February 20

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 314 days remaining until the end of the year (315 in leap years).

Events

• 1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clashed in the Battle of Parabiago.
• 1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
• 1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
• 1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• 1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
• 1798 – Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
• 1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tirolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, is executed.
• 1813 – Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.
• 1816 – Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
• 1835 – Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake.
• 1846 – Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Olustee occurs – the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
• 1865 – End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.
• 1872 – In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
• 1873 – The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
• 1877 – Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake receives its première performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
• 1901 – The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
• 1909 – Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
• 1913 – King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
• 1921 – The Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia is founded.
• 1931 – The Congress of the United States approves the construction of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.
• 1933 – The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution that will end Prohibition in the United States.
• 1933 – Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign.
• 1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
• 1942 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
• 1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
• 1943 – The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico.
• 1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
• 1944 – World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
• 1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1952 – Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
• 1956 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.
• 1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
• 1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes.
• 1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1971 – The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
• 1978 – The last Order of Victory is bestowed upon Leonid Brezhnev.
• 1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.
• 1987 – Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
• 1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
• 1989 – An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill, England.
• 1991 – A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters.
• 1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
• 2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
• 2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
• 2006 – In South Korea the United Liberal Democrats, the three top political parties was merged into Grand National Party.
• 2009 – Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.
• 2010 – In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago.
• 2013 – The smallest Extrasolar planet, Kepler-37b is discovered.

