16 February
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Pre-1600

*
1249 Year 1249 (Roman numerals, MCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Seventh Crusade * May 13 – King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") assembles a Crusader fleet of 120 transports and ...
Andrew of Longjumeau Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...
is dispatched by
Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...
as his
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
to meet with the
Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...
of the
Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...
. *
1270 Year 1270 ( MCCLXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1270th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 270th year of the 2nd millennium, the 70th year of the 13th century, and the 1st ...
– The
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
defeats the
Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...
in the
Battle of Karuse The Battle of Karuse or Battle on the Ice was fought on 16 February 1270 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Livonian Order on the frozen Baltic Sea between the island of Muhu and the mainland. The Lithuanians achieved a decisive vict ...
.


1601–1900

*
1630 Events January–March * January 2 – A shoemaker in Turin is found to have the first case of bubonic plague there as the plague of 1630 begins spreading through Italy. * January 5 – A team of Portuguese military advisers ...
– Dutch forces led by
Hendrick Lonck Adm. Hendrick Corneliszoon Lonck (or Loncque and Loncq) (born 1568, Roosendaal – 10 October 1634, Amsterdam) was a Dutch naval hero, being the first Dutch sea captain to reach the New World. Biography He was born in Roosendaal in the south ...
capture Capture may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Capture", a song by Simon Townshend * Capture (band), an Australian electronicore band previously known as Capture the Crown * ''Capture'' (TV series), a reality show Television episodes * "Chapter ...
Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...
in what was to become part of
Dutch Brazil Dutch Brazil (; ), also known as New Holland (), was a colony of the Dutch Republic in the northeastern portion of modern-day Brazil, controlled from 1630 to 1654 during Dutch colonization of the Americas. The main cities of the colony were the c ...
. *
1646 It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral once (1000(M)+500(D)+100(C)+(-10(X)+50(L))+5(V)+1(I) = 1646). Events January–March * January 5 – The English House of Commons approves a bill to provide for Irelan ...
Battle of Torrington The Battle of Torrington (16 February 1646) was a decisive battle of the south-western campaign of the First English Civil War and marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country. It took place in Torrington, Devon. Prelude After ...
, Devon: The last major battle of the
First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...
. *
1699 Events January–March * January 5 – A violent earthquake damages the city of Batavia on the Indonesian island of Java, killing at least 28 people. * January 20 – The Parliament of England (under Tory dominance) limits the size of ...
– First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the
Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
, recognizing the
Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...
clergy enjoyed the same privileges as
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
priests in the Principality of Transylvania. *
1742 Events January–March * January 9 – Robert Walpole is made Earl of Orford, and resigns as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, effectively ending his period as Prime Minister of Great Britain. On his f ...
Spencer Compton Spencer Compton may refer to: *Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton (1601–1643), British politician *Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (1673–1743), British statesman and Prime Minister *Spencer Compton, 8th Earl of Northampton (1738– ...
,
Earl of Wilmington Earl of Wilmington was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1730 for the politician Spencer Compton, 1st Baron Wilmington, who later served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1742 to 1743, during the reign of George ...
, becomes
British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...
. *
1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital of Upper Can ...
Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their
invasion of Ceylon The invasion of Ceylon was a military campaign fought as a series of amphibious operations between the summer of 1795 and spring of 1796 between the garrison of the Batavian colonies on the Indian Ocean island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and a Bri ...
. *
1804 Events January–March * January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic. * February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa. * February 14 – The First Serbian uprising begins th ...
First Barbary War The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the 1801–1815 Barbary Wars, in which the United States fought against Ottoman Tripolitania. Tripolitania had declared war ...
:
Stephen Decatur Commodore (United States), Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was a United States Navy officer. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County. His father, Ste ...
leads a raid to burn the
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
-held frigate . *
1862 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – Second French intervention in Mexico, French intervention in Mexico: Second French Empire, French, Spanish and British ...
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
: General
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
captures
Fort Donelson Fort Donelson was a fortress built early in 1862 by the Confederacy during the American Civil War to control the Cumberland River, which led to the heart of Tennessee, and thereby the Confederacy. The fort was named after Confederate general Da ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. *
1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
. *
1881 Events January * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army ...
– The
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1). *
1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
's first football club,
Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (, ), commonly abbreviated to KR, is an Icelandic football club based in the Vesturbær district of the capital, Reykjavík. KR is the oldest and most successful club in Icelandic football, having won the Besta ...
, is founded. *
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...
– The Southern Cross expedition led by
Carsten Borchgrevink Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1 December 186421 April 1934) was a Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and others associated with the Heroic Age ...
achieved a new
Farthest South Farthest South is the term for the most southerly latitudes reached by explorers before the first successful expedition to the South Pole in 1911. Significant steps on the road to the pole were the discovery of lands south of Cape Horn in 1619 ...
of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the
Great Ice Barrier The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between high ...
.


