- February 21
Events
*
362 -Athanasius returns toAlexandria .
*1245 - Thomas, the first knownBishop of Finland , is granted resignation after having confessed totorture andforgery .
*1440 - ThePrussian Confederation is formed.
*1543 -Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army ofEthiopia n and Portuguese troops defeats aMuslim army led byAhmed Gragn .
*1613 - Mikhail I is elected unanimously asTsar by a national assembly, beginning theRomanov dynasty ofImperial Russia .
*1743 - The premiere ofGeorge Frideric Handel 'soratorio , "Samson" takes place inLondon .
*1804 - The first self-propellingsteam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks inWales .
*1842 - John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for thesewing machine .
*1848 -Karl Marx andFriedrich Engels publish theCommunist Manifesto .
*1874 - The "Oakland Daily Tribune" publishes its firstnewspaper .
*1878 - The firsttelephone book is issued inNew Haven, Connecticut .
*1885 - The newly completedWashington Monument is dedicated.
*1893 -Thomas Edison receives two U.S.patent s for a "Cut Out for Incandescent Electric Lamps" and for a "Stop Device "
*1912 -Ioannina is incorporated into theGreek state after theBalkan Wars .
*1916 -World War I : InFrance , theBattle of Verdun begins.
*1918 - The lastCarolina parakeet dies in captivity at theCincinnati Zoo .
*1919 -Kurt Eisner , German socialist, is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of theBavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeingMunich ,Germany .
*1921 - Constituent Assembly of theDemocratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution.
*1925 - "The New Yorker " publishes its first issue.
*1937 - Initial flight of the first successfulflying car , Waldo Waterman's Arrowbile.
* 1937 - TheLeague of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in theSpanish Civil War .
*1945 -World War II :Japan eseKamikaze planes sink the escort carrier Bismarck Sea and damage the Saratoga.
*1947 - InNew York City ,Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera ", thePolaroid Land Camera , to a meeting of theOptical Society of America .
*1948 -NASCAR is incorporated.
*1952 - The Britishgovernment , underWinston Churchill , abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".
* 1952 - InDhaka ,East Pakistan (presentBangladesh ) police open fire on a procession of students that was demanding the establishment of Bengali as theofficial language , killing four people and starting a country-wide protest which led to the recognition of Bengali as one of the national languages of Pakistan. The day was later declared as "International Mother Language Day " byUNESCO .
*1953 -Francis Crick andJames D. Watson discover the structure of theDNA molecule.
*1958 - ThePeace symbol is designed and completed byGerald Holtom , commissioned byCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament , in protest against theAtomic Weapons Research Establishment .
*1960 -Cuba n leaderFidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba.
*1965 -Malcolm X is assassinated at theAudubon Ballroom in New York City by members of theNation of Islam .
*1970 -Swissair Flight 330 : A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members nearZürich ,Switzerland .
*1971 - TheConvention on Psychotropic Substances is signed atVienna .
*1972 - PresidentRichard Nixon visits thePeople's Republic of China to normalizeSino-American relations .
*1972 - The Soviet unmanned spaceshipLuna 20 lands on theMoon .
*1973 - Over theSinai Desert ,Israel ifighter aircraft shoot down aLibyan Airlines jet killing 108.
*1974 - The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of theSuez Canal pursuant to a truce withEgypt .
*1975 -Watergate scandal : FormerUnited States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and formerWhite House aidesH. R. Haldeman andJohn Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
*1995 -Steve Fossett lands inLeader, Saskatchewan ,Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across thePacific Ocean in aballoon .
*2004 - The firstEuropean political party organization, the European Greens, is established inRome .
