12th February — Darwin Day & International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Welcome to 12th February! It's Darwin Day and International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Explore 50 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Tonight's moon is in its first quarter phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Aquarius. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this 12th February.
12 February falls under the zodiac sign of Aquarius, the eleventh house of the zodiac wheel, associated with innovation and intellectual pursuits. The moon is in its first quarter phase, a time traditionally linked to growth and decision-making.
On this day
On 12 February 1994, Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery of Norway, marking one of the most high-profile art thefts of the modern era. The painting, which depicts an anguished figure against a swirling backdrop, was recovered several months later in a sting operation.
In a moment of significant religious diplomacy, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow met in Havana on 12 February 2016, marking the first encounter between leaders of the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. The two religious figures signed the Havana Declaration at José Martí International Airport, representing a historic step towards dialogue between the Western and Eastern Christian traditions after centuries of separation.
Darwin Day
Darwin Day marks the birthday of Charles Darwin, the naturalist whose theory of evolution fundamentally reshaped scientific understanding of life on Earth. Observed on 12 February since 2000, the day celebrates Darwin's contributions to biology and encourages public engagement with evolutionary science. The date also coincides with the birth of Abraham Lincoln, though Darwin Day is primarily dedicated to recognising the impact of Darwin's work on modern science and education.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
This observance, established by the United Nations in 2015, falls on 11 February and aims to promote equal access to science education and careers for women and girls globally. The day highlights the achievements of female scientists and addresses the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. By recognising the contributions of women in science, the day seeks to inspire the next generation of female researchers and innovators.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information for any date and location, including historical events, weather conditions, notable births and deaths, and astrological data. The platform enables users to explore what happened on specific dates throughout history whilst understanding the conditions and context of those moments.
Explore everything about today 8th June.
Every knot in a rope recalls a choice.
Fortune of the Day
12th February in the Stars – Star Sign Aquarius
Personality Profile
Personality Those born on 12 February blend Aquarius innovation with Mercury's intellectual sharpness. They think in systems, communicate with precision, and spot future possibilities where others see limitations. Their eccentricity feels genuine because it flows naturally.
Strengths & Weaknesses Strengths: analytical, inventive, socially conscious, and adaptable. Weaknesses: can seem emotionally detached, occasionally dogmatic about beliefs, and jump between projects impulsively. Balancing intellect with intuition is their growth area.
Love These people crave mental stimulation and freedom in relationships. Deep conversations and shared visions matter more than traditional romance. A partner respecting their independence while matching their intellect genuinely wins them over.
Caree & Finance Ideal paths: technology, science, social work, design. Their ability to decode complex systems makes them valuable. Financially, they should curb impulse spending and build long-term strategies.
Health These natives thrive on mental challenge, not routine. Movement through innovation—dance, martial arts—motivates better than standard exercise. Calming nervous energy through meditation or creative outlets is essential.
That night, the moon was in its first quarter phase.
Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).
Fun Facts About 12th February
Name Days in Your Language: Abra, Abraham, Abram, Bram, Darwin, Ibrahim
Someone born on this day would be just 116 days old today — roughly 2,804 hours, 168,299 minutes, or 10,097,954 seconds spent on Earth so far.
It's the 43. day of the year. In 2026, 12th February falls on a Thursday.
There are 322 days still to come.
We’re currently in Week 7 — the year marches on.
Famous Birthdays on 11th February
On this day, 207 notable people were born on 11th February — spanning from 41 to 2001. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
12/02/2001
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Georgian footballer
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Georgia national team. Regarded as one of the best players in the world and as the greatest Georgian player of all time, he is known for his dribbling, agility, and playmaking.
12/02/2000
Kim Ji-min, South Korean actress
Kim Ji-min is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her roles in Goddess of Fire (2013) and Pluto Secret Society (2014). Since January 2020, she is part of SM C&C.
12/02/1994
Kemal Bilmez, Belgian politician
Kemal Bilmez is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of the Workers' Party of Belgium, he has represented Flemish Brabant since June 2024.
Arman Hall, American sprinter
Arman "Gino" Hall is an American sprinter specializing in the 400 m. He is a World and Olympic gold medalist as a member of USA's 2014 and 2016 4 × 400 m relay teams.
Paxton Lynch, American football player
Paxton James Lynch is an American professional football quarterback for the Colorado Spartans of the National Arena League (NAL). He played college football for the Memphis Tigers, and was selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. Lynch played just two seasons in Denver and made four starts before being released prior to the 2018 season. Lynch was also a member of the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL), and the Orlando Guardians and San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL.
12/02/1993
Bud Dupree, American football player
Alvin "Bud" Dupree Jr. is an American professional football linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, and was selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has also played for the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons.
Rafinha, Brazilian footballer
Rafael Alcântara do Nascimento, commonly known as Rafinha, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Jennifer Stone, American actress
Jennifer Stone is an American podcaster, social media personality, nurse, and actress. As a child actor, she became known for playing Harper Finkle on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). She also had roles in the comedy films Secondhand Lions (2003) and Mean Girls 2 (2011).
12/02/1992
Magda Linette, Polish tennis player
Magda Linette is a Polish professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19, achieved in March 2023. She has reached eight finals on the WTA Tour, winning three titles, and the semifinals of the 2023 Australian Open, and the third round of the other majors.
12/02/1991
Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
Patrick Herrmann is a German former professional footballer who played as a right winger.
Kane Richardson, Australian cricketer
Kane William Richardson is a former Australian international cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Queensland and played in the Big Bash League for the Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Renegades, and Sydney Sixers.
12/02/1990
Katherine Barrell, Canadian actress, director, writer, and producer
Katherine Barrell is a Canadian actress, writer, producer, and director. She is best known for her role as Sheriff Nicole Haught in the Syfy supernatural weird West television series Wynonna Earp. In 2020, she joined the cast of the fantasy comedy-drama television series Good Witch as Joy Harper.
Robert Griffin III, American football player
Robert Lee Griffin III, nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Baylor Bears, winning the Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected second overall by the Redskins in the 2012 NFL draft.
12/02/1989
Josh Harrellson, American basketball player
Josh Douglas Harrellson is an American professional basketball player for Saga Ballooners of the Japanese B.League. Standing 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), he played center for the Kentucky Wildcats from 2008 to 2011. He was selected by the New Orleans Hornets as the 45th pick in the 2011 NBA draft, but was traded to the New York Knicks. He signed with the Miami Heat in 2012. In 2013, he joined the Brujos de Guayama in Puerto Rico, but he was released on May 18 so that he could join Chongqing Flying Dragons in the Chinese National Basketball League for a two-month period. In August 2013, Harrellson joined the Detroit Pistons.
12/02/1988
DeMarco Murray, American football player
DeMarco Murray is an American football coach and former professional player who is currently the running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). A running back in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, Murray was a three-time Pro Bowl selection, one-time first-team All-Pro, and NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2014 after leading the NFL in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer
Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Benfica, which he captains, and the Argentina national team. He will formally join AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol club River Plate in July 2026.
Josh Phegley, American baseball player
Joshua Aaron Phegley is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs.
Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
Michael Robert Henrion Posner is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, poet, and record producer from Detroit. He signed with J Records in 2009 and released his debut single "Cooler Than Me" the following year. The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and received septuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His follow-up single, "Please Don't Go" peaked within the top 20 of the chart and received triple platinum certification; both songs preceded the release of his debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff (2010), which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200 and received mixed critical reception. In 2014, Posner parted ways with J Records in favor of Island Records.
12/02/1987
Jérémy Chardy, French tennis player
Jérémy Chardy is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Australian Open, and in doubles was reaching the final at the 2019 French Open partnering Fabrice Martin. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25 on 28 January 2013 and No. 24 on 3 February 2020 in doubles.
Gabriela Mărginean, Romanian basketball player
Gabriela Mărginean is a Romanian professional women's basketball player who plays for the Turkey club İzmit Belediyespor.
12/02/1986
Todd Frazier, American baseball player
Todd Brian Frazier, nicknamed "the Toddfather", is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and Pittsburgh Pirates from 2011 to 2021. Frazier was an MLB All-Star in 2014 and 2015.
12/02/1985
Konstantin Pushkaryov, Kazakhstani ice hockey player
Konstantin Vladimirovich Pushkaryov is a Kazakhstani former ice hockey winger. He played 17 games in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. Most of his career, which lasted from 2001 to 2020, was spent with Barys Astana in the Kontinental Hockey League. Internationally, Puskharyov played for the Kazakhstani national team at multiple World Championships. In May 2022, he became a Parimatch expert.
12/02/1984
Brad Keselowski, American race car driver
Bradley Aaron Keselowski is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, a team he also co-owns. He was the owner of Brad Keselowski Racing, which fielded two full-time trucks in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for 10 years.
Andrei Sidorenkov, Estonian footballer
Andrei Sidorenkov is an Estonian former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
Peter William Vanderkaay is an American former competition swimmer and four-time Olympic medalist who competed for the University of Michigan who specialized in middle and long distance freestyle events. He was a member of the United States Olympic team in 2004, 2008, and 2012, and won gold medals in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won bronze medals in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 400-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
12/02/1983
Carlton Brewster, American football player and coach
Carlton Brewster is a former National Football League (NFL) wide receiver. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Ferris State University.
12/02/1982
Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
Jonas Hiller is a Swiss former professional ice hockey goaltender. Hiller played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks and the Calgary Flames. He began his NHL career with the Ducks in 2007 after going undrafted in any NHL entry draft. Hiller also played in the National League (NL) for HC Davos and EHC Biel.
Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
Louis Tsatoumas is a Greek long jumper.
Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand rugby player
Anthony Tuitavake is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He plays as a centre or on the wing. Tuitavake, of Tongan descent, is a fast attacking centre.
12/02/1981
Wade McKinnon, Australian rugby league player
Wade McKinnon is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. His position of preference was as a fullback.
12/02/1980
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a total of eight weeks. Ferrero won 16 singles titles on the ATP Tour, including the 2003 French Open and four Masters events. He was also runner-up at the 2002 French Open and 2003 US Open. He was nicknamed el Mosquito for his speed and slender physical build. Ferrero retired as a professional player in 2012.
Sarah Lancaster, American actress
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress and director. She is known for her long-running roles as Rachel Meyers in the series Saved by the Bell: The New Class and Ellie Bartowski in the comedy-spy series Chuck, as well as playing Chloe Grefe in Lovers Lane, Madison Kellner on Everwood, and Marjorie in the television drama What About Brian. In 2020, Lancaster starred as Elli Wise in the television film Blue Ridge, later reprising the role in the family crime drama series Blue Ridge (2024), which premiered on INSP and was later released on Amazon Prime Video.
Gucci Mane, American rapper
Radric Delantic Davis, known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and music executive. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip-hop subgenre trap music for mainstream audiences during the 2000s. His debut studio album, Trap House (2005), was released by the independent label Big Cat Records and entered the Billboard 200; it was followed by Hard to Kill (2006), which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entry with its single "Freaky Gurl". That same year, he released his third album, Trap-A-Thon, before signing with Atlantic Records to release his fourth album, Back to the Trap House (2007).
Christina Ricci, American actress and producer
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci works mostly in independent productions, but she has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
12/02/1979
Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and violinist
Jesse Gordon Spencer is an Australian actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Billy Kennedy on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, for which he was nominated for two Logie Awards, Dr. Robert Chase on the American medical drama House (2004–2012) and Captain Matthew Casey on the American drama Chicago Fire (2012–2024).
12/02/1978
Paul Anderson, English actor
Paul Anderson is an English film and television actor whose career took off after portraying Arthur Shelby Jr. in Peaky Blinders. This led his talents to be recognized worldwide and land him roles such as Mr. Anderson in the 2015 film The Revenant and Sebastian Moran in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Anderson has worked alongside multiple acclaimed leading actors, including Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Chris Hemsworth.
12/02/1977
Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player and manager
James Paul Conrad is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. During his 13-year MLS career, he was four-time MLS Best XI and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also earned 27 caps with the United States men's national soccer team and went to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
12/02/1976
Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby player
Christian Mathias Cullen is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand, for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and later Munster at provincial level. He was nicknamed the Paekakariki Express and was considered to be one of the most potent running fullbacks rugby has ever seen. With 46 tries scored in 58 tests, Cullen is the equal-11th-highest try-scorer in international rugby.
12/02/1975
Scot Pollard, American basketball player and actor
Scot L. Pollard is an American former professional basketball player. In an 11-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career, he played for five teams, spending the bulk of his career with the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers.
12/02/1974
Naseem Hamed, English boxer
Naseem "Naz" Hamed, nicknamed Prince Naseem, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002. He held multiple featherweight world championships between 1995 and 2000, and reigned as lineal champion from 1998 to 2001. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The Ring magazine awarded Hamed an honorary featherweight title in 2019 to acknowledge his dominance of the division and the multiple champions he defeated; he is the only former world champion in any division thus far to receive this honour.
