February 1

## Events
### Up to 1900 
* 1327 &ndash; Edward III is crowned King of England.
* 1329 &ndash; King John of Bohemia captures Medvegalis, an important fortress of the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and baptizes 6,000 of its defenders.
* 1662 &ndash; The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine–month siege.
* 1709 &ndash; Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being stranded on one of the Juan Fernandez Islands (now belonging to Chile). This inspires the story of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
* 1713 &ndash; The *Kalabalik* or *Tumult in Bendery* results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
* 1788 &ndash; Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent the steamboat.
* 1790 &ndash; In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.
* 1793 &ndash; France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
* 1796 &ndash; The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
* 1814 &ndash; The Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, erupts, killing around 1,200 people. This is the most devastating eruption of the Mayon Volcano.
* 1835 &ndash; Slavery is banned in Mauritius.
* 1861 &ndash; American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
* 1862 &ndash; Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time (*Atlantic Monthly*).
* 1865 &ndash; Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, banning slavery and slave keeping.
* 1880 &ndash; The first edition of theatrical newspaper *The Stage* is published.
* 1884 &ndash; Volume 1 of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
* 1893 &ndash; Thomas Edison finishes construction of the first movie studio (West Orange, New Jersey).
* 1895 &ndash; Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
* 1896 &ndash; The opera La bohème premieres (Turin).
* 1897 &ndash; The Shinhan Bank opens in Seoul. It is the oldest bank in what is now South Korea.

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1904 &ndash; Iceland gets increased autonomy from Denmark.
* 1908 &ndash; King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.
* 1913 &ndash; New York City's Grand Central Terminal opens as the world's largest train station.
* 1915 &ndash; Photographs are required in United Kingdom passports for the first time.
* 1918 &ndash; Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
* 1919 &ndash; The first Miss America is crowned (New York City).
* 1920 &ndash; The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
* 1924 &ndash; The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR.
* 1929 &ndash; Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181&nbsp;kg) in the "clean and jerk" method.
* 1933 &ndash; Paul von Hindenburg dissolves the Reichstag under recommendation from Adolf Hitler.
* 1942 &ndash; World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Premier of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.
* 1942 &ndash; Voice of America begins broadcasting.
* 1946 &ndash; Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary–General.
* 1946 &ndash; Hungary is declared a republic with Zoltan Tildy as President.
* 1948 &ndash; The Federation of Malaya is founded.

### 1951 &ndash; 2000 
* 1953 &ndash; In the night following January 31 large parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the southeastern United Kingdom are flooded after heavy storms.
* 1958 &ndash; Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.
* 1959 &ndash; Neuchatel and Vaud become the first cantons of Switzerland to allow women to vote.
* 1960 &ndash; Four black students stage a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
* 1964 &ndash; The Beatles have their first US Number One – "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
* 1965 &ndash; Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada, is renamed Churchill River, after Winston Churchill, who had died just over a week earlier.
* 1968 &ndash; Vietnam War: NLF officer Nguyen Van Lem is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The execution was videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams and helped sway public opinion against the war.
* 1970 &ndash; Two trains collide in Benavidez, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. With 236 people being killed, this is the deadliest accident in Argentine rail travel.
* 1972 &ndash; Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by Royal Charter.
* 1974 &ndash; Kuala Lumpur is declared a federal territory of Malaysia.
* 1974 &ndash; In São Paulo, Brazil, a fire in a 25–story office building kills 189 and injures 293. Kuala Lumpur declared a Federal Territory.
* 1978 &ndash; Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13–year–old girl.
* 1978 &ndash; In Finland, Urho Kekkonen is elected to a fifth term in–a–row as President.
* 1979 &ndash; Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
* 1979 &ndash; Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
* 1982 &ndash; Senegal and The Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia.
* 1985 &ndash; Aeroflot Flight 7841 crashes shortly after take–off from Minsk, killing 58 people.
* 1989 &ndash; Boulder and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia form the city of Kalgoorlie–Boulder.
* 1991 &ndash; USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 collide on the runway at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34 people.
* 1992 &ndash; The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex–CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case.
* 1993 &ndash; Gary Bettman becomes the first commissioner of the NHL.
* 1994 &ndash; In Portland, Oregon Tonya Harding's ex–husband Jeff Gillooly pleads guilty for his role in attacking figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.