*2007 - Italian Prime MinisterRomano Prodi resigns from office. His resignation is rejected by thePresident of Italy ,Giorgio Napolitano .Births
*
1484 - ElectorJoachim I of Brandenburg (d.1535 )
*1556 -Sethus Calvisius , German calendar reformer (d.1615 )
*1675 -Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl , Bavarian politician (d.1750 )
*1705 -Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke , British naval officer (d.1781 )
*1721 -John McKinly , American physician (d.1796 )
*1723 -Louis-Pierre Anquetil , French historian (d.1808 )
*1728 - TsarPeter III of Russia , husband of Catherine the Great (d.1762 )
*1783 -Princess Catharina of Württemberg , Queen consort of Westphalia (d.1835 )
*1791 -Carl Czerny , Austrian composer (d.1857 )
*1794 -Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna , Mexican president (d.1876 )
*1801 -John Henry Newman , English Catholic cardinal (d.1890 )
*1817 -Jose Zorrilla y Moral , Spanish dramatist (d.1893 )
*1821 -Charles Scribner , American publisher (d.1871 )
*1836 -Léo Delibes , French composer (d.1891 )
*1844 -Charles-Marie Widor , French composer (d.1937 )
*1860 -Karel Matěj Čapek-Chod , Czech journalist (d.1927 )
* 1860 -Goscombe John , Welsh sculptor (d.1952 )
*1865 -John Haden Badley , English school founder (d.1967 )
*1867 -Otto Hermann Kahn , German millionaire (d.1934 )
*1875 -Jeanne Calment , Frenchsupercentenarian and longest-lived human on record (d.1997 )
*1876 -Pyotr Konchalovsky , Russian painter (d.1956 )
*1878 -The Mother , Indian spiritual leader (d.1973 )
*1880 -Waldemar Bonsels , German writer (d.1952 )
*1885 -Sacha Guitry , Russian dramatist (d.1957 )
*1888 -Clemence Dane , British novelist and playwright (d.1965 )
*1893 -Celia Lovsky , Russian-born actress (d.1979 )
* 1893 -Andrés Segovia , Spanish guitarist (d.1987 )
*1895 -Carl Peter Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (d.1976 )
*1900 -Madeleine Renaud , French theater actress (d.1994 )
*1903 -Fairfax M. Cone , American advertising executive (d.1977 )
* 1903 -Anaïs Nin , French writer (d.1977 )
* 1903 -Raymond Queneau , French poet and novelist (d.1976 )
*1907 -W. H. Auden , English poet (d.1973 )
*1910 -Douglas Bader , British pilot (d.1982 )
* 1910 -Carmine Galante , Italian-born gangster (d.1979 )
* 1910 -Eddie Waring , British sports commentator (d.1986 )
*1913 -Roger Laurent , Belgian racing driver (d.1997 )
*1915 -Ann Sheridan , American actress (d.1967 )
*1917 -Lucille Bremer , American actress (d.1996 )
*1924 -Robert Mugabe ,President of Zimbabwe
*1925 -Sam Peckinpah , American director (d.1984 )
*1927 -Erma Bombeck , American humorist (d.1996 )
* 1927 -Hubert de Givenchy , French fashion designer
* 1927 -Pierre Mercure , French-Canadian musician and composer (d.1966 )
*1929 - Roberto "Chespirito" Carlos Bolaños, Mexican actor
* 1929 -James Beck , English actor (d.1973 )
*1933 -Nina Simone , American singer (d.2003 )
*1934 -Rue McClanahan , American actress
*1935 -Mark McManus , Scottish actor (d.1994 )
* 1935 -Jean Pelletier , French Canadian political operative
*1936 -Barbara Jordan , American politician (d.1996 )
*1937 - KingHarald V of Norway
* 1937 -Gary Lockwood , American actor
*1940 - John Lewis, American politician and 1960s Civil Rights Movement activist
* 1940 -Peter Gethin , British racing driver
*1941 - James Wong, Hong Kong composer (d.2004 )
*1942 -Margarethe von Trotta , German actress and film director
*1943 -David Geffen , American record producer
*1945 - Paul Newton, British musician
* 1945 -D'Anna Fortunato , American mezzo-soprano
*1946 -Tyne Daly , American actress
* 1946 -Anthony Daniels , British actor
* 1946 -Alan Rickman , English actor
