History of Today in India – 21 February

Explore the history of today 21 February in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 21 February 2026, 04:22 AM

📜 Important Events on 21 February in World History

• 21 Feb 2022: In the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin declares the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic as independent from Ukraine, and moves troops into the region. The action is condemned by the United Nations. Read more
• 21 Feb 2013: At least 17 people are killed and 119 injured following several bombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad. Read more
• 21 Feb 1995: Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. Read more
• 21 Feb 1994: Aldrich Ames is arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for selling national secrets to the Soviet Union in Arlington County, Virginia. Read more
• 21 Feb 1975: Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison. Read more
• 21 Feb 1974: The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt. Read more
• 21 Feb 1973: Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108 people. Read more
• 21 Feb 1972: United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations. Read more
• 21 Feb 1972: The Soviet uncrewed spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon. Read more
• 21 Feb 1971: The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna. Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom. Read more
• 21 Feb 1952: The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free". Read more
• 21 Feb 1952: The Bengali language movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Read more
• 21 Feb 1948: NASCAR is incorporated. Read more
• 21 Feb 1947: In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America. Read more
• 21 Feb 1945: World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga. Read more
• 21 Feb 1945: World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front. Read more
• 21 Feb 1937: The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War. Read more
• 21 Feb 1929: In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops. Read more
• 21 Feb 1925: The New Yorker publishes its first issue. Read more
• 21 Feb 1921: Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution. Read more
• 21 Feb 1921: Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup. Read more
• 21 Feb 1919: German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany. Read more
• 21 Feb 1918: The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. Read more
• 21 Feb 1916: World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins. Read more
• 21 Feb 1913: Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars. Read more
• 21 Feb 1896: An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fights an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically takes place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing. Read more
• 21 Feb 1885: The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated. Read more
• 21 Feb 1878: The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut. Read more
• 21 Feb 1874: The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition. Read more
• 21 Feb 1862: American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. Read more
• 21 Feb 1861: Mariehamn, the capital city of Åland, is founded. Read more
• 21 Feb 1848: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto. Read more
• 21 Feb 1842: John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine. Read more
• 21 Feb 1828: Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah. Read more
• 21 Feb 1808: Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia. Read more
• 21 Feb 1804: The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 21 February in World History

• 21 Feb 2007: Leeseo, South Korean singer Lee Hyun-seo, known mononymously as Leeseo, is a South Korean singer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Ive under Starship Entertainment. Read more
• 21 Feb 1999: Metawin Opas-iamkajorn, Thai actor and singer Metawin Opas-iamkajorn, widely known as Win Metawin, is a Thai actor and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2020 with his acting debut in Thai drama 2gether and gained further recognition with his role in F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers. In addition to his work in entertainment, Metawin is a brand ambassador for luxury brands Prada and Tiffany & Co. and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia class of 2023. Read more
• 21 Feb 1996: Noah Rubin, American tennis player Noah Rubin is an American former professional tennis player. He was the Wimbledon junior singles champion in 2014, and a former USTA junior national champion in both singles and doubles. After turning pro in 2015, he won four ATP Challenger titles. Read more
• 21 Feb 1996: Sophie Turner, English actress Sophie Belinda Turner is an English actress. She made her acting debut as Sansa Stark in the television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2019. Read more
• 21 Feb 1994: Tang Haochen, Chinese tennis player Tang Haochen is a former tennis player from China. Read more
• 21 Feb 1994: Hayley Orrantia, American actress and singer-songwriter Sarah Hayley Orrantia is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Erica Goldberg on the ABC comedy series The Goldbergs (2013–2023). She had previously been a member of Lakoda Rayne, a girl group assembled by Paula Abdul during the first season of The X Factor. She released her debut single "Love Sick" in 2015 and her debut EP The Way Out in 2019. Read more
• 21 Feb 1994: Wendy, South Korean singer Shon Seung-wan, known professionally as Wendy (웬디), is a South Korean singer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet. In 2021, she made her solo debut with the EP Like Water. In 2022, she became a member of SM Entertainment's supergroup Got the Beat. Read more
• 21 Feb 1993: Steve Leo Beleck, Cameroonian footballer Steve Leo Beleck A'Beka is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Read more
• 21 Feb 1993: Davy Klaassen, Dutch footballer Davy Klaassen is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club Ajax, which he captains, and the Netherlands national team. Read more
• 21 Feb 1992: Phil Jones, English footballer Philip Anthony Jones is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Although primarily a centre-back, he was also used as a right-back or defensive midfielder. He is currently a first-team coach at Blackburn Rovers. Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Joe Alwyn, English actor Joseph Matthew Alwyn is an English actor. Alwyn made his feature film debut as the titular character in Ang Lee's 2016 war drama Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and has since played roles in films such as The Favourite (2018), Boy Erased (2018), Mary Queen of Scots (2018), Harriet (2019), Catherine Called Birdy (2022), and The Brutalist (2024), as well as the BBC and Hulu drama series Conversations with Friends (2022). Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Riyad Mahrez, Algerian footballer Riyad Karim Mahrez is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Al-Ahli. Born in France, he captains the Algeria national team. He is regarded as one of the best African players of all time. Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Ji So-yun, South Korean footballer Ji So-yun is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for WK League club Suwon FC and the South Korea national team. She is South Korea's all-time top goalscorer, with 74 goals. Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Solar, South Korean singer, songwriter and actress Kim Yong-sun, known professionally as Solar (솔라), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actress signed under RBW. She is the leader and vocalist of girl group Mamamoo and its sub-unit Mamamoo+. She made her solo debut with the single "Spit It Out" on April 23, 2020. She released her first extended play 容: Face with its lead single "Honey" on March 16, 2022. Solar ventured into musical acting through the musical Mata Hari for its 2022 production. Solar will make her film debut with a role as Mi-yeon in horror film The Cursed. Solar also made her debut in Taiwan with Chinese Single "Floating Free" on June 11, 2025. Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Devon Travis, American baseball player Devon Anthony Travis is an American professional baseball coach and former second baseman. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers, and made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on April 6, 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays, playing with the team from 2015 to 2018. Travis began his coaching career in 2021 with the GCL Braves. Read more
• 21 Feb 1990: Mattias Tedenby, Swedish ice hockey player Mattias Tedenby is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Read more
• 21 Feb 1989: Corbin Bleu, American actor, model, dancer, film producer and singer-songwriter Corbin Bleu Reivers is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the late 1990s before rising to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Chad Danforth in the High School Musical trilogy (2006–2008). Songs from the films also charted worldwide, with the song "I Don't Dance" peaking inside the Top 70 of the Billboard Hot 100. During this time, he also starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In! (2007) and the film To Write Love on Her Arms (2015). He competed in the 17th season of Dancing with the Stars. Read more
• 21 Feb 1989: Ian Cole, American ice hockey player Ian Douglas Cole is an American professional ice hockey player who is a defenseman for the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). Cole won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Read more
• 21 Feb 1989: Federico Fernández, Argentine footballer Federico Fernández is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Read more
• 21 Feb 1989: Jake Muzzin, Canadian ice hockey player Jacob Muzzin is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and current member of the Player Development department for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously had played 12 seasons in the NHL for the Los Angeles Kings and Maple Leafs. Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Muzzin went unsigned and returned to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) as an overage player. There he served as team captain and won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the top defenceman in the OHL. As a free agent, Muzzin signed with the Kings in 2010, winning a Stanley Cup with the team in 2014. Muzzin was traded to Toronto during the 2018–19 season, where he played parts of five seasons. After a spinal injury suffered in 2022 resulted in his placement on long-term injured reserve, Muzzin joined the Maple Leafs' front office as a professional scout in 2023. Read more