12/02/1973
Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
Gianni Petrus Cornelis Romme is a Dutch marathoner and a former long track speed skater. He won two gold medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and was the World all-round champion in 2000 and 2003. Romme has been a coach since the 2006–07 speed skating season.
Tara Strong, Canadian-American voice actress and singer
Tara Lyn Strong is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as The Powerpuff Girls, The Fairly OddParents, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, Ben 10, Drawn Together, The New Batman Adventures, Rugrats, The Proud Family, Chowder, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Unikitty!, and DC Super Hero Girls. She has also voiced characters in the video games Mortal Kombat X, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Blue Dragon, and Batman: Arkham. Strong's work on Final Fantasy X-2 earned her an award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Because of her massive contributions to animated works along with her ability to adapt to voice acting roles, she, like other voice actresses such as June Foray, has been given the nickname "The Woman of A Thousand Voices".
12/02/1972
Owen Nolan, Northern Irish-Canadian ice hockey player
Owen Liam Nolan is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL entry draft. During his 18-year NHL career, he played for the Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, as well as playing a season with the ZSC Lions of National League A. Born in Belfast, he was raised in Thorold, Ontario and played for Canada internationally. A five-time NHL All-Star, Nolan is widely known as a power forward.
12/02/1971
Scott Menville, American voice actor, singer, actor and musician
Scott David Menville is an American actor and musician who is known for his work in animated films, television series and video games. He voices Robin in Cartoon Network's Teen Titans (2003–2006) and Teen Titans Go! (2013–present).
12/02/1970
Jim Creeggan, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician
James Raymond Creeggan is a Canadian musician, best known as the bassist for Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies.
Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer and manager
Bryan Eduard Steven Roy is a Dutch football manager and a former professional player.
Judd Winick, American author and illustrator
Judd Winick is an American cartoonist, comic book writer and screenwriter, as well as a former reality television personality. He first gained fame for his stint on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco in 1994, before finding success as a comic book creator with Pedro and Me, an autobiographical graphic novel about his friendship with The Real World castmate and AIDS educator Pedro Zamora. Winick wrote lengthy runs on DC Comics' Green Lantern and Green Arrow series and created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee animated TV series for Cartoon Network, which ran for three seasons.
12/02/1969
Darren Aronofsky, American director, producer, and screenwriter
Darren Aronofsky is an American filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and the British Academy Film Award. Aronofsky studied film and social anthropology at Harvard University before studying directing at the AFI Conservatory. He won several film awards after completing his senior thesis film, Supermarket Sweep, which became a National Student Academy Award finalist. In 1997, he founded the film and TV production company Protozoa Pictures. His feature film debut, the surrealist psychological thriller Pi (1998), earned him the award for Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (died 2014)
Alemayehu Atomsa was an Ethiopian politician who served as the president of the Oromia Region, the largest of the country's regions, from 2010 until his resignation due to illness in 2014, from which he died in Bangkok, Thailand, on 6 March 2014.
Steve Backley, English javelin thrower
Stephen James Backley, OBE is an English retired track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his 91.46-metre (300.1 ft) throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a firm fixture in the British national athletics team. He won four gold medals at the European Championships, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, two silvers and a bronze at the Olympic Games, and two silvers at the World Championships. Currently, he is an occasional commentator for athletics competitions, especially the field events.
Anneli Drecker, Norwegian singer and actress
Anneli Marian Drecker is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of Tromsø. She is the frontwoman for the dream pop band Bel Canto.
Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer and manager
Hong Myung-bo is a South Korean football manager and former footballer who played as a sweeper. He is currently the manager of the South Korea national team.
12/02/1968
Josh Brolin, American actor
Josh James Brolin is an American actor and producer. A son of actor James Brolin, he gained fame in his youth for his role in the adventure film The Goonies (1985). Brolin had a resurgence with his starring role in the crime film No Country for Old Men (2007). Brolin received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Dan White in the biopic Milk (2008).
Chynna Phillips, American singer and actress
Chynna Gilliam Phillips is an American singer and actress. She is a member of the pop vocal trio Wilson Phillips and is the daughter of the Mamas & the Papas band members John and Michelle Phillips and half-sister of Mackenzie and Bijou Phillips.
Nathan Rees, Australian politician, 41st Premier of New South Wales
Nathan Rees is an Australian former politician who served as the 41st Premier of New South Wales and leader of the New South Wales Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009. Rees was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Toongabbie for Labor from 2007 to 2015.
12/02/1966
Greg Carberry, Australian rugby league player
Greg Carberry is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Carberry played for the Illawarra Steelers and Cronulla Sharks in the NSWRL competition. His position of choice was wing.
Paul Crook, American musician, songwriter, and producer
Paul Crook is an American guitarist known for recording and performing with Meat Loaf. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax, Sebastian Bach and Marya Roxx.
Lochlyn Munro, Canadian actor
Lochlyn Munro is a Canadian actor. His most notable film roles include A Night at the Roxbury (1998), Scary Movie (2000), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), White Chicks (2004), The Predator (2018) and Cosmic Sin (2021). For television, he is perhaps best known for his roles in the Canadian series Northwood, supernatural drama Charmed, teen drama Riverdale, and the DC comics series Peacemaker (2022).
12/02/1965
Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player and manager
Rubén Amaro Jr. is an American former professional baseball outfielder, coach and executive. Amaro played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1991 to 1998. He was named the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies on November 3, 2008, succeeding Pat Gillick and remained in that position until September 10, 2015. He was previously the first base coach for the Boston Red Sox (2016–2017) and New York Mets (2018). He is the son of former MLB infielder and coach, Rubén Amaro Sr. Amaro is currently a color commentator on Philadelphia Phillies television broadcasts and a contributor to the 94.1 WIP Morning Show in Philadelphia. He worked as an analyst for a 2024 AL Wild Card Series on ESPN Radio.
Christine Elise, American actress and producer
Christine Elise McCarthy, professionally known as Christine Elise, is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Emily Valentine in Beverly Hills, 90210 and BH90210, and Kyle in the Child's Play franchise, first appearing in Child's Play 2 (1990) and reprising the role in Cult of Chucky (2017) and the Syfy/USA Network series Chucky (2021–2024).
Brett Kavanaugh, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Brett Michael Kavanaugh is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since October 6, 2018. He was previously a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2006 to 2018.
David Westlake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
David Westlake is an English singer/songwriter. He led indie band The Servants from 1985 to 1991.
12/02/1964
Omar Hakim, American drummer, producer, arranger, and composer
Omar Hakim is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate Bush, George Benson, Miles Davis, Daft Punk, Mariah Carey, the Pussycat Dolls, David Lee Roth, Celine Dion, and Thundercat.
Raphael Sbarge, American actor and director
Raphael Sbarge is an American actor and filmmaker. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Jake Straka in The Guardian (2001–04), Jiminy Cricket / Dr. Archibald Hopper in Once Upon a Time (2011–18) and Inspector David Molk in the TNT series Murder in the First (2014–16). He is also known for voicing Carth Onasi in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), RC-1262 / "Scorch" in Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005) and Kaidan Alenko in the Mass Effect trilogy (2007–12).
12/02/1963
John Michael Higgins, American actor and comedian
John Michael Higgins is an American actor, comedian and game show host whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's The Late Shift, and a starring role in the American version of Kath & Kim. He portrayed Peter Lovett in the TV Land original sitcom Happily Divorced and provided the voice of Iknik Blackstone Varrick in The Legend of Korra and Mini-Max in Big Hero 6: The Series. He also starred in the NBC sitcom Great News as Chuck Pierce for two seasons. From 2018-2022, and 2026-present he hosted the game show America Says, which earned him a 2019 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host. Higgins attended Amherst College, graduating in 1985 and was a member of the a cappella group the Zumbyes. From 2023 to 2024, he hosted the new version of the game show Split Second on Game Show Network.
12/02/1961
David Graeber, American anthropologist and activist (died 2020)
David Rolfe Graeber was an American anthropologist and anarchist social and political activist. His influential work in social and economic anthropology, particularly his books Debt: The First 5,000 Years (2011), The Utopia of Rules (2015), Bullshit Jobs (2018), and The Dawn of Everything (2021), and his leading role in the Occupy movement earned him recognition as one of the foremost anthropologists and left-wing thinkers of his time.
Jim Harris, Canadian environmentalist and politician
James R. M. Harris is a Canadian author, environmentalist, and politician. He was leader of the Green Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006, when he was succeeded by Elizabeth May.
Michel Martelly, Haitian singer and politician, 56th President of Haiti
Michel Joseph Martelly is a Haitian musician and politician who served as the 47th president of Haiti from 2011 until his resignation in 2016. On 20 August 2024, the United States sanctioned him for trafficking drugs, in particular cocaine, into the United States, and for sponsoring several gangs based in Haiti.
12/02/1959
Larry Nance, American basketball player
Larry Donnell Nance Sr. is an American former professional basketball player. A power forward from Clemson University, Nance played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was a three-time NBA All-Star.
12/02/1958
Bobby Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and executive
Robert David Smith is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played for the Minnesota North Stars and Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL). In 184 Stanley Cup playoff games, he recorded 160 points, which is currently the 25th most in league history. He played in four Stanley Cup Finals and won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Canadiens. He was the 32nd player to record 1,000 points in NHL history, doing so on November 30, 1991. Smith was the majority owner of the junior hockey team Halifax Mooseheads from 2003 to February 2023, which won the Memorial Cup once in 2013.
12/02/1956
Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
Arsenio Hall is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted a late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014.
Ad Melkert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016.
Brian Robertson, Scottish musician and songwriter
Brian David Robertson is a Scottish rock guitarist, best known as a former member of Thin Lizzy from 1974 to 1978, and Motörhead from 1982 to 1983, replacing Fast Eddie Clarke.
12/02/1955
Bill Laswell, American musician and producer
William Otis Laswell is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, world music, jazz, dub, and ambient styles.
Chet Lemon, American baseball player and coach
Chester Earl Lemon was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), beginning with the Chicago White Sox in 1975, where he played for six years. He was then traded to the Detroit Tigers, where he played the rest of his career from 1982 to 1990.
12/02/1954
Zach Grenier, American actor
Zach Grenier is an American actor. He is known for his work with director David Fincher, and his roles as Andy Cramed on the television series Deadwood (2004–06) and David Lee on The Good Wife (2010–16) and its spinoff The Good Fight (2020–22). He has also starred in various Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for 33 Variations.
Joseph Jordania, Georgian-Australian musicologist and academic
Joseph Jordania is an Australian–Georgian ethnomusicologist and evolutionary musicologist and professor. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne and the Head of the Foreign Department of the International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony at Tbilisi State Conservatory. Jordania is known for his model of the origins of human choral singing in the wide context of human evolution and was one of founders of the International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony in Georgia.
Tzimis Panousis, Greek comedian, singer, and author (died 2018)
Tzimis Panousis was a Greek musician, stand-up comedian and occasional film and theater actor born in Athens, where he spent most of his life. He is often seen as the modern-day Aristophanes. His fans usually refer to him as “Tzimakos”. His first wife was Lili Achladioti with whom he had a son, Aris. He later married Athina Aidini and they had a daughter, Fotini.
Phil Zimmermann, American cryptographer and programmer
Philip R. Zimmermann is an American computer scientist and cryptographer. He is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the most widely used email encryption software in the world. He is also known for his work in VoIP encryption protocols, notably ZRTP and Zfone. Zimmermann is co-founder and Chief Scientist of the global encrypted communications firm Silent Circle.
12/02/1953
Joanna Kerns, American actress and director
Joanna Kerns is an American actress and director best known for her role as Maggie Seaver on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992.
12/02/1952
Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (died 2010)
Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale was a British actor, film director, writer, and producer from Ely, England. He spent much of his childhood moving around owing to his father's career as an officer with the Royal Air Force. Poor eyesight prevented him from following a similar career in the RAF, so he instead planned to become a theatre director. Training at Studio 68 of Theatre Arts in London, he started work as an actor, making his West End debut in 1974. He went on to appear in numerous roles in television, including the series I, Claudius and Jesus of Nazareth, before starring as Simon Doyle in the film Death on the Nile (1978). This proved to be a breakthrough role. He appeared in a variety of films and TV series including Quatermass (1979), The Riddle of the Sands (1979), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) and Jaws 3-D (1983).
Michael McDonald, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
Michael H. McDonald is an American singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Known for his distinctive, soulful voice, he was a backing vocalist for Steely Dan from 1973 to 1980 and rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the Doobie Brothers across various stints. McDonald wrote and sang several hit singles with the Doobie Brothers, including "What a Fool Believes", "Minute by Minute", "Takin' It to the Streets", "Real Love" and "It Keeps You Runnin'". McDonald has also performed as a prominent backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists including Toto, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins.
