February 12 in history

261 sourced entries recorded on February 12, from 41 CE to 2021 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

881King Charles the Fat, the third son of the late Louis the German, is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John VIII at Rome.source
924(1 Dhu al-Qi'dah 311 A.H.) Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh is removed from office as the Abbasid Governor of Egypt by the Caliph al-Muqtadir after less than six months in office and is replaced by Takin al-Khazari. who, following his death, sack and burn the city of Pavia. They Hungarian forces penetrate as far as the Pyrenees.source
948King Qian Hongzong is deposed by general Hu Jinsi during a coup. He establishes his younger brother Qian Chu as ruler of Wuyue.source
1023(18 Dhu-I-qa'da 413 AH) In Spain, Al-Ma'mun al-Qāsim ibn Ḥammud returns to Córdoba to become the new Emir, after the Emir Yaḥya ibn ʿAli ibn Ḥammud al-Muʿtali bi-llāh leaves the city and moves to Málaga. Al-Qasim reigns for 10 months before being forced out by Abd al-Rahman V.source
1049Pope Leo IX succeeds Damasus II, as the 152nd pope of the Catholic Church. He goes on a one-year trip to promote the cause of the reformist program among the European prelates.source
1311Milan Uprising: German forces under Baldwin of Luxembourg (brother of Henry VII) crush the Italian Guelph troops, led by Guido della Torre in Milan. A contingent of Teutonic Knights kills and disperses most of the rebels in a single cavalry charge. Guido della Torre escapes, and is condemned to death in absence by Henry.source
1315Italian sculptor Tino di Camaino is commissioned by the Republic of Pisa to create a statue of the late Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (Enrico VII di Lussemburgo, King of Italy), to be finished in less than six months for the August 24 dedication of Henry's tomb. Camaino delivers the work by July 26.source
1318In Italy, Cangrande I della Scala, Lord of Verona successfully takes Padua. Led by Jacopo I da Carrara, the Paduan Greater Council agrees to cede the territories of Monselice, Este, Castelbaldo and Montagnana to Cangrande for life.source
1354The Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.source
1376English mercenary John Hawkwood, condottiero for Pope Gregory XI in the War of the Eight Saints against the Republic of Florence, arrives at Faenza to suppress a potential revolt against the papal governor. He and his soldiers, who were not paid by the Pope, go on to loot the town instead of protecting it.source
1380Hu Weiyong, the Grand Chancellor of Ming dynasty China, is accused of treason and executed as the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Hongwu) begins a purge of over 30,000 people perceived as opponents of the Imperial government.source
1395At the Battle of Ghindăoani The army led by King Sigismund of Hungary and Croatia is ambushed by Prince Stephen I of Moldavia, on its way back after conquering Neamț Citadel, and the Hungarians must retreat empty handed.source
1397The English Parliament adjourns, and King Richard II gives royal assent to several acts passed, including the Act against riding with weapons, and barring the carrying of a lancegay (a light spear) except in wartime. Another law places a penalty on "him who taketh another's horse or best for the King's service without sufficient warrant.source
1424The coronation of Sophia of Halshany, wife of Władysław II Jagiełło, as Queen consort of Poland takes place at the Kraków Cathedral.source
1425Discrimination against the Caquins of Brittany is increased as the Duke of Brittany, Jean V, forbids the Caquins from engaging in trade.source
1429Battle of Rouvray (or "of the Herrings"): English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy, which is carrying rations (food) to the army of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk at Orléans, from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stewart.source
1429Battle of the Herrings during the Hundred Years Warsource
1441King's College, Cambridge, is founded by King Henry VI of England.source
1446Vasily II, the Grand Prince of Moscow and ruler of much of Russia, is kidnapped from Trinity Monastery the Kremlin by allies of his cousin, Dmitry Shemyaka. Four days later (February 16), the conspirators tear out the eyes of Grand Prince Vasily and send him into exile at Uglich with his wife.source
1449The English Parliament is opened by King Henry VI at Westminster for a five month session.source
1464The first Estates General in the Netherlands adjourns after five weeks.source
1473The first complete inside edition of Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (Latin translation) is published in Milan.source
1479Francisco Febo becomes the King of Navarre at the age of 11 upon the death of his grandmother, Queen Leonor (whose late son Gaston de Foix was Francisco's father). Francisco's mother, Magdalena of Valois, serves as regent.source
1502Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.source
1511King Henry VIII of England opens the two-day Westminster Tournament to celebrate the birth (on January 1) of his son Prince Henry. Sadly, the infant prince dies on February 22, nine days after the tournament's end. The festivities are later memorialized in the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll, a series of 36 separately painted pictures stitched together to form a roll almost 60 ft long and 143/4 inches (37.5 cm) wide.source
1514War of the League of Cambrai: In what is now the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Giacomo Badoer, administrator of the Republic of Venice, orders a retreat from the approaching forces of the Holy Roman Empire, abandoning Udine, Cividale and Cormons and falling back on Sacile.source
