February 12......

February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 322 (323 in leap years) days remaining in the year on this date.

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 1049 Bruno count of Egesheim & Dagsburg crowned Pope Leo IX

● 1111 - German King Hendry V arrives at St Peter, Rome

● 1130 - Pope Innocent II elected

● 1354 - Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.

● 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stuart in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings).

● 1502 - Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to India.

● 1502 - Granada Moslems forced to convert to Catholicism

● 1524 - Conquistador Pedro de Alverado kills Mayan leader Tecun Uman, takes over Guatemala.

● 1528 - Treaty of Dordrecht between emperor & ecclesiastical power

● 1541 - Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.

● 1554 - A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.

● 1577 - Spanish land guardian Don Juan of Habsburg signs "Eternal Edict"

● 1624 - English parliament comes together

● 1689 - The Convention Parliament convenes and declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.

● 1719 - The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a., the oldest existing life insurance company in the Netherlands is founded.

● 1733 - Englishman James Oglethorpe founds the 13th United States colony of Georgia, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day).

● 1737 - The San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated.

● 1762 - English fleet occupies Martinique

● 1763 - John Casteret appointed British minister of foreign affairs

● 1771 - Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden when his father Adolf Frederick "[eats] himself to death".

● 1772 - Yves de Kerguelen of France discovers Kerguelen Archipelago, India

● 1793 - 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves

● 1797 - Franz Haydn's AUSTRIAN HYMN was first performed for the Emperor Francis II's fifth birthday. Today, AUSTRIAN HYMN is the most common melody to which we sing the popular hymn, "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken."

● 1807 - Anglican missionary to Persia Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'Amazing patience, He bears with this faithless foolish heart and suffers me to come, laden with sins, to receive new pardon, new grace, every day! Why does not such love make me hate sin that grieves Him and hides me from His sight?'

● 1809 - Birth of Charles Darwin, who originated the theory of evolution by natural selection, (1809-1882), Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

● 1809 - Birth of Abraham Lincoln, Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky. As a strategic move to try to weaken Confederate Army forces after three years of the civil war, decided to proclaim southern slaves free.

● 1817 - Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeat Spanish troops on the battle of Chacabuco.

● 1818 - Bernardo O'Higgins signs the Independence of Chile near Concepción.

● 1825 - The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government, and are forced to migrate west.

● 1832 - Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.

● 1839 - Boundary dispute between Maine & New Brunswick leads to Aroostook

● 1840 - Housatonic Railroad opens

● 1853 - Illinois passes a law that requires any black entering the state and staying more than 10 days to pay a $50 fine. If unable to pay, they would be sold into slavery for a period commensurate with the fine.

● 1861 - State troops seize US munitions in Napoleon AK

● 1865 - Henry Highland Garnet, is 1st black to speak in US House of Representatives

● 1870 - Official proclamation sets April 15 as last day of grace for US silver coins to circulate in Canada

● 1870 - Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory.

● 1873 - Congress abolishes bimetallism & authorizes $1 & $3 gold coins

● 1877 - 1st news dispatch by telephone, between Boston & Salem MA

● 1877 - U.S. railroad workers begin strikes protesting wage cuts.

● 1879 - At New York City's Madison Square Garden the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.

● 1879 - News about slaughtering of Isandlwana reaches London

● 1880 - John L. Lewis, President of the CIO and Western Federation of Miners, born.

● 1882 - Social-Democratic Union forms in Amsterdam

● 1885 - Carl Peters founds German East-Africa Society

● 1886 - 2nd British government of Salisbury forms

● 1892 - Former President Abraham Lincoln's birthday is declared a national holiday in the United States.

● 1894 - A week after the execution of Auguste Valiant, Paris anarchist Emile Henry throws bomb into the bourgeois Cafe Terminus, killing one and injuring 17. Arrested and executed May 21.