12/02/1950
Angelo Branduardi, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Angelo Branduardi is an Italian folk/folk rock singer-songwriter and composer who scored relative success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece.
Steve Hackett, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Stephen Richard Hackett is an English guitarist who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis studio albums, three live albums, seven singles and one EP before he left to pursue a solo career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
Michael Ironside, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
Frederick Reginald Ironside, known professionally as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has also portrayed sympathetic characters. He is best known for his roles in action and science fiction films, and had his breakthrough performance in the 1981 David Cronenberg film Scanners.
12/02/1949
Lenny Randle, American baseball player
Leonard Shenoff Randle was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Seattle Mariners from 1971 to 1982. He also played in the Italian Baseball League. The National Baseball Hall of Fame wrote that "Randle may have seen more memorable moments than any other player of his era."
Gundappa Viswanath, Indian cricketer
Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath is a former Indian cricketer. Vishwanath is rated as one of India's finest batsmen throughout the 1970s. Viswanath played Test cricket for India from 1969 to 1983, making 91 appearances and scoring more than 6,000 runs. He also played in One Day Internationals from 1974 to 1982, including the World Cups of 1975 and 1979.
12/02/1948
Ray Kurzweil, American computer scientist and engineer
Raymond Kurzweil is an American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology and electronic keyboard instruments. He has written books on health technology, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism. Kurzweil is an advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements and gives public talks to share his optimistic outlook on life extension technologies and the future of nanotechnology, robotics, and biotechnology.
Nicholas Soames, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for Crawley from 1983 to 1997.
12/02/1946
Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician, Prime Minister of Gabon
Jean Eyeghé Ndong is a Gabonese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Gabon from January 20, 2006 to July 17, 2009. He was also the First Vice-president of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) until 2009.
Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
Ayşe Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, which feature strong female figures. By keeping with the times and being influenced by Western elements, she managed to become one of Turkey's modern and enduring icons for over 50 years. Pekkan is highly respected in the music industry and has received praise from critics for both her vocal technique and her albums.
12/02/1945
Maud Adams, Swedish model and actress
Maud Solveig Christina Adams is a Swedish actress and model, best known for her roles as two different Bond girls, first in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and then as the title character in Octopussy (1983).
David D. Friedman, American economist, physicist, and scholar
David Director Friedman is an American economist, physicist, and legal scholar. He is known for his textbook writings on microeconomics and the libertarian theory of anarcho-capitalism, which is the subject of his most popular book, The Machinery of Freedom. Described by Walter Block as a "free-market anarchist" theorist, Friedman has also authored several other books and articles, including Price Theory: An Intermediate Text (1986), Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters (2000), Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life (1996), and Future Imperfect (2008).
12/02/1942
Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel
Ehud Barak is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party between 1997 and 2001 and between 2007 and 2011. He was also Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2013.
Terry Bisson, American science fiction and fantasy author (died 2024)
Terry Ballantine Bisson was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire", which won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and "They're Made Out of Meat".
Pat Dobson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2006)
Patrick Edward Dobson, Jr. was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers (1967–69), San Diego Padres (1970), Baltimore Orioles (1971–72), Atlanta Braves (1973), New York Yankees (1973–75) and Cleveland Indians (1976–77). He was best known for being one of four Orioles pitchers to win 20 games in their 1971 season.
12/02/1941
Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (died 2013)
José Domingos de Morais, better known as Dominguinhos, was a Brazilian composer, accordionist and singer. His principal musical influences were the music of Luiz Gonzaga, Forró and in general the music of the Sertão in the Brazilian Northeast. He further developed this typical Brazilian musical style, born out of the European, African and Indian influences in north-eastern Brazil, creating a unique style of Brazilian Popular Music.
Naomi Uemura, Japanese mountaineer and explorer (died 1984)
Naomi Uemura was a Japanese adventurer who was known particularly for his solo exploits. For example, he was the first person to reach the North Pole solo, the first person to raft the Amazon River solo, and the first person to climb Denali solo.
12/02/1939
Leon Kass, American physician, scientist, and educator
Leon Richard Kass is an American physician, biochemist, educator, and public intellectual. Kass is best known as a proponent of liberal arts education via the "Great Books," as a critic of human cloning, life extension, euthanasia and embryo research, and for his tenure as chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2005. Although Kass is often referred to as a bioethicist, he eschews the term and refers to himself as "an old-fashioned humanist. A humanist is concerned broadly with all aspects of human life, not just the ethical."
Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (died 2013)
Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. was an American keyboardist, vocalist, and music producer. He is best known as a member of the rock band the Doors, co-founding the group in 1965 with fellow UCLA Film School graduate Jim Morrison. Manzarek is credited for his innovative playing and abilities on organ-style keyboard instruments.
12/02/1938
Judy Blume, American author and educator
Judith Marcia Blume is an American writer of children's, young adult, and adult fiction. She began writing in 1959 and has published more than 26 novels. Among her best-known works are Superfudge (1980), Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (1970), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Deenie (1973), Blubber (1974) and Double Fudge (2002). Blume's books have significantly contributed to children's and young adult literature. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.
12/02/1936
Joe Don Baker, American actor (died 2025)
Joe Don Baker was an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" characters on both sides of the law. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles in the Westerns Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Wild Rovers (1971), before his breakthrough role as real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the film Walking Tall (1973).
Alan Ebringer, Australian immunologist
Alan Martin Ebringer is an Australian immunologist, professor at King's College London. He is also an Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist in the Middlesex Hospital, now part of the UCH School of Medicine. He is known for his research in the field of autoimmune disease.
12/02/1935
Gene McDaniels, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2011)
Eugene Booker McDaniels was an American singer, producer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" and number five with "Tower of Strength", both hits in 1961. He had continued success as a songwriter with "Compared to What".
12/02/1934
Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress
Annette Crosbie is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her role as Margaret Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000). She twice won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1971 and in 1976 for Edward the Seventh.
Anne Osborn Krueger, American economist and academic
Anne Osborn Krueger is an American economist. She was the World Bank Chief Economist from 1982 to 1986, and the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2001 to 2006. She is currently the senior research professor of international economics at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. She also is a senior fellow of Center for International Development and the Herald L. and Caroline Ritch Emeritus Professor of Sciences and Humanities' Economics Department at Stanford University.
Bill Russell, American basketball player and coach (died 2022)
William Felton Russell was an American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that played for 12 NBA championships and won 11 during his 13-year career. Russell is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
12/02/1933
Ivan Anikeyev, Soviet cosmonaut (died 1992)
Ivan Nikolayevich Anikeyev was a Soviet cosmonaut who was dismissed from the Soviet space program for disciplinary reasons.
Costa-Gavras, Greek-French director and producer
Konstantínos "Kostas" Gavrás, known professionally as Costa-Gavras, is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for political films, such as the political thriller Z (1969), which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Missing (1982), for which he won the Palme d'Or and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Most of his films have been made in French, but six have been in English, including Hanna K.
12/02/1932
Axel Jensen, Norwegian author and poet (died 2003)
Axel Buchardt Jensen was a Norwegian author. From 1957 until 2002, he published both fiction and non-fiction texts which include novels, poems, essays, a biography, and manuscripts for cartoons and animated films.
Julian Simon, American economist, author, and academic (died 1998)
Julian Lincoln Simon was an American economist. He was a professor of economics and business administration at the University of Illinois from 1963 to 1983 before later moving to the University of Maryland, where he taught for the remainder of his academic career.
12/02/1931
Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch-American author and translator (died 2008)
Jan Willem Lincoln van de Wetering was the author of a number of works in English and Dutch.
12/02/1930
John Doyle, Irish hurler and politician (died 2010)
John Doyle was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-back at senior level for the Tipperary county team.
Arlen Specter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (died 2012)
Arlen Specter was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from 1965 until 2009, when he switched back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he was the longest-serving senator from Pennsylvania, having represented the state for 30 years.
12/02/1928
Vincent Montana, Jr., American drummer and composer (died 2013)
Vincent Montana Jr., known as Vince Montana, was an American composer, arranger, vibraphonist, and percussionist. He is best known as a member of MFSB and as the founder of the Salsoul Orchestra. He has been called "the Godfather of disco". Montana was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016.
12/02/1926
Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (died 2014)
Rolf Brem was a Swiss sculptor, illustrator and graphic artist. He worked in Meggen close to Lake Lucerne.
Joe Garagiola, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2016)
Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. was an American professional baseball catcher, and later a radio and television personality with a varied career.
Charles Van Doren, American academic (died 2019)
Charles Lincoln Van Doren was an American writer and editor who was involved in a television quiz show scandal in the 1950s. In 1959, he testified before the United States Congress that he had been given the correct answers by the producers of the NBC quiz show Twenty-One. Terminated by NBC, he joined Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1959, becoming a vice-president and writing and editing many books before retiring in 1982.
12/02/1925
Anthony Berry, English politician (died 1984)
Sir Anthony George Berry was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate and a Whip in Margaret Thatcher's government.
Joan Mitchell, American-French painter (died 1992)
Joan Mitchell was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artists in the 1950s. A native of Chicago, she is associated with the American abstract expressionist movement, even though she lived in France for much of her career.
12/02/1923
Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director, producer, and politician (died 2019)
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post–World War II era, gaining both acclaim and notoriety for his lavish stagings of classical works, as well as his film adaptations of the same.
12/02/1922
Hussein Onn, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia (died 1990)
Hussein bin Onn was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Malaysia from 1976 to 1981.
12/02/1920
Raymond Mhlaba, South African anti-apartheid and ANC activist (died 2005)
Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba OMSG was an anti-apartheid activist, Communist and leader of the African National Congress (ANC) who became the first premier of the Eastern Cape. Mhlaba spent 25 years of his life in prison. Well-known for being sentenced with Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and others in the Rivonia Trial, he was an active member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) all his adult life. His kindly manner brought him the nickname "Oom Ray”.
12/02/1919
Forrest Tucker, American actor (died 1986)
Forrest Meredith Tucker was an American actor in movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked in vaudeville as a straight man at the age of fifteen. While he was on a trip to California, party hostess Cobina Wright persuaded guest Wesley Ruggles to give Tucker a screen test because of Tucker's photogenic good looks, thick wavy hair and height of six feet, five inches.
12/02/1918
Norman Farberow, American psychologist and academic (died 2015)
Norman Louis Farberow was an American psychologist, and one of the founding fathers of modern suicidology. He was among the three founders in 1958 of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center, which became a base of research into the causes and prevention of suicide.
Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994)
Julian Seymour Schwinger was an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics (QED), with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles". He developed a relativistically invariant perturbation theory, and renormalized QED to one loop order. Schwinger was a physics professor at several universities.
12/02/1917
Al Cervi, American basketball player and coach (died 2009)
Alfred Nicholas Cervi was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball League (NBL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s, he was always assigned to defend against the opposing team's best scoring threat. He earned the nickname "Digger" because of his hard-nosed style of defense. He won the National Basketball League championship in 1946 with the Rochester Royals while being an All-NBL First Team in three straight seasons. He stayed with the NBL with the Syracuse Nationals in 1948, where he became player-coach that same year, which was the last one prior to joining the NBA. In that first year in the NBA, the Nationals won 51 games and reached the Finals, where they lost to the Minneapolis Lakers in six games. Cervi led the team back to the Finals in 1954 and 1955, which each saw the Nationals play in a Game 7; denied in 1954 to Minneapolis, the Nationals won Game 7 in 1955 for their first NBA championship. After twelve games in 1956, Cervi was fired from the Nationals, having coached them to eight postseason appearances in nine seasons. He coached one season with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1958 but elected to leave coaching for more lucrative ventures. Cervi was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (died 2009)
Dominic Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "the Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio was the youngest of three brothers who each became major league center fielders, the others being Joe and Vince.
12/02/1916
Joseph Alioto, American lawyer and politician, 36th Mayor of San Francisco (died 1998)
Joseph Lawrence Alioto was an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976.
12/02/1915
Lorne Greene, Canadian-American actor (died 1987)
Lorne Hyman Greene was a Canadian actor, singer, and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western Bonanza and Commander Adama in the original science-fiction television series Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980. He also worked on the Canadian television nature documentary series Lorne Greene's New Wilderness and in television commercials.
Olivia Hooker, American sailor (died 2018)
Olivia Juliette Hooker was an American psychologist and professor. She was a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, and the first African-American woman to enter the U.S. Coast Guard. During World War II, she became a member of the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, earning the rank of Yeoman Third Class during her service. She served in the Coast Guard until her unit was disbanded in mid-1946. Hooker then used her G.I. Bill to obtain her master's degree in psychological services and went on earn her PhD in clinical psychology. In 1973, she helped form the American Psychological Association's Division 33: IDD/ASD, which is dedicated to "advancing psychological research, professional education, and clinical services that increase quality of life in individuals with IDD/ASD across the life course."