* 1995 &ndash; Manic Street Preachers lyricist Richey James Edwards goes missing from the Embassy Hotel in London, UK.
* 1996 &ndash; The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
* 1998 &ndash; Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.
* 1999 &ndash; North Dakota Public Radio is launched.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Having been taken hostage, American journalist Daniel Pearl is killed by his captors.
* 2003 &ndash; Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts on board.
* 2004 &ndash; At least 244 people are trampled to death in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
* 2004 &ndash; At the Super Bowl half–time show, part of Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during a routine with Justin Timberlake. This started the 'Nipplegate' scandal.
* 2009 &ndash; Johanna Sigurdardottir becomes Prime Minister of Iceland. She is the world's first national head of government in a same-sex relationship.
* 2012 &ndash; Violence following a football match in Port Said, Egypt, results in 74 deaths.
* 2013 &ndash; John Kerry becomes United States Secretary of State.
* 2013 &ndash; The Shard in London, the EU's tallest building, opens to the public.
* 2014 &ndash; Janet Yellen becomes the first woman to serve as Head of the United States Federal Reserve, succeeding Ben Bernanke.
* 2016 &ndash; The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes and causing deformities in newborn babies in South America and Central America, is declared a major world health emergency by the World Health Organization.
* 2017 &ndash; Rex Tillerson is confirmed as United States Secretary of State.
* 2021 &ndash; The coup d'état in Myanmar happens.

## Births
### Up to 1900 
* 1261 &ndash; Walter de Stapledon, English bishop (d. 1326)
* 1394 &ndash; Ikkyu, Japanese Zen master and poet (d. 1481)
* 1435 &ndash; Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (d. 1472)
* 1459 &ndash; Conrad Celtis, German poet (d. 1508)
* 1462 &ndash; Johannes Trithemius, German lexicographer, historian, and cryptographer (d. 1516)
* 1501 &ndash; Queen Munjeong of Korea (d. 1565)
* 1552 &ndash; Edward Coke, English jurist and politician (d. 1634)
* 1648 &ndash; Elkanah Settle, English poet and playwright (d. 1724)
* 1659 &ndash; Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (d. 1729)
* 1673 &ndash; Alessandro Marcello, Italian poet, composer, and philosopher (d. 1747)
* 1687 &ndash; Johann Adam Birkenstock, German composer, and violinist (d. 1733)
* 1690 &ndash; Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (d. 1768)
* 1701 &ndash; Johan Agrell, Swedish–born German composer (d. 1765)
* 1761 &ndash; Christian Hendrik Persoon, mycologist (d. 1836)
* 1801 &ndash; Thomas Cole, English–born American painter (d. 1848)
* 1807 &ndash; William B. Campbell, 16th Governor of Tennessee (d. 1867)
* 1825 &ndash; James W. Throckmorton, 25th Governor of Texas (d. 1894)
* 1844 &ndash; G. Stanley Hall, psychologist (d. 1844)
* 1851 &ndash; Durham Stevens, American diplomat (d. 1908)
* 1858 &ndash; Ignacio Bonillas, Mexican diplomat (d. 1942)
* 1859 &ndash; Victor Herbert, composer (d. 1924)
* 1872 &ndash; Clara Butt, English contralto (d. 1936)
* 1873 &ndash; Joseph Allard, Canadian fiddler (d. 1947)
* 1874 &ndash; Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian writer (d. 1929)
* 1878 &ndash; Alfred Hajos, Hungarian swimmer and architect (d. 1955)
* 1878 &ndash; Milan Hodza, Slovakian politician (d. 1944)
* 1878 &ndash; Hattie Wyatt Caraway, United States Senator (d. 1950)
* 1879 &ndash; Henry Chrétien, French astronomer, professor, and inventor (d. 1956)
* 1882 &ndash; Louis Stephen St. Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)
* 1882 &ndash; Prince Andrew of Greece (d. 1944)
* 1884 &ndash; Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian writer (d. 1937)
* 1885 &ndash; Camille Chautemps, Prime Minister of France (d. 1963)
* 1887 &ndash; Charles Nordhoff, English–born writer (d. 1947)
