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What happened in history on this day: February 17?
On February 17 in ...
- 364 - Flavius Jovianus, Christian emperor of Rome (363-64), dies at about age 32.
- 956 - Hugo the Great earl of Paris/duke of Francia, dies at about age 55.
- 1370 - Battle at Rudau: Germany beats Lithuania.
- 1490 - Birth of Charles de Bourbon officer/governor (Lombardy).
- 1519 - Birth of François de Guise [Balafré], French general strategist (Calais).
- 1568 - Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay annual tribute to Sultan for peace.
- 1583 - Birth of J Henry Alting Dutch theologist.
- 1598 - Boris Godunov chosen tsar of Russia.
- 1600 - Giordano Bruno advocate of Copernican theory and plurality of worlds, burned at stake by the Inquisition in Rome.
- 1612 - Ernst of Bayern prince/bishop of Luik/archbishop of Cologne, dies at age 57.
- 1612 - Jodocus Hondius Flemish cartoonist/mathematician, dies at age 48.
- 1621 - Miles Standish appointed first commander of Plymouth colony.
- 1634 - William Prynne tried in Star Chamber for publishing "Histriomastix".
- 1652 - Gregorio Allegri Italian singer/composer (Miserere), dies at about age 67.
- 1653 - Birth of Arcangelo Corelli Fusignano Italy, violinist/composer (Concerto Grosso).
- 1654 - Michael Lohr composer, dies at age 62.
- 1665 - Birth of Rudolph Jacob Camerarius in Tübingen; botanist, proved the existence of sexes in plants, identified the reproductive parts, and demonstrated the role of pollen.
- 1667 - Birth of Georg Bronner composer.
- 1670 - France and Bavaria sign military assistance treaty.
- 1673 - Jean Baptiste Poquelin, French author and dramatist, dies in Paris at age 51.
- 1675 - Birth of Johann Melchior Conradi composer.
- 1676 - Kings Charles II and Louis XIV sign secret treaty.
- 1688 - Reverend James Renwick hanged in Scotland for being a Presbyterian.
- 1691 - Thomas Neale granted British patent for American postal service.
- 1696 - Birth of Baron Ernst Gottlieb composer.
- 1697 - Birth of Louis-Maurice de La Pierre composer.
- 1699 - Birth of Hans Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff German architect (Sanssouci).
- 1714 - Parliament of Paris accepts Pope Clemens XI's "Unigenitus" degree.
- 1715 - Antoine Galland French interpreter, dies at age 68.
- 1723 - Birth of Tobias Mayer "method of lunars" for longitude determination.
- 1740 - Birth of Horace Bénédict de Saussure in Switzerland; physicist/geologist, invented cyanometer, scale for measuring blueness of sky.
- 1752 - Birth of Friedrich M Klinger German playwright (Wirrwarr).
- 1758 - Birth of John Pinkerton Scottish historian.
- 1772 - First partition of Poland-Russia and Prussia, joined later by Austria.
- 1774 - Birth of Raphaelle Peale US, painter (After the Rain-1823).
- 1776 - First volume of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire published.
- 1781 - Birth of René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec in France; inventor (stethoscope).
- 1791 - Messier catalogs M83 (spiral galaxy in Hydra).
- 1795 - Thomas Seddal harvests 8.3-kg potato from his garden in Chester, England.
- 1801 - US House of Representatives breaks electoral college tie, chooses Thomas Jefferson as President over Aaron Burr.
- 1803 - Death of Louis R E prince de Rohan-Guémené at age 68; archbishop of Straatsburg.
- 1804 - Birth of Samuel Read Anderson; Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (dies 1883).
- 1817 - First US city lit by gas (Baltimore, Maryland).
- 1818 - Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patents "draisine" (early bicycle).
- 1820 - Birth of Henri Vieuxtemps in Verviers, Belgium; composer/teacher (Brussels Conservatory).
- 1824 - Birth of William Farrar "Baldy" Smith; US Major General (Union volunteers) (dies 1903).
- 1837 - Birth of Francis Jay Herron; US Major General (Union volunteers) (dies 1902).
- 1837 - Birth of Sam[uel] van Houten; Dutch (Liberal) minister (child labor laws).
- 1844 - Birth of A Montgomery Ward; founded US mail-order business (Montgomery Ward).
- 1848 - Toscane gets liberal Constitution.
