February 19

February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 315 days remaining until the end of the year (316 in leap years).

Events

• 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
• 1594 – Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland in 1587, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, having succeeded his father John III of Sweden in 1592.
• 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
• 1649 – The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil.
• 1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
• 1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert.
• 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.
• 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
• 1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
• 1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the first time this defense is successfully used in the United States.
• 1861 – Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
• 1876 – Founding of the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) in Philadelphia.
• 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
• 1884 – More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
• 1915 – World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
• 1937 – Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
• 1942 – World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.
• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to internment camps.
• 1943 – World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
• 1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima – about 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
• 1948 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.
• 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
• 1953 – Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
• 1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
• 1960 – China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
• 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique reawakens the Feminist Movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
• 1965 – Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm attempted a coup against the military junta of Nguyễn Khánh.

• 1972 – The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
• 1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417
• 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
• 1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave hospital.
• 1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
• 1985 – EastEnders BBC's flagship soap opera broadcasts for the first time.
• 1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers the eastern province of Sri Lanka.
• 2001 – The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• 2002 – NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
• 2003 – An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.
• 2006 – A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.
• 2011 – The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang Dynasty artefacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
• 2012 – 44 people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León.

Births

• 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
• 1526 – Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (d. 1609)
• 1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (d. 1630)
• 1630 – Shivaji, Indian emperor (d. 1680)
• 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
• 1671 – Charles-Hubert Gervais, French composer (d. 1744)
• 1717 – David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (d. 1779)
• 1722 – Charles-François Tiphaigne de la Roche, French author (d. 1774)
• 1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
• 1780 – Richard McCarty, American politician (d. 1844)
• 1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian politician (d. 1862)
• 1800 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun, founded the Sisters of Providence (d. 1851)
• 1802 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss politician (d. 1881)
• 1804 – Baron Carl von Rokitansky, German physician (d. 1878)
• 1804 – David Wark, Irish-Canadian politician (d. 1905)
• 1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist (d. 1868)
• 1824 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Crédit Lyonnais (d. 1905)
• 1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
• 1843 – Adelina Patti, Spanish opera singer (d. 1919)
• 1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
• 1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
• 1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (d. 1952)
• 1866 – Louis-Henri Foreau, French painter (d. 1938)
• 1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian poet (d. 1923)
• 1871 – Lugenia Burns Hope, American activist (d. 1947)
• 1872 – Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (d. 1944)
• 1876 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
• 1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
• 1880 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican politician, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
• 1886 – Karl Ast, Estonian author and politician (d. 1971)
• 1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 1942)
• 1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (d. 1928)
• 1888 – Aurora Quezon, Filipino wife of Manuel L. Quezon, 2nd First Lady of the Philippines (d. 1949)
• 1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor (d. 1964)
• 1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
• 1895 – Diego Mazquiarán, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1940)
• 1895 – August Torma, Estonian military officer and diplomat (d. 1971)
