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For those of you who expected a better topic heading than one referring to the fact that much of Britain is still flooded; feel free to pick one of the following:

Events
1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
1268 – The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakvere.
1332 – Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
1478 – George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
1637 – Eighty Years' War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by 6 warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.
1745 – The city of Surakarta, Central Java is founded on the banks of Bengawan Solo River, and becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Surakarta.
1766 – A mutiny by captive Malagasy begins at sea on the slave ship Meermin, leading to the ship's destruction on Cape Agulhas in present-day South Africa and the recapture of the instigators.
1781 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opens his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa (present-day Ghana).
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Montereau.
1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
1861 – With Italian unification almost complete, Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
1865 – American Civil War: Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
1873 – Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
1878 – John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
1885 – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
1900 – Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
1906 – Edouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.
1911 – The first official flight with air mail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.
1913 – Pedro Lascuráin becomes President of Mexico for 45 minutes; this is the shortest term to date of any person as president of any country.
1930 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
1930 – Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
1932 – The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.
1938 – During the Nanking Massacre tha Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee" and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore.
1943 – The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
1943 – Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
1946 – Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors
1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot "Wasp" is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
1957 – Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
1957 – Walter James Bolton becomes the last person legally executed in New Zealand.
1965 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1969 – Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 crashes into Mount Whitney killing all on board.
1970 – The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
1972 – The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.
1978 – The first Ironman Triathlon competition takes place on the island of Oahu and is won by Gordon Haller.
1979 – Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.
1983 – Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
1991 – The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2001 – Seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident during the Daytona 500.
2001 – Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Indonesia, that will ultimately result in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes.
2003 – Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.
2004 – Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes.
2007 – Terrorist bombs explode on the Samjhauta Express in Panipat, Haryana, India, killing 68 people.

Births
1372 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Muslim scholar of jurisprudence (d. 1448)
1404 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter and philosopher (d. 1472)
1486 – Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Indian saint (d. 1534)
1516 – Mary I of England, Queen of England and Ireland (d. 1558)
1530 – Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese daimyo (d. 1578)
1543 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1608)
1559 – Isaac Casaubon, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1614)
1602 – Per Brahe the Younger, Swedish soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (d. 1680)
1609 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian and politician (d. 1674)
1632 – Giovanni Battista Vitali, Italian composer and violinist (d. 1692)
1635 – Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish politician (d. 1680)
1642 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)
1658 – Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French philosopher and author (d. 1743)
1677 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (d. 1756)
1732 – Johann Christian Kittel, German organist and composer (d. 1809)
1745 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, invented the battery (d. 1827)
1814 – Samuel Fenton Cary, American lawyer and politician (d. 1900)
1817 – Lewis Armistead, American general (d. 1863)
1818 – Perucho Figueredo, Cuban poet and activist (d. 1870)
1836 – Ramakrishna, Indian mystic and guru (d. 1886)
