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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected anti-pope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.

★ 1639 - Harvard College was named for clergyman John Harvard.

★ 1781 - William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus.

★ 1862 - American Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

★ 1865 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America reluctantly agrees to the use of African American troops.

★ 1881 - Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him. (Gregorian date: it was March 1 in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia.)

★ 1884 - The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).

★ 1897 - San Diego State University founded.

★ 1900 - Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.

★ 1900 - In France, length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law.

★ 1921 - Mongolia, under Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg, declares its independence from China.

★ 1925 - Scopes Trial: A law in Tennessee prohibits the teaching of evolution.

★ 1930 - The news of the discovery of Pluto was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory.

★ 1933 - Great Depression: Banks in the United States begin to re-open after the Presidentially mandated "bank holiday".

★ 1940 - Russo-Finnish Winter War ended.

★ 1943 - World War II: In Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at Hill 700.

★ 1943 - Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.

★ 1954 - Battle of Điện Biên Phủ: Viet Minh forces attack the French.

★ 1957 - Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.

★ 1962 - Lyman Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the USA, proposes a document, called Operation Northwoods, regarding performing terrorist attacks in Guantanamo Bay, to Secretary of Defense Robert Mcnamara. The proposal is scrapped and President John F. Kennedy removes Lemnitzer from his position.

★ 1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

★ 1979 - The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a nearly bloodless coup d'etat in Grenada.

★ 1986 - Microsoft has its Initial public offering.

★ 1991 - The United States Justice Department announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

★ 1992 - An earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500 in Erzincan, eastern Turkey.

★ 1996 - The Dunblane Massacre: in Dunblane, Scotland, 16 children and 1 adult teacher are shot dead by a spree killer who then commits suicide.

★ 1997 - India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader.

★ 2003 - Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints have been found in Italy.

★ 2007 - The Bank of England launched a new £20, featuring the Scottish economist Adam Smith. It was the first note in the new Series F banknotes

Births

★ 1372 - Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, brother of Charles VI of France (d. 1407)

★ 1615 - Pope Innocent XII (d. 1700)

★ 1683 - John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-British philosopher (d. 1744)

★ 1700 - Michel Blavet, French flutist (d. 1768)

★ 1719 - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (d. 1797)

★ 1720 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist and writer (d. 1793)

★ 1733 - Joseph Priestley, English scientist and minister (d. 1804)

★ 1741 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1790)

★ 1763 - Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, French marshal (d. 1815)

★ 1764 - Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1845)

★ 1781 - Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German architect (d. 1841)

★ 1784 - Jean Moufot, French philosopher and mathematician (d. 1842)

★ 1798 - Abigail Fillmore, First Lady of the United States (d. 1853)

★ 1815 - James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (d. 1911)

★ 1855 - Percival Lowell, American astronomer (d. 1916)

★ 1860 - Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (d. 1903)

★ 1864 - Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian painter (d. 1941)

★ 1870 - Albert Meyer, member of the Swiss Federal Council in the 1930s (d. 1953)

★ 1884 - Sir Hugh Walpole, English novelist (d. 1941)

★ 1890 - Fritz Busch, German conductor (d. 1951)

★ 1898 - Henry Hathaway, American film director and producer (d. 1985)

★ 1899 - John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1980)

★ 1899 - Jan Lechoń, Polish poet (d. 1956)

★ 1900 - Béla Guttman, Hungarian footballer (d. 1981)

★ 1900 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)

★ 1907 - Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religions and writer (d. 1986)

★ 1908 - Walter Annenberg, American publisher and philanthropist (d. 2002)

★ 1910 - Karl Gustav Ahlefeldt, Danish actor (d. 1985)

★ 1910 - Sammy Kaye, American musician (d. 1987)

★ 1911 - L. Ron Hubbard, American author and founder of Scientology (d. 1986)

★ 1913 - William Casey, American CIA director (d. 1987)

★ 1913 - Lambros Konstantaras, Greek actor (d. 1985)

