Events

• 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
• 1365 – The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya.
• 1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605-1606 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.
• 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
• 1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.
• 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
• 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
• 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
• 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
• 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
• 1987 – Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
• 1992 – First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
• 2019 – Indian Air Force fighter-jets targeted Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot.

People (Births)

• 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917).
• 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943).
• 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939).
• 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968).
• 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944).
• 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000).
• 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014).
• 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer.
• 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut.
• 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer.

People (Deaths)

• 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328).
• 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730).
• 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718).
• 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762).
• 1839 – Sybil Ludington, American heroine of the American Revolutionary War (b. 1761).
• 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818).
• 1936 – February 26 Incident:
  • Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854).
  • Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858).
  • Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874).
• 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892).
• 1945 – Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860).
• 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878).
• 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895).
• 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1913).
• 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905).