* 1946 -Bob Ryan , Boston sports columnist
* 1946 -Vito Rizzuto , Sicilian-born alleged mafia boss
*1947 -Johnny Echols , American musician
* 1947 -Olympia Snowe , American politician
* 1947 -Victor Sokolov , Russian journalist (d.2006 )
*1949 -Jerry Harrison , American musician
* 1949 -Ronnie Hellström , Swedish footballer
*1951 -Vince Welnick , American musician (The Grateful Dead ) (d.2006 )
*1952 -Jean Jacques Burnel , British musician
*1953 -Christine Ebersole , American actress
* 1953 -William Petersen , American actor
*1954 -Mike Pickering , English disc jockey and musician
*1954 -Ivo Van Damme , Belgian athlete (d.1976 )
*1955 -Sir Steven Fayburgh , British diplomat
* 1955 -Kelsey Grammer , American actor
*1958 -Jake Burns , Irish singer
* 1958 -Mary Chapin Carpenter , American singer
* 1958 -Jack Coleman , American actor
* 1958 -Alan Trammell , baseball player and manager
*1959 -José María Cano , Spanish musician
* 1959 -Emmett McAuliffe , American radio show host and lawyer
*1960 - Steve Wynn, American singer (
*1961 -Davey Allison , American race car driver (d.1993 )
* 1961 -Christopher Atkins , American actor
* 1961 -Martha Hackett , American actress
* 1961 -Bertha Faye , American wrestler (d.2001 )
*1962 -Vanessa Feltz , British television presenter
* 1962 -Chuck Palahniuk , American writer
* 1962 -David Foster Wallace , American writer
*1963 -William Baldwin , American actor
*1964 -Mark E. Kelly andScott J. Kelly , American astronauts
* 1964 -Jane Tomlinson , British cancer campaigner (d.2007 )
* 1964 -Huw Higginson , British actor
*1967 -Leroy Burrell , American runner
*1969 -James Dean Bradfield , Welsh musician
* 1969 -Tony Meola , American footballer
* 1969 -Eric Wilson , American musician
*1970 -Michael Slater , Australian cricketer
*1971 -Randy Blythe , American musician
*1972 -Seo Taiji , Korean musician
*1973 -Heri Joensen , Faroese musician
* 1973 -Bowie Tsang , Taiwanese singer and TV host
*1974 -Iván Campo , Spanish footballer
* 1974 -Roberto Heras , Spanish cyclist
* 1974 -Wish Bone , American rapper, (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony )
*1976 -Ryan Smyth , Canadian hockey player
*1977 -Steve Francis , American basketball player
* 1977 -Chad Hutchinson , baseball and football player
* 1977 -Kevin Rose , American television host and Internet entrepreneur
*1978 -Park Eun-hye , South Korean actress
* 1978 -Kim Ha Neul , South Korean actress
* 1978 -Nicole Parker , American actress
*1979 -Pascal Chimbonda , French footballer
* 1979 - Carly "Carlito" Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
* 1979 -Lonnie Ford , American football player
* 1979 -Jennifer Love Hewitt , American actress
*1980 -Brad Fast , Canadian ice hockey player
* 1980 -Jim Vandermeer , Canadian ice hockey player
* 1980 -Parthiva Sureshwaren , Indian racing driver
* 1980 -Tiziano Ferro , Italian singer
* 1982 -Bernhard Auinger , Austrian racing driver
* 1982 -Chantal Claret , American musician
*1983 -Braylon Edwards , American football player
* 1983 -Franklin Gutiérrez , Venezuelan baseball player
*1984 -Andrew Ellis , New Zealand rugby union player
* 1984 -David Odonkor , German footballer
* 1984 - Karina, Japanese model and actress
*1985 - Bob Burton, American speedcuber
* 1985 -Georgios Samaras , Greek footballer
*1986 -Charlotte Church , Welsh singer
* 1986 -Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
*1987 -Ellen Page , Canadian actress
* 1987 -Burgess Abernethy , Australian Actor
* 1987 -Ashley Greene , American model and actress
*1989 -Corbin Bleu , American actor and singer
* 1989 -Kristin Herrera , American actress
* 1989 -Scout Taylor-Compton , American actress
