February 16

February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 318 days remaining until the end of the year (319 in leap years).

Events

• 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with Mongol Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
• 1646 – Battle of Great Torrington, Devon – the last major battle of the first English Civil 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 are killed by Zulus.
• 1852 – Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.
• 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 British Secretary of State for War.
• 1868 – In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
• 1899 – President of France Félix Faure dies in office.
• 1899 – Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur Iceland's first football club is founded.
• 1918 – The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.
• 1923 – Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
• 1934 – The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund.
• 1934 – Commission of Government is 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 United States patent for nylon.
• 1940 – World War II: Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack. 299 British prisoners are freed.
• 1943 – World War II: Red Army troops re-enter Kharkov.
• 1945 – World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.
• 1947 – Canadians are granted Canadian citizenship after 80 years of being British subjects. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.
• 1957 – The "Toddlers' Truce", a controversial television close down between 6.00pm and 7.00pm is abolished in the United Kingdom.
• 1959 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
• 1961 – Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) is launched.
• 1961 – The DuSable Museum of African American History is chartered.
• 1968 – In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
• 1978 – The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
• 1983 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.
• 1985 – Hezbollah is founded.
• 1986 – The Soviet liner MS 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 – Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua.
• 1993 – Western Australia's and Australia's first female Premier, Carmen Lawrence, is voted out of office.
• 1996 – Shaquille O'Neal, at the time playing for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association, makes his only career 3-point shot against the Milwaukee Bucks.
• 1999 – In Uzbekistan, a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islom Karimov.
• 1999 – Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrests 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 labor dispute.
• 2006 – The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

