History of Today in India – 19 February

Explore the history of today 19 February in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 19 February 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 19 February in World History

19 Feb 2021: Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, a 19-year-old protester, becomes the first known casualty of anti-coup protests that formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. Read more
19 Feb 2020: Nine people are killed in two domestic terrorist shootings in Hanau, Hesse, Germany. Read more
19 Feb 2012: Forty-four people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Read more
19 Feb 2011: The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artifacts found in one location, begins in Singapore. Read more
19 Feb 2006: A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners. Read more
19 Feb 2003: An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275. Read more
19 Feb 2002: NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system. Read more
19 Feb 1989: Flying Tiger Line Flight 066 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four. Read more
19 Feb 1988: A Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner operating as AVAir Flight 3378 crashes in Cary, North Carolina, killing 12. Read more
19 Feb 1986: Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in eastern Sri Lanka. Read more
19 Feb 1985: William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave the hospital. Read more
19 Feb 1985: A Boeing 727 operating as Iberia Flight 610 crashes Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148; it is the deadliest accident to occur in Iberia's history and the deadliest to occur in Basque County. Read more
19 Feb 1985: China Airlines Flight 006 experiences an aircraft upset over the Pacific Ocean, injuring 24. Read more
19 Feb 1978: Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat. Read more
19 Feb 1976: Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald Ford's Proclamation 4417. Read more
19 Feb 1965: Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm, all Catholics, attempt a coup against the military junta of the Buddhist Nguyễn Khánh. Read more
19 Feb 1963: The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness raising groups spread. Read more
19 Feb 1960: China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket. Read more
19 Feb 1959: The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960. Read more
19 Feb 1954: Transfer of Crimea: The Soviet Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. Read more
19 Feb 1949: Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University. Read more
19 Feb 1948: The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta. Read more
19 Feb 1945: World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima. Read more
19 Feb 1943: World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins. Read more
19 Feb 1942: World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 243 people. Read more
19 Feb 1942: World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps. Read more
19 Feb 1937: Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. Read more
19 Feb 1915: World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli. Read more
19 Feb 1913: Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country. Read more
19 Feb 1884: More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Read more
19 Feb 1878: Thomas Edison patents the phonograph. Read more
19 Feb 1847: The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party. Read more
19 Feb 1846: In Austin, Texas, the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States. Read more
19 Feb 1836: King William IV signs Letters Patent establishing the province of South Australia. Read more
19 Feb 1819: British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands. Read more
19 Feb 1807: Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama, and confined to Fort Stoddert. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 19 February in World History

19 Feb 2004: Millie Bobby Brown, English actress, model and producer Millie Bonnie Bongiovi, known professionally as Millie Bobby Brown, is a British actress and film producer. She gained international recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things (2016–2025), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2018, Brown was featured in the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people, and she was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, the youngest person ever selected for this position. Read more
19 Feb 2001: Lee Kang-in, South Korean footballer Lee Kang-in is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the South Korea national team. Read more
19 Feb 2001: David Mazouz, American actor David Albert Mazouz is an American actor, best known for his leading role as Bruce Wayne in Fox's Batman-prequel TV drama Gotham (2014–2019). Mazouz started his acting career with several guest roles before joining the Fox TV series Touch (2012–2013), for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award. He has had leading roles in the films The Games Maker and The Darkness. Read more
19 Feb 1998: Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player Katharina Gerlach is a German inactive tennis player. Read more
19 Feb 1998: Chappell Roan, American singer and songwriter Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known professionally as Chappell Roan, is an American singer and songwriter. She is known for her camp and drag queen-influenced style. Her debut EP, School Nights (2017), was released by Atlantic Records. After years without success, she was dropped from the label in 2020. Read more
19 Feb 1998: Jungwoo, South Korean singer Kim Jung-woo, known mononymously as Jungwoo, is a South Korean singer. He is a member of the SM Entertainment South Korean boy group NCT and its sub-units NCT 127 and NCT DoJaeJung. Read more
19 Feb 1996: Mabel, British-Swedish singer Mabel Alabama-Pearl McVey is a Swedish and British singer. She rose to prominence in 2017 with her single "Finders Keepers" which peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart. Read more
19 Feb 1996: D. J. Wilson, American basketball player DeVante Jaylen Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Jilin Northeast Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and completed his junior season for the 2016–17 season. He was drafted 17th overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent four seasons before he was traded to the Houston Rockets in March 2021. Read more
19 Feb 1995: Nikola Jokić, Serbian basketball player Nikola Jokić is a Serbian professional basketball player who is a center for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Joker", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players and centers of all time, and is often considered the greatest draft steal in NBA history. A eight-time NBA All-Star, Jokić has been named to the All-NBA Team on seven occasions, and won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2023–24 seasons. He represents the Serbian national team, with which he won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Read more
19 Feb 1994: Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer Tiina Trutsi is an Estonian footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Cypriot team Barcelona FA and the Estonian national team. Read more
19 Feb 1993: Mauro Icardi, Argentine footballer Mauro Emanuel Icardi Rivero is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains Süper Lig club Galatasaray. Read more
19 Feb 1993: Victoria Justice, American actress and singer Victoria Justice is an American actress and singer. She rose to fame on Nickelodeon, playing Lola Martinez on the comedy drama series Zoey 101 (2005–2008) and Tori Vega on the sitcom Victorious (2010–2013). For these roles, she won a Bravo Otto, a Kids' Choice Award, and two Young Artist Awards. She also starred in the musical Spectacular! (2009) and the comedy horror film The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010) for the network. Read more
19 Feb 1992: Camille Kostek, American model Camille Veronica Kostek is an American model, host, and actress. She appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and was featured on the cover of the magazine's 2019 edition. Kostek is the on-field host of the game show Wipeout on TBS, and in 2022 hosted NBC's Dancing with Myself. She also appeared in the film Free Guy (2021). Read more
19 Feb 1992: Cody Parkey, American football player Cody Parkey is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2014. Parkey saw early success in his NFL career, being selected to the Pro Bowl that same year after being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also a member of the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints. Read more
19 Feb 1991: Trevor Bayne, American race car driver Trevor Mitchell Bayne is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, competing in the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for Tricon Garage. He is also a pit reporter for NASCAR on Prime Video. He is the youngest person to ever win the Daytona 500, the largest event in NASCAR, doing so a day after his twentieth birthday in 2011. The win came in only his second race in NASCAR's top series, and was his only victory in 187 total Cup Series starts. Read more
19 Feb 1991: Christoph Kramer, German footballer Christoph Kramer is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Read more
19 Feb 1991: Adreian Payne, American basketball player (died 2022) Adreian DeAngleo Payne was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Orlando Magic as well as for several European and Asian teams. Payne played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans. Read more
19 Feb 1989: Sone Aluko, English-Nigerian footballer Omatsone Folarin Aluko is a professional football coach and former player who played as a forward or winger. He is currently a first team coach at Ipswich Town. Read more
19 Feb 1988: Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player Shawn Matthias is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Matthias played in the NHL, making appearances with the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jets. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round, 47th overall, at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Matthias was a natural centre early in his career; however, he made the transition to being able to play the wings as well. Read more
19 Feb 1988: Seth Morrison, American guitarist Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John Cooper and Korey Cooper along with Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison. The band has released twelve studio albums, two of which, Collide and Comatose, received Grammy nominations. Two of their albums, Comatose and Awake, are certified Platinum and Double Platinum respectively by the RIAA, while Rise and Unleashed are certified Gold as of June 29, 2020. Four of their songs, "Monster", "Hero", "Awake and Alive", and "Feel Invincible", are certified Multi-Platinum, while another three, "Whispers in the Dark", "Comatose", and "The Resistance" are certified Platinum, and another five, "Rebirthing", "Not Gonna Die", "The Last Night", "Legendary", and "Stars" are certified Gold. Read more
19 Feb 1987: Anna Cappellini, Italian ice dancer Anna Cappellini is an Italian ice dancer. With partner Luca Lanotte, she is the 2014 World champion, the 2014 European champion, the 2015 Cup of China champion and a thirteen-time medalist on the Grand Prix series, and a seven-time Italian national champion (2012–18). Read more
19 Feb 1987: Josh Reddick, American baseball player William Joshua Reddick is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Red Sox selected Reddick in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2009. He won an American League (AL) Gold Glove Award in 2012. Read more
19 Feb 1986: Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player Kyle Douglas Glen Chipchura is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He was selected in the first round, 18th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Chipchura also played for the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes. Read more
19 Feb 1986: Linus Klasen, Swedish ice hockey player Robert Linus Alexander Klasen is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Read more
19 Feb 1986: Marta, Brazilian footballer Marta Vieira da Silva, known mononymously as Marta, is a Brazilian-Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride. Regarded by many as the greatest female footballer of all time, she has been named FIFA World Player of the Year six times, five of them being consecutive (2006—2010), with the latest award coming in 2018. Read more
