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Fiqh

Fiqh (فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is often described as the human understanding and practices of the sharia, that is human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the Quran and the sunnah (the teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions). Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them. Thus, whereas sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims, fiqh is considered fallible and changeable. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as economic and political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni practice, plus two (or three) within Shi'a practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a faqīh (: fuqaha).

Figuratively, fiqh means knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their sources. Deriving religious rulings from their sources requires the mujtahid (an individual who exercises ijtihad) to have a deep understanding in the different discussions of jurisprudence. A faqīh must look deep down into a matter and not content himself with just the apparent meaning, and a person who only knows the appearance of a matter is not qualified as a faqīh.

The studies of fiqh, are traditionally divided into Uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence, lit. the roots of fiqh, alternatively transliterated as Usool al-fiqh), the methods of legal interpretation and analysis; and Furūʿ al-fiqh (lit. the branches of fiqh), the elaboration of rulings on the basis of these principles. Furūʿ al-fiqh is the product of the application of Uṣūl al-fiqh and the total product of human efforts at understanding the divine will. A hukm (: aḥkām) is a particular ruling in a given case.

Etymology
The word fiqh is an Arabic term meaning "deep understanding" or "full comprehension". Technically it refers to the body of Islamic law extracted from detailed Islamic sources (which are studied in the principles of Islamic jurisprudence) and the process of gaining knowledge of Islam through jurisprudence. The historian Ibn Khaldun describes fiqh as "knowledge of the rules of God which concern the actions of persons who own themselves connected to obey the law respecting what is required (wajib), sinful (haraam), recommended (mandūb), disapproved (makrūh), or neutral (mubah)". This definition is consistent amongst the jurists.

In Modern Standard Arabic, fiqh has also come to mean Islamic jurisprudence. It is not thus possible to speak of Chief Justice John Roberts as an expert in the common law fiqh of the United States, or of Egyptian legal scholar Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri as an expert in the civil law fiqh of Egypt.

History
According to Sunni Islamic history, Sunni law followed a chronological path of: The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and examples of the Prophet passed down as hadith). The first Muslims (the Sahabah or Companions) heard and obeyed, and passed this essence of Islam to succeeding generations (Tabi'un and Tabi' al-Tabi'in or successors/followers and successors of successors), as Muslims and Islam spread from West Arabia to the conquered lands north, east, and west, where it was systematized and elaborated
 * Allah → Muhammad → Companions → Followers → Fiqh.

The history of Islamic jurisprudence is "customarily divided into eight periods": The formative period of Islamic jurisprudence stretches back to the time of the early Muslim communities. During this period, jurists were more concerned with issues of authority and teaching than with theory and methodology.
 * the first period ending with the death of Muhammad in 11 AH.
 * second period "characterized by personal interpretations" of the canon by the Sahabah or companions of Muhammad, lasting until 50 AH.
 * from 50 AH until the early second century AH there was competition between "a traditionalist approach to jurisprudence" in western Arabia where Islam was revealed and a "rationalist approach in Iraq".
 * the "golden age of classical Islamic jurisprudence" from the "early second to the mid-fourth century when the eight "most significant" schools of Sunni and Shi'i jurisprudence emerged."
 * from the mid-fourth century to mid-seventh AH Islamic jurisprudence was "limited to elaborations within the main juristic schools".
 * the "dark age" of Islamic jurisprudence stretched from the fall of Baghdad in the mid-seventh AH (1258 CE) to 1293 AH/1876 CE.
 * In 1293 AH (1876 CE) the Ottomans codified Hanafi jurisprudence in the Majallah el-Ahkam-i-Adliya. Several "juristic revival movements" influenced by "exposure to Western legal and technological progress" followed until the mid-20th century CE. Muhammad Abduh and Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri were products of this era. However, Abduh and El-Sanhuri were modernists. 19th century Ottoman Shariah Code was built on the views of the Hanafi school.
 * The most recent era has been that of the "Islamic revival", which has been "predicated on rejection of Western social and legal advances" and the development of specifically Islamic states, social sciences, economics, and finance.

