February 22

### Up to 1900

- 1281 – Martin IV becomes Pope.
- 1288 – Nicholas IV becomes Pope.
- 1371 – Robert II of Scotland becomes King, starting the Stuart Dynasty.
- 1494 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
- 1632 – Galileo's _Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems_ is published.
- 1651 – St. Peter's Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast in present–day Germany and the Netherlands, killing about 15,000 people.
- 1744 – The Battle of Toulon begins.
- 1784 – William Herschel discovers the spiral galaxy _NGC 3521_.
- 1797 – The last invasion of the Great Britain begins when a force of 4,000 French troops lands in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. They surrender two days later.
- 1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sold Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
- 1847 – Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops drive off 15,000 Mexican.
- 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848 begins, later leading to the creation of the French Second Republic.
- 1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded.
- 1856 – The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 1857 – The Bavarian Weisswurst sausage is allegedly invented in Munich.
- 1862 – Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1865 – Tennessee adopts a new constitution that abolishes slavery.
- 1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, with James Black as its nominee for President of the United States.
- 1876 – Johns Hopkins University is founded in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1879 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10–cent Woolworth stores.
- 1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
- 1890 – The Walmut Grove Dam breaks in Arizona, causing a flood that kills between 50 and 150 people.
- 1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counter–attacks for the first time, against American forces in the Philippine-American War, though fail to retake Manila.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1901 – A Pacific mail steamer sinks in Golden Gate Harbor, killing 128 people.
- 1904 – UK recognises the South Orkney Islands as part of Argentina, in 1908 claims them again.
- 1915 – Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1920 – In Emeryville, California, the first dog race track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
- 1923 – The United States begins the first transcontinental air mail route.
- 1923 – Barcelona (Catalonia): Albert Einstein visits the city, invited by the scientist Esteban Terradas i Illa, as part of the monografics course of High Studies and Exchange organized by the Mancomunitat de Catalunya and conducted by Rafael de Campalans.
- 1924 – Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.
- 1940 – Then–four–year–old Tenzin Gyatso is enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama.
- 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense collapses.
- 1943 – Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.
- 1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch cities of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, killing 800 in Nijmegen alone.
- 1948 – The Communist Revolution begins in Czechoslovakia.
- 1949 – Grady the Cow, a 1,200–pound cow gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma and garners national media attention.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel".
- 1957 – South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem survives a Communist shooting assassination attempt in Ban Me Thuot.
- 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
- 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
- 1960 – A mining accident in Zwickau, East Germany kills 123 people.
- 1969 – Barbara Jo Rubin wins a United States thoroughbred horse race making history as the first woman to do so.
- 1972 – The Official IRA detonates a car bomb in Aldershot Barracks, killing 7 people.
- 1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to China, the United States and the People's Republic of China agree to establish liaison offices.
- 1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan and Bangladesh is recognized by Islamabad Officials.
- 1979 – Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.
- 1980 – The United States men's ice hockey team defeats the Soviet Union team at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in an upset dubbed the "Miracle on Ice".
- 1986 – The People Power Revolution in the Philippines begins.
- 1987 – The first Airbus A320 lifts off.
- 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
- 1997 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.

### From 2001

- 2002 – A MH-47E Chinook helicopter crashes into the ocean near the Philippines, killing all 10 aboard.
- 2004 – Ralph Nader announces his intention to run as an independent candidate for President of the United States.
- 2005 – An earthquake in Sarand, Iran, kills 420 people.
- 2006 – The Al–Askari Shrine in Samarra, Iraq, a Shi'ite Holy Site, is badly damaged in a bomb attack.
- 2009 – _Slumdog Millionaire_ is the most successful movie at the 81st Academy Awards.
- 2011 – 2011 Canterbury earthquake: A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Christchurch, New Zealand, causing major damage and more than 180 deaths. Among the collapsed buildings is the spire of Christchurch cathedral.
- 2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people.
- 2014 – Matteo Renzi is sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy, making him the youngest holder of this office, at age 39.
- 2014 – In Ukraine, parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from power and to install a caretaker government. Yanukovych is reported to have fled to Eastern Ukraine, while former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is released from prison.
- 2015 – A ferry capsizes in Bangladesh, killing at least 70 people.
- 2015 – The 87th Academy Awards are held. Among the winners are Julianne Moore (Best Actress) and Eddie Redmayne (Best Actor), for playing Stephen Hawking in _The Theory of Everything_.
- 2017 – Scientists announce the discovery of seven planets of similar size to Earth orbiting around the dwarf star "TRAPPIST-1".

