February 21

February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 313 days remaining until the end of the year (314 in leap years).

Events

• 362 – Athanasius returns to Alexandria.
• 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
• 1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed.
• 1543 – Battle of Wayna Daga – A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeats a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.
• 1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
• 1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
• 1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish war, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia.
• 1828 – Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah.
• 1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
• 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
• 1874 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
• 1878 – The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
• 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
• 1913 – Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.
• 1916 – World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
• 1918 – The last Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
• 1919 – German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.
• 1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution.
• 1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup
• 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
• 1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
• 1945 – World War II: Japanese Kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga.
• 1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
• 1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.
• 1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".
• 1952 – The Bengali Language Movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
• 1958 – The peace symbol, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
• 1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.
• 1970 – Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.
• 1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
• 1972 – President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
• 1972 – The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
• 1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108.
• 1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
• 1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
• 1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
• 2001 – Jack Edun-Hughes is born
• 2013 – Two bomb blasts in Hyderabad, India, kill at least 17 people and injure more than 100 others.

Births

• 1484 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1535)
• 1556 – Sethus Calvisius, German astronomer, composer, and theorist (d. 1615)
• 1621 – Rebecca Nurse, English-American victim of the Salem witch trials (d. 1692)
• 1675 – Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (d. 1750)
• 1703 – Shah Waliullah, Islamic scholar and reformer (d. 1762)
• 1705 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, English admiral (d. 1781)
• 1721 – John McKinly, American physician (d. 1796)
• 1723 – Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808)
• 1728 – Peter III of Russia (d. 1762)
• 1783 – Catharina of Württemberg (d. 1835)
• 1791 – Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1857)
• 1794 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician, 8th President of Mexico (d. 1876)
• 1801 – John Henry Newman, English cardinal (d. 1890)
• 1817 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (d. 1893)
• 1821 – Charles Scribner I, American publisher, founded Charles Scribner's Sons (d. 1871)
• 1836 – Léo Delibes, French composer (d. 1891)
• 1844 – Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (d. 1937)
• 1860 – Karel Matěj Čapek-Chod, Czech journalist (d. 1927)
• 1860 – Goscombe John, Welsh sculptor (d. 1952)
• 1865 – John Haden Badley, English educator and author, founded the Bedales School (d. 1967)
• 1867 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1934)
• 1875 – Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian (d. 1997)
• 1876 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (d. 1956)
• 1878 – Mirra Alfassa, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1973)
• 1880 – Waldemar Bonsels, German author (d. 1952)
• 1880 – Otto Christman, Canadian soccer player (d. 1963)
• 1882 – William Jeremiah Tuttle, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1930)
• 1885 – Sacha Guitry, Russian playwright (d. 1957)
• 1887 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general (d. 1945)
• 1888 – Clemence Dane, English author and playwright (d. 1965)
• 1893 – Celia Lovsky, Austrian-American actress (d. 1979)
• 1893 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)
