Died on Saturday, 21st February – Famous Deaths

21/02/2026

Rondale Moore, American football player (born 2000)

Rondale DaSean Moore was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he was named a consensus All-American as a freshman. Moore was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft and spent three seasons with the team. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings, though he did not appear in any regular-season games due to preseason injuries.

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21/02/2025

Clint Hill, American Secret Service agent (born 1932)

Clinton J. Hill was a United States Secret Service agent who served under five U.S. presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gerald Ford. Hill is best known for his act of bravery on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. During the assassination, Hill ran into the line of fire from the Secret Service follow-up car, leaped onto the back of the presidential car, and shielded the stricken president and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy with his own body as the car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. His act was documented in film footage by Abraham Zapruder. Hill was the last surviving person who was inside the presidential limousine on November 22, 1963.

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Lynne Marie Stewart, American actress (born 1946)

Lynne Marie Stewart was an American actress, widely known for her performance as Miss Yvonne, "the Most Beautiful Woman in Puppet Land." She originated the role in the 1981 stage show, The Pee-wee Herman Show. She continued to play Miss Yvonne on the CBS television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, the 2010 Los Angeles stage revival, and the Broadway production which opened in November 2010 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Stewart was also known for her recurring role on the FX/FXX television series, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Charlie Kelly's mother, Bonnie.

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21/02/2024

John Bahnsen, United States Army brigadier general and decorated veteran of the Vietnam War (born 1934)

John C. "Doc" Bahnsen Jr. was a United States Army brigadier general and decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.

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21/02/2021

Mireya Arboleda, Colombian classical pianist (born 1928)

María Mireya Arboleda Cadavid was a Colombian classical pianist and teacher.

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Kevin Dann, Australian rugby league player (born 1958)

Kevin George Dann was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played his entire club football career with the Penrith Panthers, as a fullback.

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21/02/2019

Stanley Donen, American film director (born 1924)

Stanley Donen was an American film director and choreographer. He received the Honorary Academy Award in 1998, and the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2004. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

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Peter Tork, American musician and actor (born 1942)

Peter Halsten Thorkelson, better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the bass guitarist and keyboardist of the Monkees and co-star of the NBC television series of the same name (1966–68).

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21/02/2018

Billy Graham, American evangelist (born 1918)

William Franklin Graham Jr. was an American evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring live sermons became well known in the mid-to-late 20th century. Throughout his career, spanning over six decades, Graham rose to prominence as an evangelical Christian figure in the United States and abroad.

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21/02/2017

Jeanne Martin Cissé, Guinean teacher and politician (born 1926)

Jeanne Martin Cissé was a Guinean teacher and nationalist politician who served as ambassador to the United Nations and in 1972 was the first woman to serve as President of the United Nations Security Council. She served in the government of Guinea as Minister of Social Affairs from 1976 until the 1984 military coup.

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21/02/2016

Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (born 1919)

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown,, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history.

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21/02/2015

Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (born 1931)

Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on two space flights: Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 28.

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Sadeq Tabatabaei, Iranian journalist and politician (born 1943)

Sadegh Tabatabaei was an Iranian writer, journalist, TV host, university professor at the University of Tehran and politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1979 to 1980. He was also Deputy Minister of the Interior and oversaw the referendum on establishing an Islamic Republic in March 1979. He was Iran's Ambassador to West Germany from 1982 until 1986.

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Clark Terry, American trumpet player, composer, and educator (born 1920)

Clark Virgil Terry Jr. was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator.

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21/02/2014

Héctor Maestri, Cuban-American baseball player (born 1935)

Héctor Anibal Maestri Garcia was a Cuban-born Major League Baseball pitcher. Maestri was one of nine ballplayers to have appeared for both of the 20th century, American League Washington Senators franchises, and one of only three to have played for them in consecutive seasons. In another oddity, he pitched in only one game for each franchise.

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Matthew Robinson, Australian snowboarder (born 1985)

Matthew John Robinson was an Australian Paralympic snowboarder who died as a result of a snowboarding accident at La Molina, Spain.

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Cornelius Schnauber, German–American historian, playwright, and academic (born 1939)

Professor Cornelius Schnauber was a German-born scholar, historian, playwright, biographer, and educator. At the time of his death, he was emeritus associate professor of German at the University of Southern California (USC).

