Onthis Day, 12th February

February , 12

Events[edit]

·         506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of "Roman law".

·         865 – The Battle of the Morcuera took place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista. The battle took place at Hoz de la Morcuera near Miranda de Ebro. The battle pitted the Christian forces of Castile and Asturias under Rodrigo of Castile against the forces of the Emirate of Cordoba under Muhammad I of Córdoba resulting in a decisive Cordoban victory.

·         962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.

·         1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.

·         1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which King Stephen was defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda, presenting her with the unfulfilled opportunity to become the first queen of medieval England.

·         1207 – Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, is established.

·         1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.

·         1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.

·         1542 – Portuguese forces under Christovão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.

·         1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.

·         1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

·         1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.

·         1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco.

·         1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground.

·         1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.

·         1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.

·         1899 – The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.

·         1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.

·         1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.

·         1914 – Charlie Chaplin's first film appearance, Making a Living premiered.

·         1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.

·         1920 – France occupies Memel.

·         1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.

·         1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.

·         1933 – Working as maids, the sisters Christine and Lea Papin murder their employer's wife and daughter in Le Mans, France. The case is the subject of a number of French films and plays.

·         1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.

·         1935 – Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.

·         1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to conclusion as Soviet troops accept the surrender of 91,000 remnants of the Axis forces.

·         1957 – Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage.

·         1959 – Dyatlov Pass incident

·         1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

·         1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.

·         1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.

·         1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday.

·         1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.

·         1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.

·         1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.

·         1982 – February 1982 Hama massacre: the government of Syria attacks the town of Hama.

·         1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.

·         1988 – Auntie Anne's is founded by Anne F. Beiler in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

·         1989 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.

·         1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.

·         2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.

·         2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men's singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.

·         2007 – The worst flooding in Indonesia in 300 years begins.

Births[edit]

·         1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)

·         1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)

·         1457 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian (d. 1526)

·         1494 – Bona Sforza, Italian wife of Sigismund I the Old (d. 1557)

·         1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1574)

·         1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)

·         1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)

·         1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)

·         1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary (d. 1649)

·         1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author (d. 1679)

·         1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)

·         1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress (d. 1687)

·         1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)

·         1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)

·         1695 – William Borlase, English geologist (d. 1772)

·         1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)

·         1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)

·         1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)

·         1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)

·         1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)

·         1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)

·         1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician (d. 1835)

·         1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)

·         1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (d. 1887)

·         1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)

·         1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d. 1884)

·         1829 – William Stanley, English engineer (d. 1909)

·         1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)

·         1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish mathematician (d. 1927)

·         1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)

·         1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator (d. 1913)

·         1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)

·         1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)

·         1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)

·         1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter (d. 1927)

·         1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)

·         1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German diplomat, 13th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Germany(d. 1956)

·         1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)

·         1878 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955)

·         1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)

·         1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)

·         1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player (d. 1947)

·         1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)

·         1882 – James Joyce, Irish author and poet (d. 1941)

·         1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author (d. 1958)

·         1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet (d. 1950)

·         1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)

·         1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)

·         1888 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)

·         1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)

·         1890 – Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)

·         1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)

·         1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)

·         1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)

·         1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian military leader (d. 1924)

·         1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)

·         1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)

·         1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson's (d. 1972)

·         1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player (d. 1988)

·         1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)

·         1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)

·         1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)

·         1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-American author and philosopher (d. 1982)

·         1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player (d. 1976)

·         1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)

·         1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)

·         1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)

·         1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (d. 1985)

·         1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician (d. 2004)

·         1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)

·         1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)

·         1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)

·         1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (d. 1985)

·         1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam

·         1918 – Hella Haasse, Dutch author (d. 2011)

·         1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano (d. 2012)

·         1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)

·         1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)

·         1923 – James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)

·         1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)

·         1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager

·         1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist

·         1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)

·         1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)

·         1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)

·         1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician, 20th President of France

·         1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)

·         1927 – C. R. Krishnaswamy Rao, Indian civil servant (d. 2013)

·         1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)

·         1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player (d. 2013)

·         1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American judge, author, and activist (d. 1998)

·         1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)

·         1929 – George Band, English mountaineer (d. 2011)

·         1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)

·         1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)

·         1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor

·         1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician

·         1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

·         1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author

·         1932 – Arthur Lyman, American vibraphone player (d. 2002)

·         1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor

·         1933 – M'el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)

·         1933 – Tony Jay, English actor (d. 2006)

·         1933 – Orlando "Cachaito" López, Cuban bassist (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2009)

·         1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist

·         1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)

·         1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player

·         1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest French-English journalist, poet, and critic

·         1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor

·         1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and singer (Smothers Brothers)

·         1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician

·         1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)

·         1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)

·         1939 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer (d. 1991)

·         1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (Johnny Kidd & the Pirates and The Tornados) (d. 2000)

·         1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)

·         1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach

·         1940 – David Jason, English actor

·         1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)