- 1853 - Birth of Jaroslav Vrchlicky [Emil Frída]; Czechoslovakian poet (One night on Karlstein).
- 1854 - British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa).
- 1855 - Birth of Otto Liman von Sanders; German general in Turkey (WWI).
- 1857 - Birth of Samuel Sidney McClure; Irish-American newspaper editor/publisher.
- 1862 - Birth of Mori Ogai AKA Mori Rintarô; Japanese author (Maihime/Gan).
- 1863 - International Committee of the Red Cross is founded (Nobel Prize 1917, 1944, 1963).
- 1864 - Birth of Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson in New South Wales, Australia; poet (Waltzing Matilda).
- 1864 - Confederate submarine HL Hunley sinks USA ship Housatonic (first submarine to sink an enemy ship).
- 1865 - Battle of Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1865 - Columbia, South Carolina, burns down.
- 1867 - First ship passes through Suez Canal.
- 1867 - Birth of William Cadbury in England; chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury).
- 1867 - Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary.
- 1870 - Birth of Louis de Raet; Belgian economist/founder (Flemish People's Party).
- 1874 - Birth of Thomas J Watson; US representative/founder (IBM).
- 1874 - Lambert Adolphe J Quetelet, Belgian astronomer/sociologist, dies at age 77.
- 1875 - Luís Varela, Brazilian romantic poet, dies at age 33.
- 1876 - Sardines are first canned (Julius Wolff in Eastport, Maine).
- 1877 - Birth of Henri Vandeputte; Belgian author/poet (L'homme Jeune).
- 1879 - Birth of Dorothy Canfield Fisher; US novelist (Book of the Month Club).
- 1880 - Birth of Alvaro Obregon; General/President of Mexico (1920-24).
- 1880 - Tsar Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt.
- 1882 - First Test Cricket match played at Sydney Cricket Ground.
- 1884 - Birth of Arthur Vanderpoorten; Flemish minister of Internal affairs (1940).
- 1885 - Germany's Otto von Bismarck gives Carl Peters' firm management of East-Africa.
- 1888 - Birth of Henrietta P "Hetty" Beck; actress (Bouwmeester Award).
- 1888 - Birth of Otto Stern; German/US physicist (Stern-Gerlach-experiment, Nobel Prize 1943).
- 1888 - Birth of Ronald Aburthnott Knox; English priest/writer (Viaduct Murder).
- 1889 - Birth of Haroldson L Hunt; Texas oil multi-millionaire.
- 1892 - Birth of Theodor Plievier; German writer (Des Kaisers Kulis, Stalingrad).
- 1895 - Birth of Anita Stewart in New York City, New York, USA; actress (South of Hell Mountain).
- 1897 - Birth of Johan[nes A] Kaart; Dutch actor/stage manager (My Fair Lady).
- 1897 - National Congress of Parents and Teachers (PTA) organizes (Washington DC).
- 1898 - Birth of Tom Lowry; cricket player (New Zealand batsman in seven Tests and their first Test captain).
- 1902 - Birth of Marian Anderson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; operatic contralto (banned by D A R).
- 1904 - Birth of Albert Kuyle [Louis Kuitenbrouwer]; Dutch writer (Jesus' Robe).
- 1904 - Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly premieres at the La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy.
- 1905 - Serge Alexandrovich, Governor-General of Moscow, is murdered.
- 1906 - Birth of Galo Plaza Lasso; President of Ecuador (1948-52), head of Organization of American States (1968-75).
- 1907 - Birth of Alec Wilder in Rochester, New York, USA; composer (1973 ASCAP award).
- 1907 - Birth of Charles B Timmer; Dutch translator/writer (Russia Black on White).
- 1907 - Henry Steel Olcott, US co-founder (Theosophist Society-Madras), dies at age 74.
- 1908 - Birth of Staats Cotsworth in Oak Park, Illinois, USA; actor (Peyton Place).
- 1908 - Birth of Walter L "Red" Barber in Mississippi, USA; sports announcer (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees).
- 1908 - Geronimo, Apache chief, dies at about age 79.
- 1909 - Birth of Joseph "Poeske" Scherens; Belgian cyclist (champion sprinter 1932-37).
- 1909 - Birth of Marjorie Lawrence in Australia; soprano (Venus - Tannhäuser).
- 1910 - Birth of Marc Lawrence in New York City, New York, USA; actor (The Man With the Golden Gun).
