- 590 Pelagius II, Gothic Pope (579-90), dies from plague
- 999 Boleslaus II of Bohemia
- 1045 Emperor Go-Suzaku, 69th Emperor of Japan (1036-45), dies at 37
- 1317 Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)
- 1560 Bartolomeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (b. 1493)
- 1593 Jacques Amyot, French humanist, translator and Abbot of Bellozanne, dies at 79
- 1609 Ferdinand I, cardinal/ruler of Toscane, dies
- 1626 William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
- 1642 William Bedell, English clergyman (b. 1571)
- 1690 William Morice, English royalist statesman
- 1693 Paul Pellisson, French writer, dies at 68
- 1736 Stephen Gray, English astronomer and scientist (b. 1666)
- 1799 Qianlong, Emperor of China, 6th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, dies at 87
- 1801 Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)
- 1823 Ann Radcliffe, English Gothic novelist (The Romance of the Forest), dies at 58
- 1837 King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
- 1839 Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)
- 1857 Félix de Merode, Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War and Finance, dies at 65
- 1865 John Henry Winder, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army) and provost marshal, dies at 64
- 1873 Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (The House by the Churchyard), dies at 58
- 1878 Pius IX, "Pio Nono", [Giovanni Ferretti], Pope (1846-78), dies at 85
- 1881 Fredrik Cygnaeus, Finnish poet/literature critic, dies at 73
- 1897 Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and electrical engineer, dies at 49
- 1919 William Halford, American naval officer and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
- 1920 Alexander Koltsjak, adm/leader Russian counter-revolutionary, executed
- 1920 Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (b. 1874)
- 1933 Albert Apponyi, Hungarian politician (Minister of Religion and Education of Hungary), dies at 86
- 1937 Elihu Root, US min of War/Foreign affairs (Nobel 1912), dies at 91
Harvey Firestone
1938 Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer and founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, dies at 69
Harvey Firestone
- 1939 Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (b. 1886)
- 1942 Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator, dies at 65
- 1959 Daniel François Malan, Prime Minister of South Africa (1948-54) who began the implementation of apartheid, dies at 84
- 1960 Igor V Kurtshatov, Russian nuclear physicist, dies at 57
- 1962 Clara Nordström, German writer and translator (b. 1886)
- 1964 Hermann A J Kees, German egyptologist, dies at 77
- 1967 Henry Morgenthau, US minster of Finance (devaluate dollar), dies at 74
- 1977 Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher/lawyer, dies at 82
- 1979 Josef Mengele, concentration camp doctor, drowns
- 1980 Secondo Campini, Italian jet engine pioneer, dies at 75
- 1985 Albert Dondeyne, Belgian philosopher/theologist, dies at 83
- 1986 Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian (b. 1923)
- 1988 Lin[wood V] Carter, American sci-fi writer (Lost World of Time), dies at 57
- 1990 Dom Heider Camara, nonviolent/human rights Bishop of Brazil, dies
- 1990 Nathan Wartels, publisher (Crown), dies at 88 of pneumonia
- 1990 Alfredo M. Santos, First Four-star General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, World War II hero (b. 1905)
- 1991 Gladys LaVerne, dies of heart problems at 87
- 1991 Amos Yarkoni, legendary Israeli soldier (b. 1920)
- 1991 Jean-Paul Mousseau, Quebec painter, member of Les Automatistes (b. 1927)
- 1991 John Steinbeck IV, American author and journalist
- 1992 Jeanne Gerson, dies of cancer & pneumonia at 87
- 1993 W Sybout A Colenbrander, Dutch historian/journalist, dies at 82
- 1994 Maarten Vrolijk, Dutch soc-dem minister (CRM 1965-66), dies at 74
- 1994 Richard Bissell, US under director of CIA (Pig's Bay), dies at 84
- 1995 Helen Wallis, cartographer/Librarian, dies at 70
- 1995 Massimo Pallottino, Italian archaeologist (Etruscologia), dies at 86
- 1996 George Lowthian Trevelyan, designer/visionary, dies at 89
- 1996 Lydia Korneevna Chukovskaya, writer, dies at 88
- 1996 Phillip Davidson, US Army general (b. 1915)
- 1998 Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)
- 1999 King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
- 1999 José Silva, author of Silva Method and the Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)
- 1999 Hussein ibn Talal, King of Jordan (1952-99), dies at 63
- 2000 Doug Henning, Canadian magician, dies at 52
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
2001 Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator, dies of a stroke at 94
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- 2003 Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
- 2003 John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)
- 2006 Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (b. 1914)
- 2012 Patricia Stephens Due, African-American civil rights activist, dies from Alzheimer's disease at 72
- 2012 Florence Holway, American rape victim and activist, dies at 96
- 2015 Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron, English publisher and multi-millionaire (St Ives Group), dies of a heart attack at 84
February in History
![Soccer Star Dodges TV Trap]()
Soccer Star Dodges TV Trap
How did a 'This Is Your Life' surprise for footballer Danny Blanchflower backfire so badly and end with the Tottenham Hotspur star storming off the set?
February 6, 1961![2,000-year-old Glass Treasure Shattered by a Drunk]()
2,000-year-old Glass Treasure Shattered by a Drunk
One of the British Museum's treasured pieces of Roman antiquity was shattered on this day by a drunken visitor.
February 7, 1845![Earthquakes and a Book Rock London]()
Earthquakes and a Book Rock London
In the 18th Century, Englishmen went into a panic when London, of all places, was hit by earthquakes. But was there a stronger force than Mother Nature at work?
February 8, 1750![Why 'SuperMac' was Banished From Number 10]()
Why 'SuperMac' was Banished From Number 10
War hero, Edwardian gentleman, academic, friend of the Kennedys, former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was born on this day.
February 10, 1894
