Events

Up to 1900 
 1419 – Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England in England's reconquest of Normandy.
 1520 - Sten Sture the Younger, regent of Sweden, is injured in the Battle of Bogesund, leading to his death on February 3.
 1607 - The San Agustin Church in Manila is completed. It is the oldest church in the Philippines still standing.
 1788 - A second group of the First Fleet of convicts from Great Britain arrives at Botany Bay, present-day Sydney, Australia.
 1795 – The Batavian Republic is founded in the Netherlands.
 1806 – The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope.
 1812 - Peninsular War: After a ten-day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington orders British soldiers of the Light and Third Divisions to storm Ciudad Rodrigo.
 1817 - An army led by Jose de San Martin crosses the Andes from Argentina to Chile, having already liberated Argentina.
 1829 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 1 is performed for the first time.
 1839 - The British East India Company captures Aden, Yemen.
 1840 – Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica.
 1853 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore is performed for the first time, in Rome.
 1861 - Confederate States of America: Georgia leaves the Union, becoming the 5th state to do so.
 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs, the first important Confederate defeat of the war.
 1871 - Franco-Prussian War: Prussia wins in the Battle of Saint Quentin.
 1883 - German passenger steamer Cimbria sinks after a collision off the island of Borkum in the North Sea, killing 437 people.
 1893 - Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
 1899 - Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.

1901  2000 
 1915 - Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
 1915 - World War I: German zeppelins bomb Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, killing over 20 people.
 1917 – A Munitions Plant Explosion in London kills 73 people.
 1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
 1937 - Howard Hughes sets a new air record, by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.
 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma.
 1942 - Canadian passenger steamer RMS Lady Hawkins is sunk by a German U-boat off North Carolina, killing 251 people.
 1945 - World War II: Soviet forces liberate the Lodz ghetto.
 1946 – General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo.
 1949 – Cuba recognises Israel as an independent country.
 1953 - Almost 72% of US television sets are tuned in to I Love Lucy, to watch Lucy give birth.
 1958 - An expedition led by Vivian Fuchs reaches the South Pole, the fourth expedition to do so.
 1965 - The unmanned spacecraft Gemini 2 is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
 1966 – Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister of India.
 1969 – Czechoslovakian student Jan Palach dies, three days after setting himself on fire in an act of protest.
 1975 - A large earthquake strikes Himachal Pradesh, India.
 1977 - Rare snowfalls occur in Miami, Florida and the Bahamas.
 1977 - Gerald Ford pardons World War II propagandist Iva Toguri D'Aquino.
 1978 - The last Volkswagen Beetle to be produced in Europe runs off the assembly line in Emden, Germany. They continue to be produced in Latin America until 2003.
 1981 - Iran hostage crisis: US and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months in captivity.
 1983 - The Apple Lisa commercial personal computer is announced by Apple Inc.
 1983 – Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.
 1991 – Gulf War: Iraq fires a second scud missile into Israel.
 1993 – The Czech Republic and Slovakia join the UN.
 1996 - The North Cape Oil Spill occurs off Rhode Island.
 1997 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron, West Bank, after 30 years.

From 2001 
 2006 – NASA's New Horizons probe launches to Pluto.
 2007 – Journalist Hrant Dink is murdered in front of his newspaper office.
 2012 - Wikipedia's English language edition ends its blackout from the previous day, which was a protest action against the SOPA and PIPA laws proposed by the United States Congress.
 2013 - Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan survives an attempt to kill him, when his attacker is stopped by security guards.
 2013 - An EU-wide driving licence is introduced.
 2014 - Anti-government protests escalate in Ukraine, as a new anti-protest law comes into force.
 2014 - A bomb attack on an army convoy in the northern Pakistani city of Bannu kills 26 soldiers and injures 38 others.