- 1911 - Fred J. Wiseman of Sonoma, California, carries in his airplane mail from the US Postal Service postmaster of Petaluma, California, to the postmaster of Santa Rosa. This is the world's first officially-sanctioned airmail flight.
- 1911 - First amphibian flight to and from a ship, by Glenn Curtiss, San Diego, California.
- 1911 - Birth of Arthur Hunnicutt in Gravelly, Arkansas, USA; actor (Big Sky, Apache Uprising).
- 1912 - Aloys von Aerenthal, foreign minister (Austria-Hungary), dies at age 57.
- 1912 - Birth of Andre [Alice Mary] Norton in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; science fiction writer (Beast Master, Stand and Deliver).
- 1912 - L Oates, British explorer (Antarctica), dies.
- 1913 - First minimum wage law in US takes effect (Oregon).
- 1913 - New York Armory Show introduces painters Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp to US public.
- 1914 - Birth of Arthur Kennedy in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; actor (Fantastic Voyage, Peyton Place).
- 1914 - Birth of [Bert de] Wayne Morris in Los Angeles, California, USA; WWII-pilot/actor (Paths of Glory).
- 1916 - Birth of Don Tallon; cricket player (perhaps Australia's greatest wicket-keeper).
- 1916 - Birth of Raf Vallone in Tropea, Italy; actor (El Cid, Two Women, Greek Tycoon).
- 1917 - Edmund Bishop, English Secretary of Thomas Carlyle, dies at age 70.
- 1918 - Birth of Charles A Hayes; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Illinois, 1983-).
- 1918 - Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian Prime Minister (1896-1911), dies.
- 1919 - Birth of Jock Mahoney in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury).
- 1919 - Birth of Joseph R Hunt; tennis champion (US Open-1943).
- 1919 - Birth of Kathleen Freeman in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actress (Beverly Hillbillies).
- 1922 - Birth of Tommy Edwards; rock vocalist ("It's All in the Game").
- 1923 - Birth of Alden Winship Clausen in Hamilton, Illinois, USA; banker (President of World Bank).
- 1923 - Ottawa Senators' Cy Denneny becomes NHL's all-time high scorer (143 goals).
- 1924 - Birth of Margaret Truman in Missouri, USA; president's daughter, writer (Murder at FBI), pianist.
- 1924 - Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds).
- 1925 - Birth of Fritz Behrendt; German/Dutch cartoon character (The Slogan).
- 1925 - Birth of Hal Holbrook in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; actor (All the President's Men, Mark Twain).
- 1926 - Avalanche buries 75 people in Sap Gulch in Bingham, Utah, USA; 40 die.
- 1926 - Birth of Lee Hoiby in Madison, Wisconsin, USA; composer (1957 Arts and Letters).
- 1926 - Tennis star Suzanne Lenglen beats Helen Wills in their only match, at Cannes, France.
- 1929 - Birth of Chaim Potok in New York City, New York, USA; novelist (The Promise).
- 1929 - Birth of Yasser Arafat; Palestinian Liberation Organization-leader (Achille Lauro, Nobel Prize 1994).
- 1929 - John Read, cricket player (batted in 17 Tests for England for 463 runs), dies.
- 1930 - French government of André Tardieu falls.
- 1931 - First telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball).
- 1931 - Hockey's Hershey Bears (now with AHL) play first game.
- 1932 - Birth of Buck Trent in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA; banjoist/singer (Hee Haw).
- 1932 - Frans Gailliard, Belgian painter/graphic artist (Egina), dies at age 70.
- 1933 - First issue of Newsweek magazine published.
- 1933 - Birth of Bobby Lewis; rocker ("Tossin' and Turnin'").
- 1933 - Birth of Craig Thomas; American politician (Representative-Republican-Wyoming).
- 1933 - Henri[cus A] Viotta, Dutch composer (Handbook of Music), dies at age 84.
- 1933 - US Senate accepts Blaine Act ending prohibition.
- 1934 - First high school auto driving course offered (State College, Pennsylvania).
- 1934 - Albert I LCMM von Saksen-Coburg, King of Belgium (1909-34), dies at age 58.
- 1934 - Birth of Alan Bates in Allestree, England; actor (Zorba the Greek, Unmarried Woman).