* 1888 &ndash; Charles January, American soccer player (d. 1970)
* 1894 &ndash; John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)
* 1894 &ndash; James P. Johnson, pianist, composer (d. 1955)
* 1894 &ndash; Lucian Grigorescu, Romanian painter (d. 1965)
* 1896 &ndash; Anastasio Somoza Garcia, President of Nicaragua (d. 1956)
* 1898 &ndash; Leila Denmark, American physician and supercentenarian (d. 2012)

### 1901 &ndash; 1925 
* 1901 &ndash; Frank Buckles, American World War I veteran and supercentenarian (d. 2011)
* 1901 &ndash; Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
* 1902 &ndash; Langston Hughes, American writer (d. 1967)
* 1904 &ndash; Franciska Gaal, Jewish–Hungarian cabaret artist and actress (d. 1973)
* 1904 &ndash; S. J. Perelman, humorist, writer (d. 1979)
* 1905 &ndash; Emilio G. Segré, Italian physicist (d. 1989)
* 1906 &ndash; Adetokunbo Ademola, Chief Justice of Nigeria (d. 1993)
* 1907 &ndash; Günter Eich, lyricist (d. 1972)
* 1908 &ndash; George Pal, director, producer (d. 1980)
* 1909 &ndash; George Beverly Shea, Canadian–American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
* 1910 &ndash; Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Tibetan politician (d. 2009)
* 1915 &ndash; Stanley Matthews, English footballer (d. 2000)
* 1915 &ndash; Alicia Rhett, American actress (d. 2014)
* 1915 &ndash; Victor Shem-Tov, Bulgarian–Israeli politician (d. 2014)
* 1917 &ndash; Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player
* 1918 &ndash; Dame Muriel Spark, Scottish writer (d. 2006)
* 1921 &ndash; Peter Sallis, English actor (d. 2017)
* 1921 &ndash; Ann Z. Caracristi, American cryptanalyst (d. 2016)
* 1921 &ndash; Winton M. Blount, United States Postmaster General (d. 2002)
* 1922 &ndash; Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (d. 2004)
* 1924 &ndash; Richard Hooker, American writer (d. 1997)
* 1924 &ndash; Emmanuel Scheffer, German–born Israeli footballer and coach (d. 2012)
* 1925 &ndash; Alfred Grosser, political scientist and publicist

### 1926 &ndash; 1950 
* 1927 &ndash; Galway Kinnell, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
* 1927 &ndash; Günter Guillaume, German spy (d. 1995)
* 1928 &ndash; Tom Lantos, American politician (d. 2008)
* 1928 (or 1929) – Stuart Whitman, American actor
* 1930 &ndash; Maria Helena Walsh, Argentine writer and journalist (d. 2011)
* 1930 &ndash; Shahabuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh
* 1930 &ndash; Hussein Muhammad Ershad, former President of Bangladesh
* 1931 &ndash; Iajuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh (d. 2012)
* 1931 &ndash; Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia (d. 2007)
* 1932 &ndash; Hassan al-Turabi, Sudanese religious and political leader (d. 2016)
* 1933 &ndash; Wendell R. Anderson, former Governor of Minnesota
* 1934 &ndash; Nicolae Breban, Romanian writer
* 1934 &ndash; Ninan Koshy, Indian thinker, theologian and social analyst (d. 2015)
* 1934 &ndash; Bob Shane, American singer
* 1935 &ndash; Dieter Kühn, writer
* 1936 &ndash; Azie Taylor Morton, American politician, 36th Treasurer of the United States (d. 2003)
* 1937 &ndash; Don Everly, American musician
* 1937 &ndash; Garrett Morris, American comedian
* 1938 &ndash; Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor (d. 2012)
* 1939 &ndash; Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina (d. 2009)
* 1939 &ndash; Fritjof Capra, Austrian physicist, philosopher and writer
* 1939 &ndash; Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (d. 2014)
* 1939 &ndash; Claude François, French singer and composer (d. 1978)
* 1939 &ndash; Yuri Rost, Russian photographer, journalist and traveller
* 1940 &ndash; Bibi Besch, Austrian–American actress (d. 1996)
* 1941 &ndash; Jerry Spinelli, American writer
* 1941 &ndash; Teofil Codreanu, Romanian footballer (d. 2016)
* 1942 &ndash; Terry Jones, British actor and writer (''Monty Python's Flying Circus'') (d. 2020)
