is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 327 days remaining (328 in leap years).

Events

• 457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1301 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
• 1550 - Julius III becomes Pope.
• 1613 - Mikhail Romanov becomes Tsar of Russia.
• 1795 - The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.
• 1807 - Napoléon's French Empire begin fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at the Battle of Eylau in Eylau, Poland.
• 1812 - The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
• 1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
• 1856 - The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation (the Electoral Act 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot. Terry Newman, 'Tasmania and the Secret Ballot' (2003), 49(1) Aust J Pol & Hist 93 ^*, accessed February 27, 2006
• 1863 - HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
• 1882 - The last heavyweight boxing championship bare-knuckle fight takes place in Mississippi City, Mississippi.
• 1894 - The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
• 1898 - Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.
• 1900 - The British Labour Party is formed.
• 1904 - A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
• 1914 - Charlie Chaplin first appears as "The Tramp", as his first film Kid Auto Races at Venice is released at Keystone Studios.
• 1942 - In Drakulici, Banja Luka, Croatian Nazis kill 2,300 Serbian civilians, among them 551 children.
• 1944 - World War II: In Anzio, Italy Nazi forces launch a counteroffensive.
• 1948 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.
• 1962 - The United States Government bans all Cuban imports and exports.
• 1964 - The Beatles arrive on their first visit to the United States.
• 1967 - A fire at a restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama kills 25 people.
• 1969 - The original Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse is removed from service.
• 1971 - Women gain the right to vote in Switzerland.
• 1974 - Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1976 - Future Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores six goals and records four assists in an 11-4 victory over the Boston Bruins, setting a NHL record with 10 points in one game.
• 1977 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24.
• 1979 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either planet was known to science.
• 1984 - Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk.
• 1985 - "New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New York City.
• 1986 - Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
• 1990 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power.
• 1991 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
• 1991 - The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
• 1992 - The European Union is formed.
• 1995 - Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
• 1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
• 2000 - Bahria University is established through the Presidential Ordinance No. V of 2000 of Government of Pakistan.
• 2003 - Last contact with Pioneer 10.

Births

• 1102 - Empress Matilda, Princess of England and wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1169)
• 1478 - Sir Thomas More, English statesman, humanist, and author (d. 1535)
• 1693 - Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
• 1812 - Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870)
• 1842 - Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (d. 1923)
• 1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
• 1870 - Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)
• 1877 - Godfrey Harold Hardy, English mathematician (d. 1947)
• 1883 - Eubie Blake, American musician and composer (d. 1983)
• 1885 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
• 1885 - Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
• 1889 - Harry Nyquist, important contributor to information theory (d. 1976)
• 1895 - Anita Stewart, American film actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 - Dock Boggs, American musician (d. 1971)
• 1905 - Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1905 - Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)
• 1906 - Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer (d. 1984)
• 1906 - Puyi, Emperor of China (d. 1967)
• 1907 - Yevgeniy Abalakov, famous Soviet mountaineer (d. 1948)
• 1908 - Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
• 1914 - Ramón Mercader, Spanish assassin of Leon Trotsky (d. 1978)
• 1915 - Eddie Bracken, American actor (d. 2002)
• 1918 - Markey Robinson, Northern Irish painter (d. 1999)
• 1920 - An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)
• 1922 - Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
• 1926 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut
• 1927 - Juliette Greco, French singer and actor
• 1927 - Vladimir Kuts, Russian runner
• 1932 - Gay Talese, American author
• 1932 - Al Worden, American astronaut
• 1933 - John Anderton, English footballer
• 1934 - Earl King, American musician (d. 2003)
• 1934 - Eddie Fenech Adami, President of Malta
• 1938 - S. Ramachandran Pillai, Indian communist leader
• 1943 - Gareth Hunt, English actor
• 1945 - Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player
• 1945 - Pete Postlethwaite, English actor
• 1949 - Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach
• 1953 - Dan Quisenberry, baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1954 - Dieter Bohlen German composer
• 1955 - Rolf Benirschke, American football player
• 1955 - Mario Coutinho Brazilian physician
• 1955 - Miguel Ferrer, American actor
• 1956 - Emo Philips, American comedian
• 1957 - Carney Lansford, American baseball player
• 1960 - James Spader, American actor
• 1962 - Garth Brooks, American singer
• 1962 - Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian
• 1962 - David Bryan, American musician (Bon Jovi)
• 1965 - Jason Gedrick, American actor
• 1965 - Chris Rock, American comedian and actor
• 1968 - Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-born hockey player
• 1968 - Sully Erna, American singer (Godsmack)
• 1972 - Alex Bassi, American Race Car Driver
• 1974- Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player
• 1974 - J Dilla, also known as Jay-Dee, American hip-hop producer (d. 2006)
• 1975 - Wes Borland, American guitarist (Limp Bizkit)
• 1978 - Ashton Kutcher, American actor
• 1978 - Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian international footballer
• 1978 - Endy Chávez, Baseball player
• 1985 - Tina Majorino, American actress
• 1985 - Clara Bryant, American actress
• 1988 - Ai Kago, Japanese singer (W (Double You), Morning Musume, and MiniMoni)

Deaths

• 1045 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
• 1317 - Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)
• 1560 - Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (b. 1493)
• 1626 - William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
• 1642 - William Bedell, English clergyman (b. 1571)
• 1652 - Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (b. 1582)
• 1690 - William Morice, English royalist statesman
• 1693 - Paul Pellisson, French writer (b. 1624)
• 1736 - Stephen Gray, English astronomer and scientist (b. 1666)
• 1779 - William Boyce, English composer (b. 1711)
• 1799 - Qianlong, Emperor of China (b. 1711)
• 1801 - Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)
• 1823 - Ann Radcliffe, English novelist (b. 1764)
• 1837 - King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
• 1839 - Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)
• 1873 - Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (b. 1814)
• 1878 - Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
• 1897 - Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (b. 1847)
• 1898 - John Reily Knox, Founder of Beta Theta Pi (b. 1820)
• 1919 - William Halford, American naval officer and Medal of Honor recipient
• 1920 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (b. 1874)
• 1937 - Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1845)
• 1938 - Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)
• 1939 - Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (b. 1886)
• 1942 - Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (b. 1876)
• 1960 - Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (b. 1903)
• 1968 - Nick Adams, American actor (b. 1931)
• 1973 - Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal (b. 1892)
• 1979 - Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)
• 1980 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)
• 1985 - Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1932)
• 1986 - Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian (b. 1923)
• 1990 - Jimmy Van Heusen, American songwriter (b. 1913)
• 1993 - Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
• 1994 - Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (b. 1913)
• 1994 - Stephen Milligan, British journalist and politician (b. 1948)
• 1996 - Phillip Davidson, US Army general (b. 1915)
• 1998 - Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)
• 1999 - King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
• 1999 - José Silva, author of Silva Method and the Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)
• 1999 - Bobby Troup, American musician and actor (b. 1918)
• 2000 - Big Pun, Puerto Rican rapper (b. 1971)
• 2000 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician (b. 1947)
• 2001 - Dale Evans, American actress and singer (b. 1912)
• 2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator (b. 1906)
• 2002 - Elisa Bridges, American model (b. 1973)
• 2003 - Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
• 2003 - John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)
• 2004 - John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
• 2006 - Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

• Independence Day in Grenada (1974).
• Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Mulk (Dominion) - First day of the 18th month of the Bahá'í Calendar.
• Sapporo Snow Festival in Sapporo, Japan (2005).

Liturgical feasts

• Saints Paul Miki and his 25 companians (d. Nagasaki, 1597)
• Blessed Eugenia Smet (d.1871)

Notes