician, 2nd Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1977)
1899 – Virginia M. Alexander, American physician and founder of the Aspiranto Health Home (d. 1949)
1900 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1902 – Charles Lindbergh, American pilot and explorer (d. 1974)
1902 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 2003)
1903 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (d. 2014)
1904 – MacKinlay Kantor, American author and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1905 – Hylda Baker, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (d. 1986)
1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (d. 1945)
1906 – Letitia Dunbar-Harrison, Irish librarian (d. 1994)
1906 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (d. 1997)
1908 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (d. 1937)
1912 – Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian banker and politician, Norwegian Minister of Industry (d. 1999)
1912 – Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian-American conductor (d. 1993)
1912 – Byron Nelson, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2006)
1913 – Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
1914 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author and publisher (d. 1980)
1915 – William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1915 – Norman Wisdom, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2010)
1917 – Yahya Khan, Pakistan general and politician, 3rd President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
1918 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (d. 1995)
1918 – Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991)
1920 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (d. 2016)
1921 – Betty Friedan, American author and feminist (d. 2006)
1921 – Lotfi Zadeh, Iranian-American mathematician and computer scientist and founder of fuzzy logic (d. 2017)
1923 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (d. 2013)
1925 – Russell Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
1925 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (d. 2013)
1925 – Christopher Zeeman, English mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
1926 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1926 – Dave Sands, Australian boxer (d. 1952)
1927 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
1928 – Oscar Cabalén, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1967)
1928 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
1929 – Paul Burlison, American rockabilly guitarist (d. 2003)
1929 – Neil Johnston, American basketball player (d. 1978)
1930 – Tibor Antalpéter, Hungarian volleyball player and diplomat, Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2012)
1930 – Arthur E. Chase, American businessman and politician (d. 2015)
1930 – Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (d. 2015)
1931 – Isabel Martínez de Perón, Argentinian dancer and politician, 41st President of Argentina
1935 – Wallis Mathias, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1994)
1935 – Martti Talvela, Finnish opera singer (d. 1989)
1935 – Collin Wilcox, American actress (d. 2009)
1936 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2014)
1936 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival (d. 2013)
1937 – David Newman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1938 – Frank J. Dodd, American businessman and politician, president of the New Jersey Senate (d. 2010)
1939 – Stan Lundine, American lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New York
1940 – George A. Romero, American director and producer (d. 2017)
1941 – Russell Cooper, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of Queensland
1941 – Ron Rangi, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
1941 – Jiří Raška, Czech skier and coach (d. 2012)
1943 – Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese journalist and politician, 2nd President of the Regional Government of Madeira
1943 – Wanda Rutkiewicz, Lithuanian-Polish mountaineer (d. 1992)
1943 – Ken Thompson, American computer scientist and programmer, co-developed the B programming language
1944 – Florence LaRue, American singer and actress
1947 – Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and politician, 3rd Director of National Intelligence
1947 – Dan Quayle, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 44th Vice President of the United States
1948 – Alice Cooper, American singer-songwriter
1948 – Rod Grams, American journalist and politician (d. 2013)
1948 – Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler
1949 – Michael Beck, American actor
1949 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (d. 2010)
1951 – Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
1951 – Phil Ehart, American rock drummer and songwriter
1952 – Jenny Shipley, New Zealand educator and politician, 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1952 – Thomas Silverstein, American prisoner, founder and former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang (d. 2019)
1955 – Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak politician, Prime Minister of Slovakia
1957 – Don Davis, American composer and conductor
1958 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (d. 2005)
1959 – Christian Schreier, German footballer and manager
1959 – Lawrence Taylor, American football player and sportscaster
1960 – Siobhan Dowd, English author and activist (d. 2007)
1960 – Adrienne King, American actress, dancer, and painter
1960 – Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (d. 1996)
1961 – Stewart O’Nan, American novelist
1961 – Denis Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Clint Black, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1962 – Stephen Hammond, English banker and politician
1963 – Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss skier
1964 – Elke Philipp, German Paralympic equestrian
1965 – Jerome Brown, American football player (d. 1992)
1966 – Tony Butterfield, Australian rugby league player
1966 – Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
1967 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995)
1970 – Gabrielle Anwar, English actress
1971 – Rob Corddry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Eric Garcetti, American lieutenant and politician, 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles
1972 – Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian and television host
1972 – Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer and manager
1973 – Oscar De La Hoya, American boxer
1973 – James Hird, Australian footballer and coach
1973 – Manny Legace, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1975 – Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
1977 – Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter
1979 – Giorgio Pantano, Italian race car driver
1980 – Raimonds Vaikulis, Latvian basketball player
1981 – Jason Kapono, American basketball player
1981 – Johan Vansummeren, Belgian cyclist
1982 – Chris Sabin, American wrestler
1982 – Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
1982 – Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian cyclist
1983 – Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
1983 – Rebecca White, Australian politician
1984 – Sandeep Acharya, Indian singer (d. 2013)
1984 – Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
1986 – Maximilian Götz, German race car driver
1986 – Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
1987 – Darren O’Dea, Irish footballer
1987 – Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
1993 – Bae Noo-ri, South Korean actress
1998 – Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer

Deaths on February 4

211 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 145)
708 – Pope Sisinnius (b. 650)
856 – Rabanus Maurus, Frankish archbishop and theologian (b. 780)
870 – Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury
1169 – John of Ajello, Bishop of Catania
1498 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (b. 1429/1433)
1505 – Jeanne de Valois, daughter of Louis XI of France (b. 1464)
1508 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (b. 1459)
1555 – John Rogers, English clergyman and translator (b. 1505)
1590 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1517)
1615 – Giambattista della Porta, Italian playwright and scholar (b. 1535)
1617 – Lodewijk Elzevir, Dutch publisher, co-founded the House of Elzevir (b. 1546)
1713 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (b. 1671)
1774 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701)
1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737)
1799 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect and educator (b. 1728)
1843 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (b. 1770)
1891 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1816)
1905 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (b. 1841)
1926 – İskilipli Âtıf Hodja, Turkish author and scholar (b. 1875)
1928 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
1933 – Archibald Sayce, English linguist and educator (b. 1846)
1940 – Nikolai Yezhov, Russian police officer and politician (b. 1895)
1943 – Frank Calder, English-Canadian ice hockey player and journalist (b. 1877)
1944 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (b. 1872)
1956 – Savielly Tartakower, Russian-French chess player, journalist, and author (b. 1887)
1958 – Henry Kuttner, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
1959 – Una O’Connor, Irish-American actress (b. 1880)
1968 – Neal Cassady, American novelist and poet (b. 1926)
1970 – Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (b. 1897)
1974 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1894)
1975 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1908)
1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
1982 – Georg Konrad Morgen, German lawyer and judge (b. 1909)
1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (b. 1950)
1987 – Liberace, American singer-songwriter and pianist, (b. 1919)
1987 – Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (b. 1956)
1987 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (b. 1902)
1990 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1915)
1992 – John Dehner, American actor (b. 1915)
1995 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1921)
2000 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908)
2002 – Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg (b. 1907)
2003 – Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algerian pharmacist and politician (b. 1920)
2005 – Ossie Davis, American actor, director, and playwright (b. 1917)
2006 – Betty Friedan, American author and activist (b. 1921)
2007 – José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
2007 – Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian-English poet and translator (b. 1959)
2007 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (b. 1934)
2007 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
2008 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (b. 1918)
2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish academic and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (b. 1942)
2010 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (b. 1924)
2010 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Estonian-American composer (b. 1919)
2011 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (b. 1913)
2012 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
2012 – Florence Green, English soldier (b. 1901)
2012 – Robert Daniel, American farmer, soldier, and politician (b. 1936)
2012 – Mike deGruy, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1951)
2013 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player (b. 1932)
2013 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
2014 – Keith Allen, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
2014 – Eugenio Corti, Italian soldier, author, and playwright (b. 1921)
2014 – Dennis Lota, Zambian footballer (b. 1973)
2015 – Wes Cooley, American soldier and politician (b. 1932)
2015 – Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (b. 1925)
2016 – Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
2017 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (b. 1949)
2017 – Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (b. 1928)
2018 – John Mahoney, English-American actor, voice artist, and comedian (b. 1940)
2019 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish Olympic-winning ski jumper and singer (b. 1963)

Holidays and observances on February 4

Christian feast day:
- Andrew Corsini
- Gilbert of Sempringham
- John de Brito
- Blessed Rabanus Maurus
- Rimbert
- Veronica
- February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Christianity)
Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States)
World Cancer Day

February 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day