February 16

is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 318 days remaining (319 in leap years).

Events

1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau was dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols.
1279 - Afonso III of Portugal dies. His son Denis succeeds the Portuguese throne.
1568 - The entire population of the Netherlands - three million people - was sentenced to death by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy; see Eighty Years' War.
1742 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
1804 - First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
1838 - Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal were killed by Zulus.
1852 - Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.
1857 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, DC, becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
1859 - The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch.
1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
1866 - Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes the British Secretary of State for War
1868 - In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).
1883 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.
1899 - President Félix Faure of France dies in office.
1918 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany.
1923 - Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
1934 - Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund
1934 - Commission of Government sworn in as form of direct rule for the Dominion of Newfoundland.
1936 - Elections bring the Popular Front to power in Spain.
1937 - Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon.
1940 - Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark, with 299 British prisoners, is boarded in neutral Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack and the prisoners set free, a breach of Norwegian neutrality at the beginning of World War II.
1943 - World War II: USSR reconquers Kharkov.
1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.
1945 - American forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula.
1959 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after President Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
1961 - Explorer 9 launched. (See Explorer program)
1968 - In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
1972 - NBA basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th point.
1978 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.
1986 - The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
1987 - The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.
1991 - Gulf War: U.S. and U.K. war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
1998 - China Airlines Flight 676 crashed into a residential area near by Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people, included all 196 on board and six on the ground.
1999 - In Uzbekistan a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov.
1999 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
2005 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
2005 - The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs, becoming the first major sports league in North America to do so over a labour dispute.

Births

1032 - Emperor Yingzong of China (d. 1067)
1222 - Nichiren, Japanese founder of Nichiren Buddhism (d. 1282)
1497 - Philipp Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (d. 1560)
1519 - Gaspard de Coligny, French Huguenot leader (d. 1572)
1543 - Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (d. 1590)
1620 - Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia (d. 1688)
1643 - John Sharp, English Archbishop of York (d. 1714)
1710 - King Louis XV of France (d. 1774)
1727 - Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (d. 1817)
1761 - Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
1802 - Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, 19th Century Philosopher (d. 1866)
1804 - Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (d. 1885)
1821 - Heinrich Barth, German explorer
1822 - Sir Francis Galton, English explorer and biologist (d. 1911)
1824 - Peter Kozler, Slovenian cartographer and geographer (d. 1879)
1826 - Julia Grant, First Lady of the United States (d. 1902)
1826 - Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet (d. 1886)
1831 - Nikolai Leskov, Russian writer (d. 1895)
1834 - Ernst Haeckel, German zoologist and philosopher (d. 1919)
1838 - Henry Adams, American historian and novelist (d. 1918)
1847 - Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (d. 1917)
1856 - Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (d. 1944)
1866 - Vyacheslav Ivanov, a Russian poet (d. 1949)
1876 - George Macaulay Trevelyan, English historian (d. 1962)
1884 - Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (d. 1951)
1886 - Van Wyck Brooks, American historian and critic (d. 1963)
1898 - Katharine Cornell, American actress (d. 1974)
1901 - Vincent Coleman, American actor (d. 1971)
1901 - Chester Morris, American film actor (d. 1970)
1903 - Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (d. 1978)
1904 - George F. Kennan, American historian, diplomat and political policy-maker (d. 2005)
1909 - Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
1909 - Jeffrey Lynn, American actor (d. 1995)
1915 - Jim O'Hora, American college football coach (d. 2005)
1921 - Araucaria, British crossword compiler
1921 - Vera-Ellen, American actress (d. 1981)
1926 - John Schlesinger, English film director (d. 2003)
1927 - June Brown, British actress
1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host
1929 - Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer (d. 1980)
1931 - Otis Blackwell, American songwriter and singer (d. 2002)
1932 - Harry Goz, American actor (d. 2003)
1932 - Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of Sierra Leone
1935 - Sonny Bono, singer, music producer, television producer, and U.S. Congressman (d. 1998)
1936 - Jill Kinmont, American skier
1937 - Yuri Manin, Russian mathematician
1938 - John Corigliano, American composer
1938 - Barry Primus, American actor
1941 - Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader
1944 - Richard Ford, American novelist
1945 - Jeremy Bulloch, English actor
1945 - Frank Welker, American voice actor
1950 - Peter Hain, British politician
1951 - William Katt, American actor
1953 - Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player
1953 - Roberta Williams, computer game designer
1954 - Michael Holding, West Indian fast bowler cricket
1954 - Iain Banks, Scottish author
1955 - Margaux Hemingway, American actress and model (d. 1996)
1957 - LeVar Burton, American actor
1957 - James Ingram, American singer
1958 - Ice-T, American rapper, songwriter, and actor
1958 - Lisa Loring, American actress
1959 - John McEnroe, American tennis player
1960 - Pete Willis, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
1961 - Andy Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
1963 - Dave Lombardo, Cuban drummer (Slayer)
1964 - Bebeto, Brazilian footballer
1964 - Christopher Eccleston, English actor
1967 - John Valentin, baseball player
1967 - Keith Gretzky, former hockey player; brother of Wayne Gretzky
1968 - Warren Ellis, British comic book writer
1970 - D.J. Wallis, American fitness competitor
1972 - Jerome Bettis, American football player
1972 - Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters)
1973 - Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete
1975 - Nanase Aikawa, Japanese singer
1976 - Kyo, Japanese singer (Dir en grey)
1977 - Ian Clarke, Irish computer programmer
1977 - Ahman Green, American football player
1979 - Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer
1980 - Ashley Lelie, American football player
1982 - Lupe Fiasco, American rapper
1985 - Haley Giraldo, American reality series star

