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842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in French and German language.

1014 - Pope Boniface I recognizes Henry of Bavaria as King of Germany.

1076 - Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

1556 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.

1575 - Henry III of France marries Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont.

1743 - Henry Pelham becomes British Prime Minister.

1779 - James Cook is killed by the natives of the Sandwich Islands.

1797 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent - John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent & Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) led the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.

1803 - Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of U.S. Congress which conflicts with the Constitution is void.

1804 - Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

1831 - Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills dejjazmatch Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.

1835 - The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.

1843 - The event that inspired the song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! is held.

1849 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

1854 - Texas linked by telegraph with the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.

1859 - Oregon admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone,as does Elisha Gray.

1879 - The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.

1886 - First trainload of oranges left Los Angeles via the transcontinental railroad.

1895 - First performance of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnest at the St James's Theatre in London).

1899 - Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

1900 - Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.

1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.

1903 - The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into Dept. of Commerce and Dept. of Labor).

1912 - Arizona admitted as the 48th U.S. state.

1912 - In Groton, Connecticut, the first diesel-powered submarine is commissioned.

1918 - Tarzan of the Apes, the first movie featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan character, is released.

1918 - The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (1 February according to the Julian calendar).

1919 - The Polish-Soviet War begins.

1920 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois.

1924 - The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is founded.

1929 - St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven gangster rivals of Al Capone are murdered in Chicago, Illinois.

1943 - World War II: Rostov, Russia is liberated.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass - German General Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia.

1944 - World War II: Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.

1945 - On the second day of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony.

1945 - Bombing of Prague - probably due to a mistake in the orientation of the pilots bombing Dresden.

1945 - Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru join the United Nations.

1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS ''Quincy'', officially starting the U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relationship.

1945 - Fascism destroyed in City of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina(then:Yugoslavia) thanks to partisans(Dalmatinaska birgada, Hercegovacka divizija).

1946 - The Bank of England is nationalized.

1946 - ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"), the first general-purpose electronic computer, unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania.

1949 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes.

1949 - The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

1952 - Olympic Games: Winter Olympic Games - VI Olympic Winter Games open in Oslo, Norway.

1956 - The XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union starts in Moscow. In the last night of the meeting, in a secret session, Premier Nikita Khruschev condemns Josef Stalin's crimes.

1961 - Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.

1962 - First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.

1966 - Australian currency is decimalised.

1979 - In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

1980 - Olympic Games: Winter Olympic Games - XIII Olympic Winter Games open in Lake Placid, New York.

1980 - Walter Cronkite announces his retirement from the CBS Evening News.

1981 - Stardust Disaster. A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people

1983 - United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher is later convicted of fraud.

1985 - CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon.

1989 - Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.

1989 - Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie.

1989 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit.

1998 - Authorities in the United States announce that Eric Robert Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing.

2000 - The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

2002 - The Tullaghmurray Lass sinks off the coast of Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland killing three members of the same family on board.

2004 - In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.

2005 - Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, is assassinated, prompting the Cedar Revolution (Intifada of Independence).

2005 - Seven people were killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit the Philippines' Makati financial district in Metro Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City.

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1404 - Leone Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (d. 1472)

1468 - Johann Werner, German mathematician (d. 1522)

1483 - Zahir al-Din Mohammed Babur Shah, Moghul emperor of India (d. 1530)

1602 - Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676)

1680 - John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, English privy councillor (d. 1737)

1692 - Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (d. 1754)

1701 - Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (d. 1773)

1763 - Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813)

1766 - Thomas Malthus, English economist (d. 1834)

1812 - Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (d. 1846)

1817 - Frederick Douglas adopted as his birthday (d. 1895)

1819 - Joshua A. Norton, Emperor Norton I of the United States of America and Protector of Mexico (d. 1880)

1828 - Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (d. 1885)

1846 - Julian Scott, American Civil War artist and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. (d. 1901)

1847 - Anna Howard Shaw, American women's suffrage leader (d. 1919)

1848 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (d. 1934)

1856 - Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (d. 1931)

1869 - Charles Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1959)

1884 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, missionary (d. 1972)

1890 - Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (d. 1956)

1892 - Radola Gajda, Czech military commander (d. 1948)

1894 - Jack Benny, American actor and comedian (d. 1974)

1895 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)

1898 - Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974)

1903 - Stu Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)

1905 - Thelma Ritter, American actress (d. 1969)

1912 - Tibor Sekelj, Croatian explorer (d. 1988)

1913 - Mel Allen, American sports reporter (d. 1996)

1913 - Woody Hayes, American college football coach (d. 1987)

1913 - Jimmy Hoffa, American labor union leader (disappeared 1975)

1916 - Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director (d. 1996)

1916 - Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)

1917 - Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician, Nobel Prize Laureate

1921 - Hugh Downs, American television host

1927 - Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress

1929 - Vic Morrow, actor (d. 1982)

1931 - Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (d. 2006)

1931 - Brian Kelly, American actor (d. 2005)

1932 - Alexander Kluge, German actor and film director

1933 - Madhubala, Indian actress (d. 1969)