1517At the age of 13, Henry II becomes the King of Navarre, by then limited to the part of the Iberian peninsula north of the Pyrennes, upon the death of his mother, Queen Catherine in the capital, Pamplona.source
1532The Deceived Ones (Gl'ingannati), a stage comedy written collectively by the Accademia degli Intronati in Siena, makes its debut as part of the festivities of the Italian city's annual carnival.source
1541Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago del Nuevo Extremo, which will become the capital of Chile.source
1546The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico, one of the largest in the world, with over four million Catholics, is createdsource
1552Pedro de Valdivia founds the Chilean city of Valdivia, as Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia.source
1562After Catherine of Austria, the former Queen Consort of Portugal decides to step down as regent for her grandson, the 8-year-old King Sebastian at the age of 55, she turns the responsibility over to her late husband King João III's younger brother, Cardinal Henrique de Aviz.source
1577The "Perpetual Edict", providing for the removal of Spanish troops from what is now the Netherlands, is signed in the city of Marche-en-Famenne in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) by the Spanish Governor-General, Don Juan de Austria and representatives of the Dutch rebellion. The Perpetual Edict will last only five months, before Don Juan begins new attacks on the rebels.source
1578Mohammad Khodabanda, older brother of the late Shah Ismail II, begins his reign as the new Shah of Persia (now Iran) after entering the Persian capital at Qazvin, after removing his sister Pari Khan Khanum, who had exercised regal authority after Ismail's death. His first act as ruler is to have Pari Khan Khanum strangled to death.source
1587A period of exceptionally severe cold begins in western Europe and lasts until February 24.source
1593Battle of Haengju: Korea defeats Japan.source
1606Maximilien de Béthune becomes 1st Duke of Sully in the Peerage of France.source
1639Polish prince John II Casimir Vasa, future king of Poland, accused of plotting with Spain against France, is imprisoned, by order of Cardinal Richelieu, in the dungeon of the citadel of Sisteron.source
1652Oliver Cromwell, England's Lord Protector, announces that his Council of Scotland will regulate church affairs as part of the Terms of Incorporation of Scotland into England, and eliminates Presbyterianism as Scotland's state religion.source
1664The Treaty of Pisa is signed between France and the Papal States to bring an end to the Corsican Guard Affair that began on August 20, 1662, when the French ambassador was shot and killed by soldiers in the employ of Pope Alexander VII.source
1680The Marquis de Croissy, Charles Colbert, becomes France's Minister of Foreign Affairs and serves for 16 years until his death, when he is succeeded as Foreign Minister by his son Jean-Baptiste Colbert.source
1687The Declaration of Indulgence is issued in Scotland by King James VII as one of the first steps in establishing freedom of religion in the British Isles, eliminating enforcement of criminal penalties against persons who failed to conform with Anglicanism. As King James II of England, he issues a similar declaration on April 4.source
1689John Locke returned to London from exile in Holland.source
1700The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the "Swedish Meteor".source
1733British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia.source
1733British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia.source
1736Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor marries Maria Theresa of Austria, ruler of the Habsburg Empire at the Augustinian Church in Vienna.source
1742John Carteret, 2nd Lord Carteret becomes Secretary of State for the Northern Department in Great Britain.source
1759Ali II ibn Hussein becomes the new Ruler of Tunisia upon the death of his brother, Muhammad I ar-Rashid. Ali reigns for 23 years until his death in 1782.source
1771Upon the death of Adolf Frederick, he is succeeded as King of Sweden by his son Gustav III. At the time, however, Gustav is unaware of this, since he is abroad in Paris; the news of his father's death reaches him about a month later.source
1772Breton-French explorer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec discovers the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean.source
1772Breton-French explorer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec discovers the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Ocean.source
1772The Virginia Assembly amends an act to describe the punishments for the practice of gouging.source
1777John McKinly is sworn in as the first president of Delaware.source
1779Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bouligny arrives with Malagueño colonists at Bayou Teche, to establish the city of New Iberia, Louisiana.source
1793John Macarthur is granted 100 acres of land at Parramatta.source
1797"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" is first performed, with the music composed in January by Joseph Haydn, and it also becomes the tune of the Deutschlandlied, the German national anthem (Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, later Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit).source
1797"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" is first performed, with the music composed in January by Joseph Haydn, which also becomes the tune to the Deutschlandlied, the German national anthem (Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, later Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit).source
