Events

• 1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.

• 1632 – Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.

• 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon begins.

• 1797 – The Last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.

• 1819 – By the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.

• 1847 – Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops drive off 15,000 Mexicans.

• 1856 – The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

• 1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.

• 1879 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.

• 1882 – The Serbian kingdom is refounded.

• 1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.

• 1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina, the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.

• 1915 – World War I: Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.

• 1922 – The British unilaterally declare the independence of Egypt.

• 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.

• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapses.

• 1943 – World War II: Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.

• 1944 – World War II: American aircraft bombard the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer by mistake, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.

• 1948 – Communist coup in Czechoslovakia.

• 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.

• 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.

• 1972 – An Official Irish Republican Army car bomb is detonated at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.

• 1973 – Cold War: Following United States President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.

• 1974 – Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit conference starts in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries are attending. Twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognized Bangladesh.

• 1974 – Samuel Byck tries and fails to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon.

• 1979 – Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.

• 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4-3, in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

• 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

• 1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.

• 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.

• 1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.

• 1997 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.

• 2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.

• 2006 – At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

Births

• 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi (d. 1105)

• 1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)

• 1440 – Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1457)

• 1500 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)

• 1612 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d. 1677)

• 1705 – Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist (d. 1735)

• 1714 – Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (d. 1795)

• 1732 – George Washington, First President of the United States (d. 1799)

• 1756 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German diplomat (d. 1821)

• 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American artist (d. 1860)

• 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (d. 1860)

• 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French missionary (d. 1837)

• 1796 – Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1874)

• 1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (d. 1875)

• 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880)

• 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and essayist (d. 1891)

• 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (d. 1907)

• 1825 – Jean Baptiste Salpointe, second Archbishop of Santa Fe (d. 1898)

• 1839 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (d. 1906)

• 1840 – August Bebel, German politician (d. 1913)

• 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d. 1915)

• 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English founder of the Scout movement (d. 1941)

• 1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d. 1894)

• 1864 – Jules Renard, French author (d. 1910)

• 1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball umpire (d. 1951)

• 1878 – Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d. 1909)

• 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish physical chemist (d. 1947)

• 1880 – Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)

• 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American politician (d. 1956)

• 1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian author and politician (d. 1937)

• 1882 – Eric Gill, British sculptor (d. 1940)

• 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)

• 1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)

• 1887 – Ksawery Tartakower, Polish chess player (d. 1956)

• 1888 – Owen Brewster, American politician (d. 1961)

• 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English founder of the Girl Guide (d. 1977)

• 1890 – Beatriz Michelena, Latin-American silent movie star (d. 1942)

• 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Soviet politician (d. 1939)

• 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American writer (d. 1950)

• 1895 – Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)

• 1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)

• 1899 – Dwight Frye, American actor (d. 1943)

• 1899 – George O'Hara, American actor (d. 1966)

• 1899 – Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (d. 1986)

• 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-born film director (d. 1983)

• 1900 – Seán Ó Faoláin, Irish author (d. 1991)

• 1902 – Fritz Strassmann, German physicist (d. 1980)

• 1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (d. 1990)

• 1903 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi (d. 1969)

• 1903 – Robert Weede, American baritone (d. 1972)

• 1906 – Humayun Kabir, Indian educationist and politician (d. 1969)

• 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor (d. 1997)

• 1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)

• 1908 – Sir John Mills, English actor (d. 2005)

• 1911 – Bill Baker, American baseball player (d. 2006)

• 1913 – Buddy Tate, American jazz musician (d. 2001)

• 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Nobel laureate

• 1917 – Jane Bowles, American playwright (d. 1973)

• 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian hockey player (d. 2000)

• 1918 – Charlie Finley, American sports entrepreneur (d. 1996)

• 1918 – Don Pardo, American announcer

• 1918 – Robert Wadlow, American tallest ever-human (d. 1940)

• 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African Republic leader (d. 1996)

• 1921 – Wayne Booth, American literary critic (d. 2005)

• 1921 – David Greene, British director (d. 2003)

• 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)

• 1922 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentine racing driver (d. 2005)

• 1923 – Bleddyn Williams, British rugby player (d. 2009)