• 1895 – Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
• 1896 – Suryakant Tripathi, Indian poet (d. 1961)
• 1900 – Madeleine Renaud, French actress (d. 1994)
• 1903 – Scrapper Blackwell, American guitarist and singer (d. 1962)
• 1903 – Fairfax M. Cone, American businessman (d. 1977)
• 1903 – Anaïs Nin, French-American author (d. 1977)
• 1903 – Raymond Queneau, French poet and author (d. 1976)
• 1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian politician (d. 1980)
• 1907 – W. H. Auden, English-American poet (d. 1973)
• 1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter and sculptor
• 1910 – Douglas Bader, English pilot (d. 1982)
• 1910 – Carmine Galante, American gangster (d. 1979)
• 1910 – Eddie Waring, English rugby coach and sportscaster (d. 1986)
• 1912 – Marjorie Lane, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
• 1912 – Nikita Magaloff, Georgian-Russian pianist (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Roger Laurent, Belgian race car driver (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish pilot (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Park Su-geun, South Korean painter (d. 1965)
• 1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (d. 1967)
• 1917 – Lucille Bremer, American actress (d. 1996)
• 1919 – Louis F. Oberdorfer, American judge (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Kehat Shorr, Israeli coach (d. 1972)
• 1921 – John Rawls, American philosopher (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Peter Whalley, Canadian cartoonist and sculptor (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe
• 1925 – Sam Peckinpah, American director and screenwriter (d. 1984)
• 1927 – Erma Bombeck, American columnist (d. 1996)
• 1927 – Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer, founded Givenchy
• 1927 – Pierre Mercure, Canadian bassoon player and composer (d. 1966)
• 1929 – Chespirito, Mexican actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1929 – James Beck, English actor (d. 1973)
• 1930 – Pedro R. Dean, Filipino archbishop
• 1933 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2003)
• 1934 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1935 – Mark McManus, Scottish actor (d. 1994)
• 1935 – Jean Pelletier, Canadian politician, 37th Mayor of Quebec City
• 1936 – Barbara Jordan, American politician (d. 1996)
• 1937 – Harald V of Norway
• 1937 – Gary Lockwood, American actor
• 1938 – Bobby Charles, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Richard Beymer, American actor
• 1940 – Peter Gethin, English race car driver (d. 2011)
• 1940 – John Lewis, American politician and activist
• 1940 – Wong Jim, Hong Kong actor, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2004)
• 1942 – Tony Martin, Trinidadian-American historian and educator (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Margarethe von Trotta, German actress and director
• 1943 – David Geffen, American film and record producer, co-founded DreamWorks and Geffen Records
• 1945 – D'Anna Fortunato, American mezzo-soprano
• 1945 – Walter Momper, German politician, Governing Mayor of Berlin
• 1945 – Paul Newton, English bass player (Uriah Heep)
• 1946 – Tyne Daly, American actress
• 1946 – Anthony Daniels, English actor
• 1946 – Alan Rickman, English actor
• 1946 – Vito Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian mob boss
• 1946 – Bob Ryan, American columnist
• 1946 – Knut Hove, Norwegian veterinarian
• 1947 – Johnny Echols, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Love)
• 1947 – Olympia Snowe, American politician
• 1947 – Victor Sokolov, Russian journalist (d. 2006)
• 1948 – Jiřina Křížová, Czech former field hockey
• 1949 – Jerry Harrison, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers)
• 1949 – Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer
• 1951 – Dos Caras, Mexican wrestler
• 1951 – Wolfgang Frank, German footballer
• 1951 – Vince Welnick, American keyboard player (The Grateful Dead, The Tubes, and Missing Man Formation) (d. 2006)
• 1952 – Jean-Jacques Burnel, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (The Stranglers)
• 1952 – Jeffrey Shaara, American author
• 1953 – Christine Ebersole, American actress and singer
• 1953 – William Petersen, American actor
• 1954 – Mike Pickering, English DJ and saxophonist (Quando Quango and M People)
• 1954 – Ivo Van Damme, Belgian runner (d. 1976)
• 1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1958 – Jake Burns, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Stiff Little Fingers)
• 1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1958 – Jack Coleman, American actor and screenwriter
• 1958 – Alan Trammell, American baseball player and manager
• 1959 – José María Cano, Spanish singer-songwriter and painter (Mecano)
• 1959 – Emmett McAuliffe, American lawyer and radio host
