February 26th
Holidays and Celebrations
Liberation Day (Kuwait 1991)
Savior's Day (Nation of Islam) * (See Below)
Johnny Cash Day * (See Below)
Buffalo Bill Day * (See Below)
Open That Bottle Night
Levi Strauss Day * (See Below)
Dream 2014 (Lake Buena Vista, Florida)
Anniversary of the World Trade Center bombing (1993). In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.
Anniversary of the Grand Canyon National Park
National Pistachio Day
Tell a Fairy Tale Day
For Pete's Sake Day
International Sword Swallowers Day
Victor Hugo Day, French writer (1802 - d. 1885)
Kellogg's Day - John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform (1852 - d. 1943)
Jackie Gleason's Birthday, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (1916 - d. 1987)
Fats Domino Day, American musician (b.1928)
Bill Hicks Remembrance Day, American comedian (b. 1961- D: 1994)
Day 1 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) (Bahá'í Faith) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
Feast of Saint Nestor (died 251)
Feast of Saint Alexander of Alexandria
Feast of Saint Isabel of France
* Noise Pop Music Festival 2010, San Francisco, California, USA February 23 – March 1 (4of7)(2010)
* Ostara Fest - February 23-27, 2011 Fort Worth, TX (4 of 5)
* Savior's Day (Nation of Islam) commemoration of the birthdate of Wallace Fard Muhammad, believed to be Allah in human form, the saviour of the black race.
* Johnny Cash Day, Celebrated on the American singer's Birthday (1932 - d. 2003)
* Levi Strauss Day, Celebrated on the German-born clothing designer's birthday (1829 - d. 1902)
* Buffalo Bill Day - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody's birthday, American frontiersman (1846 - d.. 1917)
Toast of The Day
"Drinking will make a man quaff,
Quaffing will make a man sing,
Singing will make a man laugh,
And laughing long life doth bring."
- Thomas D'Urfey (Tom Durfey) (1653 – February 26, 1723) was an English writer.
Drink of The Day
Vodka Martini
3 Parts Vodka
1 Part Dry Vermouth.
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and then strain into a cold cocktail glass.
Wine of The Day
Martin Estate 2006 Collector's Reserve Puerta Dorada Vineyard
Style - Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford, Napa Valley
$130
Beer of The Day
Troubadour Blond
Brewer - Brewery The Musketeers ; Ursel, Belgium
Style - Belgian-Style Blonde Ale
Joke of The Day
An amnesiac walks into a bar and asks, "Do I come here often?"
Quote of the Day
"Whoever serves beer or wine watered down, he himself deserves in them to drown."
- Medieval plea for pure libations
Whisky of The Day
$15
February Observances
AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month
Aggressive Driving Month
American Heart Month
National Heart Healthy Month
American History Month
An Affair to Remember Month
Avocado and Banana Month
Bake for Family Fun Month
Beans (Dried and Fresh) Month
Berry Fresh Month
Black History Month
Burn Awareness Month
Canned Food Month
Celebration of Chocolate Month
Creative Romance Month
Dog Training Education Month
Exotic Vegetables and Star Fruit Month
Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month
From Africa to Virginia Month
National Get To Know An Independent Real Estate Broker Month
Grapefruit Month
Great American Pie Month a.k.a American Pie Month
International Boost Self-Esteem Month
International Expect Success Month
International Friendship Month
International Hoof-care Month
Jobs in Golf Month
Library Lovers' Month
Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month
Marijuana Awareness Month
National African American History Month
National Bird Feeding Month
National Black History Month
National Care About Your Indoor Air Month
National Cherry Month
National Children's Dental Health Month
National Condom Month
National Embroidery Month
National Fiber Focus Month
National Grapefruit Month
National Hot Breakfast Month
National Laugh-Friendly Month
National Mend A Broken Heart Month
National Parent Leadership Month
National Pet Dental Health Month
National Snack Food Month
National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
National Therapeutic Recreation Month
National Time Management Month
National Weddings Month
National Wild Bird Feeding Month
Parent Leadership Month, Natl
Plant The Seeds Of Greatness Month
Potato Lover’s Month
Pull Your Sofa Off The Wall Month
Relationship Wellness Month
Responsible Pet Owner's Month
Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month
Senior Independence Month
Spay/Neuter Awareness Month
Spiritual Teachers Month
Spunky Old Broads Month
Sweet Potato Month
Truck Month (GM)
Wise Health Care Consumer Month
Worldwide Renaissance of the Heart Month
Youth Leadership Month
Observances this Week
National Pancake Week, Fourth Week of FebruaryRead Me Week, Fourth Week of February
National Secondhand Wardrobe Week, Fourth Full Week in February
Telecommuter Appreciation Week, Fourth Full Week in February
Peace Corps Week, Fourth Full Week in February starting with Monday
International Friendship Week, Last Full Week of February
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Last Full Week in February
Historical Events on February 26th
(747 BC) Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era.
364 Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
1266 Battle of Benevento, An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
1534 Pope Paul II affirms George van Egmond as bishop of Utrecht
1590 Mauritius of Nassaus sails to Breda
1616 Spanish Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo
1658 Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), the King of Denmark-Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
1732 Mass celebrated for 1st time at St Joseph's Church, The first American Catholic church, Philadelphia (Phila)
1773 Construction authorized for Walnut St jail (Phila) (1st solitary)
1794 Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down.
1797 Bank of England issues 1st £1-note
1804 Vice-admiral William Bligh ends siege of Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad
1815 Napoleon Bonaparte & 1,200 escapes from Elbato start 100-day re-conquest of France.
1832 Polish constitution abolished/replaced by Czar Nicholas I
1834 1st US interstate crime compact (NY-NJ) ratified
1839 Jem Mason on Lottery wins 1st Grand National Steeplechase (Britain)
1848 2nd French Republic proclaimed
1848 Marx & Engels publish "Communist Manifesto"
1848 The Second French Republic is proclaimed.
1852 British frigate Birkenhead sinks off South Africa-458 die
1859 Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins
1862 Battle of Woodburn, KY
1863 U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.
1866 New York Legislature forms NYC Metropolitan Board of Health
1869 15th Amendment guaranteeing right to vote sent to states
1869 Franz Schubert's "4th Tragic," premieres
1870 In New York City, a demonstration of the first pneumatic subway opens to the public.
1881 Natal, British troops under gen-major Colley occupy Majuba Hill
1881 SS Ceylon begins 1st round-the-world cruise from Liverpool
1884 British & Portuguese treaty signed in Congo by Leopold II
1885 The Berlin Act, which resulted from the Berlin Conference regulating European colonization and trade in Africa, is signed, gives Congo to Belgium & Nigeria to England
1887 George Lohmann took 1st 8-wkt haul in Test Crickets, 8-35 at SCG
1891 1st buffalo purchased for Golden Gate Park
1891 Henrik Ibsens "Hedda Gabler," premieres in Oslo
1893 2 Clydesdale horses set record by pulling 48 tons on a sledge, Mich
1893 Einar Halvorsen skates world record 500m (48 sec)
1895 Michael Owens of Toledo, Ohio patents a glass-blowing machine
1907 Royal Oil & Shell merge to form British Petroleum (BP)
1907 US Congress raised their own salaries to $7500
1912 Coal miners strike in England (settle on 03/01)
1914 HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
1914 New York Museum of Science & Industry incorporated
1915 Malancourt, Argonnen (1st (German) flame-thrower
1916 Germans sink French transport ship Provence II, killing 930
1916 Mutual signs Charlie Chaplin to a film contract
1916 Russian troops conquer Kermansjah Persia
1917 1st Annual fair at Utrecht Harbor (Netherlands)
1917 The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.
1918 Stands at Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse & burn, killing 604
1919 Acadia National Park forms (as Lafayette N P), Maine
1919 An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
1923 Italian nationalist & fascists merge (blue-shirts & black-shirts)
1924 Trial against Hitler in Munich begins
1925 Jihad-Saint war against Turkish government
1926 Dark Street in the Bronx renamed Lustre Street
1929 Pres Calvin Coolidge establishes Grand Teton National Park
1930 "Green Pastures" opens at Mansfield Theater
1930 1st red & green traffic lights installed (Manhattan NYC)
1930 West Indies make 1st Test Cricket win, by 289 runs over England
1933 Golden Gate Bridge ground-breaking ceremony held at Crissy Field
1933 Marinus van der Lubbe kept overnight in a police cell
1935 Germany begin Luftwaffe operation, under Reichsmarshall H Goering
1935 NY Yankees release Babe Ruth, he signs with Boston Braves
1935 The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.
1936 Hitler introduces Ferdinand Porsche's "Volkswagen"
1936 In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
1937 C Isherwood/WH Auden's "Ascent of F6," premieres in London
1938 1st passenger ship equipped with radar
1938 Rie Van Veen swims world record 200m free style (2:24.6)
1938 US female Figure Skating championship won by Joan Tozzer
1938 US male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee
1940 US Air Defense Command forms at Mitchel Field, LI, NY
1941 2 fighters unable to continued slugfest, referee declares double KO
1941 Cowboys' Amateur Association of America organized (California)
1941 Utrecht & Zaandam strike against raid on Jews
1941 Vichy-France makes religious education in school mandatory
1942 German battle cruiser Gneisenau deactivated by bomb
1942 Radio Orange calls for March 1 day of prayer in Dutch Indies
1942 WW II Navy flier Don Mason sends message "Sighted sub sank same"
1942 Werner Heisenberger informs nazis about uranium project "Wunderwaffen"
1943 German assault moves to Beja North Tunisia
1944 1st female US navy captain, Sue Dauser of nurse corps, appointed
1945 Very heavy bombing on Berlin by 8th US Air Force
1946 2 killed & 10 wounded in race riot in Columbia Tenn
1949 USAF plane began 1st nonstop around-the-world flight
1950 Leonard Bernstein's "Age of Anxiety," premieres in NYC
1951 22nd amendment to Constitution is ratified
1951 Bread rationing in Czechoslovakia
1952 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
1952 Neth-Indonesian Unity conference
1953 Allen W Dulles, promoted from deputy to 5th director of CIA
1954 1st typesetting machine (photo engraving) used, Quincy Mass
1954 Michigan rep Ruth Thompson (R) introduces legislation to ban mailing "obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy" phonograph (rock & roll) records
1955 "Peter Pan" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 149 performances
1955 1st aviator to bail out at supersonic speed-GF Smith
1956 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Open
1956 Writers Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes meet at a party in Cambridge
1960 Soviet premier Khrushchev voices support for Indonesia
1960 USA's David Jenkins wins Olympic Gold for men's figure skating
1960 Verne Gagne beats Doctor X in Omaha, to become NWA wrestling champ
1962 Arthur Kopit's "Oh, Dad, Poor Dad . . .," premieres in NYC
1962 US Supreme court disallows race separation on public transportation
1962 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Phila Warriors scores 67 points vs NY
1965 Dutch government of Marijnen falls
1965 West Germany ceases military aid to Tanzania
1966 Launch of AS-201, Apollo Program, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
1966 KBIM TV channel 10 in Roswell, NM (CBS) begins broadcasting
1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1967 Verne Gagne beats Mad Dog Vachon in St Paul, to become NWA champ
1968 Clandestine Radio Voice of Iraqi People (Communist) final transmission
1970 "Georgy" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 4 performances
1970 Beatles release "Beatles Again" aka "Hey Jude" album
1970 National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.
1971 U.N. Secretary General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
1972 Dam break in WV kills 107
1972 Slag heap dam collapses above Buffalo Creek WV, kills 125
1972 The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
1973 Triple Crown horse Secretariat bought for a record $5.7m
1974 Gold hits record $188 an ounce in Paris
1975 "Night... Made America Famous" opens at Barrymore NYC for 75 perfs
1975 1st televised kidney transplant (Today Show)
1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1977 1st flight of Space Shuttle (atop a Boeing 747)
1978 Ira Levin's "Deathtrap," premieres in NYC
1978 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Bent Tree Golf Classic
1979 Last total eclipse of Sun in 20th century for continental US
1980 Egypt & Israel exchange ambassadors for 1st time
1980 Milt coup under Desi Bouterse in Suriname
1980 R Hadlee scores Test Cricket century v Roberts, Garner, Holding, Croft
1981 3 Anglican missionaries detained in Iran since Aug 1980 are released
1981 84 penalties (406 mins) assessed for a brawl between NHL Minn & Bost
1981 French Train Grande Vitesse averages 380 kph on trial run
1982 Test Cricket debut of Martin Crowe, v Australia Wellington, run out 9
1983 Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 37 weeks
1983 Shortwave pirate Radio USA (Wellsville, NY) begins transmission
1984 Pak Awang (84) marries 80th spouse
1984 Rev Jesse Jackson acknowledges that he called NYC, "Hymietown"
1984 Robert Penn Warren, Pulitzer Prize winner, named 1st US poet laureate
1984 Last US marines in multinatl peacekeeping force in Lebanon withdraw from Beirut. President Ronald Reagan had sent the troops as a peacekeeping force in August 1982.
1985 27th Grammy Awards: Whats Love Got to Do With It, Cyndi Lauper wins
1986 Evert van Benthem wins 14th Frisian 11-Cities skating race (6:55:16)
1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
1987 1st release of Beatles compact discs
1987 The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff due to the Iran-Contra affair.
1987 NASA launches GEOS-H
1987 NBA's Michael Jordan's 58 points is a Chicago Bull record
1987 USSR resumes nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1987 Wash blocks 20 Indiana shots tying NBA regulation game record
1988 Christa Rotherburger (GDR) skates ladies world record 1000m (1:17.65)
1989 "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 634 perfs
1989 Betsy King wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open/Helene Curtis Pro-Am
1989 California court throws out most of Margo Adams's $12 million breach-ofcontract suit against Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs
1989 Lowest barometric pressure in Netherlands (95.5 hPa)
1989 NY Yankees announce that Tom Seaver is their new TV sportscaster
1990 The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
1990 USSR agrees to withdraw all 73,500 troops from Czech by July, 1991
1991 Asanka Gurusinha scores twin Test Cricket tons v NZ (119 & 102)
1991 Bill Veeck & Tony Lazzeri elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1991 Kuwaiti resistance leaders declare they have control of their capital, On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, Gulf War.
1991 NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together
1992 "Search & Destroy" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 46 perfs
1992 Irish Supreme Court rules 14 year old rape victim may get an abortion
1992 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
1993 9th Soap Opera Digest Awards
1993 Allan Border beats Gavaskar's record for most Test Cricket runs 10,123
1993 World Trade Center bombing, In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.
1994 Actor Dolph Lundgren (34) weds Anette Qviberg in Stockholm
1994 St Louis Blues beat Ottawa Senators 11-1
1995 The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
1997 39th Grammy Awards: Change the World Babyface, Beck & LeAnn Rimes wins
1998 Oprah Winfrey beats Texas cattlemen in beef trial
1998 Steven M Gluckstern completes sale of NY Islanders
1998 Total solar eclipse in Venezuela-Pacific Ocean (4m09)
2000 Mount Hekla in Iceland erupts.
2001 The Taliban destroys two giant statues of Buddha in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
2003 Generally said to be the starting date of the War in Darfur.
2004 Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2004 The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
2005 Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76 of the constitution.
2012 Bus plunges off a cliff in Shanxi, China causing 15 deaths
2012 The film The Artist wins five Academy Awards and becomes the first silent film to win since 1927, Jean Dujardin & Meryl Streep also win
2012 Train derailment kills 3 and injures 45 in Burlington, Ontario
2012 West beats East 152-149 at Orlando in the 61st NBA All-Star Game
2013 A flexible battery capable of being charged wirelessly and folded and stretched is developed
2013 A hot air balloon crashes in Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 tourists
2013 A rocket launched from the Gaza strip into Israel ends the ceasefire since November 2012
2016 Iranian elections: reformers and moderates win control of parliament
Born on Febraury 26th
1361 Wenceslas of Bohemia, Holy Roman Catholic emperor, King of Bohemia (1378-1400) (d. 1419)
1564 Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
1587 Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)
1588 Nicolaus Erich, composer
1671 Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (d. 1713)
1672 Antoine Augustine Calmet, French theologian (d. 1757)
1675 Johann Philipp Treiber, composer
1677 Nicola Fago, composer
1686 Godefroi L Count d'Estrades, French diplomat
1714 James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758)
1715 Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
1717 John Randall, composer
1720 Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)
1732 Francis Marion, American Revolutionary War officer (d. 1795)
1740 Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)
1746 Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, duchess of Piacenza (d. 1806)
1770 Antoine Reicha, composer
1772 Caspar Furstenau, composer
1786 François Arago, French mathematician (d. 1853)
1799 Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)
1802 Victor Hugo, French writer (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables) (d. 1885)
1808 Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
1808 Nathan Kelley,American architect, active mainly in Ohio, (d. 1871)
1814 Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (d. 1876)
1824 Carlos Calvo, Argentine diplomat/people rights scholar (Calvo Clause)
1825 Hans Balatka, composer
1829 Levi Strauss, German-born clothing designer (d. 1902)
1831 Filippo Marchetti, composer
1832 John George Nicolay, US, author (Abe Lincoln's biographer)
1834 Aleksander Zarzycki, composer
1835 Richard Andree, German geography/etnologist (Andree's Handatlas)
1837 Charles Woeste, Belgian count/min of Justice
1838 Wendelin Weissheimer, composer
1841 Evelyn Baring earl Cromer, English consul-general (Egypt)
1842 Camille Flammarion, Mars researcher & popularizer of astronomy
1845 Aleksander Rozycki, composer
1845 Alexander III, Russian tsar (1881-94)
1846 William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman, killed 4000 buffalos (d. 1917)
1852 John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform, inspired flaked cereal industry (d. 1943)
1857 Émile Coué, French psychologist (recovery by auto suggestion) (d. 1926)
1858 Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (d. 1917)
1861 Ferdinand I, First tsar of modern Bulgaria (1908-18) (d. 1948)
1861 Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, Lenin's wife (d. 1939)
1866 Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (Dow Chemical) (d. 1930)
1867 Siegfried Passarge, German geographer (Cameroon/So Afr/America)
1868 Leonard Borwick, British(?) pianist
1869 Nadezjda K Krupskaja, Russian revolutionary/wife of Lenin
1873 Ewoud van Everdingen, Dutch meteorologist
1874 Carl Vogler, composer
1875 Emma Dunn, actress (Dr Monica, Dr Kildare's Strange Case, Hideaway)
1875 Richard Wetz, composer
1876 Agustin P Justo y Rolon, pres Argentina (1931-38)
1876 Pauline Musters, smallest man (1'11.2" (58.9 cm))
1877 Carel S Adama van Scheltema, Dutch poet/writer (socialism)
1877 Russell Alexander, composer
1879 Frank Bridge, English composer, tutor of B Britten (d. 1941)
1882 Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
1882 Walter Lucht, German artillery general (WW I/WW II)
1883 Erich R Jaensch, German psychologist (eidetism)
1884 Christina A A [Dina] Koudijs-van Appeldoorn, pianist/composer
1884 Dina Appeldoorn, composer
1884 Hildo Krop, Dutch modernistic sculptor
1885 Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
1885 Lili Green (Alice Sally Mary), Netherlands dancer
1887 Benegal Narsing Rau, India, pres of UN Security Council (1950)
1887 Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player, HOF baseball pitcher (Phillies, Cubs) (d. 1950)
1887 Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
1887 William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)
1891 Alan Bridge, PA, actor (North of Arizona, Badmen of the Hills)
1893 I. A. Richards, English literary critic (Meaning of Meaning) (d. 1979)
1893 William Frawley, Iowa, actor (Fred Mertz-I Love Lucy, Bub-My 3 Sons)
1896 Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov, Soviet politician and art ideologist (against kosmopolitism) (d. 1948)
1896 Eduard Flipse, Dutch conductor/composer
1898 Julien de Valckenaere, Flemish writer
1899 Max Petitpierre, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1994)
1900 Fritz Wiessner, American mountaineer of German descent (d. 1988)
1900 Jean Negulesco, Craiova Romania, director (Johnny Belinda, Jessica)
1901 Dwight Wilson, Canadian Soldier (d. 2007)
1902 Jean Bruller, alias Vercors, French writer and illustrator (d. 1991)
1902 Rudolf Moralt, German conductor (Vienna Philharmonic)
1902 Vercors (Jean Bruller), French writer (Le Silence de la Mer)
1903 Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
1903 Orde Charles Wingate, British Major-General, prominent Zionist, eccentric (d. 1944)
1906 Madeleine Carroll, English actress (39 Steps, Secret Agent) (d. 1987)
1906 Nikos Ghika, artist
1907 Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)
1908 Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
1908 Leela Majumdar, Bengali writer (d. 2007)
1908 Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
1909 Fanny Cradock, English food writer and broadcaster (d. 1994)
1909 King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
1909 Phyllis Fanny Primrose-Pechey Cradock, TV Chef
1911 Josef Smrkovsky, Czechoslovakia MP chairman
1911 Taro Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (d. 1996)
1912 Dane Clark, American actor (d. 1998)
1913 George G Barker, English poet (Calamiterror, Anno Domini) (d. 1991)
1913 Hermann Lenz, writer
1913 Jon Hall, Fresno California, actor (Ramor of the Jungle)
1914 Robert Alda, American actor (Dan Lewis-Supertrain, By Popular Demand) (d. 1986)
1914 Witold Rowicki, composer
1915 Elisabeth Eybers, South Afr/Dutch poetess (That Woman & Other Verses)
1915 Pran Nath Chhuttani, physician/teacher
1916 Jackie Gleason, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (d. 1987)
1916 Mordecai Seter, composer
1916 Ross Gregory, cricketer (Australian batsman 1936-37, died in WW II)
1917 Robert Taft Jr, (Sen-R-Oh)
1918 Edwin Charles "Preacher" Roe, baseball pitcher (Bkln Dodgers)
1918 Otis Ray Bowen, American politician (Indiana Governor), US Sec of Health & Human Services (1985-89)
1918 Theodore (Hamilton) Sturgeon, American writer, sci-fi author (Hugo, It, Caviar) (d. 1985)
1919 Beppie Nooij, actress/director (Bluejackets-Rooie Sien)
1919 Luc-Andre Marcel, composer
1919 Mason Adams, American actor (Charlie Hume-Lou Grant, Deadliest Season) (d. 2005)
1920 A W (Rie) Kuiper-Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (Olympics-3 gold-1936) (d. 2003)
1920 Antony Kearey, TV producer
1920 Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)
1920 Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (d. 2006)
1920 Tony Randall (Leonard Rosenberg), American actor (Felix-Odd Couple) (d. 2004)
1921 Betty Hutton, American actress (Greatest Show on Earth) and singer (d. 2007)
1922 Bill Johnston, cricket pace bowler (mighty Australian lefty post-war)
1922 Karl Aage Præst, Danish football player
1922 Margaret Leighton, British actress (Astonished Heart) (d. 1976)
1924 Mark Bucci, NYC, composer (1959 Arts & Letters Award)
1924 Noboru Takeshita, Japanese politician, PM (1987-89) (d. 2000)
1925 Everton Weekes, West Indian cricket player
1925 Frank Henry Copplestone, TV executive
1925 James Moody, US, jazz saxophonist/orchestra leader
1926 Arsene Souffriau, composer
1926 Cynthia Stone, Peoria Ill, actress (That Wonderful Guy, Ad Libbers)
1926 H.M., Henry Gustav Molaison, the amnesiac patient (d. 2008)
1926 Konstantin P Feoktistov, Voronezh, cosmonaut (Voskhod 1)
1926 Miroslava Stern, Mexican actress (d. 1955)
1926 Verne Gagne, American wrestler
1927 Donald Gramm, Milwaukee Wisconsin, bass-baritone
1927 Tom Kennedy, American game show host (You Don't Say, Name That Tune)
1928 Aldonis Kalnins, composer
1928 Anatoli Vassilyevich Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 7, 16)
1928 Antione "Fats" Domino, American musician, rhythm & blues pianist (Blueberry Hill)
1928 Everton Weekes, cricketer (one of the 3 W's)
1928 Monique Leyrac, French Canadian singer and actress
1930 Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (Budapest 3rd place-1956) (d. 2005)
1931 Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
1931 Francisco Kroepfl, composer
1931 Robert D Novak, American political columnist (CNN-Evans & Novak) (d. 2009)
1932 Johnny Cash, American singer (Walk The Line, Ring of Fire) (d. 2003)
1933 Godfrey Cambridge, NYC, actor (Cotton comes to Harlem)
1933 James Goldsmith, Paris France, corporate raider (Referendum Party)
1934 Robert Novak, American political columnist
1934 Ron Gaunt, cricketer (Australian fast bowler late 50s early 60s)
1936 Eduard Ivanovich Buinovski, cosmonaut
1936 Manmohan Desai, filmmaker
1937 Hagood Hardy, Canadian musician and composer (d. 1997)
1938 Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot freedom fighter (d. 1957)
1938 Jack Knight, Somerville Miss, actor (Mr Shamley-James at 15)
1939 Josephine Tewson, English actress
1941 Keith Thomson, cricketer (batted in 2 Tests NZ v India 1968)
1941 Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
1942 Adriaan van Dis, author/TV-host (Nathan Sid, In Africa)
1942 Joop van den Ende, director (Alsmeer Studio)
1943 Bill Duke, American actor and director (Bird on a Wire, Predator)
1943 Bob van Reeth, Flemish architect
1943 Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
1943 Paul Cotton, LA California, rocker (Poco)
1944 Marilyn Michaels, comedienne (ABC Comedy Hour)
1944 Ronald Lauder, American philanthropist and president of the World Jewish Congress
1945 Bob "Bear" Hite, American singer and harmonicist (Canned Heat) (d. 1981)
1945 Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach and politician
1945 Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress
1945 Mitch Ryder, American musician (The Detroit Wheels)
1945 Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion (d. 2006)
1946 Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel laureate
1946 Bobby "Bingo" Smith, NBA star (Cleveland Cavaliers)
1946 Phyllis Eisenstein, US, sci-fi author (Sorcerer's Son, Born to Exile)
1947 Sandie Shaw (Sandra Goodrich), English singer (Girl Don't Come)
1948 Priscilla Lopez, Bronx NY, actress (In the Beginning, Kay O'Brien)
1949 Elizabeth George, American novelist
1949 Emma Kirkby, British singer
1950 Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand
1950 Jonathan Cain, American musician, guitarist/keyboardist (Journey, Bad English, The Babys)
1953 Bree Walker, news anchor (WNBC TV, KNBC TV)
1953 Michael Bolton, American singer (That's What Love Is All About)
1954 Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, heir to the deposed Kingdom of Hanover and husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco
1954 John Bolger, actor (Capt Gabe McNamara-Another World)
1954 Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey
1955 Andreas Maislinger, founder of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
1956 Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
1957 Connie Carpenter-Phinney, Madison Wisc, 79k cyclist (Oly-gold-1984)
1957 David Muldrow Beasley, American politician
1957 Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
1957 Keena Rothhammer, US, 800 m freestyle swimmer (Olympic-gold-1972)
1958 Greg Germann, American actor
1958 Jeff Fithian, actor (Trevor Nash-Please Don't Eat the Daisies)
1958 Karen Berger, American comic book editor
1958 Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
1958 Susan J. Helms, American astronaut (STS 54, 64, 78)
1958 Tim Kaine, American politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
1959 Rolando Blackman, American basketball player
1960 Jaz Coleman, British musician
1961 Sophie Winter, actress (She's a Good Fighter)
1962 Kelly Gruber, American baseball player
1962 Sheila Cornell, Encino Fla, softball infielder (Olympics-gold-96)
1964 Mark Dacascos, American actor and martial artist
1965 Alison Armitage, London England, actress (Acapulco HEAT)
1965 Brittany York, London England, playmate (Oct, 1990)
1965 Donald Narcisse, CFL receiver (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1965 Matt Jackson, Birmingham Mich, Canadian Tour golfer (1994 Payless)
1966 Jennifer Grant, actress (Celeste-Beverly Hills 90210)
1966 Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
1966 Wesley Walls, NFL tight end (Carolina Panthers, SF 49ers, NO Saints)
1967 Currie Graham, Canadian actor
1967 David Howard, Sarasota FL, infielder (KC Royals)
1967 James Allodi, Canadian actor, writer and director
1967 Roman Fortin, NFL center (Atlanta Falcons)
1967 Scott Service, US baseball pitcher (Cincinnati Reds)
1968 Brendan Rogers, CFL linebacker (Toronto Argonauts)
1968 Chris Green, NFL safety (Buffalo Bills)
1968 Ed Quinn, American actor
1968 J. T. Snow, American baseball player, infielder (NY Yankees, California Angels)
1968 Leif Rohlin, Vasteras Swe, NHL defenseman (Vancouver Canucks)
1968 René Groen, soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
1968 Tim Commerford, American bass player (Rage Against the Machine)
1969 Brandon Wilson, US baseball infielder (Chicago White Sox)
1969 Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer
1970 Ben Maruquin, Ventura California, field hockey sweeper (Olympics-96)
1970 Katie O'Neill, LA California, actress (Together We Stand)
1970 Meeno Peluce, Amsterdam Netherlands, actor (Bad News Bears)
1970 Radka Zrubakova, Czech, tennis star
1970 Sasha Danilovic, NBA guard (Miami Heat)
1971 Erykah Badu, American singer
1971 Hélène Ségara, French singer
1971 Max Martin, Swedish composer and producer
1971 Rick Lyle, defensive end/defensive tackle (NY Jets)
1972 Clint McDaniel, NBA guard (Sacramento Kings)
1972 Scott Turner, NFL cornerback/safety (Washington Redskins)
1973 Erinn Bartlett, American actress
1973 Jenny Thompson, American swimmer, 400m freestyle (Olympics-gold-92, 96)
1973 Marshall Faulk, American football player, NFL running back (Indianapolis Colts)
1973 Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer
1974 Ron Fox, soccer player (Willem II)
1974 Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver
1975 Cindy Werley, Allentown PA, field hockey forward/midfielder (Oly-96)
1975 Mike Wilson, Brampton, NHL defenseman (Buffalo Sabres)
1976 Chad Urmston, American musician
1976 Froso Spyrou, Miss Universe-Cyprus (1996)
1976 Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver
1977 Greg Rikaart, American actor
1977 Josh Towers, American baseball player
1977 Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player
1977 Shane Williams, Welsh International Rugby Player
1977 Tim Thomas, American basketball player, NBA forward (Phila 76ers)
1978 Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
1978 John Tartaglia, Broadway performer and "Muppeteer"
1978 Marc Hynes, British racing driver
1979 Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer
1979 Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver
1979 Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
1979 Shalim Ortiz, Puerto Rican singer and actor
1980 Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer
1980 Gary Majewski, Major League Baseball player
1980 Steve Blake, American basketball player
1981 Johnathan Wendel, American professional video gamer
1981 Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver
1982 Song Hye Kyo, South Korean model and actress
1983 Kara Monaco, American glamor model
1984 Alex de Angelis, San Marino motorcycle racer
1984 Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
1984 Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
1985 Alexandria Hilfiger, American actress, daughter of Tommy Hilfiger
1985 Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer
1986 Crystal Kay, Japanese singer
1986 Hannah Kearney, American freestyle skier
1986 Juliet Simms, guitarist and singer (Automatic Loveletter)
1986 Leandro dos Santos de Jesus, Brazilian footballer
1986 Makelele, Brazilian footballer
1986 Teresa Palmer, Australian model and actress
1987 Julia Bond, American pornographic actress
1991 Mikael Granlund, Finnish ice hockey player
1993 Taylor Dooley, American actress
1994 Creason Carbo Moss, daughter of US actor Ronn Moss
Died on Febraury 26th
1076 Godfried III, with the Hump, duke of Neth-Lutherian, murdered
1154 Rogier II Guiscard, King of Sicily (1101-54) (b. 1093)
1200 Symeon, former Serbian ruler and saint (b. 1109)
1266 Manfred, bastard son of Emperor Frederik II, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
1324 Dino Compagni, Italian silk seller/poet/chronicler
1360 Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English military leader (b. 1328)
1538 Worp van Thabor, Frisian abbott of Thabor (Chronicon Frisiae)
1552 Heinrich Faber, German composer
1561 Jorge de Montemayor, Spanish writer
1577 Erik XIV Wasa, King of Sweden (1560-69)
1577 King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
1608 John Still, English bishop
1630 William Brade, English composer (b. 1560)
1638 Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (b. 1681)
1686 Godefroi L earl d'estrades, French diplomat/marshal
1723 Thomas d'Urfey, English writer (b. 1653)
1726 Maximilian II M Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, governor of Netherlands (b. 1662)
1766 August Bernhard Valentin Herbing, composer
1770 Francois Hanot, composer
1770 Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (b. 1692)
1802 Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (b. 1718)
1810 Johann Ernst Rembt, composer
1813 Robert R Livingston, American diplomat, signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1746)
1815 Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (b. 1737)
1821 Joseph de Maistre, Savoyard diplomat and writer (b. 1753)
1823 John P Kemble, English actor/director (Covent Garden)
1827 David Moritz Michael, composer
1857 Ole Andreas Lindeman, composer
1859 Ferdinand Lukas Schubert, composer
1864 Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, French Canadian politician (b. 1807)
1870 Wyatt Outlaw, black leader of Union League in NC, lynched
1871 Charles Niellon, Belgian brigade general
1883 Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
1889 Karl Davydov, Russian cellist (b. 1838)
1901 Chi-hsui, during Boxer Rebellion in China, beheaded
1901 Hsu Cheng-yu, during Boxer Rebellion in China, beheaded
1903 Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor (Gatling Gun) (b. 1818)
1906 Manuel Fernandez Caballero, composer
1913 Felix Draeseke, German composer (b. 1835)
1920 Ludwig Rubiner, writer, dies at 38
1921 Carl Menger, Austrian economist (b. 1840)
1926 Frederik Pijper, Dut vicar/church historian (Monasteries)
1926 Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller, composer
1930 Raffaele Merry del Val, Spanish Cardinal
1931 Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel laureate (Nobel 1910) (b. 1847)
1933 Antonio Nicolau, Spanish composer/conductor
1933 Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1853)
1941 Jan Keizer, Zaanse February striker, shot to death
1943 Theodor Eicke, Nazi official (b. 1892)
1947 Ben Webster, actor (Old Curiosity Shop)
1947 Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss politician, member of the Federal Council (b. 1868)
1950 Harry Lauder (Maclennan), Scottish Music Hall Entertainer, Knighted for WWI War Work (b. 1870)
1952 Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general who briefly ruled the country (b. 1878)
1953 Elisabeth "Ilse" Kuyper, Dutch/US (opera)composer
1954 William R Inge, English theologist/philosopher
1956 Herman Courtens, Belgian baron/painter
1959 Lou Costello, actor (Abbott & Costello)
1959 Selig Suskin, Russian-born Israeli agronomist and early Zionist (b. 1873)
1960 Aleksandar Belic, Swedish linguist
1961 Karl Albiker, German sculptor (Problem of the Plastic)
1961 Mohammed V (ibn Yusuf), King of Morocco (b. 1909)
1962 Carl Emil Theodor Ehrenberg, composer
1963 Artturi A Leinonen, Fin journalist/politician (Prophet)
1965 Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, dies of injuries
1966 Minerva Urecal, actress (Peter Gunn, Adv of Tugboat Annie)
1966 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
1967 Harry McNaughton, comedian (It Pays to be Ignorant)
1968 Eric Feldary, actor (16 Fathoms Deep)
1969 Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist (b. 1883)
1969 Levi Eshkol (Sjkolnik), Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
1970 Ethel Leginska, composer
1971 Edward van der Merwe, cricket keeper (S Afr in 2 Tests in 30's)
1971 Fernandel (Contandin), French actor (Death of Champion) (b. 1903)
1971 Joseph Berg, composer
1971 Joseph Desire Fernandel, comedian
1971 Tullio Carminati, actor (Roman Holiday, Moulin Rouge)
1972 Tom Manders, Dutch cabaret artist (Dorus)
1973 Mary Finney, actress (Honestly Celeste)
1977 Bukka White, rocker
1977 Maxime Jacob, composer
1981 FC Terborgh (Reijnier Flaes), lawyer and writer (Turkish War)
1981 Howard Hanson, American composer (Nordic) (b. 1896)
1981 Munabi, assistant to Uganda president Obote, murdered
1981 Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)
1982 Gabor Szabo, Hungarian jazz pianist (Perfect Circle)
1985 Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
1989 Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
1990 Cornell Gunter, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1938)
1990 Leslie Ames, cricketer (47 Tests, 2434 runs 8 centuries)
1990 Maurine Stuart, Zen teacher (head of Cambridge Buddhist Association)
1990 Scott Jarvis, musician (Great Expectationa)
1991 Slim Gaillard (Bulee), American Jazz singer and songwriter
1992 Gerrit Schulte "Crazy Cyclist", Dutch 6-days bicyclist
1992 Jean R Yawkey, owner (Boston Red Sox)
1992 S I Hayakawa, (Sen-R-California)
1993 Constance Ford, American actress (Another World, Burden Hunt) (b. 1923)
1993 Fletcher Knebel, author (7 Days in May), commits suicide
1993 Mark Kolthoff, Dutch painter/photographer
1994 Avery Fisher, US audio manufacturer (1st hi-fi)
1994 Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
1994 Leopold "Hans" Kohr, Austrian social philosopher
1995 Jack Clayton, British film director (b. 1921)
1996 Audrey Angers, charity pioneer
1996 Daniel John Chapman Cunningham, physiologist
1997 David Doyle, American actor (Charlie's Angels) (b. 1929)
1997 Giuseppe 'Nuccio' Bertone, car Designer
1998 J T Walsh, actor (Good Morning Vietnam)
1998 James Algar, American film director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1912)
1998 Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (AKA Sybil Isabell Dorsett in Sybil (book) (b. 1923)
1998 Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
2000 George L. Street III American Navy Submariner and Medal of Honor recipient.(b. 1913)
2001 Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (b. 1906)
2002 Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
2003 Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver (b. 1928)
2004 Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
2004 Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
2004 Shankarrao Chavan, Indian politician (b. 1920)
2005 Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)
2008 Buddy Miles, American drummer (Band of Gypsies) (b. 1947)
2008 Dick Fletcher, Meteorologist (b.1942)
2008 Glory Mukwati, Zimbabwean politician
2009 Johnny Kerr, American basketball player and Chicago Bulls broadcaster (b. 1932)
2009 Norm Van Lier, American basketball player and broadcaster (b. 1947)
2009 Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
2010 Nujabes, Japanese Hip Hop producer and inspiration to many around the world.
2011 Arnošt Lustig, Czech writer (b. 1926)
2011 James A. McClure, American politician (b. 1924)
2013 Stéphane Hessel, French diplomat and writer (b. 1917)
2014 Frank Reed, American soul singer
2015 Earl Lloyd, 1st American American to play basketball in the NBA
2015 Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi American activist and blogger, killed by assailants in Dhaka, Bangladesh
2016 Andy Bathgate, professional ice hockey player (New York Rangers, 1958 NHL MVP)