Events

• 1327 – Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.

• 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn, Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).

• 1662 – The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.

• 1713 – The Kalabalik or Tumult in Bendery results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.

• 1790 – In New York City, the Supreme Court of the United States attempts to convene for the first time.

• 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

• 1796 – The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.

• 1814 – Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, erupts, killing around 1,200 people; most devastating eruption of Mayon Volcano.

• 1861 – American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.

• 1862 – Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time in the Atlantic Monthly.

• 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

• 1884 – Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

• 1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.

• 1896 – The opera La bohème premieres in Turin.

• 1897 – Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.

• 1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.

• 1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.

• 1920 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begins operations.

• 1924 – The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR.

• 1942 – World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Premier of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.

• 1943 – The German 6th Army surrenders at Stalingrad.

• 1946 – Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.

• 1957 – Felix Wankel's first working prototype DKM 54 of the Wankel engine was running at the NSU research and development department Versuchsabteilung TX in Germany

• 1958 – Egypt and Syria merge to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.

• 1958 – The United States Army launches Explorer 1.

• 1960 – Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

• 1965 – The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill.

• 1968 – Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan is videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the Vietnam War.

• 1968 – Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.

• 1968 – The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form the ill-fated Penn Central Transportation.

• 1972 – Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

• 1974 – A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.

• 1974 – Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory.

• 1978 – Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.

• 1979 – Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.

• 1979 – The Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.

• 1982 – Senegal and the Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia.

• 1989 – The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

• 1992 – The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case.

• 1993 – Gary Bettman becomes the NHL's first commissioner

• 1996 – The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.

• 1998 – Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne became the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.

• 2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

• 2004 – 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

• 2004 – Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.

• 2005 – Nepal King Gyanendra exercises a coup d'état to capture the democracy, becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.

• 2005 – Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.

• 2009 – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the first openly gay head of state in the modern world.

Births

• 1261 – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop (d. 1326)

• 1459 – Conrad Celtes, German scholar (d. 1508)

• 1462 – Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer (d. 1516)

• 1552 – Edward Coke, English jurist and Member of Parliament (d. 1634)

• 1635 – Marquard Gude, German archaeologist (d. 1689)

• 1659 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer

• 1663 – Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, Filipino foundress of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (d. 1748)

• 1690 – Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (d. 1768)

• 1761 – Christian Hendrik Persoon, South African mycologist (d. 1836)

• 1763 – Thomas Campbell, Irish theologian (d. 1854)

• 1796 – Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich, Swiss poet (d. 1865)

• 1801 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer (d. 1881)

• 1820 – George Hendric Houghton, American Protestant Episcopal clergyman (d. 1897)

• 1844 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (d. 1924)

• 1851 – Durham Stevens, American diplomat (d. 1908)

• 1859 – Victor Herbert, Irish composer (d. 1924)

• 1872 – Jerome F. Donovan, American politician (d. 1949)

• 1872 – Andrew Kehoe, American mass murderer (d. 1927)

• 1873 – Joseph Allard, Canadian fiddler (d. 1947)

• 1873 – John Barry, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 1901)

• 1874 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian writer (d. 1929)

• 1878 – Milan Hodža, Slovak politician (d. 1944)

• 1882 – Louis Stephen St. Laurent, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)

• 1884 – Bradbury Robinson, who threw the first forward pass in American football history in 1906 (d. 1949)

• 1884 – Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian writer (d. 1937)

• 1887 – Charles Nordhoff, English-born author (d. 1947)

• 1894 – John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)

• 1894 – James P. Johnson, American composer (d. 1955)

• 1895 – Conn Smythe, Canadian builder of the National Hockey League (d. 1980)

• 1897 – Denise Robins (aka Francesca Wright, Ashley French, Harriet Gray, Julia Kane) British romance novelist (d. 1985)

• 1901 – Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)

• 1901 – Frank Buckles, last surviving American veteran of World War I

• 1902 – Langston Hughes American writer (d. 1967)

• 1902 – Therese Brandl, Nazi concentration camp guard (d. 1947)

• 1904 – S. J. Perelman, American humorist (d. 1979)

• 1905 – Emilio G. Segrè, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1989)

• 1906 – Hildegarde, American actress and singer (d. 2005)

• 1907 – Günter Eich, German lyricist (d. 1972)

• 1907 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian composer (d. 1993)

• 1908 – George Pál, Hungarian-born director and producer (d. 1980)

• 1909 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian singer

• 1910 – Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Tibetan politician

• 1915 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (d. 2000)

• 1917 – Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player (d. 1944)

• 1918 – Muriel Spark, Scottish author (d. 2006)

• 1922 – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (d. 2004)

• 1924 – H. Richard Hornberger, American writer (d. 1997)

• 1924 – Ben Weider, Canadian businessman and author

• 1928 – Stuart Whitman, American actor

• 1930 – Shahabuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh

• 1930 – Mario Beaulieu, Canadian politician (d. 1998)

