Events

• 1503 – Disfida di Barletta – famous challenge between 13 Italian and 13 French knights near Barletta.

• 1542 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.

• 1575 – Henry III of France is crowned at Rheims, marrying Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont on the same day.

• 1633 – Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.

• 1668 – Spain recognizes Portugal as an independent nation.

• 1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.

• 1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: About 78 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.

• 1815 – The Cambridge Union Society is founded.

• 1880 – Work begins on the covering of the Zenne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.

• 1880 – Thomas Edison observes the Edison effect.

• 1881 – The feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is first published in Paris by the activist Hubertine Auclert.

• 1894 – Auguste and Louis Lumière patent the Cinematographe, a combination movie camera and projector.

• 1899 – Tallahassee, Florida records its coldest temperature of -2 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 1914 – Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

• 1920 – The Negro National League is formed.

• 1934 – The Soviet steamship Cheliuskin sinks in the Arctic Ocean.

• 1935 – A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.

• 1945 – World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.

• 1945 – World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.

• 1955 – Israel obtains 4 of the 7 Dead Sea scrolls.

• 1960 – Nuclear weapons testing: France tests its first atomic bomb.

• 1967 – American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.

• 1970 – Black Sabbath, arguably the very first heavy metal album, is released.

• 1971 – Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.

• 1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.

• 1975 – A fire breaks out in the World Trade Center in New York City, New York.

• 1978 – Hilton bombing: a bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.

• 1979 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1/2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.

• 1982 – Río Negro massacres in Guatemala

• 1981 – A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.

• 1984 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

• 1990 – German reunification: An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

• 1991 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.

• 2000 – The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appears in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz dies.

• 2001 – An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.

• 2004 – The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

• 2007 – Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.

• 2008 – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.

Births

• 711 BC – Jimmu, Japanese emperor (d. 585 DC)

• 1457 – Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold and wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1482)

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

• 1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)

• 1672 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (d. 1731)

• 1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)

• 1721 – John Reid, British army general and composer (d. 1807)

• 1728 – John Hunter, Scottish surgeon (d. 1793)

• 1743 – Joseph Banks, English botanist and naturalist (d. 1820)

• 1746 – Giuseppe Cambini, Italian composer and violinist(d. 1825)

• 1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French politician (d. 1838)

• 1766 – Thomas Robert Malthus, English demographer and political economist (d. 1834)

• 1768 – Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French marshal (d. 1835)

• 1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian fabulist (d. 1844)

• 1788 – Fernando Sor, Spanish composer (d. 1839)

• 1805 – Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (d. 1859)

• 1811 – François Achille Bazaine, French marshal (d. 1888)

• 1831 – John Aaron Rawlins, General of the Army (d. 1869)

• 1835 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (d. 1908)

• 1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, British statesman (d. 1895)

• 1855 – Paul Deschanel, French President (d. 1922)

• 1866 – Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)

• 1870 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist, composer (d. 1938)

• 1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (d. 1938)

• 1876 – Fritz Buelow, German-born American baseball player (d. 1933)

• 1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1949)

• 1881 – Eleanor Farjeon, English author (d. 1965)

• 1883 – Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Russian-Armenian director (d. 1922)

• 1884 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American athlete, inventor, and businessman (d. 1961)

• 1885 – Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States, wife of President Harry S. Truman (d. 1982)

• 1887 – Géza Csáth, Hungarian writer (d. 1919)

• 1889 – Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and theatre director (d. 1974)

• 1891 – Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (d. 1985)

• 1891 – Grant Wood, American painter (d. 1942)

• 1900 – Roy Harrod, English economist (d. 1978)

• 1901 – Paul Lazarsfeld, American Sociologist (d. 1976)

• 1902 – Harold Lasswell, American political scientist (d. 1978)

• 1903 – Georges Simenon, Belgian writer (d. 1989)

• 1903 – Georgy Beriev, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1979)

• 1906 – Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1994)

• 1906 – Patsy Callighen, Canadian Hockey Player (d. 1964)

• 1907 – Katy de la Cruz, Filipino singer (d. 2004)

• 1910 – William Shockley, British-American physicist and eugenicist, Nobel Laureate (d. 1989)

• 1911 – Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani Urdu poet, Lenin Peace Prize winner (d. 1984)

• 1915 – Aung San, Burmese general and politician (d. 1947)

• 1915 – Lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)

• 1918 – Patty Berg, American golfer (d. 2006)

• 1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American musician (d. 1991)

• 1919 – Eddie Robinson, American football coach (d. 2007)

• 1920 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)

• 1920 – Eileen Farrell, American opera soprano (d. 2002)

• 1921 – Jeanne Demessieux, French organist, pianist, composer (d. 1968)

• 1922 – Francis Pym, British Foreign Secretary 1982-83 (d. 2008)

• 1922 – Gordon Tullock, American economist

• 1923 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American politician (d. 2002)

• 1923 – Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese violinist (d. 2003)