● 1899 - -47ºF (-44ºC), Camp Clarke NB (state record)

● 1900 - Birth of Fernand Planche (1900-1974), Auvergne. French anarrchist writer/activist, imprisoned the winter of 1939-1940 for inciting soldiers to desert, then interned in Germany as a "subversive element." Helped rebuild the libertarian movement after the war, then moved to New Caledonia in 1950, where he opposed colonialism.

● 1901 - Dutch Penitentiary children's law proclaimed

● 1905 - Birth of Federica Montseny, an important figure in Spanish anarchism.

● 1907 - A collision of the steamer Larchmont and a schooler resulted in the death of more than 300 people. The incident occurred off New England's Block Island.

● 1908 - Anna Jeanes bequeathes $1,000,000 to Swarthmore to become all female

● 1909 - Netherlands' SDAP suspends Marxist Tribune group (Gorter & Wijnkoop)

● 1909 - Founding of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) by W.E.B. DuBois and others.

● 1912 - Xuantong Emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.

● 1912 - the Republic of China adopts the Gregorian calendar.

● 1915 - In Washington, DC, the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

● 1918 - All theatres in New York City were shut down in an effort to conserve coal.

● 1920 - 14,000 Rotterdam/Amsterdam harbor workers strike

● 1921 - Soviet troops invade Georgia (theirs, not ours)

● 1921 - Winston Churchill becomes British, minister of Colonies

● 1924 - Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio.

● 1925 - 1st federal arbitration law approved by Congress

● 1925 - Estonia forbids Communist Party

● 1927 - British expeditionary army lands in Shanghai

● 1932 - Communist Party of Holland forms Unemployed Combat Committees

● 1933 - German vice-chancellor von Papen demands Catholic aid for Nazis

● 1934 - France hit by a general strike against fascists & royalists

● 1934 - The Austrian Civil War begins.

● 1934 - The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.

● 1934 - In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista is inaugurated. The council decides to merge the movement with the Falange Española.

● 1935 - Great airship, USS Macon, crashes into Pacific Ocean

● 1938 - Austrian chancellor Schuschnigg visits Hitler in Berchtesgaden

● 1938 - German troops entered Austria

● 1941 - Jewish Council for Amsterdam forms, under Ascher/Cohen

● 1941 - Occupation Police arrest "Jewish Foursome"

● 1942 - 3 German battle cruisers escape via Channel to Brest N Germany

● 1943 - General Eisenhower departs Algiers to Tebessa

● 1944 - Wendell Wilkie (R) enters presidential race

● 1945 - San Francisco selected for site of UN Conference

● 1946 - Picket demanding amnesty for jailed war resisters at Danbury Federal Penetentiary, Connecticut.

● 1946 - Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.

● 1947 - Between 400 and 500 veterans and conscientious objectors from World Wars I and II burn their draft cards in two demonstrations, in front of the White House in Washington and at the Labor Temple in New York City, in protest of a proposed universal conscription law. First draft card burning in U.S.

● 1947 - New Look launched by Christian Dior

● 1947 - Daytime fireball & meteorite fall seen in eastern Siberia

● 1948 - 1st Lieutenant Nancy Leftenant becomes 1st black in army nursing corps

● 1948 - The Pentecostal awakening known as the "Latter Rain Movement" traces its origin to this date, when students at the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada began experiencing a mass spiritual awakening.

● 1949 - Panic in Quito Ecuador, after "War of the World" played on radio

● 1949 - Unidentified aircraft bomb Jerusalem

● 1950 - Senator Joe McCarthy claims to have list of 205 communist government employees

● 1950 - Albert Einstein warns against hydrogen bomb

● 1951 - Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari marries the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi at Golestan Palace in Teheran at the age of 17.

● 1952 - The Roman Catholic program "Life is Worth Living" debuted on television. Hosted by (then-) Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the half-hour program aired on Tuesday nights. It became the longest-running religious TV series of its day, and ran through February of 1957.

