February 11 in history

257 sourced entries recorded on February 11, from 660 BCE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

660 BCEThe accession date of the first Emperor of Japan, Emperor Jimmu, converted from the Japanese imperial year as calculated by the dates in the Nihon Shoki.source
624While praying in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Medina, the Islamic prophet Muhammad receives revelations from God on the qibla, the direction of prayer, that he should be facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem during prayer, beginning an Islamic tradition.source
1115Battle of Welfesholz: Duke Lothair of Supplinburg joins the rebellious Saxon forces, and defeats the German Imperial Army of Emperor Henry V at Welfesholz, in Saxony-Anhalt (modern Germany).source
1225The Charter of the Forest is restored to its traditional rights by King Henry III. 'Free men' are allowed to find pasture for their pigs, collect firewood, graze animals, or cut turf for fuel. At this time, however, only about 10 percent of the population is 'free', the rest are locked into service to a local landowner, some of them little more than slaves.source
1225The Magna Carta is reaffirmed (for the third time) by Henry III, in return for issuing a property tax. It becomes the definitive version of the text.source
1358Mohammed Shah I becomes Bahmani Sultan of Deccan (part of modern-day southern India) after the death of Sultan Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah.source
1374In Germany, the Rhine river rises high enough in the Mosel River Valley during a flood that horses reportedly drown in the streets at Kolnsource
1383King Carlo III of Naples confiscates the property of Pietro d'Enghien and Luigi d'Enghien (both of whom are in Venice) and declares them both to be rebels against the Neapolitan crown.source
1384In protest of former mayor Northampton's arrest in London, local businessman and shoe manufacturer John Constantine incites other business owners to close their shops and to disrupt commerce. Constantine is then arrested and beheaded at Cheapside for leading an insurrection, and his severed head is placed on the Newgate entrance to the London Wall.source
1414The coronation of Ferdinand I as King of Aragon takes place at Zaragoza.source
1419At Zaranj in modern-day Afghanistan, Shams al-Din 'Ali ibn Qutb al-Din becomes the new malik (monarch) of Sistan upon the death of his father, Qutb al-Din Muhammad ibn Shams al-Din Shah 'Ali.source
1423Hundred Years War: The island of Tombelaine, off of the coast of France, is taken by English forces in order to be used as a base to attack Mont Saint-Michel.source
1423Hundred Years War: The island of Tombelaine, off the coast of France, is taken by English forces in order to be used as a base to attack Mont Saint-Michel.source
1447The English Parliament is opened by King Henry VI for a three week session that closes on March 3.source
1457In Ming dynasty China, the Emperor Yingzong of Ming is returned to the throne by General Cao Jixiang and other officers who had staged a coup d'etat and overthrown his brother, the Emperor Daizong. Yingzong, whose first reign was the Zhengtong era, proclaims the Tianshun era.source
1477Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles the Bold and the new Duches, is forced by her disgruntled subjects to sign the Great Privilege, by which the Flemish cities recover all the local and communal rights which have been abolished by the decrees of the dukes of Burgundy, in their efforts to create a centralized state in the Low Countries.source
1483The General Council of the Inquisition is created in Spain.source
1487Pope Innocent VIII renews the designation of Tomás de Torquemada as the Grand Inquisitor of Spain in the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Valencia.source
1489Maximilian of Austria begins the siege of Rotterdam, reclaiming Holland's capital three months after the Burgundian Netherlands city had been captured in the Holland civil war by the Hoek rebels.source
1515George of Kratovo, a silversmith in Serbia, becomes a martyr to the Christian faith as he is burned to death on a pyre for refusing to convert to Islam.source
1543King Henry VIII of England allies with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, against France.source
1573Fourth War of Religion: France's Marshal Henri de Montmorency, begins the Siege of Sommières in southern France. The Huguenots, French Protestants, hold out for almost two months against Montmorency's Catholic troops.source
1575Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais arrives in southeastern Africa to colonize what is now Angola.source
1586In Dresden, Christian I becomes the new Elector of Saxony, after the death of his father Augustus.source
1596Albert of Austria arrives in Brussels to begin his administration as Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands.source
1612Battle of Vittsjö: King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and 3,000 of his troops are forced to retreat from Denmark. The 17-year old king almost drowns while attempting to ride his horse across a frozen lake, but is rescued by two other members of his cavalry. The horse is lost.source
1624Yi Gwal installs Prince Heungan, son of the late King Seongjo, to the Korean throne.source