• 1923 – Chuck Yeager, American fighter and test pilot

• 1924 – Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist (d. 2006)

• 1928 – Dorothy McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters)

• 1929 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian ruler (d. 1981)

• 1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian artist

• 1932 – Susan Oliver, American actress (d. 1990)

• 1933 – Paul Biya, Cameroon politician

• 1933 – Caroline Blakiston, British actress

• 1933 – Costa Gavras, Greek-French filmmaker

• 1933 – Patrick Godfrey, British actor

• 1933 – Kim Novak, American actress

• 1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer

• 1934 – George Segal, American actor

• 1935 – Dr. Don Panoz, American entrepreneur and motorsports impresario (ALMS)

• 1937 – Ali El-Maak, Sudanese writer (d. 1992)

• 1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)

• 1939 – Beate Klarsfeld, German Nazi hunter

• 1940 – Arne Sølvberg, Norwegian computer scientist

• 1941 – Andrea Conte, First Lady of Tennessee

• 1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter

• 1942 – Carol Lynley, American actress

• 1942 – Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees)

• 1942 – Donald E. Williams, NASA astronaut

• 1943 – Geoff Edwards, American game show host

• 1944 – Rebop Kwaku Baah, Nigerian percussionist (d. 1983)

• 1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress

• 1944 – Jerry Springer, American television host

• 1944 – Bo Svenson, Swedish-born actor

• 1944 – Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Indian actor (d. 2006)

• 1945 – King Floyd, American musician (d. 2006)

• 1945 – David Tremlett, English artist

• 1946 – Louis Kondos, Greek actor

• 1946 – Colin Matthews, British composer

• 1947 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach

• 1950 – Peter Gabriel, English musician (Genesis), composer and humanitarian

• 1951 – Greg Fulginiti, American mastering engineer

• 1951 – David Naughton, American actor and singer

• 1952 – Freddy Maertens, Belgian cyclist

• 1953 – Rico J. Puno, Filipino pop singer

• 1954 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (d. 1989)

• 1955 – Joe Birkett, American lawyer

• 1956 – Peter Hook, English bassist (Joy Division and New Order)

• 1956 – Yiannis Kouros, Greek-Australian runner

• 1956 – Princess Alia bint Al Hussein, Jordanian Royal Family member

• 1956 – Liam Brady, Irish footballer

• 1957 – Denise Austin, American fitness expert

• 1958 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress

• 1958 – Marc Emery, Canadian cannabis activist

• 1958 – Derek Riggs, British artist

• 1958 – Tip Tipping, British actor and stuntman (d. 1993)

• 1959 – Gaston Gingras, National Hockey League defenceman

• 1959 – Richard Eden, American actor

• 1959 – Gord Hampson, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1960 – Pierluigi Collina, Italian football referee

• 1960 – Gary Patterson, American football coach

• 1960 – Matt Salinger, American actor

• 1960 – Artur Yusupov, Russian-German chess player

• 1961 – Henry Rollins, American musician, comedian, and actor (Black Flag)

• 1961 – Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

• 1962 – Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, American politician

• 1964 – Stephen G. Bowen, NASA astronaut

• 1964 – Mark Patton, American actor

• 1964 – Ylva Johansson, Swedish politician

• 1966 – Jeff Waters, Canadian musician (Annihilator)

• 1967 – Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer and coach

• 1968 – Kelly Hu, American actress

• 1969 – Ahlam, Bahraini singer

• 1970 – Diane Youdale, British television personality

• 1970 – Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer

• 1971 – Sonia, British singer

• 1971 – Galen Gering, American actor

• 1971 – Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player

• 1971 – Todd Williams, American baseball player

• 1971 – Tommy Dreamer, American Wrestler

• 1972 – Charlie Garner, American football player

• 1974 – Gus Hansen, Danish professional poker player

• 1974 – Robbie Williams, English singer

• 1974 – Jeff Duran, American radio personality

• 1975 – Iván González, Puerto Rican writer and musician

• 1975 – Tony Dalton, Mexican (American born) actor and screenwriter

• 1976 – Martin Sastre, Uruguayan artist

• 1976 – Feist, Canadian singer and songwriter

• 1976 – Dave Padden, Canadian musician (Annihilator)

• 1977 – Randy Moss, American football player

• 1977 – Ben Collins, British racing driver

• 1978 – Mini Anden, Swedish model and actress

• 1978 – Hamish Glencross, Scottish guitarist My Dying Bride

• 1978 – Philippe Jaroussky, French sopranist countertenor

• 1979 – Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer

• 1979 – Mena Suvari, American actress

• 1980 – Sebastian Kehl, German footballer

• 1980 – Mark Watson, British comedian

• 1981 – Luisão, Brazilian footballer

• 1981 – Liam Miller, Irish footballer

• 1981 – Luke Ridnour, American basketball player

• 1981 – Sam Burley, American middle-distance track athlete

• 1982 – Lanisha Cole, American model

• 1983 – Mike Nickeas, American baseball player

• 1985 – Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress

• 1985 – Alexandros Tziolis, Greek footballer

• 1986 – Luke Moore, English footballer

• 1986 – Jamie Murray, Scottish tennis player

• 1988 – Aston Merrygold, English singer and actor

• 1989 – Carly McKillip, Canadian actress

• 1989 – Rhys Palmer, Australian footballer

• 1989 – Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian Footballer

• 1990 – Olivia Allison, British synchronized swimmer

• 1990 – Qoigyijabu, 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet

• 1997 – Prince Michael Jackson 1 Son of pop singer Michael Jackson

Deaths

• 858 – Kenneth I of Scotland

• 1130 – Pope Honorius II

• 1141 – Béla II of Hungary (b. 1110)

