Events

• 907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, establishing the Liao dynasty in northern China.
• 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland.
• 1594 – Henry IV is crowned King of France.
• 1617 – Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
• 1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
• 1700 – The island of New Britain is discovered by Europeans.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
• 1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
• 1809 – Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine (refer to Napoleonic Wars).
• 1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
• 1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
• 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
• 1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
• 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
• 1900 – The British Labour Party is founded.
• 1902 – Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
• 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
• 1962 – Vietnam War: Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
• 1963 – The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
• 1976 – The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
• 1991 – Gulf War: US President George H.W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated”.
• 2019 – Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder downs Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman’s Mig-21 in an aerial dogfight and capture him after conducting airstrikes in Jammu and Kashmir.

People (Births)

• 1789 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defence (d. 1818).
• 1799 – Edward Belcher, British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer (d. 1877).
• 1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (d. 1914).
• 1899 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (d. 1978).
• 1904 – André Leducq, French cyclist (d. 1980).
• 1911 – Oscar Heidenstam, English bodybuilder (d. 1991).
• 1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (d. 1989).
• 1915 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (d. 2001).
• 1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (d. 2014).
• 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British soldier and politician (d. 2018).
• 1953 – Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana.
• 1957 – Robert de Castella, Australian runner.
• 1975 – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete.
• 1976 – Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist.
• 1978 – Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist.
• 1981 – Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter.
• 1987 – Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan runner.

People (Deaths)

• 1902 – Harry “Breaker” Morant, English-Australian lieutenant (b. 1864).
• 1931 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906).
• 2006 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American general and author (b. 1908).
• 2007 – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, German general (b. 1914).
• 2011 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (b. 1901).
• 2012 – Ma Jiyuan, Chinese general (b. 1921).
• 2013 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1969).