12/02/1914
Tex Beneke, American singer, saxophonist, and bandleader (died 2000)
Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gormé, Henry Mancini, and Ronnie Deauville. Beneke also solos on the recording the Glenn Miller Orchestra made of their popular song "In the Mood" and sings on another popular Glenn Miller recording, "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Jazz critic Will Friedwald considers Beneke to be one of the major blues singers who sang with the big bands of the early 1940s.
Hanna Neumann, German-Canadian mathematician (died 1971)
Johanna (Hanna) Neumann was a German-born mathematician who worked on group theory.
12/02/1912
R. F. Delderfield, English author and playwright (died 1972)
Ronald Frederick Delderfield was an English novelist and dramatist, some of whose works have been adapted for television and film.
12/02/1911
Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (died 1994)
Charles Mathiesen was a speed skater who was active from 1930 to 1948.
12/02/1909
Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (died 2005)
Zoran Mušič, baptised as Anton Zoran Musič, was a Slovene painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He was the only painter of Slovene descent who managed to establish himself in the elite cultural circles of Italy and France, particularly Paris in the second half of the 20th century, where he lived for most of his later life. He painted landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, as well as scenes of horror from the Dachau concentration camp and vedute of Venice.
Sigmund Rascher, German physician (died 1945)
Sigmund Rascher was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) doctor. He conducted deadly experiments on humans pertaining to high altitude, freezing and blood coagulation under the patronage of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, to whom his wife Karoline "Nini" Diehl had direct connections. When police investigations uncovered that the couple had defrauded the public with their supernatural fertility by 'hiring' and kidnapping babies, she and Rascher were arrested in April 1944. He was accused of financial irregularities, murder of his former lab assistant, and scientific fraud, and brought to Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps before being executed. After his death, the Nuremberg trials judged his experiments as inhumane and criminal.
12/02/1908
Jean Effel, French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist (died 1982)
Jean Effel, real name François Lejeune, was a French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist. Mostly he considered himself to be a journalist and political commentator. His pseudonym is created by his initials F. L.
Jacques Herbrand, French mathematician and philosopher (died 1931)
Jacques Herbrand was a French mathematician. Although he died at age 23, he was already considered one of "the greatest mathematicians of the younger generation" by his professors Helmut Hasse and Richard Courant.
12/02/1907
Joseph Kearns, American actor (died 1962)
Joseph Sherrard Kearns was an American actor, who is best remembered for his role as George Wilson on the CBS television series Dennis the Menace from 1959 until his death in 1962. He was also a prolific radio actor, and provided the voice of the Doorknob in the 1951 animated Disney film, Alice in Wonderland.
12/02/1904
Ted Mack, American radio and television host (died 1976)
William Edward Maguiness was an American radio and television host and musician, best known for hosting Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour.
12/02/1903
Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (died 1980)
Jorge Alfredo Basadre Grohmann was a Peruvian historian known for his extensive publications about the independent history of his country. He served during two different administrations as Minister of Education and was also director of the Peruvian National Library.
Chick Hafey, American baseball player and manager (died 1973)
Charles James "Chick" Hafey was an American player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (1924–1931) and Cincinnati Reds, Hafey was a strong line-drive hitter who batted for a high average on a consistent basis.
12/02/1902
William Collier, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 1987)
William Collier Jr. was an American stage performer, producer, and a film actor who in the silent and sound eras was cast in no fewer than 89 motion pictures.
12/02/1900
Roger J. Traynor, American lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of California (died 1983)
Roger John Traynor was an American lawyer who served as Chief Justice of California from 1964 to 1970 and was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1940 to 1964. Traynor had served as a deputy attorney general of California under Earl Warren, and an acting dean and professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law.
12/02/1898
Wallace Ford, English-American actor and singer (died 1966)
Wallace Ford was an English–American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-faced demeanor with a small but powerful, stocky physique.
12/02/1897
Charles Groves Wright Anderson, South African-Australian colonel and politician (died 1988)
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Groves Wright Anderson was a South African-born Australian soldier, farmer, and politician. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross and a member of the Australian House of Representatives.
Lincoln LaPaz, American astronomer and academic (died 1985)
Lincoln LaPaz was an American astronomer from the University of New Mexico and a pioneer in the study of meteors.
12/02/1895
Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (died 1984)
Kristian Djurhuus was a Faroese politician. He was a member of the Union Party.
12/02/1893
Omar Bradley, American general (died 1981)
Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. He was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and oversaw the U.S. military's policy-making in the Korean War.
12/02/1889
Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk, lawyer, and judge (died 1999)
Samdach Vira Dharmawara Bellong Mahathera, also known simply as Bhante Dharmawara, was a Cambodian-born Theravada monk and teacher who died at the age of 110.
12/02/1885
James Scott, American composer (died 1938)
James Sylvester Scott was an American ragtime composer and pianist. He is regarded as one of the "Big Three" composers of classical ragtime along with Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb.
Julius Streicher, German publisher, founded Der Stürmer (died 1946)
Julius Sebastian Streicher was a German publicist, politician, and convicted war criminal. A member of the Nazi Party, he served as the Gauleiter of Franconia and a member of the Reichstag, the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virulently antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine. The publishing firm was financially very successful and made Streicher a multimillionaire.
12/02/1884
Max Beckmann, German painter and sculptor (died 1950)
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 1920s, he was associated with the New Objectivity, an outgrowth of Expressionism that opposed its introverted emotionalism. Even when dealing with light subject matter like circus performers, Beckmann often had an undercurrent of moodiness or unease in his works. By the 1930s, his work became more explicit in its horrifying imagery and distorted forms with combination of brutal realism and social criticism, coinciding with the rise of Nazism in Germany.
Johan Laidoner, Estonian-Russian general (died 1953)
Johan Laidoner was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Estonian politics between the world wars.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth, American author (died 1980)
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Longworth led an unconventional and controversial life. Her marriage to Representative Nicholas Longworth III, a Republican Party leader and the 38th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was shaky, and her only child, Paulina, was from her affair with Senator William Borah.
Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (died 1957)
Mariya Ivanovna Vassilieva, gallicised and known in Western sources as Marie Vassilieff, was a Russian-born painter and set designer active in Paris.
12/02/1882
Walter Nash, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1968)
Sir Walter Nash was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, having been associated with the New Zealand Labour Party since its creation.
12/02/1881
Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina and actress (died 1931)
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating the role of The Dying Swan and, with her own company, being the first ballerina to tour the world, including South America, India, Mexico and Australia.
12/02/1880
George Preca, Maltese priest and saint (died 1962)
George Franco Preca, T.OCarm was a Maltese Catholic priest, the founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine and a Third Order Carmelite. Pope John Paul II dubbed him "Malta’s second father in faith".
John L. Lewis, American miner and union leader (died 1969)
John Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as the ninth president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960 and the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which organized millions of industrial workers during the Great Depression, from 1935 to 1940. Lewis was a major figure in the history of coal mining and the American labor movement; his supporters credited him with high wages, pensions, and medical benefits in the mining industry. Throughout his career in the public eye, Lewis was frequently caricatured and came to represent the broader American labor movement.
12/02/1877
Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded Renault (died 1944)
Louis Renault was a French industrialist, one of the founders of Renault, and a pioneer of the automobile industry.
12/02/1876
13th Dalai Lama (died 1933)
The 13th Dalai Lama was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet enthroned during a turbulent modern era. He presided during the collapse of the Qing dynasty, and is referred to as "the Great Thirteenth", responsible for redeclaring Tibet's national independence, and for his national reform and modernization initiatives.
12/02/1870
Marie Lloyd, English actress and singer (died 1922)
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood, professionally known as Marie Lloyd, was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as "The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery", "Don't Dilly Dally on the Way" and "Oh Mr Porter What Shall I Do". She received both criticism and praise for her use of innuendo and double entendre during her performances, but enjoyed a long and prosperous career, during which she was affectionately called the "Queen of the Music Hall".
12/02/1869
Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (died 1884)
Kiến Phúc was a child emperor of Vietnam, who reigned for less than 8 months, 1883–1884, as the 7th emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty.
12/02/1866
Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (died 1938)
Lev Isaakovich Shestov, born Yeguda Lev Shvartsman, was a Russian existentialist and religious philosopher. He is best known for his critiques of both philosophical rationalism and positivism. His work advocated a movement beyond reason and metaphysics, arguing that these are incapable of conclusively establishing truth about ultimate problems, including the nature of God or existence. Contemporary scholars have associated his work with the label "anti-philosophy."
12/02/1861
Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (died 1937)
Lou Andreas-Salomé was a Russian-born psychoanalyst and a well-traveled author, narrator, and essayist from a French Huguenot-German family. Her diverse intellectual interests led to friendships with a broad array of distinguished thinkers, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Paul Rée, and Rainer Maria Rilke.
12/02/1857
Eugène Atget, French photographer (died 1927)
Eugène Atget was a French flâneur and a pioneer of documentary photography, determined to document all of the architecture and street scenes of Paris before their disappearance to modernization. Most of his photographs were first published by Berenice Abbott after his death. Though he sold his work to artists and craftspeople, and became an inspiration for the surrealists, he did not live to see the wide acclaim his work would eventually receive.
Bobby Peel, English cricketer and coach (died 1943)
Robert Peel was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman who played in the middle order. Between 1884 and 1896, he was regularly selected to represent England, playing 20 Test matches in which he took 101 wickets. Over the course of his career, he scored 12,191 runs and took 1,775 wickets in first-class cricket. A match-winning bowler, particularly when conditions favoured his style, Peel generally opened the attack, an orthodox tactic for a spinner at the time, and was highly regarded by critics.
12/02/1837
Thomas Moran, British-American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School (died 1926)
Thomas Moran was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth, took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist. He was a younger brother of the noted marine artist Edward Moran, with whom he shared a studio.
12/02/1828
George Meredith, English novelist and poet (died 1909)
George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first, his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but Meredith gradually established a reputation as a novelist. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) briefly scandalised Victorian literary circles. Of his later novels, the most enduring is The Egoist (1879), though in his lifetime his greatest success was Diana of the Crossways (1885). His novels were innovative in their attention to characters' psychology, and also portrayed social change. His style, in both poetry and prose, was noted for its syntactic complexity; Oscar Wilde likened it to "chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning". Meredith was an encourager of other novelists, as well as an influence on them; among those to benefit were Robert Louis Stevenson and George Gissing. Meredith was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.
12/02/1824
Dayananda Saraswati, Indian monk and philosopher, founded Arya Samaj (died 1883)
Dayananda Saraswati born Mool Shankar Tiwari, was a Hindu philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism. His book Satyarth Prakash has remained one of the influential texts on the philosophy of the Vedas and clarifications of various ideas and duties of human beings. He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak. Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic religion. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, addressed him one of the "makers of Modern India", as did Sri Aurobindo.
12/02/1819
William Wetmore Story, American sculptor, architect, poet and editor (died 1895)
William Wetmore Story was an American sculptor, art critic, poet, and editor.
12/02/1809
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, geologist, biologist and theorist (died 1882)
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and statesman, 16th President of the United States (died 1865)
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederacy and playing a major role in the abolition of slavery.
12/02/1804
Heinrich Lenz, German-Italian physicist and academic (died 1865)
Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz, usually cited as Emil Lenz or Heinrich Lenz in some countries, was a Russian physicist of Baltic German descent who is most noted for formulating Lenz's law in electrodynamics in 1834.
12/02/1794
Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player and composer (died 1867)
Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov was a Russian chess player, chess composer, and chess writer.
Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician (died 1850)
José Valentín Raimundo Canalizo Bocadillo, was a Mexican general and statesman who served twice as interim president during the Centralist Republic of Mexico and was later made Minister of War during the Mexican American War.
12/02/1791
Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (died 1883)
Peter Cooper was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the Tom Thumb, founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, served as its first president, and stood for election as the Greenback Party's candidate in the 1876 presidential election.
12/02/1788
Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (died 1869)
Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Reichenbach, known as Carl Reichenbach, was a German chemist, geologist, metallurgist, naturalist, industrialist and philosopher, and a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He is best known for his discoveries of several chemical products of economic importance, extracted from tar, such as eupione, waxy paraffin, pittacal and phenol. He also dedicated his last years to researching an unproved field of energy combining electricity, magnetism and heat, emanating from all living things, which he called the Odic force.
12/02/1787
Norbert Provencher, Canadian bishop and missionary (died 1853)
Joseph-Norbert Provencher was a Canadian clergyman and missionary and one of the founders of the modern province of Manitoba. He was the first Bishop of Saint Boniface and was an important figure in the history of the Franco-Manitoban community.
12/02/1785
Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist and chemist (died 1838)
Pierre Louis Dulong FRS FRSE was a French physicist and chemist. He is remembered today largely for the law of Dulong and Petit, although he was much-lauded by his contemporaries for his studies into the elasticity of steam, conduction of heat, and specific heats of gases. He worked most extensively on the specific heat capacity and the expansion and refractive indices of gases. His collaboration with Alexis Thérèse Petit led to the discovery of the Dulong–Petit law on heat capacity.