1934 - Michel Corboz, Swiss conductor

1934 - Florence Henderson, American actress

1936 - Fanne Foxe, Argentine dancer

1936 - Andrew Prine, American actor

1940 - Mary Rand, British athlete

1941 - Donna Shalala, American educator, politician & 6th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

1941 - Paul Tsongas, American politician, United States Senator from Massachusetts (d. 1997)

1942 - Michael Bloomberg, American businessman, politician, & Mayor of New York City

1942 - Andrew Robinson, actor

1942 - Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (d. 1962)

1943 - Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk)

1944 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist

1944 - Alan Parker, British film director and writer

1945 - Frank Welker, American actor

1946 - Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (d. 2003)

1946 - Gregory Hines, American dancer and actor (d. 2003)

1948 - Pat O'Brien, American sportscaster and television host

1948 - Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller)

1951 - Kevin Keegan, Liverpool Footballer

1951 - JoJo Starbuck, American ice skater

1955 - Rip Rogers, American professional wrestler

1959 - Renee Fleming, Canadian soprano

1960 - Jim Kelly, American football player

1960 - Meg Tilly, Canadian actress

1961 - Phillip Hamilton, American Author

1962 - Kevyn Aucoin, American cosmetologist (d. 2002)

1962 - Philippe Sella, French rugby player

1963 - Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor

1963 - Zach Galligan, American actor

1964 - Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist

1967 - Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player

1967 - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, British entrepreneur

1968 - Jules Asner, American model and television personality

1968 - Nelson Frazier, Jr., American professional wrestler

1970 - Simon Pegg, British comedian, writer, and actor

1971 - Noriko Sakai, Japanese singer

1971 - Tommy Dreamer, American professional wrestler

1972 - Drew Bledsoe, American football player

1972 - Hiroshi, Japanese comedian

1972 - Rob Thomas, American musician (matchbox twenty)

1973 - Steve McNair, American football player

1976 - Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer (Leaves' Eyes, ex-Theatre of Tragedy)

1977 - Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist

1978 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player

1978 - Darius Songaila, basketball player

1979 - Antonio Chatman, American football player

1980 - Fatima Leyva, Mexican footballer

1983 - Will South, Thirteen Senses frontman

1985 - Hamed Namouchi, Tunisian footballer

1985 - Philippe Senderos, Swiss footballer

1985 - Natsume Sano, Japanese gravure idol

1987 - Joseph Pichler, American actor

1992 - Freddie Highmore, British actor

1994 - Paul Butcher Jr., American actor

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1317 - Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282)

1400 - King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367)

1405 - Timur, Mongol conqueror (b. 1336)

1523 - Pope Adrian VI

1676 - Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist

1737 - Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)

1744 - John Hadley, inventor (b. 1682)

1779 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728)

1780 - William Blackstone, English jurist (b. 1723)

1808 - John Dickinson, American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania (b. 1732)

1831 - Vicente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary hero (b. 1782)

1831 - Henry Maudslay, English inventor (b. 1771)

1885 - Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832)

1891 - William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General (b. 1820)

1894 - Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (b. 1814)

1929 - Tom Burke, American runner (b. 1875)

1942 - Adnan Bin Saidi, Malayan soldiers (killed) (b. 1915)

1943 - Dora Gerson, German actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (b. 1899)

1943 - David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862)

1949 - Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader

1952 - Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)

1958 - Abdul Rab Nishtar, veteran leader of Pakistan Movement, (b. 1899)

1959 - Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (b. 1898)

1967 - Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)

1969 - Vito Genovese, American gangster (b. 1897)

1970 - Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (b. 1880).

1974 - Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1903)

1975 - Julian Huxley, British biologist (b. 1887)

1975 - P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881)

1979 - Adolph Dubs, American diplomat (b. 1920)

1983 - Lina Radke, German athlete (b. 1903)

1987 - Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky, Russian composer (b. 1904)

1988 - Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901)

1989 - James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900)

1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (executed) (b. 1936)

1994 - Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (b. 1923)

1995 - U Nu, Burmese politician (b. 1907)

1999 - John Ehrlichman, American presidential advisor (b. 1925)

2002 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)

2003 - Dolly the sheep, first cloned mammal (b. 1996)

2003 - Johnny Longden, English jockey (b. 1907)

2004 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)

2005 - Najai Turpin, American boxer

2005 - Rafik Hariri, Lebanese politician and billionaire businessman (b. 1944)

2006 - Shoshana Damari, the "Queen of Israeli song" (b. 1923)

2006 - Lynden David Hall, British singer (b.1974)

2006 - Jackie Pallo, Famous British wrestler

2006 - Darry Cowl, French musician and actor (b. 1925)

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Denmark - Fastelavn. Children dress up, much like Halloween in the US.

Mexico - Day of National Mourning (1831).

Arizona - Admission Day (1912).

Oregon - Admission Day (1859).

Western World - Valentine's Day.

Iraq - 'Communist Martyrs Day' celebrated by Iraqi Communist Party.

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Liturgical feasts

Europe/Catholicism - Feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe.
Saint Abraham (d. 422)
Saint Valentine (d. 422).