● 1953 - USSR breaks relations with Israel

● 1954 - New authority for atomic energy; A new body is established to control the production and development of atomic energy in the UK.

● 1955 - President Eisenhower sends 1st US advisors to South Vietnam

● 1955 - Soviets decides space center built in Baikonur, Kazachstan

● 1957 - Researchers announce Borazan (harder than diamonds) been developed

● 1958 - General Miguel Ydegoras Fuentes elected President of Guatemala

● 1960 - Chinese army kills 12 Indian soldiers

● 1961 - USSR launches Venera 1 toward Venus

● 1961 - Patrice Lumumba, leader of anti-colonial struggle and former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), murdered.

● 1962 - Official Secrets trial of Wethersfield 6 begins, Old Bailey, London, England.

● 1962 - Bus boycott starts in Macon GA

● 1962 - Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth predicted in a letter: 'The day will come when we shall no longer speak of Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians but simply of Evangelical Christians forming one body and one people.'

● 1963 - Argentina asks extradition of Ex-President Peron

● 1964 - Deaths follow Cyprus truce breach; Fighting between ethnic Turks and Greeks in the disputed island of Cyprus has left at least 16 people dead.

● 1965 - Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean

● 1966 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, announced famous Six Points in Karachi as election manifesto of Awami League that later led to formation of Bangladesh.

● 1971 - James Cash (J.C.) Penney died at the age of 95. The company closed for business for one-half day as a memorial to the company's founder.

● 1973 - The State of Ohio went metric, becoming the first in the U.S. to post metric distance signs.

● 1973 - Vietnam War: The first United States prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong.

● 1974 - After ten years of direct actions to claim treaty fishing rights, Washington state tribes win court decision giving them 50% of allowable salmon catch. Legislators have sought to undermine or overturn the ruling ever since.

● 1976 - Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) proclaims victory over Jonas Savimbi's thuggish U.S.-supported UNITA UNITA forces, winning the Angolan Civil War.

● 1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1979 - Kosmos 1076, 1st Soviet oceanographic satellite, launched

● 1981 - Admiral Bobby R Inman, USN, becomes deputy director of CIA

● 1981 - Cape Verde amends its constitution

● 1982 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1987 - Survivors of a black man murdered by KKK members awarded $7 million damages

● 1989 - Belfast lawyer Finucane murdered; Leading solicitor Pat Finucane is shot dead at his home in north Belfast in front of his wife and children.

● 1989 - Tiny Tim declares himself a New York City mayoral candidate.

● 1989 - Rev. Barbara Clementine Harris is elevated to the episcopate of the Anglican Church. Harris had long advocated social change in the church and society. She was also a long-time member of the Union of Black Episcopalians, a group formed to promote the participation of blacks in the church and eradicate racism in society.

● 1989 - Five Pakistani Muslim rioters killed protesting "Satanic Verses."

● 1991 - Iceland recognizes Lithuania's independence

● 1993 - In Liverpool, England, a 2-year-old boy, James Bulger, was lured away from his mother at a shopping mall and beaten to death. Two ten-year-old boys were responsible.

● 1994 - Art thieves snatch Scream
One of the world's best-known paintings, The Scream by Edvard Munch, is stolen from a museum in Norway.

● 1995 - PRI loses/PAN wins Mexican regional elections

● 1997 - Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O J Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement

● 1997 - Hwang Jang-yop, secretary in the Workers' Party of Korea and a prime architect of North Korea's Juche doctrine, defects at the South Korean embassy in Beijing along with his aide, Kim Dok-hong.

● 1998 - The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by United States federal judge.

● 1998 - 250-car Italy pile-up due to fog, 4 die & 50 hurt

● 1999 - President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

● 1999 - Scientists highlight hazards of GM food; A group of international scientists reinforces warnings genetically modified food may be damaging to health.

● 2001 - NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

● 2002 - The trial of former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Milošević eventually dies before its conclusion.

● 2002 - Nuclear waste: US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.