* 1942 &ndash; Muna Wassef, Syrian actress
* 1943 &ndash; Rosemarie Frankland, Welsh actress and model (d. 2000)
* 1944 &ndash; Petru Popescu, Romanian–American writer, director, movie producer and writer
* 1944 &ndash; Dick Snyder, American basketball player
* 1944 &ndash; Mike Enzi, United States Senator for Wyoming (d. 2021)
* 1946 &ndash; Bart Braverman, American actor
* 1946 &ndash; Elisabeth Sladen, English actress (d. 2011)
* 1947 &ndash; Adam Ingram, Scottish politician
* 1947 &ndash; Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
* 1948 &ndash; Rick James, American musician, composer (d. 2004)
* 1949 &ndash; Franco Causio, Italian footballer
* 1950 &ndash; Mike Campbell, American guitarist and producer
* 1950 &ndash; Ali Haydar Konca, Turkish politician
* 1950 &ndash; Alan Moller, American meteorologist, storm chaser and photographer (d. 2014)

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; John McNally, Scottish politician
* 1951 &ndash; Andrew Smith, English politician
* 1952 &ndash; Roger Y. Tsien, Chinese–American cell biologist and Nobel Prize winner (d. 2016)
* 1953 &ndash; Periko Alonso, Spanish footballer
* 1954 &ndash; Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
* 1955 &ndash; Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian politician (d. 2012)
* 1955 &ndash; Ernie Camacho, American baseball player
* 1956 &ndash; Brahmanandam, Indian actor
* 1956 &ndash; Exene Cervenka, American musician (X)
* 1956 &ndash; Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1957 &ndash; Renae Jacobs, American voice actress
* 1957 &ndash; Walter Schachner, Austrian footballer
* 1958 &ndash; William Dufris, American voice actor and audiobook narrator (d. 2020)
* 1958 &ndash; Ryo Horikawa, Japanese guitarist
* 1958 &ndash; Margie Abbott, wife of Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott
* 1958 &ndash; Eleanor Laing, Scottish lawyer and politician
* 1961 &ndash; Daniel M. Tani, American engineer and astronaut
* 1962 &ndash; Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi politician
* 1962 &ndash; Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese rock guitarist
* 1963 &ndash; Takashi Murakami, Japanese artist
* 1964 &ndash; Linus Roache, British actor
* 1964 &ndash; Jani Lane, American musician (d. 2011)
* 1965 &ndash; Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)
* 1965 &ndash; Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
* 1965 &ndash; Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
* 1966 &ndash; Vasilis Dimitriades, Greek footballer
* 1966 &ndash; Michelle Akers, American soccer player
* 1966 &ndash; Adnan Siddiqui, Best UAE based Pakistani Lawyer
* 1968 &ndash; Lisa Marie Presley, American actress
* 1968 &ndash; Pauly Shore, American comedian
* 1969 &ndash; Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer
* 1969 &ndash; Joshua Redman, American jazz musician
* 1969 &ndash; Brian Krause, American actor
* 1969 &ndash; Nino Salukvadze, Georgian sports shooter
* 1969 &ndash; Andrew Breitbart, American conservative publicist and journalist (d. 2012)
* 1971 &ndash; Jill Kelly, erotic actress
* 1971 &ndash; Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian footballer
* 1971 &ndash; Michael C. Hall, American actor
* 1972 &ndash; Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
* 1972 &ndash; Christian Ziege, German footballer
* 1972 &ndash; Johan Wadem, Belgian footballer
* 1973 &ndash; Oscar Perez, Mexican footballer
* 1974 &ndash; Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist
* 1974 &ndash; Walter McCarty, American basketball player
* 1975 &ndash; Katerina Thanou, Greek athlete
* 1975 &ndash; Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Katrin Jakobsdottir, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland
* 1977 &ndash; Kevin Kilbane, English–Irish footballer
* 1977 &ndash; Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
* 1978 &ndash; K'naan, Somali singer
* 1978 &ndash; Julie Roberts, American country music singer