* 1989 -Josh Walker , English footballerDeaths
*
1437 - KingJames I of Scotland (b.1394 )
*1471 -John of Rokycan , Czech Catholic archbishop
*1513 -Pope Julius II (b.1443 )
*1543 -Ahmed Gragn , Sultan of Adal
*1554 -Hieronymus Bock , German botanist (b.1498 )
*1595 -Robert Southwell , English Jesuit priest and poet (executed)
*1668 -John Thurloe , English Puritan spy (b.1616 )
*1677 -Baruch Spinoza , Dutch philosopher (b.1632 )
*1715 -Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore , Governor of the Province of Maryland (b.1637 )
*1730 -Pope Benedict XIII (b.1649 )
*1788 -Johann Georg Palitzsch , German astronomer (b.1723 )
*1821 -Georg Friedrich von Martens , German diplomat (b.1756 )
*1824 -Eugène de Beauharnais , son of Napoleon's wife, Josephine (b.1781 )
*1846 -Emperor Ninko of Japan (b.1800 )
*1862 -Justinus Kerner , German poet (b.1786 )
*1901 -George Francis FitzGerald , Irish mathematician (b.1851 )
*1919 -Kurt Eisner , German socialist (assassinated), leader of socialist revolution of 1918 inBavaria (b.1867 )
*1920 -Jacinta Marto , witness of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima (b.1910 )
*1926 -Heike Kamerlingh Onnes , Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b.1853 )
*1934 -Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino , Nicaraguan patriot (assassinated) (b.1895 )
*1938 -George Ellery Hale , American astronomer (b.1868 )
*1941 -Frederick Banting , Canadian physician, recipient of theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.1891 )
*1944 -Ferenc Szisz , Hungarian-born race car driver (b.1873 )
*1945 -Eric Liddell , Scottish runner (b.1902 )
*1946 -José Streel , Belgian World War II collaborator (b.1911 )
*1949 -Tan Malaka , Indonesian nationalist activist and communist leader (b.1894 )
*1958 -Duncan Edwards , English footballer (b.1936 )
*1960 -Jacques Becker , French film director and screenwriter (b.1906 )
*1965 -Malcolm X , American black activist (b.1925 )
*1966 -Paul Comtois , French Canadian politician (b.1895 )
*1967 -Charles Beaumont , American writer (b.1929 )
*1968 -Howard Walter Florey , Australian-born pharmocologist, recipient of theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.1898 )
*1972 -Bronislava Nijinska , Polish-Russian ballet dancer (b.1891 )
* 1972 - Eugène Tisserant, French Catholic candinal (b.1884 )
*1974 -Tim Horton , Canadian hockey player (b.1930 )
*1978 -Mieczysław Żywczyński , Polish historian and priest (b.1901 )
*1980 -Alfred Andersch , German writer
*1982 -Murray the K , American impresario and disc jockey (b.1922 )
*1984 -Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov , Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b.1905 )
*1985 -Louis Hayward , British actor (b.1909 )
*1986 -Helen Hooven Santmyer , American writer (b.1895 )
* 1986 -Shigechiyo Izumi , Japanese sugarcane farmer, also the world's oldest man ever (b.1865 )
*1989 -Alex Thépot , French footballer (b.1906 )
*1991 - DameMargot Fonteyn , English ballet dancer (b.1919 )
*1994 -Johannes Steinhoff , German fighter pilot &NATO commander (b.1913 )
*1996 -Morton Gould , American composer (b.1913 )
*1999 -Gertrude B. Elion , American scientist, recipient of theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.1918 )
* 1999 -Wilmer David Mizell , baseball player (b.1930 )
*2000 -Antonio Díaz-Miguel , Spanish basketball coach (b.1933 )
*2002 -Harold Furth , Austrian-born physicist (b.1939 )
* 2002 -John Thaw , English actor (b.1942 )
*2003 -Eddie Thomson , Scottish football player and coach (b.1947 )
*2004 -John Charles , Welsh footballer (b.1931 )
* 2004 -Guido Molinari , Canadian artist (b.1933 )
*2005 -Ara Berberian , American opera singer (b.1930 )
