On this day in history

February 16

33 births · 13 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

108

Act of Independence of Lithuania

108 years ago

Born this day

1848

Octave Mirbeau

Died aged 69

Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

Oldest record

747th

Afonso III of Portugal

death anniversary

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Famous births33

1497 · 529 yrs

Philipp Melanchthon

Philipp Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and influential designer of educational systems.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 63

View profile Photo (modified): Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop · Public domain

1620 · 406 yrs

Frederick William of Brandenburg

Frederick William (German: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Frans Luycx · Public domain

1812 · 214 yrs

Henry Wilson

Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to 1873.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 63

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1822 · 204 yrs

Francis Galton

Sir Francis Galton (16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and books.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 88

View profile Photo (modified): Eveleen Myers (née Tennant) · Public domain

1834 · 192 yrs

Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (German:; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 85

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1838 · 188 yrs

Henry Adams

Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian, journalist, author, intellectual, and prominent figure in high society in London and Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. presidents.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScholarshipDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): William Notman · Public domain

1848 · 178 yrs

Octave Mirbeau

Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau (French:; 16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde with highly…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1848 · 178 yrs

Hugo de Vries

Hugo Marie de Vries (Dutch:; 16 February 1848 – 21 May 1935) was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 87

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1852 · 174 yrs

Charles Taze Russell

Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852– October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bible Student movement.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): Mitchell · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs100 Club

George F. Kennan

George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 122

View profile Photo (modified): Harris & Ewing · Public domain

1921 · 105 yrs

Hua Guofeng

Hua Guofeng (born Su Zhu (苏铸); 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008; also spelled as Hua Kuo-feng) was a Chinese politician who served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the premier of China.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 105

View profile Photo (modified): Bibliothèque de l'Hôtel de Ville - Bibliothèques spécialisées de la Ville de Paris · Public domain

1941 · 85 yrs

Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong Il (16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician and dictator who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his own death in 2011.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 85

View profile Photo (modified): Presidential Press and Information Office · CC BY 4.0

Showing 12 of 33

Famous deaths13

1279 · 747 yrs

Afonso III of Portugal

Afonso III (Afonso Afonso; 5 May 1210 – 16 February 1279), called the Boulonnais (Portuguese: o Bolonhês), was King of Portugal and the first to use the title King of Portugal and the Algarve, from 1249.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0

1391 · 635 yrs

John V Palaiologos

John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Ίωάννης Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Iōánnēs Komnēnós Palaiológos; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): unknown Byzantine period artist · Public domain

1673 · 353 yrs

Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (French pronunciation:; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (UK:, US:; French: ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world literature.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 51

View profile Photo (modified): Pierre Mignard I · Public domain

1899 · 127 yrs

Félix Faure

Félix François Faure (French:; 30 January 1841 – 16 February 1899) was President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Attributed to Nadar · Public domain

1907 · 119 yrs

Giosuè Carducci

Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher. He was noticeably influential, and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 71

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1917 · 109 yrs

Octave Mirbeau

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1932 · 94 yrs

Ferdinand Buisson

Ferdinand Édouard Buisson (French pronunciation:; 20 December 1841 – 16 February 1932) was a French educational public servant, pacifist, and Radical-Socialist (left liberal) politician. He presided over the League of Education from 1902 to 1906 and over the Human Rights League (LDH) from 1914 to 1926.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 90

View profile Photo (modified): Georges Chevalier · CC BY 4.0

1990 · 36 yrs

Keith Haring

Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist and activist. His bold, graphic imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 68

View profile Photo (modified): Rob Bogaerts (Anefo) · CC0

1992 · 34 yrs

Angela Carter

Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, née Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realist, and picaresque works.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 86

View profile Photo (modified): Spudgun67 · CC BY-SA 4.0

1997 · 29 yrs

Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu (Chinese: 吳健雄; pinyin: Wú Jiànxióng; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 114

View profile Photo (modified): Smithsonian Institution from United States · No restrictions

2016 · 10 yrs

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Boutros Boutros-Ghali (14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1992 to 1996. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Boutros-Ghali was the acting minister of foreign affairs of Egypt between 1977 and 1979.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 103

View profile Photo (modified): EC - Audiovisual Service · CC BY 4.0

2024 · 2 yrs

Alexei Navalny

Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (Russian: Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, IPA:; 4 June 1976 – 16 February 2024) was a Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in 2011.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 50

View profile Photo (modified): Navalny's Team · CC BY 3.0

Showing 12 of 13

Events5

1918 · 108 yrs

Act of Independence of Lithuania

The Act of Independence of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Aktas) or the Act of February 16th, also the Lithuanian Resolution on Independence (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Nutarimas), was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1940 · 86 yrs

Altmark Incident

The Altmark incident (Norwegian: Altmark-affæren; German: Altmark-Zwischenfall) was a naval incident of World War II between British destroyers and the German tanker Altmark, which happened on 16–17 February 1940. It took place in what were neutral Norwegian waters.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1985 · 41 yrs

Iran–Israel proxy conflict

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a proxy conflict since 1985. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2014 · 12 yrs

67th British Academy Film Awards

The 67th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, were held on 16 February 2014 at the Royal Opera House in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2013. The nominations were announced on 8 January 2014 by actor Luke Evans and actress Helen McCrory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2024 · 2 yrs

Death and funeral of Alexei Navalny

On 16 February 2024, at 14:19 Moscow time (11:19 GMT), the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug announced that Russian opposition activist and political prisoner Alexei Navalny died while serving a 19-year prison sentence in FKU IK-3, a corrective colony in the village of…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

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