1901–present

*
1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
– The
Council of Lithuania In the history of Lithuania, the Council of Lithuania (; ; ), after July 11, 1918, the State Council of Lithuania () was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between 18 and 23 September 1917. The twenty men who composed the c ...
unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
an independent state. *
1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptology, Egyptologist who Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered Tomb of Tutankhamun, the intact tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty Pharaoh ...
unseals the
burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...
of
Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...
. *
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
– The
Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...
joins
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
. *
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
– The
Austrian Civil War The Austrian Civil War () of 12–15 February 1934, also known as the February Uprising () or the February Fights (), was a series of clashes in the First Austrian Republic between the forces of the authoritarian Fatherland Front (Austria), rig ...
ends with the defeat of the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
and the
Republikanischer Schutzbund The ''Republikanischer Schutzbund'' (, "Republican Protection League") was an Austrian paramilitary organisation established in 1923 by the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria to defend the Austrian Republic in the face of rising polit ...
. *
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
– The Popular Front wins the
1936 Spanish general election Legislative elections were held in Spain on 16 February 1936. At stake were all 473 seats in the unicameral Cortes Generales. The winners of the 1936 elections were the Popular Front, a left-wing coalition of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Par ...
. *
1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...
Wallace H. Carothers Wallace Hume Carothers (; April 27, 1896 – April 29, 1937) was an American chemist, inventor, and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont, who was credited with the invention of nylon. Carothers was a group leader at the DuPont Experimen ...
receives a United States
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
for
nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...
. *
1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
:
Altmark incident The ''Altmark'' incident (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Altmark''-affæren; German language, German: ''Altmark-Zwischenfall'') was a naval incident of World War II between British destroyers and the German tanker German tanker Altma ...
: The
German tanker Altmark ''Altmark'' was a German oil tanker and supply vessel, one of five of a class built between 1937 and 1939. She is best known for her support of the German commerce raider, the "pocket battleship" and her subsequent involvement in the "Altmark I ...
is boarded by sailors from the British
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
. A total of 299 British prisoners are freed. *
1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
– World War II: In
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, the
Greek People's Liberation Army The Greek People's Liberation Army (, ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós''; ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance until February 1945, when, followi ...
is established * 1942 – World War II:
Attack on Aruba The attack on Aruba was an attack on oil installations and tankers by Axis submarines during World War II. On 16 February 1942, a German U-boat attacked the small Dutch island of Aruba. Other submarines patrolled the area for shipping and they ...
, first World War II German shots fired on a land based object in the Americas. *
1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...
– World War II: In the early phases of the
Third Battle of Kharkov The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Nazi Germany's Army Group South against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February ...
,
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
troops re-enter the city. *
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
– World War II: American forces land on
Corregidor Island Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...
in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. * 1945 – The
Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945 In the history of discrimination in the United States, the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945 (also known as the Anti-Discrimination Law of 1945 Alaska Statutes 44.12.065) was the first state or territorial anti-discrimination law enacted in the Uni ...
, the first
anti-discrimination law Anti-discrimination law or non-discrimination law refers to legislation designed to prevent discrimination against particular groups of people; these groups are often referred to as protected groups or protected classes. Anti-discrimination laws ...
in the United States, was signed into law. *
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
becomes Premier of
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
after dictator
Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...
was overthrown on
January 1 January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__ Events ...
. *
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...
– The U.S. Navy submarine begins
Operation Sandblast Operation Sandblast was the code name for the first submarine circumnavigation of the world. It was executed by the United States Navy nuclear-powered submarine, nuclear-powered radar picket submarine in 1960 under the command of Captain Edward ...
, setting sail from
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
, to begin the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe. *
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
Explorer program:
Explorer 9 Explorer 9, known as S-56A before launch, was a NASA satellite which was launched in February 1961 to study the density and composition of the upper thermosphere and lower exosphere. It was a reflight of the failed Explorer S-56 mission, and c ...
(S-56a) is launched. *
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
– The
Great Sheffield Gale The Great Sheffield Gale is the name given to an intense European windstorm which crossed the United Kingdom in mid-February 1962, devastating the city of Sheffield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Nine people were killed across the country ...
impacts the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, killing nine people; the city of
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
is devastated, with 150,000 homes damaged. * 1962 –
Flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...
in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people. *
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
– In
Haleyville, Alabama Haleyville is a city in Winston County, Alabama, Winston and Marion County, Alabama, Marion counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It incorporated on February 28, 1889. Most of the city is located in Winston County, with a small portion of the w ...
, the first
9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...
emergency telephone system goes into service. * 1968 –
Civil Air Transport Flight 010 Civil Air Transport Flight 10 was a passenger flight from the now-closed Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong to Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan. The flight CT-010 was operated by a Boeing 727-92C with registration B-1018. On 16 February 1968, the ai ...
crashes near Shongshan Airport in Taiwan, killing 21 of the 63 people on board and one more on the ground. *
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
– The first computer
bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running list of BBS software, software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user perfor ...
is created (
CBBS CBBS ("Computerized Bulletin Board System") was a computer program created by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess to allow them and other computer hobbyists to exchange information between each other. Jason Scott: , 2005, Episode 1 In Ja ...
in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
). *
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
– The
Ash Wednesday bushfires The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a Bushfires in Australia, series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires, fires f ...
in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
kill 75. *
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
launches Operation Dawn 5, a major offensive during the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
targeting the Basra–Baghdad highway, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. *
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
is founded. *
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
– The
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
liner runs aground in the
Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...
, New Zealand. * 1986 – China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, killing all 13 aboard. *
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
n
Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
leader
Enrique Bermúdez Enrique Bermúdez Varela (December 11, 1932 – February 16, 1991), known as Comandante 380, was a Nicaraguan soldier and rebel who founded and commanded the Nicaraguan Contras. In this capacity, he became a central global figure in one of the m ...
is assassinated in
Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...
. *
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
– A Chicago-bound
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
train, the ''
Capitol Limited The ''Capitol Limited'' is a temporarily discontinued daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981. On November 10, 2024, Amtrak temporarily combined the ''Capitol Limit ...
'', collides with a
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...
commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people. *
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
China Airlines Flight 676 China Airlines Flight 676 was a scheduled international passenger flight. On 16 February 1998, the Airbus A300 jet airliner operating the flight crashed into a road and residential area in Tayuan, Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City), near Chian ...
crashes into a road and residential area near
Chiang Kai-shek International Airport Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (Traditional Chinese: 臺灣桃園國際機場) is the main international airport serving Taiwan, particularly the northern region and Taipei. Located in Dayuan District, Dayuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Taoyuan, ...
in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, killing all 196 aboard and six more on the ground. *
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 crashes near Sacramento Mather Airport in
Rancho Cordova, California Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. Incorporated in 2003, it is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 79,332 at the 2020 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova received the All-Ame ...
, killing all three aboard. *
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
– The
Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...
comes into force, following its
ratification Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...
by Russia. * 2005 – The
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs. *
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
– The last
Mobile army surgical hospital Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) were U.S. Army field hospital units conceptualized in 1946 as replacements for the obsolete World War II-era Auxiliary Surgical Group hospital units. MASH units were in operation from the Korean War to the ...
(MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army. *
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
– A
bomb blast A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...
at a market in
Hazara Town Hazara Town (Urdu: , Hazaragi: , Dari: ) is a lower- to middle-income area on the western outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan, of which almost all the residents are ethnic Hazaras, with a small population of Pashtuns and Baloch. Hazara Town en ...
,
Quetta, Pakistan Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others. *
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
– Five thousand people gathered in the town of
Kherrata Kherrata is a commune in northern Algeria in the Béjaïa Province The Béjaïa Province (Kabyle language, Kabyle: ''Tawilayt n Bgayet''; , Latn, ar, Wilāyat Bijāyah; or ) is a provinces of Algeria, province of Algeria in the Kabylie reg ...
, Bejaia Province to mark the second anniversary of the Hirak protest movement. Demonstrations had been suspended because of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria The COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Algeria in February 2020. In response, ...
.


