Events

• 747 BC - Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
• 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
• 1266 - Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
• 1658 - Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655-1661), the King of Denmark-Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
• 1794 - Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down.
• 1797 - The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes.
• 1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
• 1848 - The second French Republic is proclaimed.
• 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Banking Act into law.
• 1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-subway opens.
• 1885 - The Berlin Act, which resulted from the Berlin Conference regulating European colonization and trade in Africa, is signed
• 1887 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.
• 1914 - HMHS Britannic, sister to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast.
• 1917 - The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.
• 1919 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
• 1929 - The Grand Teton National Park is created.
• 1935 - The Luftwaffe is re-formed.
• 1935 - The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.
• 1936 - In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
• 1952 - United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
• 1966 - Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
• 1970 - National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.
• 1971 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
• 1972 - The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
• 1984 - US troops withdraw from Beirut. President Ronald Reagan had sent the troops as a peacekeeping force in August 1982.
• 1986 - People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
• 1987 - Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes American President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
• 1990 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
• 1991 - Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
• 1993 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.
• 1995 - The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
• 2001 - The Taliban destroy two giant Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
• 2004 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
• 2004 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2005 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.

Births

• 1361 - Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
• 1564 - Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
• 1587 - Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)
• 1671 - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (d. 1713)
• 1672 - Antoine Augustine Calmet, French theologian (d. 1757)
• 1714 - James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758)
• 1715 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
• 1720 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)
• 1746 - Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, duchess of Piacenza (d. 1806)
• 1749 - Jeremy Bentham, English jurist (d. 1832)
• 1786 - François Arago, French mathematician (d. 1853)
• 1799 - Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)
• 1802 - Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
• 1808 - Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
• 1808 - Nathan Kelley,American architect, active mainly in Ohio, (d.1871)
• 1814 - Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (d. 1876)
• 1829 - Levi Strauss, German-born clothing designer (d. 1902)
• 1846 - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman (d. 1917)
• 1852 - John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform (d. 1943 )
• 1857 - Émile Coué, French psychologist (d. 1926)
• 1858 - Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (d. 1917)
• 1861 - King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
• 1861 - Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, Lenin's wife (d. 1939)
• 1866 - Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (d. 1930)
• 1879 - Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
• 1882 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
• 1885 - Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
• 1887 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (d. 1950)
• 1887 - William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)
• 1887 - Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
• 1893 - I. A. Richards, English literary critic (d. 1979)
• 1899 - Max Petitpierre, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1994)
• 1902 - Jean Bruller, alias Vercors, French writer and illustrator (d. 1991)
• 1903 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
• 1906 - Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1907 - Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1908 - Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
• 1908 - Leela Majumdar, Bengali writer (d. 2007)
• 1908 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
• 1909 - King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
• 1909 - Fanny Cradock, English food writer and broadcaster (d. 1994)
• 1911 - Tar? Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (d. 1996)
• 1912 - Dane Clark, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1913 - George Barker, English poet (d. 1991)
• 1914 - Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1916 - Jackie Gleason, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (d. 1987)
• 1918 - Otis Ray Bowen, American politician (Indiana Governor) and physician
• 1918 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
• 1919 - Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1919 - Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)
• 1920 - Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1920 - Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1920 - Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (d. 2006)
• 1921 - Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
• 1922 - Margaret Leighton, British actress (d. 1976)
• 1926 - Miroslava Stern, Mexican actress (d. 1955)
• 1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host
• 1928 - Fats Domino, American musician
• 1928 - Anatoli Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1928 - Monique Leyrac, French Canadian singer and actress
• 1930 - Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (d. 2005)
• 1931 - Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
• 1932 - Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
• 1934 - Robert Novak, American political columnist
• 1937 - Hagood Hardy, Canadian musician and composer (d. 1997)
• 1938 - Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot freedom fighter (d. 1957)
• 1939 - Josephine Tewson, English actress
• 1941 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
• 1943 - Bill Duke, American actor and director
• 1943 - Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
• 1945 - Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion (d. 2006)
• 1945 - Bob Hite, American singer and harmonicist (Canned Heat) (d. 1981)
• 1945 - Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach and politician
• 1945 - Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress
• 1945 - Mitch Ryder, American musician (The Detroit Wheels)
• 1946 - Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1947 - Sandie Shaw, English singer
• 1949 - Elizabeth George, American novelist
• 1949 - Emma Kirkby, British early music singer
• 1950 - Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1950 - Jonathan Cain, American musician (Journey, Bad English, The Babys)
• 1953 - Michael Bolton, American singer
• 1954 - Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1956 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
• 1957 - David Muldrow Beasley, American politician
• 1957 - Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
• 1958 - Karen Berger, American comic book editor
• 1958 - Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
• 1958 - Greg Germann, American actor
• 1959 - Rolando Blackman, American basketball player
• 1960 - Jaz Coleman, British musician
• 1962 - Kelly Gruber, former Major League Baseball player
• 1964 - Mark Dacascos, American actor and martial artist
• 1966 - Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
• 1967 - Currie Graham, Canadian actor
• 1968 - Tim Commerford, American bass player (Rage Against the Machine)
• 1968 - Ed Quinn, American Actor
• 1968 - J.T. Snow, American baseball player
• 1969 - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer
• 1971 - Erykah Badu, American singer
• 1971 - Max Martin, Swedish composer and producer
• 1971 - Hélène Ségara, French singer
• 1973 - Marshall Faulk, American football player
• 1973 - Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian retired footballer
• 1973 - Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
• 1974 - Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver
• 1976 - Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver
• 1976 - Chad Urmston, American musician
• 1977 - Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player
• 1977 - Greg Rikaart, American actor
• 1977 - Josh Towers, Major League Baseball player
• 1977 - Shane Williams, Welsh International Rugby Player
• 1978 - Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
• 1978 - Marc Hynes, British racing driver
• 1978 - John Tartaglia, Broadway performer and "Muppeteer"
• 1979 - Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer
• 1979 - Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver
• 1979 - Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
• 1979 - Shalim Ortiz, Puerto Rican singer/actor
• 1980 - Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer
• 1980 - Gary Majewski, Major League Baseball player
• 1981 - Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver
• 1981 - Johnathan Wendel, American professional video gamer
• 1982 - Song Hye Kyo, South Korean model and actress
• 1983 - Kara Monaco, American model
• 1984 - Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
• 1984 - Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
• 1985 - Alexandria Hilfiger, American actress, daughter of Tommy Hilfiger
• 1986 - Crystal Kay, Japanese singer
• 1986 - Teresa Palmer, Australian model and actress
• 1986 - Makelele, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 - Julia Bond, American porn star
• 1993 - Taylor Dooley, American actress