·         1941 – Lee Redmond, American woman with the longest fingernails

·         1942 – Bo Hopkins, American actor

·         1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Hollies, Crosby & Nash, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

·         1942 – Jang Sung-taek, North Korean politician (d. 2013)

·         1943 – Susan Hanson, English actress

·         1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor

·         1944 – Karen Foss, American journalist

·         1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)

·         1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic

·         1946 – John Armitt, English engineer

·         1946 – Blake Clark, American comedian and actor

·         1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian politician, 3rd President of Mali

·         1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)

·         1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

·         1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)

·         1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author

·         1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Earth, Wind & Fire)

·         1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)

·         1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist

·         1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)

·         1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor

·         1949 – Ross Valory, American bass player (Journey and The Storm)

·         1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler

·         1950 – Libby Purves, English journalist and author

·         1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress

·         1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler

·         1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach

·         1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host

·         1952 – John Cornyn, American politician

·         1952 – Rick Dufay, American guitarist and songwriter (Aerosmith)

·         1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea

·         1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter

·         1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)

·         1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model and actress

·         1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier, actor, and singer

·         1954 – Nelson Ne'e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)

·         1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player

·         1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author

·         1955 – Virginia Leng, Maltese horse rider

·         1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress

·         1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter

·         1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright

·         1960 – Jari Porttila, Finnish journalist

·         1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)

·         1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress

·         1961 – Steve Penney, Canadian ice hockey player

·         1962 – Philippe Claudel, French director

·         1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player

·         1962 – Luke Johnson, English businessman

·         1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player

·         1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor

·         1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)

·         1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player

·         1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist

·         1963 – Stephen McGann, English actor

·         1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer

·         1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist

·         1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player

·         1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Stone Temple Pilots, Army of Anyone, and Talk Show)

·         1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands

·         1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player

·         1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general

·         1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player

·         1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player

·         1968 – Thomas Teige, German martial artist and actor

·         1968 – Simon Wickham-Smith, English singer, astrologer, and academic

·         1969 – Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer

·         1970 – C. Ernst Harth, Canadian actor

·         1970 – Nikolaos Michopoulos, Greek footballer

·         1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer

·         1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and screenwriter

·         1971 – Rockwilder, American rapper and producer

·         1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress

·         1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer (d. 2014)

·         1972 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter

·         1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player

·         1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer

·         1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach

·         1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower

·         1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer

·         1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player

·         1975 – Donald Driver, American football player

·         1975 – Vaggelis Koutsoures, Greek footballer

·         1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer

·         1976 – Lori Beth Denberg, American actress

·         1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer

·         1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

·         1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer

·         1978 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer

·         1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer

·         1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor

·         1978 – Faye White, English footballer

·         1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver

·         1979 – Christine Bleakley, Irish television host

·         1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler

·         1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player

·         1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress

·         1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter

·         1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist

·         1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler

·         1980 – Gucci Mane, American rapper and producer

·         1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer

·         1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)

·         1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer

·         1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer

·         1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player

·         1982 – Brandy Talore, American porn actress

·         1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player

·         1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper

·         1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player

·         1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer

·         1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fightstar)

·         1984 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor

·         1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player

·         1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter

·         1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player

·         1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer

·         1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress

·         1987 – Anthony Fainga'a, Australian rugby player

·         1987 – Saia Fainga'a, Australian rugby player

·         1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer

·         1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player

·         1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer

·         1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor

·         1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer

·         1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)

·         1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer

·         1992 – Danielle White, American singer-songwriter and actress (American Juniors)

·         1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer

·         1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer

·         1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakistani student and computer programmer (d. 2012)

Deaths[edit]

·         619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop

·         1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)

·         1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)

·         1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)

·         1260 – Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs from Sandomierz

·         1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)

·         1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)

·         1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh soldier (b. 1400)

·         1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief

·         1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian author and diplomat (b. 1478)

·         1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyo (b. 1558)

·         1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer (b. 1525)

·         1648 – George Abbot, English author (b. 1603)

·         1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608)

·         1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)

·         1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596)

·         1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)

·         1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610)

·         1704 – Guillaume de l'Hôpital, French mathematician (b. 1661)

·         1712 – Martin Lister, English physician (b. 1639)

·         1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643)

·         1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist (b. 1666)

·         1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician (b. 1689)

·         1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)

·         1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713)

·         1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749)

·         1904 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1841)

·         1905 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Le Crédit Lyonnais (b. 1824)

·         1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)

·         1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1829)

·         1913 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer (b. 1845)

·         1918 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (b. 1858)

·         1919 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian lieutenant (b. 1894)

·         1925 – Antti Aarne, Finnish historian and academic (b. 1867)

·         1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch speed skater and cyclist (b. 1873)

·         1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b. 1848)

·         1932 – Agha Petros, Assyrian general (b. 1880)

·         1939 – Bernhard Gregory, German chess player (b. 1879)

·         1942 – Ado Birk, Estonian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1883)