★ 1913 - Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer

★ 1914 - Edward O'Hare, American pilot (d. 1943)

★ 1914 - W.O. Mitchell, Canadian writer (d. 1998)

★ 1921 - Al Jaffee, American cartoonist

★ 1926 - Raúl Alfonsín, President of Argentina

★ 1926 - Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (d. 2003)

★ 1927 - Robert Denning, American interior designer (d. 2005)

★ 1929 - Peter Breck, American actor

★ 1930 - Jan Howard, American singer

★ 1930 - Liz Anderson, American singer

★ 1933 - Mike Stoller, American songwriter

★ 1934 - Barry Hughart, American author

★ 1935 - Joseph Mascolo, American actor

★ 1935 - Leslie Parrish, American actress

★ 1935 - Michael Walzer, American philosopher

★ 1938 - Erma Franklin, American singer (d. 2002)

★ 1939 - Neil Sedaka, American singer and songwriter

★ 1942 - Dave Cutler, American software engineer

★ 1942 - Geoffrey Hayes, English television presenter and actor (Rainbow)

★ 1942 - Scatman John, (real name John Larkin) American singer (d. 1999)

★ 1943 - André Téchiné, French film director and screenwriter

★ 1945 - Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko, Russian mathematician

★ 1945 - Michael Martin Murphey, American musician

★ 1946 - Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier (d. 1976)

★ 1947 - Beat Richner, Swiss physician and cellist

★ 1948 - Robert S. Woods, American actor

★ 1949 - Julia Migenes, American soprano

★ 1950 - William H. Macy, American actor

★ 1951 - Fred Berry, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)

★ 1952 - Wolfgang Rihm, German composer

★ 1953 - Deborah Raffin, American actress

★ 1955 - Bruno Conti, Italian footballer

★ 1955 - Glenne Headly, American actress

★ 1956 - Dana Delany, American actress

★ 1957 - Steve Lake, American baseball player

★ 1960 - Yuri Andrukhovych, Ukrainian writer, poet and political essayist

★ 1960 - Adam Clayton, Irish bassist (U2)

★ 1960 - Joe Ranft, American animator (d. 2005)

★ 1963 - Fito Páez, Argentine musician and songwriter

★ 1964 - Will Clark, American baseball player

★ 1967 - Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (d. 1994)

★ 1968 - Akira Nogami, Japanese professional wrestler

★ 1970 - Tim Story, American film director

★ 1971 - Annabeth Gish, American actress

★ 1971 - Robert Lanham, American author and satirist

★ 1972 - Common, American rapper

★ 1973 - Edgar Davids, Dutch footballer

★ 1973 - David Draiman, American musician and songwriter (Disturbed)

★ 1973 - Bobby Jackson, American basketballer

★ 1974 - Thomas Enqvist, Swedish tennis player

★ 1974 - Vampeta, Brazilian footballer

★ 1976 - James Dewees, musician

★ 1976 - Danny Masterson, American actor

★ 1977 - Ed Sloan, American musician (Crossfade)

★ 1977 - Momo Sylla, Guinean footballer

★ 1977 - Kay Tse, Hong Kong singer

★ 1978 - Tom Danielson, American Cyclist

★ 1978 - Karina Smirnoff, Ukrainian dancer

★ 1979 - Johan Santana, Venezuelan baseball player

★ 1979 - Spanky G, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)

★ 1980 - Lee Jung-hyun, South Korean pop singer and actress

★ 1981 - Stephen Maguire, Scottish snooker player

★ 1982 - Meghan Niven, American artist and mathematician with Aspergers syndrome

★ 1983 - Kaitlin Sandeno, American swimmer

★ 1984 - Pieter Custers, Dutch athlete

★ 1984 - Yuuka Nanri, Japanese seiyū

★ 1985 - Emile Hirsch, American actor

★ 1986 - Natalie and Nicole Albino, American musicians (Nina Sky)