● 2002 - An Iran Air Tupolev Tu-154 crashes prior to landing in Khorramabad, Iran, killing 119.

● 2002 - Kenneth Lay, former Enron CEO, exercised his constitutional rights and refused to testify to the U.S. Congress about the collapse of Enron.

● 2002 - Pakistan charged three men in connection with the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi.

● 2002 - Princess Stephanie of Monaco and Franco Knie won a defamation-of-character lawsuit against the Swiss magazine "Facts." The case involved a photomontage created by the magazine.

● 2003 - The U.N. nuclear agency declared North Korea in violation of international treaties. The complaint was sent to the Security Council.

● 2004 - On National Freedom to Marry Day, two days after Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, California, issued a directive to the county clerk, the City and County of San Franciso begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

● 2004 - Mattel announced the split of Barbie and Ken.

● 2006 - A powerful Nor'easter Winter Storm blankets the Northeastern United States dumping 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington DC up to Boston, Massachusetts. The storm dumped a record 26.9 inches of snow in New York City.

BIRTHS

● 1074 - Conrad, King of Germany and Italy (d. 1101)

● 1218 - Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)

● 1567 - Thomas Campion, English composer and poet (d. 1620)

● 1585 - Caspar Bartholin, Danish physician/theologian (d. 1629)

● 1606 - John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)

● 1637 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (d. 1680)

● 1663 - Cotton Mather, New England minister (d. 1728)

● 1665 - Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)

● 1704 - Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer (d. 1772)

● 1728 - Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)

● 1753 - François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)

● 1768 - Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)

● 1775 - Louisa Adams, First Lady of the United States, wife of John Quincy Adams (d. 1852)

● 1777 - Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German poet (d. 1843)

● 1785 - Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist (d. 1838)

● 1788 - Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)

● 1791 - Peter Cooper, American Industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (d. 1883)

● 1794 - Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player (d. 1867)

● 1804 - Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (d. 1865)

● 1809 - Charles Darwin, English naturalist who documented evolution (d. 1882)

● 1809 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)

● 1818 - Otto Ludwig, German writer

● 1828 - George Meredith, English writer (d. 1909)

● 1843 - John Graham Chambers, English sportsman and journalist (d. 1883)

● 1857 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d. 1943)

● 1861 - Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born author (d. 1937)

● 1865 - Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (d. 1940)

● 1876 - Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)

● 1880 - John L. Lewis, American labor union leader (d. 1969)

● 1881 - Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)

● 1884 - Alice Roosevelt Longworth, American politically influential daughter of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1980)

● 1884 - Max Beckmann, German artist (d. 1950)

● 1884 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (d. 1957)

● 1893 - Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)

● 1897 - Louis Buchalter, American crime boss (d. 1944)

● 1897 - Vola Vale, American actress (d. 1970)

● 1898 - Roy Harris, American composer/teacher (d. 1979)

● 1898 - Wallace Ford, English-born actor (d. 1966)

● 1900 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1980)

● 1903 - Chick Hafey, baseball player (d. 1973)

● 1903 - Joseph F. Biroc, American cinematographer (d. 1996)

● 1904 - Ted Mack, American television host (d. 1976)

● 1908 - Jacques Herbrand, French logician and mathematician (d. 1931)

● 1908 - August Neo, Estonian wrestler (d. 1982)

● 1911 - Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (d. 1968)

● 1912 - R. F. Delderfield, English author (d. 1972)

● 1914 - Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000) -

● 1914 - Arvid Pardo, Maltese diplomat, a.k.a "Father of the Law of the Sea Conference" (d. 1999)

● 1915 - Lorne Greene, American actor (d. 1987)

● 1916 - Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)

● 1917 - Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)

● 1918 - Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1994)

● 1919 - Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)

● 1920 - William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000)

● 1923 - Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director and designer

● 1925 - Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (d. 1984)