1625Dutch–Portuguese War: The Battle of Hormuz, one of the largest naval battles ever fought in the Persian Gulf takes place in the Straits of Hormuz as fleets of the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company defend Persia against an attack by ships from the colony of Portuguese India.source
1626Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.source
1629Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640): Around 350 English Puritans on six ships, led by Francis Higginson in the Lyon's Whelp, sail from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, heading to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America. They arrive on June 19.source
1648ordinances passed against plays; actors to be fined and theatres pulled down.source
1648England's parliament passes stricter laws against performance of stage plays, providing for demolition of seats in theatres, imprisonment for actors and fines for spectators. The vote comes six days after the King's Men Players are arrested at the Cockpit Theatre during an illegal performance of Rollo Duke of Normandy.source
1658Having not expected a Swedish offensive until spring at the earliest, Denmark panics and yields. The Treaty of Taastrup is signed as a preliminary accord and negotiations continue.source
1659The Assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back, with heavy losses.source
1659Failed Swedish attempt to storm Copenhagen. (also known as the Battle of Copenhagen) took place. After a prolonged siege, King Charles X Gustav ordered a major assault on the Danish capital. Despite initial surprise, the Swedish forces were met with fierce resistance from the Dano-Dutch garrison and citizens. The Danish defenders, aided by ice-free sections of the moats, inflicted heavy casualties on the Swedes, who had attempted to cross the frozen waters. The assault ultimately failed, forcing the Swedes to retreat with significant losses. This marked a turning point in the siege, as it became clear that Copenhagen could not be taken by storm.source
1662A violent storm in the Indian Ocean strikes a fleet of seven ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as they are traveling back to the Dutch Republic from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). Three of the freighters— Wapen van Holland, Gekroonde Leeuw and Prins Willem — are lost with all hands. The ships Vogel Phoenix, Maarsseveen and Prinses Royal make their way back to the Netherlands. The other ship, the freighter Arnhem remains afloat and its roughly 80 survivors are able to evacuate in boats to search for land.source
1675French Army Marshal Louis Victor de Rochechouart, Count of Vivonne, reinforces the rebels in the Messina revolt with eight additional warships and three fireships to bring to 20 the number of ships that France has against the 15 warships of Spain, and breaks the Spanish blockade that had prevented food from reaching Messina.source
1687In India, troops under the command of Job Charnock of the East India Company, preparing to go to war against the Nawab of Bengal, Shaista Khan of the Mughal empire, destroy his fortresses located at Thana.source
1715Tuscarora War: The Tuscarora and their allies sign a peace treaty with the Province of North Carolina, and agree to move to a reservation near Lake Mattamuskeet, effectively ending the Tuscarora War. Large numbers of Tuscarora subsequently move to New York.source
1738Jacques de Vaucanson stages the first demonstration of an early automaton, The Flute Player at the Hotel de Longueville in Paris, and continues to display it until March 30.source
1747King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coulon de Villiers, attacks and defeats British troops at Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia.source
1747At the Battle of Grand Pré, Col. Arthur Noble's detachment of British troops from Massachusetts, face off against a French and Mi'kmaq force under Nicholas Antoine Coulon de Villiers. Noble and around 70 of his soldiers were killed.source
1768Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and sent to the other Thirteen Colonies. Refusal to revoke the letter will result in dissolution of the Massachusetts Assembly, and (from October) incur the institution of martial law to prevent civil unrest.source
1779Admiral Keppel acquitted of charges of misconduct brought against him by Sir Hugh Palliser.source
1790Two Quaker delegates petition the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery.source
1793French expedition to Sardinia (Expédition de Sardaigne): A French fleet under admiral Laurent Truguet debarks troops near Cagliari in Sardinia.source
1793French expedition to Sardinia (Expédition de Sardaigne): A French fleet under admiral Laurent Truguet debarks troops near Cagliari in Sardinia.source
1794The first session of the United States Senate is open to the public.source
1799The jail in Sydney is burned by arsonists.source
1800Infrared radiation is discovered by astronomer Sir William Herschel.source
1804the last armed rebel group of the Society of United Irishmen, led by James Corcoran, is betrayed and killed or captured by yeomen near Enniscorthy.source
1805Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, son of Sacagawea, is born with Meriwether Lewis aiding in the baby's delivery.source
1808Anthracite coal is first burned as fuel by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; the discovery leads to the use of coal as the key fuel source of America's Industrial Revolution.source
1808In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Jesse Fell becomes the first known person to burn anthracite coal as residential heating fuel.source