• 21 Feb 1988: Donté Greene, American basketball player Donté Dominic Greene is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange for one year before being selected with the 28th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2008 NBA draft. Read more
• 21 Feb 1987: Eniola Aluko, English footballer Eniola Aluko is a British football executive, former football broadcaster and former professional player, who played as a winger and striker. Aluko has been a broadcaster for live football on ITV, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and Fox Sports in the USA, including men's Premier League and Women's Super League matches since 2014. She was the first sporting director for Angel City FC of the American National women's soccer league and held the position of sporting director at Aston Villa W.F.C. from January 2020 to June 2021. Read more
• 21 Feb 1987: Ashley Greene, American actress Ashley Greene Khoury is an American actress. She is known for playing Alice Cullen in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels. Read more
• 21 Feb 1987: Elliot Page, Canadian actor Elliot Page is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ rights and against discrimination. His accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a SAG Award. Read more
• 21 Feb 1986: Charlotte Church, Welsh singer-songwriter and actress Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, and television presenter from Cardiff. Read more
• 21 Feb 1985: Georgios Samaras, Greek footballer Georgios Samaras is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. Read more
• 21 Feb 1984: Andrew Ellis, New Zealand rugby player Andrew Ellis is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays the position of scrum-half for Rugby New York in Major League Rugby (MLR). Read more
• 21 Feb 1984: David Odonkor, German footballer David Odonkor is a German former professional footballer who played as a right winger. Read more
• 21 Feb 1984: Marco Paoloni, Italian footballer Marco Paoloni is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He served a nine-year suspension from football following his involvement in the 2011 Italian football scandal. Read more
• 21 Feb 1984: James Wisniewski, American ice hockey player James Joseph Wisniewski is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He most recently played for the Kassel Huskies of the German DEL2. He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Carolina Hurricanes. Read more
• 21 Feb 1983: Braylon Edwards, American football player Braylon Jamel Edwards is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was a unanimous All-American playing college football for the Michigan Wolverines, winning the Biletnikoff Award in 2004. He is the all-time leader for the University of Michigan in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He was also the first wide receiver in Big Ten Conference history to record three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and only the third to do so in NCAA Division I-A. He was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the third overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He also played in the NFL for the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. Read more
• 21 Feb 1983: Franklin Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player Franklin Rafael Gutiérrez, nicknamed "Guti", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers. While primarily a center fielder throughout his career, Gutiérrez transitioned to right field for the Mariners in 2016. He is currently a special assignment coach for the Seattle Mariners organization. Read more
• 21 Feb 1983: Mélanie Laurent, French actress Mélanie Laurent is a French actress, filmmaker, and singer. She has received two César Awards and a Lumière Award. Internationally, Laurent is known for her roles in Inglourious Basterds (2009), Now You See Me (2013), Operation Finale (2018) and 6 Underground (2019). Read more
• 21 Feb 1982: Andre Barrett, American basketball player Andre Rashawd Barrett is an American professional basketball player who last played for Obras Sanitarias of the Liga Nacional de Básquet. He played college basketball for the Seton Hall Pirates. Read more
• 21 Feb 1982: Chantal Claret, American singer-songwriter Chantal Claret Euringer is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the rock and power pop band Morningwood. Read more
• 21 Feb 1982: Tebogo Jacko Magubane, South African DJ and producer Tebogo Jacko Magubane also known by his stage name Magubane da Franchiz is a South African house DJ and Music Producer radio producer currently working for Tshwane FM 93.6 as the Station Manager. Read more
• 21 Feb 1981: Tsuyoshi Wada, Japanese baseball player Tsuyoshi Wada is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from 2003 to 2011, and 2016 to 2024 for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2014 to 2015 for the Chicago Cubs. Read more
• 21 Feb 1980: Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player Bradley M. Fast is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He spent his amateur career in the British Columbia Hockey League, and was selected in the third round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 84th overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes. He played in one NHL game for the Hurricanes, scoring a goal, before embarking on a European career. Read more
• 21 Feb 1980: Tiziano Ferro, Italian singer-songwriter and producer Tiziano Ferro is an Italian pop singer and songwriter. He broke through in 2001 with his international hit single "Perdono" and has remained commercially successful since then, in several countries. Ferro has released a Spanish version of each of his albums and has also sung in English, Portuguese, and French. Known as the modern face of Italian pop music, he frequently writes songs for other artists and has produced albums for Giusy Ferreri, Alessandra Amoroso, and Baby K. Read more
• 21 Feb 1980: Brendan Sexton III, American actor Brendan Eugene Sexton III is an American actor. Read more
• 21 Feb 1980: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 5th King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is King of Bhutan since 9 December 2006. Read more
• 21 Feb 1979: Tituss Burgess, American actor and singer Tituss Burgess is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in several Broadway musicals. He is best known for starring as Titus Andromedon on the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020), for which he received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He was also featured in Schmigadoon! (2023). Read more
• 21 Feb 1979: Carlito, Puerto Rican wrestler Carlos Edwin Colón Coates Jr., better known by his ring name Carlito Colón or simply Carlito, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. As of June 2025, He is signed to World Wrestling Council (WWC). He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Read more
• 21 Feb 1979: Pascal Chimbonda, Guadeloupean-French footballer Pascal Chimbonda is a French football coach and professional player who most recently was the player-manager of English non-league club Skelmersdale United. Read more
• 21 Feb 1979: Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and producer Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, singer, producer and director. Hewitt began her career as a child, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated (1989–1991), which won her a Young Artist Award. She had her breakthrough on the Fox teen drama Party of Five (1995–1999) and rose to fame as a teen star and scream queen for her role as Julie James in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and two of its three sequels. Read more
• 21 Feb 1979: Jordan Peele, American actor, comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter Jordan Haworth Peele is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Peele started his career in comedy before transitioning to writing and directing psychological horror with comedic elements. Read more
• 21 Feb 1978: Erick Barkley, American basketball player Erick Barkley is an American former professional basketball player. Born in New York City, raised in the Farragut housing project in Brooklyn, he played high school basketball at Christ the King Regional High School and the Maine Central Institute and college basketball at St. John's University. He was named First Team All-Big East and an All-American honorable mention in 2000. Barkley was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2000, and played for the team for two seasons. Read more
• 21 Feb 1977: Steve Francis, American basketball player Steven D'Shawn Francis is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season. He was a three-time NBA All-Star while playing for the Houston Rockets. Francis also played for the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks, finishing his career with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He was known for his crossover dribble, driving ability, and flashy dunks. He was given the nickname Stevie Franchise. Read more
• 21 Feb 1977: Rhiannon Giddens, American musician Rhiannon Giddens is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music. She is a founding member of the group Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she was the lead singer and played fiddle and banjo. Read more
• 21 Feb 1976: Michael McIntyre, English comedian, actor and television presenter Michael Hazen James McIntyre is a British comedian, writer, and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. He currently presents the variety and stand-up comedy show Michael McIntyre's Big Show and the game show The Wheel. Read more
• 21 Feb 1976: Ryan Smyth, Canadian ice hockey player Ryan Alexander Borden Smyth is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played most of his career for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was especially known for playing in the style of a power forward. He has been one of the owners of the BCHL Spruce Grove Saints since 2017. Read more
• 21 Feb 1975: Scott Miller, Australian swimmer Scott Andrew Miller is an Australian convicted drug dealer and former butterfly swimmer who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, winning a silver and bronze medal. Read more
• 21 Feb 1974: Iván Campo, Spanish footballer Iván Campo Ramos is a Spanish former professional footballer. Originally a centre-back, he featured in a defensive midfield role in the later years of his career. Read more
• 21 Feb 1973: Heri Joensen, Faroese singer-songwriter and guitarist Heri Joensen is a Faroese musician, notable for being the vocalist for the folk metal band Týr. Heri was born in the Faroe Islands capital of Tórshavn which has had an influence on his song writing. As well as Týr, he has recorded a side project titled Heljareyga. Read more
