February 17

February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining until the end of the year (318 in leap years).

Events

• 364 – Roman Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.
• 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
• 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
• 1500 – Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
• 1600 – The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive, for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome.
• 1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.
• 1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
• 1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr, Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
• 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormans.
• 1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
• 1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
• 1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
• 1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The  H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
• 1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
• 1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
• 1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
• 1919 – The Ukrainian People's Republic asks Entente and the US for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
• 1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
• 1933 – Newsweek magazine is first published.
• 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
• 1949 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
• 1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
• 1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
• 1964 – Gabonese president Léon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
• 1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
• 1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
• 1972 – Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
• 1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
• 1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.
• 1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
• 1980 – Mount Everest, 1st Winter Ascent by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
• 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradağlı.
• 1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
• 1996 – In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
• 1996 – NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
• 2003 – The London congestion charge is introduced.
• 2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
• 2008 – Kosovo declares independence as the Republic of Kosovo.
• 2011 – Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
• 2015 – 18 people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.

Births

• 624 – Wu Zetian, Chinese wife of Emperor Taizong of Tang (d. 705)
• 1490 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)
• 1519 – Francis, Duke of Guise (d. 1563)
• 1524 – Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine (d. 1574)
• 1581 – Fausto Poli, Italian cardinal (d. 1653)
• 1646 – Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)
• 1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1713)
• 1718 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (d. 1790)
• 1723 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (d. 1762)
• 1740 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and meteorologist (d. 1799)
• 1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (d. 1831)
• 1754 – Nicolas Baudin, French cartographer and explorer (d. 1803)
• 1781 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826)
• 1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician and botanist (d. 1866)
• 1817 – Édouard Thilges, Luxembourgian jurist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
• 1820 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian cardinal (d. 1898)
• 1820 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1881)
• 1821 – Lola Montez, Irish-American actress and dancer (d. 1861)
• 1836 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1870)
• 1844 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913)
• 1848 – Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner (d. 1920)
• 1848 – Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and publisher (d. 1920)
• 1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German businessman (d. 1902)
• 1861 – Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (d. 1922)
• 1862 – Eduard Bornhöhe, Estonian author (d. 1923)
• 1862 – Mori Ōgai, Japanese author and poet (d. 1922)
• 1863 – Fyodor Sologub, Russian author and poet (d. 1927)
• 1864 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak priest, botanist, and painter (d. 1929)
• 1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1941)
• 1874 – Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (d. 1956)
• 1877 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and author (d. 1904)
• 1877 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (d. 1932)
• 1877 – Isidora Sekulić, Serbian author and critic (d. 1958)
• 1885 – Steve Evans, American baseball player (d. 1943)
