^B{^#!16!17 February^N! Feast day of Saints Theodulus and Julian, St Evermod, St Loman, St Fintan of Cloneenagh, and St Finan of Lindisfarne.
^B{1461^B} Lancastrian forces defeated the Yorkists at the Battle of St Albans. ^B{1859^B} First production of Verdi's opera ^I{Un Ballo in Maschera^I}, in Rome. ^B{1864 ^B}The first successful submarine torpedo attack took place when the USS ^I{Housatonic^I} was sunk by the Confederate submarine Hunley in Charleston harbor; however, the force of the explosion was so great that the submarine itself was also blown up, killing all on board. ^B{1880^B} An attempt was made to assassinate the Russian tsar Alexander II with a bomb at the Winter Palace, St Petersburg. ^B{1904^B} First production of Puccini's ^I{Madame Butterfly^I}, in Milan. ^B{1958^B} The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was formed in London, UK. ^B{1968^B} French skier Jean-Claude Killy won three gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble. ^B{1972^B} The House of Commons voted in favor of Britain joining the Common Market.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer, ^B{1653^B}; Thomas Malthus, English economist, ^B{1766^B}; Marian Anderson, US operatic contralto, ^B{1902^B}; Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader, ^B{1929^B}; Barry Humphries, Australian actor and creator of 'Dame Edna Everidge', ^B{1934^B}; Alan Bates, English actor, ^B{1934^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Tamerlane the Great, Mongol leader, ^B{1405^B}; MoliΦre, French dramatist, ^B{1673^B}; Heinrich Heine, German poet, ^B{1856^B}; Geronimo, Apache leader, ^B{1909^B}; Graham Sutherland, English painter, ^B{1980^B}; Lee Strasburg, US actor, ^B{1982^B}; Thelonious Monk, US jazz pianist, ^B{1982^B}.