1838 – Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist (d. 1916)
1841 – Gergely Luthár, Slovenian-Hungarian author (d. 1925)
1846 – Wilson Barrett, English playwright (d. 1904)
1848 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (d. 1933)
1849 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (d. 1906)
1850 – George Henschel, German-English opera singer, conductor, and composer (d. 1934)
1855 – Jean Jules Jusserand, French author and diplomat (d. 1932)
1858 – Wilhelm Schmidt, German pioneer of superheated steam for use in locomotives (d. 1924)
1862 – Charles M. Schwab, American businessman, co-founded Bethlehem Steel (d. 1939)
1870 – William Laurel Harris, American painter and author (d. 1924)
1871 – Harry Brearley, English scientist (d. 1948)
1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
1883 – Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek author (d. 1957)
1884 – Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)
1890 – Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
1890 – Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
1892 – Wendell Willkie, American lawyer and politician (d. 1944)
1894 – Rafi Ahmed Kidwai,Indian Independence Activist(d.1954)
1897 – Charles Kuentz, German soldier (d. 2005)
1898 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (d. 1988)
1898 – Luis Mu*oz Marín, Puerto Rican poet and politician, 1st Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (d. 1980)
1899 – Arthur Bryant, English historian and journalist (d. 1985)
1901 – Reginald Sheffield, English-American actor (d. 1957)
1902 – Walter Herbert, German-American conductor (d. 1975)
1903 – Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian politician (d. 1983)
1905 – Queenie Leonard, English-American actress and singer (d. 2002)
1906 – Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician (d. 1980)
1907 – Oscar Brodney, American lawyer and screenwriter (d. 2008)
1909 – C. Arulampalam, Sri Lankan Tamil politician
1909 – Tuppy Owen-Smith, South African-English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1990)
1909 – Wallace Stegner, American historian and author (d. 1993)
1914 – Pee Wee King, American singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
1915 – Phyllis Calvert, English actress (d. 2002)
1916 – Jean Drapeau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1999)
1917 – José Curbelo, Cuban-American pianist and manager (d. 2012)
1917 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (d. 2001)
1918 – Jane Loevinger, American psychologist (d. 2008)
1919 – Jack Palance, American actor (d. 2006)
1920 – Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
1921 – Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian composer (d. 2013)
1922 – Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician, 1st Prime Minister of Grenada (d. 1997)
1922 – Helen Gurley Brown, American author and publisher (d. 2012)
1922 – Allan Melvin, American actor (d. 2008)
1922 – Juhan Smuul, Estonian writer (d. 1971)
1922 – Joe Tipton, American baseball player (d. 1994)
1922 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (d. 1995)
1924 – Humberto Fernández Morán, Venezuelan scientist (d. 1999)
1924 – Louis Laberge, Canadian union leader (d. 2002)
1924 – Nicolo Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian mob boss (d. 2010)
1924 – Sam Rolfe, American screenwriter (d. 1993)
1925 – Marcel Barbeau, Canadian painter
1925 – Jack Gilbert, American poet (d. 2012)
1925 – George Kennedy, American actor
1926 – A. R. Ammons, American poet (d. 2001)
1926 – Wallace Berman, American painter and illustrator (d. 1976)
1926 – Nalini Jaywant, Indian actress (d. 2010)
1926 – Jan Zwartkruis, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1927 – Luis Arroyo, Puerto Rican baseball player
1927 – Peter Fryer, English journalist and author (d. 2006)
1927 – John Warner, American politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Navy
1928 – Tom Johnson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
1929 – Len Deighton, English historian and author
1929 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 1968)
1930 – Gahan Wilson, American author and illustrator
1931 – Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
1931 – Toni Morrison, American author, Nobel Prize laureate
1931 – Swraj Paul, Indian-born British businessman, philanthropist and politician
1931 – Bob St. Clair, American football player
1932 – Miloš Forman, Czech-American director and screenwriter
1933 – Gerhard Frey, German publisher and politician (d. 2013)
1933 – Yoko Ono, Japanese-American singer-songwriter (Plastic Ono Band)
1933 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (d. 2009)
1933 – Mary Ure, Scottish actress (d. 1975)
1934 – Audre Lorde, American poet and activist (d. 1992)
1934 – Heini Müller, German footballer
1934 – Paco Rabanne, Spanish-French fashion designer
1935 – Janette Oke, Canadian author
1936 – Jean M. Auel, American author
1936 – Dick Duff, Canadian ice hockey player
1936 – Ab McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player
1937 – Ulvi Voog, Estonian swimmer
1938 – Manny Mota, Dominican baseball player
1938 – Sadanoyama Shinmatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 50th Yokozuna
1938 – István Szabó, Hungarian director and screenwriter
1939 – Claude Ake, Nigerian political scientist (d. 1996)
1939 – Marek Janowski, Polish-German conductor
1939 – Dal Maxvill, American baseball player
1940 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
1940 – Prue Leith, South African restaurateur, caterer, broadcaster and food writer
1941 – Mati Nuude, Estonian weightlifter and singer (Apelsin) (d. 2001)
1941 – Herman Santiago, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (The Teenagers)
1941 – Irma Thomas, American singer-songwriter
1942 – John Hughes, Welsh footballer
1943 – Graeme Garden, Scottish comedian, actor, and author
1944 – Pat Bowlen, American businessman
1945 – Judy Rankin, American golfer
1946 – Michael Buerk, English journalist
1946 – Jean-Claude Dreyfus, French actor
1947 – José Maria Ca*izares, Spanish golfer
1947 – Dennis DeYoung, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (Styx)
1947 – Eliot Engel, American politician
1947 – Princess Christina of the Netherlands
1947 – Carlos Lopes, Portuguese runner
1948 – Georg Brunnhuber, German politician
1948 – Sinéad Cusack, Irish-English actress
1948 – Keith Knudsen, American singer-songwriter and drummer (The Doobie Brothers and Southern Pacific) (d. 2005)
1948 – Gilbert Sicotte, Canadian actor
1948 – Geoff Thomas, Welsh footballer (d. 2013)
1949 – Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
1950 – Michel Gauthier, Canadian politician
1950 – John Hughes, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1950 – Cybill Shepherd, American actress and singer
1951 – Isabel Preysler, Filipino-Spanish journalist
1952 – Randy Crawford, American singer
1952 – Maurice Lucas, American basketball player (d. 2010)
1952 – Juice Newton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1952 – Julia Peyton-Jones, English co-director of Serpentine Gallery
1952 – Martin J. Taylor, English mathematician
1952 – Bernard Valcourt, Canadian lawyer and politician
1953 – Robbie Bachman, Canadian drummer (Brave Belt and Bachman–Turner Overdrive)
1953 – Mihkel Mutt, Estonian writer and culture journalist
1953 – Derek Pellicci, Australian drummer (Little River Band and Mississippi)
1954 – Charlie Fowler, American mountaineer, author, and photographer (d. 2006)
1954 – John Travolta, American actor, singer, and producer
1955 – Peter Luff , English politician
1955 – Raymond Rougeau, Canadian wrestler
1955 – Miles Tredinnick, English singer-songwriter and playwright (London)
1956 – Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
1956 – Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Georgia
1956 – Paul Reed Smith, American businessman, founded PRS Guitars
1957 – Marita Koch, German sprinter
1957 – George Pelecanos, American author
1957 – Vanna White, American actress and game show host
1958 – Giovanni Lavaggi, Italian race car driver
1958 – Gar Samuelson, American drummer (Megadeth) (d. 1999)
1958 – Lucie Visser, Dutch actress and model
1959 – Jayne Atkinson, English film actresses
1959 – Christian Koeberl, Austrian professor
1959 – Hallgrímur Helgason, Icelandic writers
1959 – Ken Freedman, American radio executives
1959 – James Metzger, American businessman and philanthropist
1959 – Bryan Brandenburg, American information and reference writer
1960 – Tony Anselmo, American animator and voice actor
1960 – Carol McGiffin, English television and radio host
1960 – Andy Moog, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 – Greta Scacchi, Italian-Australian actress
1961 – Hironobu Kageyama, Japanese singer (Lazy and JAM Project)
1961 – Douglas Rushkoff, American theorist and author
1961 – Cosmo Wilson, American lighting designer
1961 – Alison Owen, English film producer
1962 – Moe Lemay, Canadian ice hockey player
1962 – Julie Strain, American actress and model
1963 – Rob Andrew, English rugby union administrator and former player
1963 – Henry Winter, English journalist
1964 – Matt Dillon, American actor and director
1964 – Paul Hanley, English drummer and songwriter (The Fall and Tom Hingley and the Lovers)
1965 – Dr. Dre, American rapper, producer, and actor (World Class Wreckin' Cru and N.W.A)
1965 – Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (d. 2005)
1966 – Phillip DeFreitas, Dominican-born English cricketer
1966 – Guy Ferland, American director
1967 – Marco Aurélio, Brazilian footballer
1967 – Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer
1967 – Tracey Edmonds, American businesswoman
1967 – Colin Jackson, Welsh sprint and hurdling athlete
1967 – Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, Thai director, screenwriter, and producer
1967 – John Valentin, American baseball player
1967 – Harry Van Barneveld, Belgian martial artist
1968 – Molly Ringwald, American actress, singer, and dancer
1969 – Tomaž Humar, Slovenian mountaineer (d. 2009)
1969 – Alexander Mogilny, Russian ice hockey player
1970 – Susan Egan, American actress and singer
1970 – Raine Maida, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Our Lady Peace)
1970 – Andy Williams, English singer-songwriter and drummer (Doves and Sub Sub)
1970 – Jez Williams, English guitarist and songwriter (Doves and Sub Sub)
1971 – Merritt Gant, American guitarist (Overkill)
1971 – Constantin Popa, Romanian-Israeli basketball player
1972 – Rupert Goold, English theatre director
1973 – Shawn Estes, American baseball player
1973 – Claude Makélélé, French footballer
1974 – Carrie Ann Baade, American painter
1974 – Jamey Carroll, American baseball player
1974 – Radek Černý, Czech footballer
1974 – Ruby Dhalla, Canadian politician
1974 – Julia Butterfly Hill, American environmentalist
1974 – Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russian tennis player
1974 – Jillian Michaels, American fitness trainer
1975 – Sarah Brown, American actress
1975 – Keith Gillespie, Irish footballer
1975 – Simon Kvamm, Danish singer, keyboard player, and actor (Nephew)
1975 – Gary Neville, English footballer
1975 – Charly Manson, Mexican wrestler
1976 – Leilani Munter, American race car driver
1976 – Chanda Rubin, American tennis player
1976 – Bernadette Sembrano, Filipino journalist
1977 – Kátia, Brazilian footballer
1977 – Ike Barinholtz, American actor
1977 – Sean Watkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nickel Creek, Fiction Family and Works Progress Administration)
1977 – Chrissie Wellington, English triathlete
1978 – Oliver Pocher, German comedian and actor
1978 – Josip Šimunić, Croatian footballer
1980 – Aivar Anniste, Estonian footballer
1980 – Nik Antropov, Kazakhstani-Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Regina Spektor, Russian-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1981 – Kim Jaewon, South Korean actor
1981 – Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
1981 – Alex Ríos, American baseball player
1981 – Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer
1982 – Kaspars Cipruss, Latvian basketball player
1982 – Juelz Santana, American rapper and actor (Skull Gang and The Diplomats)
1982 – Christian Tiffert, German footballer
1983 – Troy Bienemann, American football player
1983 – Joel Huiqui, Mexican footballer
1983 – Jermaine Jenas, English footballer
1983 – Jason Maxiell, American basketball player
1984 – Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
1984 – Idriss Carlos Kameni, Cameroonian footballer
1984 – Ricardo Salampessy, Indonesian footballer
1984 – Kathrin Wörle, German tennis player
1985 – Anton Ferdinand, English footballer
1985 – Chelsea Hobbs, Canadian actress
1985 – Todd Lasance, Australian actor
1985 – Lee Boyd Malvo, Jamaican-American murderer
1986 – Vika Jigulina, Moldavian-Romanian singer
1986 – T.J. Mack, American wrestler
1986 – Marc Torrejón, Spanish footballer
1987 – Vicente Guaita, Spanish footballer
1987 – Skin Diamond, American pornographic actress and nude model
1988 – Changmin, South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (TVXQ)
1988 – Hannah Blossom, English wrestler
1988 – Holly Blossom, English wrestler
1988 – Shane Lyons, American actor and chef
1988 – Maiara Walsh, American actress
1989 – Bruno Leonardo Vicente, Brazilian footballer
1990 – Cody Hodgson, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Didi Gregorius, Dutch baseball player
1990 – Park Shin-hye, South Korean actress and singer
1990 – Penny Pax, American pornographic actress and model
1991 – Malese Jow, American actress and singer
1991 – Marek Kaljumäe, Estonian footballer
1991 – Sebastian Neumann, German footballer
1991 – Henry Surtees, English race car driver (d. 2009)
1992 – Logan Miller, American actor
1993 – Unbridled's Song, American race horse (d. 2013)
1994 – Ulrik Munther, Swedish singer-songwriter
1995 – Samantha Crawford, American tennis player

Deaths
814 – Angilbert, Frankish monk and diplomat (b. 760)
901 – Thābit ibn Qurra, Iraqi physician, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 826)
999 – Pope Gregory V (b. 972)
1139 – Yaropolk II of Kiev (b. 1082)
1294 – Kublai Khan, Mongolian emperor (b. 1215)
1379 – Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1318)
1405 – Timur, Turko-Mongol conqueror (b. 1336)
1455 – Fra Angelico, Italian painter (b. 1395)
1478 – George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (b. 1449)
1535 – Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, German magician, astrologer, and theologian (b. 1486)
1546 – Martin Luther, German monk and priest, leader of the Protestant Reformation (b. 1483)
1564 – Michelangelo, Italian sculptor and painter (b. 1475)
1583 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian author (b. 1503)
1654 – Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French author (b. 1594)
1683 – Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
1712 – Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1682)
1718 – Peter Anthony Motteux, French-English author and playwright (b. 1663)
1743 – Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, French daughter of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1667)
1748 – Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)
1772 – Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Danish politician (b. 1712)
1778 – Joseph Marie Terray, French politician (b. 1715)
1780 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1714)
1788 – John Whitehurst, English geologist (b. 1713)
1803 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (b. 1719)
1842 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (b. 1779)
1851 – Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician (b. 1804)
1873 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian activist, founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization (b. 1837)
1889 – Jerónimo Espejo, Argentinian general (b. 1801)
1893 – Serranus Clinton Hastings, American lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Justice of California (b. 1814)
1895 – Carl Abs, German wrestler (b. 1851)
1895 – Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (b. 1817)
1900 – Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (b. 1824)
1902 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (b. 1812)
1906 – John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (b. 1830)
1911 – Billy Murdoch, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
1923 – Alois Rašín, Czech economist and politician (b. 1867)
1931 – Milan Šufflay, Croatian historian, author, and politician (b. 1879)
1933 – James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)
1938 – David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
1942 – Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)
1945 – Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Russian general (b. 1906)
1956 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
1957 – Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan rebel leader (b. 1920)
1957 – Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
1964 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Bombardier Inc. (b. 1907)
1966 – Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, producer, and director (b. 1908)
1967 – Dragiša Cvetković, Yugoslav politician, 17th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1893)
1967 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1904)
1971 – David M. Potter, American historian (b. 1910)
1973 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1891)
1976 – Wallace Berman, American painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
1977 – Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)
1978 – Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
1981 – Jack Northrop, American engineer and businessman, founded the Northrop Corporation (b. 1895)
1982 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b. 1895)
1989 – Mildred Burke, American wrestler (b. 1915)
1990 – Richard de Zoysa, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1958)
1993 – Jacqueline Hill, English actress (b. 1929)
1993 – Erwin Thiesies, German rugby player and coach (b. 1908)
1993 – Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (b. 1960)
1995 – Eddie Gilbert, American wrestler (b. 1961)
1995 – Bob Stinson, American guitarist (The Replacements and Static Taxi) (b. 1959)
1997 – Emily Hahn, American journalist and author (b. 1905)
1998 – Harry Caray, American sportscaster (b. 1914)
1998 – Robbie James, Welsh footballer (b. 1957)
1999 – Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b. 1932)
2000 – Will, Belgian writer and illustrator (b. 1927)
2001 – Balthus, French painter (b. 1908)
2001 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
2001 – Eddie Mathews, American baseball player (b. 1931)
2003 – Isser Harel, Belarusian-Israeli intelligence officer (b. 1912)
2004 – Jean Rouch, French anthropologist and director (b. 1917)
2006 – Richard Bright, American actor (b. 1937)
2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer and guitarist (The Cowsills) (b. 1948)
2008 – Dick Knowles, English politician (b. 1917)
2008 – Mihaela Mitrache, Romanian actress (b. 1955)
2008 – Mickey Renaud, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1988)
2008 – Alain Robbe-Grillet, French author and director (b. 1922)
2009 – Eleanor Jorden, American scholar and educator (b. 1920)
2009 – Tayeb Salih, Sudanese author and columnist (b. 1929)
2009 – Miika Tenkula, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Sentenced) (b. 1974)
2010 – John Babcock, Canadian soldier (b. 1900)
2011 – Victor Martinez, Mexican American poet and author (b. 1954)
2012 – Roald Aas, Norwegian speed skater and cyclist (b. 1928)
2012 – Peter Halliday, Welsh actor (b. 1924)
2012 – Matt Lamb, American painter (b. 1932)
2012 – Roger Miner, American judge (b. 1934)
2012 – Cal Murphy, Canadian football coach and manager (b. 1932)
2013 – Kevin Ayers, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Soft Machine and The Wilde Flowers) (b. 1944)
2013 – Otto Beisheim, German businessman, founded Metro AG (b. 1924)
2013 – Kevin Black, New Zealand radio host (b. 1943)
2013 – Jerry Buss, American businessman and chemist (b. 1933)
2013 – B. G. Dyess, American minister and politician (b. 1922)
2013 – Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (b. 1929)
2013 – Milan Gvero, Serbian general (b. 1937)
2013 – Damon Harris, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1950)
2013 – Godfrey Hewitt, English geneticist (b. 1940)
2013 – Chieko Honda, Japanese voice actress (b. 1963)
2013 – Anthony Theodore Lobo, Pakistani bishop (b. 1937)
2013 – Matt Mattox, American dancer and actor (b. 1922)
2013 – Martin Zweig, American financier (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances
Christian Feast Day:
Bernadette Soubirous (France)
Colmán of Lindisfarne
Flavian of Constantinople
Simeon of Jerusalem (Western Christianity)
February 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Wife's Day or Konudagur can fall, while February 24 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday between 18 and 24 February (Iceland)
Dialect Day (Amami Islands, Japan)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Gambia from the United Kingdom in 1965.
National Democracy Day, celebrates the 1951 overthrow of the Rana dynasty (Nepal)
Sepandārmazgān or "Women's Day" (Zoroastrian Iran)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_18