February 16

Pre-1600 • 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire. • 1270 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Karuse. 1601–1900 • 1630 – Dutch forces led by Hendrick Lonck capture Olinda in what was to become part of Dutch Brazil. • 1646 – Battle of Torrington, Devon: The last major battle of the First English Civil War. • 1699 – First Leopoldine Diploma is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, recognizing the Greek Catholic clergy enjoyed the same privileges as Roman Catholic priests in the Principality of Transylvania. • 1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister. • 1796 – Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) falls to the British, completing their invasion of Ceylon. • 1804 – First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate . • 1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee. • 1866 – Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes British Secretary of State for War. • 1881 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated by Act of Parliament at Ottawa (44th Vic., c.1). • 1899 – Iceland's first football club, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, is founded. • 1900 – The Southern Cross expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink achieves a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier. 1901–present • 1918 – The Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state. • 1923 – Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. • 1930 – The Romanian Football Federation joins FIFA. • 1934 – The Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republikanischer Schutzbund. • 1934 – The Commission of Government is officially sworn in; ending 79 years of responsible government in Newfoundland. • 1936 – The Popular Front wins the 1936 Spanish general election. • 1937 – Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon. • 1940 – World War II: Altmark incident: The German tanker Altmark is boarded by sailors from the British destroyer . A total of 299 British prisoners are freed. • 1942 – World War II: In Athens, the Greek People's Liberation Army is established • 1942 – World War II: Attack on Aruba, first World War II German shots fired on a land based object in the Americas. • 1943 – World War II: In the early phases of the Third Battle of Kharkov, Red Army troops re-enter the city. • 1945 – World War II: American forces land on Corregidor Island in the Philippines. • 1945 – The Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the United States, was signed into law. • 1962 – Flooding in the coastal areas of West Germany kills 315 and destroys the homes of about 60,000 people. • 1968 – In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service. • 1968 – Civil Air Transport Flight 010 crashes near Shongshan Airport in Taiwan, killing 21 of the 63 people on board and one more on the ground. • 1978 – The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago). • 1983 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75. • 1984 – Iran launches Operation Dawn 5, a major offensive during the Iran–Iraq War targeting the Basra–Baghdad highway, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. • 1985 – Hezbollah is founded. • 1986 – The Soviet liner runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. • 1986 – China Airlines Flight 2265 crashes into the Pacific Ocean near Penghu Airport in Taiwan, killing all 13 aboard. • 1991 – Nicaraguan Contras leader Enrique Bermúdez is assassinated in Managua. • 1996 – A Chicago-bound Amtrak train, the Capitol Limited, collides with a MARC commuter train bound for Washington, D.C., killing 11 people. • 1998 – China Airlines Flight 676 crashes into a road and residential area near Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 196 aboard and six more on the ground. • 2000 – Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 crashes near Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova, California, killing all three aboard. • 2005 – The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia. • 2005 – The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004–05 regular season and playoffs. • 2006 – The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army. • 2013 – A bomb blast at a market in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan kills more than 80 people and injures 190 others. • 2021 – Five thousand people gathered in the town of Kherrata, Bejaia Province to mark the second anniversary of the Hirak protest movement. Demonstrations had been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria. ==Births==