• 1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator (d. 2000)

• 1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)

• 1926 – Bud Yorkin, American film director

• 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor

• 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer

• 1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader (d. 1969)

• 1928 – Axel Strøbye, Danish actor (d. 2005)

• 1929 – James Hong, American actor

• 1929 – Rebecca Schull, American actress

• 1930 – Marni Nixon, American singer

• 1930 – James McGarrell, American painter

• 1932 – Ted Kennedy, American politician (d. 2009)

• 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent

• 1933 – Bobby Smith, English footballer

• 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball manager

• 1935 – Sven Inge, Swedish artist (d. 2008)

• 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, Nobel laureate

• 1936 – Ernie K-Doe, American singer (d. 2001)

• 1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)

• 1938 – Ishmael Reed, American writer

• 1938 – Pierre Vallières, French-Canadian politician (d. 1995)

• 1940 – Johnson Mlambo, South African politician

• 1940 – Billy Name, American photographer

• 1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician

• 1941 – Giorgos Arvanitis, Greek cinematographer

• 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and showgirl

• 1943 – Terry Eagleton, British theorist

• 1943 – Horst Köhler, President of Germany

• 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director

• 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer (d. 2003)

• 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player

• 1945 – Leslie Charleson, American actress

• 1945 – Oliver, American singer (d. 2000)

• 1947 – Carol Burns, Australian actress

• 1947 – Harvey Mason, Jazz drummer

• 1947 – Frank P. Tomasulo, American film professor and critic

• 1947 – Maurizio De Angelis, Italian musician

• 1948 – John Ashton, American actor

• 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver and entrepreneur

• 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player

• 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player

• 1950 – Ellen Greene, American actress

• 1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer

• 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress

• 1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English musician and performer

• 1950 – Julie Walters, English actress

• 1952 – Cyrinda Foxe, American model (d. 2002)

• 1952 – Bill Frist, American politician

• 1953 – Graham Lewis, English musician (Wire)

• 1953 – Nigel Planer, British actor

• 1955 – David Axelrod, American political consultant

• 1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1955 – Gordon Banks, American guitarist

• 1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician

• 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor

• 1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist

• 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian herpetologist (d. 2006)

• 1962 – Lenda Murray, American bodybuilder

• 1962 – Les Wallace, Scottish darts player

• 1963 – Devon Malcolm, English Cricketer

• 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian golfer

• 1964 – Gigi Fernandez, Puerto Rican tennis player

• 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player

• 1965 – Dean Karr, American director and photographer

• 1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player

• 1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedienne

• 1966 – Brian Greig, Australian politician

• 1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German actor

• 1966 – Aiden Shaw, English pornographic actor

• 1967 – Alf Poier, Austrian comedian

• 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician

• 1968 – Bradley Nowell, American musician (d. 1996)

• 1968 – Elna Reinach, South African tennis player

• 1968 – Jeri Ryan, American actress

• 1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player

• 1969 – Joaquín Cortés, Spanish dancer

• 1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor

• 1969 – Clinton Kelly, American TV personality

• 1969 – Hans Klok, Dutch illusionist

• 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer

• 1970 – Dominic Roussel, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1970 – Ravi Vakil, Canadian-American mathematician

• 1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipina actress and singer

• 1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player

• 1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater

• 1973 – Claus Lundekvam, Norwegian footballer

• 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer

• 1973 – Einar Kristian Tveitå, Norwegian athlete

• 1974 – James Blunt, English musician

• 1974 – Chris Moyles, English DJ

• 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress

• 1976 – Faan Rautenbach, South African rugby player

• 1977 – Timo Rose, German filmmaker

• 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer

• 1978 – Jenny Frost, British singer/presenter/model/DJ (Atomic Kitten)

• 1978 – Peter Madsen, Danish football player

• 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer

• 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress

• 1981 – Fredson Camara, Brazilian footballer

• 1982 – Jenna Haze, American pornographic actress

• 1982 – Robert Weiner, Jr., American water polo player

• 1983 – Penny Flame, American pornographic actress

• 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer

• 1984 – VenetianPrincess (Jodie-Amy Rivera), YouTube celebrity

• 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer

• 1985 – Sean Garballey, American politician

• 1986 – Miko Hughes, American actor

• 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player

• 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model

• 1988 – Kevin Borlée, Belgian athlete

• 1988 – Przemysław Kazimierczak, Polish footballer

• 1989 – Alia Sabur, American college educator

Deaths

• 965 – Otto, Duke of Burgundy (b. 944)