• 21 Feb 1973: Brian Rolston, American ice hockey player and coach Brian Lee Rolston is an American former professional ice hockey player who most recently played for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, and the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 playing for the United States. Rolston has represented the U.S. three times in Olympic competition for ice hockey. In the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, he won the silver medal. Rolston was born in Flint, Michigan, but grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has served as head coach of the Little Caesars 2001 hockey club as well as assisting with the Little Caesars 2005 team. Read more
• 21 Feb 1971: Pierre Fulke, Swedish golfer Pierre Olof Fulke is a Swedish professional golfer who played on the European Tour. Read more
• 21 Feb 1970: Michael Slater, Australian cricketer and sportscaster Michael Jonathon Slater is an Australian former professional cricketer and former television presenter. He played in 74 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Read more
• 21 Feb 1969: James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist James Dean Bradfield is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. His cousin Sean Moore is also a member. Read more
• 21 Feb 1969: Aunjanue Ellis, American actress and producer Aunjanue L. Ellis-Taylor is an American actress. She has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Read more
• 21 Feb 1969: Petra Kronberger, Austrian skier Petra Kronberger is an Austrian former alpine skier, who participated in all disciplines. She was the first female alpine skier to win in all five World Cup events. Read more
• 21 Feb 1969: Tony Meola, American soccer player and manager Antonio Michael Meola is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he played in Major League Soccer, the U.S. top soccer division, where he obtained multiple honors. Meola is currently a radio host on SiriusXM FC. Read more
• 21 Feb 1969: Cathy Richardson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Catherine Richardson is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and narrator from the Chicago suburbs in Illinois. She is the lead singer for the band Jefferson Starship and her own Cathy Richardson Band, and has performed the Janis Joplin parts for Joplin's former band Big Brother and the Holding Company. Read more
• 21 Feb 1967: Leroy Burrell, American runner and coach Leroy Russel Burrell is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Read more
• 21 Feb 1967: Sari Essayah, Finnish athlete and politician Sari Miriam Essayah is a Finnish retired racewalker and a politician, former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Member of Parliament since 2015. She is the president of the Finnish Christian Democrats party. She is serving as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry since 2023. Read more
• 21 Feb 1965: Mark Ferguson, Australian journalist Mark Ferguson is an Australian television news presenter, who currently presents Seven News in Sydney on weeknights. Read more
• 21 Feb 1964: Mark Kelly, American astronaut and politician Mark Edward Kelly is an American politician and a retired astronaut and naval officer. He is the senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat he has held since 2020. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Read more
• 21 Feb 1964: Scott Kelly, American astronaut Scott Joseph Kelly is an American engineer, retired astronaut, and naval aviator. A veteran of four space flights, Kelly commanded the International Space Station (ISS) on Expeditions 26, 45, and 46. Read more
• 21 Feb 1963: William Baldwin, American actor William Joseph Baldwin is an American actor and the second-youngest of the four Baldwin brothers. He has starred in the films Flatliners (1990), Backdraft (1991), Sliver (1993), Virus (1999), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he portrayed himself, and the Netflix show Northern Rescue (2019). Baldwin is married to singer Chynna Phillips. Read more
• 21 Feb 1963: Ranking Roger, English singer-songwriter and musician (died 2019) Roger Charlery, known professionally as Ranking Roger, was an English musician. He was a vocalist in the 1980s ska band the Beat and later new wave band General Public. He subsequently was the frontman for a reformed Beat lineup. Read more
• 21 Feb 1963: Greg Turner, New Zealand golfer Gregory James Turner is a New Zealand professional golfer. Read more
• 21 Feb 1962: Chuck Palahniuk, American novelist and journalist Charles Michael Palahniuk is an American novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adult coloring books, as well as several short stories. His first published novel was Fight Club, which was adapted into a film of the same title. Read more
• 21 Feb 1962: David Foster Wallace, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (died 2008) David Foster Wallace was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest, which Time magazine named one of the 100 best English-language novels published from 1923 to 2005. In 2008, David Ulin wrote for the Los Angeles Times that Wallace was "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last twenty years". Read more
• 21 Feb 1961: Christopher Atkins, American actor and businessman Christopher Atkins Bomann is an American actor and businessman. He starred in the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon and played Peter Richards on Dallas (1983–1984). Read more
• 21 Feb 1961: Elliot Hirshman, American psychologist and academic Elliot Lee Hirshman is an American psychologist and academic who is the president of Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Maryland, since July 3, 2017. Prior to Stevenson University he served as president at San Diego State University (SDSU) and served as the provost and senior vice president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Read more
• 21 Feb 1960: Plamen Oresharski, Bulgarian economist and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria Plamen Vasilev Oresharski is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2013 to 2014. Affiliated with the Bulgarian Socialist Party, he previously served as Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2013, Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2009 and Deputy Minister of Finance from 1997 to 2001. Read more
• 21 Feb 1959: José María Cano, Spanish singer-songwriter and painter José María Cano Andrés is a Spanish visual artist, musician, composer, and record producer. From 1982 to 1998, he was a member and principal composer of the Spanish pop-rock band Mecano. Since 1998, he works primarily in the visual arts. Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: Jake Burns, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist John "Jake" Burns is a singer and guitarist, and is best known as the frontman of Stiff Little Fingers, although he has also recorded with Jake Burns and the Big Wheel, 3 Men + Black, and as a solo artist. Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American country and folk music singer-songwriter. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C.-area clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records. Carpenter's first album, 1987's Hometown Girl, did not produce any charting singles. She broke through with 1989's State of the Heart and 1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark. Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: Kim Coates, Canadian-American actor Kim Frederick Coates is a Canadian and American actor and producer. He is known for his starring roles as Alexander "Tig" Trager on the FX television series Sons of Anarchy (2008–14) and as Declan Gardiner on the Citytv series Bad Blood (2017–18). He has also had notable roles on Prison Break, CSI: Miami, Ghost Wars, Godless, Van Helsing, and as Brigham Young on American Primeval, and played Ronnie Hortense in the cult hockey comedy Goon (2011) and its sequel Goon: Last of the Enforcers (2017). Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: Jack Coleman, American actor John MacDonald Coleman is an American actor known as Steven Carrington on Dynasty (1982–1988), Noah Bennet in Heroes (2006–2010), State Senator Robert Lipton on The Office (2010–2013), and US Senator William Bracken on Castle (2012–2015). Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: Alan Trammell, American baseball player, coach, and manager Alan Stuart Trammell is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the Detroit Tigers for the entirety of his 20-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB). Trammell has served as a special assistant to the general manager of the Detroit Tigers since the 2014 season. Read more
• 21 Feb 1955: Kelsey Grammer, American actor, singer, and producer Allen Kelsey Grammer is an American actor. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1984–1993) and its spin-off Frasier. With more than 20 years on air, this is one of the longest-running roles played by a single live-action actor in primetime television history. He has received numerous accolades including a total of six Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Tony Award. Read more
• 21 Feb 1954: Christina Rees, British politician Christina Rees is a Welsh politician who served as Member of Parliament for Neath from 2015 to 2024. She is a member of the Labour and Co-operative parties. Read more
• 21 Feb 1953: Christine Ebersole, American actress and singer Christine Ebersole is an American actress, singer, and comedian. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She has received two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award. Read more
• 21 Feb 1953: William Petersen, American actor and producer William Louis Petersen is an American retired actor. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama thriller series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award; he was further nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards as a producer of the show. He reprised his role as Gil Grissom in the sequel CSI: Vegas, which premiered on October 6, 2021. Read more
• 21 Feb 1952: Jean-Jacques Burnel, English bass player, songwriter, and producer Jean-Jacques Burnel is an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with the punk rock band the Stranglers. He is the only original member to remain in the band. Read more
• 21 Feb 1952: Vitaly Churkin, Russian diplomat, former Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations (died 2017) Vitaly Ivanovich Churkin was a Russian diplomat. He served as Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2006 until his death in 2017. Previously he was Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (2003–2006), Ambassador to Canada (1998–2003), Ambassador to Belgium and Liaison Ambassador to NATO and WEU (1994–1998), Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation to the talks on Former Yugoslavia (1992–1994), Director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR/Russian Federation (1990–1992). Read more