- 1934 - Birth of Barry Humphries; Australian TV host (Dame Edna Everage).
- 1934 - Birth of Buddy Ryan; NFL coach (Philadelphia Eagles, Phoenix Cardinals).
- 1936 - The Phantom cartoon strip by Lee Falk debuts.
- 1936 - -58 degrees F (-50 degrees C) in McIntosh, South Dakota (state record).
- 1936 - Birth of Barry Jarman; cricket player (Australian wicket-keeper in 1960s).
- 1936 - Birth of Jim Brown in Georgia, USA; NFL full back (Cleveland Browns), actor (The Dirty Dozen).
- 1936 - Birth of Peter Walker; cricket all-rounder (Glamorgan did little for England 1960).
- 1936 - Erich Schaeder, German theologist (Theozentrische), dies at age 74.
- 1937 - Birth of Mickey McGill; American vocalist (Dells - "Love is Blue").
- 1938 - First public experimental demonstration of Baird color TV (London, England).
- 1938 - Birth of Mary Frances Berry; educator/head (US Commission on Civil Rights).
- 1939 - Birth of Mary Ann Mobley in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA; Miss America-1959/actress (Diff'rent Strokes).
- 1940 - Birth of Dennis Gamsy; cricket player (South African bat in two Tests versus Australia 1970).
- 1940 - Donald Bradman scores 135 in a non-Shield match for South Africa versus West Australia.
- 1940 - British destroyers board German ship Altmark off Norway.
- 1941 - Birth of Gene Pitney in Hartford, Connecticut, USA; singer/songwriter ("Town Without Pity").
- 1941 - Birth of Heidi Biebi in Germany; downhill skier (Olympics-gold-1960).
- 1941 - Joe Louis knocks out Gus Dorazio in two rounds for heavyweight boxing title.
- 1942 - US Army General Douglas MacArthur reaches Australia and takes command of Allied forces.
- 1942 - Birth of Huey Newton; Black Panther leader.
- 1942 - Japanese troops invade Timor.
- 1943 - Dutch churches protest at Seyss-Inquart against persecution of Jews.
- 1944 - Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins; US victory on February 22.
- 1944 - Birth of Bernie Grant; British politician (Labour).
- 1944 - Fausto Agnelli, Swiss painter, dies at age 64.
- 1944 - US begins night bombing of Truk.
- 1945 - Birth of Brenda Fricker in Dublin, Ireland; actress (My Left Foot).
- 1945 - Birth of Patricia Morrow; actress (Rita - Peyton Place).
- 1945 - Birth of Willie J L Swildens-Rozendal; Dutch Member of Parliament (PvdA).
- 1946 - Birth of André Dussollier in Annecy, France; actor (Three Men and a Cradle).
- 1946 - Birth of Valdemar Bandolowski in Denmark; yachting (Olympics-gold-1976, 1980).
- 1946 - Birth of Zina Bethune in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Nurses, Who's That Knocking at My Door).
- 1946 - Humanistic Covenant forms in Amsterdam.
- 1947 - Birth of Ben Cramer; Dutch vocalist (Clown).
- 1947 - Birth of Dallas Adams; British actor/painter/writer (Terror From Within).
- 1947 - Birth of Dodie Stevens [Geraldine Ann Pasquale] in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actress (Mary Hartman!).
- 1947 - Dutch Roman Catholic bishops publish manifest against "godless communism".
- 1947 - Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR.
- 1949 - Birth of Fred Frith; English guitarist/violinist/bassist (Skeleton Crew).
- 1949 - Chaim Weizman declared President of Israel.
- 1949 - Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Andrea Kékessy/Ede Király of Hungary.
- 1949 - Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Alena Vrzanova of Czechoslovakia.
- 1949 - Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Richard Button of USA.
- 1950 - 31 die in a train crash in Rockville Center, New York.
- 1950 - Birth of Rick Medlocke; rock guitarist/vocalist (Blackfoot).
- 1950 - Banker James Warburg tells US Senate: "We shall have world government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether world government will be achieved by conquest or consent."
- 1952 - Birth of Guillermo Vilas; tennis player (1977 US Open).
- 1952 - Birth of Insook Bhushan in Seoul, Korea; American table tennis player (Olympics-1992).
- 1954 - Birth of Rene Russo; actress (Ransom).
- 1954 - Evert Gorter, children's artist (Kindergeneeskunde), dies at age 72.
