Historical Events
1859 – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza as the United Principalities
1897 – Marcel Proust meets Jean Lorrain in a pistol duel
1956 – VII Winter Olympic Games close in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
1958 – Clifton R Wharton confirmed as 1st US African American foreign minister (to Romania)
2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion
2017 – Romanian government scraps corruption degree after 6 days of mass demonstrations
Famous Birthdays
1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German composer, conductor and tutor of Beethoven, born in Shimnitz, Saxony (d. 1798)
1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer -songwriter, born in Alençon, France (d. 1986)
1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player, born in Tampa, Florida
1971 – Dianne Norman, Canadian basketball forward (Olympics 1996), born in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada
1976 – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor, born in Mumbai, India
1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer, born in Sheffield, United Kingdom
Famous Deaths
1745 – Coelestin Praelisauer, composer, dies at 49
1907 – Ludwig Thuille, Austrian composer (sextet for piano and wind quintet), dies of a heart attack at 45
1917 – Paul Rubens, English musical comedy composer, (Miss Hook of Holland), dies at 41
1987 – William Collier [Charles F Gall Jr], American stage and film actor and producer, dies at 84
2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru who developed Transcendental Meditation, dies at 90
2016 – Bodil Malmsten, Swedish writer (The Price of Water in Finistère), dies at 71