1812Napoleon I authorizes the usage of Mesures usuelles, the basis of the metric system.source
1814War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Château-Thierry (1814): A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg and Fabian Gottlieb von der Osten-Sacken in the Six Days' Campaign.source
1814A fire destroys the Custom House in the City of London.source
1814A fire destroys the Custom House in the City of London.source
1817Battle of Chacabuco: Argentine and Chilean soldiers of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata defeat the Spanish royalist troops in what is now Chile, marking the turning point in the war against European rule of South America.source
1817The Battle of Chacabuco is fought, resulting in a Spanish defeat and the Patriot capture of Santiago.source
1817Spanish Royal Governor of Chile Francisco Marcó del Pont is captured by Patriot forces after the Battle of Chacabuco.source
1818Chilean Declaration of Independence from Spain is proclaimed in Chile.source
1818The Chilean Declaration of Independence is approved by Bernardo O' Higgins.source
1825Second Treaty of Indian Springs: The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government and migrate west.source
1832Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.source
1832A cholera epidemic in London claims at least 3,000 lives; the contagion spreads to France and North America later this year.source
1832Second cholera pandemic begins to spread in London, starting from East London. It is officially declared over in early May but deaths continue. It will claim at least 3000 victims. In Liverpool, Kitty Wilkinson becomes the "Saint of the Slums" by promoting hygiene.source
1834Freed American slaves from Maryland form a settlement in Cape Palmas, it is named the Republic of Maryland.source
1834The city of Bangor, Maine, is incorporated in the United States. It is said to have been named after the Welsh hymn tune "Bangor".source
1835Court of Cassation finds that the laws on injury and manslaughter apply to participants in duels.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
1851Edward Hargraves claims to have found gold in Australia.source
1851Edward Hargraves finds evidence of gold near Bathurst, but no announcement is made at that time.source
1852State visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to Belgium.source
1853The city of Puerto Montt is founded in the Reloncaví Sound, Chile.source
1855Michigan State University (the "pioneer" land-grant college) is established.source
1856American clipper ships Driver and Ocean Queen leave Liverpool and London respectively; both will be lost without trace in the Atlantic, perhaps due to ice, killing 374 and 123 respectively.source
1856American clipper ships Driver and Ocean Queen leave Liverpool and London respectively, both to be lost without trace in the Atlantic, perhaps due to ice, killing 374 and 123 respectively.source
1859The Mekteb-i Mülkiye School is founded in the Ottoman Empire.source
1862February 11–16 – Battle of Fort Donelson – General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee, capturing it on the last day.source
1867February 1867 North German federal electionsource
1870Women's suffrage: Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory.source
1870Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory. On February 14, in a Salt Lake City municipal election, Seraph Young Ford becomes the first woman in the U.S. to cast her vote.source
1873Emilio Castelar, the former foreign minister, becomes prime minister of the new Spanish Republic.source
1873The Coinage Act of 1873 in the United States is signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant. Coming into effect on April 1, it ends bimetallism in the U.S., and places the country on the gold standard.source
1875Robert Louis Stevenson is introduced to fellow writer W. E. Henley, at this time (August 1873–April 1875) a patient of surgeon Joseph Lister in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh; Henley will be the model for Long John Silver. Henley has also met his future wife while in hospital and written the poems collected as In Hospital. In July Stevenson qualifies as an advocate, but never practices.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
1894Ère des attentats: Café Terminus attack – In one of the first acts of modern terrorism, French anarchist Émile Henry throws a bomb into the Café Terminus in Paris, France, killing one person and injuring at least seventeen.source
1898The automobile belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton rolls out of control down a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on a public highway.source
1898the car belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton runs away on a hill in Purley, Surrey and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on the public highway.source
1899The majority of the Kingdom of Spain's remaining territories in the Pacific are sold to the German Empire through the German–Spanish Treaty.source
1899The cornerstone for the Aswan Dam is set down in Egypt.source
1899In the U.S., a fire kills 17 women at a cottage at the South Dakota State Insane Asylum in Yankton, South Dakota.source
1899An avalanche kills 12 Italian workers in the U.S. at Silver Plume, Colorado.source
1899February 12–14 – Great Blizzard of 1899: Freezing temperatures and snow extend well south into North America, including southern Florida. It is the latest in a series of disasters to Florida's citrus industry.source
1901Viceroy of India Lord Curzon creates the new North-West Frontier Province in the north of the Punjab region, bordering Afghanistan.source