Births

• 1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician (d. 1712)
• 1633 – Jan de Baen, Dutch painter (d. 1702)
• 1705 – Nicolas Chédeville, French musette player and composer (d. 1782)
• 1726 – William Prescott, American colonel (d. 1795)
• 1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
• 1751 – Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet (d. 1826)
• 1753 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general (d. 1815)
• 1757 – John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
• 1759 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician (d. 1813)
• 1761 – Ludwig Abeille, German pianist and composer (d. 1838)
• 1763 – Adalbert Gyrowetz, Bohemian composer (d. 1850)
• 1792 – Eliza Courtney, French daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1859)
• 1794 – William Carleton, Irish author (d. 1869)
• 1802 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1870)
• 1819 – Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician (d. 1882)
• 1839 – Benjamin Waugh, English activist, founded the NSPCC (d. 1908)
• 1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
• 1844 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian sailor and adventurer (d. 1909)
• 1848 – E. H. Harriman, American businessman (d. 1909)
• 1850 – Nérée Beauchemin, Canadian physician and poet (d. 1931)
• 1860 – Karl Mantzius, Danish actor and director (d. 1921)
• 1866 – Carl Westman, Swedish architect, designed the Stockholm Court House and Röhsska Museum (d. 1936)
• 1867 – Louise, Princess Royal of England (d. 1931)
• 1874 – Mary Garden, Scottish soprano (d. 1967)
• 1879 – Hod Stuart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1907)
• 1880 – Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, French author and poet (d. 1923)
• 1881 – Dora Altmann, German actress (d. 1971)
• 1882 – Elie Nadelman, Polish-born American sculptor (d. 1946)
• 1887 – Vincent Massey, Canadian politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (d. 1948)
• 1893 – Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
• 1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist (d. 1993)
• 1898 – Jimmy Yancey, American pianist and composer (d. 1951)
• 1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (d. 1992)
• 1901 – René Dubos, French-American biologist and author (d. 1982)
• 1901 – Louis Kahn, American architect, designed the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Bangladesh Parliament Building (d. 1974)
• 1901 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English publisher (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (d. 1984)
• 1901 – Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician (d. 1978)
• 1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
• 1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian politician, 8th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
• 1906 – Gale Gordon, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1908 – Ruby Elzy, American soprano (d. 1943)
• 1910 – Rudolf Beckmann, German SS officer (d. 1943)
• 1912 – Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
• 1913 – Tommy Henrich, American baseball player (d. 2009)
• 1914 – John Charles Daly, South African–American journalist and game show host (d. 1991)
• 1916 – Jean Erdman, American dancer and choreographer
• 1918 – Leonore Annenberg, American businesswoman and diplomat (d. 2009)
• 1919 – James O'Meara, English soldier and pilot (d. 1974)
• 1920 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (d. 2014)
• 1920 – Yevgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer, designed the Dragunov sniper rifle (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Fotis Polymeris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Carl Schwende, Canadian fencer (d. 2002)
• 1921 – René Jalbert, Canadian soldier (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Tom McGuigan, New Zealand politician (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Victor G. Atiyeh, American politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Forbes Burnham, Guyanese politician, 2nd President of Guyana (d. 1985)
• 1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American actress and fashion designer
• 1925 – Robert Altman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Heinz Kluncker, German union leader (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Adolf Bechtold, German footballer (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Matthew Bucksbaum, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded General Growth Properties (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Gillian Lynne, English ballerina, choreographer, and director
• 1926 – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer (d. 1986)
• 1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer (Buena Vista Social Club and Afro-Cuban All Stars) (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Sidney Poitier, American actor, director, and diplomat
• 1928 – Roy Face, American baseball player
• 1928 – Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland
• 1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
• 1930 – Willie Cunningham, Irish footballer (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Ken Jones, English actor (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino journalist and author (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Tom Patey, Scottish mountaineer (d. 1970)
• 1934 – Bobby Unser, American race car driver
• 1935 – Ellen Gilchrist, American author and poet
• 1936 – Marj Dusay, American actress
• 1936 – Larry Hovis, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
• 1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
• 1937 – David Ackles, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
• 1937 – Robert Huber, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1937 – Roger Penske, American race car driver
• 1937 – Nancy Wilson, American singer and actress
• 1938 – Richard Beymer, American actor
• 1938 – Wiley W. Hilburn, American journalist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1938 – Inge Lønning, Norwegian theologian, educator, and politician (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Frank Arundel, English footballer (d. 1994)
• 1940 – John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley, German-English businessman
• 1940 – Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
• 1940 – Robin Weiss, English biologist and academic
• 1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1941 – Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian politician
• 1942 – Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1942 – Charlie Gillett, English radio host (d. 2010)
• 1942 – Mitch McConnell, American politician
• 1942 – Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Arbo Valdma, Estonian pianist and educator
• 1943 – Carlos, French singer and actor (d. 2008)
• 1943 – Moshe Cotel, American pianist and composer (d. 2008)
• 1943 – Antonio Inoki, Japanese wrestler
• 1943 – Mike Leigh, English director and screenwriter
• 1943 – Tom McNally, Baron McNally, English politician
• 1944 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1999)
• 1944 – Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1945 – Andrew Bergman, American director and screenwriter
