2008 – Fidel Castro steps down as Cuba's president
Castro was 81 years old at the time and had been in power for 49 years.
1986 – The “Mir” Space Station is launched
The Soviet vehicle was the world's first modular space station and remained in orbit for 15 years.
1985 – Iberia Airlines Flight 610 crashes
All 148 people on board died in the accident that was blamed on pilot error.
1945 – U.S. troops land on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima
The photo showing 4 marines erecting a U.S. flag on the island has become one of the best-known images of World War II.
1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph
It was the first machine able to reproduce recorded sound.
1963 – Seal
English singer-songwriter
1957 – Falco
Austrian singer-songwriter
1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Argentinian politician, 55th President of Argentina
1865 – Sven Hedin
Swedish geographer, explorer
1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus
Polish mathematician, astronomer
2001 – Stanley Kramer
American director
2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Austrian/New Zealand painter, architect, designed the Kuchlbauer Tower, Waldspirale
1997 – Deng Xiaoping
Chinese politician, diplomat
1952 – Knut Hamsun
Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
1916 – Ernst Mach
Austrian physicist
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