Births

Up to 1900 
 399 – Pulcheria, Byzantine Empress (d. 453)
 1544 – Francis II of France (d. 1560)
 1676 - John Weldon, English musician and composer (d. 1736)
 1736 – James Watt, Scottish engineer (d. 1819)
 1737 - Giuseppe Millico, Italian singer, composer and music teacher (d. 1802)
 1739 - Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect (d. 1808)
 1757 - Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf, German princess (d. 1831)
 1788 - Pavel Kivelyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)
 1798 - Auguste Comte, French philosopher (d. 1857)
 1807 – Robert E. Lee, American Confederate General (d. 1870)
 1808 - Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (d. 1887)
 1809 – Edgar Allan Poe, American writer (d. 1849)
 1813 - Henry Bessemer, English engineer and inventor (d. 1898)
 1832 - Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist (d. 1875)
 1833 - Alfred Clebsch, German mathematician (d. 1872)
 1839 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906)
 1845 - Joseph M. Carey, Governor of Wyoming (d. 1924)
 1848 – Matthew Webb, English swimmer and diver (d. 1883)
 1851 - Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (d. 1922)
 1866 - Harry Davenport, American actor (d. 1949)
 1871 - Dame Gruev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1906)
 1874 – Hitachiyama Taniemon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1922)
 1876 – Hakashima Gonshiri, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
 1876 – Dragotin Kette, Slovenian poet (d. 1899)
 1878 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1934)
 1880 - James G. Scrugham, 14th Governor of Nevada (d. 1945)
 1889 - Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss painter, sculptor and designer (d. 1943)
 1890 - Elmer Niklander, Finnish sportsman (d. 1942)
 1892 – Olafur Thors, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1964)
 1893 – Magda Tagliaferro, Brazilian classical pianist (d. 1986)

1901  1950 
 1901 - Hans Moser, Swiss equestrian (d. 1974)
 1905 – Stanley Hawes, British-born Australian movie producer, director and administrator (d. 1991)
 1908 - Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician (d. 1971)
 1909 – Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
 1912 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist (d. 1986)
 1913 - Rudolph Wanderone, American pocket billiards player (d. 1996)
 1917 - John Raitt, American singer and actor (d. 2005)
 1920 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian UN Secretary-General (d. 2020)
 1920 - Aleksander Jackowski, Polish anthropologist (d. 2018)
 1920 - Roberto M. Levingston, Argentine general and politician, 36th President of Argentina (d. 2015)
 1920 - Bruce Sundlun, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 2011)
 1921 – Patricia Highsmith, American writer (d. 1995)
 1922 - Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 2015)
 1922 – Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Polish movie director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2007)
 1922 - Guy Madison, American actor (d. 1996)
 1923 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (d. 2013)
 1925 - Nina Bawden, English writer (d. 2012)
 1926 - Fritz Weaver, American actor
 1930 - Tippi Hedren, American actress
 1932 – Richard Lester, British movie director
 1932 - Harry Lonsdale, American scientist and businessman (d. 2014)
 1935 - Soumitra Chatterjee, Indian actor
 1935 – Owsley Stanley, American sound engineer and LSD supplier (d. 2011)
 1936 – Ziaur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (d. 1981)
 1937 - Giovanna Marini, Italian singer-songwriter
 1937 - Princess Birgitta of Sweden
 1939 – Phil Everly, American musician (Everly Brothers) (d. 2014)
 1940 – Paolo Borsellino, Italian magistrate (d. 1992)
 1940 - Mike Reid, English actor and comedian (d. 2007)
 1941 - Tony Anholt, English actor (d. 2002)
 1941 – Pat Patterson, Canadian professional wrestler
 1942 – Michael Crawford, British singer and actor
 1942 - Thom Mayne, American architect
 1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer (d. 1970)
 1943 – Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
 1944 – Laurie London, British singer
 1944 - Dan Reeves, American football coach
 1945 - Dragan Holcer, Croatian footballer (d. 2015)
 1945 - C. B. Forgotston, American political blogger (d. 2016)
 1945 - Trevor Williams, British musician
 1946 – Julian Barnes, British writer
 1946 – Dolly Parton, American country music singer
 1947 – Rod Evans, British musician (Deep Purple)
 1948 - Frank McKenna, Canadian politician and diplomat, 27th Premier of New Brunswick
 1948 - Amanda Holden, English playwright and composer
 1949 – Dennis Taylor, Northern Irish snooker player
 1949 – Robert Palmer, English singer (d. 2003)
 1949 - Lindsay Roy, Scottish politician