1809Robert Fulton patents the steamboat in the United States.source
1814Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union.source
1814War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Montmirail: A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against Fabian Gottlieb von der Osten-Sacken and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg in the Six Days' Campaign.source
1818Marie André Cantillon attempts to assassinate the Duke of Wellington in Paris.source
1818Marie André Cantillon attempts to assassinate the Duke of Wellington in Paris.source
1826Swaminarayan writes the Shikshapatri, an important text within Swaminarayan Hinduism.source
1826University College London is founded, under the name University of London.source
1839The University of Missouri is established, becoming the first public university west of the Mississippi River.source
1839The University of Missouri is established in Columbia, Missouri, becoming the first public university west of the Mississippi River.source
1840Gaetano Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment premieres in Paris.source
1841Upper Canada and Lower Canada are merged to create the United Province of Canada.source
1841Uruguayan Civil War: The right of prize was decreed as a "good prize" to seize every Argentine ship with credentials of the Governor of Buenos Aires along with its cargo, that were navigating in Uruguay, Paraná and de la Plata rivers, and later those from high seas, except for ships coming from Corrientes province.source
1843Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata premieres at La Scala in Milan.source
1846Many Mormons begin their migration west from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Great Salt Lake, led by Brigham Young.source
1850February 8–17 – Battle at Fort Utah: The Nauvoo Legion kills Timpanogos hostile to the Mormon settlement at Fort Utah on the orders of Brigham Young.source
1852The first British public toilet for women opens in Bedford Street, London.source
1854Major streets are lit by coal gas for the first time by the San Francisco Gas Company; 86 such lamps are turned on this evening in San Francisco, California.source
1855Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.source
1856Nawab Wajid Ali Shah deposed. He was last King of Oudh State, reigned 13 February 1847 – 11 February 1856. Annexation of the Kingdom of Oudhsource
1856Torje Olsen Solberg, politiciansource
1858Lourdes apparitions: Pauper girl Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes, fourteen, has a vision at the grotto of Massabielle, the first in a series of eighteen events which will come to be regarded as Marian apparitions.source
1858Lourdes apparitions: Pauper girl Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes, 14, has a vision at the grotto of Massabielle, the first in a series of eighteen events (up to 16 August) which will come to be regarded as Marian apparitions.source
1861About 850 convicts at Chatham Dockyard in England take over their prison in a riot.source
1862February 11–16 – Battle of Fort Donelson – General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee, capturing it on the last day.source
1864Major Charles Heaphy is recommended for the Victoria Cross. It was not awarded until 1867.source
1873The Spanish Cortes deposes King Amadeus I, and proclaims the First Spanish Republic.source
1878first weekly weather report published in the UK.source
1886The Berti Law, named after Domenico Berti, Minister of Education in the Depretis V government (or officially: Law no. 3657), set the minimum age for admission to work in quarries, mines, and factories, at nine years, the minimum age for night work at twelve years and indicated a maximum of eight hours' work for them. However, the provisions in the law were not actually enforced until the Carcano Law was issued in 1902, thanks to which – for the first time – action was taken to support the protection of underage workers.source
1886The Anti-Chinese League of the City of Napa is formed.source
1889The Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted; the 1st Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.source
1891Establishment of the Mozambique Company.source
1892Henriette Homann, photographer and painter (born 1819).source
1893February 11–19 – White Star Line cargo liner SS Naronic sinks without a trace in heavy seas on the Liverpool–New York transatlantic passage.source
1895the lowest ever UK temperature of −27.2 °C (measured as −17 °F) is recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. (This UK Weather Record is equalled in 1982 and again in 1995.)source
1896Oscar Wilde's play Salomé (1891) has its stage premiere (while Wilde is in prison) in its original French in Paris.source
1899In the Philippines, the city of Iloilo is captured by troops led by U.S. Army Brigadier General Marcus P. Miller.source
1902Police and universal suffrage demonstrators are involved in a physical altercation in Brussels.source
1906Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos, denouncing the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State.source
1907The French warship Jean Bart sinks off the coast of Morocco.source
1907The French cruiser Jean Bart sinks off the coast of Morocco.source
1913February 9–19 — Ten Tragic Dayssource