● 1926 - Joe Garagiola, baseball player and announcer

● 1926 - Paul Kurtz, American philosopher

● 1926 - Charles Van Doren, American quiz show contestant

● 1930 - Arlen Specter, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania

● 1931 - Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author

● 1932 - Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (d. 2003)

● 1932 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)

● 1933 - Costa-Gavras, Greek-born director and writer

● 1934 - Anne Krueger, American economist

● 1934 - Bill Russell, American basketball player and Hall of Fame member

● 1936 - Joe Don Baker, American actor

● 1936 - Paul Shenar, American actor

● 1937 - Charles Dumas, American athlete

● 1938 - Judy Blume, American author

● 1938 - Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver

● 1938 - Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris, British politician

● 1939 - Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (The Doors)

● 1940 - Richard Lynch, American actor

● 1941 - Naomi Uemura, Japanese adventurer

● 1942 - Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel

● 1944 - Moe Bandy, Country singer

● 1945 - David Friedman, American economist

● 1945 - Cliff DeYoung, Actor

● 1945 - Maud Adams, Swedish actress

● 1946 - Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer

● 1946 - Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Prime Minister of Gabon

● 1947 - Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Indian leader of Damdami Taksal (d. 1984)

● 1948 - Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author

● 1949 - Joaquin Sabina, Spanish singer and ongwriter

● 1950 - Michael Ironside, Canadian actor

● 1950 - Steve Hackett, British musician (Genesis)

● 1951 - Steven Parent, Manson murder victim (d. 1969)

● 1952 - Michael McDonald, American musician (The Doobie Brothers)

● 1953 - Joanna Kerns, Actress (''Growing Pains'')

● 1953 - Nabil Shaban, British actor

● 1953 - Robin Thomas, American actor

● 1954 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer

● 1955 - Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host

● 1955 - Chet Lemon, baseball player

● 1956 - Brian Robertson, Scottish musician (Thin Lizzy) and (Motorhead)

● 1958 - Bobby Smith, Canadian hockey player

● 1958 - Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens)

● 1958 - Steve Grand, English computer scientist

● 1961 - Jim Harris, Canadian politician

● 1962 - Jimmy Kirkwood, Irish-born field hockey player

● 1965 - Christine Elise, Actress

● 1967 - Chris McKinstry, Canadian computer scientist

● 1967 - Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Indian composer and musician

● 1968 - Josh Brolin, American actor

● 1968 - Chynna Phillips, American singer (Wilson Philips)

● 1969 - Darren Aronofsky, American director and writer

● 1969 - Meja, Swedish singer

● 1969 - Hong Myung-Bo, Korean footballer

● 1969 - Brad Werenka, professional ice hockey player

● 1970 - Jim Creeggan, Canadian bassist (Barenaked Ladies)

● 1970 - Judd Winick, writer and artist

● 1971 - Keri Lewis, R&B musician

● 1972 - Ajay Naidu, Indian-American actor

● 1973 - Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater

● 1973 - Tara Strong, American voice actress

● 1974 - Toranosuke Takagi, Japanese race car driver

● 1976 - Anna Benson, American model

● 1976 - Silvia Saint, Czech actress

● 1976 - Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby player

● 1978 - Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby player

● 1979 - Jesse Spencer, Australian actor

● 1979 - Matt Mauck, American football player

● 1980 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player

● 1980 - Christina Ricci, American actress

● 1982 - Onil Joseph, Dominican Republic Major League Baseball player

DEATHS

● 1538 - Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter

● 1554 - Lord Guilford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (executed) (b. 1536)

● 1554 - Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the throne of England (executed) (b. 1537)

● 1571 - Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician (b. 1515)

● 1590 - François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (b. 1524)

● 1595 - Archduke Ernest of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1553)

● 1612 - Christopher Clavius, German astronomer (b. 1538)

● 1624 - George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (b. 1563)

● 1630 - Fynes Moryson, English traveler and writer (b. 1566)

● 1700 - Aleksei Shein, Russian general and statesman (b. 1662)

● 1724 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (b. 1648)

