Wednesday, February 18, 2026

41st year - N° 49 Wednesday, 18 February 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
41st year - N° 49 Wednesday, 18 February 2026


18 February / Today's 34 Events:
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1027 years ago 

Monday 18th of February 0999

138th Pope Gregorius V, originally Bruno of Carinthia dies of unknown causes at the age of 27 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Gregorius V died suddenly, not without suspicion of foul play.


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571 years ago 

Sunday 18th of February 1455

Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, originally Guido di Pietro dies of unknown causes at the age of 60 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.


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510 years ago 

Friday 18th of February 1516

Queen of England and Ireland Mary Tudor aka Bloody Mary is born in Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.


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480 years ago 

Monday 18th of February 1546

Theologian and church reformer Martin Luther dies of an apoplectic stroke at the age of 63 in Martin Luthers Geburtshaus, Lutherstraße 16, Eisleben, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.


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462 years ago 

Tuesday 18th of February 1564

Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo, originally Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni dies of unknown causes at the age of 89 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.


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281 years ago 

Thursday 18th of February 1745

Physicist, chemist and pioneer of electricity and power Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta is born in Como, Lombardia, Italy.


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188 years ago 

Sunday 18th of February 1838

Physicist and philosopher Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach is born in Brno, Moravia, Czechoslovakia.


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159 years ago 

Monday 18th of February 1867

Writer Hedwig Courths-Mahler is born in Nebra, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.


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155 years ago 

Saturday 18th of February 1871

Metallurgist Harry Brearley is born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom.


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143 years ago 

Sunday 18th of February 1883

Assassin Madan Lal Shaheed Dhingra is born in Amritsar, Punjab, India.


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134 years ago 

Thursday 18th of February 1892

Tempera painter and presumed mass poisoner Sadamichi Hirasawais born in Tokyo, Kantō, Japan.


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130 years ago 

Tuesday 18th of February 1896

Surrealist writer André Breton aka The Father of Surrealism is born in Tinchebray, Basse-Normandie, France.


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123 years ago 

Wednesday 18th of February 1903

Soviet Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny is born in Karlovka, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine.


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120 years ago 

Sunday 18th of February 1906

Pediatrician Hans Johann Friedrich Karl Asperger is born in Hausbrunn, Niederösterreich, Austria.


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107 years ago 

Tuesday 18th of February 1919

Actor and boxer Jack Palance, originally Volodymyr Jack Palahniuk is born in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, United States.


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105 years ago 

Friday 18th of February 1921

Self-proclaimed Emperor of Central Africa Jean-Bédel Bokassa is born in Bobangui, Ubangi-Shari, French Equatorial Africa.


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94 years ago 

Thursday 18th of February 1932

Film director Miloš Jan Tomáš Forman is born in Čáslav, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia.


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93 years ago 

Saturday 18th of February 1933

Artist Yoko Ono is born in Tokyo, Kantō, Japan.


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79 years ago 

Tuesday 18th of February 1947

Victim of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley aka The Moors MurderersPauline Reade is born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.


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77 years ago 

Friday 18th of February 1949

Olive Henrietta Olivia Robarts Durand-Deacon is shot in the head by serial killer John George Haigh aka The Acid Bath Murderer in 2 Leopold Road, Crawley, Sussex, United Kingdom.

Haigh stripped Durand-Deacon of her valuables, including a Persian lamb coat and put her into a sulphuric acid bath. Investigation of the sludge at the workshop by the pathologist Keith Simpson revealed three human gallstones and part of a denture which was later identified by Mrs Durand-Deacon's dentist during the trial and conviction.


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72 years ago 

Thursday 18th of February 1954

Actor, film producer, dancer and singer John Joseph Travolta is born in Englewood, New Jersey, United States.


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70 years ago 

Saturday 18th of February 1956

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Horst Ludwig Meyer is born in Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.


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66 years ago 

Thursday 18th of February 1960

Rapist and double murderer James Terry Roach is born in Seneca, South Carolina, United States.


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65 years ago 

Saturday 18th of February 1961

36-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey assaults an unidentified 12-year-old boy in Vingtaine du Mont Cochon, Saint Helier, Jersey, United Kingdom.


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63 years ago 

Monday 18th of February 1963

Gertrude Gruen is attacked and raped by serial killer Albert DeSalvo aka The Boston Strangler aka The Measuring Man aka The Green Man in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Gruen survived.


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59 years ago 

Saturday 18th of February 1967

Theoretical physicist Robert Julius Oppenheimer aka The Father of the Atomic Bomb dies of throat cancer at the age of 63 in Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, New Jersey, United States.

Oppenheimer was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965 and underwent unsuccessful radiation treatment and chemotherapy. He fell into a coma on 15 February 1967.


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56 years ago 

Wednesday 18th of February 1970

81 die in train derailment in Langa Langa, Benue, Nigeria.


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54 years ago He Went to Bed Early

Friday 18th of February 1972

26-year-old Performance and installation artist Chris Christopher Burden starts his performance 'Bed Piece' in Market Street, Venice, California, United States.

