Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (1201–1274; AH 598–673), commonly known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (Arabic: نصیر الدین الطوسی; Persian: نصیر الدین طوسی) or simply (al-)Tusi, was a Persian polymath, architect, philosopher, physician, scientist, and theologian, as well as a prominent Shiʿite scholar.

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ScienceDied aged 73

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1653 · 373 yrs

Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli (also UK:, US:; Italian:; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer, musician, and violinist of the middle Baroque era.

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MusicDied aged 59

View profile Photo (modified): Hugh Howard (1675-1737) · Public domain

1781 · 245 yrs

René Laennec

René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (French:; 17 February 1781 – 13 August 1826) was a French medical doctor and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker.

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ScienceDied aged 45

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

1792 · 234 yrs

Karl Ernst von Baer

Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer Edler von Huthorn (Russian: Карл Макси́мович Бэр; 28 February 1792 – 28 November 1876) was a Baltic German scientist and explorer. Baer was a naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and is considered a, or the, founding father of embryology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 84

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1817 · 209 yrs

William III of the Netherlands

William III (Dutch: Willem III, French: Guillaume III; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 1890, and was also the Duke of Limburg from 1849 until the abolition of the duchy in 1866.

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RoyaltyDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Maria Elisabeth Hille · Public domain

1836 · 190 yrs

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (Spanish pronunciation:), was a Spanish Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, literary columnist, and talented in drawing.

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LiteratureDied aged 34

View profile Photo (modified): Valeriano Bécquer · Public domain

1880 · 146 yrs

Álvaro Obregón

Álvaro Obregón Salido (Spanish pronunciation:; 19 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) was a Mexican general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but was assassinated before he could take office.

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PoliticsWould be 146

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

1888 · 138 yrs

Otto Stern

Otto Stern (German:; 17 February 1888 – 17 August 1969) was a German–American experimental physicist. He is the second most nominated person for a Nobel Prize, with 82 nominations during the years 1925–1945.

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ScienceWould be 138

View profile Photo (modified): Nobelprize.org · Public domain

1890 · 136 yrs

Ronald Fisher

Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was an English polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic.

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ScienceWould be 136

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1903 · 123 yrs

Sadegh Hedayat

Sadegh Hedayat (Persian: صادق هدایت, Persian pronunciation:; 17 February 1903 – 9 April 1951) was an Iranian writer, translator, satirist, and poet. Best known for his novel The Blind Owl, he was one of the earliest Iranian writers to adopt literary modernism in their career.

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LiteratureWould be 123

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1904 · 122 yrs

Hans Morgenthau

Hans Joachim Morgenthau (February 17, 1904 – July 19, 1980) was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations.

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ScienceWould be 122

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Showing 12 of 27

Famous deaths12

1450 · 576 yrs

Sejong the Great

Sejong (Korean: 세종; Hanja: 世宗; May 15, 1397 – April 8, 1450), commonly known as Sejong the Great (세종대왕; 世宗大王), was the fourth monarch of the Koreanic state Joseon. He ruled from 1418 to his death in 1450.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 52

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1827 · 199 yrs

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ( pes-tuh-LOT-see; German:; Italian:; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Francisco Javier Ramos · Public domain

1856 · 170 yrs

Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic.

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LiteratureDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Moritz Daniel Oppenheim · Public domain

1909 · 117 yrs

Gerónimo

Gerónimo (Mescalero-Chiricahua: Goyaałé, lit. 'the one who yawns',; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 79

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

1934 · 92 yrs

Albert I of Belgium

Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Studio of Eugène Pirou · Public domain

1934 · 92 yrs

Siegbert Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch (German pronunciation:; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsDied aged 71

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

1970 · 56 yrs

Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Hebrew: שמואל יוסף עגנון \ שְׁמוּאֵל יוֹסֵף עַגְנוֹן shmuél yoséf agnón; August 8, 1887 – February 17, 1970) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature.

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LiteratureWould be 139

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1982 · 44 yrs

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 109

View profile Photo (modified): William P. Gottlieb / Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1986 · 40 yrs

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti (pronounced /ˈdʒɪduː ˌkrɪʃnəˈmʊərti/; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was an Indian spiritual figure, speaker, and writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 131

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1998 · 28 yrs100 Club

Ernst Jünger

Ernst Jünger (German:; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel.

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LiteratureWould be 131

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2005 · 21 yrs

Omar Sívori

Enrique Omar Sívori (Spanish:, Italian:; 2 October 1935 – 17 February 2005) was an Argentine-Italian football player and manager who played as a forward.

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SportsWould be 91

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

2026 · 0 yrs

Jesse Jackson

Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026) was an American civil rights activist, LGBTQ rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr.

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ActivismWould be 85

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Events5

1913 · 113 yrs

Armory Show

The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibitions that have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

1979 · 47 yrs

Sino-Vietnamese War

The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a war which occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, which ended the rule of the Khmer Rouge.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1986 · 40 yrs

Single European Act

The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market by 31 December 1992, and a forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) it helped codify European Political Co-operation.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2008 · 18 yrs

2008 Kosovo declaration of independence

The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, which proclaimed the Republic of Kosovo to be an independent and sovereign state, was adopted at a meeting held on 17 February 2008 by 109 out of the 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo, including the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, and by the President of Kosovo,…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2016 · 10 yrs

February 2016 Ankara bombing

The February 2016 Ankara bombing killed at least 30 people and injured 60 in the capital of Turkey.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

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