* 2005 -Gérard Bessette , Quebec novelist and poet (b.1920 )
* 2005 -Guillermo Cabrera Infante , Cuban novelist (b.1929 )
* 2005 -Eugene Scott , American religious broadcaster (b.1929 )
*2008 -Sunny Lowry , First British woman to swim theEnglish Channel (b.1911 )
* 2008 - Ben Chapman, American actor (b.1928 )Holidays and observances
*
Language Martyrs' Day - A day celebrated by Bengali speaking people for gaining right ofmother tongue .
*International Mother Language Day (UNESCO ).
*February 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) In theRoman Catholic Church:
*Saint Peter Damiani
*Saint Pepin of Landen
*Saint Randoald External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/21 BBC: On This Day]
*
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=21 On This Day in Canada] ----
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February 29 — in the Gregorian calendar, which is most widely used in the world today, is a date that occurs only every four years, in years evenly divisible by 4, such as 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 or 2016 (with the exception of century years not divisible… … Wikipedia
February 31 — February 31, with regard to the modern Western (revised Gregorian) calendar, is an imaginary date. It is sometimes used for example purposes, to make it clear regardless of context that the information being presented is artificial and not real… … Wikipedia
February 14 — is internationally known as Valentine s Day, named after Saint Valentinus of Terni, in Italy, executed in 270.Events* 842 Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages. * 1009 First known… … Wikipedia
February — ist der Name folgender Personen: Basil February (1944–1968), südafrikanischer Freiheitskämpfer und Apartheidgegner Tommy February, Pseudonym der japanischen Musikerin Tomoko Kawase (* 1975) Siehe auch Februar … Deutsch Wikipedia
February — Feb ru*a*ry, n. [L. Februarius, orig., the month of expiation, because on the fifteenth of this month the great feast of expiation and purification was held, fr. februa, pl., the Roman festival or purification; akin to februare to purify, expiate … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
February — late 14c., from L. februarius mensis month of purification, from februa purifications, expiatory rites (plural of februum), of unknown origin, said to be a Sabine word. The last month of the ancient (pre 450 B.C.E.) Roman calendar, so named in… … Etymology dictionary
February — should be pronounced with both rs fully articulated. It is now common, especially in AmE, to hear the word pronounced as if it were Febuary (and it is occasionally spelt that way too, which is a great deal worse) … Modern English usage
February — ► NOUN (pl. Februaries) ▪ the second month of the year. ORIGIN Latin februarius, from februa, the name of a purification feast held in this month … English terms dictionary
February — or Feb. or F. [feb′ro͞o er΄ē, feb′yo͞o er΄ē] n. pl. Februaries or Februarys [ME Februarie < L Februarius (mensis), orig. month of expiation < februa, Rom. festival of purification held Feb. 15, pl. of februum, means of purification, prob.… … English World dictionary
February — For other uses, see February (disambiguation). January February March April May June July August September October November December << … Wikipedia
February — Feb|ru|a|ry [ˈfebruəri, ˈfebjuri US ˈfebjueri] n [U and C] written abbreviation Feb. [Date: 1300 1400; : Latin; Origin: Februarius, from Februa, Roman religious ceremony in February to make things pure] the second month of the year, between… … Dictionary of contemporary English