Births


Pre-1600

*
1222 Year 1222 ( MCCXXII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Asia * The Ghurid dynasty capital of Firozkoh (in modern-day Afghanistan) is destroyed, by Mongol Emperor Ögedei Khan. * After the in ...
Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism based on the '' Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declared that the '' Lotus Sutra ...
, founder of Nichiren Buddhism (died 1282) * 1304
Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür Jayaatu Khan ( Mongolian: Заяат хаан ; ''Jayaγatu qaγan''; ), born Tugh Temür (Mongolian: Төвтөмөр ; ), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Wenzong of Yuan (; 16 February 1304 – 2 September 1332), was an emperor of t ...
, Chinese emperor (died 1332) *
1331 Year 1331 ( MCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events September–December * September 8 – Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia. * September 27 – Battle of Płowce: The German ...
Coluccio Salutati Coluccio Salutati (16 February 1331 – 4 May 1406) was an Italian Renaissance humanist and notary, and one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history ...
, Italian political leader (died 1406) *
1419 Year 1419 ( MCDXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 19 – Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, which brings Normandy under the control of England ...
John I, Duke of Cleves John I, Duke of Cleves, Count of Mark (16 February 1419 – 5 September 1481). Jean de Belliqueux (warlike), was Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark. Life John was the son of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and Mary of Burgundy, Duchess of Cleves, Mary ...
(died 1481) *
1470 Year 1470 ( MCDLXX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * March 12 – Wars of the Roses in England – Battle of Losecoat Field: The House of York defeats the House of Lanc ...
Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Eric I, the Elder (; 16 February 1470 – 30 July 1540) was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1495 and the first reigning prince of Calenberg-Göttingen. Life and works Ancestry Eric I was born on 16 February 1470 in Neustadt am Rübenberg ...
(died 1540) *
1471 Year 1471 ( MCDLXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January – Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar reach the gold-trading centre of Elmina on t ...
Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529 and the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Indian history, he presided over t ...
, emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire (died 1529) *
1497 Year 1497 ( MCDXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * February 7 (Shrove Tuesday) – Followers of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of "immoral" objects, at the '' Bonfire ...
Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...
, German astronomer, theologian, and academic (died 1560) *
1514 Year 1514 ( MDXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 10 – A great fire breaks out, in the Rialto of Venice. * February 12 – War of the League of Cambrai: In ...
Georg Joachim Rheticus Georg Joachim de Porris, also known as Rheticus (; 16 February 1514 – 4 December 1574), was a mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his Trigonometr ...
, Austrian cartographer and instrument maker (died 1574) *
1519 __NOTOC__ Year 1519 ( MDXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1519th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 519th year of the 2nd millennium, the 19th year of the 16th century, ...
Gaspard II de Coligny Gaspard de Coligny, seigneur de Châtillon (; 16 February 1519 – 24 August 1572), was a French nobleman, Admiral of France, and Huguenot leader during the French Wars of Religion. He served under kings Francis I and Henry II during the ...
, French admiral (died 1572) *
1543 Year 1543 ( MDXLIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. It is one of the years sometimes referred to as an " Annus mirabilis" because of its significant publications in science, considered the start of the Scientific ...
Kanō Eitoku was a Japanese painter who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history and one of the most prominent patriarchs of the Kanō school of Japanese painting. Life and works Born in Kyoto, Eitoku was the grandson of Kanō Motonob ...
, Japanese painter and educator (died 1590)