* 1979 &ndash; Juan Silveira dos Santos, Brazilian footballer
* 1980 &ndash; Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorean footballer (d. 2005)
* 1980 &ndash; Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1980 &ndash; Héctor Luna, Dominican baseball player
* 1981 &ndash; Graeme Smith, South African cricketer
* 1982 &ndash; Daisy Betts, Australian actress
* 1982 &ndash; Gavin Henson, Welsh rugby player
* 1982 &ndash; Shoaib Malik, Pakistani cricketer
* 1982 &ndash; Kim Jong-wook, South Korean singer
* 1983 &ndash; Andrew VanWyngarden, American musician
* 1984 &ndash; Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer
* 1984 &ndash; Lee Thompson Young, American actor (d. 2013)
* 1985 &ndash; Karine Sergerie, Canadian taekwondo world champion
* 1985 &ndash; Dean Shiels, Northern Irish footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Jorrit Bergsma, Dutch speed skater
* 1986 &ndash; Lauren Conrad, American television personality
* 1986 &ndash; Johan Vonlanthen, Swiss footballer
* 1987 &ndash; Giuseppe Rossi, Italian footballer
* 1987 &ndash; Heather Morris, American actress and dancer
* 1987 &ndash; Sebastian Boenisch, Polish footballer
* 1987 &ndash; Ronda Rousey, American mixed martial artist, judoka and actress
* 1989 &ndash; Alfred Finnbogason, Icelandic footballer
* 1990 &ndash; Dan Gosling, English footballer
* 1990 &ndash; Laura Marling, English singer-songwriter
* 1994 &ndash; Harry Styles, English singer (One Direction)
* 1994 &ndash; Skylar Laine, American singer-songwriter
* 1995 &ndash; Oliver Heldens, Dutch DJ, musician and producer
* 1996 &ndash; Dionne Bromfield, English singer-songwriter
* 1997 &ndash; Jihyo, South Korean singer
* 2000 &ndash; Paris Smith, American actress and singer

## Deaths
### Up to 1900 
* 772 &ndash; Pope Stephen III (b. 720)
* 1248 &ndash; Henry II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1207)
* 1328 &ndash; Charles IV of France (b. 1294)
* 1542 &ndash; Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (b. 1480)
* 1563 &ndash; Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia
* 1691 &ndash; Pope Alexander VIII (b. 1610)
* 1733 &ndash; Augustus III of Poland (b. 1670)
* 1734 &ndash; John Floyer, English physician and writer (b. 1649)
* 1743 &ndash; Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (b. 1657)
* 1750 &ndash; Bakar of Georgia, Georgian prince and politician (b. 1699)
* 1793 &ndash; William Wildman Shute Barrington, English statesman (b. 1717)
* 1851 &ndash; Mary Shelley, British writer of *Frankenstein* (b. 1797)
* 1871 &ndash; Alexander Serov, Russian composer (b. 1820)
* 1873 &ndash; Matthew Fontaine Maury, American naval officer (b. 1806)
* 1893 &ndash; George Henry Sanderson, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1824)
* 1897 &ndash; Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (b. 1826)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1903 &ndash; George Gabriel Stokes, Irish physicist (b. 1819)
* 1908 &ndash; King Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)
* 1908 &ndash; Luis Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal (b. 1887)
* 1922 &ndash; William Desmond Taylor, American actor and director (b. 1872)
* 1928 &ndash; Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
* 1936 &ndash; Georgios Kondylis, Greek general and Prime Minister (b. 1878)
* 1941 &ndash; Walter Abbott, English footballer (b. 1877)
* 1944 &ndash; Piet Mondrian, Dutch artist (b. 1872)
* 1945 &ndash; Prince Kiril of Bulgaria (b. 1895)
* 1949 &ndash; Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and activist (b. 1880)
* 1957 &ndash; Friedrich Paulus, German general (b. 1890)
* 1958 &ndash; Clinton Davisson, American physicist (b. 1888)
* 1966 &ndash; Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)
* 1976 &ndash; Werner Heisenberg, German physicist (b. 1901)
* 1976 &ndash; George Whipple, American doctor, won the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)
* 1980 &ndash; Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (b. 1930)