• 1071 – Arnulf III, Count of Flanders (killed in battle) (b. c. 1055)

• 1111 – Roger Borsa, King of Sicily

• 1371 – King David II of Scotland (b. 1324)

• 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian merchant and explorer (b. 1454)

• 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch navigator (b. 1558)

• 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French writer (b. 1595)

• 1680 – Catherine Monvoisin, French sorceress (b. c. 1640)

• 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French artist (b. 1619)

• 1727 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer (b. 1661)

• 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)

• 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop and man of letters (b. 1663)

• 1742 – Charles Rivington, English publisher (b. 1688)

• 1797 – Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b. 1720)

• 1799 – Heshen, infamous Qing Dynasty Chinese official at court (b. 1750)

• 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (b. 1723)

• 1875 – Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (b. 1796)

• 1875 – Sir Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (b. 1797)

• 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (b. 1822)

• 1890 – Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish painter (b. 1834)

• 1892 – Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (b. 1828)

• 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)

• 1904 – Leslie Stephen, English writer and critic (b. 1832)

• 1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist (b. 1857)

• 1921 – Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1864)

• 1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (b. 1852)

• 1934 – Willem Kes, Dutch conductor (b. 1856)

• 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (b. 1875)

• 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (b. 1881)

• 1943 – Hans Scholl, German resistance fighter (b. 1918)

• 1943 – Christoph Probst, German resistance fighter (b. 1919)

• 1943 – Sophie Scholl, German resistance fighter (b. 1921)

• 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mohandas Gandhi (b. 1869)

• 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian writer (b. 1888)

• 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian independence movement leader (b. 1888)

• 1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Quebec painter (b. 1905)

• 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b. 1889)

• 1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (b. 1882)

• 1968 – Peter Arno, American cartoonist (b. 1904)

• 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)

• 1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)

• 1974 – Samuel Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (b. 1930)

• 1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)

• 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (The Supremes) (b. 1943)

• 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian artist (b. 1886)

• 1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Urdu poet of India and Pakistan (b. 1898)

• 1983 – Sir Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)

• 1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)

• 1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish poet (b. 1913)

• 1985 – Alexander Scourby, American actor (b. 1913)

• 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist (b. 1889)

• 1987 – Andy Warhol, American artist, director, and writer (b. 1928)

• 1989 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese leader, UDT President in the exterior (b. 1938)

• 1994 – Papa John Creach, American musician (b. 1917)

• 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)

• 1997 – Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)

• 1998 – Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (b. 1910)

• 1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)

• 2000 – Fernando Buesa, Spanish politician (b. 1946)

• 2002 – Chuck Jones, American cartoonist (b. 1912)

• 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel and political leader (b. 1934)

• 2002 – Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat and war hero (b. 1916)

• 2002 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist (b. 1963)

• 2003 – Daniel Taradash, American screenwriter (b. 1913)

• 2004 – Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1917)

• 2004 – Andy Seminick, American baseball player (b. 1920)

• 2005 – Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish artist (b. 1929)

• 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)

• 2005 – Lee Eun Ju, Korean actress (b. 1980)

• 2006 – Anthony Burger, American musician and singer (b. 1961)

• 2007 – Dennis Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1954)

• 2007 – Howard Verne Ramsey, oldest U.S. veteran of WWI (b. 1898)

• 2007 – Samuel Hinga Norman, Sierra Leonean alleged war criminal (b. 1940)

• 2007 – George Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords & Special Boat Service veteran (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

• United States — Washington's Birthday.

• Saint Lucia — independence (1979).

• The Scouting movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts celebrate this day as "World Thinking Day", "B.-P. day", or "Founder's Day", as it is the shared birthday of the Scouts' founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell and his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide.

• Roman Catholic Church — Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter.

• Blessed Saint Isabel of France (died 1270)