1601–1900

*
1620 Events January–March * January 7 – Ben Jonson's play ''News from the New World Discovered in the Moon'' is given its first performance, a presentation to King James I of England. In addition to dialogue about actual observ ...
Frederick William The name Frederick William usually refers to several monarchs and princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty: * Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620–1688) * Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713) * Frederick William I of ...
, Elector of Brandenburg (died 1688) *
1643 Events January–March * January 21 – Abel Tasman sights the island of Tonga. * February 6 **(17 Dhu al-Qadah 1052 AH) In India, the first ceremony at the nearly-complete Taj Mahal in Agra, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan ob ...
John Sharp, English archbishop (died 1714) *
1698 Events January–March * January 1 – The Abenaki tribe and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty, ending the conflict in New England. * January 4 – The Palace of Whitehall in London, England is destroyed by fire. * January 23 – ...
Pierre Bouguer Pierre Bouguer () (16 February 1698, Le Croisic – 15 August 1758, Paris) was a French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer. He is also known as "the father of naval architecture". Career Bouguer's father, Jean Bouguer, ...
, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (died 1758) *
1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...
Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (16 February 172726 October 1817) was a scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany. Biography Born in Leiden in the Netherlands, he studied medicine at Leiden University, then moved first to Par ...
, Austrian botanist, chemist, and mycologist (died 1817) *
1740 Events January–March * January 8 – All 237 crewmen on the Dutch East India Company ship ''Rooswijk'' are drowned when the vessel strikes the shoals of Goodwin Sands, off of the coast of England, as it is beginning its second ...
Giambattista Bodoni Giambattista Bodoni (, ; 16 February 1740 – 30 November 1813) was an Italian Typography, typographer, type-designer, compositor, Printing, printer, and publisher in Parma. He first took the type-designs of Pierre Simon Fournier as his exempla ...
, Italian publisher and engraver (died 1813) *
1761 Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 1 ...
Jean-Charles Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (; 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to h ...
, French general (died 1804) *
1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs ...
Pierre Rode Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode (; 16 February 1774 – 25 November 1830) was a French violinist and composer. Life and career Born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Pierre Rode traveled in 1787 to Paris and soon became a favourite pupil of the great Gi ...
, French violinist and composer (died 1830) *
1786 Events January–March * January 3 – The third Treaty of Hopewell is signed between the United States and the Choctaw. * January 6 – The outward bound East Indiaman '' Halsewell'' is wrecked on the south coast of Englan ...
Maria Pavlovna, Russian Grand Duchess (died 1859) *
1802 Events January–March * January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they are at risk of destruction during the Ott ...
Phineas Quimby Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (February 16, 1802 – January 16, 1866) was an American folk healer, mentalist and mesmerist. His work is widely recognized as foundational to the New Thought spiritual movement. Early life Born in the small town of ...
, American mystic and philosopher (died 1866) *
1804 Events January–March * January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic. * February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa. * February 14 – The First Serbian uprising begins th ...
Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold Prof Karl (Carl) Theodor Ernst von Siebold Royal Society of London, FRS(For) HFRSE (16 February 1804 – 7 April 1885) was a German physiologist and zoologist. He was responsible for the introduction of the taxa Arthropoda and Rhizopoda, and for d ...
, German physiologist and zoologist (died 1885) *
1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege ...
Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a United States Senate, senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
, American colonel and politician, 18th
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...
(died 1875) *
1821 Events January–March * January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. * January 26 – Congress of Laibach convenes to deal with outstanding international issues, particularly ...
Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...
, German explorer and scholar (died 1865) *
1822 Events January–March * January 1 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus. * January 3 – The famous French explorer, Aimé Bonpland, is imprisoned in Paraguay on charges of espionage. ...
Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and b ...
, English biologist and statistician (died 1911) *
1824 Events January–March * January 1 – John Stuart Mill begins publication of The Westminster Review. The first article is by William Johnson Fox * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of th ...
Peter Kosler Peter Kosler or Kozler (16 February 1824 – 16 April 1879) was an Austrian-Slovene lawyer, geographer, cartographer, activist, and businessman. He was of Gottscheer origin, but also identified with Slovene culture and advocated for the peac ...
, Slovenian lawyer, geographer, and cartographer (died 1879) *
1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a satirical weekly. * January 17 – The Ballantyne printing business in Edinburgh (Scotland) crashes, ruining noveli ...
Joseph Victor von Scheffel Joseph Victor von Scheffel (16 February 1826 – 9 April 1886) was a German poet and novelist. His novel '' Ekkehard'' (1855) became one of the most popular German novels in the 19th century. Biography He was born at Karlsruhe. His father, a reti ...
, German poet and author (died 1886) *
1830 It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Events January–March * January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...
