1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish sociologist and historian, dies at 92
1892 – Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (b. 1828)
1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (Campos de Castilla), dies at 63
1943 – Christoph Probst, German resistance fighter (That Weisse Rose), dies
1949 – Russell W. Porter, American artist and explorer (Alaska), dies at 77
1961 – George de Cuevas, Chilean-born ballet impresario and choreographer (Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas), dies at 75 or 76
1967 – Fritz Erler, German politician (SDP), dies at 53
1980 – Dick Kallman, American actor (Born to Be Loved, Verboten!), murdered in his New York apartment at 46
1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)
2007 – George Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords and Special Boat Service veteran, dies at 88
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 22nd February 2021
1281 – Simon de Brion elected Pope Martinus IV
1288 – Girolamo Masci elected Pope Nicolas IV
1898 – Black postmaster lynched, his wife and 3 daughters shot in Lake City, South Carolina
1934 – André Malraux and Édouard Corniglion-Molinier set out to find the lost capital of the Queen of Sheba, as mentioned in the Old Testament
1935 – Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House
1941 – German assault on El Agheila Libya
1945 – Canadian 3rd Division occupies Moyland
2014 – After winning the men’s parallel giant slalom at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Russian snowboarder Vic Wild wins his 2nd gold in the parallel slalom
2019 – Robert Kraft, owner of NFL team the New England Patriots, charged with soliciting prostitution, as part of human-trafficking sting operation in Jupiter, Florida
2019 – Actor Jussie Smollett suspended from US TV show “Empire” after revealed that actor made false claims about racist and homophobic attack
Today in History for 22nd February 2021
Historical Events
1784 – 1st US ship to trade with China, “Empress of China”, sails from NY
1918 – Germany claims Baltic states, Finland and Ukraine from Russia
1920 – 1st artificial rabbit used at a dog race track (Emeryville, California)
1952 – Germany takes the Olympic bobsleigh double with gold in the 4-man event at the Oslo Winter Games; Adreas Ostler and Lorenz Niebert score their 2nd gold medals after winning the 2-man a week earlier
1958 – Australian swimmer Jon Konrads sets 6 world records in 2 days
2015 – 57th Daytona 500: Joey Logano wins event for 2nd time after taking lead with 10 laps to go; is ahead of Kevin Harvick before caution flag on last lap ends race in his favour
Famous Birthdays
1839 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (d. 1906)
1896 – Edvin Wide, Swedish 10K runner (Olympic silver 1924)
1904 – Peter Hurd, Roswell NM, painter (Portrait of Jose Herrera)
1938 – Pierre Vallières, French-Canadian politician, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1995)
1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor (Blue Velvet, Dune, Twin Peaks), born in Yakima, Washington
1974 – Aaron Gavey, Canadian NHL center (Tampa Bay Lightning), born in Greater Sudbury, Canada
Famous Deaths
1750 – Pietro Filippo Scarlotti, composer, dies at 71
1875 – Charles Lyell, British geologist (Elements of Geology), dies at 77
1914 – Valliamma Mudaliar, took part in Indian passive resistance, dies of a fever contracted in prison
1945 – Osip Brik, Russian writer (b. 1888)
1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, 21st Premier of Quebec (1968-70), dies at 56
1998 – Jose Maria de Areilza, Sp minister of foreign affairs (1975-76), dies
Famous Deaths for 21st February 2021
1711 – Joan van Hoorn, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1707-09), dies at 57
1788 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer, 1st saw Halley’s comet on return, dies at 64
1951 – Anton Roemer, Dutch actor (Potasch and Perlemoer, Boefje), dies at 63
1966 – Paul Comtois, French Canadian politician, dies at 70
1979 – Ray Whitley, composer, dies
1982 – Murray the K [Kaufman], American disk jockey (5th Beatle), dies at 60
1985 – Eric Herfst, Dutch cabaret performer (Floris), dies at 47
1992 – Eva A Jessye, American singer/actress (Eva Jessye Choir), dies at 97
2002 – Harold Furth, Austrian-American physicist, dies at 72
2004 – Les Gray, English vocalist (Mud-Cat Crept In), dies at 57
Historical Events for 21st February 2021
1858 – Edwin T Holmes installs 1st electric burglar alarm (Boston, Massachusetts)
1864 – -22] Battle at Okolona, Mississippi
1887 – Oregon becomes 1st US state to make Labor Day a holiday
1934 – Nicaraguan patriot Augusto Cesar Sandino assassinated by National Guard
1944 – “War As It Happens” news show premieres on NBC TV (NYC only)
1950 – WOI TV channel 5 in Ames-Des Moines, IA (ABC/PBS) begins broadcasting
1974 – Yugoslavia adopts constitution
1985 – Evert van Benthem wins his 13th Elfstedentocht, a long distance 11 city skating race
1989 – Pete Rose meets with Commissioner Ueberroth to discuss his gambling
2011 – Thailand’s GDP rose 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2010 after a minor recession caused by GDP contractions of 0.4% in the second quarter and 0.3% in the third quarter of 2010, it is reported today
Today in History for 21st February 2021
Historical Events
1564 – Philip II routes Cardinal Granvelle to Franche-Comte
1963 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 – Series of tornadoes cuts through Miss and La killing 117
1974 – Israeli forces leave western Suez
1980 – Liechtenstein becomes the smallest country to produce an Olympic champion as Hanni Wenzel wins the women’s giant slalom at the Lake Placid Winter Games
1989 – Pete Rose meets with Commissioner Ueberroth to discuss his gambling
Famous Birthdays
1902 – Arthur D Nock, English/American historian (St Paul)
1910 – Douglas R S Bader, British pilot (WWII)
1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (They Drive by Night, Dodge City, Another World), born in Denton, Texas (d. 1967)
1939 – Richard Beymer, Avoca IA, actor (West Side Story, Diary of Anne Frank)
1961 – Abhijit Banerjee, American economist, 2019 Nobel Prize for Economics, born in Mumbai, India
1969 – James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter (Manic Street Preachers), born in Pontypool, Wales
Famous Deaths
1471 – John of Rokycan, Czech Catholic archbishop
1595 – Robert Southwell, English Jesuit/poet, hanged
1899 – Sir George Bowen, British provincial governor and 5th Governor of New Zealand (1868-73), dies at 77
1996 – H. L. Gold, American sci-fi writer and editor, dies at 81
1999 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and drug researcher who developed groundbreaking leukemia and herpes drug treatments (Nobel 1988), dies at 81
2005 – Eugene Scott, American religious broadcaster (b. 1929)
Famous Deaths for 20th February 2021
1941 – La Bolduc, French Canadian singer and songwriter (b. 1894)
1962 – Halliwell Hobbes, British actor (Gaslight, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde), dies at 84
1971 – Alexander Tsfasman, Soviet Russian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, dies at 64
1973 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (Violinist Notebook 1933), dies at 80
1980 – Alice Longworth Roosevelt, youngest daughter of Theodore, dies at 96
1984 – Fikret Amirov, Azerbaijani-Soviet composer (Azerbaijan Capriccio, Shur), dies at 61
1994 – Derek Jarman, English director (Last of England), dies at 52
2005 – Pam Bricker, American jazz singer and Thievery Corporation vocalist (b. 1954)
2007 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist, dies at 76
2011 – Betty Hicks, American golfer, author (US Open runner-up 1948, 54), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 90
Historical Events for 20th February 2021
1710 – Johan Willem Friso becomes Viceroy of Groningen, Netherlands
1935 – Dane Caroline Mikkelson is 1st woman to land on Antarctica
1963 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays becomes the highest-paid player in MLB, signing a record $100,000 contract with the San Francisco Giants
1966 – Author Valery Tarsis banished in USSR
1980 – Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 10k relay; also wins 30k and 50k gold
1982 – NY Islanders win then NHL record 15th straight game by beating Colorado Rockies, 3-2 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
1992 – Ross Perot says he’ll run for President on “Larry King Live”
1994 – Johann Olav Koss skates world record 10 km (13:30.55)
2010 – On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.
2016 – 4-inch lock of John Lennon’s hair sells for $35,000 to a memorabilia collector at an auction in Dallas, Texas
Today in History for 20th February 2021
Historical Events
1811 – Austria declares bankruptcy
1922 – Marc Connelly and George Kaufman’s “To the Ladies” premieres in NYC
1931 – Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge
1950 – WOL-AM in Washington, D.C. swaps calls with WWDC
1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
2016 – US primary elections: South Carolina Republican Primary – Donald Trump wins with 32.5%
Famous Birthdays
1901 – Jimmy Yancey, American boogie-woogie jazz and blues pianist, born in Chicago, Illinos (d. 1951) [birth year disputed – documentation ranges from 1894-1903]
1908 – Rosalind Laura Burke, aviatrix
1940 – Christoph Eschenbach, German-born pianist and conductor, born in Breslau, Germany
1943 – Mike Leigh, dramatist/director (High Hopes, Secrets and Lies)
1963 – Darek Oleszkiewicz [formerly known as Oles], Polish jazz bassist, composer (Los Angeles Jazz Quartet), and educator, born in Wrocław, Poland
1976 – Fulvia di Domenico, Italian jazz and world music singer-songwriter, born in Rome, Italy
Famous Deaths
702 – K’inich Kan B’alam II, king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635)
1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English statesman, dies at 66
1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist who isolated the element “fluorine” from its compounds (Nobel 1906), dies of appendicitis at 54
1995 – Shlomo Averbach, Rabbi, buried in Jerusalem, 250,000 attend
1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
2016 – Peter Mondavi, American winemaker (Charles Krug – Napa Valley), dies at 101
Famous Deaths for 19th February 2021
1785 – Johann Christoph Richter, composer, dies at 84
1892 – Monty Bowden, English cricket wicketkeeper and captain (2 Tests; youngest England captain at 23 years, 144 days), dies of epilepsy at 26
1942 – Frank Abbandando, American gangster (executed) (b. 1910)
1943 – Lynne Overman, American actor (Reap the Wild Wind), dies from a heart attack at 55
1994 – Georges Watin, Algerian/French officer (OAS), dies at 71
1995 – Shlomo Averbach, Israeli ultra-orthodox rabbi, dies at 84
1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese revolutionary and paramount leader of China (1978-92), dies of a lung infection and Parkinson’s disease at 92
2007 – Celia Franca, Canadian ballet dancer, founder of National Ballet of Canada, dies at 85
2019 – Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer (Fendi, Chanel), dies at 85 (age disputed)
2020 – Heather Couper, British astronomer and presenter (The Sky at Night), dies at 70