Births

• 1032 – Emperor Yingzong of China (d. 1067)
• 1222 – Nichiren Daishonin, 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)
• 1698 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (d. 1758)
• 1727 – Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (d. 1817)
• 1761 – Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
• 1786 – Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1859)
• 1802 – Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, American philosopher (d. 1866)
• 1804 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (d. 1885)
• 1812 – Henry Wilson, American politician 18th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1821 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer (d. 1865)
• 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)
• 1845 – George Kennan, American explorer (d. 1924)
• 1847 – Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (d. 1917)
• 1848 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist (d. 1935)
• 1856 – Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (d. 1944)
• 1856 – Willem Kes, Dutch conductor (d. 1934)
• 1866 – Billy Hamilton, American baseball player (d. 1940)
• 1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet (d. 1949)
• 1874 – Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German soprano (d. 1935)
• 1876 – George Macaulay Trevelyan, English historian (d. 1962)
• 1878 – Pamela Colman Smith, artist, writer, designer of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck of tarot cards (d. 1951)
• 1880 – Frank Burke, American baseball player (d. 1946)
• 1883 – Elizabeth Craig, British writer (d. 1980)
• 1884 – Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (d. 1951)
• 1886 – Van Wyck Brooks, American historian and critic (d. 1963)
• 1887 – Kathleen Clifford, American actress (d. 1962)
• 1891 – Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist (d. 1967)
• 1896 – Eugénie Blanchard, French supercentenarian
• 1898 – Katharine Cornell, American actress (d. 1974)
• 1901 – Vincent Coleman, American actor (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Wayne King, American musician and orchestra leader (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Chester Morris, American film actor (d. 1970)
• 1903 – Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (d. 1978)
• 1903 – George-Henri Lévesque, Quebec priest and sociologist (d. 2000)
• 1904 – Karl-Heinz Bürger, German SS-Oberführer (d. 1988)
• 1904 – George F. Kennan, American historian, diplomat and political policy-maker (d. 2005)
• 1906 – Vera Menchik, British-Czech chess player, the first Women's World Champion in chess (d. 1944)
• 1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1909 – Jeffrey Lynn, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (d. 1998)
• 1915 – Jim O'Hora, American college football coach (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Elisabeth Eybers, South African poet (d. 2007)
• 1915 – Michael Relph, British film producer and director (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Bill Doggett, American jazz and rhythm and blues pianist and organist (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Patty Andrews, American singer
• 1920 – Anna Mae Hays, American army general
• 1921 – Jean Behra, French Formula One driver (d. 1959)
• 1921 – Araucaria, British crossword compiler
• 1921 – Vera-Ellen, American actress (d. 1981)
• 1922 – Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, German night fighter pilot (d. 1950)
• 1925 – Carlos Paredes, Portuguese guitar master (d. 2004)
• 1926 – John Schlesinger, English film director (d. 2003)
• 1926 – Margot Frank, German-born Dutch Jewish holocaust victim (d. 1945)
• 1929 – Peter Porter, expatriate Australian poet (d. 2010)
• 1927 – June Brown, British actress
• 1929 – Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer (d. 1980)
• 1931 – George E. Sangmeister, American politician (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Ken Takakura, Japanese actor
• 1932 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress and dancer (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Otis Blackwell, American songwriter and singer (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Harry Goz, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of Sierra Leone
• 1934 – Harold "Hal" & Herbert "Herbie" Kalin, American singers (The Kalin Twins) (d. 2005 and 2006, respectively)
• 1934 – Marlene Hagge, American professional golfer
• 1935 – Sonny Bono, American entertainer & 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
• 1939 – Czesław Niemen, Polish singer-songwriter and composer (d. 2004)
• 1939 – Adolfo Azcuna, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
• 1941 – Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader
• 1943 – Brig Owens, American football player
• 1944 – Richard Ford, American novelist
• 1944 – António Mascarenhas Monteiro, 2^nd President of Cape Verde
• 1945 – Jeremy Bulloch, English actor
• 1946 – Ian Lavender, English actor
• 1948 – Eckhart Tolle, Author and spiritual teacher
• 1950 – Peter Hain, British politician
• 1950 – Kazuki Tomokawa, Japanese acid-folk singer
• 1950 – Roman Tam, Hong Kong singer (d. 2002)
• 1951 – William Katt, American actor
• 1952 – Barry Foote, American baseball player
• 1953 – George Martin, English footballer
• 1953 – Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1953 – Roberta Williams, computer game designer
• 1954 – Michael Holding, Jamaican West Indies cricketer
• 1954 – Iain Banks, Scottish author
• 1954 – Margaux Hemingway, American actress and model (d. 1996)
• 1955 – Hunt Block, American actor
• 1956 – James Ingram, American singer
• 1956 – Vincent Ward, New Zealand director and screenwriter
• 1957 – LeVar Burton, American actor
• 1958 – Natalie Angier, American journalist and author
• 1958 – Ice-T, American rapper and actor
• 1958 – Lisa Loring, American actress
• 1958 – Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball player
• 1958 – Herb Williams, American basketball player and coach
• 1958 – Michael W. Burns, American politician
• 1959 – John McEnroe, American tennis player
• 1959 – Kelly Tripucka, American basketball player
• 1960 – Pete Willis, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
• 1960 – Cherie Chung, Hong Kong actress
• 1961 – Andy Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran, The Power Station)
• 1961 – Eric Red, American screenwriter and director
• 1962 – John Balance, English musician (Coil, Psychic TV) (d. 2004)
• 1963 – Dano Halsall, Swiss swimmer
• 1964 – Bebeto, Brazilian footballer
• 1964 – Christopher Eccleston, English actor
• 1965 – Dave Lombardo, Cuban-born drummer (Slayer)
• 1967 – John Valentin, baseball player
• 1967 – Keith Gretzky, former hockey player; brother of Wayne Gretzky
• 1968 – Warren Ellis, British comic writer
• 1969 – David Heath, American professional wrestler better known as Gangrel
• 1969 – Holly Aird, English actress
• 1970 – Serdar Ortac, Turkish popstar
• 1970 – Angelo Peruzzi, Italian footballer
• 1971 – Amanda Holden, British actress
• 1972 – Jerome Bettis, American football player
• 1972 – Sarah Clarke, American actress
• 1973 – Christian Bassedas, Argentine footballer
• 1973 – Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete
• 1973 – Nikos Kostakis, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Maureen Johnson, American author
• 1974 – Fanis Katergiannakis, Greek footballer
• 1974 – Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, American actor
• 1974 – Johnny Tri Nguyen, Vietnamese American stuntman and martial arts actor
• 1974 – Luis Figueroa, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1975 – Nanase Aikawa, Japanese singer
• 1975 – Vanina Ickx, Belgian racing driver
• 1975 – Don Jeffcoat, American actor
• 1976 – Eric Byrnes, American baseball player
• 1976 – Kyo, Japanese singer (Dir en grey)
• 1976 – Joe Odagiri, Japanese actor
• 1977 – Brad Walst, American bassist (Three Days Grace)
• 1977 – Ian Clarke, Irish computer programmer
• 1977 – Ahman Green, American football player
• 1978 – Tia Hellebaut, Belgian athlete
• 1978 – John Tartaglia, Broadway actor and Muppeteer
• 1978 – Wasim Jaffer, Indian cricketer
• 1979 – Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer
• 1979 – Eric Mun, Korean rapper (Shinhwa)
• 1980 – Agim Kaba, American actor and film producer
• 1980 – Ashley Lelie, American football player
• 1981 – Jay Howard, British racing driver
• 1981 – Jerry Owens, American baseball player
• 1981 – Qyntel Woods, American basketball player
• 1982 – Lupe Fiasco, American hip hop artist
• 1982 – Alemão, Portuguese footballer
• 1983 – Tuomo Ruutu, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1984 – Ous Mellouli, Tunisian swimmer
• 1985 – Zoi Dimoschaki, Greek swimmer
• 1987 – Theresa Goh, Singaporean Paralympic swimmer
• 1988 – Denílson Pereira Neves, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Diego Capel, Spanish footballer
• 1991 – Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess of Luxembourg
• 1992 – Avan Jogia, Canadian actor