● 1728 - Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat and composer (b. 1653)

● 1762 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)

● 1763 - Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (b. 1688)

● 1771 - King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (b. 1710)

● 1789 - Ethan Allen, American patriot (b. 1738)

● 1799 - Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (b. 1729)

● 1804 - Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (b. 1724)

● 1894 - Hans von Bülow, German pianist, conductor and composer (b. 1830)

● 1903 - Gaspar Núñez de Arce, Spanish poet, dramatist and statesman (b. 1834)

● 1916 - Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (b. 1831)

● 1929 - Lillie Langtry, British singer and actress (b. 1853)

● 1931 - Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (b. 1855)

● 1933 - Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)

● 1935 - Auguste Escoffier, French chef (b. 1846)

● 1949 - Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)

● 1951 - Choudhary Rehmat Ali - Pakistani nationalist (b. 1897)

● 1954 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)

● 1957 - Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, folklorist (b. 1872)

● 1971 - James C. Penney, American department store founder (b. 1875)

● 1976 - Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)

● 1979 - Jean Renoir, French director (b. 1894)

● 1980 - Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)

● 1982 - Victor Jory, Canadian actor (b. 1902)

● 1983 - Eubie Blake, American musician and songwriter

● 1984 - Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (b. 1914)

● 1985 - Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)

● 1989 - Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and novelist (b. 1931)

● 1992 - Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)

● 1992 - María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)

● 1993 - James Bulger, English murder victim (b. 1990)

● 1995 - Robert Bolt, English writer (b. 1924)

● 1995 - Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (Iron Butterfly)

● 1996 - Bob Shaw, Northern Irish science fiction writer (b. 1931)

● 2000 - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)

● 2000 - Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)

● 2000 - Charles Schulz, American comics author (b. 1922)

● 2001 - Kristina Söderbaum, German actress and photographer (b. 1912)

● 2003 - Vali Myers, Australian painter (b. 1930)

● 2005 - Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Alexis of Moscow
● St. Anthony Kauleas
● St. Anthony of Saxony
● St. Benedict Revelli
● St. Buonfiglio Monaldo
● St. Damian of Alexandria
● St. Febronia
● St. James Feun, Blessed
● St. John of Nicomedia
● St. Julian the Hospitaler
● St. Juventius of Pavia
● St. Ludan
● St. Meletius of Antioch
● Sts. Modestus & Ammonius
● Bl. Thomas Hemerford

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for January 30 (Civil Date: February 12)
● Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs: Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.
● Hieromartyr Hippolytus, pope of Rome, and with him Martyrs Censorinus, Sabinus, Ares, the virgin Chryse, and with her Martyrs Felix, Maximus, Herculianus, Venerius, Styracius, Mennas, Commodus, Hermes, Maurus, Eusebius, Rusticus, Monagrius, Amandinus, Olympius, Cyprus, Theodore the Tribune, Maximus the Presbyter, Archelaus the deacon, and Cyriacus the bishop, all beheaded at Ostia.
● Martyr Theophilus the New in Cyprus.
● St. Zeno, hermit of Antioch.
● New-Martyr Theodore of Mitylene (Mt. Athos).
● St. Peter, king of Bulgaria.
● St. Zeno the Faster of the Kiev Caves.
● "Tinos" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
● Blessed Pelagia of Diviyevo (1884).

● Old Roman Catholic:
● Seven Founders of the Servite Order

● Christian:
● St. Eulalia

● United States - Lincoln's Birthday (traditionally).

● Booneville Indiana : Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Day

● Burma : Union Day (1947)

● Georgia : Georgia Day/Oglethorpe Day (1733)

● National Freedom to Marry Day (unofficial).

● Darwin Day.

● Red Hand Day


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

On 8 March 2008 this post was edited to reflect the actual birth date of David Friedman to 12 Feb 1945 instead of 2 Feb 1945. This was based on this comment:
David Friedman said...
Actually, I was born on February 12th, not February 2nd. Apparently Wikipedia has misprints.


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