12/02/1777
Bernard Courtois, French chemist and academic (died 1838)
Bernard Courtois, also spelled Barnard Courtois, was a French chemist credited with first isolating iodine, making early photography possible.
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German author and poet (died 1843)
Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué was a German writer of the Romantic style.
12/02/1775
Louisa Adams, 6th First Lady of the United States (died 1852)
Louisa Catherine Adams was the first lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of her husband John Quincy Adams. She was born in England and raised in France. Her father was an influential American merchant, and she was regularly introduced to prominent Americans. After her family returned to England, she met John Quincy Adams in 1795, and the two began a tenuous courtship. They married in 1797 after being engaged for a year, beginning a marriage of disagreements and personality conflicts. She joined her husband on his diplomatic mission to Prussia, where she was popular with the Prussian court. When they returned to the United States, her husband became a senator and she gave birth to three sons. John was appointed minister to the Russian Empire in 1809, and they traveled to the Russian Empire without their two older sons, against Louisa's wishes. Though she was again popular with the court, she detested living in the Russian Empire, especially after the death of her infant daughter in 1812. She lived in the Russian Empire alone for a year while John negotiated the Treaty of Ghent. When he asked her to join him in 1815, she made the dangerous 40-day journey across war-torn Europe.
12/02/1768
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1835)
Francis II and I was the last Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II from 1792 to 1806, and the first Emperor of Austria as Francis I from 1804 to 1835. He was also King of Germany, Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and served as the first president of the German Confederation following its establishment in 1815.
12/02/1761
Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech pianist and composer (died 1812)
Jan Ladislav Dussek was a Czech classical period composer and virtuoso pianist. He was an important representative of Czech music abroad in the second half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Some of his more forward-looking piano works have traits often associated with Romanticism.
12/02/1753
François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, French admiral (died 1798)
Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was a French Navy officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary Wars. He commanded the French fleet in the Mediterranean campaign of 1798 until his death at the Battle of the Nile.
12/02/1728
Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (died 1799)
Étienne-Louis Boullée was a visionary French neoclassical architect whose work greatly influenced contemporary architects.
12/02/1706
Johann Joseph Christian, German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver (died 1777)
Johann Joseph Christian was a German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver. His masterworks are considered to be the choir stalls in Zwiefalten Abbey and Ottobeuren Abbey. He was one of the few sculptors to work with wood, stone and stucco; and remains "the most important and versatile sculptor of the late Baroque period in Swabia."
12/02/1704
Charles Pinot Duclos, French author (died 1772)
Charles Pinot Duclos was a French writer and contributor to the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers.
12/02/1665
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (died 1721)
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius or Camerer was a German botanist and physician.
12/02/1663
Cotton Mather, English-American minister and author (died 1728)
Cotton Mather was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he joined his father Increase Mather as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting House in Boston, then part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he preached for the rest of his life. He has been referred to as the "first American Evangelical".
12/02/1637
Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist and zoologist (died 1680)
Jan Swammerdam was a Dutch biologist and microscopist. His work on insects demonstrated that the various phases during the life of an insect—egg, larva, pupa, and adult—are different forms of the same animal. As part of his anatomical research, he carried out experiments on muscle contraction. In 1658, he was the first to observe and describe red blood cells. He was one of the first people to use the microscope in dissections, and his techniques remained useful for hundreds of years.
12/02/1608
Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (died 1685)
Daniello Bartoli was an Italian Jesuit writer and historiographer, celebrated by the poet Giacomo Leopardi as the "Dante of Italian prose"
12/02/1606
John Winthrop the Younger, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of Connecticut (died 1676)
John Winthrop the Younger, FRS, was an English-born physician, colonial administrator, and alchemist. He was an early governor of the Connecticut Colony who played a large role in the unification of numerous settlements and obtaining a royal charter for the unified colony.
12/02/1584
Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (died 1648)
Caspar Barlaeus was a Flemish polymath and Renaissance humanist, a theologian, poet, and historian.
12/02/1567
Thomas Campion, English composer, poet, and physician (died 1620)
Thomas Campion was an English composer, poet, and physician. He was born in London, educated at Cambridge, and studied law in Gray's Inn. He wrote over a hundred lute songs, masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music. A famous poem by Campion is There Is a Garden in Her Face.
12/02/1540
Wŏn Kyun, Korean general and admiral (died 1597)
Wŏn Kyun was a military commander during the Imjin War. At the time of the Japanese invasion, he was the Naval Commander of Gyeongsang Right Province and led the navy, defeating the Japanese fleet together with Yi Sun-sin (李舜臣), the Naval Commander of Jeolla Left Province, and Yi Eok-gi (李億祺), the Naval Commander of Jeolla Right Province. He later served as Commander of Chungcheong Province, Naval Commander of Jeolla Left Province, and during the second invasion, replaced Yi Sun-sin as Commander-in-Chief of the Three Provinces Navy. However, he suffered a disastrous defeat and was killed in the Battle of Chilcheollyang.
12/02/1480
Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (died 1547)
Frederick II, Duke of Legnica, also known as the Great of Legnica, was a Duke of Legnica from 1488, of Brzeg from 1521. The most notorious of all Legnica Piast rulers, thanks to his excellent financial politics his Duchy was expanded to the Oder River, and he became the founder of the Duchy of Legnica-Wołów-Brzeg.
12/02/1443
Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Italian noble (died 1508)
Giovanni II Bentivoglio was an Italian nobleman who ruled as the de-facto lord of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bologna from 1443, and repeatedly attempted to consolidate their hold of the Signoria of the city.
12/02/1322
John Henry, Margrave of Moravia (died 1375)
John Henry of Luxembourg, a member of the House of Luxembourg, was Count of Tyrol from 1335 to 1341 and Margrave of Moravia from 1349 until his death.
12/02/1218
Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shōgun (died 1256)
Kujō Yoritsune , also known as Fujiwara no Yoritsune , was the fourth shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. His father was kanpaku Kujō Michiie and his grandmother was a niece of Minamoto no Yoritomo. His wife was a granddaughter of Yoritomo and daughter of Minamoto no Yoriie. He was born in the year, month and on the day of the Tiger, and so was given the birth name Mitora.
12/02/1074
Conrad II of Italy (died 1101)
Conrad II of Italy, also known as Conrad (III) (12 February 1074 – 27 July 1101), was the Duke of Lower Lorraine (1076–1087), King of Germany (1087–1098) and King of Italy (1093–1098). He was the second son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and Bertha of Savoy, and their eldest son to reach adulthood, his older brother Henry having been born and died in the same month of August 1071. Conrad's rule in Lorraine and Germany was nominal. He spent most of his life in Italy and there he was king in fact as well as in name.
12/02/0661
Princess Ōku of Japan (died 702)
Ōku was a Japanese princess during the Asuka period in Japanese history. She was the daughter of Emperor Tenmu and sister of Prince Ōtsu. As a young girl, she witnessed the Jinshin War. According to the Man'yōshū, she became the first Saiō to serve at Ise Grand Shrine. After the death of her brother Prince Ōtsu in 686, she returned from Ise to Yamato to enshrine his remains on Mt. Futakami, before a quiet end to her life at age 40.
12/02/0528
Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Wei
Empress Yuan, personal name unknown, was briefly an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. She bore the surname Yuan, originally Tuoba. Yuan was the only child of Emperor Xiaoming, born to his concubine Consort Pan. Soon after her birth, her grandmother the Empress Dowager Hu, who was also Xiaoming's regent, falsely declared that she was a boy and ordered a general pardon. Emperor Xiaoming died soon afterwards. On 1 April 528, Empress Dowager Hu installed the infant on the throne for a matter of hours before replacing her with Yuan Zhao the next day. Emperor Xiaoming's daughter was not recognised as a legitimate emperor (huangdi) by later generations. No further information about her or her mother is available.
12/02/0041
Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (died 55)
AD 41 (XLI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of C. Caesar Augustus Germanicus and Cn. Sentius Saturninus. The denomination AD 41 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Lives Remembered on 11th February
On 11th February, 104 remarkable people passed away — from 821 to 2022. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
12/02/2022
Ivan Reitman, Slovak-Canadian actor, director, and producer (born 1946)
Ivan Reitman was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.
12/02/2020
Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (born 1951)
Christie Marie Blatchford was a Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster. She published four non-fiction books.
Geert Hofstede, Dutch social psychologist (born 1928)
Gerard Hendrik (Geert) Hofstede was a Dutch social psychologist, IBM employee, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, well known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups and organizations.
12/02/2019
Gordon Banks, English footballer (born 1937)
Gordon Banks was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional career, and won 73 caps for England, highlighted by starting every game of the nation's 1966 World Cup victory.
Lyndon LaRouche, American political activist (born 1922)
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization, the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy theorist and perennial presidential candidate. He began in far-left politics in the 1940s and later supported the civil rights movement; however, in the 1970s, he moved to the far-right. His movement is sometimes described as, or likened to, a cult. Convicted of fraud, he served five years in prison from 1989 to 1994.
Pedro Morales, Puerto Rican professional wrestler and commentator (born 1942)
Pedro Antonio Morales was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
12/02/2018
Bill Crider, American author (born 1941)
Bill Crider was an American author of crime fiction among other work.
12/02/2017
Al Jarreau, American singer (born 1940)
Alwin Lopez Jarreau was an American singer. His 1981 album Breakin' Away spent two years on the Billboard 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the 1982 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In all, he won ten Grammy Awards and was nominated 19 other times during his career.
Anna Marguerite McCann, first female American underwater archaeologist (born 1933)
Anna Marguerite McCann was an American art historian and archaeologist. She is known for being an early influencer—and the first American woman—in the field of underwater archaeology, beginning in the 1960s. McCann authored works pertaining to Roman art and Classical archaeology, and taught both art history and archaeology at various universities in the United States. McCann was an active member of the Archaeological Institute of America, and received its Gold Medal Award in 1998. She also published under the name Anna McCann Taggart.
12/02/2016
Dominique D'Onofrio, Italian-Belgian footballer and coach (born 1953)
Dominique Nicolas D'Onofrio was an Italian football coach, later chairman. He was born in Castelforte, Italy.
Yannis Kalaitzis, Greek cartoonist (born 1945)
Giannis Kalaitzis was a Greek cartoonist known for his editorial cartoons in various Greek daily newspapers.
Yan Su, Chinese general and composer (born 1930)
Yan Su was a Chinese playwright and lyricist who served as vice-president of China Theatre Association. He held the civilian rank equivalent to general in the PLA Air Force Political Department Song and Dance Troupe. He was a National Class-A Screenwriter. He was a member of China Writers Association and China Music Copyright Association. He was a visiting professor at Heibei Institute of Communications.
12/02/2015
Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer (born 1916)
Maria Luisa Castaneda was an American actress and the second wife of actor Marlon Brando. In films, she played exotic women and singers, such as in Flying Down to Rio (1933) and Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). She was the mother of Miko Castaneda Brando and Rebecca Brando Kotlizky.
Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (born 1931)
Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat was a Malaysian politician and Muslim cleric. He was the Menteri Besar of Kelantan from 1990 to 2013 and the Mursyidul Am or Spiritual Leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) from 1991 until his death in 2015. Overall, his career as an elected politician lasted for some 48 years following his election to the Parliament of Malaysia in 1967.
Gary Owens, American radio host and voice actor (born 1934)
Gary Owens was an American disc jockey, voice actor, announcer and radio personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Owens was equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and was frequently heard on television and radio as well as in commercials.
Steve Strange, Welsh singer (born 1959)
Stephen John Harrington, known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer and nightclub host and promoter. Strange began his career in several short-lived punk bands of the late 1970s. Quickly becoming disaffected by the British punk scene, he became one of the most influential figures behind the New Romantic subcultural movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which spawned the Blitz Kids.
12/02/2014
Sid Caesar, American actor and comedian (born 1922)
Isaac Sidney Caesar was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), which was a 90-minute weekly show watched by 60 million people, and its successor, Caesar's Hour (1954–1957), both of which influenced later generations of comedians. Your Show of Shows and its cast received seven Emmy nominations between 1953 and 1954 and tallied two wins. He also acted in films; he played Coach Calhoun in Grease (1978) and its sequel Grease 2 (1982) and appeared in the films It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Silent Movie (1976), History of the World, Part I (1981), Cannonball Run II (1984), and Vegas Vacation (1997).
John Pickstone, English historian and author (born 1944)
John Victor Pickstone was a British historian of science and the Wellcome Research Professor in the Centre for the History of science, Technology and Medicine, in the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Manchester.
12/02/2013
Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (born 1941)
Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a Saudi royal and politician who served as the governor of Riyadh Province from November 2011 until his death in February 2013. Before that he was the deputy governor of the province.