• 1960 – Laurent Petitguillaume, French radio and television host
• 1960 – Steve Wynn, American singer-songwriter (Dream Syndicate and The Baseball Project)
• 1961 – Christopher Atkins, American actor
• 1961 – Martha Hackett, American actress
• 1961 – Rhonda Sing, American wrestler (d. 2001)
• 1962 – Vanessa Feltz, English journalist
• 1962 – Chuck Palahniuk, American journalist and author
• 1962 – David Foster Wallace, American author (d. 2008)
• 1963 – William Baldwin, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Huw Higginson, English actor
• 1964 – Mark Kelly, American captain and astronaut
• 1964 – Scott Kelly, American captain and astronaut
• 1964 – Jane Tomlinson, English activist (d. 2007)
• 1967 – Leroy Burrell, American runner
• 1967 – Silke-Beate Knoll, German sprinter
• 1969 – James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (Manic Street Preachers)
• 1969 – Aunjanue Ellis, American actress
• 1969 – Corey Harris, American singer and guitarist
• 1969 – Tony Meola, American footballer
• 1969 – Chen Wei, Chinese activist
• 1970 – Michael Slater, Australian cricketer
• 1970 – Eric Wilson, American bass player (Sublime, Sublime with Rome and Long Beach Dub Allstars)
• 1971 – Randy Blythe, American singer-songwriter (Lamb of God)
• 1972 – Seo Taiji, South Korean singer-songwriter (Sinawe)
• 1973 – Jacob M. Appel, American bioethicist and author
• 1973 – Heri Joensen, Faroese singer-songwriter and guitarist (Týr)
• 1973 – Brian Rolston, American ice hockey player
• 1973 – Marina Stets, Belarusian tennis player
• 1973 – Bowie Tsang, Taiwanese singer and actress
• 1974 – Iván Campo, Spanish footballer
• 1974 – Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist
• 1975 – Wish Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
• 1975 – Troy Slaten, American actor
• 1976 – Michael McIntyre English comedian and actor
• 1976 – Ryan Smyth, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Steve Francis, American basketball player
• 1977 – Chad Hutchinson, American baseball and football player
• 1977 – Owen King, American author
• 1977 – Kevin Rose, American businessman and television host, founded Digg
• 1978 – Park Eun-hye, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Kim Ha Neul, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Nicole Parker, American actress and singer
• 1979 – Pascal Chimbonda, French footballer
• 1979 – Carly Colón, Puerto Rican wrestler
• 1979 – Lonnie Ford, American football player
• 1979 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress, singer, and producer
• 1980 – Brodus Clay, American wrestler
• 1980 – Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Tiziano Ferro, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1980 – Yannick Lupien, Canadian swimmer
• 1980 – Brendan Sexton III, American actor
• 1980 – Parthiva Sureshwaren, Indian race car driver
• 1980 – Jim Vandermeer, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutanese king
• 1981 – Jun Kaname, Japanese actor
• 1982 – Bernhard Auinger, Austrian race car driver
• 1982 – Andre Barrett, American basketball player
• 1982 – Chantal Claret, American singer-songwriter (Morningwood)
• 1982 –Tebogo Jacko Magubane, South African DJ and producer
• 1983 – Braylon Edwards, American football player
• 1983 – Franklin Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1983 – Mélanie Laurent, French actress, singer, and director
• 1984 – Andrew Ellis, New Zealand rugby player
• 1984 – Karina Nose, Japanese model and actress
• 1984 – David Odonkor, German footballer
• 1984 – Marco Paoloni, Italian footballer
• 1984 – James Wisniewski, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Damien Molony, Irish actor
• 1985 – Jarrod Atkinson, Australian footballer
• 1985 – Bob Burton, Jr., American speedcuber
• 1985 – Simon Cusden, English cricketer
• 1985 – Tommy Mercer, American wrestler
• 1985 – Georgios Samaras, Greek footballer
• 1985 – Jamaal Westerman, American football player
• 1986 – Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
• 1986 – Charlotte Church, Welsh singer-songwriter and actress
• 1987 – Ashley Greene, American model and actress
• 1987 – Enrique David Mateo, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Ellen Page, Canadian actress
• 1987 – Joel Redman, English wrestler
• 1988 – Matthias de Zordo, German javelin thrower
• 1989 – Corbin Bleu, American actor, dancer, and singer
• 1989 – Kristin Herrera, American actress
• 1989 – Jem Karacan, English-Turkish footballer
• 1989 – Scout Taylor-Compton, American actress
• 1989 – Josh Walker, English footballer
• 1990 – David Addy, Ghanaian footballer
• 1990 – Mattias Tedenby, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1992 – Phil Jones, English footballer
• 1993 – Steve Leo Beleck, Cameroonian footballer
• 1996 – Sophie Turner, English actress
• 2001 – Isabella Acres, American actress