• 1896 – André Breton, French poet (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
• 1899 – Lucio Fontana, Italian-Argentinian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
• 1899 – Yury Olesha, Russian author (d. 1960)
• 1901 – Florence Green, English soldier (d. 2012)
• 1902 – Kay Boyle, American author and educator (d. 1992)
• 1903 – Louis Slobodkin, American author and illustrator (d. 1975)
• 1904 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1964)
• 1904 – Muiris Ó Súilleabháin, Irish author (d. 1950)
• 1906 – Eugene Eisenmann, Panamanian-American ornithologist (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer and director (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Ursula Torday, British writer (d. 1997).
• 1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2007)
• 1914 – Jacques Dufilho, French actor (d. 2005)
• 1915 – John Freeman, English journalist, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
• 1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Carson McCullers, American author (d. 1967)
• 1918 – Nigel Forbes, 22nd Lord Forbes, Scottish soldier and politician (d. 2013)
• 1920 – C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian author (d. 2007)
• 1920 – George Rose, English actor (d. 1988)
• 1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
• 1924 – Borghild Niskin, Norwegian skier (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Bruce Norris, American businessman (d. 1986)
• 1924 – František Vláčil, Czech director and painter (d. 1999)
• 1926 – György Kurtág, Hungarian composer
• 1926 – Ross Thomas, American author (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Philippe Boiry, French journalist (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (d. 2002)
• 1930 – Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American physician and astronaut
• 1934 – Pierre Barouh, French singer-songwriter
• 1934 – Carole Eastman, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1936 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1936 – Marin Sorescu, Romanian author (d. 1997)
• 1937 – Terry Carr, American author and educator (d. 1987)
• 1937 – David Margulies, American actor
• 1937 – Alan Munro, Indian-English immunologist and academic
• 1937 – Boris Pugo, Latvian politician, Minister of Interior of the Soviet Union (d. 1991)
• 1937 – Robert Walker, American guitarist
• 1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
• 1938 – Dutch Mason, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1938 – René Muñoz, Cuban-Mexican actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
• 1939 – Erin Pizzey, Chinese-English activist and author, founded Refuge
• 1939 – Gwen Taylor, English actress
• 1940 – Jaan Kiivit, Jr., Estonian archbishop (d. 2005)
• 1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
• 1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Miracles)
• 1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (The Miracles) (d. 2013)
• 1941 – David Gross, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
• 1942 – Paul Krause, American football player
• 1942 – Howard Stringer, Welsh-American businessman
• 1943 – Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Jim Cosman, American baseball player (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and engineer
• 1943 – Tim Hunt, English biochemist, Nobel laureate
• 1943 – Gert Wünsche, German footballer
• 1944 – Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman
• 1945 – Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter
• 1945 – Michael Nader, American actor
• 1945 – Jürgen Rumor, German footballer
• 1945 – Zlatko Sirotić, Croatian painter
• 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist (Loverboy and Streetheart)
• 1946 – Barry Everitt, English neuroscientist and academic
• 1946 – Hiroshi Fujioka, Japanese actor
• 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian footballer
• 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (d. 1974)
• 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill
• 1948 – Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Spirit, Firefall, Jo Jo Gunne, and Heart)
• 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist and politician (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Velvett Fogg, and Mythology)
• 1948 – Big John Studd, American wrestler and actor (d. 1995)
• 1949 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (d. 1998)
• 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator
• 1950 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1950 – Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wishbone Ash)
• 1951 – Stephen Nichols, American actor
• 1951 – Maciej Pawlikowski, Polish mountaineer
• 1951 – Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founded Minhaj-ul-Quran
• 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut
• 1952 – Stephen South, English race car driver
• 1952 – Amy Tan, American author
• 1952 – Danilo Türk, Slovene politician, 3rd President of Slovenia
• 1953 – Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player
• 1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentinian politician, 55th President of Argentina
• 1953 – Bill Kirchenbauer American comedian and actor
• 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor (d. 1994)
• 1953 – Attilio Bettega, Italian race car driver (d. 1985)
• 1954 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer (d. 2011)
• 1954 – Francis Buchholz, German bass player (Scorpions and Michael Schenker Group)
• 1954 – Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Swans, Angels of Light, The World of Skin, and Circus Mort)
• 1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor, singer, and playwright
• 1956 – Kathleen Beller, American actress