• 21 Feb 1951: Vince Welnick, American keyboard player (died 2006) Vincent Leo Welnick was an American keyboardist and singer-songwriter, best known for playing with the band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Grateful Dead. Read more
• 21 Feb 1950: Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopian politician and diplomat, 5th President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde is an Ethiopian diplomat who served as president of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024, the first woman to hold the office. She was elected as president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018. Read more
• 21 Feb 1949: Frank Brunner, American illustrator Frank Brunner is an American comics artist and illustrator best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s. Read more
• 21 Feb 1949: Jerry Harrison, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Jeremiah Griffin Harrison is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band the Modern Lovers, before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for the new wave group Talking Heads. In 2002, Harrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Talking Heads. Read more
• 21 Feb 1949: Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer (died 2022) Folke Ronnie Wallentin Hellström was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He represented Hammarby IF and 1. FC Kaiserslautern during a career that spanned between 1966 and 1984. He was considered one of the world's best goalkeepers in the 1970s. In 1988, he played one Allsvenskan game for GIF Sundsvall following an injury crisis. As a full international between 1968 and 1980, he won 77 caps for the Sweden national team and represented his country at the 1970, 1974, and 1978 FIFA World Cups. He was awarded Guldbollen as Sweden's best footballer of the year in both 1971 and 1978. Read more
• 21 Feb 1947: Johnny Echols, American singer-songwriter and guitarist John Marshall Echols is an American songwriter and guitarist, who was a co-founder and the lead guitar player of the psychedelic rock band Love. Read more
• 21 Feb 1947: Olympia Snowe, American politician Olympia Jean Snowe is an American businesswoman and politician who was a United States Senator, representing Maine for three terms from 1995 to 2013. A lifelong member of the Republican Party, Snowe played an influential role in influencing the outcome of close votes in the U.S. Senate and in ending U.S. Senate filibusters. In 2006, Time magazine named her one of "America's Best Senators". Throughout her U.S. Senate career, she was considered one of the chamber's most moderate members. Read more
• 21 Feb 1946: Tyne Daly, American actress and singer Ellen Tyne Daly is an American actress whose six-decade career included many leading roles in movies and theater. She has won six Emmy Awards for her television work and a Tony Award, and is a 2011 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. Read more
• 21 Feb 1946: Anthony Daniels, English actor and producer Anthony Daniels is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing C-3PO in 11 Star Wars films, from Star Wars (1977) to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He wore the costume and voiced his character in the films and several animated television series. Initially, Daniels did not want to play a robotic character however, Ralph McQuarrie's first concept painting of C-3PO and R2-D2 on Tatooine evoked empathy from him. Read more
• 21 Feb 1946: Alan Rickman, English actor and director (died 2016) Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was an English actor. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he was renowned for his stage and screen roles and for his deep and distinctive voice. He received various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award. Read more
• 21 Feb 1946: Bob Ryan, American journalist and author Robert P. Ryan is an American sportswriter, formerly with The Boston Globe, and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of the sport including his famous stories covering the Boston Celtics in the 1970s. After graduating from Boston College, Ryan started as a sports intern for the Globe on the same day as Peter Gammons, and later worked with other notable Globe sportswriters Will McDonough and Leigh Montville. In early 2012, Ryan announced his retirement from sports writing after 44 years, effective at the conclusion of the 2012 Summer Olympics. His final column in the Globe was published August 12, 2012. Read more
• 21 Feb 1945: Maurice Bembridge, English golfer (died 2024) Maurice Bembridge was an English professional golfer. Early in his career he had some success on the British PGA, winning the 1969 News of the World Match Play and the 1971 Dunlop Masters. He would go on to win six times on the British PGA's successor circuit, the European Tour. He also had some success overseas, winning the New Zealand Golf Circuit's Caltex Tournament in 1970 and the Kenya Open three times. Late in his career, Bembridge had some success on the European Senior Tour, winning twice. Read more
• 21 Feb 1943: David Geffen, American businessman, co-founded DreamWorks and Geffen Records David Lawrence Geffen is an American film producer, record executive, and media proprietor. In music, he co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts in 1971 before founding Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and co-founding DreamWorks Records in 1996. In film, he founded the Geffen Film Company in 1982 and co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994. Read more
• 21 Feb 1942: Tony Martin, Trinidadian-American historian and academic (died 2013) Tony Martin was a Trinidad and Tobago-born scholar of Africana Studies. From 1973 to 2007 he worked at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and over the course of his career published more than ten books and a range of scholarly articles. Read more
• 21 Feb 1942: Margarethe von Trotta, German actress, director, and screenwriter Margarethe von Trotta is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement. Von Trotta's extensive body of work has won awards internationally. She was married to and collaborated with director Volker Schlöndorff. Although they made a successful team, von Trotta felt she was seen as secondary to Schlöndorff. Subsequently, she established a solo career for herself and became "Germany's foremost female film director, who has offered the most sustained and successful female variant of Autorenkino in postwar German film history". Certain aspects of von Trotta's work have been compared to Ingmar Bergman's features from the 1960s and 1970s. Read more
• 21 Feb 1940: Peter Gethin, English racing driver (died 2011) Peter Kenneth Gethin was a British racing driver and motorsport executive who competed in Formula One from 1970 to 1974. Gethin won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix with BRM. Read more
• 21 Feb 1940: John Lewis, American activist and politician (died 2020) John Robert Lewis was an American civil rights activist and statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. Read more
• 21 Feb 1938: Bobby Charles, American singer-songwriter (died 2010) Robert Charles Guidry, known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter. Read more
• 21 Feb 1937: Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (died 2015) Ronald William Clarke, AO, MBE was an Australian athlete, writer, and the Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He was one of the best-known middle- and long-distance runners in the 1960s, notable for setting seventeen world records. Read more
• 21 Feb 1937: Harald V of Norway Harald V is King of Norway, reigning since 1991. Read more
• 21 Feb 1937: Gary Lockwood, American actor Gary Lockwood is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the Star Trek second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966). He starred in the only American film by French New Wave director Jacques Demy, Model Shop. He played numerous guest television roles from the early 1960s into the mid-1990s, and played the title role in The Lieutenant (1963–1964). Read more
• 21 Feb 1936: Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (died 1996) Barbara Charline Jordan was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first southern African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and one of the first two African Americans elected to the U.S. House from the former Confederacy since 1901, alongside Andrew Young of Georgia. Read more
• 21 Feb 1935: Richard A. Lupoff, American author (died 2020) Richard Allen Lupoff was an American science-fiction and mystery author, who also wrote humor, satire, nonfiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he also edited science-fantasy anthologies. He was an expert on the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and had an equally strong interest in H. P. Lovecraft. He also co-edited the non-fiction anthology All in Color For a Dime, which has been described as "the very first published volume dedicated to comic book criticism"; as well as its sequel, The Comic-Book Book. Read more
• 21 Feb 1935: Mark McManus, Scottish actor (died 1994) Mark McManus was a Scottish actor known for his roles in the British television series Sam, Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers, and Dramarama and the feature film 2000 Weeks. He was best known for playing the tough Glaswegian Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart in the long-running STV television series Taggart from 1983 until his death in 1994. Read more
• 21 Feb 1934: Rue McClanahan, American actress (died 2010) Eddi-Rue McClanahan was an American actress, primarily known for her work in television sitcoms. She portrayed Vivian Harmon on Maude (1972–1978), Aunt Fran Crowley on Mama's Family (1983–1984), and Blanche Devereaux on both The Golden Girls (1985–1992) and its spin-off The Golden Palace (1992–1993). Read more
• 21 Feb 1933: Bob Rafelson, American film director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2022) Robert Jay Rafelson was an American film director, writer, and producer. He is regarded as one of the key figures in the founding of the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s. Among his best-known films as a director include those made as part of the company he co-founded, Raybert/BBS Productions, Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) as well as acclaimed later films, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and Mountains of the Moon (1990). Other films he produced as part of BBS include two of the most significant films of the era, Easy Rider (1969) and The Last Picture Show (1971). Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces and The Last Picture Show were all chosen for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. He was also one of the creators of the pop group and TV series The Monkees with BBS partner Bert Schneider. His first wife was the production designer Toby Carr Rafelson. Read more
