Events

• 747 BC – According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date.
  • Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic 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 exile on the island of Elba (refer to Napoleonic Wars).
• 1876 – Japan and Korea sign the Treaty of Kangwha, which grants Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights in Korea, opens three Korean ports to Japanese trade, and ends 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 UK.
• 1936 – In the 26 February Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
• 1945 – World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese.
• 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.
• 2021 – A total of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping in Zamfara State, Nigeria.
• Liberation Day (Kuwait).

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 figure 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)