Reginald Turnill, English journalist and author (born 1915)
Reginald George Turnill was the BBC's aviation correspondent for twenty years during the beginnings of crewed space exploration and the early jet age in aviation, including the breakthrough in supersonic passenger flight represented by Concorde. He covered NASA's space missions and all the Apollo program Moon missions for the BBC. Turnill's connection with the BBC, as a freelance, continued for some years after his official retirement.
Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine (born 1931)
Hennadiy Yosypovych Udovenko was a Ukrainian politician and diplomat. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, was the 52nd President of the United Nations General Assembly (1997–1998) and a People's Deputy of Ukraine (1998–2007). He was from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He studied international relations at Kyiv University, having graduated in 1954. He also did graduate studies in agricultural economics at the Ukrainian Research and the Development Institute for Agricultural Economy and Organization from 1956 to 1959.
12/02/2012
Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (born 1945)
Zina Bianca Bethune was an American actress, dancer, and choreographer. She was the daughter of actress Ivy Bethune.
Denis Flannery, Australian rugby player and coach (born 1928)
Denis Flannery, also known by the nickname of "Flag Pole", was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. An Australian international and Queensland interstate representative winger, he played his club football in the Ipswich Rugby League for the Brothers club. He has been recognised as one of Queensland's greatest ever players
David Kelly, Irish actor (born 1929)
David Kelly was an Irish actor who had regular roles in several film and television works from the 1950s onwards. One of the most recognisable voices and faces of Irish stage and screen, he was known for his roles as Rashers Tierney in Strumpet City, Cousin Enda in Me Mammy, the builder Mr. O'Reilly in Fawlty Towers, Albert Riddle in Robin's Nest, and Grandpa Joe in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Another notable role was as Michael O'Sullivan in Waking Ned.
John Severin, American illustrator (born 1921)
John Powers Severin was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat; for Marvel Comics, especially its war and Western comics; and for his 45-year stint with the satiric magazine Cracked. He was one of the founding cartoonists of Mad in 1952.
12/02/2011
Peter Alexander, Austrian singer and actor (born 1926)
Peter Alexander Ferdinand Maximilian Neumayer, commonly known as Peter Alexander, was an Austrian actor, singer and one of the most popular entertainers in the German-language world between the 1950s and his retirement. His fame emerged in the 1950s and 1960s through popular film comedies and successful recordings, predominantly of Schlager and operetta repertory. Later, Alexander established himself as the acclaimed host of television shows. His career as a live singer touring the German language countries lasted until 1991, while he continued his television work until 1996.
Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1919)
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer. She originally performed on Broadway, and was then signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She appeared in several musical films, then returned to Broadway and made guest appearances on several television series.
Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (born 1935)
Kenneth Mars was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). He also co-starred in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972) as well as appearing in Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) and Shadows and Fog (1991).
12/02/2010
Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (born 1988)
Nodar Kumaritashvili was a Georgian luge athlete who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to die during preparations for a Winter Olympics, and the eighth athlete to die as a result of Olympic competition or during practice at their sport's venue at an Olympic Games.
12/02/2009
Colgan Air Flight 3407 victims:
Colgan Air Flight 3407 was a scheduled passenger flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009. Approaching Buffalo, the Bombardier Q400, entered an aerodynamic stall from which it did not recover and crashed into a house at 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, New York, at 10:17 pm EST, about 5 miles from the end of the runway, killing all 49 passengers and crew on board and one person inside the house.
Alison Des Forges, American historian and activist (born 1942)
Alison Des Forges was an American historian and human rights activist who specialized in the African Great Lakes region, particularly the 1994 Rwandan genocide. At the time of her death, she was a senior advisor for the African continent at Human Rights Watch. She died in a plane crash on 12 February 2009.
Beverly Eckert, American activist (born 1951)
Beverly Eckert was an American activist and advocate for the creation of the 9/11 Commission. She was one of the members of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission. Eckert's husband, Sean Rooney, died at age 50 in the attacks of September 11, 2001. She pushed for a commission to investigate 9/11 and to establish a memorial.
Mat Mathews, Dutch accordion player (born 1924)
Mat Mathews, born Mathieu Hubert Wijnandts Schwarts, was a Dutch jazz accordionist.
Coleman Mellett, American guitarist (born 1974)
Coleman Mellett was an American jazz guitarist in Chuck Mangione's band. He had been scheduled to play with Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on February 13, 2009, but was killed the night before in the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 with band member Gerry Niewood.
Gerry Niewood, American saxophonist (born 1943)
Gerry Niewood, born Gerard Joseph Nevidosky, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist who worked often with Chuck Mangione. Like Mangione, Niewood was born in Rochester, New York, and graduated from the Eastman School of Music.
12/02/2008
David Groh, American actor (born 1939)
David Lawrence Groh was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Joe Gerard in the 1970s television series Rhoda, opposite Valerie Harper.
12/02/2007
Ann Barzel, American writer and dance critic (born 1905)
Ann Barzel was an American writer, critic and lecturer on dance.
Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (born 1905)
Peggy Gilbert, born Margaret Fern Knechtges, was an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader.
12/02/2005
Dorothy Stang, American-Brazilian nun and missionary (born 1931)
Dorothy Mae Stang, SNDdeN, was an American-born Brazilian Catholic Religious Sister and missionary. She was murdered in Anapu, Pará, in the Amazon Basin in 2005. Stang had been outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment and had previously received death threats from loggers and landowners.
12/02/2002
John Eriksen, Danish footballer (born 1957)
John Hartmann Eriksen was a Danish professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 319 league goals over the course of 15 seasons. He played in four countries, namely his native Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland. Eriksen was a Danish international in the 1980s, appearing in the 1986 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988.
12/02/2001
Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German actress and producer (born 1912)
Beata Margareta Kristina Söderbaum was a Swedish-German film actress, film producer, and photographer. She performed in Nazi-era films made by a German state-controlled production company, several of them directed by her husband Veit Harlan.
12/02/2000
Tom Landry, American football player and coach (born 1924)
Thomas Wade Landry was an American professional football coach, player, and World War II bomber pilot. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. During his coaching career, he created many new formations and methods, such as the now default 4–3 defense that is used by a majority of teams in the NFL, and the "flex defense" system made famous by the "Doomsday Defense" squads he built during his tenure with the Cowboys. His 29 consecutive years from 1960 to 1988 as the coach of one team is an NFL record, along with his 20 consecutive winning seasons, which is considered to be his most impressive professional accomplishment.
Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (born 1922)
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist who created the comic strip Peanuts, featuring the characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
12/02/1998
Gardner Ackley, American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (born 1915)
Hugh Gardner Ackley was an American economist and diplomat.
12/02/1995
Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (born 1952)
Philip Taylor Kramer was an American bass guitar player for the rock group Iron Butterfly and associated groups between 1974 and 1980. He later became a computer engineering executive and inventor. He disappeared in February 1995 and was found dead in May 1999.
12/02/1994
Donald Judd, American painter and sculptor (born 1928)
Donald Clarence Judd was an American artist associated with minimalism. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional hierarchy. He is generally considered the leading international exponent of "minimalism", and its most important theoretician through such writings as "Specific Objects" (1964). Judd voiced his unorthodox perception of minimalism in Arts Yearbook 8, where he says, "The new three dimensional work doesn't constitute a movement, school, or style. The common aspects are too general and too little common to define a movement. The differences are greater than the similarities."
12/02/1992
Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (born 1907)
Lambertus "Bep" van Klaveren was a Dutch boxer, who won the gold medal in the featherweight division at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Van Klaveren remains the only Dutch boxer to have won an Olympic gold medal. His younger brother Piet competed as a boxer at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
12/02/1991
Roger Patterson, American bass player (born 1968)
Roger Patterson was an American bass player known for his work in the Florida technical death metal band Atheist. His playing style is characterized by its speed and complexity. Alex Webster, bassist with Cannibal Corpse, has acknowledged Patterson as "a big influence", describing his playing on the album Piece of Time as "phenomenal".
12/02/1989
Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (born 1931)
Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, isolation, obsession and illness in controversial literature that was pessimistic about the human condition and highly critical of post-war Austrian and European culture. He developed a distinctive prose style often featuring multiple perspectives on characters and events, idiosyncratic vocabulary and punctuation, and long monologues by protagonists on the verge of insanity.
12/02/1985
Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (born 1924)
Nicholas Colasanto was an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as Ernie Pantusso in the American television sitcom Cheers (1982–1985).
12/02/1984
Anna Anderson, Polish-American woman, who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (born 1896)
Anna Anderson was an impostor who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia, Nicholas II and Alexandra, was murdered along with her parents and siblings on 17 July 1918 by Bolshevik revolutionaries in Yekaterinburg, Russia, but the location of her body was unknown until 2007.
Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (born 1914)
Julio Florencio Cortázar was an Argentine and naturalised French novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an entire generation of Spanish-speaking readers and writers in America and Europe.
12/02/1983
Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (born 1887)
James Hubert "Eubie" Blake was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drummer, and comedian Broadway Jones. After the war he began a collaboration with Noble Sissle with whom he wrote Shuffle Along (1921), one of the first Broadway musicals written and directed by African Americans. When his collaboration with Sissle ended in 1927, he resumed a partnership with Jones which lasted until either 1932 or 1933. He reunited with Sissle briefly for Shuffle Along of 1933, and later the pair worked together in the United Service Organizations during World War II. Blake's compositions included such hits as "Bandana Days", "Charleston Rag", "Love Will Find a Way", "Memories of You" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry". The 1978 Broadway musical Eubie! showcased his works, and in 1981, President Ronald Reagan awarded Blake the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
12/02/1982
Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (born 1902)
Victor Jory was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and carpetbagger Jonas Wilkerson in Gone with the Wind (1939). From 1959 to 1961, he had a lead role in the 78-episode television police drama Manhunt. He also recorded numerous stories for Peter Pan Records and was a guest star in dozens of television series as well as a supporting player in dozens of theatrical films, occasionally appearing as the leading man.
12/02/1980
Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and activist (born 1913)
Muriel Rukeyser was an American poet, essayist, biographer, novelist, screenwriter, and political activist. She wrote across genres and forms, addressing issues related to racial, gender, and class justice, war and war crimes, Jewish culture and diaspora, and American history, politics, and culture. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation." Anne Sexton famously described her as "beautiful Muriel, mother of everyone"; Adrienne Rich wrote that she was “our twentieth-century Coleridge; our Neruda."
12/02/1979
Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1894)
Jean Renoir was a French filmmaker, actor, producer and author. His La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. In 2002, he was ranked fourth on the BFI's Sight & Sound poll of the greatest directors. Among numerous honours accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the uncle of the cinematographer Claude Renoir. With Claude, he made The River (1951), the first color film shot in India. A lifelong lover of theater, Renoir turned to the stage for The Golden Coach (1952) and French Cancan (1955). He was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an auteur; the critic Penelope Gilliatt said a Renoir shot could be identified "in a thousand miles of film."
12/02/1977
Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher and scholar (born 1894)
Herman Dooyeweerd, also spelled Herman Dooijeweerd, was a professor of law and jurisprudence at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1926 to 1965. He was also a philosopher and principal founder of Reformational philosophy, a significant development within the Neo-Calvinist school of thought. Dooyeweerd made several contributions to philosophy and other academic disciplines concerning: the nature of diversity and coherence in everyday experience; the transcendental conditions for theoretical thought; the relationship between religion, philosophy, and scientific theory; and an understanding of meaning, being, time and self.
12/02/1976
Frank Stagg, Irish Republican died on hunger strike (born 1941)
Frank Stagg was an Irish militant and Republican activist. He was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker from County Mayo, Ireland who died in 1976 in Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, England after 62 days on hunger strike. Stagg was one of 22 Irish republicans to die on hunger strike in the twentieth century.
Sal Mineo, American actor (born 1939)
Salvatore Mineo Jr. was an American actor. He was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the coming-of-age drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 17, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category.
12/02/1975
Carl Lutz, Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews (born 1895)
Carl Lutz was a Swiss diplomat. He served as the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary, from 1942 until the end of World War II. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews during the Second World War in possibly the largest rescue operation of the Holocaust.
12/02/1971
James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (born 1875)
James Cash Penney Jr. was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the JCPenney stores in 1902.
12/02/1970
Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (born 1903)
Clare Turlay Newberry was an American writer and illustrator of 17 published children's books, who achieved fame for her drawings of cats, the subject of all but three of her books. Four of her works were named Caldecott Honor Books.
12/02/1960
Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and academic (born 1887)
Oskar Johann Viktor Anderson was a Russian-German mathematician of Baltic German descent. He is best known for his work on mathematical statistics and econometrics.
12/02/1958
Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (born 1897)
Douglas Rayner Hartree was an English mathematician and physicist most famous for the development of numerical analysis and its application to the Hartree–Fock equations of atomic physics and the construction of a differential analyser using Meccano.