★ 1986 - Chiaki Kyan, Japanese gravure idol

★ 1987 - Marco Andretti, American racecar driver (grandson of Mario Andretti)

★ 1989 - Harry Melling, British actor

Deaths

★ 1271 - Henry of Almain, English crusader (b. 1235)

★ 1395 - John Barbour, Scottish poet

★ 1516 - King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (b. 1456)

★ 1569 - Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French Huguenot general (b. 1530)

★ 1573 - Michel de l'Hôpital, French statesman

★ 1604 - Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (b. 1537)

★ 1619 - Richard Burbage, English actor (b. 1567)

★ 1711 - Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (b. 1636)

★ 1773 - Philibert Commerçon, French naturalist and explorer (b. 1727)

★ 1778 - Charles le Beau, French historian (b. 1701)

★ 1803 - William Emes, English landscape architect (b. 1729 or 1730)

★ 1808 - King Christian VII of Denmark (b. 1749)

★ 1842 - Henry Shrapnel, British soldier and inventor (b. 1761)

★ 1854 - Jean-Baptiste Guillaume Joseph, comte de Villèle, French statesman (b. 1773)

★ 1879 - Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (b. 1818)

★ 1881 - Tsar Alexander II of Russia (b. 1818)

★ 1884 - Leland Stanford, Jr., son of American railroad magnate, Stanford University named for him (b. 1868)

★ 1901 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)

★ 1906 - Susan B. Anthony, American women's suffrage activist (b. 1820)

★ 1911 - John J. Toffey, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient (b. 1844)

★ 1918 - César Cui, Russian composer (b. 1835)

★ 1925 - Lucille Ricksen, American actress (b. 1909)

★ 1938 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Russian politician and intellectual (b. 1888)

★ 1938 - Clarence Darrow, American attorney (b. 1857)

★ 1943 - Stephen Vincent Benét, American author (b. 1898)

★ 1949 - Henri Giraud, French general (b. 1879)

★ 1955 - King Tribhuvan of Nepal (b. 1906)

★ 1963 - Austin Dobson, British racing driver (b. 1912)

★ 1964 - Kitty Genovese, American murder victim (b. 1935)

★ 1965 - Corrado Gini, Italian statistician (b. 1884)

★ 1965 - Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop, poet, and politician (b. 1882)

★ 1965 - Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (b. 1891)

★ 1972 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (b. 1941)

★ 1975 - Ivo Andrić, Serbo-Croatian writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1892)

★ 1983 - Louison Bobet, French cyclist (b. 1925)

★ 1988 - John Holmes, American porn star (b. 1944)

★ 1990 - Bruno Bettelheim, American psychiatrist (b. 1903)

★ 1990 - Karl Münchinger, German conductor (b. 1915)

★ 1995 - Leon Day, American baseball player (b. 1916)

★ 1995 - Odette, French-born WWII heroine (b. 1912)

★ 1996 - Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (b. 1941)

★ 1998 - Bill Reid, Canadian artist (b. 1920)

★ 1998 - Hans von Ohain, German engineer (b. 1911)

★ 1999 - Lee Falk, American cartoonist (b. 1911)

★ 1999 - Garson Kanin, American writer and director (b. 1912)

★ 1999 - Bidu Sayao, Brazilian born soprano (b. 1902)

★ 2001 - Henry Lee Lucas of heart failure major serial killer, 63 years old

★ 2002 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (b. 1900)

★ 2004 - Franz König, Austrian Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (b. 1905)

★ 2006 - Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)

★ 2006 - Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)

★ 2006 - Peter Tomarken, American game show host (Press Your Luck) (b. 1942)

★ 2007 - Arnold Skaaland, American professional wrestler (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

===Liturgical Feast days===

★ In the Roman Catholic Church:

★
★ Saint Gerald

★
★ Saint Nicephorus

★
★ Saint Roderick

★
★ Saint Salomon

★
★ Saint Eufrasia

★
★ Saint Modesta

★
★ Saint Leticia

★ In the Greek Orthodox Church

★
★ Saint Nicephorus

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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