1913The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Miguel was established with Juan Antonio Dueñas y Argumedo as Ordinary. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Ana was also established.source
1914February 10–14 large-scale demonstrations erupted in Tokyo in response to the Siemens scandal.source
1916Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control in the United States.source
1916The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents its first concert in the United States.source
1916The Romanian Association football club Sportul Studențesc is founded in Bucharest.source
1918American Dreadnought battleship USS Texas joins the British Grand Fleet in Scapa Flow.source
1919Friedrich Ebert is elected the first President of Germany (Reichspräsident), by the Weimar National Assembly.source
1919The Seattle General Strike ends, when Federal troops are summoned by the State of Washington's Attorney General.source
1922February 10–17 – Modern Art Week in São Paulo marks the start of Modernism in Brazil.source
1922C.D. Once Lobos, a Salvadoran football club, was established.source
1925Establishment of the Prefecture Apostolic of Tsingtaosource
1926Inga Houge, actress (born 1856)source
1928February 11 – 19 – The 1928 Winter Olympics are held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the first as a separate event. Sonja Henie of Norway wins her first gold medal, in women's figure skating.source
1929The Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See of the Catholic Church sign the Lateran Treaty, to establish the Vatican City as an independent sovereign enclave within Rome, resolving the "Roman Question".source
1932Pope Pius XI meets Benito Mussolini in Vatican City.source
1932Murder of Liu Mengyingsource
1935Tosoh was founded in Tokuyama (now Shunan) Yamaguchi Prefecture, as predecessor name was Toyo Soda.source
1936February 10–19 – Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Battle of Amba Aradam – Italian forces gain a decisive tactical victory, effectively neutralizing the army of the Ethiopian Empire.source
1937Hasegawa Builder Corporation, as predecessor of Haseko Corporation founded in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture.source
1940February 2–11 – Scheduled dates for the 1940 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to Sapporo, Japan).source
1942February 11–13 – WWII: Operation Cerberus: A Kriegsmarine (German navy) squadron comprising the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and their escort, dash from Brest through the English Channel to German ports; the British fail to sink any of them.source
1945February 4–11 – WWII: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin hold the Yalta Conference.source
1948General Douglas Gracey becomes Commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army.source
1949The last detainees of the Cyprus internment camps depart for Israel.source
1950Two Viet Minh battalions attack a French base in French Indochina.source
1950Anders Sandvig, dentist and ethnologist (born 1862)source
1953The Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Israel, after a bomb explodes at the Soviet Embassy, in reaction to the 'Doctors' plot'.source
1953The Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Israel after an explosion occurs in the Soviet embassy building in Tel Aviv, which was planted by the Tzrifin Underground.source
1953United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.source
1956British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union, after being missing for 5 years.source
1958Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Zhou Enlai as Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs.source
1958Armed Palestinian Arab militants killed a resident of moshav Yanuv who was on his way to Kfar Yona, in the Sharon area.source
1960China–India relations: Twelve Indian soldiers die in clashes with Red Chinese troops along their small common border.source
1962The inaugural 24 Hours of Daytona sports car endurance race is run as a 3-hour event, at Daytona Beach, Florida, United States.source
1965Mt Isa Mines suspends all operations.source
1966District Six in Cape Town is declared a White Group Area by the government.source
1966Pierre Harmel proffers his resignation as prime minister due to internal policy divisions in his Christian Democrat–Socialist coalition.source
1967Burgess Ice Rise, lying off the west coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, is first mapped by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).source
1968February 6–18 – The 1968 Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble, France.source
1970Ohsumi, Japan's first satellite, is launched on a Lambda-4 rocket.source
1971The US, UK, USSR and others sign the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.source
1972President Salvador Allende visits the Italian American Cloth Factory (FIAP) in the commune of Tomé.source
1972February 3–13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.source
1975Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for the leadership of the opposition UK Conservative Party. Thatcher, 49, is Britain's first female leader of any political party.source
1978Somalia mobilizes its troops to deal with an apparent Ethiopian attack.source
1978Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200, crashes in Cranbrook, British Columbia, killing 44 of the 50 people on board.source
1978The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.source