• 21 Feb 1933: Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2003) Nina Simone was an American pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. Rolling Stone named Simone one of the greatest singers on various lists. Read more
• 21 Feb 1929: Chespirito, Mexican actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2014) Roberto Mario Gómez y Bolaños, more commonly known by his stage name Chespirito, or "Little Shakespeare", was a Mexican actor, comedian, screenwriter, humorist, director, producer, and author. He is widely regarded as one of the icons of Spanish-speaking humor and entertainment and one of the greatest comedians of all time. He is also one of the most loved and respected comedians in Latin America. He is mostly known by his acting role Chavo from the sitcom El Chavo del Ocho. Read more
• 21 Feb 1927: Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (died 1996) Erma Louise Bombeck was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. Fifteen books of her humor have been published; most became bestsellers. Read more
• 21 Feb 1925: Sam Peckinpah, American director and screenwriter (died 1984) David Samuel Peckinpah was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. His 1969 Western epic The Wild Bunch received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 list. His films employed a visually innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence, as well as a revisionist approach to the Western genre. Read more
• 21 Feb 1925: Jack Ramsay, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2014) John Travilla Ramsay was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack". He was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio. Ramsay was among the most respected coaches in NBA history and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the winner of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2009–10 NBA season. Read more
• 21 Feb 1924: Dorothy Blum, American computer scientist and cryptanalyst (died 1980) Dorothy Toplitzky Blum was an American computer scientist and cryptanalyst. She worked for the National Security Agency and its predecessors from 1944 until her death in 1980. Read more
• 21 Feb 1924: Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (died 2014) Thelma Estrin was an American computer scientist and engineer who did pioneering work in the fields of expert systems and biomedical engineering. Estrin was one of the first to apply computer technology to healthcare and medical research. In 1954, Estrin helped to design the Weizmann Automatic Computer, or WEIZAC, the first computer in Israel and the Middle East, a moment marked as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She was professor emerita in the Department of Computer Science, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Read more
• 21 Feb 1924: Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean educator and politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe (died 2019) Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who led Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He served as the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from internationally recognised independence in 1980 to 1987, then as the second president of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017. He was also the Leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) from 1975 to 1980 and led its successor political party, the ZANU – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) as its First Secretary, from 1980 to 2017. Ideologically an African nationalist, during the 1970s and 1980s he identified as a Marxist–Leninist, and from the 1990s as a socialist. Read more
• 21 Feb 1921: Zdeněk Miler, Czech animator (died 2011) Zdeněk Miler was a Czech animator and illustrator best known for his Mole character and its adventures. Read more
• 21 Feb 1921: John Rawls, American philosopher and academic (died 2002) John Bordley Rawls was an American moral, legal and political philosopher in the modern liberal tradition. Rawls has been described as one of the most influential political philosophers of the 20th century. Read more
• 21 Feb 1921: Richard T. Whitcomb, American aeronautical engineer (died 2009) Richard Travis Whitcomb was an American aeronautical engineer who was noted for his contributions to the science of aerodynamics. Read more
• 21 Feb 1917: Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (died 1996) Lucille Bremer was an American film actress and dancer. Read more
• 21 Feb 1917: Tadd Dameron, American pianist and composer (died 1965) Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Read more
• 21 Feb 1915: Claudia Jones, Trinidad-British journalist and activist (died 1964) Claudia Vera Jones was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist. As a child, she migrated with her family to the United States, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist and Black nationalist, adopting the name Jones as "self-protective disinformation". Due to the political persecution of Communists in the US, she was deported in 1955 and subsequently lived in the United Kingdom. Upon arriving in the UK, she immediately joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and would remain a member for the rest of her life. In 1958, she founded Britain's first major Black newspaper, the West Indian Gazette (1958-1965), and from 1959 she organised a series of indoor Caribbean carnivals that have been cited as an influence on what became the Notting Hill Carnival, the second-largest annual carnival in the world. Read more
• 21 Feb 1915: Ann Sheridan, American actress and singer (died 1967) Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), They Drive by Night (1940), City for Conquest (1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Kings Row (1942), Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949). Read more
• 21 Feb 1915: Anton Vratuša, Prime Minister of Slovenia (died 2017) Anton Vratuša was a Slovenian politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from 1978 to 1980, and Yugoslavia's ambassador to the United Nations. Read more
• 21 Feb 1914: Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (died 1999) Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat, and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Finnish pilots in score against Soviet aircraft in World War II, with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories in 437 sorties. He achieved 58 of his victories while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109G and 34 with a Brewster Buffalo. Read more
• 21 Feb 1914: Zachary Scott, American actor (died 1965) Zachary Scott was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men". Read more
• 21 Feb 1914: Jean Tatlock, American psychiatrist and physician (died 1944) Jean Frances Tatlock was an American psychiatrist. She was a member of the Communist Party USA and was a reporter and writer for the party's publication Western Worker. She is also known for her romantic relationship with J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. Read more
• 21 Feb 1912: Arline Judge, American actress and singer (died 1974) Margaret Arline Judge was an American actress and singer who worked mostly in low-budget B movies, but gained some fame for habitually marrying, including two brothers. Judge specialized in playing fairly earthy women of often questionable virtue and was at the peak of her career in her first years in Hollywood, starring in such pre-code films as The Age of Consent and Sensation Hunters, films often made at poverty row studios. She also played supporting roles in some major releases by the major studios. Read more
• 21 Feb 1910: Douglas Bader, English fighter pilot in World War II (died 1982) Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War, who achieved great success despite loss of the lower part of both his legs after a 1931 air crash, one amputation above the knee and the other below the knee. Read more
• 21 Feb 1909: Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 2015) Hans Erni was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor. Read more
• 21 Feb 1907: W. H. Auden, English-American poet, playwright, and composer (died 1973) Wystan Hugh Auden was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content. Some of his best known poems are about love, such as "Funeral Blues"; on political and social themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; on cultural and psychological themes, such as The Age of Anxiety; and on religious themes, such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae". Read more
• 21 Feb 1903: Anaïs Nin, French-American essayist and memoirist (died 1977) Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the daughter of the composer Joaquín Nin and the classically trained singer Rosa Culmell. Nin spent her early years in Spain and Cuba, about sixteen years in Paris (1924–1940), and the remaining half of her life in the United States, where she became an established author. Read more
• 21 Feb 1903: Raymond Queneau, French poet and author (died 1976) Raymond Auguste Queneau was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo, notable for his wit and cynical humour. Read more
• 21 Feb 1902: Arthur Nock, English theologian and academic (died 1963) Arthur Darby Nock was an English classicist and theologian, regarded as a leading scholar in the history of religion. He was a professor at Harvard University from 1930 until his death. Read more
• 21 Feb 1900: Jeanne Aubert, French singer and actress (died 1988) Jeanne Aubert was a French singer and actress. Read more
• 21 Feb 1896: Nirala, Indian poet and author (died 1961) Suryakant Tripathi was an Indian poet, writer, composer, and sketch artist who wrote in Hindi. He is considered one of the four major pillars of the Chhayavad period in Hindi literature. He is renowned with the epithet Mahāprāṇ and his pen name Nirālā. Read more
• 21 Feb 1895: Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976) Carl Peter Henrik Dam was a Danish biochemist and physiologist. Read more
• 21 Feb 1894: Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Indian chemist and academic (died 1955) Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Bhatnagar is revered as the Father of Research Laboratories in India. He was also the first Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Read more
• 21 Feb 1893: Celia Lovsky, Austrian-American actress (died 1979) Celia Lovsky was an Austrian-American actress. On the original Star Trek she played the Vulcan matriarch T'Pau, and on The Twilight Zone she played the aged daughter of an eternally youthful Hollywood actress. Read more
• 21 Feb 1893: Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (died 1987) Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña, was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students.
  Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire included not only commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style. Read more
• 21 Feb 1892: Harry Stack Sullivan, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (died 1949) Herbert "Harry" Stack Sullivan was an American neo-Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who held that "personality can never be isolated from the complex interpersonal relationships in which [a] person lives" and that "[t]he field of psychiatry is the field of interpersonal relations under any and all circumstances in which [such] relations exist". Having studied therapists Sigmund Freud, Adolf Meyer, and William Alanson White, he devoted years of clinical and research work to helping people with psychotic illness. Read more
• 21 Feb 1888: Clemence Dane, English author and playwright (died 1965) Winifred Ashton CBE, better known by the pseudonym Clemence Dane, was an English novelist and playwright. Read more
• 21 Feb 1887: Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of War (died 1945) Korechika Anami was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan. Read more
• 21 Feb 1885: Sacha Guitry, Russian-French actor, director, and playwright (died 1957) Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and followed his father into the theatrical profession. He became known for his stage performances, particularly in boulevardier roles. He was also a prolific playwright, writing 115 plays throughout his career. He was married five times, always to rising actresses whose careers he furthered. Probably his best-known wife was Yvonne Printemps to whom he was married between 1919 and 1932. Read more
• 21 Feb 1881: Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (died 1945) Frederick Joseph Ricketts was an English composer of marches for band. Under the pen name Kenneth J. Alford, he composed marches which are considered to be great examples of the art. He was a bandmaster in the British Army, and Royal Marines director of music. Conductor Vivian Dunn called him "The British March King". Alford's frequent use of the saxophone contributed to its permanent inclusion in military bands. His best known work is the "Colonel Bogey March". Read more
• 21 Feb 1878: Mirra Alfassa, French-Indian spiritual leader (died 1973) Mirra Alfassa, known to her followers as The Mother or La Mère, was a French-Indian spiritual guru, occultist and yoga teacher, and a collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who considered her to be of equal yogic stature to him and called her by the name "The Mother" or "Shri Maa". Read more
• 21 Feb 1875: Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian, oldest verified person ever (died 1997) Jeanne Louise Calment was a French supercentenarian. With a documented lifespan of 122 years and 164 days, she is the oldest person in history whose age has been verified. Her longevity attracted media attention and medical studies of her health and lifestyle. Calment is the only person in history who has been verified to have reached the age of 120. Read more
• 21 Feb 1867: Otto Hermann Kahn, German banker and philanthropist (died 1934) Otto Hermann Kahn was a German-born American investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Kahn was a well-known figure, appearing on the cover of Time magazine and was sometimes referred to as the "King of New York". In business, he was best known as a partner at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. who reorganized and consolidated railroads. In his personal life, he was a great patron of the arts, where among things, he served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Opera. Read more
• 21 Feb 1865: John Haden Badley, English author and educator, founded the Bedales School (died 1967) John Haden Badley was an English author, educator, and founder of Bedales School, which claims to have become the first coeducational boarding public school in England in 1893. Read more
• 21 Feb 1860: Goscombe John, Welsh-English sculptor and academic (died 1952) Sir William Goscombe John was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms of sculpture. He gained national attention with statues of eminent Victorians in London and Cardiff and subsequently, after both the Second Boer War and World War I, created a large number of war memorials. These included the two large group works, The Response 1914 in Newcastle upon Tyne and the Port Sunlight War Memorial which are considered the finest sculptural ensembles on any British monument. Although as a young man he adopted the first name Goscombe, taken from the name of a village in Gloucestershire near his mother's home, he was actively engaged with his native Wales and Welsh culture throughout his career. Read more
• 21 Feb 1844: Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (died 1937) Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. As a composer he is known for his ten organ symphonies, especially the toccata of his fifth organ symphony, which is frequently played as recessional music at weddings and other celebrations. Read more
• 21 Feb 1836: Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (died 1891) Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets Coppélia (1870) and Sylvia (1876) and the opera Lakmé (1883), which includes the well-known "Flower Duet". Read more
• 21 Feb 1821: Charles Scribner I, American publisher, founded Charles Scribner's Sons (died 1871) Charles Scribner I was an American publisher who, with Isaac D. Baker (1819–1850), founded a publishing company that would eventually become Charles Scribner's Sons. Read more
• 21 Feb 1817: José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (died 1893) José Zorrilla y Moral was a Spanish poet and dramatist, who became National Laureate. Read more
• 21 Feb 1801: John Henry Newman, English cardinal (died 1890) John Henry Newman was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest, and after his conversion to Catholicism, became a cardinal. He was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century, and was known nationally by the mid-1830s. He was a member of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and founded the first house of that congregation in England. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 21 February in World History

• 21 Feb 2025: Clint Hill, American Secret Service agent (born 1932) Clinton J. Hill was a United States Secret Service agent who served under five U.S. presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gerald Ford. Hill is best known for his act of bravery on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. During the assassination, Hill ran into the line of fire from the Secret Service follow-up car, leaped onto the back of the presidential car, and shielded the stricken president and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy with his own body as the car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. His act was documented in film footage by Abraham Zapruder. Hill was the last surviving person who was inside the presidential limousine on November 22, 1963. Read more
• 21 Feb 2025: Lynne Marie Stewart, American actress (born 1946) Lynne Marie Stewart was an American actress, widely known for her performance as Miss Yvonne, "the Most Beautiful Woman in Puppet Land." She originated the role in the 1981 stage show, The Pee-wee Herman Show. She continued to play Miss Yvonne on the CBS television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, the 2010 Los Angeles stage revival, and the Broadway production which opened in November 2010 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Stewart was also known for her recurring role on the FX/FXX television series, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Charlie Kelly's mother, Bonnie. Read more
• 21 Feb 2024: John Bahnsen, United States Army brigadier general and decorated veteran of the Vietnam War (born 1934) John C. "Doc" Bahnsen Jr. was a United States Army brigadier general and decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. Read more
• 21 Feb 2021: Mireya Arboleda, Colombian classical pianist (born 1928) María Mireya Arboleda Cadavid was a Colombian classical pianist and teacher. Read more
• 21 Feb 2021: Kevin Dann, Australian rugby league player (born 1958) Kevin George Dann was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played his entire club football career with the Penrith Panthers, as a fullback. Read more
• 21 Feb 2019: Stanley Donen, American film director (born 1924) Stanley Donen was an American film director and choreographer. He received the Honorary Academy Award in 1998, and the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2004. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Read more
• 21 Feb 2019: Peter Tork, American musician and actor (born 1942) Peter Halsten Thorkelson, better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the bass guitarist and keyboardist of the Monkees and co-star of the NBC television series of the same name (1966–68). Read more
• 21 Feb 2018: Billy Graham, American evangelist (born 1918) William Franklin Graham Jr. was an American evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring live sermons became well known in the mid-to-late 20th century. Throughout his career, spanning over six decades, Graham rose to prominence as an evangelical Christian figure in the United States and abroad. Read more
• 21 Feb 2017: Jeanne Martin Cissé, Guinean teacher and politician (born 1926) Jeanne Martin Cissé was a Guinean teacher and nationalist politician who served as ambassador to the United Nations and in 1972 was the first woman to serve as President of the United Nations Security Council. She served in the government of Guinea as Minister of Social Affairs from 1976 until the 1984 military coup. Read more
• 21 Feb 2016: Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (born 1919) Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown,, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history. Read more
• 21 Feb 2015: Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (born 1931) Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on two space flights: Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 28. Read more
• 21 Feb 2015: Sadeq Tabatabaei, Iranian journalist and politician (born 1943) Sadegh Tabatabaei was an Iranian writer, journalist, TV host, university professor at the University of Tehran and politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1979 to 1980. He was also Deputy Minister of the Interior and oversaw the referendum on establishing an Islamic Republic in March 1979. He was Iran's Ambassador to West Germany from 1982 until 1986. Read more
• 21 Feb 2015: Clark Terry, American trumpet player, composer, and educator (born 1920) Clark Virgil Terry Jr. was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. Read more