Progress in theory and methodology happened with the coming of the early Muslim jurist Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i (767–820), who codified the basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence in his book ar-Risālah. The book details the four roots of law (Qur'an, sunnah, ijma, and qiyas) while specifying that the primary Islamic texts (the Qur'an and the hadith) be understood according to objective rules of interpretation derived from scientific study of the Arabic language.

Secondary sources of law were developed and refined over the subsequent centuries, consisting primarily of juristic preference (istihsan), laws of the previous prophets (shara man qablana), continuity (istishab), extended analogy (maslaha mursala), blocking the means (sadd al-dhari'ah), local customs (urf), and sayings of a companion of the Prophet (qawl al-sahabi).

Diagram of early scholars
The Quran set the rights, responsibilities, and rules for people and societies to adhere to, such as dealing in interest. Muhammad then provided an example, which is recorded in the hadith books, showing people how he practically implemented these rules in a society. After the passing of Muhammad, there was a need for jurists, to decide on new legal matters where there is no such ruling in the Quran or the hadith, example of Islamic prophet Muhammad regarding a similar case.

In the years proceeding Muhammad, the community in Madina continued to use the same rules. People were familiar with the practice of Muhammad and therefore continued to use the same rules.

The scholars appearing in the diagram below were taught by Muhammad's companions, many of whom settled in Madina. Muwatta by Malik ibn Anas was written as a consensus of the opinion, of these scholars. Muwatta by Malik ibn Anas quotes 13 hadiths from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. Aisha also taught her nephew Urwah ibn Zubayr. He then taught his son Hisham ibn Urwah, who was the main teacher of Malik ibn Anas whose views many Sunni follow and also taught by Jafar al-Sadiq. Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, Hisham ibn Urwah and Muhammad al-Baqir taught Zayd ibn Ali, Jafar al-Sadiq, Abu Hanifa, and Malik ibn Anas.

Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, Imam Abu Hanifa and Malik ibn Anas worked together in Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. Along with Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, Muhammad al-Baqir, Zayd ibn Ali and over 70 other leading jurists and scholars.

Al-Shafi‘i was taught by Malik ibn Anas. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was taught by Al-Shafi‘i. Muhammad al-Bukhari travelled everywhere collecting hadith and his father Ismail ibn Ibrahim was a student of Malik ibn Anas.

In the books actually written by these original jurists and scholars, there are very few theological and judicial differences between them. Imam Ahmad rejected the writing down and codifying of the religious rulings he gave. They knew that they might have fallen into error in some of their judgements and stated this clearly. They never introduced their rulings by saying, "Here, this judgement is the judgement of God and His prophet." There is also very little text actually written down by Jafar al-Sadiq himself. They all give priority to the Qur'an and the hadith (the practice of Muhammad). They felt that the Quran and the Hadith, the example of Muhammad provided people with almost everything they needed. "This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion" Quran 5:3.

These scholars did not distinguish between each other. They were not Sunni or Shia. They felt that they were following the religion of Abraham as described in the Quran "Say: Allah speaks the truth; so follow the religion of Abraham, the upright one. And he was not one of the polytheists" (Qur'an 3:95).

Most of the differences are regarding Sharia laws devised through Ijtihad where there is no such ruling in the Quran or the hadiths of Islamic prophet Muhammad regarding a similar case. As these jurists went to new areas, they were pragmatic and continued to use the same ruling as was given in that area during pre-Islamic times, if the population felt comfortable with it, it was just and they used Ijtihad to deduce that it did not conflict with the Quran or the Hadith. As explained in the Muwatta by Malik ibn Anas. This made it easier for the different communities to integrate into the Islamic State and assisted in the quick expansion of the Islamic State.

To reduce the divergence, ash-Shafi'i proposed giving priority to the Qur'an and the Hadith (the practice of Muhammad) and only then look at the consensus of the Muslim jurists (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas). This then resulted in jurists like Muhammad al-Bukhari dedicating their lives to the collection of the correct hadith, in books like Sahih al-Bukhari. Sahih translates as authentic or correct. They also felt that Muhammad's judgement was more impartial and better than their own.