1981Franz Sondheimer (born 1926), German-born Israeli-British chemist.source
1982February 11-19: the 1982 Amílcar Cabral Cup took place in Praiasource
1984February 8–19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.source
1985PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and King Hussein of Jordan sign the Palestinian-Jordanian Joint Action Agreement.source
1986Human rights activist Natan Sharansky is released by Soviet authorities and leaves the country for Israel.source
1987The new Constitution of the Philippines goes into effect. This new constitution adds Spanish and Arabic as optional languages of the Philippines.source
1987British Airways is privatised and listed on the London Stock Exchange.source
1989Barbara Harris is the first woman consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (and also the first woman to become a bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion).source
1990Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town, South Africa, after 27 years behind bars.source
1991The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is formed in The Hague, Netherlands.source
1997800,000 workers, many in the public sector, participate in a walk out over President Ernesto Samper's economic policies of austerity and privatization.source
1998J. Soedradjad Djiwandono is dismissed from his office of the governor of the Bank of Indonesia.source
1999Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231.source
20012001 Liechtenstein general election: The Progressive Citizens' Party led by Otmar Hasler wins a majority of 13 seats in the Landtag.source
2001Rintje Ritsma wins the world all-round speed skating title.source
2002Several Muslim-majority nations ban an issue of Newsweek International when it depicts Muhammad.source
2002The Catholic Church establishes four new dioceses in Russia, prompting backlash from the Russian Orthodox Church.source
2003The first set of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe is published.source
2008EU spokesman announces that the deployment of the EUFOR Tchad/RCA, delayed by the fighting in N'Djamena, is to be resumed. Currently there are only 150 EUFOR troops in Chad.source
2009An oil tanker and a container ship collide off the coast of Dubai.source
2011Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his departure, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military, until a general election can be held.source
2013The Emergency Alert Systems of five different television stations across the U.S. states of Montana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Mexico are hijacked, airing a false "Zombie apocalypse" hoax. It is amongst one of the largest cybersecurity breaches in EAS history.source
2014Talks between Cuba and the European Union occur on restoring ties.source
2015The Greek Coast Guard rescues all 22 crewmen from a Cyprus-flagged vessel Good Faith that ran aground on the Greek island of Andros during a storm in the Aegean Sea.source
2015The Greek Coast Guard rescues all 22 crewmen from a Cyprus -flagged vessel Good Faith that ran aground on the Greek island of Andros during a storm in the Aegean Sea.source
2017North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.source
2020Kenya and the FBI sign an anti-terrorist agreement, the first of its kind outside the United States.source
2021Roman Catholic priest Pedro Opeka is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the poor in Antananarivo.source
2021Latvian authorities ban retransmission of Russian Rossija RTR TV channel for a year for incitement of hatred, violence, and provocation of military conflict.source
2023February 1 – February 11: 2022 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco.source

Births

885Li Congke, emperor of Later Tang (died 937)source
1079Yejong, king of Goryeo (died 1122)source
1261Otto III, Duke of Bavaria, king of Hungary and Croatia (died 1312)source
1380Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (died 1459)source
1466Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (died 1503)source
1494Takeda Nobutora, Japanese warlord (died 1574)source
1507Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow, Russian Orthodox monk (died 1569)source
1535Pope Gregory XIV (died 1591)source
1568Honoré d'Urfé, French writer (died 1625)source
1568Honoré d'Urfé, novelist (d.1625).source
1624Ivan Ančić, Croatian theological writer (died 1685)source
1649William Carstares, Scottish minister (died 1715)source
1657Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (died 1757)source
1695Françoise de Graffigny, French writer (died 1758)source
1695Abraham Pelt, industrialist and philanthropist (died 1783)source
1715Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, British duchess (died 1785)source
1717William Williams (Pantycelyn), poet, hymn-writer and religious leader (died 1791)source
1725Johan Frederik Classen, industrialist and philanthropist (died 1792).source
1765Ole Rasmussen Apeness, district sheriff, soldier, and farmer (died 1859)source
1776Ioannis Kapodistrias, Governor of Greece (died 1831)source
1796John Pontifex, English cricketer (died 1875)source
1799Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (died 1873)source
1802Lydia Maria Child, American abolitionist author (died 1880)source
1812Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (died 1883)source
1815João Afonso da Costa de Sousa de Macedo, 1st Duke of Albuquerque (died 1890).source
1833Melville Fuller, 8th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (died 1910)source