* 1981 &ndash; Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
* 1986 &ndash; Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician and diplomat (b. 1902)
* 1987 &ndash; Alessandro Blasetti, Italian director (b. 1900)
* 1988 &ndash; Heather O'Rourke, American child actress (b. 1975)
* 1989 &ndash; Elaine de Kooning, American painter (b. 1918)
* 1995 &ndash; Richey James Edwards, Welsh singer and musician (b. 1967)
* 1999 &ndash; Baris Manco, Turkish musician (b. 1943)

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Hildegard Knef, German actress (b. 1925)
* 2002 &ndash; Daniel Pearl, American journalist
* 2003 &ndash; Deaths in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster:
**Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut (b. 1959)
**David M. Brown, American astronaut (b. 1956)
**Kalpana Chawla, Indian astronaut (b. 1961)
**Laurel Clark, American astronaut (b. 1961)
**Rick D. Husband, American astronaut (b. 1957)
**Willie McCool, American astronaut (b. 1961)
**Ilan Ramon, Israeli astronaut (b. 1954)
* 2004 &ndash; Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer (b. 1931)
* 2007 &ndash; Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian–born composer (b. 1911)
* 2007 &ndash; Ahmed Abu Laban, Danish Muslim leader (b. 1946)
* 2009 &ndash; Lukas Foss, German–born composer (b. 1922)
* 2010 &ndash; Steingrimur Hermannsson, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1928)
* 2010 &ndash; Justin Mentell, American actor (b. 1982)
* 2012 &ndash; Wislawa Szymborska, Polish poet (b. 1923)
* 2012 &ndash; Angelo Dundee, American boxing trainer (b. 1921)
* 2012 &ndash; Don Cornelius, American TV host (b . 1936)
* 2013 &ndash; Ed Koch, 105th Mayor of New York City (b. 1924)
* 2013 &ndash; Barney, pet dog of George W. Bush (b. 2000)
* 2013 &ndash; Robin Sachs, British actor (b. 1951)
* 2014 &ndash; Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1938)
* 2014 &ndash; Maximilian Schell, Austrian–Swiss actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1930)
* 2014 &ndash; Vasily Ivanovich Petrov, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1917)
* 2014 &ndash; Rene Ricard, American poet (b. 1946)
* 2015 &ndash; Aldo Ciccolini, Italian–French pianist (b. 1925)
* 2015 &ndash; Ann Mara, American football team owner (b. 1929)
* 2015 &ndash; Monty Oum, American animator (b. 1981)
* 2016 &ndash; Thomas Tigue, American politician (b. 1945)
* 2016 &ndash; Paul Pholeros, Australian architect (b. 1953)
* 2017 &ndash; E. Ahamed, Indian politician (b. 1938)
* 2017 &ndash; Albano Bortoletto Cavallin, Brazilian archbishop (b. 1930)
* 2017 &ndash; Sandy Gandhi, Indian–Australian comedian (b. 1958)
* 2017 &ndash; Desmond Carrington, English actor (b. 1926)
* 2017 &ndash; Stig Grybe, Swedish actor (b. 1928)
* 2017 &ndash; Ken Morrison, English businessman (b. 1931)
* 2017 &ndash; Cor van der Hoeven, Dutch footballer (b. 1921)
* 2017 &ndash; Asim Basu, Indian theatre director (b. 1935)
* 2017 &ndash; Lars-Erik Berenett, Swedish actor (b. 1942)
* 2017 &ndash; Ken Morrison, English businessman (b. 1931)
* 2017 &ndash; Edward Tipper, American World War II veteran (b. 1921)
* 2018 &ndash; Niranjan Bhagat, Indian poet (b. 1926)
* 2018 &ndash; Hazar Khan Bijarani, Pakistani politician (b. 1946)
* 2018 &ndash; Dennis Edwards, American singer (b. 1943)
* 2018 &ndash; Barys Kit, Belarussian mathematician, physicist, chemist and rocket scientist (b. 1910)
* 2018 &ndash; Su Bai, Chinese archaeologist (b. 1922)
* 2018 &ndash; Omar Aggad, Palestinian–Saudi businessman (b. 1927)
* 2018 &ndash; John Jacob Lavranos, South African botanist (b. 1926)

## Observances
* Start of Black History Month (Canada and United States)
* Start of LGBT History Month (UK)
* Freedom Day (United States)
* Heroes Day (Rwanda)
* Imbolc, a cross–quarter day in the Celtic calendar
* St. Brigid's Day (Ireland)
* Basque region – The alluvial Pheasant Island is controlled by Spain from this date until July 31