1902The 1st Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance takes place in Washington, D.C.source
1903the North British Locomotive Company of Springburn in Glasgow is formed by merger of Sharp, Stewart and Company, Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company. In April it receives its first new order for steam locomotives, from India.source
1905Portuguese legislative election, 1905.source
1905The Switzerland national football team plays its first international game, losing to France, 1 to 0.source
1907The steamship Larchmont collides with the Harry Hamilton in Long Island Sound; 183 lives are lost.source
1907The steamship Larchmont collides with the Harry Knowlton off Block Island, Rhode Island; 183 lives are lost.source
1908The first around-the-world car race, the 1908 New York to Paris Race, begins.source
1909Inter-island steamer SS Penguin is wrecked at Cape Terawhiti in Cook Strait with the loss of 75 lives.source
1910Chinese expedition to Tibet: A force of 2,000 Chinese troops march into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet; the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, is forced to flee to British India.source
1912The Manchu Qing dynasty of China comes to an end after 268 years with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor Puyi and the establishment of the Republic of China.source
1912The Manchu Qing Dynasty of China comes to an end after 268 years, with the abdication of Emperor Puyi in favour of the Republic of China.source
1913February 9–19 — Ten Tragic Dayssource
1914February 10–14 large-scale demonstrations erupted in Tokyo in response to the Siemens scandal.source
1914In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.source
1916WWI: Battle of Salaita Hill (East African Campaign) – South African and other British Empire troops fail to take a German East African defensive position.source
1917Reverend William Campbell returns to China.source
1917Toluca FC is founded as an Association football club in Mexico.source
1920February 12–24 – Conference of London: Leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Italy meet to discuss the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.source
1921Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Democratic Republic of Georgia is invaded by forces of Bolshevist Russia.source
1922February 10–17 – Modern Art Week in São Paulo marks the start of Modernism in Brazil.source
1925The Romanian Orthodox Church becomes a patriarchate, with Miron Cristea elected the Patriarch of All Romania.source
1926The Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature.source
1927British troops land in Shanghai as a result of UK government concerns about the safety of residents in the British settlement.source
1928An underground explosion at Haig Pit, Whitehaven, in the Cumberland Coalfield, kills thirteen miners undertaking clearance after an earlier fatal accident.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
1934February 12–15 – Austrian Civil War: The Fatherland Front consolidates its power in a series of clashes across the country.source
1934February 12–13: Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista merges with Falange Española to form Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalistasource
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
1938Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria meets Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater Nazi participation in the Austrian government.source
1941Reserve Constable Albert Alexander, a patient at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England, becomes the first person treated with penicillin intravenously, by Howard Florey's team. He reacts positively, but there is insufficient supply of the drug to reverse his terminal infection. A successful treatment is achieved during May.source
1942Ehud Barak, the 13th Chief of Staff of the IDF and former Prime Minister of Israelsource
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
1945A devastating tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.source
1947In Burma, the Panglong Agreement is reached between the Burmese government under its leader, General Aung San, and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin ethnic peoples at the Panglong Conference. U Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Sein Mya Maung and Myoma U Than Kywe are among the negotiators.source
1947The fragments of a meteorite create a number of impact craters up to 36 metres wide in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.source
1950The European Broadcasting Union is founded.source
1950Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.source
1951The seven-nation Commonwealth Consultative Committee meets to discuss the Colombo Plan for south and south-east Asia.source
1951Muhammad Reza Shah marries Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari.source
1954British Medical Committee report suggests the existence of a link between smoking and lung cancer.source
1956Ezriel Carlebach (born 1909), German-born Israeli journalist and publicist, founder and editor of the Israeli daily tabloid "Ma'ariv".source
1958Israel's Knesset passes the Basic Knesset Law (חוק יסוד: הכנסת).source
1959Martín Luis Guzmán is named president of the Comisión Nacional de Libros de Texto Gratuitos (Commission of Free Textbooks, CONALITEG) to provide books for elementary schools.source
1961The USSR launches Venera 1 towards Venus.source
1962Six members of the Committee of 100 of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the U.K. are found guilty of a breach of the Official Secrets Act.source