19 Feb 1986: Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter Maria Viktoria Mena is a Norwegian pop singer, best known for her singles such as "You're the Only One", "Just Hold Me", "All This Time" which charted in multiple countries. Read more
19 Feb 1985: Haylie Duff, American actress and singer Haylie Katherine Duff is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Sandy Jameson in the television series 7th Heaven, Amy Sanders in Lizzie McGuire and Summer Wheatly in Napoleon Dynamite. An avid food blogger, Duff had her own cooking show, The Real Girl's Kitchen, in 2014. She is the older sister of Hilary Duff. Read more
19 Feb 1985: Arielle Kebbel, American actress and model Arielle Kebbel is an American actress and model. She has starred on several television series, including Gilmore Girls (2003–2004), The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017), Life Unexpected (2010), 90210 (2011–2013), Ballers, Midnight Texas (2017–2018), Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (2019–2020), Rescue: HI-Surf (2024–2025), and Marshals (2026). Read more
19 Feb 1985: Kosta Perović, Serbian basketball player Kosta Perović is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally. In the 2006 NBA draft he was a second-round selection of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, with whom he signed on August 3, 2007. A 2.17 m center, Perović was the tallest player taken in the 2006 NBA Draft. His game has been compared to that of Slovenian center Radoslav Nesterović. Read more
19 Feb 1984: Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter Christopher Michael Richardson is an American singer-songwriter who was the fifth-place finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. Read more
19 Feb 1983: Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler Karoyan Andō, known professionally as Kotoōshū Katsunori and in his coaching career as Naruto Katsunori, is a Bulgarian-Japanese former sumo wrestler. He made his debut in 2002, reaching the top division just two years later. In 2005, he was the first European sumo wrestler to reach the rank of ōzeki or 'champion', the second-highest level in the sumo ranking system behind only yokozuna. On May 24, 2008, Kotoōshū made history by becoming the first European sumo wrestler to win an Emperor's Cup. He was one of the longest serving ōzeki in sumo history, holding the rank for 47 consecutive tournaments until November 2013. Read more
19 Feb 1983: Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notably as Nana Osaki in the live action film adaptations of Nana. She has sold over 10 million records in Japan. Read more
19 Feb 1983: Reynhard Sinaga, Indonesian sex offender Reynhard "Rey" Tambos Maruli Tua Sinaga is an Indonesian serial rapist who was convicted of 159 sex offences, including 136 rapes of young men, committed in Manchester, England, between 2015 and 2017, where he was living as a student. Sinaga was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting 48 men during this period, 44 of whom he raped, some repeatedly, although police believe he was offending for years beforehand. Sinaga was prosecuted in four trials between 2018 and 2020 and was given concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of 30 years, raised to 40 years in December 2020 by the Court of Appeal. The Crown Prosecution Service described Sinaga as being the most prolific rapist in British legal history. Read more
19 Feb 1983: Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player Ryan Whitney is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently the co-host of two Barstool Sports podcasts, Spittin' Chiclets with former NHL enforcer Paul Bissonnette and The Unnamed Show with Kirk Minihane & Dave Portnoy. In 2019, New Amsterdam collaborated with Whitney to create a pink lemonade-flavored vodka called Pink Whitney. Read more
19 Feb 1983: Jawad Williams, American basketball player Jawad Hason Williams is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays as a small forward-power forward. He played high school basketball at St. Edward High School of Lakewood, Ohio and college basketball for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Read more
19 Feb 1981: Beth Ditto, American singer Mary Beth Patterson, known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin, and Tina Turner. She disbanded Gossip to pursue a career in fashion, and has since started a solo career. In 2022, she portrayed country singer Gigi Roman on the Fox drama series Monarch, and two years later, Gossip reformed. Read more
19 Feb 1981: Shawn Spears, Canadian wrestler Ronnie William Arneill, better known by his ring name Shawn Spears, is a Canadian professional wrestler and trainer. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand and is the leader of The Culling. He is a former NXT North American Champion. He previously performed in WWE from 2013 to 2019 under the name Tye Dillinger. He is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from its inaugural event, Double or Nothing, in 2019 to 2023. Read more
19 Feb 1980: Dwight Freeney, American football player Dwight Jason Freeney is an American former professional football player who currently serves as the Director of player development for Syracuse University. Freeney played as a defensive end and linebacker for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. He played college football for the Syracuse Orange, earning unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the Colts in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft. With the Colts, Freeney won Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears, and made seven Pro Bowls. He also played for the San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions. Read more
19 Feb 1980: Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player Ma Lin is a retired Chinese table tennis player, Olympic champion, and the current Chinese Women's Team Head Coach. Read more
19 Feb 1980: Mike Miller, American basketball player Michael Lloyd Miller is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after being selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2000 NBA draft with the fifth overall pick. Miller was named the NBA Rookie of the Year with the Magic in 2001 and was voted NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2006. He won two consecutive NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. Read more
19 Feb 1979: Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player and manager Steven Emil Cherundolo is an American soccer coach and former player who recently was the head coach of Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC. A right-back, he was the captain of Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga, where he spent his entire club career. He represented the United States at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. Read more
19 Feb 1978: Ben Gummer, English scholar and politician Benedict Michael Gummer is a British businessman and former politician. He is a partner of Gummer Leathes, a property developer. He is a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company, the management consultancy, and a visiting fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. Read more
19 Feb 1978: Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper Felipe Andres Coronel, better known by his stage name Immortal Technique, is a Peruvian-American rapper, songwriter, and activist. His lyrics largely feature commentary on issues such as politics, religion, institutional racism, and government conspiracies. Read more
19 Feb 1977: Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player Ola Salo is a Swedish rock musician, lead vocalist of Swedish glam rock band The Ark. Read more
19 Feb 1977: Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author Andrew Ross Sorkin is an American journalist and author. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times. He wrote the bestselling book Too Big to Fail and co-produced a movie adaptation of the book for HBO Films. He is also a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions. Read more
19 Feb 1977: Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager Gianluca Zambrotta is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a full-back or as a wide midfielder, on both the left and right wings. Read more
19 Feb 1975: Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer Daniel Patrick Adair is a Canadian drummer. He has been a member of the rock band Nickelback since 2005 and was with 3 Doors Down from 2002 until 2005. On the side, he works with the band Suspect and the instrumental fusion band Martone. Read more
19 Feb 1975: Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards David Daewon Song is an Korean-American professional skateboarder. He is the co-founder and co-owner of Almost Skateboards and Thank You Skateboards, and continues to skate for the latter company. Song was named the 2006 "Skater of the Year" by Thrasher magazine, an award that is widely considered to be one of the most significant honors in skateboarding. Read more
19 Feb 1973: Eric Lange, American actor Eric Lange is an American character actor. He is known for his extensive work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles. Read more
19 Feb 1972: Francine Fournier, American wrestler and manager Francine Meeks, known by the mononym Francine, is an American professional wrestling valet and professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005 and 2006. During her tenure with ECW, Francine managed several of the promotion's top wrestlers. Read more
19 Feb 1972: Sunset Thomas, American pornographic actress Diane Thomas, known professionally as Sunset Thomas, is an American artist and former pornographic actress. She was runner-up for Penthouse Pet of the Year in 1998 and is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame, Porn Block of Fame, Legends of Erotica Hall of Fame, and XRCO Hall of Fame. Read more
19 Feb 1971: Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player and poet Miguel Descartes Batista Jerez is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for 12 teams, spending multiple seasons with the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets. Read more
19 Feb 1971: Richard Green, Australian golfer Richard George Green is an Australian professional golfer. Read more
19 Feb 1971: Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator Jeffrey Patrick Kinney is an American author and illustrator. He is best known for creating, writing and illustrating the children's book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also created the child-oriented website Poptropica. Read more
19 Feb 1970: Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter Joacim Cans is a Swedish singer, best known as the lead vocalist of power metal band HammerFall. He is the only member aside from founder and guitarist Oscar Dronjak to appear on all of the band's albums. Read more
19 Feb 1970: Verena Nussbaum, Austrian politician Verena Nussbaum is an Austrian politician and member of the National Council. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she has represented Greater Graz since November 2017. Read more
19 Feb 1970: Bellamy Young, American actress Bellamy Young is an American actress, producer and singer best known as Melody "Mellie" Grant on Scandal (2012–18), for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014. She also starred in Prodigal Son (2019–21). Read more
19 Feb 1969: Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Burton Christopher Bell is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of the industrial metal band Fear Factory. Until 2021 he was the only member to perform on all of the band's albums. His singing style mixes clean and shouted vocals with death growls. Read more
19 Feb 1969: Helena Guergis, Canadian businesswoman and politician Helena C. Guergis, is a Canadian politician of Assyrian descent. She represented the Ontario riding of Simcoe—Grey in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2011, and was appointed Minister of State on October 30, 2008, following the October 14, 2008 Canadian federal election. Soon after starting her parliamentary career, she became involved in several controversial situations, and these increased with time in both number and severity. Read more
19 Feb 1968: Prince Markie Dee, American rapper and actor (died 2021) Mark Anthony Morales, better known by the stage name Prince Markie Dee, was an American rapper. He was a member of the Fat Boys, a pioneering hip hop group that gained fame during the 1980s. Morales was the vice-president of Uncle Louie Music Group. Read more
19 Feb 1968: Frank Watkins, American bass player (died 2015) Frank Watkins was an American heavy metal musician best known as a former, long-time bass player for the death metal band Obituary; he played with them from 1989 to 1997 and then from 2003 until 2010. He had been the bass player of the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth at the time of his death, where he had been known as Bøddel. Read more