Deaths

• 1154 - King Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
• 1200 - Symeon, former Serbian ruler and saint
• 1266 - King Manfred of Sicily
• 1360 - Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)
• 1552 - Heinrich Faber, German composer
• 1561 - Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer
• 1577 - King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
• 1608 - John Still, English bishop
• 1630 - William Brade, English composer (b. 1560)
• 1638 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (b. 1681)
• 1723 - Thomas d'Urfey, English writer (b. 1653)
• 1726 - Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
• 1770 - Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)
• 1802 - Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (b. 1718)
• 1813 - Robert Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
• 1815 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (b. 1737)
• 1821 - Joseph de Maistre, Savoyard diplomat and writer (b. 1753)
• 1864 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, French Canadian politician (b. 1807)
• 1883 - Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
• 1889 - Karl Davydov, Russian cellist (b. 1838)
• 1903 - Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (b. 1818)
• 1913 - Felix Draeseke, German composer (b. 1835)
• 1921 - Carl Menger, Austrian economist (b. 1840)
• 1931 - Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1847)
• 1933 - Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1853)
• 1943 - Theodor Eicke, Nazi official (b. 1892)
• 1947 - Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss politician, member of the Federal Council (b. 1868)
• 1950 - Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish Music Hall Entertainer, Knighted for WWI War Work (b. 1870)
• 1961 - King Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
• 1966 - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
• 1969 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
• 1969 - Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
• 1971 - Fernandel, French actor (b. 1903)
• 1981 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
• 1981 - Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)
• 1985 - Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
• 1989 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
• 1990 - Cornell Gunter, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1938)
• 1993 - Constance Ford, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1994 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
• 1995 - Jack Clayton, British film director (b. 1921)
• 1997 - David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1998 - James Algar, American film director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1912)
• 1998 - Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
• 2000 - George L. Street III American Navy Submariner and Medal of Honor recipient.(b. 1913)
• 2001 - Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)
• 2002 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
• 2003 - Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver (b. 1928)
• 2004 - Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1920)
• 2004 - Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
• 2004 - Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
• 2005 - Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)
• 2008 - Buddy Miles, American drummer (Band of Gypsies; b. 1947)
• 2008 - Dick Fletcher, Meteorologist (b.1942)
• 2008 - Glory Mukwati, Zimbabwean politician

Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith - February 26, Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
• Nation of Islam - Savior's Day - commemoration of the birthdate of Wallace Fard Muhammad, believed to be Allah in human form, the saviour of the black race.
• Liberation Day in Kuwait (1991).
• Saint Nestor (died 251)
• Saint Alexander of Alexandria
• Saint Isabel of France
• February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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