Events on Feb 21
- 1173Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket Absp of Canterbury
- 1431England begins trial against Joan of Arc
- 1574Spanish garrison of Middelburg Neth surrenders
- 1583Groningen Neth begins using Gregorian calendar
- 1598Boris Godunov crowned tsar
- 1613Michael Romanov, Son of Patriarch of Moscow, elected Russian tsar
- 1673Michiel A de Ruyter appointed Lieutenant Admiral General of Dutch fleet
- 1675Prince Willem III appointed Viceroy of Gelderland
- 1764John Wilkes thrown out of Engl House of Commons for "Essay on Women"
- 1777English ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting US flag
- 1782US Congress resolves establishment of a US mint
- 1792Congress passes Presidential Succession Act
- 1795Freedom of worship established in France under constitution
- 1797Trinidad, West Indies surrenders to British
- 18281st American Indian newspaper in US, "Cherokee Phoenix, " published
- 18421st known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington DC
- 18461st US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley, Lowell, Massachusetts
- 1853US authorizes minting of $3 gold pieces
- 1857Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US
- 1857US issues flying eagle cents
- 1858Edwin T Holmes installs 1st electric burglar alarm (Boston, Massachusetts)
- 1861Navaho indians elect Herrero Grande as chief
- 1862Confederate Constitution and presidency are declared permanent
- 1862Texas Rangers win Confederate victory at Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico
- 18641st US Catholic parish church for blacks dedicated, Baltimore
- 1866Lucy B Hobbs (Taylor) becomes 1st US woman to earn a DDS degree
- 1874Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Gladstone as English Premier
- 1874Oakland Daily Tribune begins publication
- 18781st telephone book issued, 50 subscribers (New Harbor, Connecticut)
- 18832nd French government of Ferry begins
Born on Feb 21
- 1417Louis IX: Duke of Bayern (University of Ingolstadt)
- 1484Joachim I Nestor: Elector (Brandenburg, Constitution)
- 1556Sethus Calvisius: Composer
- 1674Johann Augustin Kobelius: Composer
- 1684Justus van Effen: Writer / founder (Holland Spectator)
- 1690Christoph Stoltzenberg: Composer
- 1710Willem van Haren: Frisian nobleman / poet (Human Life)
- 1728Peter III: Kiel, Germany -- Russian tsar (1762) / husband of Catherine
- 1730Charles L Fournier: Flemish writer / painter
- 1744Eise J Eisinga: Frisia, built planetarium Franeker
- 1776Vincenzo Lavigna: Composer
- 1779Friedrich C von Savigny: German lawyer
- 1785Karl A Varnhagen von Ense: German officer / author (Die Sterner)
- 1795Francisco Manuel da Silva: Composer
- 1800John Henry Winder: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1865
- 1801Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda: Composer
- 1801John Henry Newman: England, United Kingdom -- Cardinal / author (Dream of Gerontius)
- 1802George Douglas Ramsey: Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1882
- 1805David Tod: US diplomat / (Gov-R-Ohio, 1861-63)
- 1814Nicolo Gabrielli: Composer
- 1815Ernest Meissonier: French painter / sculptor
- 1817Jose Zorrilla y Moral: Vallodolid, Spain -- Poet / dramatist (El rey Loco)
- 1821Charles Scribner: United States -- Music publisher (Scribner Catalog)
- 1829Johnson Hagood: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1898
- 1831Eduard Rappoldi: Composer
- 1836Clement-Philibert-Leo Delibes: Composer
- 1836Emil Hartmann: Composer
- 1844Charles-Marie Widor: Lyon, France -- Composer / Professor (Paris Conservatory)
- 1852[James] Burner Matthews: US playwright / critic (NY Times)
- 1855Alice Freeman Palmer: Educator (Hall of Fame)
Died on Feb 21
- 0556Maximianus van Ravenna: Bishop (Basilica S Stefano)
- 1513Julius II [Giuliano dellea Rovere]: Pope (1503-13), dies at 69
- 1554Hieronymus Bock: German doctor (founder of modern botany)
- 1624Dirck van Baburen: Dutch Painter (Sepulture), dies at about 28
- 1648Christian IV: King of Denmark / Norway
- 1653Adriaen Pauw: Master of Heemstede / Dutch Grand Pensionary, dies at 71