12/02/1954
Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (born 1896)
Denis Arkadyevich Vertov, better known as Dziga Vertov, was a Soviet pioneer documentary film and newsreel director, as well as a cinema theorist. His filming practices and theories influenced the cinéma vérité style of documentary movie-making and the Dziga Vertov Group, a radical film-making cooperative which was active from 1968 to 1972. He was a member of the Kinoks collective, with Elizaveta Svilova and Mikhail Kaufman.
12/02/1949
Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (born 1906)
Hassan Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Muhammed al-Banna, known as Hassan al-Banna, was an Egyptian schoolteacher and Imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential global Islamist movements, and for his death at the hands of the Egyptian government.
12/02/1947
Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (born 1866)
Moses Gomberg was a chemistry professor at the University of Michigan. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and served as president of the American Chemical Society.
12/02/1942
Eugene Esmonde, Irish-English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1909)
Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Esmonde, was a distinguished Irish pilot in the Fleet Air Arm who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to members of Commonwealth forces. Esmonde earned this award while in command of a torpedo bomber squadron in the Second World War - in an action known as Operation Fuller, the 'Channel Dash’.
Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (born 1907)
Avraham Stern, alias Yair (יאיר), was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi, called the "Stern Gang" by the British authorities and by the mainstream in the Yishuv Jewish establishment. The group referred to its members as terrorists and admitted to having carried out terrorist attacks.
Grant Wood, American painter and academic (born 1891)
Grant DeVolson Wood was an American artist and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for American Gothic (1930), which has become an iconic example of early 20th-century American art.
12/02/1935
Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (born 1846)
Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularised and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-Antoine Carême, one of the codifiers of French haute cuisine; Escoffier's achievement was to simplify and modernise Carême's elaborate and ornate style. In particular, he codified the recipes for the five mother sauces. Referred to by the French press as roi des cuisiniers et cuisinier des rois, Escoffier was a preeminent figure in London and Paris during the 1890s and the early part of the 20th century.
12/02/1931
Samad bey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijani-Russian general and politician, 3rd Azerbaijani Minister of Defense (born 1855)
Samad bey Sadykh bey oghlu Mehmandarov was an Azerbaijani General of the Artillery in the Russian Imperial Army, a member of the Independence faction of the Parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Minister of Defense of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, and a military figure of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union.
12/02/1929
Lillie Langtry, English singer and actress (born 1853)
Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe, known as Lillie Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer.
12/02/1916
Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (born 1831)
Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind was a German mathematician who made important contributions to number theory, abstract algebra, and the axiomatic foundations of arithmetic. His best known contribution is the definition of real numbers through the notion of Dedekind cut. He is also considered a pioneer in the development of modern set theory and of the philosophy of mathematics known as logicism.
12/02/1915
Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1837)
Charles Émile Waldteufel was a French composer, pianist, and conductor known for his numerous popular salon pieces. Among his best known works is "Les Patineurs" (1882), known as "The Skater's Waltz".
12/02/1912
Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (born 1841)
Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen was a Norwegian physician, remembered for his identification of the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae in 1873 as the etiologic agent of leprosy. His distinguished work was recognized at the International Leprosy Congress held at Bergen in 1909.
12/02/1896
Ambroise Thomas, French composer and academic (born 1811)
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas Mignon (1866) and Hamlet (1868).
12/02/1894
Hans von Bülow, German pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1830)
Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, especially Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms. Alongside Carl Tausig, Bülow was perhaps the most prominent of the early students of the Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor Franz Liszt; he gave the first public performance of Liszt's Sonata in B minor in 1857. He became acquainted with, fell in love with and eventually married Liszt's daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner. Noted for his interpretation of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, he was one of the earliest European musicians to tour the United States.
12/02/1886
Randolph Caldecott, English-American painter and illustrator (born 1846)
Randolph Caldecott was a prolific British artist and illustrator who illustrated novels and accounts of foreign travel, made humorous drawings depicting hunting and fashionable life, drew cartoons, made sketches of the Houses of Parliament inside and out, and exhibited sculptures and paintings in oil and watercolour in the Royal Academy. He is most famous for his illustrations of children's books, for transforming the style of book illustration, and for his continuing influence on illustrators of children's books.
12/02/1834
Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (born 1768)
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was a German Reformed theologian, pastor, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant Christianity. He also became influential in the evolution of higher criticism, and his work forms part of the foundation of the modern field of hermeneutics. Because of his profound effect on subsequent Christian thought, he is often called the "Father of Modern Liberal Theology" and is considered an early leader in liberal Christianity. The neo-orthodoxy movement of the twentieth century, typically seen to be spearheaded by Karl Barth, was in many ways an attempt to challenge his influence. As a philosopher he was a leader of German Romanticism.
12/02/1804
Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (born 1724)
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher. Born in Königsberg in the Kingdom of Prussia, he is considered one of the central thinkers of the Enlightenment. His comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, political theory, and the philosophy of religion have made him one of the most influential and highly discussed figures in modern Western philosophy.
12/02/1789
Ethan Allen, American farmer, general, and politician (born 1738)
Ethan Allen was an American farmer, writer, military officer, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and was also the brother of Ira Allen and the father of Fanny Allen.
12/02/1771
Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (born 1710)
Adolf Frederick was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death in 1771. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach. He was an uncle of Catherine the Great and husband to Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.
12/02/1763
Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (born 1688)
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist.
12/02/1728
Agostino Steffani, Italian priest and composer (born 1653)
Agostino Steffani was an Italian bishop, polymath, diplomat and composer.
12/02/1713
Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (born 1664)
Jahandar Shah was the ninth Mughal emperor briefly from 1712 to 1713. He was the son of Emperor Bahadur Shah I, and the grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb.
12/02/1624
George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist, founded George Heriot's School (born 1563)
George Heriot was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to Heriot-Watt University, as well as several streets in the same city.
12/02/1612
Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (born 1563)
Jodocus Hondius was a Flemish engraver and cartographer. He is sometimes called Jodocus Hondius the Elder to distinguish him from his son Jodocus Hondius II. Hondius is best known for his early maps of the New World and Europe, for re-establishing the reputation of the work of Gerardus Mercator, and for his portraits of Francis Drake. He inherited and republished the plates of Mercator, thus reviving his legacy, also making sure to include independent revisions to his work. One of the notable figures in the Golden Age of Dutch cartography, he helped establish Amsterdam as the centre of cartography in Europe in the 17th century.
12/02/1600
Edward Denny, Knight Banneret of Bishop's Stortford, English soldier, privateer and adventurer (born 1547)
Sir Edward Denny, Knight Banneret, of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire, was a soldier, privateer and adventurer during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
12/02/1590
François Hotman, French lawyer and author (born 1524)
François Hotman was a French lawyer and writer, associated with the legal humanists and with the monarchomaques, who struggled against absolute monarchy. His first name is often written 'Francis' in English. His surname is Latinized by himself as Hotomanus, by others as Hotomannus and Hottomannus. He has been called "one of the first modern revolutionaries".
12/02/1578
Pari Khan Khanum, Iranian princess (born 1548)
Pari Khan Khanum was an Iranian princess, daughter of the second Safavid shah, Tahmasp I, and his Circassian consort, Sultan-Agha Khanum. She was her father's favourite child and allowed to partake in court activities, gradually becoming an influential figure who attracted the attentions of the prominent leaders of the Qizilbash tribes.
12/02/1571
Nicholas Throckmorton, English politician and diplomat (born 1515)
Sir Nicholas Throckmorton was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland. He played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots.
12/02/1554
Lord Guildford Dudley, English son of Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (born 1536; executed)
Lord Guildford Dudley was an English nobleman who was married to Lady Jane Grey. She occupied the English throne from 10 July until 19 July 1553, having been declared the heir of King Edward VI. Guildford Dudley had a humanist education and married Jane in a magnificent celebration about six weeks before the King's death. After Guildford's father, the Duke of Northumberland, had engineered Jane's accession, Jane and Guildford spent her brief rule residing in the Tower of London. They were still in the Tower when their regime collapsed and remained there in different quarters as prisoners. They were condemned to death for high treason in November 1553. Queen Mary I was inclined to spare their lives, but Thomas Wyatt's rebellion against Mary's plans to marry Philip of Spain led to the young couple's execution, a measure that was widely seen as unduly harsh.
Lady Jane Grey, de facto monarch of England and Ireland for nine days (born 1537; executed)
Lady Jane Grey, also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned until she was deposed by the Privy Council of England, which proclaimed her cousin, Mary I, as the new Queen on 19 July. Jane was later beheaded for high treason.
12/02/1538
Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (born 1480)
Albrecht Altdorfer was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube School, setting biblical and historical subjects against landscape backgrounds of expressive colours. He is remarkable as one of the first artists to take an interest in landscape as an independent subject. As an artist also making small intricate engravings he is seen to belong to the Nuremberg Little Masters.
12/02/1517
Catherine of Navarre (born 1468)
Catherine was Queen of Navarre from 1483 until 1517. She was also Duchess of Gandia, Montblanc, and Peñafiel, Countess of Foix, Bigorre, and Ribagorza, and Viscountess of Béarn.
12/02/1266
Amadeus of the Amidei, Italian saint
The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order were seven men of the town of Florence who became bound to each other in a spiritual friendship and started the Servite Order in the 13th century. They felt called by Mary, mother of Jesus, towards whom they practised an intense devotion. They reported a vision, apparently shared by all separately at the same moment. None of them was aware that the others also had experienced it. The call was to "leave the world, the better to serve almighty God".
12/02/1247
Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg, ruler (born 1185)
Ermesinde ruled as the countess of Luxembourg from 1197 until her death. She was the only child of Count Henry IV and his second wife Agnes of Guelders.
12/02/0981
Ælfstan, bishop of Ramsbury
Ælfstan was a medieval Bishop of Ramsbury.
12/02/0941
Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
Wulfhelm was Bishop of Wells before being promoted to the Archbishopric of Canterbury about 926. Nothing is known about his time at Wells, but as archbishop he helped codify royal law codes and gave lands to monasteries. He went to Rome soon after his selection as archbishop. Two religious books that he gave to his cathedral are still extant.
12/02/0914
Li, empress of Yan
Empress Li, personal name unknown, was one of the two wives of Liu Shouguang, the only ruler of Yan during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Era of Chinese history.
12/02/0901
Antony II, patriarch of Constantinople
Antony II Kauleas was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from August 893 to 12 February 901.
12/02/0890
Henjō, Japanese priest and poet (born 816)
Yoshimine no Munesada (良岑宗貞), better known as Henjō , was Japanese waka poet and Buddhist priest. In the poetry anthology Kokin Wakashū, he is listed as one of the six notable waka poets and one of the thirty-six immortals of poetry.
12/02/0821
Benedict of Aniane, French monk and saint (born 747)
Benedict of Aniane, born Witiza and called the Second Benedict, was a Benedictine monk and monastic reformer who had a substantial impact on the religious practice of the Carolingian Empire. His feast day is either February 11 or 12, depending on the liturgical calendar.
Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 11th February
Christian feast day: Benedict of Aniane
Benedict of Aniane, born Witiza and called the Second Benedict, was a Benedictine monk and monastic reformer who had a substantial impact on the religious practice of the Carolingian Empire. His feast day is either February 11 or 12, depending on the liturgical calendar.
Christian feast day: Julian the Hospitaller
Saint Julian the Hospitaller is a saint venerated in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. He is the patron saint of the cities of Ghent, Belgium; Saint Julian's, Malta; and Macerata, Italy.
Christian feast day: Martyrs of Abitinae
The Martyrs of Abitinae were a group of 49 Christians found guilty, in 304, during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, of having illegally celebrated Sunday worship at Abitinae, a town in the Roman province of Africa. The town is frequently referred to as Abitina, but the form indicated in the Annuario Pontificio is Abitinae. The plural form Abitinae is that which Saint Augustine of Hippo used when writing his De baptismo in 400 or 401.
Christian feast day: Meletius of Antioch
Meletius of Antioch was a Christian patriarch of Antioch from 360 until his death in 381. He was opposed by a rival bishop named Paulinus II of Antioch and his episcopate was dominated by the schism, usually called the Meletian schism. As a result, he was exiled from Antioch in 361–362, 365–366 and 371–378. One of his last acts was to preside over the First Council of Constantinople in 381.
Christian feast day: February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
February 11 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - February 13
Georgia Day (Georgia (U.S. state))
Georgia Day is the holiday which the U.S. state of Georgia recognizes in honor of its colonial founding as the Province of Georgia. On February 12, 1733 [NS] James Oglethorpe landed the first settlers in the Anne, at what was to become Georgia's first city, Savannah. Not a public holiday, it was created by Georgia's General Assembly, which provided that Feb. 12, "the anniversary of the landing of the first colonists in Georgia under Oglethorpe"—be observed in the public schools as Georgia Day. The law was never repealed, but was not included in the code when it was officially compiled in 1981. Its official legal status is unclear.