Burden did not speak to anyone during the performance but the curator Josh Young provided him with water, food, and toilet facilities without being asked. 'Bed Piece' lasted until 10 March 1972.


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44 years ago 

Thursday 18th of February 1982

Crime writer Ngaio Edith Marsh dies of undisclosed causes at the age of 87 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.


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43 years ago 

Friday 18th of February 1983

Fourteen people are gunned down during a robbery by Kwan Fai 'Willie' MakWai-Chiu 'Tony' Ng and Benjamin Ng in Wah Mee Gambling Club, 665 South King Street, Chinatown, Seattle, Washington, United States.

Only Wai Y. Chin survived the massacre and later testified in court against the three robbers.


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35 years ago 

Monday 18th of February 1991

Curtis Durrell Straughter is drugged, strangled and dismembered by serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer aka The Milwaukee Cannibal in Oxford Apartments #213, 924 25th North Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.


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25 years ago 

Sunday 18th of February 2001

Artist Balthasar Kłossowski, originally Kłossowski de Rola aka Balthus dies of natural causes at the age of 93 in Grand Chalet, Rossinière, Vaud, Switzerland.

Prime ministers and rock stars alike attended Kłossowski's funeral including the President of France, the Prince Sadruddhin Aga Khanand Henri Cartier-Bresson.


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22 years ago The Cargo Exploded

Wednesday 18th of February 2004

295 die in runaway train wagons explosion in Khayyam, Razavi Khorasan, Iran.

51 railway wagons carrying sulfur, fertilizer, petrol and cotton wool broke loose from their siding at Abu Muslim Station and rolled down the track for about 20 kilometres until they derailed and rolled down an embankment. During the cleanup operation the cargo of the wagons exploded.


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18 years ago 

Monday 18th of February 2008

Film director Alain Robbe-Grillet dies of heart failure at the age of 86 in Caen, Normandie, France.




Concept and design © 1985-2026 Danny Devos

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

41st year - N° 48 Tuesday, 17 February 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
41st year - N° 48 Tuesday, 17 February 2026


17 February / Today's 23 Events:
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426 years ago 

Thursday 17th of February 1600

Philosopher, mathematician and astrologer Giordano Bruno, originally Filippo Bruno is executed by burning at the stake at the age of 52 in Campo de' Fiori, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

When the fire had died out Bruno's ashes were dumped into the Tiber river.


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353 years ago 

Friday 17th of February 1673

Playwright and actor Molière, originally Jean-Baptiste Poquelincollapses on stage in a fit of coughing and haemorrhaging at the age of 51 in 40 Rue de Richelieu, IIe, Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Afterwards Molière collapsed again with another larger haemorrhage before being taken home where he died a few hours later.


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178 years ago 

Thursday 17th of February 1848

Executioner Albert Gustaf Anders Dahlman is born in Norberg, Västmanlands Län, Sweden.


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172 years ago 

Friday 17th of February 1854

Arms manufacturer Friedrich Alfred Krupp is born in Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.


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170 years ago 

Sunday 17th of February 1856

Poet Heinrich Christian Johann Heine dies of chronic lead poisoning at the age of 59 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

It had been suggested that Heine suffered from multiple sclerosis or syphilis.


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117 years ago He Should Have Fought Until He Was the Last Man Alive

Wednesday 17th of February 1909

Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo aka The One Who Yawns dies of pneumonia at the age of 80 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States.

A few days earlier Geronimo was thrown from his horse while riding home and had to lie in the cold all night before a friend found him extremely ill.


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117 years ago 

Wednesday 17th of February 1909

Cop killer Irene Schroeder, originally Crawford aka Trigger Woman aka Iron Irene aka Animal Woman aka Tiger Girl is born in Benwood, West Virginia, United States.


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97 years ago 

Sunday 17th of February 1929

Actress Patricia Katherine Routledge is born in Tranmere, Birkenhead, Cheshire, United Kingdom.


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92 years ago He Leaned Against a Dislodged Boulder

Saturday 17th of February 1934

King of Belgium Albert I, originally Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad dies in a mountaineering accident while climbing alone at the age of 59 in Rocher du Vieux Bon Dieu, Marche-les-Dames, Namur, Belgium.

Because King Albert I was an expert climber some questioned the official version of his death and suggested that the King was murdered (or even committed suicide) somewhere else and that his body had never been at Marche-les-Dames, or that it was deposited there. In 2016 DNA testing on bloodstained leaves collected from Marche-les-Dames concluded that King Albert I died at that location.


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84 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of February 1942

Founder of the Black Panther Party Huey Percy Newton is born in Monroe, Louisiana, United States.


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56 years ago Acid was Groovy

Tuesday 17th of February 1970

27-year-old Presumed murderer Jeffrey Robert MacDonaldpresumably stabs his pregnant 25-year-old wife Colette Kathryn and his two daughters 5-year-old Kimberley Kathryn and 2-year-old Kristen Jean to death in a self-created Manson-inspired attack in 544 Castle Drive, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States.