19 Feb 1967: Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor, director, and producer Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican actor. His accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Goya Award, and the Best Actor awards at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $5.9 billion worldwide. Read more
19 Feb 1966: Justine Bateman, American actress and producer Justine Bateman is an American filmmaker, author and actress. Her acting work has included Family Ties, Satisfaction, Men Behaving Badly, The TV Set, Desperate Housewives, and Californication. Her feature film directorial debut, Violet, starring Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey, and Justin Theroux, premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival. Bateman also wrote, directed and produced the film short Five Minutes, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. She regularly makes guest appearances on USA television including Fox News and Today and is the author of the books Fame: The Hijacking of Reality (2018) and Face: One Square Foot of Skin (2021). Read more
19 Feb 1966: Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player and coach Paul Vincent Nicholas Haarhuis is a Dutch tennis coach and a former professional player. He is a former world No. 1 doubles player, having reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 1995. He has won 54 doubles titles, including six Grand Slam titles, five with Jacco Eltingh, and one with Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Read more
19 Feb 1966: Eduardo Xol, American designer and author (died 2024) Eduardo Torres Xol was an American television personality, designer, entertainer, social activist and businessman. He was most known to U.S. television audiences for his work as a designer on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which formerly aired on ABC. Read more
19 Feb 1965: Jon Fishman, American drummer Jon Fishman is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Phish, which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo credit. Read more
19 Feb 1965: Clark Hunt, American businessman Clark Knobel Hunt is an American billionaire and businessman as well as a scion of the wealthy Hunt family. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of the National Football League (NFL)'s Kansas City Chiefs, Major League Soccer (MLS)‘s FC Dallas and a founding investor-owner in MLS. He is also chairman of Hunt Sports Group, where he oversees the operations of the Chiefs, FC Dallas and, formerly, the Columbus Crew of MLS. The group is estimated to have a total net worth of $24.8 billion as of 2024. He is the son of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt and his second wife Norma Hunt, and is the grandson of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. As of 2025, he had an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. Read more
19 Feb 1965: Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Kirk Leroy Miller professionally known as Leroy Miller is an American musician from Spokane, Washington. Read more
19 Feb 1964: Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Doug Aldrich is an American hard rock guitarist. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising and Revolution Saints. He has also released several solo albums. Doug toured with former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes' band in 2015. It was announced in early 2016 that he would be replacing Richard Fortus as guitarist of The Dead Daisies. Read more
19 Feb 1964: Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist Jennifer Anne Doudna is an American biochemist who has pioneered work in CRISPR gene editing, and made other fundamental contributions in biochemistry and genetics. She received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Emmanuelle Charpentier, "for the development of a method for genome editing." She is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair Professor in the department of chemistry and the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1997. Read more
19 Feb 1964: Jonathan Lethem, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. In 1999, Lethem published Motherless Brooklyn, a National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novel that achieved mainstream success. In 2003, he published The Fortress of Solitude, which became a New York Times Best Seller. In 2005, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. Since 2011, he has taught creative writing at Pomona College. In 2025, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction, a prestigious honor recognizing exceptional artists and scholars in the arts and humanities. Read more
19 Feb 1963: Seal, English singer-songwriter Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the recipient of three Brit Awards, four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award, with more than 20 million albums or singles sold. He signed with record producer Trevor Horn's ZTT Records to release his eponymous debut studio album (1991). A critical and commercial success, it spawned the singles "Crazy" and "Killer", which peaked at numbers two and one on the UK singles chart, respectively, while both entered the US Billboard Hot 100. His 1994 single, "Kiss from a Rose", peaked atop the latter chart after its inclusion on the accompanying film soundtracks for The NeverEnding Story III and Batman Forever. Read more
19 Feb 1963: Jessica Tuck, American actress Jessica Tuck is an American actress, best known for her performances on television as Megan Gordon Harrison on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, Gillian Gray in the CBS drama series Judging Amy, and as Nan Flanagan on the HBO series True Blood. Read more
19 Feb 1962: Hana Mandlíková, Czech-Australian tennis player and coach Hana Mandlíková is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including four majors: the 1980 Australian Open, 1981 French Open, 1985 US Open and 1987 Australian Open. She was the runner-up at a further four singles majors – twice at Wimbledon and twice at the US Open. She also won 19 career doubles titles, including a major in women's doubles at the 1989 US Open partnering Martina Navratilova. Competing for Czechoslovakia and later Australia, Mandlíková was one of the brightest stars of her generation and is considered one of the greatest female players of the Open Era. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994. Read more
19 Feb 1961: Justin Fashanu, English footballer (died 1998) Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, becoming the first professional footballer to be openly gay. He was also one of the first footballers to command a £1 million transfer fee, with his transfer from Norwich City to Nottingham Forest in 1981, and had varying levels of success as a player afterwards, until he retired in 1997. Read more
19 Feb 1961: Ernie Gonzalez, American golfer (died 2020) Ernie Gonzalez was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1980s. He won the only title of his career in 1986. By doing so, he became only the third left-handed golfer to win a Tour event. Read more
19 Feb 1960: Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, second son of Elizabeth II Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger brother of King Charles III. Andrew was born second in the line of succession to the British throne and is eighth as of 2026. Read more
19 Feb 1960: John Paul Jr., American race car driver (died 2020) John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982. Read more
19 Feb 1959: Roger Goodell, American businessman, 6th National Football League Commissioner Roger Stokoe Goodell is an American businessman who has been the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) since 2006. Read more
19 Feb 1958: Leslie David Baker, American actor Leslie David Baker is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Stanley Hudson on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), which earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Read more
19 Feb 1958: Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter Helen Fielding is a British journalist, novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones. Fielding’s first novel was set in a refugee camp in East Africa and she started writing Bridget Jones in an anonymous column in London’s Independent newspaper. This turned into an unexpected hit, leading to four Bridget Jones novels and four movies. Read more
19 Feb 1958: Steve Nieve, English keyboard player and composer Steve Nieve is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as well as Madness. He has also experienced success as a prolific session musician, featured on a wide array of other artists' recordings. Read more
19 Feb 1957: Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter, rapper, and musician (died 1998) Johann "Hans" Hölzel, better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian musician. He had several international hits, including "Der Kommissar" (1981), "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", which reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home ", and posthumously released "Out of the Dark". Read more
19 Feb 1957: Dave Stewart, American baseball player, coach, and executive David Keith Stewart, nicknamed "Smoke", is an American professional baseball executive, pitching coach, sports agent, and former starting pitcher. The Los Angeles Dodgers' 16th-round selection in the 1975 MLB draft, Stewart's MLB playing career spanned from 1978 through 1995, winning three World Series championships all with different clubs while compiling a career 3.95 earned run average (ERA) and a 168–129 won–lost record, including winning 20 games in four consecutive seasons. He pitched for the Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays. Read more
19 Feb 1957: Ray Winstone, English actor Raymond Andrew Winstone is an English television, stage, and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is known for his "hard man" roles, usually delivered in his distinctive London accent. Read more
19 Feb 1956: Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Livingston Holsapple is an American musician who, along with Chris Stamey, formed the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The band, with Stamey back in the fold, reformed with new material in 2005–2006. Read more
19 Feb 1956: Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Roderick MacKinnon is an American biophysicist, neuroscientist, and businessman. He is a professor of molecular neurobiology and biophysics at Rockefeller University who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Peter Agre in 2003 for his work on the structure and operation of ion channels. Read more
19 Feb 1956: Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist David Wakeling is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat and General Public. After he split with Ranking Roger, he formed the English Beat, and continued touring. Read more
19 Feb 1955: Jeff Daniels, American actor and playwright Jeffrey Warren Daniels is an American actor. He is known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for five Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Tony Awards. Read more
19 Feb 1954: Francis Buchholz, German bass player (died 2026) Francis Buchholz was a German musician best known as the bass guitarist of the German rock band Scorpions from 1973 until 1992, a group that was successful internationally; his bass riffs for hits such as "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change" were regarded as iconic. After leaving Scorpions, he was a member of Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, among others. Read more
19 Feb 1954: Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Michael Rolfe Gira is an American singer-songwriter, composer, author and artist. Now based in New Mexico, he founded the band Swans, in which he sings and plays guitar, in New York City in the 1980s at the height of the no wave movement. He is also the founder of Young God Records and previously fronted Angels of Light. Read more
19 Feb 1954: Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2011) Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with style and quality of his play, earned him the nickname "Doctor Socrates". Easily recognizable for his beard and headband, Sócrates became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters". In 1983, he was named South American Footballer of the Year. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time. Read more
19 Feb 1953: Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player Corrado Barazzutti is a former tennis player from Italy. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 7, achieved in August 1978. Read more