• 1887 – Joseph Bech, Luxembourgian lawyer and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
• 1887 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer and critic (d. 1947)
• 1888 – Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
• 1890 – Ronald Fisher, English statistician, biologist, and geneticist (d. 1962)
• 1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
• 1893 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1965)
• 1896 – Webu Sayadaw, Theravada Buddhist monk, and vipassanā master (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Jibanananda Das, Bangladeshi-Indian poet and author (d. 1954)
• 1900 – Ruth Clifford, American actress (d. 1998)
• 1903 – Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian-French author and translator (d. 1951)
• 1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1980)
• 1905 – Osvald Käpp, Estonian wrestler (d. 1995)
• 1906 – Mary Brian, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1907 – Yevgeniy Abalakov, Russian mountaineer and sculptor (d. 1948)
• 1908 – Red Barber, American sportscaster (d. 1992)
• 1908 – Ants Eskola, Estonian actor and singer (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Bo Yibo, Chinese general and politician, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 2007)
• 1910 – Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1911 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (d. 1984)
• 1912 – Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1914 – Wayne Morris, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1959)
• 1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian rugby player (d. 1940)
• 1916 – Raf Vallone, Italian footballer and actor (d. 2002)
• 1917 – Abdel Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher and poet (d. 2002)
• 1917 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican engineer (d. 1965)
• 1918 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Ukrainian politician, Prime Minister of Ukraine (d. 1990)
• 1919 – J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Curt Swan, American soldier and illustrator (d. 1996)
• 1922 – Enrico Banducci, American businessman (d. 2007)
• 1923 – John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (d. 1988)
• 1923 – Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director
• 1928 – Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Patricia Routledge, English actress and singer
• 1930 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Ruth Rendell, English author (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Jiřina Jirásková, Czech actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Larry Jennings, American magician and author (d. 1997)
• 1933 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Alan Bates, English actor and singer (d. 2003)
• 1934 – Barry Humphries, Australian comedian, actor, and author
• 1935 – Christina Pickles, English-American actress and producer
• 1936 – Jim Brown, American football player and actor
• 1937 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (d. 2014)
• 1939 – John Leyton, English actor and singer
• 1940 – Vicente Fernández, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, and producer
• 1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1941 – Julia McKenzie, English actress, singer, and director
• 1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989)
• 1943 – Joe Medjuck, Canadian actor and producer
• 1944 – Bruce Fogle, Canadian veterinarian and author
• 1944 – Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboard player, and composer (Soft Machine)
• 1945 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
• 1946 – Dodie Stevens, American singer
• 1946 – Shahrnush Parsipur, Iranian-American author and academic
• 1947 – Ben Cramer, Dutch singer and actor
• 1947 – Helge Jordal, Norwegian actor and singer
• 1948 – José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1948 – Rick Majerus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1948 – Don Scardino, American actor and director
• 1949 – Fred Frith, English guitarist and songwriter (Henry Cow, Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew)
• 1950 – Rickey Medlocke, American guitarist (Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• 1951 – Rashid Minhas, Pakistani soldier and pilot (d. 1971)
• 1952 – Karin Büttner-Janz, German gymnast and physician
• 1952 – Vladimír Padrůněk, Czech bass player (Energit and Etc...) (d. 1991)
• 1953 – Annie Schreijer-Pierik, Dutch politician
• 1954 – Miki Berkovich, Israeli basketball player
• 1954 – Rene Russo, American actress and producer
• 1955 – Mo Yan, Chinese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1955 – Shun Sugata, Japanese actor
• 1956 – Richard Karn, American actor and game show host
• 1957 – Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, accordion player, and pianist
• 1958 – Steve Fox, English footballer and gardener (d. 2012)
• 1959 – Aryeh Deri, Moroccan-Israeli rabbi and politician, Internal Affairs Minister of Israel
• 1959 – Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer and sportscaster
• 1960 – Shunji Kosugi, Japanese wrestler
• 1961 – Chris Champion, American wrestler
• 1961 – Angela Eagle, English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
• 1961 – Maria Eagle, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
• 1961 – Panna Rittikrai, Thai actor, director, and stuntman (d. 2014)
• 1962 – David McComb, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Triffids and The Blackeyed Susans) (d. 1999)
• 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director
• 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and actor
• 1963 – Alison Hargreaves, English mountaineer (d. 1995)
• 1963 – Jen-Hsun Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia
• 1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player and actor
• 1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer
• 1965 – Samuel Bayer, American director and cinematographer
• 1966 – Quorthon, Swedish guitarist and songwriter (Bathory) (d. 2004)
• 1966 – Michael Lepond, American bass player (Symphony X and Seven Witches)
• 1966 – Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and actor
• 1967 – Chanté Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1968 – Wu'erkaixi, Chinese journalist and activist
• 1969 – David Douillet, French martial artist and politician
• 1969 – Tuesday Knight, American actress and singer
• 1970 – Tommy Moe, American skier
• 1970 – Dominic Purcell, English-Australian actor and producer
• 1971 – Martyn Bennett, Canadian-Scottish bagpipe player and composer (d. 2005)
• 1971 – Denise Richards, American model and actress
• 1972 – Yuki, Japanese singer-songwriter (Mean Machine, Judy and Mary, and NiNa)
• 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer (Green Day, Pinhead Gunpowder, The Network, and Foxboro Hot Tubs)
• 1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
• 1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and drummer (Foo Fighters and Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders)
• 1972 – Cezary Kucharski, Polish footballer
• 1972 – Valeria Mazza, Argentinian model and businesswoman
• 1972 – Lars Göran Petrov, Swedish singer and drummer (Entombed and Morbid)
• 1973 – Raphaël Ibañez, French rugby player
• 1974 – Kaoru, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Dir En Grey)
• 1974 – Jerry O'Connell, American actor, director, and producer
• 1975 – Harisu, South Korean singer and actress
• 1975 – Michiko Kichise, Japanese actress
• 1975 – Václav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 – Kelly Carlson, American actress
• 1976 – William Roussel, French singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mütiilation)
• 1977 – Erin Cardillo, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1977 – Wong Choong Hann, Malaysian badminton player
• 1977 – Bob Katsionis, Greek keyboard player (Firewind, Nightfall, and Septicflesh)
• 1980 – Aya Endō, Japanese voice actress
• 1980 – Al Harrington, American basketball player
• 1980 – Jason Ritter, American actor and producer
• 1980 – Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer
• 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer
• 1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, actress, and singer
• 1981 – Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
• 1982 – Brian Bruney, American baseball player
• 1982 – Jill de Jong, Dutch model and actress
• 1982 – Daniel Merriweather, Australian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1982 – Deyvid Oprja, Estonian skier
• 1982 – Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Gérald Cid, French footballer
• 1983 – Marios Kaperonis, Greek boxer
• 1983 – Kevin Rudolf, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1984 – AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
• 1984 – Jimmy Jacobs, American wrestler
• 1984 – Stefan Jarosch, German footballer
• 1984 – Kenta Kamakari, Japanese actor and singer
• 1984 – Drew Miller, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Marcin Gortat, Polish basketball player
• 1985 – Sivakarthikeyan, Indian actor and singer
• 1985 – Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
• 1986 – Joey O'Brien, Irish footballer
• 1986 – Ricardo Rodriguez, American wrestler and ring announcer
• 1987 – Thomas Ayasse, French footballer
• 1987 – Aseem Trivedi, Indian cartoonist and activist
• 1988 – Natascha Kampusch, Austrian kidnapping victim
• 1989 – Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer
• 1989 – Ina Demireva, Bulgarian ice dancer
• 1989 – Chord Overstreet, American actor and singer
• 1990 – Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian speed skater
• 1991 – Sam Oldham, English gymnast
• 1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1991 – Bonnie Wright, English actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1992 – Meaghan Martin, American actress and singer
• 1993 – Nicola Leali, Italian footballer
• 1993 – Marc Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1993 – Jannes Vansteenkiste, Belgian footballer
• 1993 – Philip Wiegratz, German actor
• 1996 – Sasha Pieterse, South African-American singer-songwriter and actress
• 2003 – Federica Falzon, Maltese singer

Deaths

• 364 – Jovian, Roman emperor (b. 331)
• 440 – Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian monk, linguist, and theologian (b. 360)
• 661 – Finan of Lindisfarne, Irish bishop and saint
• 1339 – Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)
• 1371 – Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
• 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1548)
• 1609 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
• 1624 – Juan de Mariana, Spanish priest and historian (b. 1536)
• 1652 – Gregorio Allegri, Italian priest and composer (b. 1582)
• 1659 – Abel Servien, French politician, French Minister of Finance (b. 1593)
• 1673 – Molière, French playwright and actor (b. 1622)
• 1680 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English politician (b. 1599)
• 1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist, zoologist, and entomologist (b. 1637)
• 1715 – Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (b. 1646)
• 1732 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (b. 1669)
• 1768 – Arthur Onslow, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the British House of Commons (b. 1691)
• 1780 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (b. 1706)
• 1841 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1770)
• 1854 – John Martin, English painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1789)
• 1856 – Heinrich Heine, German journalist and poet (b. 1797)
• 1874 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician, and sociologist (b. 1796)
• 1883 – Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Indian activist (b. 1845)
• 1890 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American publisher and politician (b. 1819)
• 1905 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1815)
• 1909 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829)
• 1912 – Edgar Evans, Welsh sailor and explorer (b. 1876)
• 1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
• 1934 – Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
• 1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862)
• 1939 – Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (b. 1859)
• 1943 – Armand J. Piron, American violinist and composer (b. 1888)
• 1946 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)
• 1961 – Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (b. 1887)
• 1961 – Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)
• 1962 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1962 – Bruno Walter, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1876)
• 1966 – Hans Hofmann, German-American painter (b. 1880)
• 1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
• 1970 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (b. 1884)
• 1970 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)
• 1976 – Bill Boswell, Australian public servant (b. 1911)
• 1976 – Jean Servais, Belgian-French actor (b. 1910)
• 1977 – Janani Luwum, Ugandan archbishop and saint (b. 1922)
• 1982 – Nestor Chylak, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1922)
• 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (b. 1917)
• 1982 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian-American actor and director (b. 1901)
• 1986 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (b. 1895)
• 1988 – John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (b. 1923)
• 1988 – Karpoori Thakur, Indian politician, 11th Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1924)
• 1989 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
• 1990 – Jean-Marc Boivin, French mountaineer, skier, and pilot (b. 1951)
• 1990 – Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1901)
• 1990 – Erik Rhodes, American actor and singer (b. 1906)
• 1994 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (b. 1951)
• 1997 – Joe Kieyoomia, American soldier (b. 1919)
• 1998 – Ernst Jünger, German soldier, philosopher, and author (b. 1895)
• 1998 – Bob Merrill, American composer and songwriter (b. 1921)
• 2001 – Barry Burman, English painter and educator (b. 1943)
• 2001 – Bob Geary, Canadian football player, coach, and manager (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Khalid Abdul Muhammad, American activist (b. 1948)
• 2003 – Steve Bechler, American baseball player (b. 1979)
• 2004 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 51st President of Mexico (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish-American actor (b. 1919)
• 2005 – Omar Sívori, Argentinian footballer and manager (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Ray Barretto, American drummer (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Cowsills) (b. 1948)
• 2007 – Mike Awesome, American wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2007 – Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Ryan's Fancy) (b. 1943)
• 2007 – Maurice Papon, French police officer and politician (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Mike Whitmarsh, American volleyball player (b. 1962)
• 2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Robert Carr, English engineer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Clarence Dart, American captain and pilot (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Michael Davis, American singer-songwriter and bass player (MC5) (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Ulric Neisser, German-American psychologist and academic (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Howie Nunn, American baseball player (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Richard Briers, English actor and singer (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Shmulik Kraus, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (The High Windows) (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Sophie Kurys, American baseball player (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (b. 1975)
• 2013 – Seán Óg Ó Ceallacháin, Irish footballer, hurler, and sportscaster (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (Devo) (b. 1952)
• 2014 – Peter Florin, German politician and diplomat, President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Frankie Kao, Taiwanese singer (b. 1950)
• 2014 – Wayne Smith, Jamaican singer (b. 1965)
• 2014 – Frank Wappat, English singer and radio host (b. 1930)
• 2015 – John Barrow, American-Canadian football player and manager (b. 1935)
• 2015 – John Hurt Fisher, American philologist and academic (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Seven Founders of the Servite Order
    • Alexis Falconieri
  • Constabilis
  • Fintan of Clonenagh
  • Janani Luwum (Anglican Communion)
  • Lommán of Trim
  • February 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Kosovo in 2008, still under dispute.
• Quirinalia, in honor of Quirinus (Roman Empire)

External links

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