Kimberley was found in her bed having been clubbed in the head and stabbed in the neck with a knife between eight and ten times. Kristenwas found in her bed stabbed 33 times with a knife and 15 times with an ice pick. Colette, who was pregnant with her third child and first son, was lying on the floor of her bedroom. She had been repeatedly clubbed, both her arms broken and stabbed 21 times with an ice pick and 16 times with a knife. MacDonald's torn pajama top was draped upon her chest. On the headboard of her bed, the word "pig" was written in blood. MacDonald was found next to his wife alive but wounded. His wounds were not as severe nor as numerous as those his family had suffered, cuts and bruises on his face and chest, along with a mild concussion. He also had a stab wound on his left torso that a staff surgeon described as a "clean, small, sharp" incision that caused his left lung to partially collapse. He was released from the hospital after one week. MacDonald claimed he was awakened by Colette and Kimberly's screams. As he rose from the couch to go to their aid, he was attacked by three male intruders, one black and two white. A fourth intruder described as a white female with long blonde hair and wearing high heeled boots and a white floppy hat partially covering her face stood nearby with a lighted candle and chanted "Acid is groovy, kill the pigs."The three males attacked him with a club and ice pick. During the struggle he claimed that his pajama top was pulled over his head to his wrists and he then used it to ward off thrusts from the ice pick. Eventually he stated that he was overcome by his assailants and was knocked unconscious in the living room end of the hallway leading to the bedrooms.


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52 years ago 

Sunday 17th of February 1974

48 die in Zamalek SC and Dukla Prague football game stampede in Zamalek Stadium, Caïro, Al Qahirah, Egypt.

According to reports, up to 80.000 people tried to access the stadium despite the capacity at the time being just 40.000.


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45 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of February 1981

Heiress and media personality Paris Whitney Hilton is born in New York City, New York, United States.


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42 years ago 

Friday 17th of February 1984

Sigurd Bessener is strangled by serial killer Waldemar Stepinski aka The Doorbell Killer in Schöneberg, Berlin, Berlin, Germany.


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41 years ago 

Sunday 17th of February 1985

Noise music band Club Moral play their 42nd concert at the Atonalfestival in Ballhaus Tiergarten, Perleberger Straße 62, Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Also played: Etant DonnesLaibachTest DepartmentGerechtigkeitsLiga, Art Deco, Zahgurim, The Anti Group/Clock DVA, Code Public, King of Therapie....


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40 years ago 

Monday 17th of February 1986

Spiritual leader Jiddu Krishnamurti dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 91 in 1098 McAndrew Rd, Ojaj, California, United States.


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38 years ago 

Wednesday 17th of February 1988

Kidnap victim Natascha Maria Kampusch aka The Girl in the Cellar is born in Rennbahnweg 38, Donaustadt, Wien, Wien, Austria.


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33 years ago 

Wednesday 17th of February 1993

29-year-old Serial killer Paul Kenneth Bernardo aka The Scarborough Rapist aka The Schoolgirl Killer is arrested in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


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29 years ago The Serpent Was Not Keen to be Free

Monday 17th of February 1997

53-year-old Serial killer Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj, originally Bharat Rajpurohit aka Bad Blood is granted bail after spending two decades behind bars in New Delhi, Delhi, India.

Desperately trying to avoid extradition to Thailand, Sobhraj said he would not leave jail until he received his identity papers from the French embassy.


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22 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of February 2004

Presumed triple murderer Cameron Todd Willingham is executed by lethal injection at the age of 36 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Willingham was convicted and executed for the murder of his three young children 2-year-old Amber Louise and 1-year-old twins Karmon Diane and Kameron Marie by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas on 23 December 1991. Since his execution significant controversy has arisen over the interpretation of the evidence that was used to convict him of arson and murder.


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21 years ago 

Thursday 17th of February 2005

Mass murderer Dennis Wayne Bagwell is executed by lethal injection at the age of 42 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Bagwell was executed for the murders of his 47-year-old mother Leona McBee, his 24-year-old half-sister Libby Best, her 4-year-old daughter Reba Best and 14-year-old Tassy Boone on 20 September 1995 after Leona refused to loan him money. Bagwell's last meal request was for a beef steak, medium rare with A1 Sauce, three fried chicken breast, three fried chicken thighs, BBQ ribs, a large order of french fries, a large order of onion rings, a pound of fried bacon, a dozen scrambled eggs with onions, fried tatters with onions, sliced tomatoes, a salad with ranch dressing, two hamburgers with everything, peach pie or cobbler, ketchup, salt and pepper, milk and coffee, ice tea with real sugar.


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19 years ago 

Saturday 17th of February 2007

Prefect of Paris and Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon dies of congenital heart failure at the age of 97 in La Francilienne, 16 Avenue Hôtel de Ville, Pontault-Combault, Seine-et-Marne, France.



14 years ago 

Friday 17th of February 2012

A closed shop in the gloomy evening light in Oostende, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.




Concept and design © 1985-2026 Danny Devos