Deaths

1247 - Heinrich Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
1279 - King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1210)
1391 - John V Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1332)
1531 - Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1452)
1560 - Jean du Bellay, French Catholic cardinal and diplomat
1710 - Esprit Fléchier, French writer and Bishop of Nîmes (b. 1632)
1721 - James Craggs the Younger, English politician (b. 1686)
1754 - Richard Mead, English physician (b. 1673)
1866 - Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, 19th Century Philosopher (b. 1802)
1898 - Thomas Bracken, New Zealand poet (b. 1843)
1899 - Félix Faure, President of France (b. 1841)
1907 - Giosue Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
1912 - St. Nikolai of Japan, Eastern Orthodox priest (b. 1836)
1917 - Octave Mirbeau, French writer (b. 1848)
1919 - Vera Kholodnaya, Russian film star (b. 1893)
1928 - Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (b. 1856)
1932 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1841)
1967 - Antonio Moreno, Spanish-born actor (b. 1887)
1974 - John Garand, Canadian rifle engineer and manufacturer (b. 1888)
1975 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete (b. 1903)
1977 - Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (b. 1897)
1978 - E. Roland Harriman, American financier (b. 1895)
1980 - Erich Hückel, German physicist (b. 1895)
1990 - Keith Haring, American artist (b. 1958)
1992 - Angela Carter, English writer (b. 1940)
1992 - Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician (b. 1917)
1992 - Herman Wold, Swedish statistician (b. 1908)
1996 - Roger Bowen, American actor (b. 1932)
1996 - Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California (b. 1905)
1996 - Brownie McGhee, American singer (b. 1915)
1997 - Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American Physicist (b. 1912)
1999 - Michael Larson, Press Your Luck Big-winning contestant
2000 - Marceline Day, American actress (b. 1908)
2000 - Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-born engineer and inventor (b. 1911)
2001 - Bob Buhl, baseball player (b. 1928)
2001 - William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)
2002 - Walter Winterbottom, England football manager (b. 1913)
2003 - Eleanor "Sis" Daley, wife of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley (b. 1907)
2004 - Shirley Strickland, Australian athlete (b. 1925)
2004 - Doris Troy, American singer (b. 1937)
2005 - Nicole DeHuff, American actress (pneumonia) (b. 1975)
2006 - Johnny Grunge, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
2006 - Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

Lithuania - Independence Day (1918)
Kyoto Protocol Day (2005)

Liturgical feasts

External links

February 15 - February 17 - January 16 - March 16 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: February 16

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links