February 19

February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 315 days remaining until the end of the year (316 in leap years).

Events

• 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.
• 1594 – Having already inherited the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagiellon of Poland in 1587, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, having succeeded his father John III of Sweden in 1592.
• 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
• 1649 – The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil.
• 1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
• 1807 – Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Wakefield, Alabama and confined to Fort Stoddert.
• 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.
• 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
• 1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
• 1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, a New York Congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the first time this defense is successfully used in the United States.
• 1861 – Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
• 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
• 1884 – More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
• 1915 – World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.
• 1937 – Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
• 1942 – World War II: Nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.
• 1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps.
• 1943 – World War II: Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
• 1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima: About 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
• 1948 – The Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence convenes in Calcutta.
• 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
• 1953 – Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
• 1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
• 1960 – China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
• 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.
• 1965 – Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and a communist spy of the North Vietnamese Viet Minh, along with Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Trần Thiện Khiêm attempted a coup against the military junta of Nguyễn Khánh.
• 1972 – The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
• 1976 – Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps, is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417
• 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.
• 1985 – William J. Schroeder becomes the first recipient of an artificial heart to leave hospital.
• 1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
• 1985 – EastEnders, BBC's flagship soap opera, broadcasts for the first time.
• 1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers in the eastern province of Sri Lanka.
• 2001 – The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• 2002 – NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
• 2003 – An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.
• 2006 – A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.
• 2011 – The debut exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck, containing the largest collection of Tang dynasty artefacts found in one location, begins in Singapore.
• 2012 – Forty-four people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Births

