- 1040 Rashi, French rabbi (d. 1105)
- 1403 Charles VII, King of France (1422-61), drove the English out from Northern France, (d. 1461)
- 1440 Ladislaus V Posthumus, King of Hungary/Bohemia
- 1500 Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)
- 1514 Tahmasp I, shah of Persia (1524-76)/author (Tazkire-i Shah)
- 1612 George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d. 1677)
- 1634 Petrus "Pieter" van Schooten, fortress architect
- 1684 William Pulteney, statesman (Earl of Bath), born in London, England
- 1705 Peter Arctedius, [Artedi], Swedish biologist
- 1714 Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (d. 1795)
George Washington
1732 George Washington, 1st President of the United States (1789-97) and Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, born in Westmoreland, Virginia (d. 1799)
George Washington
- 1756 Georg Friedrich von Martens, German diplomat (d. 1821)
- 1773 Matthijs I van Bree, Flemish (court)painter
- 1778 Rembrandt Peale, portrait/historical painter (Court of Death)
- 1785 Jean Charles Athanase Peltier, Ham, French Physicist (Peltier effect 1834)
- 1788 Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (Great Pessimist)
- 1796 Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian astronomer, mathematician and sociologist (body mass index scale), born in Ghent, French Republic (d. 1874)
- 1796 Alexis Bachelot, French missionary (d. 1837)
- 1797 William I, Berlin, King of Prussia (1861-88)/German Emperor (1871-88)
- 1798 Charles Mynn Thruston, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Lexington, Kentucky (d. 1873)
- 1806 Józef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (d. 1875)
- 1817 Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880)
- 1819 James Russell Lowell, poet/critic/diplomat/abolitionist
- 1822 Adolf Kuszmaul, German physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease)
- 1824 Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (d. 1907)
- 1825 Jean Baptiste Salpointe, second Archbishop of Santa Fe (d. 1898)
- 1827 James Barnet Fry, American historian and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Carrollton, Illinois (d. 1894)
- 1828 Robert Alexander Cameron, American soldier and newspaper publisher (Union Army), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1894)
- 1838 Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen, discoverer of hydrogen in Sun
- 1839 Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (d. 1906)
- 1840 F August Bebel, German social-democrat
- 1842 Leon Vanderkindere, Belgian historian/mayor (Ukkel)
- 1843 Affonso de Escragnolle Taunay, France/Brazil writer (Inocencia)
- 1849 Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d. 1915)
- 1850 Isaac L Rice, German (namesake of Columbia Univ's Rice stadium)
- 1852 Pieter K Pel, internist (Pel-Ebstein fever)
- 1857 Heinrich Hertz, physicist, 1st to broadcast & receive radio waves
Robert Baden-Powell
1857 Robert Baden-Powell, British officer and founder of the modern scouting movement, born in Paddington, London (d. 1941)
Robert Baden-Powell
- 1862 Karen Hulda Garborg[-Bergersen], Norwegian playwright (Mot Solen/Eli)
- 1864 Jules Renard, French writer (Poil de Carotte)
- 1865 Otto Modersohn, German painter
- 1868 Henri Polak, union leader/politician (soc-dem)
- 1873 Muhammad Iqbal, Dutch East Indies lawyer/poet/philosopher
- 1877 Yme C Schuitmaker, Dutch potato salesman/dramatist
- 1878 Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d. 1909)
- 1880 Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)
- 1881 Joseph B. Ely, American politician (d. 1956)
- 1882 Eric Gill, England, sculptor/engraver/typographer (Perpetua)
- 1883 Alfred Wikenhauser, German RC exegetist (John-Apokalyps)
- 1886 Hugo Ball, German playwright/co-founder Flametti
- 1887 Mary Ellen Chase, educator/author (Windswept, 1959 Sarah Hale Award)
- 1888 Owen Brewster, American politician (d. 1961)
- 1889 Robin G Collingwood, English philosopher (Roman Britain)
- 1889 Olave Baden-Powell, English founder of the Girl Guide (d. 1977)
- 1891 Jan Wils, Holland, architect/designer (Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium)
- 1891 Vlas Chubar, Soviet politician (d. 1939)
- 1892 David Dubinsky, labor leader (Freedom Award, 1969 Medal of Freedom)
- 1892 Edna St Vincent Millay, poet/dramatist/feminist (Harp Weaver-Pulitzer Prize), born in Rockland, Maine (d. 1950)
- 1895 Victor RaulHaya de la Torre, founder (Peruvian Aprista Party)
- 1896 Paul Van Ostaijen, Flemish poet/writer/critic (Occupied City)
- 1897 Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
- 1898 Anton de Kom, Surinam/Dutch worker's union leader/resistance fighter
- 1899 Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (d. 1986)