1963Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing all 43 aboard.source
1965The African and Malagasy Common Organization (Organization Commune Africaine et Malgache; OCAM) is formed as successor to the Afro-Malagasy Union for Economic Cooperation (Union Africaine et Malgache de Cooperation Economique; UAMCE), formerly the African and Malagasy Union (Union Africaine et Malgache; UAM).source
1968February 6–18 – The 1968 Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble, France.source
1972February 3–13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.source
1973Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post road distance signs in metric (see Metric system in the United States).source
1981Moslem rebels attack a Philippine Army unit in Pata Island, Sulu, killing 119–124 troops in the worst outbreak of fighting since the 1974 rebel offensive of Jolo.source
1982February 11-19: the 1982 Amílcar Cabral Cup took place in Praiasource
1983100 women protest in Lahore, Pakistan, against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women are tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up but are successful in repealing the law.source
19831983 women's march, Lahoresource
1984February 8–19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.source
1988The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy intentionally rams USS Yorktown in Soviet territorial waters while Yorktown claims innocent passage. The accompanying US destroyer USS Caron escapes damage.source
1988American cruiser USS Yorktown and destroyer USS Caron enter Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea, where they are bumped by the Soviet frigates Bezzavetny and SKR-6, respectively.source
1990Representatives of NATO and the Warsaw Pact meet in Ottawa for an "Open Skies" conference. The conference results in agreements about superpower troop levels in Europe and on German reunification.source
1993Murder of James Bulger: Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who later torture and murder him.source
1994Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is stolen in Oslo (it is recovered on May 7).source
1994The 1994 Winter Olympics begin in Lillehammer.source
1998Fighting between Nigerian troops and the military government of Sierra Leone now reach Freetown.source
1998The Flag of the Philippines gets a minor redesign, changing its blue and red shades.source
1999U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate.source
2001The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, a near-Earth object, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.source
2001The Human Genome Project publishes the first draft of its human genome sequence.source
2002The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict comes into effect, establishing an international agreement against the use of child soldiers.source
2002The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former president of Yugoslavia, begins at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.source
2002Iran Air Tours Flight 956 crashes in Tehran.source
2007a tri-nation deal has been signed to protect 200,000 square kilometres of rainforest on the island of Borneo. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei pledged to protect the area, known as the 'Heart of Borneo'. It is considered one of the most important sites of biodiversity in the world, home to thousands of species.source
2009Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes in Clarence Center, New York while on final approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 people on board the aircraft as well as one person on the ground.source
2010President Compaoré announces a plan to lift financial barriers to family planning to lower the maternal mortality rate within the country.source
2010February 12–28 – The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.source
2013Law lecturer Moses Foh-Amoaning promises that he will reform gay advocate Andrew Solomon, through Christian prayers and cogent arguments.source
2013North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test, prompting widespread condemnation and tightened economic sanctions from the international community.source
2015Leaders from Russian Federation, Ukraine, Germany and French Republic reach an agreement on the war in eastern Ukraine that includes a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons. However, several days later, the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels claim that, within its first day, the ceasefire was broken 139 times, as both sides failed to withdraw their heavy weapons and fighting had continued.source
2015The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2199 to combat terrorism.source
2016An attack by suspected Islamist militants on a MINUSMA base in the town of Kidal, northern Mali, kills at least five Guinean United Nations peacekeepers.source
2016Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their schism in 1054.source
2018Tonga was hit by the Cyclone Gita, the strongest cyclone to strike Tonga in its recorded history, with winds of up to 195km/h.source
2019The Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia, officially ending a decades-old dispute with Greece and paving the way for the former's integration into NATO and the EU.source

Births

41Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, son of Claudius (died AD 55)source
528Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Weisource
661Ōku, Japanese princess (died 702)source
1074Conrad II of Italy, king of Germany (died 1101)source
1218Kujō Yoritsune, Japanese shōgun (died 1256)source
1272Zhao Bing, Chinese emperor (died 1279)source