- 1954 - The Detroit Auto Show opens for press previews, in Michigan. The Ford Motor Company shows its new two-seat convertible, calling it a "personal car", with the name "Fairlane".
- 1955 - Ice Dance Championship at Vienna Austria won by J Westwood/Demmy of Great Britain.
- 1955 - Ice Pairs Championship at Vienna won by Frances Dafoe and Bowden of Canada.
- 1955 - Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Vienna won by Tenley Albright os the USA.
- 1955 - Mike Souchak sets PGA 72-hole record of 257.
- 1955 - Otto J Gombosi, Hungarian/American musicologist, dies at age 52.
- 1956 - Ice Dance Championship at Garmisch won by Pamela Weight/P Thomas of Great Britain.
- 1956 - Ice Pairs Championship at Garmisch won by Schwarz and Oppelt of Austria.
- 1956 - Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by Carol Heiss of the USA.
- 1956 - Men's Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by H A Jenkins of the USA.
- 1957 - Fire in Warreton, Missouri, kills 72.
- 1957 - Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Saint Petersburg Golf Open.
- 1958 - Birth of Heidi Hagman; actress (Linda - Archie Bunker's Place).
- 1958 - Birth of Karen Lende O'Connor in Concord, Massachusetts, USA; equestrian 3-day (Olympics-silver-1996).
- 1958 - Comic strip BC first appears.
- 1959 - First weather satellite launched, Vanguard 2, 9.8kg.
- 1959 - Birth of Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines; American 100 metre swimmer (Olympics-gold-1984).
- 1959 - Birth of Daniel Ray "Danny" Ainge; basketball and football star.
- 1959 - Birth of Richard Karn in Seattle, Washington, USA; actor (Al - Home Improvement).
- 1959 - Kathryn Adams, actress (Meet the Chump, 5th Avenue Girl), dies.
- 1959 - Tim Mara, co-founder of NFL's New York Giants, dies.
- 1961 - Birth of Deb[ra] Richardson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; beach volleyball player (Olympics-1996).
- 1961 - Birth of Guy McIntyre; NFL guard (Philadelphia Eagles).
- 1961 - Nita Naldi, actress (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde), dies of heart attack at age 63.
- 1962 - Beach Boys introduce a new musical style with their hit "Surfin".
- 1962 - Birth of David McComb in Australia; vocalist/songwriter (Triffids).
- 1962 - Birth of Hennie Meijer; soccer player (Cambuur L, FC Heerenveen).
- 1962 - Birth of Lou Diamond Phillips in the Philippines; actor (La Bamba, Stand and Deliver).
- 1962 - Birth of Tony Blain; cricket player (New Zealand Test wicket-keeper).
- 1962 - Bruno Walter, symphony conductor (New York Philharmonic), dies at age 85.
- 1962 - Joseph Kearns, actor (George - Dennis the Menace), dies at age 55.
- 1962 - Storm in Hamburg, Germany, kills 265.
- 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points versus Saint Louis Hawks.
- 1963 - Birth of Dan Reed; rocker/actor (HOTS, Lake Consequence).
- 1963 - Birth of Michael "Air" Jordan in Brooklyn, New York, USA; NBA guard/forward (Chicago Bulls).
- 1963 - Toru Terasawa runs world record marathon (2:15:15.8).
- 1964 - 101st member elected to baseball's Hall of Fame (Luke Appling).
- 1964 - Birth of Mike Campbell in Seattle, Washington, USA; pitcher (Chicago Cubs).
- 1964 - US Supreme court rules - one man one vote (Westberry versus Sanders).
- 1965 - Birth of Clayton Prince in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Dark Justice, Reuben - Another World).
- 1965 - Birth of Jim Bowie; Japanese/US baseball infielder (Oakland Athletics).
- 1965 - US Ranger 8 launched; will transmit 7,137 lunar pictures.
- 1965 - US-Japan baseball relations suspended over Masanori Murakami dispute.
- 1966 - Birth of Luc Robitaille in Montréal, Quebec, Canada; NHL left wing (New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins).
- 1966 - Birth of Melissa Brooke-Belland; rocker (Voice of the Beehive - "Let it Bee").
- 1966 - Frank Pettingell, actor (Becket, Up the Creek), dies at age 75.
- 1966 - French satellite Diapason D-1A launched into Earth orbit.
- 1966 - Gail Kane, actress (White Sister, Arizona), dies at age 81.
- 1966 - Death of Hans Hofmann at age 85 in New York City, New York, USA; painter (Expressionist, Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art in New York, paint-dripping technique).
- 1967 - The Beatles release "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields".
- 1967 - Birth of Gary Shuchuk in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; NHL center (Los Angeles Kings).
- 1967 - Birth of Michelle Forbes in Austin, Texas, USA; actress (Ensign Ro - Star Trek: The Next Generation).
- 1967 - Kosmos 140 (Soyuz test) launches into Earth orbit.
- 1968 - Birth of Bryan Cox; NFL linebacker (Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears).
- 1968 - Birth of Celita Schutz in Riverdale, New Jersey, USA; half-middleweight judoka (Olympics-1996).
- 1968 - Birth of Patrick Uterwijk; pop guitarist (Pestilence, Consuming Impulse).
- 1968 - Donald Wolfit, actor (Lawrence of Arabia), dies of heart ailment at age 65.
- 1968 - Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
- 1969 - Birth of David Klingler; NFL quarterback (Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals).
- 1969 - Birth of Joel Steed; NFL nose tackle (Pittsburgh Steelers).
- 1969 - Birth of Levon Kirkland; NFL linebacker (Pittsburgh Steelers).
- 1969 - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash record an album (never released).
- 1969 - Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's prime minister.
- 1970 - Agnon [SJ Czaczkes], Hebrew writer (Nobel Prize 1966), dies at age 81.
- 1970 - Alfred Newman, US composer, dies at age 69.
- 1970 - Birth of Tommy Moe in Anchorage, Alaska, USA; nordic skier (Olympics-gold/silver-1994).
- 1970 - Schmuel J Agnon, novelist (Nobel Prize 1966), dies.
- 1970 - The Republic of Rhodesia replaces the pound with the dollar as currency.
- 1971 - England regains cricket Ashes with a 2-0 series win.
- 1971 - Teddy Hart, actor (Three Men on a Horse), dies at age 73.
- 1972 - Birth of Billie Joe Armstrong; singer/musician (Green Day).
- 1972 - Birth of Lloy Ball in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA; volleyball setter (Olympics-1996).
- 1972 - Birth of Richard MacQuire in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; canoeist (Olympics-1996).
- 1972 - Birth of Stephen Robinson in Arlington, Virginia, USA; rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1972 - Birth of Tony Lawson in NSA Australia; diver (Olympics-1996).
- 1972 - Birth of Vladimir Vujtek; NHL forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998, Tampa Bay Lightning).
- 1972 - Birth of William Floyd; full back (San Francisco 49ers).
- 1972 - British Parliament votes to join European Common Market.
- 1972 - Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, founder (San Francisco Zen Center), half ashes buried.
- 1973 - Birth of Chris Robinson; NBA guard (Vancouver Grizzlies).
- 1973 - Birth of Drew Barry; NBA guard (Atlanta Hawks).
- 1973 - Birth of Frank Sanders; NFL wide receiver (Arizona Cardinals).
- 1973 - Birth of Raymond Jackson; NFL defensive back (Buffalo Bills).
- 1973 - Rodney Redmond scores 107 on debut versus Pakistan, his only Test Cricket.
- 1974 - 49 die in stampede for seats at soccer match, Cairo, Egypt.
- 1974 - Birth of Jerry O'Connell in New York City, New York; actor (Scream 2, Sliders, Andrew Clements - My Secret Identity).
- 1974 - Birth of Valeria Mazza in Rosario, Argentina; model (Cosmopolitan - July 1995).
- 1974 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Naples Lely Golf Classic.
- 1975 - Birth of Sung-Hee Park in Pusan, Korea; tennis star (1993 Futures-Seoul).
- 1975 - Birth of Todd Harvey Hamilton; NHL center (Dallas Stars).
- 1975 - Birth of Vaclav Prospal; NHL forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998, Philadelphia Flyers).
- 1976 - Jean Servais, Belgian actor (Every Man is My Enemy), dies at age 65.
- 1976 - Johan[nes A] Card, actor/stage manager (My Fair Lady), dies at age 78.
- 1976 - Macau adopts constitution (Organic Law of Macau).
- 1976 - New Zealand scores their first innings win in Test Cricket, versus India.
- 1976 - Richard Hadlee takes 7-23 versus India, his first match-winning spell.