• 1219 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (b. 1192)

• 1332 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1259)

• 1539 – Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua (b. 1474)

• 1542 – Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (executed) (b. 1521)

• 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian artist (b. 1500)

• 1585 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish Jesuit biblical scholar (b. 1515)

• 1592 – Jacopo Bassano, Italian painter

• 1600 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (b. 1538)

• 1602 – Alexander Nowell, English clergyman

• 1608 – Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Lithuanian prince (b. 1526)

• 1624 – Stephen Gosson, English satirist (b. 1554)

• 1657 – Miles Sindercombe, attempted assassin of Oliver Cromwell

• 1660 – King Charles X of Sweden (b. 1622)

• 1662 – Elizabeth Stuart (b. 1596)

• 1727 – William Wotton, English scholar (b. 1666)

• 1728 – Cotton Mather, American Puritan minister (b. 1663)

• 1732 – Charles-René d'Hozier, French historian (b. 1640)

• 1787 – Ruđer Bošković, Croatian scientist and diplomat (b. 1711)

• 1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat (b. 1717)

• 1813 – Samuel Ashe, Governor of North Carolina (b. 1725)

• 1818 – George Rogers Clark, American military leader (b. 1752)

• 1826 – Petr Alekseevich Pahlen, Russian general (b. 1745)

• 1837 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and writer (b. 1809)

• 1845 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-German philosopher (b. 1773)

• 1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)

• 1888 – Jean Baptiste Lamy, 1st Archbishop of Santa Fe (b. 1814)

• 1889 – João Maurício Wanderley, Brazilian magistrate and politician (b. 1815)

• 1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)

• 1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)

• 1934 – József Pusztai slovene writer, poet, journalist in Hungary (b. 1864)

• 1942 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian president (b. 1865)

• 1950 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian author (b. 1875)

• 1951 – Lloyd C. Douglas, American author (b. 1877)

• 1952 – Josephine Tey, English author (b. 1896)

• 1956 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish mathematician (b. 1878)

• 1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter (b. 1871)

• 1958 – Dame Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1880)

• 1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (b. 1902)

• 1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)

• 1974 – Ustad Amir Khan, Indian classical singer (b. 1912)

• 1975 – André Beaufre, French General (b. 1902)

• 1976 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian military leader (b. 1938)

• 1976 – Lily Pons, French-born soprano (b. 1904)

• 1980 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)

• 1984 – Andre Stander, South African police captain and bank robber (b. 1946)

• 1989 – Wayne Hays, American politician (b. 1911)

• 1991 – Arno Breker, German sculptor (b. 1900)

• 1992 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)

• 1996 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)

• 1997 – Robert Klark Graham, American businessman and eugenecist (b. 1906)

• 1997 – Mark Krasnosel'skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician (b. 1920)

• 2000 – Anders Aalborg, Canadian politician (b. 1914)

• 2000 – James Cooke Brown, American author and inventor (b. 1921)

• 2002 – Waylon Jennings, American musician (b. 1937)

• 2003 – Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (b. 1926)

• 2003 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (b. 1932)

• 2003 – Walt Rostow, U.S. government official (b. 1916)

• 2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Chechen leader (b. 1952)

• 2005 – Nelson Briles, baseball player (b. 1943)

• 2005 – Lúcia Santos, Carmelite nun and Fatima visionary (b. 1907)

• 2005 – Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (b. 1917)

• 2005 – Dick Weber, American professional bowler (b. 1929)

• 2005 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist (b. 1965)

• 2006 – Andreas Katsulas, Greek-American actor (b. 1946)

• 2006 – Peter Frederick Strawson, British philosopher (b. 1919)

• 2007 – Elizabeth Jolley, Australian writer (b. 1923)

• 2007 – Charlie Norwood, American politician (b. 1941)

• 2007 – Johanna Sällström, Swedish actress (b. 1974)

• 2007 – Richard Gordon Wakeford, Air Marshal, Royal Air Force (b. 1922)

• 2008 – Roger Voisin, Trumpet player, Boston Symphony (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

• Saint Beatrice

• Saint Ermenildis

• Saint Fulcran

• Saint Polyeuctus

• Saint Castor of Karden

• Ancient Rome – First day of Lupercalia

• See also February 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)