### Up to 1850

- 1300 BC – Ramesses II, Egyptian pharaoh (d. 1213 BC)
- 1403 – King Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
- 1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, King of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1470)
- 1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
- 1514 – Tahmasp I, Persian shah (d. 1576)
- 1631 – Peder Syv, Danish philologist, folklorist and priest (d. 1702)
- 1645 – Johann Ambrosius Bach, German composer (d. 1695)
- 1645 – Johann Christoph Bach, German musician (d. 1693)
- 1705 – Peter Arbedi, Swedish naturalist (d. 1735)
- 1732 – George Washington, first President of the United States (d. 1799)
- 1756 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German diplomat (d. 1821)
- 1761 – Erik Tulindberg, Finnish composer (d. 1814)
- 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter (d. 1860)
- 1785 – Jean Peltier, French physicist (d. 1845)
- 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (d. 1860)
- 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French missionary (d. 1837)
- 1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1874)
- 1806 – Jozef Kremer, Polish philosopher (d. 1875)
- 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880)
- 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet (d. 1891)
- 1823 – Robert B. Ogilvie, Governor of Illinois (d. 1888)
- 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (d. 1907)
- 1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian Sanskrit scholar and social reformer (d. 1906)
- 1840 – August Bebel, German political activist (d. 1913)
- 1847 – Duchess Sophie Charlotte of Bavaria (d. 1897)
- 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d. 1915)

### 1851 – 1900

- 1857 – Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, German physicist (d. 1894)
- 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, British founder of the Scout movement (d. 1941)
- 1864 – Jakob Jakobsen, Faroese linguist (d. 1918)
- 1878 – Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d. 1909)
- 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Bronsted, Danish physical chemist (d. 1947)
- 1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
- 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
- 1882 – Eric Gill, British sculptor (d. 1940)
- 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
- 1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish chess player (d. 1956)
- 1888 – Owen Brewster, Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
- 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, British co–founder of the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
- 1890 – Beatriz Michelena, Latin American movie actor (d. 1942)
- 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Soviet politician (d. 1937)
- 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet (d. 1950)
- 1895 – Victor Raul Haya del Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
- 1897 – Karol Swierczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1898 – Thillaiaadi Valliammai, South African activist (d. 1914)
- 1899 – George O'Hara, American actor (d. 1966)
- 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish movie producer (d. 1983)
- 1900 – James Sisnett, Barbadian supercentenarian (d. 2013)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Frank Plumpton Ramsey, British mathematician (d. 1930)
- 1906 – Donald S. Russell, 107th Governor of South Carolina (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Georg Braun, Austrian footballer (d. 1963)
- 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1908 – Romulo Betancourt, President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
- 1913 – Buddy Tate, American jazz musician (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian virologist (d. 2012)
- 1917 – Jane Bowles, American writer and playwright (d. 1973)
- 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1918 – Robert Wadlow, tallest person in history (d. 1940)
- 1918 – Don Pardo, American television and radio announcer (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
- 1921 – Sune Andersson, Swedish footballer (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Wayne C. Booth, American literary critic (d. 2005)
- 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
- 1921 – David Greene, British director (d. 2003)
- 1922 – Joe Wilder, American jazz trumpeter (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)
- 1925 – Cyril Leonoff, Canadian civil engineer and historian (d. 2016)
- 1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet
- 1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino chess player and official (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Gus Douglass, American politician (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
- 1929 – James Hong, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
- 1930 – Giuliano Montaldo, Italian movie director
- 1930 – Bill Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Marni Nixon, American singer (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Ted Kennedy, United States Senator from Massachusetts (d. 2009)
- 1933 – Sheila Hancock, British actress
- 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
- 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
- 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American biologist
- 1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
- 1940 – Billy Name, American photographer and filmmaker (d. 2016)
- 1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
- 1941 – Hipolito Mejia, former President of the Dominican Republic
- 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and showgirl (d. 2017)
- 1943 – Horst Koehler, former President of Germany
- 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer (d. 2003)
- 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American movie producer and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
- 1945 – Leslie Charleson, English actress
- 1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Maurizio De Angelis, Italian singer
- 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player
- 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver
- 1950 – Julie Walters, British actress
- 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player
- 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
- 1952 – Bill Frist, United States Senator
- 1952 – Bernard Silverman, English minister, statistician and academic
- 1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor
- 1955 – David Axelrod, American political advisor
- 1956 – Philip Kerr, British author (d. 2018)
- 1958 – Dave Spitz, American musician
- 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- 1961 – Akira Takahashi, Japanese guitarist
- 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian wildlife expert and TV personality (d. 2006)
- 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian golfer
- 1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, British politician
- 1963 – Devon Malcolm, English cricketer
- 1964 – Gigi Fernandez, Puerto Rican tennis player
- 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player
- 1965 – Pat Lafontaine, American ice hockey player
- 1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
- 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
- 1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player
- 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer
- 1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer
- 1969 – Clinton Kelly, American television personality
- 1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
- 1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
- 1973 – Claus Lundekvam, Norwegian footballer
- 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
- 1973 – Archil Arveladze, Georgian footballer
- 1973 – Shota Arveladze, Georgian footballer
- 1974 – Chris Moyles, British radio presenter
- 1974 – Markus Schopp, Austrian footballer
- 1974 – James Blunt, British singer
- 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress

### From 1976

- 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
- 1978 – Jenny Frost, British singer (Atomic Kitten), TV presenter (Snog Marry Avoid?) and model
- 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
- 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
- 1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
- 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
- 1983 – Ragna Ingolfsdottir, Icelandic badminton player
- 1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
- 1984 – Branislav Ivanovic, Serbian footballer
- 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer
- 1985 – Ross Hutchins, British tennis player
- 1985 – Larissa Riquelme, Paraguayan model
- 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
- 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
- 1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentine footballer
- 1987 – Enzo Pérez, Argentine footballer
- 1988 – Efrain Juarez, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Ximena Navarrete, Mexican model and actress
- 1989 – Anna Sundstrand, Swedish singer
- 1991 – Robin Stjernberg, Swedish singer

### Up to 1900

- 556 – Maximilianus of Ravenna, Italian bishop (b. 499)
- 606 – Pope Sabinian
- 965 – Otto, Duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
- 1071 – Arnulf III, Count of Flanders (b. 1055)
- 1111 – Roger Borsa, King of Sicily
- 1371 – King David II of Scotland (b. 1324)
- 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer (b. 1451)
- 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch navigator (b. 1558)
- 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French writer (b. 1595)
- 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter (b. 1619)
- 1727 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer (b. 1661)
- 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
- 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop and man of letters (b. 1663)
- 1750 – Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, Italian composer (b. 1679)
- 1797 – Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Munchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b. 1720)
- 1799 – Heshen, Chinese official (b. 1750)
- 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher (b. 1723)
- 1819 – Thomas Johnson, Governor of Maryland (b. 1752)
- 1875 – Charles Lyell, British geologist (b. 1797)
- 1875 – Jean-Baptiste Corot, French painter (b. 1796)
- 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (b. 1822)
- 1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker (b. 1824)
- 1898 – Haungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
- 1913 – Francisco I. Madero, President of Mexico (b. 1873)
- 1914 – Thillaiaadi Valliammai, South African activist (b. 1898)
- 1919 – Perito Moreno, Argentine geographer and explorer (b. 1852)
- 1921 – Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1864)
- 1923 – Théophile Delcasse, French statesman (b. 1852)
- 1927 – Judson Harmon, Governor of Ohio (b. 1846)
- 1930 – William Jeremiah Tuttle, American freestyle swimmer and water polo (b. 1882)
- 1934 – Willem Kes, Dutch conductor (b. 1856)
- 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish writer (b. 1875)
- 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (b. 1881)
- 1943 – White Rose Resistance Activists executed:
    - Christoph Probst, German resistance activist (b. 1919)
    - Hans Scholl, German resistance activist (b. 1918)
    - Sophie Scholl, German resistance activist (b. 1921)
- 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi (b. 1869)
- 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian author and critic (b. 1888)
- 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian independence movement leader (b. 1888)
- 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b. 1889)
- 1970 – Edward Selzer, American movie producer (b. 1893)
- 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
- 1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
- 1974 – Samuel Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (b. 1930)
- 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
- 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter (b. 1886)
- 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, American violinist and composer (b. 1889)
- 1987 – Andy Warhol, American artist, director, and writer (b. 1928)
- 1989 – Moises da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (b. 1938)
- 1994 – Papa John Creach, American musician (b. 1917)
- 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1998 – Donald S. Russell, 107th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1906)
- 1998 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, 80th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1910)

### From 2001

- 2002 – Roden Cutler, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Chuck Jones, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
- 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan politician and rebel leader (b. 1934)
- 2002 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist (b. 1963)
- 2004 – Roqué Maspoli, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
- 2012 – Marie Colvin, American journalist (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Rémi Ochlik, French photojournalist (b. 1983)
- 2013 – Hasse Jeppson, Swedish footballer (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand–born Australian television personality (b. 1966)
- 2014 – Leo Vroman, Dutch–American hematologist, poet and illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Kim Kyung-roul, South Korean billiards player (b. 1980)
- 2016 – Wesley A. Clark, American computer engineer (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Sonny James, American country singer-songwriter (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Hans Reffert, German musician (b. 1946)
- 2016 – Douglas Slocombe, English cinematographer (b. 1913)
- 2016 – Yochanan Sofer, Hungarian–Israeli rabbi (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Cara McCollum, American journalist and beauty queen (b. 1992)
- 2016 – Cristiana Corsi, Italian taekwondo martial artist (b. 1976)
- 2016 – Yolande Fox, American beauty queen, singer and activist (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Frank Delaney, Irish author (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Ricardo Dominguez, Mexican boxer (b. 1985)
- 2017 – Eni Faleomavaega, American Samoan politician (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Aleksei Petrenko, Russian actor (b. 1938)
- 2017 – Ed Garvey, American lawyer and politician (b. 1940)
- 2017 – John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
- 2018 – Nanette Fabray, American actress and dancer (b. 1920)
- 2018 – Forges, Spanish cartoonist (b. 1942)
- 2018 – Richard E. Taylor, Canadian physicist (b. 1929)

## Observances

- Independence Day (Saint Lucia)
- World Thinking Day (Girl Scouts)
- Founder's Day (Scout Movement)