Deaths

• 1437 – James I of Scotland (b. 1394)
• 1471 – John of Rokycan, Czech theologian (b. 1396)
• 1513 – Pope Julius II (b. 1443)
• 1543 – Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Somalian Imam and general (b. 1507)
• 1554 – Hieronymus Bock, German botanist (b. 1498)
• 1595 – Robert Southwell, English priest and poet (b. 1561)
• 1668 – John Thurloe, English secretary and spy (b. 1616)
• 1677 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (b. 1632)
• 1715 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English politician (b. 1637)
• 1730 – Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)
• 1788 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (b. 1723)
• 1821 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German jurist and diplomat (b. 1756)
• 1824 – Eugène de Beauharnais, French son of Joséphine de Beauharnais (b. 1781)
• 1846 – Emperor Ninkō of Japan (b. 1800)
• 1862 – Justinus Kerner, German poet (b. 1786)
• 1891 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant and police officer (b. 1846)
• 1900 – Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African farmer, soldier, and gun maker (b. 1853)
• 1901 – George FitzGerald, Irish mathematician (b. 1851)
• 1919 – Kurt Eisner, German journalist and politician, Minister President of Bavaria (b. 1867)
• 1926 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
• 1934 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (b. 1895)
• 1938 – George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (b. 1868)
• 1941 – Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• 1944 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian race car driver (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (b. 1902)
• 1946 – José Streel, Belgian journalist (b. 1911)
• 1949 – Tan Malaka, Indonesian educator and activist (b. 1894)
• 1958 – Duncan Edwards, English footballer (b. 1936)
• 1960 – Jacques Becker, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1965 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (b. 1925)
• 1966 – Paul Comtois, Canadian politician, 21st Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1895)
• 1967 – Charles Beaumont, American author (b. 1929)
• 1968 – Howard Florey, Australian pathologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (b. 1914)
• 1972 – Bronislava Nijinska, Polish-Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
• 1972 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (b. 1884)
• 1974 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1930)
• 1977 – Nolan Strong, American singer (Nolan Strong & The Diablos) (b. 1934)
• 1978 – Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest (b. 1901)
• 1980 – Alfred Andersch, German author (b. 1914)
• 1981 – Erika Köth, German soprano (b. 1927)
• 1982 – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian (b. 1897)
• 1982 – Murray the K, American radio host (b. 1922)
• 1984 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Louis Hayward, South African-American actor (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Helen Hooven Santmyer, American author (b. 1895)
• 1987 – Noel Odell, English mountaineer (b. 1890)
• 1989 – Alex Thépot, French footballer (b. 1906)
• 1991 – Dorothy Auchterlonie, Australian academic, critic, and poet (b. 1915)
• 1991 – Nutan Behl, Indian actress (b. 1936)
• 1991 – Margot Fonteyn, English ballerina (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Johannes Steinhoff, German pilot and commander (b. 1913)
• 1995 – Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos, Brazilian football referee (b. 1954)
• 1996 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and composer (b. 1913)
• 1999 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 1999 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish pilot (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player (b. 1930)
• 2000 – Antonio Díaz-Miguel, Spanish basketball coach (b. 1933)
• 2002 – Harold Furth, Austrian-American physicist (b. 1939)
• 2002 – John Thaw, English actor (b. 1942)
• 2003 – Eddie Thomson, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1947)
• 2004 – John Charles, Welsh footballer (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Guido Molinari, Canadian painter (b. 1933)
• 2005 – Ara Berberian, American opera singer (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Gérard Bessette, Canadian author and poet (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban author (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Gene Scott, American pastor and broadcaster (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Ben Chapman, American actor (b. 1928)
• 2008 – Neil Chotem, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Sunny Lowry, English swimmer (b. 1911)
• 2011 – Abdulredha Buhmaid, Bahraini protester (b. 1982)
• 2011 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author and screenwriter, co-founded Milestone Media
• 2011 – Bernard Nathanson, American doctor and activist (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Colin Ireland, English serial killer (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Benjamin Romualdez, Filipino politician (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Raymond Cusick, English set designer (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Norbert Dorsey, American bishop (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Nazem Ganjapour, Iranian footballer (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Aleksei Yuryevich German, Russian director and producer (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Hasse Jeppson, Swedish footballer (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Masahiro Kanagawa, Japanese murderer (b. 1983)
• 2013 – Kaoru Kobayashi, Japanese criminal (b. 1968)
• 2013 – Bruce Millan, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
• 2013 – Dick Neal, Jr., English footballer (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Louis F. Oberdorfer, American judge (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Magic Slim, American singer and guitarist (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Tom Tipps, American politician (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Merlin Volzke, American jockey (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Pepin of Landen
  • Peter Damian
  • Randoald
  • February 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Mother Language Day (UNESCO)
• Language Movement Day (Bangladesh)
• The first day of Musikahan Festival, celebrated until February 27. (Tagum City)
• Feralia (Roman Empire)

External links

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

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