On This Day 2026
Hello, … and welcome to day 53 of the year.

Sunday, February 22nd

Today is National Margarita Day, Forgiveness Sunday National Chili Day, Be Humble Day and Cook a Sweet Potato Day. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Amethyst.
2018 – Analysis of 65,000-year-old cave paintings in Spain revealed that Neanderthals were the first artists long before humans. These paintings were made tens of thousands of years before humans arrived.
Analysis of 65,000-year-old cave paintings in Spain revealed that Neanderthals were the first artists long before humans.
Today’s birthdays
1940 – Judy Cornwell (86), English actress best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, born in Hammersmith, London.

1950 – Julie Walters (76), English actress (Dinnerladies, Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia, Calendar Girls, Educating Rita), born in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

1953 – Nigel Planer (73), English actor, (The Young Ones, The Grimleys, Filthy Rich & Catflap), born in Westminster, London.
1963 – Devon Malcolm (63), Jamaican-born English former cricketer playing in 40 Test matches and 10 One Day Internationals for the England, born in Kingston, Jamaica.
1965 – Kieren Fallon (61), retired Irish professional jockey and 6 times British flat racing champion, born in Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland.
1969 – Shaka Hislop (57), English football commentator and former player who played as a goalkeeper (West Ham United, Portsmouth, Trinidad and Tobago), born in Hackney, London.
1974 – James Blunt (52), English singer, songwriter and musician (“You’re Beautiful”. “Goodbye My Lover”), born in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
1974 – Chris Moyles (52), English radio (Radio X) and television presenter (Chris Moyles’ Quiz Night), born in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
1975 – Drew Barrymore (51), American actress (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Charlie’s Angels, Never Been Kissed, The Wedding Singer), born in Culver City, California, United States.
1978 – Jenny Frost (48), English singer and former member of girl groups Precious and Atomic Kitten, replacing Kerry Katona in the latter, born in Wallasey, Merseyside.
Famous deaths
1987 – Andy Warhol (b. 1928), American artist (Pop art, Modern art) and filmmaker.
2012 – Frank Carson (b. 1926), Irish comedian (Tiswas) and actor (“It’s the way I tell them!”).
The day today
1903 – The Cunard Liner Etruria arrived in New York with a copy of the first newspaper ever published in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It featured news reports transmitted from Britain by wireless while the ship was at sea. Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, was one of the ship’s passengers.

1941 – Nazi police raid Amsterdam and round up 429 young Jews for deportation to be sent to Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps.

1944 – World War II: Allied American aircraft mistakenly bombed the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.

1956 – The first football league match to be played under floodlighting took place at Fratton Park, Portsmouth (there had been cup matches under lights previously). The home side lost 2-0 to Newcastle United with goals from Bill Curry and Vic Keeble in front of 15,831 fans.
1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) detonated a car bomb at the British Army’s 16th Parachute Brigade headquarters in Aldershot, Hampshire. The attack, which occurred just over three weeks after the “Bloody Sunday” killings in Derry on January 30, 1972, was explicitly claimed as a revenge attack for that event.
1979 – Saint Lucia gained full independence from the United Kingdom becoming an independent state within the Commonwealth. Following years as a British associated state since 1967, the island transitioned to a parliamentary democracy on this date.
1980 – Dubbed the “Miracle on Ice”, the US ice hockey team beats heavily favoured Soviet Union, 4-3 at Lake Placid in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history. USA go on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland 4–2 in their final game, while the Soviet Union claimed the silver medal with a dominant 9–2 victory over Sweden.
1987 – Andy Warhol, the pop artist and producer, died after a gall bladder operation. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol is considered one the most important artists of the second half of the 20th century. He produced and managed the Velvet Underground and designed the 1967 Velvet Underground And Nico ‘peeled banana’ album cover and The Rolling Stones classic Sticky Fingers album cover.
1989 – Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking publicly criticized the United States’ Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as “Star Wars,” labeling the proposed missile defense system a “deliberate fraud”. Hawking’s statement highlighted skepticism regarding the technical feasibility and intent of the controversial Cold War-era project.
1997 – The first cloned animal from an adult animal cell was announced. The Roslin Institute in Scotland successfully cloned Dolly, a sheep. Dolly lived for 6.5 years, giving birth to six lambs, and demonstrating that cloned animals could reproduce. She died on February 14, 2003, after developing lung disease.
2006 – At least six men staged Britain’s biggest ever robbery, stealing £53m from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent. The robbery took 7 hours, and more than 37 arrests were made in conjunction with the event.
2009 – At the 81st Academy Awards, Heath Ledger posthumously wins Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” and Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 awards including Best Picture.
2018 – Women’s big air snowboarding event makes its Olympic debut at Pyeongchang with Austria’s Anna Gasser won the inaugural gold medal.
2020 – Cristiano Ronaldo marked his 1,000th senior appearance by scoring in Juventus’ 2-1 Serie A victory over SPAL. The 35-year-old opened the scoring with his 725th career goal, equalling the Italian top-flight record by scoring in his 11th consecutive league match.
2022 – Dubai’s stunning Museum of the Future officially opened with a light show performance for its visitors. Dubai’s new museum was dubbed “the most beautiful building on Earth”. The opening featured spectacular light projections that highlighted the unique architecture of the building for its guests, such as the country’s prime minister and vice-president. A few sheiks were also in attendance to witness the unveiling of this massive work of art.
2024 – Odysseus became the first private spacecraft to land on the Moon. The Odysseus moon lander, operated by the US firm Intuitive Machines, was the first US-owned spacecraft to land on the Moon in over 50 years. The landing wasn’t a total success, though, as the lander ended up tipping on its side during the process.
Today in music
1962 – Elvis Presley was at No.1 o the UK singles chart with ‘Rock-A- Hula Baby / Can’t Help Falling In Love.’ The tracks were from his latest film ‘Blue Hawaii’ and became the singers tenth UK No.1

1975 – Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel had their only UK No.1 single with ‘Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me).