• 1945 – Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Lindisfarne) (d. 1995)
• 1945 – Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1945 – Annu Kapoor, Indian actor
• 1945 – Henry Polic II, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
• 1946 – Riccardo Cocciante, French-Italian singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1946 – Sandy Duncan, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1946 – J. Geils, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
• 1947 – Eggert Magnússon, Icelandic businessman
• 1947 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
• 1947 – Peter Strauss, American actor and producer
• 1947 – André van Duin, Dutch actor and singer
• 1948 – Juhan Aare, Estonian journalist and politician
• 1948 – Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1948 – Andrew Fabian, English astronomer and astrophysicist
• 1948 – Jennifer O'Neill, Brazilian-American actress
• 1949 – Mab Segrest, American author and activist
• 1949 – Ivana Trump, Czech-American skier and model
• 1950 – Walter Becker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Steely Dan)
• 1950 – Ken Shimura, Japanese actor
• 1950 – Tony Wilson, English journalist (d. 2007)
• 1951 – Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1951 – Gordon Brown, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1951 – Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)
• 1951 – Phil Neal, English footballer
• 1951 – Sean Wilentz, American historian and author
• 1952 – Penny Driver, English priest
• 1953 – Riccardo Chailly, Italian conductor
• 1953 – Roberto Ciotti, Italian guitarist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1953 – Poison Ivy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Cramps)
• 1954 – Jon Brant, American bass player (Cheap Trick)
• 1954 – Anthony Head, English actor and singer
• 1954 – Patty Hearst, American actress
• 1954 – Billy Pontoni, Colombian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – Rick Green, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1957 – Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – James Wilby, English actor
• 1959 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)
• 1959 – Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
• 1960 – Joel Hodgson, American comedian and actor
• 1960 – Wendee Lee, American voice actress
• 1960 – Kee Marcello, Swedish guitarist (Europe and Kee Marcello's K2)
• 1960 – Siobhain McDonagh, English politician
• 1960 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas, Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (d. 2014)
• 1961 – Imogen Stubbs, English actress
• 1962 – Atul Chitnis, German-Indian technologist (d. 2013)
• 1962 – Kenn Nesbitt, American author
• 1962 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author, screenwriter, and producer, co-founded Milestone Media (d. 2011)
• 1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1963 – Ian Brown, English singer-songwriter (The Stone Roses)
• 1963 – Jon Lynn Christensen, American politician
• 1963 – Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek politician
• 1964 – Willie Garson, American actor
• 1964 – Tom Harris, Scottish journalist and politician
• 1964 – Rodney Rowland, American actor
• 1964 – French Stewart, American actor
• 1965 – Ron Eldard, American actor
• 1965 – Philip Hensher, English journalist, author, and critic
• 1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model and actress
• 1967 – Paul Accola, Swiss skier
• 1967 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nirvana and Fecal Matter) (d. 1994)
• 1967 – David Herman, American comedian and actor
• 1967 – Andrew Shue, American actor
• 1967 – Kath Soucie, American actress
• 1967 – Lili Taylor, American actress
• 1967 – Tom Waddle, American football player
• 1968 – Ted Hankey, English darts player
• 1968 – Ha Seok-Ju, South Korean footballer and manager
• 1969 – Gedo, Japanese wrestler
• 1969 – Vaginal Davis, American drag queen performer
• 1969 – Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer
• 1969 – Esther Moreno, Mexican wrestler
• 1969 – Danis Tanovic, Bosnian director and screenwriter
• 1969 – Tommy Vardell, American football player
• 1971 – Calpernia Addams, American actress, author, and activist
• 1971 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
• 1971 – Shawn McKenzie, American programmer, created AutoTheme
• 1972 – k-os, Canadian rapper and producer
• 1972 – Brent Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Neil Primrose, Scottish drummer (Travis)
• 1973 – Kimberley Davies, Australian actress
• 1973 – Rohan Alexander, Jamaican-American cricketer
• 1974 – Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer
• 1974 – Kateřina Kroupová-Sisková, Czech tennis player
• 1974 – Ophelie Winter, French actress
• 1975 – Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
• 1975 – Brian Littrell, American singer-songwriter and actor (Backstreet Boys)
• 1975 – Niclas Wallin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1976 – Rohan Gavaskar, Indian cricketer
• 1976 – Ed Graham, English drummer (The Darkness and Stone Gods)
• 1977 – Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
• 1977 – Gail Kim, Canadian wrestler and actress
• 1977 – Bartosz Kizierowski, Polish swimmer
• 1977 – Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
• 1977 – T. J. Slaughter, American football player
• 1978 – Lauren Ambrose, American actress
• 1978 – Jakki Degg, English model and actress
• 1978 – Jay Hernandez, American actor
• 1978 – Julia Jentsch, German actress
• 1980 – Artur Boruc, Polish footballer
• 1980 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
• 1980 – Yuichi Nakamura, Japanese voice actor
• 1980 – Luis Gabriel Rey, Colombian footballer
• 1981 – Tony Hibbert, English footballer
• 1981 – Adrian Lamo, American hacker
• 1981 – Fred Jackson, American football player
• 1981 – Chris Thile, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player (Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers)
• 1982 – Fait-Florian Banser, German footballer
• 1982 – Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
• 1983 – Jose Morales, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1983 – Justin Verlander, American baseball player
• 1984 – Brian McCann, American baseball player
• 1984 – Gilles Pagnon, French-German rugby player
• 1984 – Ramzee Robinson, American football player
• 1985 – Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
• 1985 – Julia Volkova, Russian singer and actress (t.A.T.u. and Neposedi)
• 1986 – Diego Reis, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian-American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1988 – Jiah Khan, American-Indian actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1988 – Kealoha Pilares, American football player
• 1988 – Tahounia Rubel, Ethiopian-Israeli model
• 1989 – Jack Falahee, American actor
• 1989 – Iga Wyrwał, Polish model and actress
• 1991 – Giovanni Kyeremateng, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Angelique van der Meet, Dutch tennis player
• 1991 – Antonio Pedroza, English-Mexican footballer
• 1997 – Roosa Timonen, Finnish tennis player
• 2014 – Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland

Deaths

• 702 – K'inich Kan B'alam II, Mayan king (b. 635)
• 1154 – Wulfric of Haselbury, English saint (b. 1080)
• 1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
• 1194 – Tancred, King of Sicily (b. 1138)
• 1258 – Al-Musta'sim, Iraqi caliph (b. 1213)
• 1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1342)
• 1431 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
• 1524 – Tecun Uman, Mayan ruler (b. 1500)
• 1579 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
• 1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
• 1626 – John Dowland, English lute player and composer (b. 1563)
• 1653 – Luigi Rossi, Italian composer (b. 1597)
• 1762 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)
• 1771 – Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist and astronomer (b. 1678)
• 1773 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
• 1778 – Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (b. 1711)
• 1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
• 1803 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (b. 1713)
• 1806 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (b. 1725)
• 1810 – Andreas Hofer, Italian rebel leader (b. 1767)
• 1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1850)
• 1871 – Paul Kane, Irish-Canadian painter (b. 1810)
• 1893 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (b. 1818)
• 1895 – Frederick Douglass, American author and activist (b. 1818)
• 1905 – Jeremiah W. Farnham, American captain (b. 1829)
• 1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
• 1910 – Boutros Ghali, Egyptian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1846)
• 1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish journalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
• 1917 – Leone Sextus Tollemache, English captain (b. 1884)
• 1920 – Jacinta Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1910)
• 1920 – Robert Peary, American explorer (b. 1856)
• 1929 – Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer (b. 1874)
• 1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
• 1941 – La Bolduc, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1894)
• 1942 – Juliusz Bursche, Polish bishop (b. 1862)
• 1961 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (b. 1882)
• 1963 – Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian-Austrian conductor (b. 1914)
• 1963 – Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer(b. 1879)
• 1965 – Fred Immler, German actor (b. 1880)
• 1966 – Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
• 1968 – Anthony Asquith, English director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
• 1969 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
• 1970 – Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
• 1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1972 – Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
• 1974 – David Monrad Johansen, Norwegian composer (b. 1888)
• 1976 – René Cassin, French judge, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
• 1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist (b. 1907)
• 1981 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-American banker and publisher (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Fritz Köberle, Austrian-Brazilian physician (b. 1910)
• 1985 – Clarence Nash, American voice actor (b. 1904)
• 1987 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (b. 1905)
• 1992 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (b. 1898)
• 1992 – Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician (b. 1944)
• 1992 – Pierre Dervaux, French conductor and composer (b. 1917)
• 1992 – John Kneubuhl, American-Samoan screenwriter, playwright and historian (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
• 1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, founded Lamborghini (b. 1916)
• 1993 – Ernest L. Massad, American general (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Solomon Asch, American psychologist (b. 1907)
• 1996 – Toru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
• 1997 – Zachary Breaux, American guitarist (b. 1960)
• 1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
• 1999 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (b. 1946)
• 2000 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician (b. 1937)
• 2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
• 2001 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)
• 2001 – Nam Sung-yong, South Korean runner (b. 1912)
• 2003 – Maurice Blanchot, French author (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Orville Freeman, American politician, 29th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Harry Jacunski, American football player (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Ty Longley, American singer and guitarist (Great White and Samantha 7) (b. 1971)
• 2003 – Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani air marshal (b. 1947)
• 2005 – Pam Bricker, American singer (b. 1954)
• 2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1944)
• 2005 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Thomas Willmore, English mathematician (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Michael M. Ames, Canadian academic (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist (b. 1920)
• 2007 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish painter (b. 1913)
• 2008 – Emily Perry, English actress (b. 1907)
• 2009 – Larry H. Miller, American businessman (b. 1944)
• 2009 – Paul Vigay, English computer programmer (b. 1964)
• 2010 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao, Indian actor (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Knut Torbjørn Eggen, Norwegian footballer and manager (b. 1960)
• 2012 – Asar Eppel, Russian author (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Katie Hall, American politician (b. 1938)
• 2012 – S. N. Lakshmi, Indian actress (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Vitaly Vorotnikov, Russian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Sullivan Walker, Trinidadian-American actor (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Kenji Eno, Japanese game designer and composer (b. 1970)
• 2013 – Jean Gauthier, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Emma McDougall, English footballer (b. 1991)
• 2013 – David S. McKay, American astrobiologist (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Yussef Suleiman, Syrian footballer (b. 1986)
• 2013 – Ozzie Sweet, American photographer (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Walter D. Ehlers, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Roger Hill, American actor (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Reghu Kumar, Indian composer (b. 1953)
• 2014 – Jorge Polaco, Argentinian director and screenwriter (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Peter A. Rona, American oceanographer and academic (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Garrick Utley, American journalist (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Eucherius of Orleans
  • Eleutherius of Tournai
  • Wulfric of Haselbury
  • Bls. Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto
  • Frederick Douglass (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• World Day of Social Justice (International)

External links

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