February 20th in History
1811: Austria declares itself bankrupt
1962: John Glenn, the American astronaut, orbits the Earth three times
1986: The Channel Tunnel project was given the official go ahead
1991: Slovenia dissolves all its links with the former Yugoslavia


February 20th birthdays
1694: Voltaire, French writer and scientist
1898: Enzo Ferrari, Italian car manufacturer
1904: Alexei Kosygin, Former Prime Minister of the USSR
1925: Robert Altman American director
1927: Sidney Poitier, American actor and director

February 21st in History
1804: The first ever steam train to run on rails is demonstrated by Richard Trevithick
1960: Cuban leader Fidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba
1972: US President Richard Nixon goes to China, to help improve relations


February 21st birthdays
1907: W.H Auden, English poet
1924: Robert Mugabe,, First Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
1934: Nina Simone, American singer

February 22nd in History
1879: Frank Woolworth opens his first 'Woolworths' store in Utica, New York state
1980: Martial Law declared in Kabul by Soviet occupation forces
1982: Britain and US sent ships to Persian Gulf following Iranian offensive
1991: Iraq begins setting fire to Kuwait's oil installations
1994: Iraq begins flooding its southern marshes to destroy the Shia Muslims living there


February 22nd birthdays
1732: George Washington, First President of United States
1857: Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of the Boy Scout movement

February 23rd in History
1836: The siege at the Alamo, Texas, begins - only six people survived
1919: Italian Fascist Party founded by Benito Mussolini
1970: Guyana gains independence
1981: Spanish army officers attempt a coup in the Spanish Parliament
1991: Military seize power in Thailand


February 23rd birthdays
1633: Samuel Pepys, British Diarist
1685: Geroge Frederic Handel, German composer
1883: Victor Flemming, American director
1940: Peter Fonda, American actor

February 24th in History
1938: Nylon's first commercial use, in toothbrush bristles
1946: Juan Peron elected as the President of Argentina
1968: Discovery of the first pulsar in space
1969: Mariner 6, first spacecraft to fly by Mars, launched
1991: In its first free elections since the collapse of communism, Lithuania rejects the Communist Party


February 24th birthdays
1786: Wilhelm Grimm, Author of fairy tales
1885: Chester Nimitz, United States navy admiral
1932: Michel Legrand, French film composer
1955: Alain Prost, French Formula 1 racing driver

February 25th in History
1939: The first 'Anderson' air raid shelters are erected, in London
1976: India announces plans to take action against parents who had more than two children
1986: President Marcos of the Philipines escapes to the United States
1990: Nationwide pro-democracy marches in the Soviet Union
1993: South Korea elects its first civilian President for 23 years


February 25th birthdays
1841: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French artist
1873: Enrico Caruso, Italian operatic tenor
1917: Anthony Burgess, English novelist
1937: Tom Courtenay, Actor
1941: David Puttnam, English film producer

February 26th in History
1797: First ever pound note issued by the Bank of England
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the Island of Elba
1936: Volkswagen Beetle car launched by Adolf Hitler
1991: During the Gulf War, Kuwait City is liberated and Iraq begins its withdrawl
1993: Terrorist bomb explosion under the World Trade Center, New York


February 26th birthdays
1802: Victor Hugo, French novelist and playwright
1846: William Cody, 'Buffalo Bill', the American showman
1928: Fats Domino, American singer

February 27th in History
1879: Two American chemists announce the discovery of saccharin
1933: German parliament building (Reichstag) destroyed by fire
1948: The Communist Party takes control in Czechoslovakia
1991: An allied ceasefire in the Gulf War begins, Iraqi forces withdraw from Kuwait.


February 27th birthdays
1807: Henry Longfellow, American poet
1902: John Steinbeck, American writer
1930: Joanne Woodward, British actress
1932: Elizabeth Taylor, American actress

February 28th in History
1066: Westminster Abbey opens
1759: Pope Clement XIII grants permission for the Bible to be translated into the languages of the Roman Catholic states
1827: First US railroad chartered to carry passengers and freight, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, is incorporated
1854: The Republican Party is formally organized
1912: First ever parachute jump from an airplane
1948: The last British troops leave India
1959: The first polar orbiting satellite, Discoverer 1, launched
1971: Women refused the right to vote in Lichtenstein elections
1972: President Richard Nixon wraps up his historic trip to China
1974: The United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations after a seven-year break
1986: Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is shot to death
1991: The Gulf War ends as Iraq orders its army to stop fighting


February 28th birthdays
1533: Michele de Montaigne, French philosopher
1893: Ben Hecht, American writer
1895: Marcel Pagnol, French writer
1909: Linus Pauling, American chemist and physicist
1909: Stephen Spender, English poet
1910: Vincente Minelli, Italian director
1915: Sir Peter Medawar, English immunologist
1917: John B Connally, Texas Governor who was shot with JFK
1923: Charles Durning, Actor
1929: Frank O. Gehry, American architect
1931: Dean Smith, Coach, UNC Chapel Hill Tar Heels (1976-1997)
1939: Tommy Tune, Tony Award-winning dancer and actor
1940: Mario Andretti, Race-car driver
1944: Bernadette Peters, Actress
1962: Rae Dawn Chong, Actress

February 29th in History
1904: Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7 man committee to study Panama Canal
1956: Pakistan becomes an Islamic republic


February 29th birthdays
1736: Ann Lee, Founder of the American Society of Shakers
1736: Gioacchino Rossini, Italian operatic composer
1792: John Holland, American inventor of the submarine
1904: Jimmy Dorsey, US bandleader
1940: Mario Andretti, Italian racing driver
1952: Tim Powers, American writer