1951  1975 
 1951 - Gerald Tinker, American athlete
 1953 – Desi Arnaz, Jr., American actor
 1954 – Cindy Sherman, American photographer
 1954 – Katharina Thalbach, German actress and movie director
 1954 - Katey Sagal, American actress
 1955 – Simon Rattle, British conductor
 1957 - Kenneth McClintock, Puerto Rican politician
 1958 - Thomas Kinkade, American painter (d. 2012)
 1958 - Don Austen, English puppeteer
 1960 – Mauro Tassotti, Italian footballer
 1960 - Al Joyner, American athlete
 1961 - Wayne Hemingway, English fashion designer
 1963 – Martin Bashir, English journalist
 1963 – John Bercow, English politician, Speaker of the House of Commons
 1963 - Michael Adams, American basketball player
 1964 - Ricardo Arjona, Guatemalan singer-songwriter and basketball player
 1966 – Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player
 1966 – Lena Philipsson, Swedish singer
 1969 – Steve Staunton, Irish footballer
 1969 - Junior Seau, American football player (d. 2012)
 1969 - Luc Longley, Australian basketball player
 1971 - Shawn Wayans, American actor
 1972 - Angham, Egyptian singer, record producer and actress
 1972 - Princess Kalina of Bulgaria
 1973 - Antero Manninen, Finnish cellist
 1973 - Frank Caliendo, American comedian, actor and screenwriter
 1974 - Jaime Moreno, Bolivian footballer

From 1976 
 1979 - Wiley, British rapper
 1979 - Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast
 1980 - Pasha Kovalev, Russian-born dancer
 1980 – Jenson Button, British racing driver
 1981 – Asier del Horno, Spanish footballer
 1982 – Jodie Sweetin, American actress
 1985 – Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
 1985 – Benny Feilhaber, American soccer player
 1985 - Pascal Behrenbruch, German decathlete
 1986 - Claudio Marchisio, Italian footballer
 1986 - Loren Geller-Rabinowitz, American ice dancer
 1987 – Edgar Manucharyan, Armenian footballer
 1988 - Alexey Vorobyov, Russian singer and actor
 1991 – Erin Sanders, American actress
 1992 – Shawn Johnson, American gymnast
 1992 - Mac Miller, American rapper, producer and actor
 1992 - Logan Lerman, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 520 - John of Cappadocia, Patriarch of Constantinople
 639 – Dagobert I, king of the Franks
 1526 – Isabella of Burgundy, queen of Christian II of Denmark (b. 1501)
 1576 - Hans Sacher, German meistersinger (b. 1494)
 1661 - Thomas Venner, English Fifth monarchist (b. 1599)
 1729 – William Congreve, English playwright (b. 1670)
 1799 - Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1718)
 1833 - Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold, French composer (b. 1791)
 1847 – Charles Bent, New Mexico pioneer (b. 1799)
 1851 - Esteban Echeverria, Argentine writer (b. 1805)
 1865 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and anarchist (b. 1809)
 1869 - Carl Reichenbach, German philosopher and chemist (b. 1788)
 1874 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet (b. 1798)
 1878 – Henri Victor Regnault, French physicist and chemist (b. 1810)
 1883 - Richard England, British general (b. 1793)

1901  2000 
 1905 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (b. 1817)
 1906 - Bartolomé Mitre, President of Argentina (b. 1821)
 1925 - Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies (b. 1841)
 1927 - Charlotte of Belgium (b. 1840)
 1930 - Frank Plumpton Ramsey, British philosopher (b. 1903)
 1948 - Tony Garnier, French architect (b. 1869)
 1954 - Mohamed Amin Didi, President of the Maldives (b. 1910)
 1957 - Jozsef Dudas, Hungarian-Romanian Resistance fighter (b. 1912)
 1968 – Ray Harroun, first winner of the Indianapolis 500 (b. 1879)
 1969 – Jan Palach, Czech student, political activist (b. 1948)
 1971 – Harry Shields, jazz musician (b. 1899)
 1972 – Michael Rabin, concert violinist (b. 1936)
 1975 – Thomas Hart Benton, painter (b. 1889)
 1979 - Tuffy Leemans, American football player (b. 1912)
 1980 – William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice (b. 1898)
 1982 - Elis Regina, Brazilian soprano (b. 1945)
 1984 - Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1920)
 1990 – Herbert Wehner, German politician (b. 1906)
 1990 – Rajneesh, religious leader (b. 1931)
 1991 – John Russell, American actor (b. 1921)
 1996 – Don Simpson, American movie producer (b. 1943)
 1997 – James Dickey, poet, novelist (b. 1923)
 1998 – Carl Perkins, guitarist (b. 1932)
 2000 – Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
 2000 – Hedy Lamarr, actress (b. 1913)