These original jurists and scholars also acted as a counterbalance to the rulers. When they saw injustice, all these scholars spoke out against it. As the state expanded outside Madina, the rights of the different communities, as they were constituted in the Constitution of Medina still applied. The Quran also gave additional rights to the citizens of the state and these rights were also applied. Ali, Hassan and Husayn ibn Ali gave their allegiance to the first three caliphs because they abided by these conditions. Later Ali the fourth caliph wrote in a letter "I did not approach the people to get their oath of allegiance but they came to me with their desire to make me their Amir (ruler). I did not extend my hands towards them so that they might swear the oath of allegiance to me but they themselves extended their hands towards me." But later as fate would have it (Predestination in Islam) when Yazid I, an oppressive ruler took power, Husayn ibn Ali the grandson of Muhammad felt that it was a test from God for him and his duty to confront him. Then Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr's cousin confronted the Umayyad rulers after Husayn ibn Ali was betrayed by the people of Kufa and killed by Syrian Roman Army now under the control of the Yazid I the Umayyad ruler. Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr then took on the Umayyads and expelled their forces from Hijaz and Iraq. But then his forces were depleted in Iraq, trying to stop the Khawarij. The Umayyads then moved in. After a lengthy campaign, in his last hour Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr asked his mother Asma' bint Abu Bakr the daughter of Abu Bakr the first caliph for advice. Asma' bint Abu Bakr replied to her son, she said: "You know better in your own self, that if you are upon the truth and you are calling towards the truth go forth, for people more honourable than you have been killed and if you are not upon the truth, then what an evil son you are and you have destroyed yourself and those who are with you. If you say, that if you are upon the truth and you will be killed at the hands of others, then you will not truly be free." Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr left and was later also killed and crucified by the Syrian Roman Army now under the control of the Umayyads and led by Hajjaj. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr the son of Abu Bakr the first caliph and raised by Ali the fourth caliph was also killed by the Umayyads. Aisha then raised and taught her son Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr who later taught his grandson Jafar al-Sadiq.

During the early Umayyad period, there was more community involvement. The Quran and Muhammad's example was the main source of law after which the community decided. If it worked for the community, was just and did not conflict with the Quran and the example of Muhammad, it was accepted. This made it easier for the different communities, with Roman, Persian, Central Asia and North African backgrounds to integrate into the Islamic State and that assisted in the quick expansion of the Islamic State. The scholars in Madina were consulted on the more complex judicial issues. The Sharia and the official more centralized schools of fiqh developed later, during the time of the Abbasids.

Components
The sources of Sharia in order of importance are Primary sources Secondary sources
 * 1) Qur'an
 * 2) Hadith
 * 3. Ijma, i.e. collective reasoning and consensus amongst authoritative Muslims of a particular generation, and its interpretation by Islamic scholars.
 * 4. Ijtihad, i.e. independent legal reasoning by Islamic jurists

Majority of Sunni Muslims view Qiyas as a central Pillar of Ijtihad. On the other hand; Zahirites, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Bukhari, early Hanbalites, etc. rejected Qiyas amongst the Sunnis. Similarly, the Shi’a jurists almost unanimously reject both pure reason and analogical reason; viewing both these methods as subjective.

The Qur'an gives clear instructions on many issues, such as how to perform the ritual purification (wudu) before the obligatory daily prayers (salat). On other issues, for example, the Qur'an states one needs to engage in daily prayers (salat) and fast (sawm) during the month of Ramadan but further instructions and details on how to perform these duties can be found in the traditions of Muhammad, so Qur'an and Sunnah are in most cases the basis for (Shariah).

Some topics are without precedent in Islam's early period. In those cases, Muslim jurists (Fuqaha) try to arrive at conclusions by other means. Sunni jurists use historical consensus of the community (Ijma); a majority in the modern era also use analogy (Qiyas) and weigh the harms and benefits of new topics (Istislah), and a plurality utilizes juristic preference (Istihsan). The conclusions arrived at with the aid of these additional tools constitute a wide array of laws, and its application is called fiqh. Thus, in contrast to the sharia, fiqh is not regarded as sacred and the schools of thought have differing views on its details, without viewing other conclusions as sacrilegious. This division of interpretation in more detailed issues has resulted in different schools of thought (madh'hab).