19 Feb 1953: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentine lawyer and politician, President of Argentina and Vice President of Argentina Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner is an Argentine lawyer, politician who served as the 56th President of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice President of Argentina under President Alberto Fernández from 2019 to 2023. The widow of Néstor Kirchner, she was also First Lady during his presidency from 2003 to 2007. She was the second female president of Argentina and the first to be directly elected to office. Ideologically self-identified as a Peronist and a progressive, her political approach is called Kirchnerism. Since 2024, she has been the president of the Justicialist Party. Read more
19 Feb 1953: Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1994) Massimo Troisi was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, comedian, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his works in the films I'm Starting back from Three (1981) and Il Postino: The Postman (1994), for which he was posthumously nominated for two Oscars. He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film What Time Is It? (1989). Nicknamed "the comedian of feelings", he is considered one of the most important actors of Italian theater and cinema. Read more
19 Feb 1952: Ryū Murakami, Japanese novelist and filmmaker Ryū Murakami is a Japanese novelist, essayist and filmmaker. His novels explore human nature through themes of disillusion, drug use, surrealism, murder and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are Almost Transparent Blue, Audition, Coin Locker Babies, and In the Miso Soup. Read more
19 Feb 1952: Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in the year 1985. He is the second Latin American to have traveled to space after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez and the first Mexican astronaut. Read more
19 Feb 1952: Amy Tan, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer Amy Ruth Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. Read more
19 Feb 1952: Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia Danilo Türk is a Slovenian diplomat, professor of international law, human rights expert, and political figure who served as President of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. He was the first Slovene ambassador to the United Nations, from 1992 to 2000, and was the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs from 2000 to 2005. Read more
19 Feb 1951: Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician. He is the founder and chief patron of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) since 1980. He also founded the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and served as its leader from 1989 to 2019. Read more
19 Feb 1950: Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (died 2006) Juhani Juice Leskinen, better known as Juice Leskinen was one of the most important and successful Finnish singer-songwriters of the late 20th century. From the early 1970s onward he released nearly 30 full-length albums and wrote song lyrics for dozens of other Finnish artists. Several of Leskinen's songs have reached classic status in Finnish popular music, e.g., "Viidestoista yö", "Kaksoiselämää" and "Syksyn sävel". His early records are considered staples of the so-called Manserock movement of the mid-'70s. He also wrote poetry and plays and published nine collections of verse and seven plays. Read more
19 Feb 1950: Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist Andrew Powell is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is a founding member of the British band Wishbone Ash, whose use of twin lead guitars was influential. He was voted in the top 100 greatest guitarists by Rolling Stone magazine. Powell's trademark guitar is a 1967 Gibson Flying V. Read more
19 Feb 1949: Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (died 1998) Danielle Bunten Berry, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E., one of the first influential multiplayer video games, and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold. Read more
19 Feb 1949: Eddie Hardin, English singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2015) Eddie Hardin was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the drummer, Pete York, left the Spencer Davis Group on 26 October 1968, due to 'differences over musical policy'. Read more
19 Feb 1949: Barry Lloyd, English footballer and manager (died 2024) Barry David Lloyd was an English professional footballer and manager. As a player, he most notably played as a midfielder in the Football League for Fulham, for whom he was captain and made over 280 appearances for the club. He also played League football for Brentford, Hereford United and Chelsea. After his retirement as a player, Lloyd managed Brighton & Hove Albion and non-League clubs Worthing and Yeovil Town. Read more
19 Feb 1949: William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator William Francis Messner-Loebs is an American comics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wife Nadine's unmarried surnames. Read more
19 Feb 1948: Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player Mark Andes is an American musician, known for his work as a bassist with Canned Heat, Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Firefall, Heart, and Robert Mirabal. Read more
19 Feb 1948: Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (died 2002) Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn, was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002. Read more
19 Feb 1948: Raúl Grijalva, United States representative from Arizona (died 2025) Raúl Manuel Grijalva was an American politician and activist who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 2003 until his death in 2025. As member of the Democratic Party, Grijalva represented Arizona's 7th congressional district from 2003 to 2013, Arizona's 3rd congressional district from 2013 to 2023, and the 7th district again from 2023 to 2025. The two districts included the western third of Tucson, part of Yuma and Nogales, and some peripheral parts of metropolitan Phoenix. Read more
19 Feb 1948: Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath in 1968, and was the guitarist, leader, main composer, and only constant member during the band's existence for over fifty years, playing guitar on all of their releases. He is considered one of the creators of heavy metal music and has been referred to as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal". Read more
19 Feb 1947: Jackie Curtis, American actress and playwright (died 1985) Jackie Curtis was an American underground actor, singer, and playwright best known as a Warhol superstar. Primarily a stage actor in New York City, Curtis performed as a man and also performed in drag. Read more
19 Feb 1947: Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand businessman and politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt was a New Zealand politician. Having been an activist in his youth, he went on to serve as mayor of Waitemata City from 1983 to 1989 and then to serve as mayor of Invercargill from 1993 to 1995 and 1998 to 2022; during his term as the latter he became a national icon and a major figure of the city. His term as mayor of both cities extending over 32 years made him one of the longest-serving mayors in New Zealand history. Read more
19 Feb 1946: Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist Paul Warren Dean is a Canadian musician and the lead guitarist of the Canadian rock band Loverboy which reached huge fame in the early 1980s. Read more
19 Feb 1946: Peter Hudson, Australian footballer and coach Peter John Hudson AM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New Norfolk Football Club and Glenorchy Football Club in the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL). Read more
19 Feb 1946: Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (died 1974) Karen Gay Silkwood was an American laboratory technician and labor union activist known for reporting concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility. Read more
19 Feb 1945: Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter Yuri Mikhailovich Antonov is a Soviet and Russian composer, singer and musician, People's Artist of Russia (1997). Read more
19 Feb 1944: Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman Leslie Frank Hinton is a British-American journalist, writer and business executive whose career with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation spanned more than fifty years. Hinton worked in newspapers, magazines and television as a reporter, editor and executive in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States and became an American citizen in 1986. He was appointed CEO of Dow Jones & Company in December 2007, after its acquisition by News Corp. Hinton has variously been described as Murdoch's "hitman"; one of his "most trusted lieutenants"; and an "astute political operator". He left the company in 2011. His memoir, The Bootle Boy, was published in the UK in May 2018, and in the US under the title An Untidy Life in October of the same year. His first fiction book, Dying Days, a thriller set against the backdrop of the transAtlanic newspaper industry, was published by Whitefox in November 2025. Read more
19 Feb 1943: Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter (died 2025) Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, known professionally by his stage name Lou Christie, was an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter widely known for hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 U.S. chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 UK number two hit "I'm Gonna Make You Mine". Read more
19 Feb 1943: Homer Hickam, American author and engineer Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir Rocket Boys was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. Hickam's body of written work also includes several additional best-selling memoirs and novels, including the "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction novels, his 2015 best-selling Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator and in 2021 the sequel to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. His books have been translated into many languages. Read more
19 Feb 1943: Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate Sir Richard Timothy Hunt is a British biochemist and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H. Hartwell for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells. While studying fertilized sea urchin eggs in the early 1980s, Hunt discovered cyclin, a protein that cyclically aggregates and is depleted during cell division cycles. Read more
19 Feb 1942: Cyrus Chothia, English biochemist and emeritus scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (died 2019) Cyrus Homi Chothia was an English biochemist who was an emeritus scientist at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) at the University of Cambridge and emeritus fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. Read more
19 Feb 1942: Paul Krause, American football player and politician Paul James Krause is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Redskins. Krause established himself as a proficient defensive force against opposing wide receivers. He led the league with 12 interceptions as a rookie before going on to set the NFL career interceptions record with 81 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. Krause was selected eight times to the Pro Bowl during his 16 seasons in the NFL and is considered to be among the greatest safeties in NFL history. Read more
19 Feb 1942: Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (died 2015) William Ball Provine was an American historian of science and of evolutionary biology and population genetics. He was the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor at Cornell University and was a professor in the Departments of History, Science and Technology Studies, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Read more
19 Feb 1942: Howard Stringer, Welsh businessman Sir Howard Stringer is a Welsh-American businessman. He had a 30-year career at CBS, culminating in him serving as the president of CBS News from 1986 to 1988, then president of CBS from 1988 to 1995. He served as chairman of the board, chairman, president and CEO of Sony Corporation from 2005 to 2012. He is also the head of the board of trustees of the American Film Institute and now serves as a non-executive director of the BBC. He was knighted in 1999. Read more
19 Feb 1941: David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate David Jonathan Gross is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics with Frank Wilczek and Hugh David Politzer "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction". Read more