Pre-1600 • 1222 – Nichiren, founder of Nichiren Buddhism (died 1282) • 1304 – Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür, Chinese emperor (died 1332) • 1331 – Coluccio Salutati, Italian political leader (died 1406) • 1419 – John I, Duke of Cleves (died 1481) • 1470 – Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1540) • 1471 – Krishnadevaraya, emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire (died 1529) • 1497 – Philip Melanchthon, German astronomer, theologian, and academic (died 1560) • 1514 – Georg Joachim Rheticus, Austrian cartographer and instrument maker (died 1574) • 1519 – Gaspard II de Coligny, French admiral (died 1572) • 1543 – Kanō Eitoku, Japanese painter and educator (died 1590) 1601–1900 • 1620 – Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (died 1688) • 1643 – John Sharp, English archbishop (died 1714) • 1698 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (died 1758) • 1727 – Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian botanist, chemist, and mycologist (died 1817) • 1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (died 1813) • 1761 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (died 1804) • 1774 – Pierre Rode, French violinist and composer (died 1830) • 1786 – Maria Pavlovna, Russian Grand Duchess (died 1859) • 1802 – Phineas Quimby, American mystic and philosopher (died 1866) • 1804 – Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist and zoologist (died 1885) • 1812 – Henry Wilson, American colonel and politician, 18th Vice President of the United States (died 1875) • 1821 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer and scholar (died 1865) • 1822 – Francis Galton, English biologist and statistician (died 1911) • 1824 – Peter Kosler, Slovenian lawyer, geographer, and cartographer (died 1879) • 1826 – Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet and author (died 1886) • 1830 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (died 1902) • 1831 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (died 1895) • 1834 – Ernst Haeckel, German biologist, physician, and philosopher (died 1919) • 1838 – Henry Adams, American journalist, historian, and author (died 1918) • 1841 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter (died 1927) • 1843 – Henry M. Leland, American engineer and businessman, founded Cadillac and Lincoln (died 1932) • 1845 – George Kennan, American journalist and explorer (died 1924) • 1848 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist, geneticist, and academic (died 1935) • 1848 – Octave Mirbeau, French journalist, novelist, and playwright (died 1917) • 1856 – Ossian Everett Mills, American academic, founded Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (died 1920) • 1866 – Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (died 1940) • 1873 – Radoje Domanović, Serbian journalist and author (died 1908) • 1876 – G. M. Trevelyan, English historian and academic (died 1962) • 1877 – Tom Crean, Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer (died 1938) • 1878 – Pamela Colman Smith, English occultist and illustrator (died 1951) • 1878 – James Colosimo, Italian-American mob boss (died 1920) • 1884 – Robert J. Flaherty, American director and producer (died 1951) • 1887 – Kathleen Clifford, American actress (died 1962) • 1891 – Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist and academic (died 1968) • 1893 – Katharine Cornell, American actress and producer (died 1974) • 1896 – Eugénie Blanchard, French super-centenarian (died 2010) 1901–present • 1901 – Wayne King, American singer-songwriter and conductor (died 1985) • 1901 – Chester Morris, American actor (died 1970) • 1902 – Cyril Vincent, South African cricketer (died 1968) • 1903 – Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist and actor (died 1978) • 1904 – James Baskett, American actor and singer (died 1948) • 1904 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (died 2005) • 1905 – Henrietta Barnett, English Women's Royal Air Force officer (died 1985) • 1906 – Vera Menchik, Russian-Czechoslovak-British chess player (died 1944) • 1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor and director (died 1982) • 1909 – Richard McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (died 1998) • 1914 – Jimmy Wakely, American country music singer-songwriter and actor (died 1982) • 1916 – Bill Doggett, American pianist and composer (died 1996) • 1919 – Georges Ulmer, Danish-French actor and composer (died 1989) • 1920 – Anna Mae Hays, American general (died 2018) • 1921 – Jean Behra, French race car driver (died 1959) • 1921 – John Galbraith Graham, English priest and academic (died 2013) • 1921 – Vera-Ellen, German-American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1981) • 1926 – Margot Frank, German-Dutch holocaust victim (died 1945) • 1926 – John Schlesinger, English actor and director (died 2003) • 1927 – June Brown, English actress (died 2022) • 1929 – Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer and architect (died 1980) • 1929 – Peter Porter, Australian-English poet and educator (died 2010) • 1931 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2002) • 1931 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2006) • 1931 – Ken Takakura, Japanese actor and singer (died 2014) • 1932 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (died 2014) • 1932 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 2007) • 1934 – Ken Brown, English footballer and manager • 1934 – August Coppola, American author and academic (died 2009) • 1934 – Marlene Hagge, American golfer (died 2023) • 1935 – Brian Bedford, English-American actor and director (died 2016) • 1935 – Sonny Bono, American actor, singer, and politician (died 1998) • 1937 – Yuri Manin, Russian-German mathematician and academic (died 2023) • 1938 – John Corigliano, American composer and academic • 1939 – Adolfo Azcuna, Filipino lawyer and judge • 1940 – Hannelore Schmatz, German mountaineer (died 1979) • 1941 – Kim Jong Il, North Korean commander and politician, 2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea (died 2011) • 1944 – Glyn Davies, Welsh farmer and politician • 1944 – Richard Ford, American novelist and short story writer • 1948 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler and coach (died 2014) • 1950 – Peter Hain, Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales • 1951 – William Katt, American actor • 1953 – John Bradbury, English musician, songwriter, and producer (died 2015) • 1953 – Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player and manager • 1953 – Roberta Williams, American video game designer, co-founded Sierra Entertainment • 1954 – Iain Banks, Scottish author and playwright (died 2013) • 1954 – Margaux Hemingway, American model and actress (died 1996) • 1956 – Vincent Ward, New Zealand director and screenwriter • 1957 – LeVar Burton, American actor, director, and producer • 1958 – Natalie Angier, American author • 1958 – Ice-T, American rapper and actor • 1961 – Andy Taylor, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer • 1971 – Craig Laundy, Australian politician • 1972 – Jerome Bettis, American football player • 1972 – Zoran Čampara, Bosnian football player • 1972 – Sarah Clarke, American actress • 1972 – Naomi Nishida, Japanese actress • 1973 – Cathy Freeman, Australian sprinter • 1974 – Mahershala Ali, American actor • 1976 – Eric Byrnes, American baseball player and sportscaster • 1976 – Kyo, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer • 1977 – Ian Clarke, Irish-American computer scientist, founded Hyphanet • 1977 – Ahman Green, American football player • 1977 – Alexei Morozov, Russian ice hockey player and executive • 1978 – Tia Hellebaut, Belgian high jumper and chemist • 1978 – Wasim Jaffer, Indian cricketer • 1978 – John Tartaglia, American actor, singer, and puppeteer • 1979 – Stéphane Dalmat, French footballer • 1979 – Eric Mun, American-South Korean singer and actor • 1979 – Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer • 1980 – Longineu W. Parsons III, French-American musician and songwriter • 1981 – Jay Howard, English race car driver • 1981 – Susanna Kallur, Swedish sprint hurdler • 1981 – Jerry Owens, American baseball player • 1981 – Qyntel Woods, American basketball player • 1982 – Manny Delcarmen, American baseball player • 1982 – Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Estonian footballer • 1982 – Lupe Fiasco, American rapper • 1984 – Sofia Arvidsson, Swedish tennis player • 1984 – Oussama Mellouli, Tunisian swimmer • 1985 – Simon Francis, English footballer • 1985 – Stacy Lewis, American golfer • 1985 – Ron Vlaar, Dutch footballer • 1986 – Diego Godín, Uruguayan footballer • 1986 – Shawne Williams, American basketball player • 1987 – Luc Bourdon, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2008) • 1987 – Theresa Goh, Singaporean swimmer • 1987 – Tommy Milone, American baseball player • 1987 – Jon Ossoff, American politician and filmmaker • 1987 – Hasheem Thabeet, Tanzanian basketball player • 1988 – Diego Capel, Spanish footballer • 1988 – Denílson, Brazilian footballer • 1988 – Korbinian Holzer, German ice hockey player • 1988 – Zhang Jike, Chinese table tennis player • 1988 – Andrea Ranocchia, Italian footballer • 1988 – Kim Soo-hyun, South Korean actor and singer • 1989 – Elizabeth Olsen, American actress • 1991 – Sergio Canales, Spanish footballer • 1992 – Nicolai Boilesen, Danish footballer • 1992 – Zsófia Susányi, Hungarian tennis player • 1994 – Annika Beck, German tennis player • 1994 – Federico Bernardeschi, Italian footballer • 1994 – Ava Max, American singer and songwriter • 1995 – Denzel Curry, American rapper • 1995 – Katy Dunne, English tennis player • 1995 – Carina Witthöft, German tennis player • 1997 – Jordan Greenway, American ice hockey player • 1998 – An Hyejin, South Korean volleyball player • 1998 – Kim Suji, South Korean diver • 1999 – Ignatius Ganago, Cameroonian footballer • 1999 – Marie Ulven Ringheim, Norwegian singer, songwriter and music producer • 2000 – Koffee, Jamaican singer, songwriter and rapper • 2000 – Coby White, American basketball player • 2000 – Carlos Yulo, Filipino artistic gymnast • 2001 – Yuki Naito, Japanese tennis player ==Deaths==

Pre-1600 • 549 – Zhu Yi, Chinese general (born 483) • 902 – Mary the Younger, Byzantine saint (born 875) • 1184 – Richard of Dover, Archbishop of Canterbury • 1247 – Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (born 1204) • 1279 – Afonso III of Portugal (born 1210) • 1281 – Gertrude of Hohenberg, queen consort of Germany (born c. 1225) • 1390 – Rupert I, Elector Palatine (born 1309) • 1391 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1332) • 1531 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (born 1452) • 1560 – Jean du Bellay, French cardinal and diplomat (born 1493) • 1579 – Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Spanish explorer (born 1509) 1601–1900 • 1645 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (born 1585) • 1710 – Esprit Fléchier, French bishop and author (born 1632) • 1721 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1686) • 1754 – Richard Mead, English physician (born 1673) • 1820 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish general (born 1758) • 1862 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1796) • 1898 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (born 1843) • 1899 – Félix