- 1900 Giorgos Seferis [Georgios Seferiades], Greek poet (Nobel 1963), born in Urla, Ottoman Empire (d. 1971)
- 1900 Seán Ó Faoláin [John Whelan], Irish short story writer (Murder at Cobbler's Hulk), born in Cork City, County Cork, Ireland (d. 1991)
- 1901 Charles E Whittaker, Kansas, US Supreme Court justice (1957-62)
- 1903 Morley Callaghan, Canadian author (Toronto Star, Native Argosy)
- 1903 Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi (d. 1969)
- 1904 Peter Hurd, Roswell NM, painter (Portrait of Jose Herrera)
- 1908 Romulo Betancourt, President of Venezuela (1945-48, 1958-64)
- 1909 Roderick Barclay, diplomat
- 1910 Muriel Monkhouse, Red Cross worker
- 1914 Renato Dulbecco, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
- 1917 Harmen van Rossum, civil servant/resistance fighter (WWII)
- 1917 Jane Bowles, American writer, born in NYC, New York (d. 1973)
- 1918 Robert Wadlow, Alton Ill, tallest known human (2.72 m, 8' 11.1")
Alfred J. Gross
1918 Alfred J. Gross, American inventor (invented the walkie-talkie), born in Toronto, Canada (d. 2000)
Alfred J. Gross
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
1921 Jean-Bédel Bokassa, President (1966-1976) and later Emperor (1976-1979) of the Central African Republic, born in Bobangui, then French Equatorial Guinea (d. 1996)
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
- 1921 Wayne Booth, American literary critic (d. 2005)
- 1921 David Greene, British television director (d. 2003)
- 1922 William J. Baumol, American economist (Baumol’s cost disease), born in South Bronx, New York (d. 2017)
- 1925 Edward Gorey, author/artist (Curious Sofa), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1925 Raymond Joseph Cecil, British architect
- 1930 JPS van Neerven, Dutch economist/editor (Limbourg Daily)
- 1930 James McGarrell, American painter
- 1932 Edward M "Ted" Kennedy, Boston Massachusetts Politician (Sen-D-Mass 1962- 2009 )
- 1933 Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley, England, Duchess of Kent
- 1933 Joseph Lechleider, American electrical engineer (invented DSL /high speed internet technology), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2015)
- 1935 Ineke Haas-Berger, Dutch politician (PvdA)
- 1936 J. Michael Bishop, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
- 1937 Joanna Russ, American sci-fi author (Hugo, Female Man, Alyx)
- 1937 Samuel Whitbread, English brewer/multi-millionaire
- 1938 Ishmael Reed, American author (Last Days of Louisiana Red)
- 1938 Pierre Vallières, French-Canadian politician (d. 1995)
- 1940 Johnson P Mlambo, South African leader (Pan-African Congress)
- 1940 Billy Name [William Linich Jr], photographer (Andy Warhol's factory), born in Poughkeepsie, New York (d. 2016)
- 1941 Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician
- 1943 David E Skaggs, (Rep-D-Colorado)
- 1943 Horst Köhler, President of Germany
- 1944 Robert Kardashian, American lawyer, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2003)
- 1947 John Bryant, (Rep-D-TX, 1983- )
- 1951 Harley O Staggers Jr, (Rep-D-WV, 1983- )
- 1952 James Philip Bagian, MDPE/astronaut (STS 29, STS 40), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1952 Bill Frist, American politician
- 1959 Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
- 1962 Lenda Murray, body builder (4X Ms Olympia), born in Detroit, Michigan
- 1963 Pebbles Flintstone, fictional character on "The Flintstones"
- 1965 Dean Karr, American director and photographer
- 1966 Resha Riggins, Miss Alabama (1990), born in Trussville Alabama
- 1966 Brian Greig, Australian politician
- 1968 Shawn Graham, Canadian politician
- 1969 Hans Klok, Dutch illusionist
- 1974 Chris Moyles, English DJ
- 1982 Robert Weiner, Jr., American water polo player, born in Newport Beach, California
- 1984 Venetian Princess Internet (You tube) Star (Real Name: Jodie-Amy Rivera)
- 1985 Sean Garballey, American politician
- 1989 Alia Sabur, American college educator
February in History
Buried at Sea: The Casket That Carried JFK
John F. Kennedy's aides struggling to load the casket containing the slain President aboard Air Force One is an enduring image. But what happened to the casket?
February 18, 1966
Final Deadly Performance of a Twisted Actor
From a celebrated family of actors came a young man with a twisted mind whose last performance involved the death of a president.
February 20, 1817
Wonder of Woolworths Begins its Meteoric Rise
It was a simple idea: opening a store where nothing cost more than five cents. The idea caught on so quickly that Woolworth’s became a retail phenomenon.
February 22, 1878
The Man Who Re-wrote 'Offensive' Shakespeare
Thomas Bowdler, the man who re-wrote Shakespeare to remove the "offensive" bits, died on this day and added a new word – bowdlerise – to the language.
February 24, 1825