• 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
• 1526 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist and academic (d. 1609)
• 1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (d. 1630)
• 1630 – Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire (d. 1680)
• 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
• 1717 – David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (d. 1779)
• 1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
• 1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Premier of Canada West (d. 1862)
• 1800 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun, founded the Sisters of Providence (d. 1851)
• 1802 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss politician (d. 1881)
• 1804 – Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (d. 1878)
• 1804 – David Wark, Irish-Canadian merchant and politician (d. 1905)
• 1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (d. 1868)
• 1824 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Crédit Lyonnais (d. 1905)
• 1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
• 1843 – Adelina Patti, Spanish-Welsh soprano (d. 1919)
• 1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
• 1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
• 1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (d. 1923)
• 1871 – Lugenia Burns Hope, American activist (d. 1947)
• 1872 – Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (d. 1944)
• 1876 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor and photographer (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
• 1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
• 1880 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
• 1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 1942)
• 1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (d. 1928)
• 1888 – Aurora Quezon, Filipino wife of Manuel L. Quezon, 2nd First Lady of the Philippines (d. 1949)
• 1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, English-American actor and director (d. 1964)
• 1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor and singer (d. 1956)
• 1895 – Diego Mazquiarán, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1940)
• 1896 – André Breton, French poet and author (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
• 1899 – Lucio Fontana, Italian-Argentinian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
• 1899 – Yury Olesha, Russian author and playwright (d. 1960)
• 1901 – Florence Green, English soldier (d. 2012)
• 1902 – Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist (d. 1992)
• 1903 – Louis Slobodkin, American author and illustrator (d. 1975)
• 1904 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1964)
• 1906 – Eugene Eisenmann, Panamanian-American lawyer and ornithologist (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer and director (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2007)
• 1914 – Jacques Dufilho, French actor (d. 2005)
• 1915 – John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (d. 2014)
• 1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet (d. 1967)
• 1920 – C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (d. 2007)
• 1920 – George Rose, English actor and singer (d. 1988)
• 1922 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
• 1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
• 1924 – Bruce Norris, American businessman (d. 1986)
• 1926 – György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic
• 1926 – Ross Thomas, American soldier author (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Philippe Boiry, French journalist (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (d. 2002)
• 1930 – Kasinathuni Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut
• 1934 – Pierre Barouh, French singer-songwriter and actor
• 1934 – Carole Eastman, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1936 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1937 – Terry Carr, American author and educator (d. 1987)
• 1937 – David Margulies, American actor (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Alan Munro, Indian-English immunologist and academic
• 1937 – Boris Pugo, Latvian politician, Minister of Interior of the Soviet Union (d. 1991)
• 1937 – Robert Walker, American guitarist
• 1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
• 1938 – Dutch Mason, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1938 – René Muñoz, Cuban-Mexican actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
• 1939 – Erin Pizzey, Chinese-English activist and author, founded Refuge
• 1939 – Gwen Taylor, English actress
• 1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
• 1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Miracles)
• 1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (The Miracles) (d. 2013)
• 1941 – David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
• 1942 – Paul Krause, American football player
• 1942 – Howard Stringer, Welsh-American businessman
• 1942 – Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
• 1943 – Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and engineer
• 1943 – Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate
• 1944 – Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman
• 1945 – Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter
• 1945 – Michael Nader, American actor
• 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist (Loverboy and Streetheart)
• 1946 – Barry Everitt, English neuroscientist and academic
• 1946 – Hiroshi Fujioka, Japanese actor
• 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian footballer and coach
• 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (d. 1974)
• 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill
• 1947 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and writer (d. 1985)
• 1948 – Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Spirit, Firefall, Jo Jo Gunne, and Heart)
• 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Velvett Fogg, and Mythology)
• 1948 – Big John Studd, American wrestler and actor (d. 1995)
• 1949 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (d. 1998)
• 1949 – Eddie Hardin, English singer-songwriter and pianist (The Spencer Davis Group and Axis Point) (d. 2015)
• 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator
• 1950 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1950 – Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wishbone Ash)
• 1951 – Stephen Nichols, American actor and director
• 1951 – Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founded Minhaj-ul-Quran
• 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut
• 1952 – Amy Tan, American pathologist and author
• 1952 – Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia
• 1953 – Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player
• 1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 52nd President of Argentina
• 1953 – Bill Kirchenbauer American comedian and actor
• 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
• 1954 – Messaouda Boubaker, Tunisian writer
• 1954 – Francis Buchholz, German bass player (Scorpions and Michael Schenker Group)
• 1954 – Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Swans, Angels of Light, The World of Skin, and Circus Mort)
• 1954 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2011)
• 1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor, singer, and playwright
• 1956 – Kathleen Beller, American actress
• 1956 – Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The dB's and The Continental Drifters)
• 1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1956 – Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Beat and General Public)
• 1957 – Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
• 1957 – Lorianne Crook, American radio and television host
• 1957 – Ray Winstone, English actor, singer, and producer
• 1958 – Tommy Cairo, American wrestler
• 1958 – Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter
• 1958 – Pierre-Loup Rajot, French actor and director
• 1959 – Roger Goodell, American businessman
• 1959 – Simmu Tiik, Estonian diplomat
• 1960 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• 1960 – Leslie Ash, English actress
• 1960 – John Paul, Jr., American race car driver
• 1961 – Benoît Chamoux, French mountaineer (d. 1995)
• 1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
• 1961 – Andy Wallace, English race car driver
• 1962 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech-Australian tennis player and coach
• 1963 – Seal, English singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Laurell K. Hamilton, American author
• 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
• 1964 – Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Whitesnake, Burning Rain, Hurricane, Bad Moon Rising, Lion, and Dio)
• 1964 – Jonathan Lethem, American author
• 1964 – Dmitri Lipskerov, Russian author and playwright
• 1964 – Richard A. Scott, American author and illustrator
• 1964 – Sonu Walia, Indian model and actress, Miss India 1985
• 1965 – Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Smash Mouth)
• 1965 – Jon Fishman, American drummer (Phish, Pork Tornado, and Surrender to the Air)
• 1965 – Clark Hunt, American businessman
• 1965 – Andy Jameson, English swimmer and sportscaster
• 1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress and producer
• 1966 – Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player
• 1966 – Enzo Scifo, Belgian footballer and manager
• 1966 – Eduardo Xol, American designer and author
• 1967 – Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican-American actor, director, and producer
• 1968 – Frank Watkins, American bass player (Obituary and Gorgoroth) (d. 2015)
• 1969 – Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fear Factory, Ascension of the Watchers, City of Fire, and GZR)
• 1969 – Helena Guergis, Canadian politician
• 1970 – Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter (HammerFall and Warlord)
• 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player and poet
• 1971 – Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator
• 1971 – Lisa McCune, Australian actress and producer
• 1972 – Francine Fournier, American wrestler and manager
• 1972 – Sunset Thomas, American porn actress
• 1973 – Eric Lange, American actor
• 1973 – Nikos Oikonomou, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1974 – Danny Doring, American wrestler
• 1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer (Nickelback and 3 Doors Down)
• 1975 – Katja Schuurman, Dutch actress and singer
• 1975 – Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards
• 1977 – Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player (The Ark)
• 1977 – Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author
• 1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager
• 1978 – Ben Gummer, English scholar and politician
• 1978 – Michalis Konstantinou, Cypriot footballer
• 1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper
• 1978 – Stephanie Waring, English actress
• 1979 – Bassnectar, American DJ and producer
• 1979 – Mariska, Finnish rapper
• 1979 – Andrew Buchan, English actor
• 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player and manager
• 1979 – Mariana Ochoa, Mexican singer and actress (OV7)
• 1979 – René Renno, German footballer
• 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
• 1980 – David Gandy, English model
• 1980 – Spyridon Gianniotis, Greek swimmer
• 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
• 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
• 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer-songwriter (Gossip)
• 1981 – Kyle Martino, American soccer player
• 1981 – Gil Reyes, American boxer
• 1981 – Nicky Shorey, English footballer
• 1981 – Baiba Skride, Latvian classical violinist
• 1981 – Shawn Spears, Canadian wrestler
• 1981 – Vitas, Russian singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Camelia Potec, Romanian swimmer
• 1983 – Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
• 1983 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress
• 1983 – Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
• 1985 – Arielle Kebbel, American actress
• 1985 – Sławomir Peszko, Polish footballer
• 1986 – Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Björn Gustafsson, Swedish comedian and actor
• 1986 – Reon Kadena, Japanese model and actress
• 1986 – Henri Karjalainen, Finnish race car driver
• 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Jayde Nicole, Canadian model
• 1986 – Michael Schwimer, American baseball player
• 1986 – Marta Vieira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Vanesa Furlanetto, Argentinian tennis player
• 1988 – Miyu Irino, Japanese voice actor
• 1988 – Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Seth Morrison, American guitarist (Skillet)
• 1988 – Selkirk, English race horse (d. 2013)
• 1989 – Kaisa Pajusalu, Estonian rower
• 1990 – Luke Pasqualino, English actor
• 1991 – Trevor Bayne, American race car driver
• 1992 – Sander Pärn, Estonian race car driver
• 1992 – Jelena Simić, Bosnian tennis player
• 1993 – Martín Alaníz, Uruguayan footballer
• 1993 – Mauro Icardi, Argentinian footballer
• 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1993 – Empress Schuck, Filipino actress
• 1994 – Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer
• 1998 – Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player
• 2001 – David Mazouz, American actor

