February 21
1613
Michael Romanov was elected czar of Russia, beginning the Romanov imperial line.
1878
The first telephone book was issued (New Haven, Conn.).
1916
Battle of Verdun, the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I, began.
1965
Black nationalist leader Malcolm X was assassinated.
1972
President Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit China.
1995
Steve Fossett became the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean solo in a balloon.
2002
It was confirmed that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was dead, allegedly murdered by Islamic militants.
2012
Eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement on a second, 130-billion bailout for Greece to help with the country’s debt crisis.
Birthdays
W. H. Auden
1907–1973, Anglo-American Poet.
Otto Hermann Kahn
banker and patron of the arts (1867)
Constantin Brancusi
sculptor (1876)
Andres Segovia
guitarist (1893)
Anais Nin
author, diarist (1903)
Robert Mugabe
president of Zimbabwe (1924)
Hubert de Givenchy
fashion designer (1927)
Barbara Jordan
lawyer, politician and educator (1936)
Jennifer Love Hewitt
actress (1979)