19 Feb 1941: Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician Jennifer Louise Tonge, Baroness Tonge is a British politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 1997 to 2005. In June 2005 she was made a life peer as Baroness Tonge, of Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which entitled her to a seat in the House of Lords. Read more
19 Feb 1940: Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (died 2006) Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov was a Turkmen politician and dictator who led Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan from 1985 until 1991 and supported the 1991 Soviet coup attempt. He continued to rule Turkmenistan as the first president for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Read more
19 Feb 1940: Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins, when they were called the Five Chimes, until 1972, when he retired from the group to focus on his role as Motown Records vice president. Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. He left Motown in 1999. Read more
19 Feb 1940: Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (died 2013) Robert Edward Rogers was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to singing, he also contributed to writing some of the Miracles' songs. Rogers is the grandfather of R&B singer Brandi Williams from the R&B girl group Blaque and is a cousin of fellow Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. Read more
19 Feb 1939: Erin Pizzey, English activist and author, founded Refuge Erin Patria Margaret Pizzey is a British men's rights activist and novelist known for her advocacy on behalf of both men's and women's rights and for her work against domestic violence. She is recognized for founding the world's first and largest domestic violence shelter in the world, Refuge, then known as Chiswick Women's Aid, in 1971. Read more
19 Feb 1938: Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (died 1989) Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni, of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan Buddhism, Panchen Lamas are living emanations of the buddha Amitabha. He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen. Read more
19 Feb 1937: Terry Carr, American author and educator (died 1987) Terry Gene Carr was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor. Read more
19 Feb 1937: Norm O'Neill, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (died 2008) Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25. Read more
19 Feb 1936: Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (died 2006) Samuel Joseph Myers was an American blues musician and songwriter. He was an accompanist on dozens of recordings by blues artists over five decades. He began his career as a drummer for Elmore James but was most famous as a blues vocalist and blues harp player. For nearly two decades he was the featured vocalist for Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets. Read more
19 Feb 1936: Frederick Seidel, American poet Frederick Seidel is an American poet. Read more
19 Feb 1935: Chung-Yun Hse, Taiwanese-American wood scientist (died 2021) Chung-Yun Hse was a Taiwanese American research scientist in wood utilization, who was an elected fellow (FIAWS) of the International Academy of Wood Science. He served at the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station in Pineville, Louisiana from 1967 through 2019. Read more
19 Feb 1935: Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (died 2010) David Arnold Niehaus was an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the American League's Seattle Mariners from their inaugural season in 1977 until his death after the 2010 season. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. Among fans nationwide and his peers, Niehaus was considered to be one of the greatest sportscasters in history. Read more
19 Feb 1935: Russ Nixon, American MLB catcher and coach (died 2016) Russell Eugene Nixon was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1957 to 1968. A veteran of 55 years in professional baseball, Nixon managed at virtually every level of the sport, from the lowest minor league to MLB assignments with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg) in his playing days. Read more
19 Feb 1932: Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut Joseph Peter Kerwin is an American physician and former NASA astronaut. He served as the science pilot for the Skylab 2 mission from May 25, 1973, to June 22, 1973. He was the first physician to be selected for astronaut training and the first doctor from the United States to enter space. Read more
19 Feb 1930: John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (died 2002) John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director, known both for his social dramas and his action/suspense pictures. Among his best-known theatrical film credits are Birdman of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, The Train, Seconds, Grand Prix, The Fixer (1968), The Iceman Cometh (1973), French Connection II (1975), Black Sunday (1977), 52 Pick-Up (1986), and Ronin (1998). Read more
19 Feb 1930: K. Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2023) Kasinadhuni Viswanath was an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. One of the greatest auteurs of Indian cinema, he received international recognition for his works, and is known for blending parallel cinema with mainstream cinema. He was honoured with the "Prize of the Public" at the "Besançon Film Festival of France" in 1981. In 1992, he received the Andhra Pradesh state Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and the civilian honour Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of arts. In 2016, he was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema. He is popularly known as "Kalatapasvi." Read more
19 Feb 1929: Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (died 2003) Jacques Deray was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime and thriller films. Read more
19 Feb 1927: Philippe Boiry, French journalist (died 2014) Philippe Paul Alexandre Henri Boiry was a journalist and a pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia from October 26, 1952, to January 5, 2014. Read more
19 Feb 1926: György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic György Kurtág is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to Grove Music Online, with a style that draws on "Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is characterized by compression in scale and forces, and by a particular immediacy of expression". In 2023 he was described as "one of the last living links to the defining postwar composers of the European avant-garde". Read more
19 Feb 1924: David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player and theoretician (died 2006) David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet and Russian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was one of the world's strongest players from the mid-1940s into the mid-1970s, and was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics. He was also a renowned chess writer; his book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 is widely considered one of the greatest chess books ever written. Read more
19 Feb 1924: Lee Marvin, American actor (died 1987) Lamont Warren Marvin Jr., known as Lee Marvin, was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. He received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two BAFTA Awards. He was also a decorated United States Marine during the Second World War. He was also a descendant of the Lee family of Virginia. Read more
19 Feb 1922: Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2015) Władysław Bartoszewski was a Polish professor of History, politician, social activist, journalist, writer, historian and insurgent. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the Polish underground and participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war he was persecuted and imprisoned by the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) of the Polish People's Republic regime due to his membership in the Home Army and opposition activity. Read more
19 Feb 1920: C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (died 2003) Lucy Douglas "C.Z." Guest was an American actress, author, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, and socialite who achieved a degree of fame as a fashion icon. She was frequently seen wearing elegant designs by designers like Mainbocher. Her unfussy, clean-cut style was seen as typically American, and she was named to the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List in 1959. Read more
19 Feb 1920: Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (died 2007) Jaan Kross was an Estonian writer. He won the 1995 International Nonino Prize in Italy. Read more
19 Feb 1920: George Rose, English actor and singer (died 1988) George Walter Rose was an English actor and singer in theatre and film. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for roles in My Fair Lady and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Read more
19 Feb 1918: Fay McKenzie, American actress (died 2019) Eunice Fay McKenzie was an American actress and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles opposite Gene Autry in the early 1940s in five horse opera features. She was also known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on five occasions. Read more
19 Feb 1917: Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist (died 1967) Carson McCullers was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the Southern United States. Her other novels have similar themes. Most are set in the Deep South. Read more
19 Feb 1916: Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (died 1997) George Edward Arcaro was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest jockeys in the history of American Thoroughbred horse racing. Arcaro was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of an impoverished taxi driver. His parents, Pasquale and Josephine, were Italian immigrants and his father held a number of jobs, including taxi driver and operator of an illegal liquor enterprise during Prohibition. Arcaro was born prematurely, and weighed just three pounds at birth; because of this, he was smaller than his classmates and was rejected when he tried out for a spot on a baseball team. His full height would reach just five-foot, two inches. Eventually nicknamed "Banana Nose" by his confreres, Arcaro won his first race in 1932 at the Agua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico; he was 16 years old. In 1934, the inaugural year of Narragansett Park, Arcaro was a comparative unknown who rode many of his early career races at 'Gansett. Read more
19 Feb 1915: Dick Emery, English actor and comedian (died 1983) Richard Gilbert Emery was an English comedian and comic actor. Best known for this catchphrase, "Ooh You Are Awful… But I Like You!" His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981. Read more
19 Feb 1915: John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (died 2014) Major John Horace Freeman was a British politician, diplomat, broadcaster, and British Army officer. He was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford from 1945 to 1955. Read more
19 Feb 1914: Thelma Kench, New Zealand Olympic sprinter (died 1985) Thelma Kench later Irion was a New Zealand sprinter who competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Read more
19 Feb 1913: Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (died 2007) Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was a Brazilian prince and dynastic claimant who served as head of the Petrópolis branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza. From 1940 until his death, he claimed the symbolic headship of the former Brazilian throne, in opposition to the rival claim of the Vassouras branch led by his cousins Pedro Henrique and later Luiz. Read more
19 Feb 1913: Frank Tashlin, American animator and screenwriter (died 1972) Frank Tashlin, also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator and filmmaker. He was best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated shorts for Warner Bros., as well as his work as a director of live-action comedy films. Read more
19 Feb 1912: Saul Chaplin, American composer (died 1997) Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director. Read more
19 Feb 1912: Dorothy Janis, American actress (died 2010) Dorothy Janis was an American actress. Read more
19 Feb 1911: Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (died 1979) Merle Oberon was a British actress of Anglo-Indian origin. Her career spanned the 1920s to the 1970s, and she was a major leading lady during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Read more
