364 – Roman Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.
1568 – Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay tribute to the Sultan for peace
1600 – Giordano Bruno, advocate of Copernican theory, burned at stake
1673 - Molière, [Jean Baptiste Poquelin], French playwright, Humorist (The Misanthrope), dies. (b. 1622)
1688 – Rev James Renwick, hanged in Scotland for being a Presbyterian
1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1837 – Charles Lyell makes his presidential address to the Geographical Society, London and announces that Richard Owen has concluded from Darwin’s fossils that extinct species were related to current species in the same locality
1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1864 – Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson, NSW Australia, poet (Waltzing Matilda) Born
1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1870 – Mississippi becomes 9th state readmitted to US after Civil War
1889 – H[aroldson] L Hunt, Texas oil multi-millionaire – Birthed
1902 – A general strike in Barcelona and nearby towns leads to government-troop reprisals that leave 40 dead
1907 – Henry Steel Olcott, US co-founder (Theosophist Society), dies at 74 (co founder Madame Blavatsky portrayed the Theosophical Society as being part of one of many attempts throughout the millennia by this hidden Hierarchy to guide humanity )
1909 – Geronimo [one who yawns], Apache chief, dies at 79
1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century. ( Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp …)
1925 – Hal Holbrook, actor (All the President’s Men, Mark Twain), born in Cleveland, Ohio Born
1932 – Buck Trent, Spartanburg SC, banjoist/singer (Hee Haw) Born
1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
1933 – Newsweek magazine is first published.
1936 – Jim Brown, St. Simons Georgia, NFL running back, Actor, Activist (Cleveland Browns) Born
1936 – The world’s first superhero, The Phantom, a cartoon strip by Lee Falk, makes his first appearance in comics.
1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (d. 1989) was born.
1943 – NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio enlists into the US army
1947 – Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR
1949 – Chaim Weitzman elected 1st president of Israel
1950 – Rickey Medlocke, American guitarist (Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd) was born.
1959 – Daniel Ray “Danny” Ainge, basketball star, GM (Boston Celtics) Born
1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
1962 – Beach Boys introduced a “new” musical style with their hit “Surfin”
1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, Philippines, actor (La Bamba, Stand & Deliver) Born
1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and actor was born.
1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player and actor was born.
1964 – Buster Olney, American sports columnist Born
1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
1964 – Gabonese president Leon M’ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer was born.
1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the “Sea of Tranquility” would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
1969 – Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash record an album; it was never released.
1970 – Joni Mitchell’s final concert (Royal Albert Hall)
1972 – Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.
1972 – British Parliament votes to join European Common Market
1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer (Green Day, Pinhead Gunpowder, The Network, and Foxboro Hot Tubs) was born.
1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and drummer (Foo Fighters and Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders) was born.
1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA (allegedly) detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.
1980 – Jerry Fielding, composer (Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes), dies at 57
1981 – Chrysler Corp reports largest corporate losses in US history
1981 – Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress, Birthed
1982 – Lee Strasberg, acting coach/actor (And Justice for All), dies at 81
1982 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist and composer, dies at 64
1989 – 6-week study of Arctic atmosphere shows no ozone “hole”
1995 – Colin Fergusson found guilty of killing 6 people on the Long Island Rail Road in NY
1995 – Federal judge allows lawsuit claiming US tobacco makers knew nicotine was addictive & manipulated its levels to keep customers hooked
1996 – NASA’s Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
1996 – Garry Kasparov defeats Deep Blue 4-2 in chess
1997 – Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Pasadena Calif
2001 – Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948) Dies before 911
2003 – The London congestion charge is introduced.
2011 – Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
2012 – The President of Germany, Christian Wulff, resigns over a corruption scandal
2012 – Approximately 70 ancient Olympic artifacts are stolen from the Archaeological Museum of Greece
2013 – Mindy McCready, American country singer, commits suicide by gunshot at 37
2014 – The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon premieres on NBC
2014 – US Secretary of State John Kerry claims “climate change” requires urgent action and that only a small “window of time” remained open