Lars Hertervig Lars Hertervig (16 February 1830 – 6 January 1902) was a Norwegian painter. His semi-fantastical work with motives from the coastal landscape in the traditional district of Ryfylke is regarded as one of the peaks of Norwegian painting. Life a ...
, Norwegian painter (died 1902) *
1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto estab ...
Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held ...
, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (died 1895) *
1834 Events January–March * January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states. * January 3 – The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City. * January – The W ...
Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...
, German biologist, physician, and philosopher (died 1919) *
1838 Events January–March * January 10 – A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London. * January 11 – At Morristown, New Jersey, Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale give the first public demonstration ...
Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fran ...
, American journalist, historian, and author (died 1918) *
1841 Events January–March * January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom and Qishan of the Qing dynasty agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. * January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the ...
Armand Guillaumin Armand Guillaumin (; February 16, 1841 – June 26, 1927) was a French Impressionist painter and lithographer. Biography Early years Born Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin in Paris, he worked at his uncle's lingerie shop while attending even ...
, French painter (died 1927) *
1843 Events January–March * January 3 – The '' Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms'' (海國圖志, ''Hǎiguó Túzhì'') compiled by Wei Yuan and others, the first significant Chinese work on the West, is published in China. * J ...
Henry M. Leland, American engineer and businessman, founded
Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
and
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
(died 1932) *
1845 Events January–March * January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso ...
George Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
, American journalist and explorer (died 1924) *
1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...
Hugo de Vries Hugo Marie de Vries (; 16 February 1848 – 21 May 1935) was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. He is known chiefly for suggesting the concept of genes, rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s while apparently unaware of ...
, Dutch botanist, geneticist, and academic (died 1935) * 1848 –
Octave Mirbeau Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau (; 16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still app ...
, French journalist, novelist, and playwright (died 1917) *
1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatl ...
Ossian Everett Mills Ossian Everett Mills (February 16, 1856 – December 26, 1920) was the founder of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1898. Early life Mills was born in Thompson Connecticut on February 16, 1856. H ...
, American academic, founded
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...
(died 1920) *
1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...
Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (died 1940) *
1873 Events January * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat the Unit ...
Radoje Domanović Radoje Domanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Радоје Домановић; February 16, 1873 – August 17, 1908) was a Serbian journalist, writer and teacher, most famous for his satirical short stories. His adult years were a constant fight against ...
, Serbian journalist and author (died 1908) *
1876 Events January * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. *January 27 – The Northampton Bank robbery occurs in Massachusetts. February * Febr ...
G. M. Trevelyan George Macaulay Trevelyan (16 February 1876 – 21 July 1962) was an English historian and academic. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1898 to 1903. He then spent more than twenty years as a full-time author. He returned to th ...
, English historian and academic (died 1962) *
1877 Events January * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India by the Royal Titles Act 1876, introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sioux War of 1876: Batt ...
Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...
, Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer (died 1938) *
1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...
Pamela Colman Smith Pamela Colman Smith (16 February 1878 – 16 September 1951), nicknamed "Pixie", was a British artist, illustrator, writer, publisher, and occultist. She is best-known for illustrating the Rider–Waite Tarot (also known as the Rider–Waite– ...
, English occultist and illustrator (died 1951) * 1878 –
James Colosimo Vincenzo Colosimo (; February 16, 1878 – May 11, 1920), known as James "Big Jim" Colosimo or as "Diamond Jim", was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who emigrated from Calabria, Italy, in 1895 and built a criminal empire in Chicago based on ...
, Italian-American mob boss (died 1920) *
1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...
Robert J. Flaherty Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
, American director and producer (died 1951) *
1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...
Kathleen Clifford Kathleen Clifford (February 16, 1887 – December 28, 1962) was an American vaudeville and Broadway stage and film actress of the early twentieth century. She was known for her skills as a male impersonator. Biography Born in Charlottesville, Vir ...
, American actress (died 1962) *
1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...
Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist and academic (died 1968) *
1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...
Katharine Cornell Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by cri ...
, American actress and producer (died 1974) *
1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...
Eugénie Blanchard French supercentenarians are citizens, residents or emigrants from France who have attained or surpassed 110 years of age. , the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 161 French supercentenarians. France was home ...
, French super-centenarian (died 2010)