1977 – The Eagles released ‘Hotel California’ the title track from the Eagles’ album of the same name. Written by Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey its long guitar coda was voted the best guitar solo of all time by readers of Guitarist in 1998. The song was awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1978.

1981 – One Hit Wonder Joe Dolce was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Shaddap You Face,’ famously keeping the legendary Ultravox song, Vienna, off the UK No.1 slot. ‘Shaddap You Face’ was Number 1 in 11 countries with over 35 different foreign language cover versions, selling over 4 million copies.

1989 – A category for Heavy Metal was included at the Grammy Awards for the first time. Metallica performed on stage, but the award went to Jethro Tull. Many audience members booed. Meanwhile, Bobby McFerrin won Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’, Tracy Chapman was named Best New Artist and Tina Turner won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for ‘Tina Live in Europe’.

1992 – UK music paper the NME printed their writers all-time best debut albums; at No.1, Patti Smith, ‘Horses’, No.2, Joy Division, ‘Unknown Pleasures’, No.3, MC5, ‘Kick Out The Jams, No.4, The Jesus and Mary Chain, ‘Psychocandy’ and No.5, Television, ‘Marquee Moon’.

1992 – Shakespears Sister started an eight-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Stay’. The duo was made up of ex Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey and singer Marcella Detroit (who co-wrote ‘Lay Down Sally’ with Eric Clapton). One of the longest running UK No.1’s in chart history and the longest by an all-female act.

1997 – No Doubt went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Don’t Speak.’ The third single from the band’s second album Tragic Kingdom was written by Eric Stefani and his sister Gwen Stefani.
2001 – Winners at the 43rd Grammy Awards included U2, record of the year and song of the year with ‘Beautiful Day’, Steely Dan won album of the year for ‘Two Against Nature’, Macy Gray won Female pop vocal for ‘I Try’, Sting won Male pop vocal for ‘She Walks This Earth’, Eminem won Best Rap album from ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’, Johnny Cash won Best Male country performance for ‘Solitary Man’, and Shelby Lynne won best new artist award.
2004 – The Sex Pistols ‘Anarchy in the UK’ was named the most influential record of the 1970s in poll compiled by Q magazine. Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was voted into second place and Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ was third, T Rex ‘Get It On’ was fourth and Special AKA’s ‘Gangsters’ came fifth.
2004 – Norah Jones started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Feels Like Home’, the singer’s second US No.1. The album’s lead single, won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. ‘Creepin’ In’, featuring Dolly Parton, was also nominated for a Grammy, in the category of Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
2016 – Adele won four prizes including best British female solo artist and best album at this years Brit Awards, Coldplay won Best British group, making them the most successful band in the ceremony’s history. The show also featured an emotional tribute to David Bowie, led by Annie Lennox and his friend Gary Oldman.
2017 – David Bowie dominated the 2017 Brit awards. The star was awarded best British male and best British album, for his mournful swansong, Blackstar. Rag’n’Bone Man was the other big winner of the night taking home two awards – the critics choice award and best British breakthrough act. As well as honouring Bowie, the Brits paid tribute to George Michael, who died on Christmas day 2016.
2024 – English pianist John Lowe died age 81. In the late 1950s, he played piano for The Quarrymen, the group who would evolve into The Beatles. Known to his friends as “Duff”, Lowe had known Paul McCartney since 1953, and was invited to play piano with The Quarrymen by McCartney in February 1958. He was there when the band recorded two songs for a vanity disc at Percy Phillips’ home studio in Liverpool. The two tracks cut that day were ‘That’ll Be the Day’ and ‘In Spite of All the Danger’.
Today in history
1371 – Robert Stewart ascended to the Scottish throne, marking the beginning of the House of Stewart. When Robert’s uncle, King David II, died without an heir, Robert was the next in line for the throne. After being crowned, he was known as Robert II of Scotland. The House of Stewart later became the House of Stuart and lasted until 1714.
1774 – In the landmark 1774 case Donaldson v Becket, the British House of Lords ruled that authors do not possess a perpetual, indefinite common law copyright over their published works. The decision established that statutory time limits, such as those set by the Statute of Anne 1710, supersede common law rights, ensuring works eventually enter the public domain.
1797 – Over 1,000 French troops attempted to invade Britain and landed at Fishguard, but were soon captured by the brave ladies of the town. No other foreign force has managed to invade mainland Britain since.
1825 – The 1825 Anglo-Russian Convention established the boundary between Russian America (Alaska) and British North America (Canada). The line followed the “summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast”.

1857 – The birth of Sir Robert (Stephenson Smyth) Baden-Powell, English hero of the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War. His innovative approach to the situation kept morale high and his experiences led to the founding of the Boy Scouts.

1881 – A 3,500-year-old Ancient Egyptian obelisk called “Cleopatra’s Needle” was erected in Central Park, New York, US.
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