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21/02/2013

Hasse Jeppson, Swedish footballer (born 1925)

Hans Olof "Hasse" Jeppson was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a striker. He was known for his impressive goals to games ratio at several clubs, and represented Kungsbacka IF) Örgryte, Djurgården, Charlton Athletic, Atalanta, Napoli and Torino during a career that spanned between 1946 and 1957. A full international between 1949 and 1950, he won 12 caps and scored nine goals for the Sweden national team and helped them to a third-place finish at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

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21/02/2012

H. M. Darmstandler, American general (born 1922)

Harry Max Darmstandler was an American Air Force major general who was special assistant to the chief of staff for B-1 Matters, Headquarters, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he coordinated Air Force activities related to the B-1 bomber.

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21/02/2011

Dwayne McDuffie, American author and screenwriter, co-founded Milestone Media (born 1962)

Dwayne Glenn McDuffie was an American writer of comic books and television. He co-founded the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minorities in American comics, creating and co-creating characters such as Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware. McDuffie was also a writer and producer for animated series such as Static Shock, Justice League Unlimited and the Ben 10 sequels, Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

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Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (born 1926)

Bernard N. Nathanson was an American physician, abortion rights advocate turned pro-life advocate, and a prominent figure in the abortion debate in the United States. He was originally a co-founder in 1969 of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), later renamed National Abortion Rights Action League and the former director of New York City's Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health. He was the narrator for the 1984 pro-life film The Silent Scream.

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21/02/2008

Ben Chapman, American actor (born 1928)

Benjamin F. Chapman Jr. was an American actor best known as playing the Gill-man on land in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon.

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21/02/2005

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban author, screenwriter, and critic (born 1929)

Guillermo Cabrera Infante was a Cuban novelist, essayist, translator, screenwriter, and critic; in the 1950s he used the pseudonym G. Caín, and used Guillermo Cain for the screenplay of the cult classic film Vanishing Point (1971).

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Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor (born 1929)

Zdzisław Beksiński was a Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor.

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21/02/2004

John Charles, Welsh footballer and manager (born 1931)

William John Charles was a Welsh footballer who played at centre-forward and centre-back. Best known for his time at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Great Britain and one of the greatest footballers ever.

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21/02/2002

John Thaw, English actor and producer (born 1942)

John Edward Thaw was an English actor. He became best known for his television roles starring as Detective Inspector Jack Regan in The Sweeney (1975–78) and as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in Inspector Morse (1987–2000). He also worked on stage and in films.

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21/02/1999

Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative methods of rational drug design for the development of new drugs. This new method focused on understanding the target of the drug rather than simply using trial-and-error. Her work led to the creation of the anti-retroviral drug AZT, which was the first drug widely used against AIDS. Her well known works also include the development of the first immunosuppressive drug, azathioprine, used to fight rejection in organ transplants, and the first successful antiviral drug, acyclovir (ACV), used in the treatment of herpes infection.

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Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (born 1914)

Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat, and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Finnish pilots in score against Soviet aircraft in World War II, with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories in 437 sorties. He achieved 58 of his victories while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109G and 34 with a Brewster Buffalo.

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Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player and politician (born 1930)

Wilmer David "Vinegar Bend" Mizell Sr. was an American baseball player and politician. From 1952 to 1962, he was a left-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets of Major League Baseball. Six years after retiring, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina's 5th congressional district. He served three terms as a Republican from 1969 to 1975.

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21/02/1996

Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1913)

Morton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.

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21/02/1995

Robert Bolt, English dramatist (born 1924)

Robert Oxton Bolt was an English playwright and a screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and A Man for All Seasons, the latter two of which won him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also was the recipient of a Tony Award, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award.

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21/02/1994

Johannes Steinhoff, German general and pilot (born 1913)

Johannes "Macky" Steinhoff was a Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II, German general, and NATO official. He was one of very few Luftwaffe pilots who survived to fly operationally through the whole of the war period 1939–45 until he was severely burned during a failed take-off. Steinhoff was also one of the highest-scoring pilots with 176 victories, and one of the first to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in combat as a member of the Jagdverband 44 squadron led by Adolf Galland. Steinhoff was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, and later received the Great Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and several foreign awards including the American Legion of Merit and the French Legion of Honour. He played a role in the so-called Fighter Pilots' Revolt late in the war, when several senior air force officers confronted Hermann Göring.

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21/02/1993

Inge Lehmann, Danish seismologist and geophysicist (born 1888)

Inge Lehmann was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist who is known for her discovery in 1936 of the solid inner core that exists within the molten outer core of the Earth. She also discovered the seismic discontinuity in the speed of seismic waves at depths between 190 and 250 km, which is named the Lehmann discontinuity after her. Lehmann is considered to be a pioneer among women and scientists in seismology research.

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21/02/1991

Dorothy Auchterlonie Green, Australian poet, critic, and academic (born 1915)

Dorothy Auchterlonie was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet.