1901–present

*
1901 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...
Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved w ...
, American singer-songwriter and conductor (died 1985) * 1901 –
Chester Morris John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Alibi'' ( ...
, American actor (died 1970) *
1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's ...
Cyril Vincent, South African cricketer (died 1968) *
1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 10 – The Aceh Sultanate was fully annexed by the Dutch forces, deposing the last sultan, marking the end of the Aceh War that have lasted for al ...
Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen ...
, American ventriloquist and actor (died 1978) *
1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...
James Baskett James Franklin Baskett (February 16, 1904 – July 9, 1948) was an American actor who portrayed Uncle Remus in the 1946 Disney feature film ''Song of the South''. His performance included singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." In recognition of h ...
, American actor and singer (died 1948) * 1904 –
George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (died 2005) *
1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...
Henrietta Barnett Dame Henrietta Octavia Weston Barnett, DBE (''née'' Rowland; 4 May 1851 – 10 June 1936) was an English social reformer, educationist, and author. She and her husband, Samuel Augustus Barnett, founded the first "University Settlement" at ...
, English
Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...
officer (died 1985) *
1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
Vera Menchik Vera Francevna Mencikova (, ''Vera Frantsevna Menchik''; ; 16 February 1906 – 26 June 1944), was a Russian-born Czechoslovak chess player who primarily resided in England. She was the first and longest-reigning Women's World Chess Champ ...
, Russian-Czechoslovak-British chess player (died 1944) *
1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escapes death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Janu ...
Hugh Beaumont Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1910 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series ''Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, and as private detec ...
, American actor and director (died 1982) * 1909 – Richard McDonald, American businessman, co-founded
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
(died 1998) *
1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...
Jimmy Wakely James Clarence Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982) was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western ...
, American country music singer-songwriter and actor (died 1982) *
1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...
Bill Doggett William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk ...
, American pianist and composer (died 1996) *
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...
Georges Ulmer Georges Ulmer (1919–1989) was a Danish-born composer, librettist, and actor who became a naturalized French citizen. He was born Jørgen Frederik Ulmer on 16 February 1919 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died on 29 September 1989 at Marseille, Bouc ...
, Danish-French actor and composer (died 1989) *
1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...
Anna Mae Hays, American general (died 2018) *
1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...
Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Behra contested 54 Formula One Grands Prix across eight seasons for Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari, and Behra-Porsche. ...
, French race car driver (died 1959) * 1921 – John Galbraith Graham, English priest and academic (died 2013) * 1921 –
Vera-Ellen Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Rohe; February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer, actress, and singer. She is remembered for her solo performances as well as her work with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald ...
, German-American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1981) *
1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (16 February 1922 – 15 July 1950) was a German Luftwaffe night-fighter pilot and the highest-scoring flying ace, night fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. A flying ace is a military aviation, military ...
, German soldier and pilot (died 1950) *
1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
Samuel Willenberg Samuel Willenberg, ''nom de guerre'' Igo (16 February 1923 – 19 February 2016), was a Polish Holocaust survivor, artist, and writer. He was a ''Sonderkommando'' at the Treblinka extermination camp and participated in the unit's planned revol ...
, Polish-Israeli sculptor and painter (died 2016) *
1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
Ed Emshwiller Edmund Alexander Emshwiller (February 16, 1925 – July 27, 1990) was an American people, American visual artist notable for his science fiction illustrations and his pioneering experimental films. He usually signed his illustrations as Emsh but ...
, American illustrator and experiment film maker (died 1990) *
1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
Margot Frank Margot Betti Frank (16 February 1926 – ) was the elder daughter of Otto Frank and Edith Frank and the elder sister of Anne Frank. Margot's deportation order from the Gestapo hastened the Frank family into hiding. According to the diary of her ...
, German-Dutch
holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
victim (died 1945) * 1926 –
John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...
, English actor and director (died 2003) *
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the Inside ...
, English actress (died 2022) *
1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
Gerhard Hanappi Gerhard Hanappi (16 February 1929 – 23 August 1980) was an Austrian football midfielder who is often regarded as one of the greatest Austrian footballers. He is also the father of political economist Hardy Hanappi. Club career A versatile mid ...
, Austrian footballer and architect (died 1980) * 1929 – Peter Porter, Australian-English poet and educator (died 2010) *
1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...
Otis Blackwell Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), " Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerry ...
, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2002) * 1931 –
Bernie Geoffrion Joseph Bernard André Geoffrion (; February 16, 1931 – March 11, 2006), nicknamed "Boom Boom", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered one of the innovators of the slapshot, he was inducted into the Hockey ...
, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2006) * 1931 –
Ken Takakura , born , was a Japanese actor and singer who appeared in over 200 films. Affectionately referred to as "Ken-san" by audiences, he was best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brought to his roles. He won the Japan Academy Pri ...
, Japanese actor and singer (died 2014) *
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (16 February 1932 – 13 March 2014) was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Kab ...
, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd
President of Sierra Leone The president of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. As the head of the executive branch of the Sierra Leone government, the pre ...
(died 2014) * 1932 –
Gretchen Wyler Gretchen Wyler (born Gretchen Patricia Wienecke; February 16, 1932 – May 27, 2007) was an American actress and dancer. She was also an animal rights advocate and founder of the Genesis Awards for animal protection. Biography Early lif ...
, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 2007) *
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
August Coppola August Floyd Coppola (February 16, 1934 – October 27, 2009) was an American academic, author, film executive, and advocate for the arts of the Coppola family. Early life and family August Coppola was the son of composer and flautist Carmine ...
, American author and academic (died 2009) * 1934 –
Marlene Hagge Marlene Hagge (née Bauer; February 16, 1934 – May 16, 2023) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won one women's major golf championships, major championship and 26 LPGA Tour career ...
, American golfer (died 2023) *
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
Brian Bedford Brian Bedford (16 February 1935 – 13 January 2016) was an English actor. He appeared in film and on stage, and was an actor-director of Shakespeare productions. Bedford was nominated for seven Tony Awards for his theatrical work, winning once ...
, English-American actor and director (died 2016) *
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
Ken Brown, English footballer and manager * 1935 –
Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...
, American actor, singer, and politician (died 1998) * 1935 –
Stephen Gaskin Stephen Gaskin (February 16, 1935 – July 1, 2014) was an American counterculture Hippie icon best known for his presence in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in the 1960s and for co-founding " The Farm", a spiritual commune in 1970. ...
, American activist, co-founded The Farm (died 2014) * 1935 –