- 1977 - Quincy Howe, newscaster (CBS Weekend News), dies at age 76.
- 1979 - Troops of the People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.
- 1979 - Eric Heiden equals skating world record 1000 metre (1:14.99).
- 1979 - Death of William Gargan, American actor (Rain, Bells of Saint Mary, New Adventures of Martin Kane), at age 73 (born 1905).
- 1980 - Dot Germain wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic.
- 1980 - Jerry Fielding, orchestra leader (Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, Lively Ones), dies at age 57.
- 1980 - Birth of Shanyn MacEachern in Brampton, Ontario, Canada; gymnast (Olympics-1996).
- 1980 - Buddy Baker wins Daytona 500 (177.6 MPH/285.8 kph).
- 1981 - Birth of Donielle Thompson in Wheatridge, Colorado; gymnast (World-bronze-1995, Olympics-1996).
- 1981 - Birth of Lisa Skinner in Queensland, Australia; gymnast (Olympics-1996).
- 1981 - Chrysler Corp reports largest corporate loss in US history.
- 1982 - Birth of Adriano Leite Ribeiro; Brazilian football player (soccer player).
- 1982 - Birth of Joseph Gordon-Levitt; actor (Tommy Solomon - Third Rock From the Sun).
- 1982 - Commencement of Sri Lanka's first Test Cricket match, versus England.
- 1982 - Lee [Israel] Strasberg, father of method acting/actor (And Justice for All), dies of a heart attack at age 80.
- 1982 - Theolonious S Monk, American jazz pianist/composer (Blue Monk), dies at age 64 (born 1917).
- 1983 - Netherlands adopts constitution.
- 1983 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1983 - Bob Bourne fails on 8th New York Islanders' penalty shot.
- 1984 - Lucille Benson, actress (Lilly - Bosom Buddies), dies at age 69.
- 1985 - First day/night game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia versus England.
- 1985 - Third person to receive an artificial heart (Murray Haydon).
- 1985 - Hein Vergeer becomes world champion skater.
- 1985 - Laffit Pincay Junior is third to ride 6,000th winners at Santa Anita.
- 1985 - Wanda Perry, actress (Roberta, Death of a Salesman), dies at age 67.
- 1986 - First Francophone Summit convenes at Versailles, France.
- 1986 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (Kingdom Happiness), dies at age 90.
- 1986 - Johnson and Johnson announces it no longer sells capsule drugs.
- 1986 - Libyan bombers attack N'djamena Airport in Chad.
- 1986 - Paul Stewart, actor (Opening Night, In Cold Blood, Window), dies.
- 1987 - New York Yankees' first baseman Don Mattingly wins his US$1.975 million arbitration case breaking the record for the largest amount ever awarded to a player set by Jack Morris just four days ago.
- 1987 - Hal K Dawson, actor (Another Language, Wells Fargo), dies.
- 1987 - Michelle Renee Royer, age 21, of Texas, crowned 36th Miss USA.
- 1987 - Verree Teasdale, actress (Skyscraper Souls), dies.
- 1988 - US Lieutenant Colonel William Higgins, serving with a United Nations group monitoring a truce in southern Lebanon, is kidnapped by Lebanese terrorists.
- 1989 - Six-week study of Arctic atmosphere shows no ozone "hole".
- 1989 - Former baseball player/manager Leo Durocher injured in a car crash.
- 1989 - Lefty Gomez, New York Yankees pitching great, dies at age 80.
- 1989 - Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya form common market.
- 1989 - Orel Hershiser, Dodger pitcher signs record US$7.9 million, three-year contract.
- 1989 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk.
- 1990 - Erik Rhodes, actor (Top Hat), dies of pneumonia at age 84.
- 1990 - Frans Kellendonk, Dutch writer (Good for Nothing), dies at age 39.
- 1990 - Marc Clement, actor (Career Opportunities, Sluggers Wife), dies.
- 1991 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge.
- 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.
- 1993 - Alfredo de Leon, leader (Philippines Red Scorpio Gang), killed.
- 1993 - George E Wilburn, film editor, dies of emphysema at age 77.
- 1993 - Haitian ferry boat capsize in storm, killing approximately 1,215 out of 1,500 passengers.
- 1993 - Leslie Townsend, cricket all-rounder (England in four Tests 1930-34), dies.