19 Feb 1904: Havank, Dutch journalist and author (died 1964) Havank, pseudonym of Hendrikus Frederikus (Hans) van der Kallen, was a Dutch writer, journalist, and translator. He published over 30 crime novels and is considered one of the founding fathers of the Dutch detective genre. Read more
19 Feb 1902: Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, and educator (died 1992) Kay Boyle was an American novelist, short story writer, educator, and political activist. Boyle is best known for her fiction, which often explored the intersections of personal and political themes. Her work contributed significantly to modernist literature, and she was an active participant in the expatriate literary scene in Paris during the 1920s. She was a Guggenheim Fellow and O. Henry Award winner. Read more
19 Feb 1899: Lucio Fontana, Argentinian-Italian painter and sculptor (died 1968) Lucio Fontana was an Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of abstract painting as the first known artist to slash his canvases – which symbolizes an utter rejection of all prerequisites of art. Read more
19 Feb 1897: Alma Rubens, American actress (died 1931) Alma Rubens was an American film actress and stage performer. Read more
19 Feb 1896: André Breton, French poet and author (died 1966) André Robert Breton was a French writer and poet, known as a principal theorist and co-founder of surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism". Read more
19 Feb 1895: Louis Calhern, American actor (died 1956) Carl Henry Vogt, known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles on the Broadway stage and in films and television, between 1923 and 1956. He was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for portraying U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1950 film The Magnificent Yankee. Read more
19 Feb 1893: Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (died 1964) Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned over 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and his film work included leading roles in several adapted literary classics. Read more
19 Feb 1888: José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (died 1928) José Eustasio Rivera Salas was a Colombian lawyer and author primarily known for his national epic The Vortex. Read more
19 Feb 1886: José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (died 1942) José Abad Santos y Basco was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He briefly served as the acting president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and acting commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during World War II, from March 1942 until his execution. Japanese forces killed him for refusing to cooperate during their occupation of the country. Read more
19 Feb 1880: Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (died 1928) Álvaro Obregón Salido was a Mexican general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but was assassinated before he could take office. Read more
19 Feb 1878: Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (died 1961) Harriet Sofie Bosse was a Swedish–Norwegian actress. A celebrity in her day, Bosse is now most commonly remembered as the third wife of the playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her career in a minor company run by her forceful older sister Alma Fahlstrøm in Kristiania. Having secured an engagement at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the main drama venue of Sweden's capital Stockholm, Bosse caught the attention of Strindberg with her intelligent acting and exotic "oriental" appearance. Read more
19 Feb 1877: Gabriele Münter, German painter (died 1962) Gabriele Münter was a German expressionist painter who was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century. She studied and lived with the painter Wassily Kandinsky and was a founding member of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter. Read more
19 Feb 1876: Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (died 1957) Constantin Brâncuși was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture. As a child, he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1905 to 1907. His art emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Brâncuși sought inspiration in non-European cultures as a source of primitive exoticism, as did Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, André Derain, and others. However, other influences emerge from Romanian folk art traceable through Byzantine and Dionysian traditions. Read more
19 Feb 1872: Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (died 1944) Johan Pitka, VR I/1, was an Estonian entrepreneur and sea captain who served as the Commander of the Estonian Navy during the Estonian War of Independence. Read more
19 Feb 1869: Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (died 1923) Hovhannes Tumanyan was an Armenian poet, writer, translator, and literary and public activist. He is the national poet of Armenia. Read more
19 Feb 1865: Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (died 1952) Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO, was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator of his own works. During four expeditions to Central Asia, he made the Transhimalaya known in the West and located sources of the Brahmaputra, Indus and Sutlej Rivers. He also mapped lake Lop Nur, and the remains of cities, grave sites and the Great Wall of China in the deserts of the Tarim Basin. In his book Från pol till pol, Hedin describes a journey through Asia and Europe between the late 1880s and the early 1900s. While traveling, Hedin visited Turkey, the Caucasus, Tehran, Iraq, lands of the Kyrgyz people and the Russian Far East, India, China and Japan. The posthumous publication of his Central Asia Atlas marked the conclusion of his life's work. Read more
19 Feb 1859: Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927) Svante August Arrhenius was a Swedish scientist. Originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, Arrhenius was one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, becoming the first Swedish Nobel laureate. In 1905, he became the director of the Nobel Institute, where he remained until his death. Read more
19 Feb 1855: Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (died 1908) Nishinoumi Kajirō I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sendai, Satsuma Province. He was the sport's 16th yokozuna, and the first to be officially listed as such on the banzuke ranking sheets, an act which strengthened the prestige of yokozuna as the highest level of achievement in professional sumo. Read more
19 Feb 1841: Elfrida Andrée, Swedish organist, composer, and conductor (died 1929) Elfrida Andrée was a Swedish organist, composer, and conductor. Her sister was the singer Fredrika Stenhammar. Read more
19 Feb 1838: Lydia Thompson, British burlesque performer (died 1908) Lydia Thompson, was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer. Read more
19 Feb 1833: Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1906) Élie Ducommun was a Swiss peace activist. He was a Nobel laureate, awarded the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Charles Albert Gobat. Read more
19 Feb 1821: August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (died 1868) August Schleicher was a German linguist. Schleicher studied the Proto-Indo-European language and devised theories concerning historical linguistics. His great work was A Compendium of the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages in which he attempted to reconstruct the Proto-Indo-European language. To show how Indo-European might have looked, he created a short tale, Schleicher's fable, to exemplify the reconstructed vocabulary and aspects of Indo-European society inferred from it. Read more
19 Feb 1804: Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (died 1878) Baron Carl von Rokitansky was a Czech-born Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician, founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. He was the founder of science-based diagnostics, connecting clinical with pathological results in a feedback loop that is standard practice today but was daring in Rokitansky's day. Read more
19 Feb 1800: Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun and social worker, founded the Sisters of Providence (died 1851) Émilie Tavernier Gamelin was a Canadian Catholic social worker and religious sister best known as the founder of the Sisters of Providence of Montreal. In 2001, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 19 February in World History

19 Feb 2020: José Mojica Marins, Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host (born 1936) José Mojica Marins was a Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host. Marins is also known for creating and playing the character Coffin Joe in a series of horror films; the character has since gone on to become his alter ego as well as a pop culture icon, a horror icon, and a cult figure. The popularity of Coffin Joe in Brazil has led to the character being referred to as "Brazil's National Boogeyman" and "Brazil's Freddy Krueger". Read more
19 Feb 2020: Pop Smoke, American rapper (born 1999) Bashar Barakah Jackson, known professionally as Pop Smoke, was an American rapper. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, he rose to fame with the release of his 2019 singles "Welcome to the Party" and "Dior". He frequently collaborated with UK drill artists and producers, who employed more minimal and aggressive instrumentation than American drill artists from Chicago, reintroducing the sound as Brooklyn drill. Read more
19 Feb 2019: Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer (born 1933) Karl Otto Lagerfeld, also called Kaiser Karl, was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director. Read more
19 Feb 2017: Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (born 1943) Larry Coryell was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock music. Coryell was also a music teacher and a writer, penning a monthly column for Guitar Player magazine from 1977 to 1989. He collaborated with a number of other high-profile musicians, including John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitouš, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Emily Remler, Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucía, Steve Morse and others. Read more
19 Feb 2016: Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (born 1932) Umberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes. Read more
19 Feb 2016: Harper Lee, American author (born 1926) Nelle Harper Lee was an American novelist whose 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). An earlier draft of Mockingbird, set at a later date, Go Set a Watchman, was published in July 2015 as a sequel. A collection of her short stories and essays, The Land of Sweet Forever, was published on October 21, 2025. Read more
19 Feb 2016: Chiaki Morosawa, Japanese anime screenwriter (born 1959)
Chiaki Morosawa was a Japanese anime screenwriter and the creator of the fictional universe of "Cosmic Era", the setting for the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and its related series. She was born in Urawa, Saitama, in the Kantou Region of Japan. An older sister of film director Kazuyuki Morosawa, she was the wife of animation director and scriptwriter Mitsuo Fukuda, and the mother of their children. Read more
19 Feb 2016: Samuel Willenberg, Polish-Israeli sculptor and painter (born 1923) Samuel Willenberg, nom de guerre Igo, was a Polish Holocaust survivor, artist, and writer. He was a Sonderkommando at the Treblinka extermination camp and participated in the unit's planned revolt in August 1943. While 300 escaped, about 79 were known to survive the war. Willenberg reached Warsaw where, before war's end, he took part in the Warsaw Uprising. At his death, Willenberg was the last survivor of the August 1943 Treblinka prisoners' revolt. Read more
19 Feb 2015: Harold Johnson, American boxer (born 1928) Harold Johnson was an American professional boxer. He held the NYSAC, NBA/WBA, and The Ring light heavyweight titles from 1962 to 1963. Read more
19 Feb 2015: Nirad Mohapatra, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1947) Nirad Narayan Mohapatra was an Indian film director. Mohapatra was born in the Indian state of Odisha. He directed the Oriya language film Maya Miriga, television soap operas and documentaries. Read more
19 Feb 2015: Harris Wittels, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1984) Harris Lee Wittels was an American comedian. He was a writer for The Sarah Silverman Program, a writer and executive producer for Parks and Recreation, and a recurring guest on Comedy Bang! Bang!