- 1677[Benedictus] Baruch Spinoza: Philosopher, dies at 44
- 1684Pieter van den Abeelen: Dutch medallist / jeweller, dies at about 75
- 1689Isaacus Vossius: Dutch [Isaac Vos], librarian
- 1711Joan van Hoorn: Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies (1707-09), dies at 57
- 1790Johann Friedrich Kloffler: Composer, dies at 64
- 1803Edward Despard: Last person drawn and quartered in England
- 1842Wojciech Zywny: Composer, dies at 85
- 1862Justinus A C Kerner: German family doctor / Poet / writer, dies at 75
- 1864Jeffery Forrest: US Confederate Brigadier General, dies in battle
- 1872Pavel P Gagarin: Russian monarch / politician, dies at 82
- 1876Henry John Gauntlett: Composer, dies at 70
- 1879Peter P van Bosse: Dutch liberal Minister of Finance, dies at 69
- 1884John Pike Hullah: Composer, dies at 71
- 1894Gustave Caillebotte: French shipbuilding designer / painter, dies at 45
- 1919Giovanni Bolzoni: Composer, dies at 77
- 1919Habib Ullah Chan: Emir of Afghanistam (1901-19), murdered at 46
- 1919Karl von Hohenzollern: Prince of Belgium
- 1919Kurt Eisner: Premier Bayern (soc), murdered at 51
- 1924Salvatore Auteri Manzocchi: Composer, dies at 78
- 1925Alfred Baldwin Sloan: Composer, dies at 52
- 1926Heike Kamerlingh Onnes: Dutch physicist (Nobel 1913), dies at 72
- 1938Albert Huybrechts: Composer, dies at 39
- 1938George Ellery Hale: Astronomer
- 1945Eric Liddell: Scottish runner (1924 Olympics - Gold Medalist), dies at 43
Historical events on February 22
- 0896Pope Formosa crowned King Arnulf of Karinthie / French Emperor
- 1071Battle of Cassel-Robert I the Frisian defeats Arnulf III / I
- 1281Simon de Brion elected Pope Martinus IV
- 1288Girolamo Masci elected Pope Nicolas IV
- 1300Pope Boniface VIII delegates degree
- 1349Jews are expelled from Zurich Switzerland
- 1495French King Charles VIII enters Naples to claim crown
- 1561William of Orange appointed Viceroy of Burgundy / Charolais
- 1630Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn, at Thanksgiving
- 1656New Amsterdam granted a Jewish burial site
- 1744Battle at Toulon: English-French and Spanish fleet
- 1746French troops conquer Brussels
- 1746Jakobijnse troops vacate Aberdeen
- 1774English House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright
- 1775Jews expelled from outskirts of Warsaw Poland
- 17841st US ship to trade with China, "Empress of China, " sails from New York
- 1821Spain sells (east) Florida to United States for $5 million
- 1825Russia and Britain establish Alaska-Canada boundary
- 1828Russia and Persia sign Peace of Turkmantsjai
- 1835HMS Beagle / Charles Darwin leave Valdivia Chile
- 1836Dutch garrison evacuates fort Du Bus New Guinea
- 1847Battle of Buena Vista: US troops beat Mexican army
- 18541st meeting of the Republican Party (Michigan)
- 18561st national meeting of the Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
- 1860Organized baseball played in SF for 1st time
- 1860Shoe-making workers of Lynn Ms, strike successfully for higher wages
- 18642nd / last day of Battle of Okolona, Mississippi
- 1864Skirmish at Calfkiller Creek (Sparta) Tennessee
- 1865Battle of Wilmington, NC (Fort Anderson) occupied by Federals
- 1865Tennessee adopts a new constitution abolishing slavery
Born on February 22
- 1403Charles VII: King of France (1422-61) - drove out English
- 1440Ladislaus V Posthumus: King of Hungary / Bohemia
- 1514Tahmasp I: Shah of Persia (1524-76) / author (Tazkire-i Shah)
- 1542Santino Garsi: Composer
- 1573Gemignano Capilupi: Composer
- 1634Petrus "Pieter" van Schooten: Fortress architect
- 1684William Pulteney: London, England -- Statesman (Earl of Bath)
- 1705Peter Arctedius [Artedi]: Swedish biologist
- 1745Joao de Sousa Carvalho: Composer
- 1749Johann Nikolaus Forkel: Musicologist / 1st biographer of Bach
- 1761Erik Eriksson Tulindberg: Composer
- 1761Jacob Kimball: Composer
- 1764Alexander Campbell: Composer
- 1770Jan Matyas Nepomuk August Vitasek: Composer
- 1772Joseph Lipavsky: Composer
- 1772Karl Jacob Wagner: Composer
- 1773Matthijs I van Bree: Flemish (court)painter