- 1993 - Mark Foster swims world record 50 metre free style (21.60 seconds).
- 1994 - Randy Shilts, American journalist (And the band played on), dies of AIDS at age 41 (born 1951).
- 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 - Federal judge allows lawsuit claiming US tobacco makers knew nicotine was addictive and manipulated its levels to keep customers hooked.
- 1995 - Jan Bart Klaster, music editor (The Slogan), dies at age 50.
- 1995 - Detroit Tigers' manager Sparky Anderson takes unpaid leave due to baseball strike.
- 1995 - Timothy Hugh Brown, theatre critic, dies at age 52.
- 1996 - First full ODI for the Netherlands versus New Zealand, cricket World Cup Nolan Clarke makes ODI debut for Netherlands at age 47.
- 1996 - Bentley Bridgewater, British Museum secretary, dies at age 84.
- 1996 - Death of [Elsie] Evelyn Laye at age 95; actress/singer (Sun Child).
- 1996 - NBC airs the 400th episode of TV show Saturday Night Live.
- 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Garry Kasparov beats IBM's "Deep Blue" computer in a second chess match.
- 1996 - In Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake occurs. At least 164 people killed or missing, 423 injured, 5,043 houses destroyed or damaged. Extensive damage from the tsunami, which reached heights of 7 metres.
- 1997 - Death of Zein Isa, Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter.
- 1998 - Ernst Juenger, German writer, dies at age 102 in Riedlingen, Germany.
- 2000 - In San Francisco, California, Microsoft unveils the Windows 2000 operating system. 1.5 million copies are sold in the first two months.
- 2001 - Death of Khalid Abdul Muhammad, an ex-felon and a controversial figure in the Black Nationalist, Pan Africanist movement.
- 2002 - The French franc expires as valid currency.
- 2003 - London, England, introduces a 5 pound (US$8) "congestion charge" to drive within an 8 square-mile patch of central London, to reduce traffic and fund public transport.
- 2003 - The Atlanta Braves and Greg Maddux agree the largest one-year contract in major league baseball history: US$14.75 million.
- 2003 - Death of 23-year old Steve Belcher of multi-organ failure, possibly linked to use of ephedra; Belcher was an American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles).
- 2004 - Death of José López Portillo, President of Mexico (born 1920).
- 2004 - (to February 20) A nor'easter blizzard devastates Atlantic Canada, dumping more than 95 centimetres on some areas.
- 2005 - Death of Nariman Sadeq, Queen of Egypt (born 1934).
- 2006 - As many as 1,800 people die when a mudslide occurs on Leyte Island in the Philippines.
- 2006 - A ball of fire is reported falling in the area of Stirling Castle in Scotland.
- 2007 - Death of Maurice Papon, French Vichy government official (born 1910).
- 2007 - Death of Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born musician (Ryan's Fancy) (born 1942).
- 2008 - In Daytona, Florida, the 50th NASCAR Daytona 500 race is held. Winner is Ryan Newman of Penske Racing.
- 2008 - Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company recalls 143 million pounds of beef, the USA's largest meat recall in California, due to the slaughter of cattle unfit for human consumption.
- 2008 - British central bank chancellor Alistair Darling announces the Northern Rock bank would be nationalized.
- 2008 - Kosovo Albanians declare independence from Serbia.
- 2008 - A suicide bombing by a Taliban member kills up to 80 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
- 2009 - US President Barack Obama signs into law a US$787 billion economic stimulus plan.
- 2009 - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges Texas billionaire Allen Stanford and three of his companies with fraudulently selling US$8 billion in high-yield certificates of deposit. Stanford International Bank is based in Antigua with 30,000 clients in 131 countries and US$8.5 billion in assets.
- 2009 - Trump Entertainment Resorts casino operator files for bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, with assets of about US$2.1 billion and total debts of about $1.74 billion as of the end of 2008.
- 2009 - The JEM rebel group in Darfur, Sudan sign a pact with the Sudanese government, planning a ceasefire within the next three months.
- 2020 - Death of Mário da Graça Machungo, 1st Prime Minister of Mozambique (born 1940).
- 2022 - France announces it is withdrawing military forces from Mali.
- 2023 - Ice-T receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 2023 - Death of Stella Stevens at age 84 from Alzheimer's disease; actor (The Nutty Professor movie, The Poseidon Adventure movie).
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