• 1930 – Hossain Mohammad Ershad, Bangladeshi politician

• 1931 – Boris Yeltsin, 1st President of the Russian Federation (d. 2007)

• 1931 – Iajuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh

• 1932 – Jan Ramberg, Swedish law professor, and arbitration court judge

• 1934 – Bob Shane, American folk singer (The Kingston Trio)

• 1936 – Azie Taylor Morton, 35th Treasurer of the United States (d. 2003)

• 1937 – Don Everly, American musician (Everly Brothers)

• 1937 – Garrett Morris, American comedian

• 1937 – Ray Sawyer, American singer (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show)

• 1938 – Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor

• 1939 – Fritjof Capra, Austrian physicist

• 1939 – Claude François, French singer (d. 1978)

• 1939 – Paul Gillmor, American politician (d. 2007)

• 1939 – Joe Sample, American jazz pianist

• 1940 – Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)

• 1940 – Hervé Filion, Quebec harness racer

• 1941 – Karl Dall, German television host

• 1941 – Jerry Spinelli, children's author

• 1942 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer

• 1942 – Muna Wassef, Syrian/Arab actress and United Nations Goodwill ambassador.

• 1944 – Mike Enzi, American politician, senior senator of Wyoming

• 1944 – Burkhard Ziese, German football manager

• 1945 – Serge Joyal, French Canadian politician

• 1946 – Chris Clark, Motown Soul singer

• 1947 – Mike Brant, Israeli pop singer (d. 1975)

• 1947 – Normie Rowe, Australian singer

• 1947 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)

• 1948 – Rick James, American musician and composer (d. 2004)

• 1948 – Elisabeth Sladen, British actress

• 1950 – Mike Campbell, American guitarist and producer

• 1951 – Sonny Landreth, American guitarist and songwriter

• 1952 – Jenő Jandó, Hungarian pianist

• 1953 – Brendan Batson, English former footballer

• 1954 – Chuck Dukowski, American musician (Black Flag)

• 1954 – Bill Mumy, American actor and musician

• 1955 – Ernie Camacho, baseball player

• 1956 – Brahmanandam, Indian film actor

• 1956 – Exene Cervenka, American musician

• 1956 – Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

• 1958 – Jackie Shroff, Indian actor

• 1958 – Ryo Horikawa, Japanese voice actor

• 1958 – Luther Blissett, English footballer

• 1961 – Volker Fried, German field hockey player

• 1961 – Daniel Tani, NASA astronaut

• 1962 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2004)

• 1962 – Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese guitarist

• 1963 – Takashi Murakami, Japanese artist

• 1964 – Mario Pelchat, Quebec singer

• 1964 – Linus Roache, English actor

• 1965 – Sherilyn Fenn, American actress

• 1965 – Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)

• 1965 – Princess Stéphanie of Monaco

• 1966 – Michelle Akers, American soccer player

• 1966 – Vasilis Dimitriadis, Greek footballer

• 1966 – Rob Lee, English footballer

• 1967 – Meg Cabot, American author

• 1967 – Patle Shishupal Natthu, Indian politician

• 1968 – Lisa Marie Presley, American singer and actress

• 1968 – Pauly Shore, American comedian

• 1968 – Mark Recchi, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1968 – Kent Mercker, American baseball player

• 1969 – Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer

• 1969 – Joshua Redman, American musician

• 1969 – Brian Krause, American actor

• 1969 – Patrick Wilson, American musician (Weezer)

• 1970 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player (d. 2000)

• 1970 – Yasuyuki Kazama, Japanese racing driver

• 1971 – Michael C. Hall, American actor

• 1971 – Jill Kelly, American porn actress

• 1971 – Ron Welty, American musician

• 1971 – Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian footballer

• 1971 – Ajay Jadeja, Former Indian cricketer

• 1972 – Yoshi DeHerrera, American TV personality

• 1972 – Kami (musician), drummer of Japanese visual kei band Malice Mizer (d. 1999)

• 1973 – Yuri Landman, Experimental musical instrument builder, musician and comic book artist

• 1973 – Makiko Ohmoto, Japanese voice actress

• 1974 – Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist

• 1974 – David Meca, Spanish long distance swimmer

• 1974 – Walter McCarty, American basketball player

• 1975 – Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)

• 1975 – Katerina Thanou, Greek sprinter

• 1976 – Phil Ivey, American poker player

• 1977 – Kevin Kilbane, Irish footballer

• 1977 – Robert Traylor, American basketball player

• 1978 – Tim Harding, Australian singer (Hi-5)

• 1979 – Julie Augustyniak, American soccer player

• 1979 – Juan Silveira dos Santos, Brazilian footballer

• 1979 – Valentin Elizalde, Mexican Singer (d. 2006)

• 1979 – Rachelle LeFevre, Canadian actress

• 1980 – Héctor Luna, Dominican Republic baseball player

• 1980 – Moisés Muñoz, Mexican footballer

• 1980 – Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2005)