2001  2015 
 2003 - Françoise Giroud, French journalist, screenwriter and politician (b. 1916)
 2003 - Milton Flores, Honduran footballer (b. 1974)
 2004 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1955)
 2005 – Bill Andersen, New Zealand communist and trade union leader (b. 1924)
 2005 – Donald Beardslee, United States murderer, executed in California (b. 1943)
 2005 – K. Sello Duiker, South African novelist (b. 1974)
 2005 – Ricardo Suriñach, Catholic Bishop of Ponce, Puerto Rico (2000-2003) (b. 1928)
 2006 – Wilson Pickett, American singer (b. 1941)
 2007 – Scott Bigelow, American professional wrestler (b. 1961).
 2007 – Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist (b. 1954)
 2007 - Denny Doherty, Canadian singer (b. 1940)
 2008 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
 2009 – Beatrice Farve, American supercentenarian (b. 1895)
 2010 – Bill McLaren, Scottish rugby commentator (b. 1923)
 2010 – Panajot Pano, Albanian footballer (b. 1939)
 2012 - Sarah Burke, Canadian freestyle skier (b. 1982)
 2013 - Stan Musial, American baseball player (b. 1920)
 2013 - Earl Weaver, American baseball manager (b. 1930)
 2013 - Taiho Koki, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1940)
 2014 - Christopher Chataway, English athlete, broadcaster, politician and businessman (b. 1931)
 2014 - Bert Williams, English footballer (b. 1920)
 2014 - Azaria Alon, Israeli environmentalist (b. 1918)
 2014 - Steven Fromholz, American entertainer, singer and songwriter (b. 1945)
 2015 - Michel Guimond, Canadian politician (b. 1953)
 2015 - Vladimir Kesarev, Russian footballer (b. 1930)
 2015 - Anne Kirkbride, English actress (Coronation Street) (b. 1954)
 2015 - Arthit Kamlang-ek, Thai general (b. 1925)
 2015 - Bob Symes, English inventor and television presenter (b. 1924)
 2015 - Karl H. Pribram, American neuroscientist and educator (b. 1919)
 2015 - Adam Yahiye Gadahn, American Al-Qaeda operative (b. 1978)

From 2016 
 2016 - Yasutaro Koide, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest-living man (b. 1903)
 2016 - Ettore Scola, Italian movie director (b. 1931)
 2016 - M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1947)
 2016 - Robert M. Carter, English paleontologist (b. 1942)
 2016 - Sheila Sim, English actress (b. 1922)
 2016 - Frank Sullivan, American baseball player (b. 1930)
 2016 - Richard Levins, American mathematical ecologist and population geneticist (b. 1930)
 2016 - William Y. Smith, American air force general (b. 1925)
 2017 - Jalal Allakhverdiyev, Azerbaijani mathematician (b. 1929)
 2017 - Wayne Barrett, American journalist (b. 1945)
 2017 - Loalwa Braz, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1953)
 2017 - Miguel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1955)
 2017 - Eddie Filgate, Irish politician (b. 1915)
 2017 - Jan Kruis, Dutch cartoonist (b. 1933)
 2017 - Ger van Mourik, Dutch footballer (b. 1931)
 2017 - Edwin Pope, American journalist (b. 1928)
 2017 - Walt Streuli, American baseball player (b. 1935)
 2017 - James S. Vlasto, American public servant (b. 1934)
 2017 - H. Boyd Woodruff, American microbiologist (b. 1917)
 2017 - Teori Zavascki, Brazilian judge (b. 1948)
 2018 - Ute Bock, Austrian educator and humanitarian (b. 1942)
 2018 - Anna Campori, Italian actress (b. 1917)
 2018 - Saqi Farooqi, Pakistani poet (b. 1926)
 2018 - Red Fisher, Canadian sports journalist (b. 1926)
 2018 - Dorothy Malone, American actress (b. 1924)
 2018 - Fredo Santana, American rapper (b. 1990)
 2018 - Allison Shearmur, American film producer (b. 1963)

Observances 
 Epiphany in the Eastern Orthodox Church
 Southern US States commemorate Robert E. Lee on this date.

Days of the year