• 1956 – Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The dBs and The Continental Drifters)
• 1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1956 – Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Beat and General Public)
• 1957 – Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
• 1957 – Lorianne Crook, American radio and television host
• 1957 – Ray Winstone, English actor
• 1958 – Tommy Cairo, American wrestler
• 1958 – Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter
• 1959 – Roger Goodell, American businessman
• 1959 – Simmu Tiik, Estonian diplomat
• 1960 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• 1960 – Leslie Ash, English actress
• 1960 – John Paul, Jr., American race car driver
• 1961 – Benoît Chamoux, French mountaineer (d. 1995)
• 1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
• 1961 – Andy Wallace, English race car driver
• 1962 – John Laroche, American horticulturalist
• 1962 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech tennis player
• 1963 – Seal, English singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Laurell K. Hamilton, American author
• 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
• 1964 – Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Whitesnake, Burning Rain, Hurricane, Bad Moon Rising, Lion, and Dio)
• 1964 – Jonathan Lethem, American author
• 1964 – Dmitri Lipskerov, Russian author and playwright
• 1964 – Richard A. Scott, American author and illustrator
• 1964 – Sonu Walia, Indian model and actress, Miss India 1985
• 1965 – Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Smash Mouth)
• 1965 – Jon Fishman, American drummer (Phish, Pork Tornado, and Surrender to the Air)
• 1965 – Andy Jameson, English swimmer and sportscaster
• 1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress and producer
• 1966 – Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player
• 1966 – Enzo Scifo, Belgian footballer
• 1966 – Eduardo Xol, American designer and author
• 1967 – Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor
• 1969 – Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fear Factory, Ascension of the Watchers, City of Fire, and GZR)
• 1969 – Helena Guergis, Canadian politician
• 1970 – Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter (HammerFall and Warlord)
• 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 – Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator
• 1971 – Lisa McCune, Australian actress
• 1971 – Gil Shaham, Israeli-American violinist
• 1972 – Francine Fournier, American wrestler
• 1972 – Sunset Thomas, American porn actress
• 1973 – Ramon Kaju, Estonian high jumper, decathlete, and basketball player
• 1973 – Eric Lange, American actor
• 1973 – Nikos Oikonomou, Greek basketball player
• 1974 – Danny Doring, American wrestler
• 1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer (Nickelback and 3 Doors Down)
• 1975 – Mikko Kavén, Finnish footballer
• 1975 – Katja Schuurman, Dutch actress and singer
• 1975 – Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards
• 1976 – Jahidi White, American basketball player
• 1977 – Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player (The Ark)
• 1977 – Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author
• 1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer
• 1978 – Ben Gummer, English politician
• 1978 – Michalis Konstantinou, Cypriot footballer
• 1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper
• 1978 – Stephanie Waring, English actress
• 1979 – Bassnectar, American DJ and producer
• 1979 – Mariska, Finnish rapper
• 1979 – Andrew Buchan, English actor
• 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player
• 1979 – Sergio Júnior, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 – Mariana Ochoa, Mexican singer and actress (OV7)
• 1979 – René Renno, German footballer
• 1979 – Romina Belluscio, Argentine TV presenter
• 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
• 1980 – David Gandy, English model
• 1980 – Spyridon Gianniotis, Greek swimmer
• 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
• 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
• 1981 – Vitas, Russian singer-songwriter
• 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer-songwriter (The Gossip)
• 1981 – Kyle Martino, American soccer player
• 1981 – Gil Reyes, American boxer
• 1981 – Nicky Shorey, English footballer
• 1981 – Shawn Spears, Canadian wrestler
• 1982 – Camelia Potec, Romanian swimmer
• 1983 – Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
• 1983 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress
• 1983 – Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
• 1985 – Arielle Kebbel, American actress
• 1985 – Sławomir Peszko, Polish footballer
• 1986 – Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Björn Gustafsson, Swedish comedian and actor
• 1986 – Reon Kadena, Japanese model and actress
• 1986 – Henri Karjalainen, Finnish race car driver
• 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Jayde Nicole, Canadian model
• 1986 – Michael Schwimer, American baseball player
• 1986 – Marta Vieira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Vanesa Furlanetto, Argentinian tennis player
• 1988 – Seth Morrison, American guitarist (Skillet)
• 1988 – Selkirk, English race horse (d. 2013)
• 1988 – Miyu Irino, Japanese voice actor
• 1989 – Kaisa Pajusalu, Estonian rower
• 1990 – Luke Pasqualino, English actor
• 1991 – Trevor Bayne, American race car driver
• 1992 – Jelena Simić, Bosnian tennis player
• 1993 – Martín Alaníz, Uruguayan footballer
• 1993 – Mauro Icardi, Argentine footballer
• 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1993 – Empress Schuck, Filipino actress
• 1994 – Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer
• 2001 – David Mazouz, American actor