Deaths

• 197 – Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (b. 150)
• 1133 – Irene Doukaina, Byzantine wife of Alexios I Komnenos (b. 1066)
• 1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)
• 1605 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)
• 1602 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur (b. 1558)
• 1620 – Roemer Visscher, Dutch merchant and author (b. 1547)
• 1622 – Henry Savile, English scholar and politician (b. 1549)
• 1663 – Adam Adami, German bishop (b. 1603)
• 1672 – Charles Chauncy, English-American minister, theologian, and academic (b. 1592)
• 1709 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (b. 1646)
• 1716 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1634)
• 1789 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Delaware (b. 1738)
• 1799 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (b. 1733)
• 1806 – Elizabeth Carter, English poet and translator (b. 1717)
• 1837 – Georg Büchner, German-Swiss poet and playwright (b. 1813)
• 1837 – Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1756)
• 1887 – Multatuli, Dutch-German author (b. 1820)
• 1897 – Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician and academic (b. 1815)
• 1915 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian philosopher and politician (b. 1866)
• 1916 – Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
• 1927 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (b. 1847)
• 1936 – Charles Harding Firth, English historian and academic (b. 1857)
• 1936 – Billy Mitchell, American general and pilot (b. 1879)
• 1942 – Frank Abbandando, American gangster (b. 1910)
• 1945 – John Basilone, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1916)
• 1951 – André Gide, French novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
• 1952 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
• 1957 – Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (b. 1871)
• 1959 – Willard Miller, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1877)
• 1962 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the Pap smear (b. 1883)
• 1968 – Georg Hackenschmidt, Estonian-English strongman and wrestler (b. 1877)
• 1969 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)
• 1972 – John Grierson, Scottish-English director and producer (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)
• 1972 – Tedd Pierce, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1973 – Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1897)
• 1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)
• 1977 – Anthony Crosland, English captain and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (b. 1918)
• 1977 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1890)
• 1980 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (AC/DC, The Valentines, Fraternity, and The Spektors) (b. 1946)
• 1983 – Alice White, American actress and singer (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor and director (b. 1922)
• 1988 – André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
• 1992 – Tojo Yamamoto, American wrestler and manager (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Derek Jarman, English director and set designer (b. 1942)
• 1996 – Charlie Finley, American businessman (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Frank Delfino, American actor (b. 1911)
• 1997 – Leo Rosten, Polish-American author and academic (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1904)
• 1998 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1913)
• 1999 – Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric (b. 1943)
• 2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Stanley Kramer, American director and producer (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Charles Trenet, French singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Sylvia Rivera, American activist (b. 1951)
• 2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Janet Blair, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian dancer and director, founded the National Ballet of Canada (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian singer-songwriter (Grazhdanskaya Oborona) (b. 1964)
• 2008 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress and singer (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Kelly Groucutt, English singer and bass player (Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II) (b. 1945)
• 2010 – Jamie Gillis, American porn actor and director (b. 1943)
• 2011 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Robin Corbett, Baron Corbett of Castle Vale, Australian-English politician (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Ruth Barcan Marcus, American philosopher and logician (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Frits Staal, Dutch philosopher and academic (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Stasys Stonkus, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Jaroslav Velinský, Czech author and songwriter (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Vitaly Vorotnikov, Russian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (b. 1914)
• 2013 – George Aratani, Japanese American entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder of Mikasa china and owner of the Kenwood Electronics corporation (b. 1917)
• 2013 – John Brascia, American actor and dancer (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Eugene Whelan, Canadian farmer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Norbert Beuls, Belgian footballer and manager (b. 1957)
• 2014 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Génesis Carmona, Venezuelan model (b. 1991)
• 2014 – Simón Díaz, Venezuelan singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Dale Gardner, American captain and astronaut (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Betty Lou Bredemus, American actress and coach (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Harold Johnson, American boxer (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Nirad Mohapatra, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Harris Wittels, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1984)

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Mexico)
• Birthday of Shivaji or Shivaji Jayanti (Maharashtra, India)
• Christian feast day:
  • Barbatus of Benevento
  • Conrad of Piacenza
  • Lucy Yi Zhenmei (one of Martyrs of Guizhou)
  • February 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of Bulgaria's Apostle of Freedom Vassil Levski (Bulgaria)
• Flag Day (Turkmenistan)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada