February 22

February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 312 days remaining until the end of the year (313 in leap years).

Events

• 705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
• 1316 – Battle of Picotin between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut
• 1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
• 1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
• 1632 – Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
• 1651 – St. Peter's Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
• 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon begins.
• 1797 – The Last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
• 1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
• 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
• 1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops defeat 15,000 Mexicans.
• 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
• 1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
• 1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania)
• 1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh.
• 1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
• 1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
• 1879 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and dime Woolworth stores.
• 1889 – United States President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
• 1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
• 1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina, the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
• 1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
• 1915 – World War I: Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
• 1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
• 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.
• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
• 1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
• 1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
• 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
• 1948 – Communist revolution in Czechoslovakia.
• 1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
• 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
• 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
• 1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
• 1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
• 1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
• 1974 – Samuel Byck tries and fails to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon.
• 1979 – Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.
• 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
• 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
• 1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
• 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
• 1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
• 1997 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
• 2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
• 2006 – At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
• 2011 – New Zealand's second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
• 2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
• 2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
• 2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328-0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
• 2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.

Births

• 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
• 1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
• 1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
• 1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
• 1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian ruler (d. 1576)
• 1645 – Johann Ambrosius Bach, German violinist and composer (d. 1695)
• 1645 – Johann Christoph Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1693)
• 1705 – Peter Artedi, Swedish ichthyologist and zoologist (d. 1735)
• 1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
• 1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musician and musicologist (d. 1818)
• 1756 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German jurist and diplomat (d. 1821)
• 1761 – Erik Tulindberg, Finnish violinist and composer (d. 1814)
• 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
• 1779 – Joachim Nicolas Eggert, Swedish composer and musical director (d. 1813)
• 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
• 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
• 1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
• 1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
• 1810 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1849)
• 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
• 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
• 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
• 1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
• 1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
• 1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
• 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
• 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
• 1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
• 1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
• 1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
• 1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
• 1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
• 1878 – Walther Ritz, Swiss physicist and academic (d. 1909)
• 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
• 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
• 1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
• 1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
• 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
• 1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
• 1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
• 1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
• 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
• 1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
• 1890 – Beatriz Michelena, American actress and singer (d. 1942)
• 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
• 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
• 1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
• 1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
• 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish director and producer (d. 1983)
• 1900 – James Sisnett, Barbadian super-centenarian (d. 2013)
• 1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, British mathematician, philosopher and economist (d. 1930)
• 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
• 1907 – Robert Young, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1998)
• 1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
• 1908 – John Mills, English actor, singer, and producer (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Bill Baker, American baseball player and coach (d. 2006)
• 1913 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 2001)
• 1913 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
• 1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
• 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
• 1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
• 1918 – Robert Wadlow, American giant (d. 1940)
• 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
• 1922 – Apostolos Santas, Greek soldier (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
• 1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
• 1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
• 1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
• 1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English television host
• 1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
• 1929 – Rebecca Schull, American actress
• 1930 – Bill Mitchell, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress
• 1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Justin Capră, Romanian engineer and academic (d. 2015)
• 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
• 1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
• 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
• 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1936 – Ernie K-Doe, American singer (d. 2001)
• 1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Barry Dennen, American actor and singer
• 1938 – Ishmael Reed, American author, poet, and playwright
• 1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
• 1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
• 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer
• 1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
• 1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
• 1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
• 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
• 1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
• 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
• 1945 – Oliver, American singer (d. 2000)
• 1945 – Ed Kerns, American artist
• 1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer (Fourplay and The Headhunters)
• 1947 – John Radford, English footballer
• 1948 – John Ashton, American actor
• 1948 – Linda de Suza, Portuguese-French singer and actress
• 1948 – Brian Kerr, Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore, Irish lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
• 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver
• 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
• 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
• 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
• 1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (Psychic TV, Thee Majesty, Pigface, and Splinter Test)
• 1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and singer
• 1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
• 1952 – Cyrinda Foxe, American model and actress (d. 2002)
• 1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
• 1952 – Bernard Silverman, English minister, statistician, and academic
• 1953 – Graham Lewis, English bass player (Wire and Dome)
• 1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
• 1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
• 1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
• 1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter (Black Sabbath, White Lion, Great White, and Impellitteri)
• 1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
• 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
• 1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• 1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Lazy and Loudness)
• 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
• 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
• 1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
• 1964 – Gigi Fernández, Puerto Rican-American tennis player
• 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
• 1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
• 1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
• 1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and singer
• 1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German actor
• 1966 – Aiden Shaw, English porn actor and singer
• 1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
• 1967 – Alf Poier, Austrian comedian and actor
• 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
• 1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Sublime) (d. 1996)
• 1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
• 1969 – Joaquín Cortés, Spanish actor and dancer
• 1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, and producer
• 1969 – Hans Klok, Dutch magician and actor
• 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
• 1970 – Ravi Vakil, Canadian-American mathematician and academic
• 1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
• 1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
• 1971 – Giuseppe Veneziano, Italian painter
• 1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
• 1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
• 1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
• 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
• 1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer (Creed, Alter Bridge, and Projected)
• 1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1974 – Nina Flowers, Puerto Rican-American drag queen performer
• 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
• 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
• 1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer (Precious and Atomic Kitten)
• 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
• 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
• 1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer (Sechs Kies)
• 1981 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
• 1981 – Adrienne Pickering, Australian actress
• 1982 – Jenna Haze, American porn actress and director
• 1982 – Dichen Lachman, Nepalese-Australian actress and producer
• 1982 – Shawntae Spencer, American football player
• 1982 – Robert Weiner, Jr., American water polo player
• 1983 – Jennifer Ketcham, American porn actress and director
• 1983 – Iliza Shlesinger, American comedian and actress
• 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
• 1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
• 1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
• 1984 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
• 1984 – Yuki Sato, Japanese actor
• 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer
• 1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
• 1985 – Larissa Riquelme, Paraguayan model and actress
• 1985 – Zach Roerig, American actor
• 1986 – Choi Daniel, South Korean actor and singer
• 1986 – Miko Hughes, American actor
• 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
• 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
• 1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
• 1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
• 1988 – Kevin Borlée, Belgian sprinter
• 1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
• 1988 – Ximena Navarrete, Mexican model and actress, Miss Universe 2010
• 1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
• 1989 – Alia Sabur, American engineer, lawyer, and academic
• 1989 – Anna Sundstrand, Swedish singer, dancer, and actress (Play)
• 1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
• 1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer

Deaths

• 556 – Maximianus of Ravenna, Italian bishop and saint (b. 499)
• 606 – Pope Sabinian
• 965 – Otto, Duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
• 1071 – Arnulf III, Count of Flanders (b. 1055)
• 1111 – Roger Borsa, Italian son of Robert Guiscard (b. 1060)
• 1371 – David II of Scotland (b. 1324)
• 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
• 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
• 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
• 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
• 1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
• 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
• 1727 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer and educator (b. 1661)
• 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
• 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
• 1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
• 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
• 1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
• 1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
• 1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
• 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
• 1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
• 1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
• 1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
• 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
• 1904 – Leslie Stephen, English author and critic (b. 1832)
• 1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
• 1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
• 1934 – Willem Kes, Dutch violinist and conductor (b. 1856)
• 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
• 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist and author (b. 1881)
• 1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
• 1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
• 1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
• 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist, wife of Mahatma Gandhi (b. 1869)
• 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian author and critic (b. 1888)
• 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
• 1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter (b. 1905)
• 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player (Original Dixieland Jass Band) (b. 1889)
• 1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
• 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
• 1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Irish-English author (b. 1899)
• 1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
• 1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
• 1974 – Samuel Byck, American criminal (b. 1930)
• 1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
• 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (The Supremes) (b. 1943)
• 1977 – Jack O'Connor, English cricketer (b. 1897)
• 1978 – Phyllis McGinley, American author and poet (b. 1905)
• 1979 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter and critic (b. 1877)
• 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
• 1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
• 1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
• 1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
• 1984 – David Vetter, American SCID victim (b. 1971)
• 1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Alexander Scourby, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1889)
• 1987 – Andy Warhol, American painter and photographer (b. 1928)
• 1994 – Papa John Creach, American violinist (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, and The Dinosaurs) (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
• 1997 – Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
• 1997 – Clarrie Harders, Australian public servant (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1910)
• 1999 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (b. 1918)
• 1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)
• 2002 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Chuck Jones, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan general, founded UNITA (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Andy Seminick, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Lee Eun-ju, South Korean actress and singer (b. 1980)
• 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
• 2006 – Atwar Bahjat, Iraqi journalist (b. 1976)
• 2006 – Anthony Burger, American pianist and singer (The Kingsmen Quartet) (b. 1961)
• 2007 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, Leader of the House of Lords (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Dennis Johnson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Howard Ramsey, American soldier (b. 1898)
• 2008 – Chuck Adamson, American Television producer, screenwriter and police officer (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Nunzio Gallo, Italian singer (b. 1928)
• 2009 – Candido Cannavò, Italian journalist (b. 1930)
• 2010 – Robin Davies, Welsh actor (b. 1954)
• 2010 – Steffi Sidney, American actress (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Nicholas Courtney, Egyptian-English actor (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Sukhbir, Indian author and poet (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Marie Colvin, American journalist (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Rémi Ochlik, French photographer and journalist (b. 1983)
• 2013 – Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Mario Ramírez, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand–Australian television host (b. 1966)
• 2014 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell, and its related observance:
  • Founder's Day or "B.-P. day" (World Organization of the Scout Movement)
  • World Thinking Day (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)
• Celebrity Day (Church of Scientology)
• Christian feast day:
  • Baradates
  • Eric Liddell (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Margaret of Cortona
  • February 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day (Saint Lucia), celebrates the independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom in 1979.

External links

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