He coined the word humblebrag in 2010. Read more
19 Feb 2014: Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (born 1946) Kresten Bjerre was a Danish footballer, who played professionally for Houston Stars in the United States, and European clubs PSV Eindhoven and R.W.D. Molenbeek. Read more
19 Feb 2014: Dale Gardner, American captain and astronaut (born 1948) Dale Allan Gardner was a NASA astronaut, and naval flight officer who flew two Space Shuttle missions during the mid 1980s. Read more
19 Feb 2014: Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (born 1935) Valery Nikolaevich Kubasov was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who flew on two missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 19, and commanded Soyuz 36 in the Intercosmos programme. On 21 July 1975, the Soyuz 7K-TM module used for ASTP landed in Kazakhstan at 5:51 p.m. and Kubasov was the first to exit the craft. Kubasov performed the first welding experiments in space, along with Georgy Shonin. Read more
19 Feb 2013: Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (born 1914) Armen Albert Alchian was an American economist who made major contributions to microeconomic theory and the theory of the firm. He spent almost his entire career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and is credited with turning its economics department into one of the country's best. He is also known as one of the founders of new institutional economics, and widely acknowledged for his work on property rights. Read more
19 Feb 2013: Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1948) Park Chul-soo was a South Korean film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. He was one of the most active filmmakers in Korean cinema in the 1980s and '90s. Read more
19 Feb 2013: Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1937) Robert Coleman Richardson was an American experimental physicist whose area of research included sub-millikelvin temperature studies of helium-3. Richardson, along with David Lee, as senior researchers, and then graduate student Douglas Osheroff, shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics for their 1972 discovery of the property of superfluidity in helium-3 atoms in the Cornell University Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics. Read more
19 Feb 2013: Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (born 1924) Donald Richie was an American author, journalist, and film critic. He was known for writing about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also directed a number of experimental films, the first when he was 17. He was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun in 2005. Read more
19 Feb 2013: Eugene Whelan, Canadian farmer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (born 1924) Eugene Francis "Gene" Whelan was a Canadian politician, sitting in the House of Commons from 1962 to 1984, and in the Senate from 1996 to 1999. He was also Minister of Agriculture under Pierre Trudeau from 1972 to 1984, and became one of Canada's best-known politicians. During his career, he would meet Queen Elizabeth II, help Canada beat U.S. president Richard Nixon to the punch in "opening up" China, and play a catalyzing role in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War. In an editorial immediately following his death, the Windsor Star said:
He was folksy, flamboyant and colourful. He was the farmer in the iconic green Stetson. He was blunt and rough around the edges. At times he was the antithesis of all things politically correct.

And, while nobody said it in so many words, he was also the guy who made being minister of agriculture seem almost sexy. Perhaps that's because being in a Pierre Trudeau government was sexy in itself. Regardless, Whelan is likely the only MP to hold that post and have his name remembered because of it.
Read more
19 Feb 2012: Ruth Barcan Marcus, American philosopher and logician (born 1921) Ruth Barcan Marcus was an American academic philosopher and logician best known for her work in modal and philosophical logic. She developed the first formal systems of quantified modal logic and in so doing introduced the schema or principle known as the Barcan formula. Marcus, who originally published as Ruth C. Barcan, was, as Don Garrett notes "one of the twentieth century's most important and influential philosopher-logicians". Timothy Williamson, in a 2008 celebration of Marcus' long career, states that many of her "main ideas are not just original, and clever, and beautiful, and fascinating, and influential, and way ahead of their time, but actually – I believe – true". Read more
19 Feb 2012: Jaroslav Velinský, Czech author and songwriter (born 1932) Jaroslav Velinský was a Czech science fiction and detective writer, publisher, songwriter and musician. In the folk arena and among sci-fi friends and fans he was known as Kapitán Kid. Read more
19 Feb 2012: Vitaly Vorotnikov, Russian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Russia (born 1926) Vitaly Ivanovich Vorotnikov was a Soviet politician and diplomat who was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR between 1988 and 1990. Read more
19 Feb 2011: Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (born 1930) Ollie Genoa Matson II was an American Olympic medal winning sprinter and professional football player. He played as a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1966 primarily for the Chicago Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the San Francisco Dons and was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 1952 NFL draft. Read more
19 Feb 2009: Kelly Groucutt, English singer and bass player (born 1945) Kelly Groucutt was an English musician best known as the bassist and secondary vocalist for the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1982. Read more
19 Feb 2008: Yegor Letov, Russian singer-songwriter (born 1964) Igor "Yegor" Fyodorovich Letov (Russian: И́горь "Его́р" Фёдорович Ле́тов, IPA: [ˈiɡərʲ jɪˈɡor ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲetəf]; was a Russian singer-songwriter, best known as the founder and leader of the post-punk/psychedelic rock band Civil Defense, as well as the founder of the conceptual art avant-garde project Communism and psychedelic rock outfit Yegor and Opizdinevshie. Letov collaborated with singer-songwriter Yanka Dyagileva and other Siberian underground artists as a record engineer and producer. Read more
19 Feb 2008: Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress and singer (born 1945) Lydia Shum Din-ha or Lydia Sum Tin-ha was a Hong Kong comedian, emcee, actress and singer. Known for her portly figure, signature dark-rimmed glasses and bouffant hairstyle, she was affectionately known to peers and fans as Fei-fei or Fei Jie. Read more
19 Feb 2007: Janet Blair, American actress and singer (born 1921) Janet Blair was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress. Read more
19 Feb 2007: Celia Franca, English-Canadian dancer and director, founded the National Ballet of Canada (born 1921) Celia Franca was a co-founder of The National Ballet of Canada (1951) and its artistic director for 24 years. Read more
19 Feb 2003: Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1938) Johnny Paycheck was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is a notable figure in the outlaw movement in country music. Read more
19 Feb 2002: Sylvia Rivera, American transgender LGBT activist (born 1951) Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen for most of her life and later as a transgender person, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front. Read more
19 Feb 2001: Liza 'N' Eliaz, Belgian, transgender, hardcore DJ (born 1958) Liza Néliaz, known by her stage name Liza 'N' Eliaz, was a Belgian hardcore techno producer and disc jockey. Described as a "spiritual leader" in the free party movement in France, she was a DJ noted for her skill and use of four turntables. Read more
19 Feb 2001: Stanley Kramer, American director and producer (born 1913) Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message films" and a liberal movie icon. As an independent producer and director, he brought attention to topical social issues that most studios avoided. Among the subjects covered in his films were racism, nuclear war, greed, creationism vs. evolution, and the causes and effects of fascism. His other films included High Noon, The Caine Mutiny, and Ship of Fools (1965). Read more
19 Feb 2001: Charles Trenet, French singer-songwriter (born 1913) Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics for nearly 1,000 songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These songs include "Boum!" (1938), "La Mer" (1946) and "Nationale 7" (1955). Trenet is also noted for his work with musicians Michel Emer and Léo Chauliac, with whom he recorded "Y'a d'la joie" (1938) for the first and "La Romance de Paris" (1941) and "Douce France" (1947) for the latter. He was awarded an Honorary Molière Award in 2000. Read more
19 Feb 2000: Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and illustrator (born 1928) Friedrich Stowasser, better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, was an Austrian visual artist and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection. He emigrated to the Far North of New Zealand in the 1970s, where he lived and worked for most of the rest of his life. Read more
19 Feb 1999: Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric (born 1943) Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed al-Sadr was a prominent Iraqi Twelver Shiite cleric and marja'. He called for government reform and the release of detained Shia leaders during the rule of Saddam Hussein. The growth of his popularity, often referred to as the followers of the local Hawza, also put him in competition with other Shi'a leaders, including Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim who was exiled in Iran. Read more
19 Feb 1998: Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (born 1913) Louis Marshall Jones, known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and old time/country music singer. He was inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1978. Read more
19 Feb 1997: Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (born 1908) Leo Calvin Rosten was an American writer and humorist in the fields of scriptwriting, storywriting, journalism, and Yiddish lexicography. Read more
19 Feb 1997: Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician, paramount leader and 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1904) Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1978 to 1989. Emerging as China's most influential figure after Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng consolidated political power and guided the country into an era of reform and opening up that transitioned the nation toward a socialist market economy. Credited as the "Architect of Modern China", he is recognized for shaping both socialism with Chinese characteristics and Deng Xiaoping Theory. Read more
19 Feb 1996: Charlie Finley, American businessman (born 1918) Charles Oscar Finley, nicknamed "Charlie O" or "Charley O", was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968. He is also known as a short-lived owner of the National Hockey League's California Golden Seals and the American Basketball Association's Memphis Tams. Read more