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Nutan, Indian actress (born 1936)

Nutan Samarth-Bahl, known mononymously as Nutan was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Nutan was noted for her naturalistic acting in parts of conflicted women often deemed unconventional. In a career spanning four decades, she appeared in more than 80 films, that ranged in genre from urban romances to socio-realist dramas. She was the recipient of seven Filmfare Awards, including a then-record five Filmfare Awards for Best Actress. In 1974, Nutan received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.

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21/02/1986

Helen Hooven Santmyer, American novelist (born 1895)

Helen Hooven Santmyer was an American writer, educator, and librarian. She is primarily known for her best-selling epic "...And Ladies of the Club", published when she was in her 80s.

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21/02/1985

Louis Hayward, South African-American actor (born 1909)

Louis Charles Hayward was a South African-born, British-American actor.

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21/02/1984

Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life and fate of Don Cossacks during the Russian Revolution, the civil war and the period of collectivization, primarily in his most famous novel, And Quiet Flows the Don.

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21/02/1982

Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli historian and philosopher (born 1897)

Gershom Scholem was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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21/02/1980

Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author (born 1914)

Alfred Hellmuth Andersch was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany, and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Martin Andersch, his brother, was also a writer.

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21/02/1974

Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, co-founded Tim Hortons (born 1930)

Miles Gilbert "Tim" Horton was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 24 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He spent the majority of his career playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, later playing with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. Horton was a four-time Stanley Cup Champion in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967 with the Maple Leafs. In 2017, Horton was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. He died at age 44 following a single-vehicle crash in which drugs and alcohol were involved.

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21/02/1972

Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (born 1914)

Zhang Guohua was a Chinese lieutenant general and a politician, serving during the invasion of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War and later as a Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary for the Tibet Autonomous Region.

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Bronislava Nijinska, Russian-American dancer and choreographer (born 1891)

Bronislava Nijinska was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers.

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Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (born 1884)

Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant was a French prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia.

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21/02/1968

Howard Florey, Australian pathologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)

Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston, was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases".

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21/02/1967

Charles Beaumont, American author and screenwriter (born 1929)

Charles Beaumont was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is remembered as a writer of classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as "The Howling Man", "Static", "Nice Place to Visit", "Miniature", "Printer's Devil", and "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You", but also penned the screenplays for several films, such as 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Intruder, and The Masque of the Red Death.

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21/02/1965

Malcolm X, American minister and activist (born 1925)

Malcolm X was an African American revolutionary and Black nationalist leader who rose 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.

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21/02/1958

Duncan Edwards, English footballer (born 1936)

Duncan Edwards was an English footballer who played as a left-half for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s, playing 177 matches for the club. He was noted for his physical strength, toughness, and level of authority on the pitch, and has been ranked amongst the toughest players of all time. One of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster, he survived initially but succumbed to his injuries in hospital two weeks later. Many of his contemporaries have described him as one of the best, if not the best, players with whom they had played.

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21/02/1947

Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (born 1881)

Fannie Charles Dillon was an American pianist, music educator and composer.

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21/02/1946

José Streel, Belgian journalist (born 1911)

Lucien Alphonse Joseph "José" Streel was a Belgian journalist and supporter of Rexism. Streel was an important figure in the early years of the movement, when he was the main political philosopher of Rexism as an ideology. He subsequently became less of a central figure following the German occupation of Belgium during World War II due to his lukewarm attitude towards working with Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, he was executed by Belgium after the war as a collaborator.

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21/02/1945

Eric Liddell, Scottish rugby player and runner (born 1902)

Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and a Christian missionary. Born in Tianjin, China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended a boarding school near London, spending time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh.

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21/02/1944

Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-French racing driver (born 1873)

Ferenc Szisz, was a Hungarian racing driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event on a Renault AK 90CV on 26 June, 1906.

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21/02/1941

Frederick Banting, Canadian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891)

Sir Frederick Grant Banting was a Canadian pharmacologist, orthopedist, and field surgeon. For his co-discovery of insulin and its therapeutic potential, Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Macleod.

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21/02/1938

George Ellery Hale, American astronomer and academic (born 1868)

George Ellery Hale was an American astrophysicist, best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-leading telescopes; namely, the 40-inch refracting telescope at Yerkes Observatory, 60-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory, 100-inch Hooker reflecting telescope at Mount Wilson, and the 200-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Palomar Observatory. He played a key role in the foundation of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research and the National Research Council, and in developing the California Institute of Technology into a leading research university.