Faure, French merchant and politician, 7th President of France (born 1841) 1901–present • 1907 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1835) • 1912 – Nicholas of Japan, Russian-Japanese monk and saint (born 1836) • 1917 – Octave Mirbeau, French journalist, novelist, and playwright (born 1848) • 1919 – Vera Kholodnaya, Ukrainian actress (born 1893) • 1928 – Eddie Foy Sr., American actor and dancer (born 1856) • 1932 – Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1841) • 1932 – Edgar Speyer, American-English financier and philanthropist (born 1862) • 1941 – Frida Felser, German opera singer and actress (born 1872) • 1944 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1870) • 1957 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (born 1876) • 1961 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (born 1891) • 1964 – James M. Canty, American educator, school administrator, and businessperson (born 1865) • 1967 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1911) • 1974 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand Rifle (born 1888) • 1975 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (born 1903) • 1977 – Janani Luwum, bishop, Church of Uganda, martyr (born c.1922) • 1977 – Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (born 1905) • 1980 – Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (born 1895) • 1984 – M. A. G. Osmani, Bangladeshi general (born 1918) • 1988 – Ye Shengtao, Chinese writer, educator, and politician (born 1894) • 1990 – Keith Haring, American painter and activist (born 1958) • 1991 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan lieutenant and engineer (born 1932) • 1992 – Angela Carter, English novelist, short story writer (born 1940) • 1992 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician, 22nd President of Brazil (born 1917) • 1992 – Herman Wold, Norwegian-Swedish economist and statistician (born 1908) • 1996 – Roberto Aizenberg, Argentinian painter and sculptor (born 1922) • 1996 – Roger Bowen, American actor and author (born 1932) • 1996 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (born 1905) • 1996 – Brownie McGhee, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1915) • 1997 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist and academic (born 1912) • 1998 – Mary Amdur, American toxicologist and public health researcher (born 1908) • 1998 – Sheu Yuan-dong, Taiwanese politician (born 1927) • 2000 – Marceline Day, American actress (born 1908) • 2000 – Lila Kedrova, Russian-French actress and singer • 2000 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-American businessman, founded PING (born 1911) • 2001 – Howard W. Koch, American director and producer (born 1916) • 2001 – William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (born 1915) • 2002 – Walter Winterbottom, English footballer and manager (born 1913) • 2003 – Rusty Magee, American actor and composer (born 1955) • 2004 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (born 1937) • 2006 – Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (born 1966) • 2006 – Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (born 1925) • 2009 – Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korean cardinal (born 1921) • 2011 – Len Lesser, American actor (born 1922) • 2011 – Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (born 1930) • 2012 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (born 1954) • 2012 – Elyse Knox, American model, actress, and fashion designer (born 1917) • 2012 – John Macionis, American swimmer and lieutenant (born 1916) • 2012 – Anthony Shadid, American journalist (born 1968) • 2013 – Colin Edwards, Guyanese footballer (born 1991) • 2013 – Grigory Pomerants, Russian philosopher and author (born 1918) • 2013 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1940) • 2014 – Ken Farragut, American football player (born 1928) • 2014 – Kralle Krawinkel, German guitarist (born 1947) • 2014 – Michael Shea, American author (born 1946) • 2015 – Lasse Braun, Algerian-Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1936) • 2015 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (born 1946) • 2015 – R. R. Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1957) • 2015 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (born 1971) • 2016 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and diplomat, 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations (born 1922) • 2019 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (born 1941) • 2021 – Gustavo Noboa, Ecuadorian politician, 42nd President of Ecuador (born 1937) • 2024 – Alexei Navalny, Russian activist (born 1976) • 2025 – Viktor Antonov, Bulgarian artist (born 1972) • 2026 – Billy Steinberg, American songwriter (born 1950) • 2026 – Frederick Wiseman, American filmmaker (born 1930) ==Holidays and observances==

• Christian feast day: • Abda of Edessa • Elias and companions • Juliana of Nicomedia (Catholic Church) • Onesimus • Charles Todd Quintard (Episcopal Church (USA)) • February 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) • Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong Il's birthday) (North Korea) • Restoration of Lithuania's Statehood Day, celebrate the independence of Lithuania from Russia and Germany in 1918 (Lithuania) • Elizabeth Peratrovich Day (Alaska) ==References==