• 1981 – Luis Lamá, Angolan footballer

• 1981 – Graeme Smith, South African cricketer

• 1981 – Rob Austin, British racing driver

• 1982 – Shoaib Malik, Pakistani cricketer

• 1982 – Gavin Henson Welsh rugby player

• 1983 – Kevin Martin, American basketball player

• 1983 – Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgian cyclist

• 1984 – Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer

• 1984 – Lee Thompson Young, American actor

• 1985 – Dean Shiels, Northern Irish footballer

• 1985 – Rachael Scdoris, American dog musher

• 1985 – Jodi Gordon, Australian actress and model

• 1986 – Lauren Conrad, American TV star

• 1987 – Giuseppe Rossi, Italian footballer

• 1987 – Wu Jingyu, Chinese taekwondo practitioner.

• 1989 – Hurricane Chris, American rapper

• 1990 – Laura Marling, British singer-songwriter

Deaths

• 1248 – Henry II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1207)

• 1328 – King Charles IV of France (b. 1294)

• 1542 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1480)

• 1563 – Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia (died of fever) (b. 1559)

• 1590 – Lawrence Humphrey,English clergyman and educator

• 1691 – Pope Alexander VIII (b. 1610)

• 1718 – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician (b. 1660)

• 1733 – King Augustus II of Poland (b. 1670)

• 1734 – John Floyer, English physician and writer (b. 1649)

• 1743 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (b. 1657)

• 1761 – Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French historian (b. 1682)

• 1768 – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (b. 1685)

• 1793 – William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman (b. 1717)

• 1832 – Archibald Murphey, North Carolina politician (b. 1777)

• 1850 – Edward Baker Lincoln, son of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (b. 1846)

• 1851 – Mary Shelley, English author (b. 1797)

• 1893 – George Henry Sanderson, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1824)

• 1897 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist (b. 1826)

• 1903 – George Gabriel Stokes, Irish physicist (b. 1819)

• 1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)

• 1922 – William Desmond Taylor, American silent film actor and director; his murder remains unsolved. (b. 1872)

• 1928 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)

• 1936 – Georgios Kondylis, general of the Greek army and Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1878)

• 1940 – Philip Francis Nowlan, science fiction writer, creator of Buck Rogers character (b. 1888)

• 1944 – Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter (b. 1872)

• 1945 – Prince Kiril of Bulgaria, prince of Bulgaria (b. 1895)

• 1957 – Friedrich Paulus, German general (b. 1890)

• 1958 – Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1888)

• 1959 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan, American actress (b. 1873)

• 1963 – Fleetwood Lindley, the last living person to see Abraham Lincoln's face (b. 1888)

• 1966 – Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (b. 1885)

• 1966 – Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)

• 1970 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1921)

• 1976 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1901)

• 1976 – George Whipple, American scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1878)

• 1980 – Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (b. 1930)

• 1981 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1892)

• 1981 – Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)

• 1986 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1902)

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

• 1987 – Alessandro Blasetti, Italian film director (b. 1900)

• 1988 – Heather O'Rourke, American actress (b. 1975)

• 1989 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1918)

• 1991 – Carol Dempster, American actress (b. 1901)

• 1991 – Phil Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1914)

• 1997 – Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)

• 1999 – Paul Mellon, American philanthropist (b. 1907)

• 2001 – André D'Allemagne, Quebec teacher, political observer and essayist (b. 1929)

• 2002 – Hildegard Knef, German actress, singer, and writer (b. 1925)

• 2003 – Crew of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster):

• *Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959)

• *David Brown (b. 1956)

• *Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)

• *Laurel Clark (b. 1961)

• *Rick D. Husband (b. 1957)

• *Willie McCool (b. 1961)

• *Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)

• 2003 – Mongo Santamaria, Cuban percussionist and band leader (b. 1922)

• 2004 – May O'Donnell, American modern dancer and choreographer (b. 1909)

• 2005 – John Vernon, Canadian actor (b. 1932)

• 2006 – Dick Bass, American football player (b. 1937)

• 2006 – Bryce Harland, New Zealand diplomat (b. 1931)

• 2007 – Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-born composer (b. 1911)

• 2007 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dance choreographer (b. 1937)

• 2007 – Whitney Balliett, American jazz critic (b. 1926)

• 2007 – Ray Berres, American baseball player (b. 1907)

• 2007 – Ahmad Abu Laban, Danish Muslim leader (b. 1946)

• 2008 – Beto Carrero, Brazilian theme park owner and entertainer (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• The start of Black History Month in the United States and Canada.

• Imbolc – the first day of Spring in Ireland (Irish Calendar) and one of the four Gaelic seasonal (and sometimes religious) festivals. Also part of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year.

• The start of LGBT History Month in the United Kingdom.

• Feast day of Astina in the Syrian church

• St. Brigid, patron saint of Ireland. Feast day in the Roman Catholic Church.

• National Freedom Day in the United States

• Federal Territory Day for Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Malaysia.