- 1778Rembrandt Peale: Portrait / historical painter (Court of Death)
- 1779Joachim Nicolas Eggert: Composer
- 1788Arthur Schopenhauer: Germany -- Philosopher (Great Pessimist)
- 1796Adolphe Quetelet: Belgium -- Mathematician / astronomer / statistician
- 1797William I: Berlin, Germany -- King of Prussia (1861-88) / German Emperor (1871-88)
- 1798Charles Mynn Thruston: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1873
- 1810Holger Simon Paulli: Composer
- 1814Henryk Oskar Kolberg: Composer
- 1817Niels Wilhelm Gade: Danish violinist / composer / conductor
- 1819Bernardo Calvo Puig: Composer
- 1819James Russell Lowell: Poet / critic / diplomat / abolitionist
- 1822Adolf Kuszmaul: German Physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease)
- 1827James Barnet Fry: Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1894
Died on February 22
- 0606Sabinian: Italian Pope (604-06)
- 1071Arnulf III: Earl of Flanders / Hainault (Arnulf I), dies in battle
- 1213Wibert of Gembloers: Benediction / writer / abbot of Gembloers
- 1371David II Bruce: King of Scotland (1331..71), dies at 46
- 1478Hendrik Herp (Herpius / Harphius): Writer (Spieghel volcomenheit)
- 1512Amerigo Vespucci: Italian explorer (America), dies at 60
- 1674John Wilson: Composer, dies at 78
- 1690Charles Le Brun: Classical Painter (Academie de Peinture), dies at 70
- 1727Francesco Gasparini: Composer, dies at 58
- 1731Frederik Ruysch: Dutch anatomist, dies at 92
- 1750Pietro Filippo Scarlotti: Composer, dies at 71
- 1770Christopher Snider: 11, Boston, becomes 1st martyr of US Revolution
- 1788Franz Joseph Oehlschlagel: Composer, dies at 63
- 1816Adam Ferguson: Scottish sociologist / historian, dies at 92
- 1822Johann Ignaz Walter: Composer, dies at 66
- 1824John Davy: Composer, dies at 60
- 1829Adam A Earl von Neipperg: Austrian General, dies at 53
- 1832Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Poet, Weimar, Germany
- 1836John Clarke-Whitfeld: Composer, dies at 65
- 1838Friedrich Johann Eck: Composer, dies at 70
- 1846Carolus Antonius Fodor: Composer, dies at 77
- 1849Alexander Ernst Fesca: Composer, dies at 28
- 1875Charles Lyell: British geologist (Elements of Geology), dies at 77
- 1878Franz Hunten: Composer, dies at 84
- 1903Frederick William Farrar: Writer / dean (Canterbury 1895-1903)
- 1903Hugo Filipp Jakob Wolf: Austrian Composer (Corregidor), dies at 42
- 1913Ferdinand Mongin de Saussure: Swiss linguist, dies at 55
- 1913Francisco Indalecio Madero: Mex pres, assassinated in military coup at 39
- 1913Suarez: Mexican vice pres, assassinated in a miltary coup
- 1925Georges / Joris Helleputte: Belgian Catholic minister, dies at 72
Events on Feb 23
- 0303Emperor Diocletian orders general persecution of Christians
- 1455Johannes Gutenberg prints 1st book, Bible (estimated date)
- 1574France begins 5th holy war against Huguenots
- 1660Charles XI becomes King of Sweden
- 1668Fire in Wiener Hofburg in Vienna, Emperor Leopold I rescued
- 1672Joan Blaeus publishers destroyed by fire in Amsterdam
- 1689Dutch Prince William III proclaimed King of England
- 1778Baron von Steuben joins Continental Army at Valley Forge
- 1792Humane Society of Massachusetts incorporated (erected life-saving stations for distressed mariners)
- 1804Conspirators against Napoleon, for restoration of Louis XVIII
- 18131st US raw cotton-to-cloth mill founded in Waltham, Massachusetts
- 1820Cato Street conspiracy uncovered
- 1821College of Apothecaries organized in Phil; 1st US pharmacy college
- 1822Boston is incorporated as a city
- 1836Alamo besieged by Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed
- 1846Polish revolutionaries march on Cracow, but are defeated
- 1854Great-Britain and Orange Free state sign Convention of Bloemfontein
- 1861By popular referendum, Texas becomes 7th state to secede from US
- 1861Dutch Premier Floris A van Hall resigns
- 1861Pres-elect Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington DC to take office
- 1869Louisiana Governor signs public accommodations law
- 1870Mississippi is readmitted to US