Lincoln's Birthday (United States)
Lincoln's Birthday is a public holiday in some U.S. states, observed on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, California, Missouri, and New York observe the holiday.
Red Hand Day (United Nations)
Red Hand Day, or the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, has been observed on February 12 annually since 2002, where pleas are made to political leaders and events are staged around the world to draw attention to child soldiers: children under the age of 18 who participate in military organizations of all kinds. Red Hand Day aims to call for action to stop this practice, and support children affected by it.
Union Day (Myanmar)
Union Day is a public holiday in Myanmar, marking the anniversary of the historic Panglong Agreement in 1947. This day was crucial for Myanmar's independent because it united the upper and lower parts of Myanmar.
What Happened on 11th February?
50 significant events took place on Friday, 11th February — stretching from 1059 to 2026. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
12/02/2026
In the first general election since the July Revolution in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, wins a landslide victory upon returning to power after almost 19 years. A referendum held alongside was also approved by the majority of voters.
General election was held in Bangladesh on 12 February 2026 to elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad, as well as the proposed Senate. It was the first general election since the July Uprising of 2024 that ended the 15-year-long rule of Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, won a landslide victory in the election, securing two-thirds of seats; Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secured the second most seats and a constitutional referendum on the July Charter was held alongside the election.
12/02/2019
The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the north. It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia. Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country's population of over 1.83 million. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed by Turks, Roma, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few other minorities.
12/02/2016
Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.
Pope Francis was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first pope born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.
12/02/2009
Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 on board and one on the ground.
Colgan Air Flight 3407 was a scheduled passenger flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009. Approaching Buffalo, the Bombardier Q400, entered an aerodynamic stall from which it did not recover and crashed into a house at 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, New York, at 10:17 pm EST, about 5 miles from the end of the runway, killing all 49 passengers and crew on board and one person inside the house.
12/02/2004
The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 200,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2024. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States. Around 9.2 million live in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest in the United States.
12/02/2002
The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
The war crimes trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) lasted for just over four years from 2002 until his death in 2006. Milošević faced 66 counts of crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
Iran Airtour is a privately owned Iranian airline that was launched in 1973. Its main base is Mashhad Airport.
12/02/2001
NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker, renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit over a period of a year. It was the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid and land on it successfully. In February 2000, the mission closed in on the asteroid and orbited it. On February 12, 2001, Shoemaker touched down on the asteroid and was terminated just over two weeks later.
12/02/1999
United States President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979 and as the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992. His centrist "Third Way" political philosophy became known as Clintonism, which dominated his presidency and the succeeding decades of Democratic Party history.
12/02/1994
Four thieves break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream.
The National Gallery is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.
12/02/1993
Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys, who later torture and murder him.
On 12 February 1993 in Merseyside, England, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted, tortured, and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Patrick Bulger. Thompson and Venables led Bulger away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, where Bulger was visiting shops with his mother. His mutilated body was found on a railway line 2+1⁄2 miles away in Walton, Liverpool, two days later.
12/02/1992
The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
The Constitution of Mongolia was adopted on 13 January 1992, put into force on 12 February, with amendments made in 1999, 2000, 2019, 2022, and 2023. The constitution established a representative democracy in Mongolia, enshrining core functions of the government, including the separation of powers and election cycle, and guaranteeing human rights, including freedom of religion, travel, expression, and private property. The document was written after the Mongolian Revolution of 1990, effectively dissolving the Mongolian People's Republic and ending the one-party rule.
12/02/1990
Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
Carmen Mary Lawrence is an Australian academic and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. To date she is the only female premier of Western Australia. A member of the Labor Party, she later entered federal politics as a member of the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2007, and served as a minister in the Keating government.
12/02/1988
Cold War: The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S. missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48) is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy in the Soviet territorial waters, while Yorktown claims innocent passage.
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.
12/02/1983
One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.
Lahore is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and 27th largest in the world, with a population of over 14 million. Lahore is one of Pakistan's major industrial, educational and economic hubs. It has been the historic capital and cultural centre of the wider Punjab region, and is one of Pakistan's most socially liberal, progressive, and cosmopolitan cities.
12/02/1974
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature". His nonfiction work The Gulag Archipelago "amounted to a head-on challenge to the Soviet state" and sold tens of millions of copies.
12/02/1968
Vietnam War: The Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre occurs, allegedly by South Korean troops.
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
12/02/1966
Rabbi Morris Adler is fatally shot by a disgruntled congregant at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, United States.
On February 12, 1966, Richard Wishnetsky entered Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, during weekly Shabbat services and, brandishing a firearm, ordered everyone except Rabbi Morris Adler off the synagogue's bimah. After condemning the congregation, Wishnetsky shot Adler and himself.
12/02/1965
Malcolm X visits Smethwick near Birmingham following the racially-charged 1964 United Kingdom general election.
Malcolm X was an African American revolutionary and Black nationalist leader who came from a background of poverty, family disruption, and criminal activity, to a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. He discovered the religious organization the Nation of Islam while in prison and served as its spokesperson from 1952 until 1964. He was also a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure with Black people and Muslims worldwide for his pursuit of racial justice.
12/02/1963
Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall (192 m) monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch, Missouri's tallest accessible structure, and no building can be taller than the arch in the St. Louis area. Some sources consider it the tallest human-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States and officially dedicated to "the American people", the Arch, commonly referred to as "The Gateway to the West", is a National Historic Landmark in Gateway Arch National Park and has become a popular tourist destination, as well as an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis.
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes into the Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing all 45 people on board.
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 was a scheduled passenger flight operated on February 12, 1963, that broke up in midair and crashed into the Florida Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport in a severe thunderstorm. The plane was destined for Portland, Oregon, via Chicago, Spokane, and Seattle.
12/02/1961
The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
Venera 1, also known as Venera-1VA No.2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 8, was the first spacecraft to perform an interplanetary flight and the first to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme. Launched in February 1961, it was intended as an impactor, but flew past Venus on 19 May of the same year; however, radio contact with the probe was lost before the flyby, resulting in returning only some data and only from interplanetary space.
12/02/1947
The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
In the southeastern Russian SFSR, part of the Soviet Union, an iron meteorite fell on the Sikhote-Alin mountains in 1947. Large iron meteorite falls have been witnessed, and fragments have been recovered, but never before in recorded history has a fall of this magnitude occurred. An estimated 23 tonnes of fragments survived the fiery passage through the atmosphere and reached the Earth.
Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
Christian Ernest Dior was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade."
12/02/1946
World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the civil rights movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil.
African Americans or Black Americans, also formerly called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group who, as defined by the United States census, consists of Americans who have ancestry from "any of the Black racial groups of Africa". African Americans constitute the third-largest racial and ethnic group in the U.S., following White Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Africans enslaved in the United States. According to annual estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2024, the overall Black population was estimated at 42,951,595, representing approximately 12.63% of the total U.S. population.
12/02/1945
A devastating tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.
On February 12, 1945, a devastating tornado outbreak occurred across the Southeastern United States. The storms killed 45 people and injured 427 others. The outbreak included a devastating tornado that struck Montgomery, Alabama, killing 26 people. The United States Weather Bureau described this tornado as "perhaps the most officially observed one in history" as it reached within five miles (8 km) of the U.S. Weather Bureau's office. Tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis estimated the intensity of the Montgomery tornado to be F3 on the Fujita scale. The Montgomery storm destroyed around 100 houses, as well as two warehouses and a freight train. This is the deadliest tornado to ever impact the city of Montgomery.
12/02/1935
USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", carrying up to five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk parasite biplanes for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1s for training. In service for less than two years, the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast in February 1935, though most of the crew were rescued. The wreckage is listed as the USS Macon Airship Remains on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
12/02/1921
Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolshevik party, formally established in 1912, seized power in Russia in the October Revolution of 1917 and was later renamed the Russian Communist Party, All-Union Communist Party, and ultimately the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Its ideology, based on Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist principles, became known as Bolshevism.
12/02/1919
The Second Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held by the Makhnovshchina at Huliaipole.
The Regional Congresses of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents represented the "highest form of democratic authority" within the political system of the Makhnovshchina. They brought together delegates from the region's peasantry, industrial workers and insurgent soldiers, which would discuss the issues at hand and take their decisions back with them to local popular assemblies.
12/02/1912
The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
Puyi was the last emperor of China, having reigned as the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing dynasty and later as the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state during World War II. After the war, he was held as a war criminal in the Soviet Union and China until 1959, when the Chinese Communist Party granted him amnesty and presented him as a model of successful reeducation.
12/02/1909
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Wald, Emil G. Hirsch and Henry Moskowitz. Over the years, leaders of the organization have included Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins. The NAACP is the largest and oldest civil rights group in America.
New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
SS Penguin was a New Zealand inter-island ferry steamer that sank off the southwest coast of Wellington after striking a rock near Sinclair Head in poor weather on 12 February 1909. Penguin's sinking caused the deaths of 75 people, leaving only 30 survivors. This was New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century.
12/02/1894
Café Terminus bombing by Émile Henry during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894). This is considered one of the first acts of modern terrorism.
On 12 February 1894, anarchist Émile Henry carried out a bomb attack against the people gathered in the Café Terminus in Paris, France. Undertaken during the period known as the Ère des attentats (1892–1894), it was one of the first acts of modern and mass terrorism in history and is also known for Henry's statement at his trial, which is considered a foundational element of this form of terrorism.
12/02/1889
Antonín Dvořák's Jakobín is premiered at the National Theater in Prague.
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák's style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them", and Dvořák has been described as "arguably the most versatile... composer of his time".
12/02/1832
Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contains the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil.
12/02/1825
The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
The Muscogee, Mvskoke or Mvskokvlke, also known as Muscogee Creek or just Creek, are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands in the United States. Their historical homelands are in what now comprises southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, western Georgia and parts of northern Florida.
12/02/1818
Bernardo O'Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean military officer, statesman and a major leader of Chile's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire. He was the second Supreme Director of Chile from 1817 to 1823, the first holder of the title to head a fully independent Chilean state, and is considered one of Chile's founding fathers.
12/02/1817
An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern cone of South America. It covers an area of 2,780,085 km2 (1,073,397 mi2), making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and a part of Antarctica.
12/02/1771
Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
Gustav III, also called Gustavus III, was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden.
12/02/1733
Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.
Georgia Day is the holiday which the U.S. state of Georgia recognizes in honor of its colonial founding as the Province of Georgia. On February 12, 1733 [NS] James Oglethorpe landed the first settlers in the Anne, at what was to become Georgia's first city, Savannah. Not a public holiday, it was created by Georgia's General Assembly, which provided that Feb. 12, "the anniversary of the landing of the first colonists in Georgia under Oglethorpe"—be observed in the public schools as Georgia Day. The law was never repealed, but was not included in the code when it was officially compiled in 1981. Its official legal status is unclear.
12/02/1689
The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
The English Convention was an assembly of the Parliament of England which met between 22 January and 12 February 1689 and transferred the crowns of England and Ireland from James II to William III and Mary II.
12/02/1593
Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwŏn Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
The Imjin War was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596 between the conflicts, followed by a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War. The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea's southern provinces.
12/02/1541
Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
Santiago, also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. Located in the Chilean Central Valley within the Santiago Basin, between the Andes to the east and the Chilean Coastal Range to the west, it anchors the Santiago Metropolitan Region and its conurbation of Greater Santiago, which comprises more than forty communes and concentrates over a third of the national population and around 45% of Chile's GDP. Most of the city lies between 500 and 650 meters above sea level, with recent urban growth extending into the Andean foothills.
12/02/1502
Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.
Isabella I, also known as Isabella the Catholic, was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs. Her reign marked the end of the Reconquista and also the start of the Spanish Empire, allowing Spain to dominate European politics for the next century.
Vasco da Gama sets sail with 15 ships and 800 men from Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to India.
Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first direct maritime route between Europe and India via the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode was to open up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event and a turning point in world history.
12/02/1429
English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings.
Sir John Fastolf was a late medieval English soldier, landowner, and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War from 1415 to 1439, latterly as a senior commander against Joan of Arc, among others. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff, although their careers are very different. Many historians argue, however, that he deserves to be famous in his own right, not only as a soldier, but as a patron of literature, a writer on strategy and perhaps as an early industrialist.
12/02/1404
The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performs the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.
Galeazzo di Santa Sofia was an Italian physician and anatomist.
12/02/1096
Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular.
Pope Urban II, otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermont, which ignited the series of Catholic military expeditions known as the Crusades.
12/02/1059
Upon reaching Rome, Bruno of Toul is elected as pope Leo IX and starts initiating reforms.
Pope Leo IX was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the Middle Ages; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the Great Schism of 1054, considered the turning point in which the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches formally separated.