• 21 Feb 2014: Héctor Maestri, Cuban-American baseball player (born 1935) Héctor Anibal Maestri Garcia was a Cuban-born Major League Baseball pitcher. Maestri was one of nine ballplayers to have appeared for both of the 20th century, American League Washington Senators franchises, and one of only three to have played for them in consecutive seasons. In another oddity, he pitched in only one game for each franchise. Read more
• 21 Feb 2014: Matthew Robinson, Australian snowboarder (born 1985) Matthew John Robinson was an Australian Paralympic snowboarder who died as a result of a snowboarding accident at La Molina, Spain. Read more
• 21 Feb 2014: Cornelius Schnauber, German–American historian, playwright, and academic (born 1939) Professor Cornelius Schnauber was a German-born scholar, historian, playwright, biographer, and educator. At the time of his death, he was emeritus associate professor of German at the University of Southern California (USC). Read more
• 21 Feb 2013: Hasse Jeppson, Swedish footballer (born 1925) Hans Olof "Hasse" Jeppson was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a striker. He was known for his impressive goals to games ratio at several clubs, and represented Kungsbacka IF) Örgryte, Djurgården, Charlton Athletic, Atalanta, Napoli and Torino during a career that spanned between 1946 and 1957. A full international between 1949 and 1950, he won 12 caps and scored nine goals for the Sweden national team and helped them to a third-place finish at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Read more
• 21 Feb 2012: H. M. Darmstandler, American general (born 1922) Harry Max Darmstandler was an American Air Force major general who was special assistant to the chief of staff for B-1 Matters, Headquarters, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he coordinated Air Force activities related to the B-1 bomber. Read more
• 21 Feb 2011: Dwayne McDuffie, American author and screenwriter, co-founded Milestone Media (born 1962) Dwayne Glenn McDuffie was an American writer of comic books and television. He co-founded the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minorities in American comics, creating and co-creating characters such as Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware. McDuffie was also a writer and producer for animated series such as Static Shock, Justice League Unlimited and the Ben 10 sequels, Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. Read more
• 21 Feb 2011: Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (born 1926) Bernard N. Nathanson was an American physician, abortion rights advocate turned anti-abortion activist, and a prominent figure in the abortion debate in the United States. He was originally a co-founder in 1969 of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), later renamed National Abortion Rights Action League and the former director of New York City's Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health. He was the narrator for the controversial 1984 anti-abortion film The Silent Scream. Read more
• 21 Feb 2008: Ben Chapman, American actor (born 1928) Benjamin F. Chapman Jr. was an American actor best known as playing the Gill-man on land in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon. Read more
• 21 Feb 2005: Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban author, screenwriter, and critic (born 1929) Guillermo Cabrera Infante was a Cuban novelist, essayist, translator, screenwriter, and critic; in the 1950s he used the pseudonym G. Caín, and used Guillermo Cain for the screenplay of the cult classic film Vanishing Point (1971). Read more
• 21 Feb 2005: Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor (born 1929) Zdzisław Beksiński was a Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor. Read more
• 21 Feb 2004: John Charles, Welsh footballer and manager (born 1931) William John Charles was a Welsh footballer who played at centre-forward and centre-back. Best known for his time at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Great Britain and one of the greatest footballers ever. Read more
• 21 Feb 2002: John Thaw, English actor and producer (born 1942) John Edward Thaw was an English actor. He became best known for his television roles starring as Detective Inspector Jack Regan in The Sweeney (1975–78) and as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in Inspector Morse (1987–2000). He also worked on stage and in films. Read more
• 21 Feb 1999: Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative methods of rational drug design for the development of new drugs. This new method focused on understanding the target of the drug rather than simply using trial-and-error. Her work led to the creation of the anti-retroviral drug AZT, which was the first drug widely used against AIDS. Her well known works also include the development of the first immunosuppressive drug, azathioprine, used to fight rejection in organ transplants, and the first successful antiviral drug, acyclovir (ACV), used in the treatment of herpes infection. Read more
• 21 Feb 1999: Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (born 1914) Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat, and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Finnish pilots in score against Soviet aircraft in World War II, with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories in 437 sorties. He achieved 58 of his victories while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109G and 34 with a Brewster Buffalo. Read more
• 21 Feb 1999: Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player and politician (born 1930) Wilmer David "Vinegar Bend" Mizell Sr. was an American baseball player and politician. From 1952 to 1962, he was a left-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets of Major League Baseball. Six years after retiring, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina's 5th congressional district. He served three terms as a Republican from 1969 to 1975. Read more
• 21 Feb 1996: Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1913) Morton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist. Read more
• 21 Feb 1995: Robert Bolt, English dramatist (born 1924) Robert Oxton Bolt was an English playwright and a screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and A Man for All Seasons, the latter two of which won him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also was the recipient of a Tony Award, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. Read more
• 21 Feb 1994: Johannes Steinhoff, German general and pilot (born 1913) Johannes "Macky" Steinhoff was a Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II, German general, and NATO official. He was one of very few Luftwaffe pilots who survived to fly operationally through the whole of the war period 1939–45 until he was severely burned during a failed take-off. Steinhoff was also one of the highest-scoring pilots with 176 victories, and one of the first to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in combat as a member of the Jagdverband 44 squadron led by Adolf Galland. Steinhoff was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, and later received the Great Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and several foreign awards including the American Legion of Merit and the French Legion of Honour. He played a role in the so-called Fighter Pilots' Revolt late in the war, when several senior air force officers confronted Hermann Göring. Read more
• 21 Feb 1993: Inge Lehmann, Danish seismologist and geophysicist (born 1888) Inge Lehmann was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist who is known for her discovery in 1936 of the solid inner core that exists within the molten outer core of the Earth. She also discovered the seismic discontinuity in the speed of seismic waves at depths between 190 and 250 km, which is named the Lehmann discontinuity after her. Lehmann is considered to be a pioneer among women and scientists in seismology research. Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Dorothy Auchterlonie Green, Australian poet, critic, and academic (born 1915) Dorothy Auchterlonie was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet. Read more
• 21 Feb 1991: Nutan, Indian actress (born 1936) Nutan Samarth-Bahl, known mononymously as Nutan was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Nutan was noted for her naturalistic acting in parts of conflicted women often deemed unconventional. In a career spanning four decades, she appeared in more than 80 films, that ranged in genre from urban romances to socio-realist dramas. She was the recipient of seven Filmfare Awards, including a then-record five Filmfare Awards for Best Actress. In 1974, Nutan received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award. Read more
• 21 Feb 1986: Helen Hooven Santmyer, American novelist (born 1895) Helen Hooven Santmyer was an American writer, educator, and librarian. She is primarily known for her best-selling epic "…And Ladies of the Club", published when she was in her 80s. Read more
• 21 Feb 1985: Louis Hayward, South African-American actor (born 1909) Louis Charles Hayward was a South African-born, British-American actor. Read more
• 21 Feb 1984: Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905) Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life and fate of Don Cossacks during the Russian Revolution, the civil war and the period of collectivization, primarily in his most famous novel, And Quiet Flows the Don. Read more
• 21 Feb 1982: Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli historian and philosopher (born 1897) Gershom Scholem was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Read more
• 21 Feb 1980: Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author (born 1914) Alfred Hellmuth Andersch was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany, and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Martin Andersch, his brother, was also a writer. Read more
• 21 Feb 1974: Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, co-founded Tim Hortons (born 1930) Miles Gilbert "Tim" Horton was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 24 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He spent the majority of his career playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, later playing with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. Horton was a four-time Stanley Cup Champion in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967 with the Maple Leafs. In 2017, Horton was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. He died at age 44 following a single-vehicle crash in which drugs and alcohol were involved. Read more