- 1874Major Walter Winfield patents game called "sphairistike" (lawn tennis)
- 1883Alabama becomes 1st US state to enact an antitrust law
- 1883American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Philadelphia)
- 1886Aluminum manufacturing process developed
- 1887Congress grants Seal Rocks to San Francisco
- 1887French / Italian Riviera struck by Earthquake; 2,000 die
- 18921st college student government forms at Bryn Mawr Penn
- 1895Jaap Eden skates world record 10km (17:56)
Born on Feb 23
- 1417Paul II [Pietro Barbo]: Italy -- Pope (1464-71)
- 1614Jacob Colijns: Dutch coat of arms painter
- 1615Cornelis Galle II: Flemish engraver / illustrator, baptised
- 1633Samuel Pepys: London, England -- Navy expert / composer (Diary, Memoirs)
- 1649John Blow: Composer of 1st English opera (Venus & Adonis)
- 1700Wilhelmus Schortinghuis: Dutch theologist (Profound Christianity)
- 1730Christian Joseph Lidarti: Composer
- 1734Mayer Amschel Rothschild: Frankfurt, Germany -- Founder (House of Rothschild)
- 1776John Walter II: London, England -- Chief proprietor (The Times, 1812-47)
- 1787Emma Willard: United States -- Opens school for young ladies (Hall of Fame)
- 1792Istvan Ferenczi: Hungarian sculptor
- 1811George Washington Hewitt: Composer
- 1817George Watts: London, England -- Painter
- 1818Jeremy F Gilmer: Major General / Chief Engineer Confederate War Department
- 1824Lewis Cass Hunt: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
- 1831Hendrik W Mesdag: Dutch painter (Panorama Mesdag)
- 1834Gustav Hermann Nachtigal: German Physician / colonizer / consul in Tunis
- 1838Gilbert Moxley Sorrel: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
- 1840Carl Menger: Austrian economist
- 1848Thomas Paine Westendorf: Composer
- 1863Franz von Stuck: German painter (Der Krieg)
- 1865Barney Dreyfuss: Baseball owner (Pittsburgh Pirates)
- 1868William E B Du Bois: Massachusetts, United States -- Civil rights writer (Souls of Black Folk)
- 1869Nadezhda Konstantinova Krupskaya: Russian revolutionary (Soc-Dem)
- 1873Dmitri Arakishvili: Composer
- 1875Jozef E Stokvis: Journalist / Dutch MP (SDAP)
- 1876Agnes M Royden: Writer
- 1879Agnes Arber: English biologist / philosopher (Mind & the Eye)
- 1879Norman Lindsay: Creswick, Victoria -- Artist / Novelist
- 1880Edgar Istel: Composer
Died on Feb 23
- 0155Polycarp: Disciple of Apostle John, arrested and burned at stake
- 1447Eugene IV [Gabriele Condulmer]: Italian Pope (1431-47)
- 1468John Gutenberg: German inventor (boekdrukkunst)
- 1607Herman Herbertsz: Vicar, dies at about 60
- 1669Lieuwe van Aitzema: Frisian historian, dies at 68
- 1682Abraham de Wicquefort: Dutch diplomat / historian, dies at 75
- 1704Georg Muffat: French / German Organist / composer, dies at 50
- 1766Stanislaw Leszcynski: Duke of Lutherans / King of Poland
- 1792Joshua Reynolds: English portrait Painter (Simplicity), dies at 68
- 1806John Alcock: Composer, dies at 90
- 1807Francois Guichard: Composer, dies at 61
- 1821John Keats: Romantic poet, dies of tuberculosis at 25 in Rome
- 1821Marie-Anne Collot: French sculptor
- 1848John Quincy Adams: 6th US President (1825-1829), dies of a stroke at 80
- 1855Carl Friedrich Gauss: Mathematician
- 1867George Thomas Smart: Composer, dies at 90
- 1884Tambo Tambo: Australian aboriginal / US circus attaction, dies at 23
- 1897Woldemar Bargiel: Composer, dies at 68
- 1900William Butterfield: Architect of the Gothic revival
- 1902Samuel R Gardiner: British Historian (Oliver Cromwell), dies at 72
- 1903Albert Cahen: Composer, dies at 57
- 1903Friedrich Grutzmacher: Composer, dies at 70
- 1906Johann Hoch: US murderer, executed
- 1915Robert Smalls: Reconstruction congressman, dies at 75 in South Carolina
- 1916George Clement Martin: Composer, dies at 71
- 1924Thomas Woodrow Wilson: 28th US President (1913-21)
- 1927Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson: Composer, dies at 79
- 1930Horst Wessel: German Nazi lyricist (Fahne Hoch), dies at 22
- 1930Mabel Normand: Actress / director (Extra Girl), dies at 35
- 1931Nellie Melba [Helen Mitchell]: Australian soprano