1322John Henry, Bohemian prince and ruler (died 1375)source
1438Adolf, Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen (1465–1471) (died 1477)source
1443Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Italian noble (died 1508)source
1450Yejong of Joseon, Joseon King (died 1469)source
1480Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica from 1488 (until 1495 and 1505 with his brothers) (died 1547)source
1540Wŏn Kyun, Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty (died 1597)source
1541Johann Bauhin, Swiss botanist (died 1613)source
1567Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (died 1620)source
1602Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Italian painter (died 1660)source
1608Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (died 1685)source
1618Olaus Verelius, scholar of Old Norse and Scandinavian studies (died 1682)source
1637Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist and microscopist (died 1680)source
1644Jakob Ammann, Swiss founder of the Amish sect (died 1712)source
1663Cotton Mather, American theologian (died 1728)source
1665Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (died 1721)source
1753François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, French admiral (died 1798)source
1768Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1835)source
1791Peter Cooper, American industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (died 1883)source
1809Charles Darwin, British naturalist (died 1882)source
1809Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (died 1865)source
1824Dayananda Saraswati, Hindu religious leader, Vedic scholar who founded the reform movement Arya Samaj (died 1883)source
1870Marie Lloyd, English singer (died 1922)source
1893Omar Bradley, American general (died 1981)source
1923James Chichester-Clark, Fifth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (died 2002).source
1965Brett Kavanaugh, American attorney and Supreme Court Justicesource
2021Virunga National Park announces the birth of the first mountain gorilla, a male, of 2021.source

Deaths

178Agrippinus, patriarch of Alexandriasource
890Henjō, Japanese waka poet (born 816)source
901Antony II, patriarch of Constantinoplesource
929Leo VI, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
941Wulfhelm, archbishop of Canterburysource
981Ælfstan, bishop of Ramsburysource
1101Daozong of Liao, Chinese emperor (born 1032)source
1128Toghtekin, Turkish ruler of Damascussource
1218Alice of Courtenay, French noblewomansource
1233Ermengarde de Beaumont, queen of Scotlandsource
1242Henry VII, king of Germany (born 1211)source
1247Ermesinde, countess of Luxembourg (born 1186)source
1266Walter de Cantilupe, English bishop (born 1195)source
1324William Liath de Burgh, buried in Galway.source
1378Alexius, Metropolitan of Kiev and spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1354, dies of old age and his designated successor, Cyprian, Metropolitan of Lithuania, attempts to become the new leader. However, Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow denies Cyprian permission and appoints Pimen as successor to Alexius.source
1479Eleanor of Navarre, queen regnant of Navarre (born 1426)source
1538Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter (born c. 1480)source
1554Lord Guildford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (executed) (born 1536)source
1554Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the throne of England (executed) (born 1537)source
1554After claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.source
1556Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (born 1493)source
1571Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician (born 1515)source
1576John Albert I, Duke of Mecklenburg (born 1525)source
1590Blanche Parry, personal attendant to Elizabeth I of England (born c. 1508)source
1612Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (born 1563)source
1619Pierre de Larivey, dramatist (born 1549)source
1624George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (born 1563)source
1627Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein (born 1569)source
1666Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, English politician (born 1602)source
1712Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy (born 1685)source
1713Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (born 1661)source
1728Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat, composer (born 1654)source
1763Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (born 1688)source
1770Christopher Middleton, Hudson's Bay Company captainsource
1771Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (born 1710)source
1789Ethan Allen, American major general of the Revolutionary War, Vermont statesman (born 1738)source
1798Stanisław August Poniatowski, deposed last King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (born 1732)source
1799Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist, physiologist (born 1729)source
1804Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (born 1724)source
1817Ildefonso Elorreaga (born 1782)source
1834Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian and philosopher (born 1768)source
1839Moulvi Syed Qudratullah, Bengali judge (born 1750)source
1841Sir Astley Cooper, British surgeon and anatomist (born 1768)source
1920Adolf Frey – writer and historian (born 1855)source
1929Lillie Langtry, British singer, actress (born 1853)source
1933Sir William Robertson, British field marshal (born 1860)source
2000Dominic Bruce, 84, British Royal Air Force officer and Colditz Castle escapee during World War II.source
2000Charles M. Schulz, 77, American cartoonist (Peanuts).source