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21/02/1934

Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (born 1895)

Augusto César Sandino was a Nicaraguan revolutionary, founder of the militant group EDSN, and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupation of Nicaragua. Despite being referred to as a "bandit" by the United States government, his exploits made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to American imperialism. Sandino drew units of the United States Marine Corps into an undeclared guerrilla war. The United States troops withdrew from the country in 1933 after overseeing the election and inauguration of President Juan Bautista Sacasa, who had returned from exile.

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21/02/1926

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1853)

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch experimental physicist who became the first to liquefy helium, cooling it to near 1.5 kelvin (K). For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913.

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21/02/1919

Kurt Eisner, German journalist and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (born 1867)

Kurt Eisner was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre critic. As a socialist journalist, he organized the socialist revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy in Bavaria in November 1918, which led to him being described as "the symbol of the Bavarian revolution". Eisner subsequently proclaimed the People's State of Bavaria but was assassinated by far-right Bavarian nationalist Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley in Munich on 21 February 1919.

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21/02/1918

Incas, last known Carolina parakeet (hatched fl. 1885)

Incas was a male Carolina parakeet and the last member of his species known with certainty. Though probable sightings of wild Carolina parakeets continued into the 1930s, and the American Ornithologists Union accepted a sighting in 1920, no specimens were collected after 1904 and he is often cited as the last individual in existence. Incas died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918, in the same enclosure as Martha, the last passenger pigeon, who died in 1914. He died within one year of his mate, Lady Jane.

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21/02/1891

James Timberlake, American lieutenant and police officer (born 1846)

James H. Timberlake was an American law enforcement officer, Civil War soldier, farmer and rancher who served as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Missouri. Timberlake is best known for being the chief enforcer and investigator against the James-Younger Gang, beginning in the 1870s, which culminated in the death of the outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882, at the hands of Robert Ford.

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21/02/1888

William Weston, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Tasmania (born 1804)

William Pritchard Weston was the third Premier of Tasmania.

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21/02/1862

Justinus Kerner, German poet and physician (born 1786)

Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner was a German poet, practicing physician, and medical writer. He gave the first detailed description of botulism.

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21/02/1846

Emperor Ninkō of Japan (born 1800)

Emperor Ninkō was the 120th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Ninkō's reign spanned the years from 1817 until his death in 1846, and saw further deterioration of the power of the ruling shōgun. Disasters, which included famine, combined with corruption and increasing Western interference, helped to erode public trust in the bakufu government. Emperor Ninkō revived certain court rituals and practices upon the wishes of his father. However, it is unknown what role, if any, the Emperor had in the turmoil which occurred during his reign.

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21/02/1829

Kittur Chennamma, Indian queen and freedom fighter (born 1778)

Chennamma of Kittur was the Queen of the princely state of Kittur in present-day Karnataka. She led a rebellious armed resistance against the British East India Company, in order to retain control over her dominion. She defeated the British army in the first war, but died as a prisoner after her second rebellion. As one of the first and few female rulers to lead kittur forces against British colonisation, she continues to be remembered as a folk heroine in Karnataka.

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21/02/1824

Eugène de Beauharnais, French general (born 1781)

Eugène Rose de Beauharnais was a French statesman and military officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, he was the stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the French Empire, he also became Napoleon's adopted son. He was Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy under his stepfather, from 1805 to 1814, and commanded the Army of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Historians consider him one of Napoleon's most able relatives.

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21/02/1821

Georg Friedrich von Martens, German jurist and diplomat (born 1756)

Georg Friedrich von Martens was a German jurist and diplomat. Educated at the universities of Göttingen, Regensburg and Vienna, he became professor of jurisprudence at Göttingen in 1783 and was ennobled in 1789. He was made a counsellor of state by the King of Westphalia in 1808, and in 1810 was president of the financial section of the council of state of the kingdom of Westphalia. In 1814 he was appointed privy cabinet-councillor by the king of Hanover, and in 1816 went as representative of the king to the diet of the new German Confederation at Frankfort.

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21/02/1730

Pope Benedict XIII (born 1649)

Pope Benedict XIII, born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in February 1730.

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21/02/1715

Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English politician (born 1637)

Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore was an English colonial administrator. He inherited the province of Maryland in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. He had been his father's Deputy Governor since 1661 when he arrived in the colony at the age of 24. However, Charles left Maryland for England in 1684 and would never return. The events following the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688 would cost Calvert his title to Maryland; in 1689 the royal charter to the colony was withdrawn, leading to direct rule by the British Crown. Calvert's political problems were largely caused by his Roman Catholic faith which was at odds with the established Church of England.