• 21 Feb 1972: Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (born 1914) Zhang Guohua was a Chinese lieutenant general and a politician, serving during the invasion of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War and later as a Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary for the Tibet Autonomous Region. Read more
• 21 Feb 1972: Bronislava Nijinska, Russian-American dancer and choreographer (born 1891) Bronislava Nijinska was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers. Read more
• 21 Feb 1972: Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (born 1884) Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant was a French prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia. Read more
• 21 Feb 1968: Howard Florey, Australian pathologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898) Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston, was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases". Read more
• 21 Feb 1967: Charles Beaumont, American author and screenwriter (born 1929) Charles Beaumont was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is remembered as a writer of classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as "The Howling Man", "Static", "Nice Place to Visit", "Miniature", "Printer's Devil", and "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You", but also penned the screenplays for several films, such as 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Intruder, and The Masque of the Red Death. Read more
• 21 Feb 1965: Malcolm X, American minister and activist (born 1925) Malcolm X was an African American revolutionary and Black nationalist leader who rose from a background of poverty, family disruption, and criminal activity to a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. He discovered the religious organization the Nation of Islam while in prison and served as its spokesperson from 1952 until 1964. He was also a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure with Black people and Muslims worldwide for his pursuit of racial justice. Read more
• 21 Feb 1958: Duncan Edwards, English footballer (born 1936) Duncan Edwards was an English footballer who played as a left-half for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s, playing 177 matches for the club. He was noted for his physical strength, toughness, and level of authority on the pitch, and has been ranked amongst the toughest players of all time. One of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster, he survived initially but succumbed to his injuries in hospital two weeks later. Many of his contemporaries have described him as one of the best, if not the best, players with whom they had played. Read more
• 21 Feb 1947: Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (born 1881) Fannie Charles Dillon was an American pianist, music educator and composer. Read more
• 21 Feb 1946: José Streel, Belgian journalist (born 1911) Lucien Alphonse Joseph "José" Streel was a Belgian journalist and supporter of Rexism. Streel was an important figure in the early years of the movement, when he was the main political philosopher of Rexism as an ideology. He subsequently became less of a central figure following the German occupation of Belgium during World War II due to his lukewarm attitude towards working with Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, he was executed by Belgium after the war as a collaborator. Read more
• 21 Feb 1945: Eric Liddell, Scottish rugby player and runner (born 1902) Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and a Christian missionary. Born in Tianjin, China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended a boarding school near London, spending time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh. Read more
• 21 Feb 1944: Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-French racing driver (born 1873) Ferenc Szisz, was a Hungarian racing driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event on a Renault AK 90CV on 26 June, 1906. Read more
• 21 Feb 1941: Frederick Banting, Canadian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891) Sir Frederick Grant Banting was a Canadian pharmacologist, orthopedist, and field surgeon. For his co-discovery of insulin and its therapeutic potential, Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Macleod. Read more
• 21 Feb 1938: George Ellery Hale, American astronomer and academic (born 1868) George Ellery Hale was an American astrophysicist, best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-leading telescopes; namely, the 40-inch refracting telescope at Yerkes Observatory, 60-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, 100-inch Hooker reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson, and the 200-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Palomar Observatory. He played a key role in the foundation of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research and the National Research Council, and in developing the California Institute of Technology into a leading research university. Read more
• 21 Feb 1934: Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (born 1895) Augusto César Sandino was a Nicaraguan revolutionary, founder of the militant group EDSN, and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupation of Nicaragua. Despite being referred to as a "bandit" by the United States government, his exploits made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to American imperialism. Sandino drew units of the United States Marine Corps into an undeclared guerrilla war. The United States troops withdrew from the country in 1933 after overseeing the election and inauguration of President Juan Bautista Sacasa, who had returned from exile. Read more
• 21 Feb 1926: Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1853) Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch experimental physicist who became the first to liquefy helium, cooling it to near 1.5 kelvin (K). For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913. Read more
• 21 Feb 1919: Kurt Eisner, German journalist and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (born 1867) Kurt Eisner was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre critic. As a socialist journalist, he organized the socialist revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy in Bavaria in November 1918, which led to him being described as "the symbol of the Bavarian revolution". Eisner subsequently proclaimed the People's State of Bavaria but was assassinated by far-right Bavarian nationalist Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley in Munich on 21 February 1919. Read more
• 21 Feb 1918: Incas, last known Carolina parakeet (hatched fl. 1885) Incas was a male Carolina parakeet and the last member of his species known with certainty. Though probable sightings of wild Carolina parakeets continued into the 1930s, and the American Ornithologists Union accepted a sighting in 1920, no specimens were collected after 1904 and he is often cited as the last individual in existence. Incas died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918, in the same enclosure as Martha, the last passenger pigeon, who died in 1914. He died within one year of his mate, Lady Jane. Read more
• 21 Feb 1891: James Timberlake, American lieutenant and police officer (born 1846) James H. Timberlake was an American law enforcement officer, Civil War soldier, farmer and rancher who served as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Missouri. Timberlake is best known for being the chief enforcer and investigator against the James-Younger Gang, beginning in the 1870s, which culminated in the death of the outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882, at the hands of Robert Ford. Read more
• 21 Feb 1888: William Weston, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Tasmania (born 1804) William Pritchard Weston was the third Premier of Tasmania. Read more
• 21 Feb 1862: Justinus Kerner, German poet and physician (born 1786) Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner was a German poet, practicing physician, and medical writer. He gave the first detailed description of botulism. Read more
• 21 Feb 1846: Emperor Ninkō of Japan (born 1800) Emperor Ninkō was the 120th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Ninkō's reign spanned the years from 1817 until his death in 1846, and saw further deterioration of the power of the ruling shōgun. Disasters, which included famine, combined with corruption and increasing Western interference, helped to erode public trust in the bakufu government. Emperor Ninkō revived certain court rituals and practices upon the wishes of his father. However, it is unknown what role, if any, the Emperor had in the turmoil which occurred during his reign. Read more
• 21 Feb 1829: Kittur Chennamma, Indian queen and freedom fighter (born 1778) Chennamma of Kittur was the Queen of the princely state of Kittur in present-day Karnataka. She led an rebellious armed resistance against the British East India Company, in order to retain control over her dominion. She defeated the British army in the first war, but died as a prisoner after her second rebellion. As one of the first and few female rulers to lead kittur forces against British colonisation, she continues to be remembered as a folk heroine in Karnataka. Read more
• 21 Feb 1824: Eugène de Beauharnais, French general (born 1781) Eugène Rose de Beauharnais was a French statesman and military officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, he was the stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the French Empire, he also became Napoleon's adopted son. He was Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy under his stepfather, from 1805 to 1814, and commanded the Army of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Historians consider him one of Napoleon's most able relatives. Read more
• 21 Feb 1821: Georg Friedrich von Martens, German jurist and diplomat (born 1756) Georg Friedrich von Martens was a German jurist and diplomat. Educated at the universities of Göttingen, Regensburg and Vienna, he became professor of jurisprudence at Göttingen in 1783 and was ennobled in 1789. He was made a counsellor of state by the King of Westphalia in 1808, and in 1810 was president of the financial section of the council of state of the kingdom of Westphalia. In 1814 he was appointed privy cabinet-councillor by the king of Hanover, and in 1816 went as representative of the king to the diet of the new German Confederation at Frankfort. Read more

Why is 21 February Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 21 February, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 21 February in World history?

On 21 February, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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