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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 763 - Shi Chaoyi's head was sent to Chang'an, end of An Shi Rebellion.

★ 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt.

★ 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt alive at Campo de' Fiori in Rome, charged of heresy.

★ 1621 - Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.

★ 1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar.

★ 1801 - An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.

★ 1814 - Battle of Mormans.

★ 1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise.

★ 1854 - The British recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.

★ 1864 - American Civil War: ''H. L. Hunley'' becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS ''Housatonic''.

★ 1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

★ 1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.

★ 1871 - The victorious Prussian Army parades though Paris after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.

★ 1913 - The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.

★ 1924 - In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition with a time of 52-2/5 seconds.

★ 1925 - Harold Ross and Jane Grant found ''The New Yorker'' magazine; the debut issue is dated February 21, 1925.

★ 1933 - The magazine ''Newsweek'' is published for the first time.

★ 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.

★ 1936 - The world's first superhero, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in comics.

★ 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

★ 1944 - World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk (Chuuk), Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.

★ 1947 - The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union.

★ 1957 - A fire at a home for the elderly in Warrenton, Missouri kills 72 people.

★ 1958 - Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television.

★ 1959 - Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 - The first weather satellite launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.

★ 1962 - A storm kills more than 300 people in Hamburg, West Germany.

★ 1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.

★ 1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.

★ 1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T.

★ 1974 - Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House with a stolen helicopter.

★ 1979 - The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.

★ 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

★ 1995 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence.

★ 1995 - The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.

★ 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.

★ 2006 - Over 1,000 people perished and buried alive in the town of St. Bernard in Southern Leyte, Philippines mudslide.

Births

★ 1490 - Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Constable of France (d. 1527)

★ 1519 - Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (d. 1563)

★ 1524 - Charles of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1574)

★ 1581 - Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1653)

★ 1646 - Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)

★ 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (d. 1713)

★ 1718 - Matthew Tilghman, American Continental Congressman (d. 1790)

★ 1723 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (d. 1762)

★ 1752 - Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (d. 1831)

★ 1754 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (d. 1803)

★ 1766 - Thomas Malthus, English demographer and political economist (d. 1834)

★ 1781 - René Laënnec, French physician (d. 1826)

★ 1792 - Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist (d. 1876)

★ 1796 - Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1866)

★ 1818 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist (d. 1895)

★ 1820 - Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881)

★ 1820 - Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal, archbishop of Quebec City (d. 1898)

★ 1821 - Lola Montez, Mexican dancer, actress, friend of monarchs (d. 1861)

★ 1836 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870)

★ 1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, American department store founder (d. 1913)

★ 1848 - Louisa Lawson, Australian feminist, suffragist, and writer (d. 1920)

★ 1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1902)

★ 1863 - Fyodor Sologub, Russian symbolist novelist and poet (d. 1927)

★ 1864 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)

★ 1874 - Thomas J. Watson, American computer manufacturer (d. 1956)

★ 1877 - Isabelle Eberhardt, explorer and writer who spent a lot of time in North Africa (d. 1904)

★ 1877 - André Maginot, French politician (d. 1932)

★ 1885 - Steve Evans, American baseball player (d. 1943)

★ 1887 - Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (d. 1947)

★ 1888 - Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1969)

★ 1908 - Red Barber, American baseball announcer (d. 1992)

★ 1908 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (d. 2005)

★ 1910 - Marc Lawrence, American actor (d. 2005)

★ 1910 - Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979)

★ 1911 - Oskar Seidlin, Silesian-born Jewish-American literary scholar (d. 1984)

★ 1912 - Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)

★ 1914 - Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)

★ 1914 - Wayne Morris, American actor (d. 1959)

★ 1916 - Raf Vallone, Italian actor (d. 2002)

★ 1917 - Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian existentialist philosopher (d. 2002)

★ 1917 - Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (d. 1965)

★ 1919 - Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001)

★ 1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director

★ 1922 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)

★ 1922 - Tommy Edwards, American singer (d. 1969)

★ 1924 - Margaret Truman, American novelist

★ 1925 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)

★ 1925 - Hal Holbrook, American actor

★ 1929 - Chaim Potok, American author (d. 2002)

★ 1929 - Patricia Routledge, English actress

★ 1930 - Ruth Rendell, English writer

★ 1930 - Roger Craig, American baseball player and manager

★ 1932 - Buck Trent, American banjo player

★ 1933 - Bobby Lewis, American singer

★ 1933 - Craig L. Thomas, American politician (d. 2007)

★ 1934 - Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)

★ 1934 - Barry Humphries, Australian actor and comedian

★ 1935 - Christina Pickles, British actress

★ 1935 - Michel Aoun, Lebanese prime minister and army commander

★ 1936 - Jim Brown, American football player

★ 1939 - John Leyton, British singer

★ 1939 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress and beauty queen

★ 1940 - Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)

★ 1942 - Huey P. Newton, American political activist (d. 1989)

★ 1944 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer

★ 1945 - Zina Bethune, American actress

★ 1945 - Brenda Fricker, Irish actress

★ 1948 - Rick Majerus, American basketball coach

★ 1948 - José José, Mexican singer and actor

★ 1949 - Fred Frith, British musician

★ 1952 - Karin Janz, East German gymnast

★ 1953 - Janice Dickinson, American model

★ 1953 - Norman Pace, British actor and comic

★ 1954 - Rene Russo, American actress

★ 1955 - Mo Yan, Chinese writer, author of Red Sorghum (novel)