19 Feb 1994: Derek Jarman, English director and set designer (born 1942) Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English artist, film maker, stage designer, writer, gardener, and gay rights activist, regarded as one of the most influential figures associated with the new queer cinema. Trained originally as a painter, he moved into stage and production design in the late 1960s, including work on Ken Russell’s controversial historical 1971 film The Devils, before turning to filmmaking as a director. Read more
19 Feb 1992: Tojo Yamamoto, American wrestler and manager (born 1927) Harold Watanabe, better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto, was an American professional wrestler. Read more
19 Feb 1988: André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1895) André Frédéric Cournand was a French-American physician and physiologist. Read more
19 Feb 1983: Alice White, American actress (born 1904) Alice White was an American film actress. She first came to the public’s attention during the late silent era as a rival to Clara Bow, before starring in First National/Warner Brothers films Broadway Babies, Naughty Baby, Hot Stuff, and Sweet Mama. Read more
19 Feb 1980: Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (born 1946) Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of Classic Rock, Scott was ranked number one in a list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen of All Time". Hit Parader ranked Scott as fifth on their 2006 list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of all time. Read more
19 Feb 1977: Anthony Crosland, English author and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (born 1918) Charles Anthony Raven Crosland was a British Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book The Future of Socialism (1956) argued against many Marxist notions and the traditional Labour Party doctrine that expanding public ownership was essential to make socialism work, arguing instead for prioritising the end of poverty and improving public services. He offered positive alternatives to both the right wing and left wing of the Labour Party. Read more
19 Feb 1977: Mike González, Cuban baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1890) Miguel Ángel González Cordero was a Cuban catcher, coach and interim manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the first half of the 20th century. Along with Adolfo Luque, González was one of the first Cubans or Latin Americans to have a long career in the American major leagues. Read more
19 Feb 1973: Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (born 1892) Joseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist. Read more
19 Feb 1972: John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (born 1898) John Grierson was a Scottish filmmaker, film theorist, and critic, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty's Moana. In 1939, Grierson established the all-time Canadian film institutional production and distribution company The National Film Board of Canada controlled by the Government of Canada. Read more
19 Feb 1972: Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (born 1938) Edward Lee Morgan was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording with bandleaders like John Coltrane, Curtis Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Mobley and Wayne Shorter, and playing in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Read more
19 Feb 1970: Ralph Edward Flanders, US Senator from Vermont (born 1890) Ralph Edward Flanders was an American mechanical engineer, industrialist and politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Vermont. He grew up on subsistence farms in Vermont and Rhode Island and was an apprentice machinist and draftsman before training as a mechanical engineer. He spent five years in New York City as an editor for a machine tool magazine. After moving back to Vermont, he managed and then became president of a successful machine tool company. Flanders used his experience as an industrialist to advise state and national commissions in Vermont, New England and Washington, D.C., on industrial and economic policy. He was president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank for two years before being elected U.S. Senator from Vermont. Read more
19 Feb 1969: Madge Blake, American actress (born 1899) Madge Blake was an American character actress best remembered for her role as Larry Mondello's mother, Margaret Mondello, on the CBS/ABC sitcom Leave It to Beaver, as Flora MacMichael on the ABC/CBS sitcom The Real McCoys, and as Aunt Harriet Cooper in 96 episodes of ABC's Batman. Gene Kelly had a special affection for her and included her in each of his films following her role in An American in Paris. Read more
19 Feb 1962: Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the Pap smear (born 1883) Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou was a Greek physician, zoologist and microscopist who was a pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection, and inventor of the pap smear for detection of cervical cancer. Read more
19 Feb 1959: Willard Miller, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1877) Willard Dwight Miller was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Spanish–American War. Read more
19 Feb 1957: Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (born 1871) Maurice-François Garin was an Italian-French road bicycle racer best known for winning the inaugural Tour de France in 1903, and for being stripped of his title in the second Tour in 1904 along with eight others, for cheating. He was of Italian origin but adopted French nationality on 21 December 1901. Read more
19 Feb 1953: Richard Rushall, British businessman (born 1864) Captain Richard Boswell Rushall was a British sea captain and businessman who served as mayor of Rangoon, Burma, during the 1930s. He was the first Englishman to hold this position. Born in Braunston, Northamptonshire, Rushall was the eldest of eight children. After finishing school he left for sea, joined the UK's Merchant Navy, and became a ship's captain. He spent 20 years with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, of which 17 were in command of steamships belonging to the company. He settled in Rangoon with his family, resigned from the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and founded Rushall & Co. Ltd., a stevedoring and contracting business that employed between 3,000 and 4,000 men. Read more
19 Feb 1952: Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1859) Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective and environment. He published more than 23 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, works of non-fiction and some essays. Read more
19 Feb 1951: André Gide, French novelist, essayist, and dramatist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869) André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author whose writing spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his beginnings in the symbolist movement to criticising imperialism between the two World Wars. Author of more than 50 books, he was described in his New York Times obituary as "France's greatest contemporary man of letters" and "judged the greatest French writer of this century by the literary cognoscenti." Read more
19 Feb 1945: John Basilone, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1916) John Basilone was a United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was the only enlisted Marine to receive both of these decorations in World War II. Read more
19 Feb 1936: Billy Mitchell, American general and pilot (born 1879) William Lendrum Mitchell was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Read more
19 Feb 1928: George Howard Earle Jr., American lawyer and businessman (born 1856) George Howard Earle Jr. was an American lawyer and businessman from Philadelphia who worked as a receiver and rescued multiple businesses from financial hardship. He was a political reformer and a member of the Committee of One Hundred in Philadelphia which worked to end bossism politics in the city. Read more
19 Feb 1927: Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (born 1847) Robert Fuchs was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in his lifetime. Read more
19 Feb 1916: Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (born 1838) Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach was an Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher who contributed to the understanding of the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of sound is named the Mach number in his honor. As a philosopher of science, he was a major influence on logical positivism and American pragmatism. Through his criticism of Isaac Newton's theories of space and time, he foreshadowed Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Read more
19 Feb 1915: Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian philosopher and politician (born 1866) Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement, and political mentor of Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi. Read more
19 Feb 1897: Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician and academic (born 1815) Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass was a German mathematician often cited as the "father of modern analysis". Despite leaving university without a degree, he studied mathematics and trained as a school teacher, eventually teaching mathematics, physics, botany and gymnastics. He later received an honorary doctorate and became professor of mathematics in Berlin. Read more
19 Feb 1887: Multatuli, Dutch-German author and civil servant (born 1820) Eduard Douwes Dekker, better known by his pen name Multatuli, was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel Max Havelaar (1860), which denounced the abuses of colonialism in the Dutch East Indies. He is considered one of the Netherlands' greatest authors. Read more
19 Feb 1837: Georg Büchner, German-Swiss poet and playwright (born 1813) Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. His literary achievements, though limited, are generally held in great esteem in Germany. Despite his brief career, his plays profoundly influenced naturalism, expressionism, and later developments in European theater. Read more
19 Feb 1837: Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (born 1756) Thomas Burgess was an English author, philosopher, Bishop of St Davids and Bishop of Salisbury, who was greatly influential in the development of the Church in Wales. He founded St David's College, Lampeter, was a founding member of the Odiham Agricultural Society, helped establish the Royal Veterinary College in London, and was the first president of the Royal Society of Literature. Read more
19 Feb 1806: Elizabeth Carter, English poet and translator (born 1717) Elizabeth Carter was an English poet, classicist, writer, translator, and linguist. As one of the Bluestocking Circle that surrounded Elizabeth Montagu, she earned respect for the first English translation of the 2nd-century Discourses of Epictetus. She also published poems and translated from French and Italian, and corresponded profusely. Among her many eminent friends were Elizabeth Montagu, Hannah More, Hester Chapone and other Bluestocking members. Also close friends were Anne Hunter, a poet and socialite, and Mary Delany. She befriended Samuel Johnson, editing some editions of his periodical The Rambler. Read more

Why is 19 February Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 19 February, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 19 February in World history?

On 19 February, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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