·         1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1905)

·         1942 – Hugh D. McIntosh, Australian businessman (b. 1876)

·         1945 – Alfred Delp, German priest and philosopher (b. 1907)

·         1945 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German economist and politician (b. 1884)

·         1945 – Johannes Popitz, Prussian politician (b. 1884)

·         1948 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker (b. 1870)

·         1948 – Bevil Rudd, South African runner (b. 1894)

·         1950 – Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician (b. 1873)

·         1952 – Callistratus of Georgia, Georgian patriarch (b. 1866)

·         1954 – Hella Wuolijoki, Finnish author (b. 1886)

·         1956 – Charles Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)

·         1956 – Truxton Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (b. 1878)

·         1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)

·         1957 – Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (b. 1890)

·         1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)

·         1962 – Shlomo Hestrin, Canadian-Israeli biochemist (b. 1914)

·         1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)

·         1970 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898)

·         1970 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)

·         1972 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)

·         1973 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian politician (b. 1902)

·         1974 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian philosopher (b. 1922)

·         1975 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian (b. 1883)

·         1979 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (Sex Pistols, Vicious White Kids, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Flowers of Romance) (b. 1957)

·         1980 – William Howard Stein, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)

·         1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)

·         1983 – Sam Chatmon, American singer and guitarist (Mississippi Sheiks) (b. 1897)

·         1986 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (b. 1957)

·         1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)

·         1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish author (b. 1922)

·         1988 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor (b. 1929)

·         1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater (b. 1951)

·         1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand politician (b. 1901)

·         1990 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (b. 1905)

·         1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)

·         1992 – Bert Parks, American actor and singer (b. 1914)

·         1993 – François Reichenbach, French director and screenwriter (b. 1921)

·         1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor (b. 1917)

·         1995 – Fred Perry, English tennis player (b. 1909)

·         1995 – Donald Pleasence, English actor (b. 1919)

·         1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912)

·         1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)

·         1997 – Sanford Meisner, American actor (b. 1904)

·         1998 – Haroun Tazieff, French geologist (b. 1914)

·         1999 – David McComb, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Triffids and The Blackeyed Susans) (b. 1962)

·         2002 – Paul Baloff, American singer-songwriter (Exodus) (b. 1960)

·         2002 – Claude Brown, American author (b. 1937)

·         2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer and educator (b. 1917)

·         2004 – Bernard McEveety, American director and producer (b. 1924)

·         2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)

·         2007 – Vijay Arora, Indian actor (b. 1944)

·         2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (The Spinners) (b. 1939)

·         2007 – Joe Hunter, American pianist (The Funk Brothers) (b. 1927)

·         2007 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)

·         2007 – Masao Takemoto, Japanese gymnast (b. 1919)

·         2007 – Eric Von Schmidt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)

·         2008 – Barry Morse, English-Canadian actor (b. 1918)

·         2008 – Katoucha Niane, Guinean model and author (b. 1960)

·         2011 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress (b. 1975)

·         2011 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)

·         2012 – Joyce Barkhouse, Canadian author (b. 1913)

·         2012 – Frederick William Danker, American lexicographer and scholar (b. 1920)

·         2012 – George Esper, American journalist and academic (b. 1932)

·         2012 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (b. 1923)

·         2012 – James F. Lloyd, American pilot and politician (b. 1922)

·         2013 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (b. 1961)

·         2013 – John Kerr, American actor and lawyer (b. 1931)

·         2013 – Chris Kyle, American Navy Seal (b. 1974)

·         2013 – Lino Oviedo, Paraguayan general and politician (b. 1943)

·         2013 – Pepper Paire, American baseball player (b. 1924)

·         2013 – P. Shanmugam, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Puducherry (b. 1927)

·         2013 – Walt Sweeney, American football player (b. 1941)

·         2013 – Tyrice Thompson, American football player (b. 1985)

·         2013 – Guy F. Tozzoli, American architect (b. 1922)

·         2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935)

·         2014 – Tommy Aquino, American motorcycle racer (b. 1992)

·         2014 – Eduardo Coutinho, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)

·         2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)

·         2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican singer (Third World and Inner Circle) (b. 1948)

·         2014 – Werner Husemann, German soldier and pilot (b. 1919)

·         2014 – Luis Raúl, Puerto Rican comedian and actor (b. 1962)

·         2014 – Nigel Walker, English footballer (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances[edit]

·         Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)

·         Christian Feast Day:

·         Cornelius the Centurion

·         February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

·         Constitution Day (Philippines)

·         Day of Youth (Azerbaijan)

·         Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:

·         Bun Day (Iceland)

·         Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway)

·         Rosenmontag (Germany)

·         Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:

·         A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)

·         Celebration of Yemanja (Candomblé)

·         La Chandeleur or Crêpe Day (France)

·         Our Lady of Navigators (Brazil)

·         Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)

·         Groundhog Day (United States and Canada)

·         Inventor's Day (Thailand)

·         World Wetlands Day (International)