Bradford Parkinson Bradford Parkinson (born February 16, 1935) is an American engineer and inventor, retired United States Air Force Colonel and Emeritus Professor at Stanford University. He is best known as the lead architect, advocate and developer, with early co ...
, American colonel and engineer * 1935 –
Kenneth Price Kenneth Price (February 16, 1935 – February 24, 2012) was an American artist who predominantly created ceramic sculpture. He studied at the Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles, befo ...
, American painter and sculptor (died 2012) *
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
Carl Icahn Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, ...
, American businessman and investor *
1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...
Paul Bailey, British novelist, critic, and biographer * 1937 –
Valentin Bondarenko Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko (; ; 16 February 1937 – 23 March 1961) was a Soviet fighter pilot selected in 1960 for training as a cosmonaut. He died as the result of burns sustained in a fire during a 15-day low-pressure endurance experime ...
, Soviet aviator and cosmonaut (died 1961) * 1937 –
Yuri Manin Yuri Ivanovich Manin (; 16 February 1937 – 7 January 2023) was a Russian mathematician, known for work in algebraic geometry and diophantine geometry, and many expository works ranging from mathematical logic to theoretical physics. Life an ...
, Russian-German mathematician and academic (died 2023) *
1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. With over 100 compositions, he has won accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and a ...
, American composer and academic *
1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
Adolfo Azcuna Adolfo Sevilla Azcuna (born February 16, 1939) is a Philippines, Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. He was a ...
, Filipino lawyer and judge *
1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...
Hannelore Schmatz Hannelore Schmatz (14 February 1940 – 2 October 1979) was a German climber and the fourth woman to summit Mount Everest. She collapsed and died as she was returning from summiting Everest via the southern route; Schmatz was the first woma ...
, German mountaineer (died 1979) *
1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...
Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...
, North Korean commander and politician, 2nd
Supreme Leader of North Korea The supreme leader of North Korea () is the ''de facto'' hereditary dictatorship, hereditary Supreme leader, leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, North Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. The title is honorary, given only afte ...
(died 2011) *
1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
Yang Jen-fu, Taiwanese politician (died 2024) *
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– Glyn Davies (British politician), Glyn Davies, Welsh farmer and politician * 1944 – Richard Ford, American novelist and short story writer * 1944 – António Mascarenhas Monteiro, Cape Verdean politician, 2nd List of heads of state of Cape Verde, President of Cape Verde (died 2016) *1947 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (died 2020) *1948 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler and coach (died 2014) *1950 – Peter Hain, Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales *1951 – William Katt, American actor *1952 – James Ingram, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2019) * 1952 – Peter Kitchen, English footballer *1953 – John Bradbury (drummer), John Bradbury, English musician, songwriter, and producer (died 2015) * 1953 – Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player and manager * 1953 – Roberta Williams, American video game designer, co-founded Sierra Entertainment *1954 – Iain Banks, Scottish author and playwright (died 2013) * 1954 – Margaux Hemingway, American model and actress (died 1996) * 1954 – Michael Holding, Jamaican cricketer and sportscaster *1956 – Vincent Ward (director), Vincent Ward, New Zealand director and screenwriter *1957 – LeVar Burton, American actor, director, and producer *1958 – Natalie Angier, American author * 1958 – Ice-T, American rapper and actor * 1958 – Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball player * 1958 – Herb Williams, American basketball player and coach *
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
– John McEnroe, American tennis player and sportscaster * 1959 – Kelly Tripucka, American basketball player and sportscaster *
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...
– Pete Willis, English guitarist and songwriter *
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
– Niko Nirvi, Finnish journalist * 1961 – Andy Taylor (guitarist), Andy Taylor, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer *
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
– John Balance, English singer-songwriter (died 2004) *1964 – Bebeto, Brazilian footballer and manager * 1964 – Christopher Eccleston, English actor *1965 – Dave Lombardo, Cuban-American musician and songwriter *1967 – Keith Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach *
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
– Warren Ellis, English author and screenwriter *1970 – Angelo Peruzzi, Italian footballer and manager *1971 – Michael Avenatti, American attorney and pundit * 1971 – Craig Laundy, Australian politician *1972 – Jerome Bettis, American football player * 1972 – Zoran Čampara, Bosnian football player * 1972 – Sarah Clarke, American actress * 1972 – Naomi Nishida, Japanese actress *1973 – Cathy Freeman, Australian sprinter *1974 – Mahershala Ali, American actor * 1974 – José Dominguez, Portuguese footballer and manager *1976 – Eric Byrnes, American baseball player and sportscaster * 1976 – Kyo (musician), Kyo, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer *1977 – Ian Clarke (computer scientist), Ian Clarke, Irish-American computer scientist, founded Freenet * 1977 – Ahman Green, American football player * 1977 – Alexei Morozov, Russian ice hockey player and executive *
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
– Tia Hellebaut, Belgian high jumper and chemist * 1978 – Wasim Jaffer, Indian cricketer * 1978 – John Tartaglia, American actor, singer, and puppeteer *1979 – Stéphane Dalmat, French footballer * 1979 – Eric Mun, American-South Korean singer and actor * 1979 – Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer *1980 – Longineu W. Parsons III, French-American musician and songwriter *1981 – Jay Howard, English race car driver * 1981 – Susanna Kallur, Swedish sprint hurdler * 1981 – Jerry Owens, American baseball player * 1981 – Qyntel Woods, American basketball player *1982 – Manny Delcarmen, American baseball player * 1982 – Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Estonian footballer * 1982 – Lupe Fiasco, American rapper * 1982 – Rickie Lambert, English footballer *
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
– Agyness Deyn, English model, actress, and singer * 1983 – Tuomo Ruutu, Finnish ice hockey player and coach *
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
– Sofia Arvidsson, Swedish tennis player * 1984 – Oussama Mellouli, Tunisian swimmer *
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
– Simon Francis (footballer), Simon Francis, English footballer * 1985 – Stacy Lewis, American golfer * 1985 – Ron Vlaar, Dutch footballer *
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
– Diego Godín, Uruguayan footballer * 1986 – Shawne Williams, American basketball player *1987 – Luc Bourdon, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2008) * 1987 – Theresa Goh, Singaporean swimmer * 1987 – Tommy Milone, American baseball player * 1987 – Jon Ossoff, American politician and filmmaker * 1987 – Hasheem Thabeet, Tanzanian basketball player *1988 – Diego Capel, Spanish footballer * 1988 – Denílson (footballer, born 1988), Denílson, Brazilian footballer * 1988 – Korbinian Holzer, German ice hockey player * 1988 – Zhang Jike, Chinese table tennis player * 1988 – Andrea Ranocchia, Italian footballer * 1988 – Kim Soo-hyun, South Korean actor and singer *1989 – Elizabeth Olsen, American actress *1990 – The Weeknd, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer *
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– Sergio Canales, Spanish footballer *1992 – Nicolai Boilesen, Danish footballer * 1992 – Zsófia Susányi, Hungarian tennis player *1994 – Annika Beck, German tennis player * 1994 – Federico Bernardeschi, Italian footballer * 1994 – Ava Max, American singer and songwriter *1995 – Denzel Curry, American rapper * 1995 – Katy Dunne, English tennis player * 1995 – Carina Witthöft, German tennis player *1997 – Jordan Greenway, American ice hockey player *
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
– An Hye-jin, An Hyejin, South Korean volleyball player * 1998 – Kim Su-ji (diver), Kim Suji, South Korean diver *1999 – Ignatius Ganago, Cameroonian footballer * 1999 – Marie Ulven Ringheim, Norwegian singer, songwriter and music producer *
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
– Original Koffee, Koffee, Jamaican singer, songwriter and rapper * 2000 – Coby White, American basketball player *2001 – Yuki Naito, Japanese tennis player