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21/02/1677

Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher and scholar (born 1632)

Baruch (de) Spinoza, also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born and lived in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza significantly influenced modern biblical criticism, 17th-century rationalism, and Dutch intellectual culture, establishing himself as one of the most important and radical philosophers of the early modern period. Influenced by Stoicism, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, Ibn Tufayl, and heterodox Christians, Spinoza was a leading philosopher of the Dutch Golden Age.

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21/02/1595

Robert Southwell, English priest and poet (born 1561)

Robert Southwell, SJ, also Saint Robert Southwell, was an English Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order. He was also an author of Christian poetry in Elizabethan English, and a clandestine missionary in Elizabethan England.

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21/02/1590

Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, English nobleman and general (born 1528)

Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Their father was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who led the English government from 1550–1553 under King Edward VI and unsuccessfully tried to establish Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death in July 1553. For his participation in this venture, Ambrose Dudley was imprisoned in the Tower of London and condemned to death. Reprieved, his rehabilitation came after he fought for King Philip in the Battle of St. Quentin.

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21/02/1572

Cho Sik, Korean poet and scholar (born 1501)

Cho Sik was a Korean philosopher, poet, and politician during the Joseon period. He was a Neo-Confucian scholar who had a major influence on the Northerners in the Joseon Dynasty factional politics.

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21/02/1554

Hieronymus Bock, German botanist and physician (born 1498)

Hieronymus Bock was a German botanist, physician, and Lutheran minister who began the transition from medieval botany to the modern scientific worldview by arranging plants by their relation or resemblance. The standard author abbreviation H.Bock is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

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21/02/1543

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Somalian general (born 1507)

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was the Imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543. Commonly named Ahmed Gragn in Amharic and Gurey in Somali, both meaning the left-handed, he led the invasion and conquest of Abyssinia from the Sultanate of Adal during the Ethiopian–Adal War. He is often referred to as the "King of Zeila" in medieval texts.

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21/02/1513

Pope Julius II (born 1443)

Pope Julius II was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome Pope, it is often speculated that he had chosen his papal name not in honor of Pope Julius I but in emulation of Julius Caesar. One of the most powerful and influential popes, Julius II was a central figure of the High Renaissance and left a significant cultural and political legacy. As a result of his policies during the Italian Wars, the Papal States increased their power and centralization, and the office of the papacy continued to be crucial, diplomatically and politically, during the entirety of the 16th century in Italy and Europe.

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21/02/1471

Jan Rokycana, Czech bishop and theologian (born 1396)

Jan Rokycana was a Czech Hussite theologian in the Kingdom of Bohemia and a key figure of the Bohemian Reformation.

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21/02/1437

James I of Scotland (born 1394; assassinated)

James I was King of Scots from 1406 to 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and his wife Annabella Drummond. His older brother David, Duke of Rothesay died under suspicious circumstances while being detained by their uncle, Robert, Duke of Albany. His other brother, Robert, died young. Fears for James's safety grew through the winter of 1405/6 and plans were made to send him to France. In February 1406, James was forced to take refuge in the castle of the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth after his escort was attacked by supporters of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas. He remained there until mid-March, when he boarded a vessel bound for France. On 22 March, English pirates captured the ship and delivered the prince to Henry IV of England. The ailing Robert III died on 4 April, and the 11-year-old James, now the uncrowned King of Scotland, would not regain his freedom for another eighteen years.

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21/02/1267

Baldwin of Ibelin, Seneschal of Cyprus

Baldwin of Ibelin was the fourth of five sons of John I of Beirut and his second wife Melisende of Arsuf.

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21/02/1211

Aymon de Briançon, archbishop of Tarentaise and crusader

Aymon de Briançon was a Burgundian nobleman and Carthusian monk who served as the archbishop of Tarentaise from around 1175 until his death. From 1186, he was a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. He took part in the Third Crusade in 1189.

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21/02/1184

Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Japanese shōgun (born 1154)

Minamoto no Yoshinaka , also known as Kiso Yoshinaka , was a Japanese samurai lord mentioned in the epic poem The Tale of the Heike. A member of the Minamoto clan, he was a cousin and later rival of shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans in the late Heian period.

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21/02/0675

Randoald of Grandval, prior of the Benedictine monastery of Grandval

Saint Randoald was prior of the Benedictine Moutier-Grandval Abbey under Germanus of Granfelden. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic church.

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21/02/0004

Gaius Caesar, Roman consul and grandson of Augustus (born 20 BC)

The 0s began on January 1, AD 1 and ended on December 31, AD 9, covering the first nine years of the Common Era.

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