Deaths

• 197 – Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (b. 150)
• 1133 – Irene Doukaina, Byzantine wife of Alexius I Comnenus (b. 1066)
• 1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)
• 1605 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)
• 1602 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur (b. 1558)
• 1620 – Roemer Visscher, Dutch merchant and author (b. 1547)
• 1622 – Henry Savile, English scholar and politician (b. 1549)
• 1663 – Adam Adami, German bishop (b. 1603)
• 1672 – Charles Chauncy, English-American academic (b. 1592)
• 1709 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (b. 1646)
• 1716 – Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (b. 1634)
• 1789 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Delaware (b. 1738)
• 1799 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (b. 1733)
• 1806 – Elizabeth Carter, English poet (b. 1717)
• 1837 – Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)
• 1837 – Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1756)
• 1887 – Multatuli, Dutch author (b. 1820)
• 1897 – Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician (b. 1815)
• 1915 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian politician (b. 1866)
• 1916 – Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
• 1927 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (b. 1847)
• 1936 – Charles Harding Firth, English historian (b. 1857)
• 1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general (b. 1879)
• 1942 – Frank Abbandando, American gangster (b. 1910)
• 1945 – John Basilone, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1916)
• 1945 – Fay Moulton, American sprinter, football player, coach and lawyer (b. 1876)
• 1952 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
• 1957 – Maurice Garin, French cyclist (b. 1871)
• 1958 – Charles King, American jumper (b. 1880)
• 1959 – Willard Miller, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1877)
• 1962 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the Pap smear (b. 1883)
• 1968 – Georg Hackenschmidt, Estonian-English strongman and wrestler (b. 1877)
• 1969 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
• 1970 – Christoforos Nezer, Greek actor (b. 1887)
• 1972 – John Grierson, Scottish-English director and producer (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)
• 1972 – Tedd Pierce, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1973 – Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer (b. 1897)
• 1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
• 1975 – Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (b. 1904)
• 1977 – Anthony Crosland, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1918)
• 1977 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player (b. 1890)
• 1980 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
• 1983 – Alice White, American actress (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor and director (b. 1922)
• 1988 – André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
• 1988 – René Char, French poet (b. 1907)
• 1992 – Tojo Yamamoto, American wrestler (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Derek Jarman, English director and set designer (b. 1942)
• 1996 – Antonio Creus, Spanish race car driver (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Charlie Finley, American businessman (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904)
• 1997 – Frank Delfino, American actor (b. 1911)
• 1998 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1913)
• 1999 – Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric (b. 1943)
• 2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Stanley Kramer, American director and producer (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Charles Trenet, French singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Virginia Hamilton, American author (b. 1934)
• 2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Janet Blair, American actress (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian dancer and director, founded the National Ballet of Canada (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian singer-songwriter (Grazhdanskaya Oborona) (b. 1964)
• 2008 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress and singer (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Kelly Groucutt, English singer and bass player (Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II) (b. 1945)
• 2010 – Jamie Gillis, American porn actor and director (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Laura Spurr, American tribal leader (b. 1945)
• 2011 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Robin Corbett, Baron Corbett of Castle Vale, Australian-English politician (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Ruth Barcan Marcus, American philosopher and logician (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Frits Staal, Dutch philosopher (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Stasys Stonkus, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Jaroslav Velinský, Czech author and songwriter (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (b. 1914)
• 2013 – Eva Bergh, Norwegian actress (b. 1926)
• 2013 – John Brascia, American actor and dancer (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Joaquín Cordero, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Gerhard Frey, German publisher and politician (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Lou Myers, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Eugene Whelan, Canadian politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Norbert Beuls, Belgian footballer and manager (b. 1957)
• 2014 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Génesis Carmona, Venezuelan model (b. 1991)
• 2014 – Simón Díaz, Venezuelan singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Dale Gardner, American captain and astronaut (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Duffy Power, English singer (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Malcolm Tierney, English actor (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Jim Weirich, American computer scientist, developed Rake Software (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Mexico)
• Birthday of Shivaji or Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Barbatus of Benevento
  • Conrad of Piacenza
  • February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of Bulgaria's Apostle of Freedom Vassil Levski (Bulgaria)
• Flag Day (Turkmenistan)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada