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February 17

On This Day in History

February 17

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

Lottery News On This Day

2020: Lottery exceeding expectations in Mississippi. Through a little more than two months of operation, Mississippi's lottery has generated about $16 million in revenue for work on the state's roads and bridges.
2020: Two Alaska state lottery plans are about to be debated; here's how they'd work. Alaska is one of five U.S. states without a lottery. This year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and House Majority Leader Steve Thompson, a Republican from Fairbanks, have each offered plans to change that.
2019: South Carolina lottery winner where are you? $1.5B still unclaimed, and clock is ticking. A Mega Millions ticket worth more than $1.5 billion purchased in October, 2018, will be worthless in about two months if no one comes forward to claim the cash.
2018: CT Lottery security chief on paid leave following review of botched raffle draw. The Connecticut Lottery Corp. has placed its $139,000-a-year year security director, Alfred DuPuis, on a paid leave pending possible disciplinary action after an internal investigation concluded that he "acted with gross neglect... of his duties" leading up to a million-dollar blunder in a Jan. 1 drawing.
2016: Florida couple claims share of historic $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot. A married couple from Melbourne Beach, Florida, have claimed their one-third share of the world's biggest lottery jackpot of all time.
2014: Three $1M lottery tickets sold in W.Va. in 1 week. West Virginia has another $1 million lottery winner -- the third in one week.
2014: Homeless man wins Hungary's biggest-ever lottery. Unemployed, in debt and facing another year living on the streets, a Hungary man is now a rich man, after winning his country's biggest lottery prize.
2012: CNN producer tells what it's like to win lottery twice. A CNN Producer who claimed a $1 million lottery ticket after winning $100,000 last year says that good things don't come from scratching your life away at a lottery machine, but from faith, hard work, and giving to others.
2012: Starving horses found on lottery winner's ranch. Eight malnourished horses were found on a 40-acre ranch northeast of Sanger that is owned by a couple who a decade ago won a $40 million California Lottery jackpot.
2010: Part of stolen lottery jackpot is returned to Texas man. On Tuesday, state District Judge Bob Perkins signed an order restoring to the Grand Prairie man $395,000 seized from the bank account of a store clerk accused of stealing the winning ticket.
2010: Colorado Lottery launches new jackpot game next week. The Colorado Lottery will launch its first new Jackpot game in nine years next week.
2010: Bad news for record S. African lottery "winner". A deaf South African cleaner besieged by begging relatives after a newspaper reported he had scooped a 91 million rand (US$12 million) lottery jackpot was not the winner, the draw's organizers said on Tuesday.
2009: Dream big: Mega jackpot for tonight is $103 million. Lottery business for the Mega Millions $103 million jackpot drawing tonight is expected to be brisk.
2007: $75 million Powerball lottery jackpot claimed by N.C. prison guard. For more than two months, Jackie Alston quietly celebrated her winning Powerball ticket, quitting her job at a state prison and then putting together a team of financial advisers.
2005: Oregon Lottery rate cut has fierce opposition and support. Oregon Lottery Director Dale Penn, seeking to capture millions of additional dollars for schools and other state programs, on Tuesday proposed a nearly 50 percent rate cut for retailers offering the lottery's new electronic slot machines.
2005: Texas to use Lottery to institute video slot machines. Facing an uphill battle to amend the Texas Constitution to allow video slot machines, some Texas lawmakers are working on legislation to authorize the devices as an extension of the lottery.
2005: Lottery ticket plucked from trash wins $100,000. The Hoosier Lottery awarded the $100,000 prize after a winning ticket purchased in Shelbyville was tossed in the trash, then plucked out by a luckier person.
2005: Georgia Lottery mistake gives players extra chance to win. A mistake during a Georgia lottery Fantasy Five drawing is giving players an extra chance to cash in.
2004: One in a Mega million. Tonight at 11, millions of people across the country will hold their breath and allow themselves to imagine their biggest dreams coming true - if only for a few seconds.
2004: Mayor finds long-forgotten lottery ticket was a winner. It took some help from her daughter for the mayor of Pemberton, British Columbia, a small town north of Vancouver, to find she had a lottery ticket worth $100,000 ($US75,000).
2004: New Tennessee Lottery hasn't hurt Kentucky ticket sales yet. The new Tennessee Lottery, for now, doesn't seem to be hurting the games in surrounding states.
2004: Tennessee Lottery joins Powerball super game. Yesterday the Tennessee Lottery became the 26th lottery nationwide to join the super lotto game in which jackpots have exceeded $200 million.

Top 25 Lottery Jackpots On This Day

1.$493 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2024
2.$425.3 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2014
3.$365 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2006
4.$361 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2017
5.$316.1 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2024
6.$282 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2019
7.€202 Million US$244.86 Million: Multi-Country
Euro Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2021
8.$223 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2018
9.$220 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2008
10.$206 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2019
11.€176 Million
US$199.34 Million: Multi-Country
Euro Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2019
12.€160 Million
US$197.54 Million: Multi-Country
Euro Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2018
13.$189 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2016
14.$185 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2018
15.€157.58 Million
US$179.08 Million: Italy
SuperEnalotto
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2022
16.$177 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2004
17.$154 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2014
18.$150 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 20, 2007
19.$145 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2006
20.€109.02 Million
US$131.67 Million: Italy
SuperEnalotto
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2021
21.$126 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2011
22.€100.87 Million
US$125.2 Million: Italy
SuperEnalotto
Draw Date
Feb 17, 2018
23.€107.49 Million
US$121.74 Million: Italy
SuperEnalotto
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2019
24.$105 Million: Multi-State
Powerball
Draw Date
Feb 18, 2009
25.$104 Million: Multi-State
Mega Millions
Draw Date
Feb 19, 2016

Lottery Post Member Birthdays On This Day

1987: reedgerm
Tuesday, Feb 17, 1987
37 years old
1984: Shondafalls
Friday, Feb 17, 1984
40 years old
1984: stephktlyn
Friday, Feb 17, 1984
40 years old
1982: Moneylife82
Wednesday, Feb 17, 1982
42 years old
1982: Ohnopolo82
Wednesday, Feb 17, 1982
42 years old
1980: dominicanbeauty
Sunday, Feb 17, 1980
44 years old
1974: Four4myfamily
Sunday, Feb 17, 1974
50 years old
1968: sonya
Saturday, Feb 17, 1968
56 years old
1967: sweetlyn
Friday, Feb 17, 1967
57 years old
1965: Rat$1936
Wednesday, Feb 17, 1965
59 years old
1964: inbisbr
Monday, Feb 17, 1964
60 years old
1963: raymillstb
Sunday, Feb 17, 1963
61 years old
1953: alvinapoehlein
Tuesday, Feb 17, 1953
71 years old
1953: uxivas
Tuesday, Feb 17, 1953
71 years old
1950: ron1950
Friday, Feb 17, 1950
74 years old
1949: Tommills
Thursday, Feb 17, 1949
75 years old
: MMGuy
(year not provided)
: thatgirl65
(year not provided)
: Knkydvl
(year not provided)
: mskane40
(year not provided)
: QweenP
(year not provided)

Worldwide Events On This Day

2016: Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.
2015: Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.
2011: Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi's regime begin.
2011: Arab Spring: In Bahrain, security forces launch a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama; the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
2008: Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
2006: A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
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.
1996: The 8.2 M_w Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving one-hundred sixty-six people dead or missing and 423 injured.
1995: The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
1992: First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.
1991: Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 crashes during takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, killing both pilots, the aircraft's only occupants.
1980: First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
1979: The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
1978: The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.
1974: Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1972: Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
1970: Jeffrey R. MacDonald, United States Army captain, is charged with murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters.
1969: American aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair a leak in the SEALAB III underwater habitat. The SEALAB project was subsequently abandoned.
1965: Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
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.
1959: Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
1959: A Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount crashes near Gatwick Airport, killing 14; Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes survives the crash.
1949: Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
1948: The Alwaziri coup briefly ousts the ruling Hamidaddin dynasty of Yemen; Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din is killed.
1944: World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok 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.
1919: The Ukrainian People's Republic asks the Entente and the United States for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
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.
1905: Russian Revolution of 1905: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia is assassinated in the Moscow Kremlin by Socialist Revolutionary Ivan Kalyayev.
1865: American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1864: American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1863: A group of citizens of Geneva found an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1859: Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captures the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.
1854: The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1838: Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
1819: The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1814: War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.
1801: United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College 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.
1753: In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
1739: The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.
1676: Sixteen men of Pascual de Iriate's expedition are lost at Evangelistas Islets at the western end of the Strait of Magellan.
1674: An earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Ambon. It triggers a 100 m (330 ft) megatsunami which drowns over 2,300 people.
1621: Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.
1616: Nurhaci proclaims himself Khan of the Later Jin, precursor to the Qing Dynasty.
1600: On his way to be burned at the stake for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome, the philosopher Giordano Bruno has a wooden vise put on his tongue to prevent him continuing to speak.
1500: Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
1411: Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
1370: Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.

Births On This Day

1998: Devin White, American football player
1997: Madison Keys, American tennis player
1996: Sebastian Aho, Swedish ice hockey player
1996: Sasha Pieterse, South African-American actress and singer-songwriter
1993: Marc Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer
1992: Meaghan Martin, American actress and singer
1991: Phil Pressey, American basketball player and coach
1991: Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1991: Jeremy Allen White, American actor
1991: Bonnie Wright, English actress, filmmaker, and activist
1990: Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian speed skater
1989: Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer
1989: Chord Overstreet, American actor and singer
1988: Michael Frolík, Czech ice hockey player
1988: Case Keenum, American football player
1988: Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer
1987: Ísis Valverde, Brazilian actress
1986: Brett Kern, American football player
1985: Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
1984: AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
1984: Marcin Gortat, Polish basketball player
1984: Katie Hill, Australian 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player
1982: Adriano, Brazilian footballer
1982: Brian Bruney, American baseball player
1981: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer
1981: Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman
1981: Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
1980: Al Harrington, American basketball player
1980: Jason Ritter, American actor
1980: Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer
1979: Conrad Ricamora, American actor
1979: Josh Willingham, American baseball player
1978: Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright
1976: Kelly Carlson, American actress and model
1975: Kaspars Astašenko, Latvian ice hockey player (d. 2012)
1975: Václav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player
1974: Kaoru, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1974: Jerry O'Connell, American actor, director, and producer
1973: Drew Barry, American basketball player
1973: Goran Bunjevčević, Serbian footballer (d. 2018)
1973: Raphaël Ibañez, French rugby player
1972: Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
1972: Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
1972: Taylor Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2022)
1972: Valeria Mazza, Argentine model and businesswoman
1971: Denise Richards, American model and actress
1970: Dominic Purcell, English-Australian actor and producer
1969: David Douillet, French martial artist and politician
1969: Vasily Kudinov, Russian handball player (d. 2017)
1968: Giuseppe Signori, Italian footballer
1968: Wu'erkaixi, Chinese journalist and activist
1966: Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and actor
1965: Michael Bay, American director and producer
1964: Sherry Hawco, Canadian gymnast (d. 1991)
1963: Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and voice actor
1963: Alison Hargreaves, English mountaineer (d. 1995)
1963: Jen-Hsun Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, co-founded Nvidia
1963: Michael Jordan, American basketball player, executive, and businessman
1962: Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director
1961: Angela Eagle, English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
1961: Maria Eagle, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
1961: Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist, historian, and sociologist
1960: Lindy Ruff, Canadian hockey player and coach
1959: Aryeh Deri, Moroccan-Israeli rabbi and politician, Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs
1959: Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer and sportscaster
1957: Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, accordion player, and pianist
1956: Richard Karn, American actor and game show host
1955: Mo Yan, Chinese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1954: Lou Ann Barton, American singer-songwriter
1954: Miki Berkovich, Israeli basketball player
1954: Rene Russo, American actress
1953: Becky Ann Baker, American actress
1952: Karin Büttner-Janz, German gymnast and physician
1952: Vladimír Padrůněk, Czech musician (d. 1991)
1951: Rashid Minhas, Pakistani soldier and pilot (d. 1971)
1949: Fred Frith, English guitarist and songwriter
1949: Dennis Green, American football player and coach (d. 2016)
1948: José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2019)
1946: Shahrnush Parsipur, Iranian-American author and academic
1945: Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2012)
1945: Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
1944: Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboard player, and composer
1942: Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989)
1941: Julia McKenzie, English actress, singer, and director
1940: Vicente Fernández, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, and producer (d. 2021)
1940: Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1937: Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (d. 2014)
1936: Jim Brown, American football player and actor (d. 2023)
1935: Christina Pickles, English-American actress
1934: Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)
1934: Barry Humphries, Australian comedian, actor, and author (d. 2023)
1933: Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (d. 2007)
1931: Jiřina Jirásková, Czech actress and singer (d. 2013)
1931: Buddy Ryan, American football coach (d. 2016)
1930: Roger Craig, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2023)
1930: Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 2013)
1930: Ruth Rendell, English author (d. 2015)
1929: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean-French director and screenwriter
1929: Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author (d. 2002)
1929: Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (d. 1993)
1929: Patricia Routledge, English actress and singer
1928: Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress and singer (d. 2013)
1928: Michiaki Takahashi, Japanese virologist (d. 2013)
1925: Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
1925: Hal Holbrook, American actor and director (d. 2021)
1924: Margaret Truman, American singer and author (d. 2008)
1923: Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2014)
1922: Tommy Edwards, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 1969)
1921: Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
1920: Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1920: Annie Glenn, American disability and communication disorder advocate (d. 2020)
1920: Curt Swan, American illustrator (d. 1996)
1919: J. M. S. Careless, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2009)
1919: Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
1919: Joe Hunt, American tennis player (d. 1945)
1918: William Bronk, American poet and academic (d. 1999)
1918: Jacqueline Ferrand, French mathematician (d. 2014)
1916: Alexander Obolensky, Russian rugby player and pilot (d. 1940)
1916: Don Tallon, Australian cricketer (d. 1984)
1916: Raf Vallone, Italian footballer and actor (d. 2002)
1914: Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
1912: Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
1911: Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (d. 1984)
1910: Marc Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1908: Bo Yibo, Chinese general and politician, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 2007)
1906: Mary Brian, American actress (d. 2002)
1905: Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1977)
1904: Hans Morgenthau, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1980)
1903: Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian-French author and translator (d. 1951)
1900: Ruth Clifford, American actress (d. 1998)
1899: Jibanananda Das, Bangladeshi-Indian poet and author (d. 1954)
1893: Wally Pipp, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1965)
1891: Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
1890: Ronald Fisher, English-Australian statistician, biologist, and geneticist (d. 1962)
1888: Ronald Knox, English Catholic priest (d. 1957)
1888: Otto Stern, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
1887: Joseph Bech, Luxembourgian lawyer and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
1887: Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer and critic (d. 1947)
1881: Mary Carson Breckinridge, American nurse midwife, founded Frontier Nursing Service (d. 1965)
1879: Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American educational reformer, social activist and author (d. 1958)
1877: Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and author (d. 1904)
1877: André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (d. 1932)
1874: Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (d. 1956)
1864: Jozef Murgaš, Slovak priest, botanist, and painter (d. 1929)
1864: Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1941)
1862: Mori Ōgai, Japanese general, author, and poet (d. 1922)
1861: Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, duchess of Albany (d. 1922)
1854: Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German businessman (d. 1902)
1849: Joseph Favre, Swiss chef (d. 1903)
1848: Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and publisher (d. 1920)
1843: Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913)
1836: Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1870)
1832: Richard Henry Park, American sculptor (d. 1902)
1821: Lola Montez, Irish-American actress and dancer (d. 1861)
1820: Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1881)
1817: Édouard Thilges, Luxembourgian jurist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
1799: Carl Julian (von) Graba, German lawyer and ornithologist who visited and studied the Faroe Islands (d. 1874)
1796: Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician and botanist (d. 1866)
1781: René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826)
1762: John Cooke, English captain (d. 1805)
1758: John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (d. 1826)
1754: Nicolas Baudin, French cartographer and explorer (d. 1803)
1752: Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (d. 1831)
1740: Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and meteorologist (d. 1799)
1723: Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (d. 1762)
1653: Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1713)
1646: Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)
1524: Charles de Lorraine, French cardinal (d. 1574)
1519: Francis, French Grand Chamberlain (d. 1563)
1490: Charles III, duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)
1028: Al-Juwayni, Persian scholar and imam (d. 1085)
624: Wu Zetian, Chinese empress consort (d. 705)

Deaths On This Day

2021: Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author (b. 1951)
2021: Seif Sharif Hamad, Tanzanian politician (b. 1943)
2017: Robert H. Michel, American politician (b. 1923)
2017: Michael Novak, American Roman Catholic theologian (b. 1933)
2016: Andy Ganteaume, Trinidadian cricketer (b. 1921)
2016: Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (b. 1923)
2016: Claude Jeancolas, French historian, author, and journalist (b. 1949)
2016: Tony Phillips, American baseball player (b. 1959)
2016: Andrzej Żuławski, Polish film director (b. 1940)
2015: John Barrow, American-Canadian football player and manager (b. 1935)
2015: Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (b. 1928)
2015: Liu Yudi, Chinese general and pilot (b. 1923)
2014: Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1952)
2014: Peter Florin, German politician and diplomat, President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1921)
2014: Wayne Smith, Jamaican singer (b. 1965)
2013: Richard Briers, English actor (b. 1934)
2013: Shmulik Kraus, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1935)
2013: Sophie Kurys, American baseball player (b. 1925)
2013: Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (b. 1975)
2012: Robert Carr, English engineer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1916)
2012: Michael Davis, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
2012: Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and theorist (b. 1918)
2012: Ulric Neisser, German-American psychologist and academic (b. 1928)
2010: Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
2009: Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter and journalist (b. 1922)
2006: Ray Barretto, American drummer (b. 1929)
2006: Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
2005: Dan O'Herlihy, Irish-American actor (b. 1919)
2005: Omar Sívori, Argentinian footballer and manager (b. 1935)
2004: José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 51st President of Mexico (b. 1920)
2003: Steve Bechler, American baseball player (b. 1979)
1998: Ernst Jünger, German soldier, philosopher, and author (b. 1895)
1994: Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (b. 1951)
1990: Jean-Marc Boivin, French mountaineer, skier, and pilot (b. 1951)
1989: Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
1988: John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (b. 1923)
1988: Karpoori Thakur, Indian educator and politician, 11th Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1924)
1986: Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (b. 1895)
1982: Nestor Chylak, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1922)
1982: Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (b. 1917)
1982: Lee Strasberg, American actor and director (b. 1901)
1979: William Gargan, American actor (b. 1905)
1977: Janani Luwum, Ugandan archbishop and saint (b. 1922)
1972: Friday Hassler, American race car driver (b. 1935)
1970: Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli novelist, short story writer, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
1970: Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)
1969: Berry L. Cannon, American aquanaut (b. 1935)
1966: Hans Hofmann, German-American painter (b. 1880)
1962: Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
1962: Bruno Walter, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1876)
1961: Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (b. 1887)
1961: Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1894)
1948: Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din, Imam of Yemen (b. 1904)
1946: Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)
1939: Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (b. 1859)
1934: Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
1934: Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (b. 1862)
1924: Oskar Merikanto, Finnish composer (b. 1868)
1919: Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
1912: Edgar Evans, Welsh sailor and explorer (b. 1876)
1909: Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829)
1905: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, fifth son and seventh child of Tsar Alexander II (b. 1857)
1905: William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1815)
1890: Christopher Latham Sholes, American publisher and politician (b. 1819)
1874: Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician, and sociologist (b. 1796)
1856: Heinrich Heine, German journalist and poet (b. 1797)
1854: John Martin, English painter, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1789)
1849: María de las Mercedes Barbudo, Puerto Rican political activist, the first woman Independentista in the island (b. 1773)
1841: Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1770)
1768: Arthur Onslow, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1691)
1732: Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (b. 1669)
1715: Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (b. 1646)
1680: Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English politician (b. 1599)
1680: Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist, zoologist, and entomologist (b. 1637)
1673: Molière, French actor and playwright (b. 1622)
1659: Abel Servien, French politician, French Minister of Finance (b. 1593)
1624: Juan de Mariana, Spanish priest and historian (b. 1536)
1609: Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
1600: Giordano Bruno, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1548)
1500: Adolph, Count of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, German noble (b. before 1463)
1371: Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
1339: Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)
1220: Theobald I, Duke of Lorraine
1178: Evermode of Ratzeburg, bishop of Ratzeburg
923: Al-Tabari, Persian scholar (b. 839)
440: Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian monk, linguist, and theologian (b. 360)
364: Jovian, Roman emperor (b. 331)

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