★ 1956 - Richard Karn, American actor

★ 1957 - Loreena McKennitt, Canadian musician

★ 1959 - Aryeh Deri, Israeli rabbi and politician

★ 1959 - Neil Lomax, American football player

★ 1962 - Alison Hargreaves, British mountaineer (d. 1995)

★ 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor

★ 1962 - Tyrone "Ty" Jones, American screenwriter

★ 1963 - Michael Jordan, American basketball player

★ 1963 - Daniel Whitney, aka Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian

★ 1964 - Buster Olney, American sports columnist

★ 1965 - Michael Bay, American film director

★ 1966 - Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1966 - Quorthon, Swedish musician (Bathory) (d. 2004)

★ 1966 - Ioannis Kalitzakis, Greek footballer

★ 1967 - Chanté Moore, American singer

★ 1969 - Tuesday Knight, American actress

★ 1970 - Dominic Purcell, English-born actor

★ 1970 - Tim Mahoney, American musician (311)

★ 1971 - Martyn Bennett, Canadian composer (d. 2005)

★ 1971 - Denise Richards, American actress

★ 1971 - Jeremy Edwards, British actor

★ 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day)

★ 1972 - Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters)

★ 1972 - Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater

★ 1974 - Kaoru, Japanese musician

★ 1974 - Jerry O'Connell, American actor

★ 1974 - Bryan White, American singer

★ 1975 - Wish Bone, American rapper

★ 1975 - Harisu, South Korean singer, model and actress

★ 1975 - Todd Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1975 - Vaclav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player

★ 1976 - Kelly Carlson, American actress

★ 1976 - Scott Williamson, American baseball player

★ 1978 - Jacob Wetterling, American kidnapping victim

★ 1979 - Josh Willingham, American baseball player

★ 1980 - Jason Ritter, American actor

★ 1980 - Al Harrington, American basketball player

★ 1981 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor

★ 1981 - Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress

★ 1981 - Lupe Fiasco, American rapper

★ 1982 - Adriano, Brazilian footballer

★ 1982 - Brian Bruney, American baseball player

★ 1983 - Gérald Cid, French footballer

★ 1983 - Marios Kaperonis, Greek boxer

★ 1984 - Kenta Kamakari, Japanese actor and seiyuu

★ 1984 - AB de Villiers, South African cricketer

★ 1986 - Joey O'Brien, Irish footballer

★ 1988 - Thomas Cahoon, American Radio personality

★ 1991 - Bonnie Wright, British actress

★ 1996 - Sasha Pieterse, South African child actress

Deaths

★ 197 - Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (killed in battle)

★ 364 - Jovian, Roman Emperor

★ 1339 - Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)

★ 1371 - Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria

★ 1596 - Friedrich Sylburg, German classical scholar (b. 1536)

★ 1600 - Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher (burned at the stake) (b. 1548)

★ 1609 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)

★ 1624 - Juan de Mariana, Spanish historian (b. 1536)

★ 1659 - Abel Servien, French diplomat (b. 1593)

★ 1673 - Molière, French playwright (b. 1622)

★ 1680 - Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (b. 1599)

★ 1680 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637)

★ 1715 - Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (b. 1646)

★ 1732 - Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (b. 1669)

★ 1768 - Arthur Onslow, English politician (b. 1691)

★ 1780 - Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (b. 1706)

★ 1841 - Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist (b. 1770)

★ 1854 - John Martin, English painter (b. 1789)

★ 1856 - Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)

★ 1874 - Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (b. 1796)

★ 1883 - Napoleon Coste, French guitarist and composer (b. 1806)

★ 1883 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1845)

★ 1890 - Christopher Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819)

★ 1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)

★ 1912 - Edgar Evans, Welsh naval officer (b. 1876)

★ 1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)

★ 1934 - King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)

★ 1934 - Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862)

★ 1939 - Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859)

★ 1943 - Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer (b. 1888)

★ 1943 - Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872)

★ 1958 - Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (b. 1876)

★ 1961 - Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)

★ 1962 - Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876)

★ 1970 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)

★ 1970 - Alfred Newman, American film composer (b. 1901)

★ 1977 - Janani Luwum, Ugandan Archbishop (b. 1922)

★ 1982 - Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (b. 1922)

★ 1982 - Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)

★ 1982 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor (b. 1901)

★ 1989 - Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)

★ 1990 - Erik Rhodes, American actor (b. 1906)

★ 1990 - Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1901)

★ 1994 - Randy Shilts, American author and activist (b. 1951)

★ 1996 - Hervé Bazin, French writer (b. 1911)

★ 1997 - Zein Isa, Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter

★ 1998 - Ernst Jünger, German author (b. 1895)

★ 1998 - Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (b. 1921)

★ 2001 - Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948)

★ 2001 - Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933)

★ 2004 - José López Portillo, President of Mexico (b. 1920)

★ 2005 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (b. 1919)

★ 2005 - Omar Sivori, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)

★ 2006 - Ray Barretto, Puerto Rican musician (b. 1929)

★ 2006 - Harold Hunter, American professional skateboarder (b. 1974)

★ 2006 - Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (b. 1948)

★ 2007 - Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Lithuanian writer (b. 1961)

★ 2007 - Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (b. 1965)

★ 2007 - Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born Canadian musician, producer and songwriter (b. 1943)

★ 2007 - Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1910)

Holidays and observances

★ Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus.

★ Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed.

★ Random Acts of Kindness Day.

Liturgical feasts

★ Seven Founders of the Servite Order

★ Saint Alexis Falconieri (d. 1310)

★ Saint Constabilis

★ Saint Evermodus

★ Saint Silvinus

★ February 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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