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)
• 1820 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish Lieutenant General and war hero (b. 1758)
• 1844 – Joseph Crosfield, English soap and alkali manufacturer (b. 1792)
• 1898 – Thomas Bracken, New Zealand poet (b. 1843)
• 1899 – Félix Faure, President of France (b. 1841)
• 1907 – Giosuè 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, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1841)
• 1932 – Sir Edgar Speyer, American-born British financier and philanthropist (b. 1862)
• 1944 – Henri Nathansen, Danish writer and stage director (b. 1868)
• 1967 – Antonio Moreno, Spanish-born actor (b. 1887)
• 1967 – Smiley Burnette, American actor, singer and songwriter (b. 1911)
• 1974 – John Garand, Canadian rifle engineer and manufacturer (b. 1888)
• 1975 – Morgan Taylor, American athlete (b. 1903)
• 1975 – Norman Treigle, American bass-baritone (b. 1927)
• 1977 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (b. 1897)
• 1978 – E. Roland Harriman, American financier (b. 1895)
• 1979 – Nematollah Nassiri, executed Iran general/head of SAVAK (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Erich Hückel, German physicist (b. 1895)
• 1984 – M.A.G. Osmani, Supreme Commander of Bangladesh Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War (b. 1918)
• 1986 – Howard Da Silva, American actor (b. 1909)
• 1988 – Jean Carignan, French Canadian fiddler (b. 1916)
• 1990 – Keith Haring, American artist (b. 1958)
• 1991 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan Contra leader (b. 1932)
• 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 (b. 1949)
• 2000 – Marceline Day, American actress (b. 1908)
• 2000 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-born engineer and inventor (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Lila Kedrova, Russian-born actress (b. 1918)
• 2001 – Bob Buhl, baseball player (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Howard W. Koch, American film director (b. 1916)
• 2001 – William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)
• 2002 – Walter Winterbottom, England football manager (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Rusty Magee, American composer (b. 1955)
• 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)
• 2005 – Queen Narriman, second and last wife of King Farouk and mother of their only child King Fuad II (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Johnny Grunge, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
• 2006 – Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (b. 1925)
• 2009 – Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, Korean Cardinal, Protopriest of the Holy Roman Church (b. 1921)
• 2010 – Wan Chi Keung, Hong Kong soccer player and actor. (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Abda of Edessa
  • Elias and companions
  • Gilbert of Sempringham
  • Juliana of Nicomedia (Catholic Church)
  • Onesimus
  • February 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Restoration of Lithuania's Statehood Day, celebrate the independence of Lithuania from Russia and Germany in 1918 (Lithuania)

External links

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