Deaths


Pre-1600

* 549 – Zhu Yi (Liang Dynasty), Zhu Yi, Chinese general (born 483) * 902 – Mary the Younger, Byzantine saint (born 875) *1184 – Richard of Dover, Archbishop of Canterbury *1247 – Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (born 1204) *1279 – Afonso III of Portugal (born 1210) *1281 – Gertrude of Hohenberg, queen consort of Germany (born c. 1225) *1390 – Rupert I, Elector Palatine (born 1309) *1391 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1332) *1531 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (born 1452) *1560 – Jean du Bellay, French cardinal and diplomat (born 1493) *1579 – Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (born 1509)


1601–1900

*1645 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1585–1645), Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (born 1585) *1710 – Esprit Fléchier, French bishop and author (born 1632) *1721 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1686) *1754 – Richard Mead, English physician (born 1673) *1820 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish general (born 1758) *
1862 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – Second French intervention in Mexico, French intervention in Mexico: Second French Empire, French, Spanish and British ...
– William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1796) *1898 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (born 1843) *
1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
– Félix Faure, French merchant and politician, 7th President of France (born 1841)


1901–present

*1907 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1835) *1912 – Nicholas of Japan, Russian-Japanese monk and saint (born 1836) *1917 –
Octave Mirbeau Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau (; 16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still app ...
, French journalist, novelist, and playwright (born 1848) *
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...
– Vera Kholodnaya, Ukrainian actress (born 1893) *1928 – Eddie Foy Sr., American actor and dancer (born 1856) *
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
– Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1841) * 1932 – Edgar Speyer, American-English financier and philanthropist (born 1862) *
1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...
– Frida Felser, German opera singer and actress (born 1872) *
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1870) *1957 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (born 1876) *
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
– Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (born 1891) *1964 – James M. Canty, American educator, school administrator, and businessperson (born 1865) *1967 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1911) *1974 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand, M1 Garand Rifle (born 1888) *1975 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (born 1903) *1977 – Janani Luwum, bishop, Church of Uganda, martyr (born c.1922) * 1977 – Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (born 1905) *1980 – Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (born 1895) *
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
– M. A. G. Osmani, Bangladeshi general (born 1918) *1988 – Ye Shengtao, Chinese writer, educator, and politician (born 1894) *1990 – Keith Haring, American painter and activist (born 1958) *
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
Enrique Bermúdez Enrique Bermúdez Varela (December 11, 1932 – February 16, 1991), known as Comandante 380, was a Nicaraguan soldier and rebel who founded and commanded the Nicaraguan Contras. In this capacity, he became a central global figure in one of the m ...
, Nicaraguan lieutenant and engineer (born 1932) *1992 – Angela Carter, English novelist, short story writer (born 1940) * 1992 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician, 22nd President of Brazil (born 1917) * 1992 – Herman Wold, Norwegian-Swedish economist and statistician (born 1908) *
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
– Roberto Aizenberg, Argentinian painter and sculptor (born 1922) * 1996 – Roger Bowen, American actor and author (born 1932) * 1996 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (born 1905) * 1996 – Brownie McGhee, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1915) *1997 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist and academic (born 1912) *
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
– Mary Amdur, American Toxicology, toxicologist and public health researcher (born 1908) * 1998 – Sheu Yuan-dong, Taiwanese politician (born 1927) *
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
– Marceline Day, American actress (born 1908) * 2000 – Lila Kedrova, Russian-French actress and singer * 2000 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-American businessman, founded Ping (golf), PING (born 1911) *2001 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (born 1916) * 2001 – William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (born 1915) *2002 – Walter Winterbottom, English footballer and manager (born 1913) *2003 – Rusty Magee, American actor and composer (born 1955) *2004 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (born 1937) *
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
– Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (born 1966) * 2006 – Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (born 1925) *2009 – Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korean cardinal (born 1921) *2011 – Len Lesser, American actor (born 1922) * 2011 – Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (born 1930) *2012 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (born 1954) * 2012 – Elyse Knox, American model, actress, and fashion designer (born 1917) * 2012 – John Macionis, American swimmer and lieutenant (born 1916) * 2012 – Anthony Shadid, American journalist (born 1968) *
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
– Colin Edwards (footballer), Colin Edwards, Guyanese footballer (born 1991) * 2013 – Grigory Pomerants, Russian philosopher and author (born 1918) * 2013 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1940) *2014 – Ken Farragut, American football player (born 1928) * 2014 – Kralle Krawinkel, German guitarist (born 1947) * 2014 – Michael Shea (author), Michael Shea, American author (born 1946) *2015 – Lasse Braun, Algerian-Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1936) * 2015 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (born 1946) * 2015 – R. R. Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1957) * 2015 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (born 1971) *2016 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and diplomat, 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations (born 1922) *2019 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (born 1941) *
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
– Gustavo Noboa, Ecuadorian politician, 42nd President of Ecuador (born 1937) *2024 – Alexei Navalny, Russian activist (born 1976) *2025 – Viktor Antonov (art director), Viktor Antonov, Bulgarian artist (born 1972)


Holidays and observances

*Christian feast day: **Abda of Edessa **Elias and companions **Juliana of Nicomedia (Catholic Church) **Onesimus **Charles Todd Quintard (Episcopal Church (USA)) **February 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) *Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong Il's birthday) (North Korea) *Act of Independence of Lithuania, Restoration of Lithuania's Statehood Day, celebrate the independence of Lithuania from Russia and Germany in 1918 (
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
) * Elizabeth Peratrovich, Elizabeth Peratrovich Day (Alaska)


References


External links


BBC: On This Day
*
Historical Events on February 16
{{months Days of February