1839Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist, chemist (died 1903)source
1847Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor (died 1931)source
1853Artur Loureiro, painter (died 1932).source
1888John Warren Davis, American educator, college administrator, and civil rights leader (died 1980)source
1909Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (died 1993)source
1909João dos Santos, footballer.source
1920Farouk I, King of Egypt (died 1965)source
1934Manuel Noriega, Panamanian military dictator (died 2017)source
1936Burt Reynolds, American actor (died 2018)source
1974Alex Jones, American radio host, conspiracy theorist, author and filmmakersource
1986Gabriel Boric, President of Chilesource
1996Daniil Medvedev, Russian tennis playersource
2011Luna Fulgencio, actresssource

Deaths

55Britannicus, son of Claudius (born AD 41)source
244Gordian III, Roman emperor (born 225)source
244Emperor Gordian III is murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound is raised at Carchemish in his memory.source
350Constans I, Roman Emperor;source
641Emperor Heraclius, age 65, dies of dropsy at Constantinople after a 31-year reign. He reorganized the imperial administration, but lost Armenia, parts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Byzantine Mesopotamia to the Muslim Arabs. Heraclius is succeeded by his sons Constantine III and Heraklonas.source
641Heraclius, Byzantine emperorsource
731Pope Gregory II dies at Rome after a 16-year reign, in which he has fought Iconoclasm. He is succeeded by the Syrian-born cleric Gregory III, as the 90th pope of the Catholic Church.source
731Gregory II, pope of the Catholic Church (born 669)source
741Wak Chanil Ajaw (Lady Six Sky), queen of the Mayan city state of Naranjo in Guatemala, dies after a reign of more than 47 years and is succeeded by her son, Yax Mayuy Chan Chaak, who reigns until his own death in 744.source
806Shun Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (born 761)source
824Pope Paschal I dies after a 7-year reign, and is succeeded by Eugene II, as the 99th pope of the Catholic Church.source
824Pope Paschal I, leader of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States, dies after a reign of seven years. The Roman Curia refuses to bury him in St. Peter's Basilica because of his harsh treatment of the people of Rome, and inters him instead in the Basilica of Santa Prassede. The office remains vacant for four months before a new conclave is assembled.source
824Paschal I, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
1056Herman II (or Heriman), archbishop of Colognesource
1141Hugh of Saint Victor, Saxon philosopher, theologian and mystic (born c. 1078)source
1250Jean de Ronay, French Grand Mastersource
1317Ralph Fitzwilliam, English nobleman and knight (born 1256)source
1324Karl von Trier, German knight and Grand Mastersource
1358Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah, first Bahmani Sultan of Deccansource
1503Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (born 1466)source
1524Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples (born 1470)source
1586Augustus, Elector of Saxony (born 1526)source
1617Giovanni Antonio Magini, Italian mathematician, cartographer and astronomer (born 1555)source
1649Ellen Marsvin, noble, landowner (born 1572)source
1650René Descartes, French philosopher (born 1596)source
1680Elisabeth of the Palatinate, German princess, philosopher and Calvinist (born 1618)source
1692Anders Paulsen, Sami noaidi (born c. 1600).source
1703Godert de Ginkel, 1st Earl of Athlone, Dutch general in the service of England (born 1644)source
1713Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung, Nawab of the Carnatic (born 1657)source
1729Solomon Stoddard, pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, Massachusetts (born 1643)source
1744Hedvig Taube, mistress to King Frederick I of Sweden (born 1714)source
1749Philip Livingston, American politician (born 1686)source
1755Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist (born 1675)source
1763William Shenstone, English poet (born 1714)source
1795Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet (born 1740)source
1823Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a stampede at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.source
1828DeWitt Clinton, 6th Governor of New York, United States Senator (born 1769)source
1829Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright, diplomat (born 1795)source
1879Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (born 1808)source
1881Salvador Jovellanos, Paraguayan leader who settled in Buenos Aires (born 1833)source
1906Two British members of a poll tax collecting expedition are killed near Richmond, Natal, sparking the Bambatha Rebellion.source
1918Murat Toptani, Albanian poet, artist and activist of the Albanian National Awakeningsource
1963Sylvia Plath, American poet and novelist (born 1932)source
2006February 7–11 people were killed when unidentified assailants attacked a village in the volatile western region of Côte d'Ivoire, 20 km from the town of Guiglo which has seen a series of deadly ethnically motivated clashes in 2005 and violent anti-UN protests in January 2006.source
2010Alexander McQueen, 40, British fashion designer, suicide by hanging.source
2012Whitney Houston, 48, American singer ("I Will Always Love You") and actress (The Bodyguard), accidental drowning.source