This wider concept of Islamic jurisprudence is the source of a range of laws in different topics that guide Muslims in everyday life.

Component categories
Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) covers two main areas:
 * 1) Rules in relation to actions, and,
 * 2) Rules in relation to circumstances surrounding actions.

These types of rules can also fall into two groups:
 * 1) Worship (Ibadaat)
 * 2) Dealings and transactions (with people) (Mu`amalaat)

Rules in relation to actions ('amaliyya — عملية) or "decision types" comprise:
 * 1) Obligation (fardh)
 * 2) Recommendation (mustahabb)
 * 3) Permissibility (mubah)
 * 4) Disrecommendation (makrooh)
 * 5) Prohibition (haraam)

Rules in relation to circumstances (wadia') comprise:
 * 1) Condition (shart)
 * 2) Cause (sabab)
 * 3) Preventor (mani)
 * 4) Permit / Enforced (rukhsah, azeemah)
 * 5) Valid / Corrupt / Invalid (sahih, fasid, batil)
 * 6) In time / Deferred / Repeat (adaa, qadaa, i'ada)

Methodologies of jurisprudence
The modus operandi of the Muslim jurist is known as usul al-fiqh ("principles of jurisprudence").

There are different approaches to the methodology used in jurisprudence to derive Islamic rulings from the primary sources of sharia (Islamic law). The main methodologies are those of the Sunni, Shi'a and Ibadi denominations. While both Sunni and Shi'ite (Shia) are divided into smaller sub-schools, the differences among the Shi'ite schools is considerably greater. Ibadites only follow a single school without divisions.

While using court decisions as legal precedents and case law are central to Western law, the importance of the institution of fatawa (non-binding answers by Islamic legal scholars to legal questions) has been called "central to the development" of Islamic jurisprudence. This is in part because of a "vacuum" in the other source of Islamic law, qada` (legal rulings by state appointed Islamic judges) after the fall of the last caliphate the Ottoman Empire. While the practice in Islam dates back to the time of Muhammad, according to at least one source (Muhammad El-Gamal), it is "modeled after the Roman system of responsa," and gives the questioner "decisive primary-mover advantage in choosing the question and its wording."
 * Fatawa

Each school (madhhab) reflects a unique al-urf or culture (a cultural practice that was influenced by traditions), that the classical jurists themselves lived in, when rulings were made. Some suggest that the discipline of isnad, which developed to validate hadith made it relatively easy to record and validate also the rulings of jurists. This, in turn, made them far easier to imitate (taqlid) than to challenge in new contexts. The argument is, the schools have been more or less frozen for centuries, and reflect a culture that simply no longer exists. Traditional scholars hold that religion is there to regulate human behavior and nurture people's moral side and since human nature has not fundamentally changed since the beginning of Islam a call to modernize the religion is essentially one to relax all laws and institutions.
 * Arguments for and against reform

Early shariah had a much more flexible character, and some modern Muslim scholars believe that it should be renewed, and that the classical jurists should lose special status. This would require formulating a new fiqh suitable for the modern world, e.g. as proposed by advocates of the Islamization of knowledge, which would deal with the modern context. This modernization is opposed by most conservative ulema. Traditional scholars hold that the laws are contextual and consider circumstance such as time, place and culture, the principles they are based upon are universal such as justice, equality and respect. Many Muslim scholars argue that even though technology may have advanced, the fundamentals of human life have not.

Fields of jurisprudence

 * Criminal
 * Economics
 * Etiquette
 * Family
 * Hygienical
 * Inheritance
 * Marital
 * Military
 * Political
 * Theological

Schools of jurisprudence
There are several schools of fiqh thought (مذهب maḏhab; pl. مذاهب maḏāhib) The schools of Sunni Islam are each named by students of the classical jurist who taught them. The Sunni schools (and where they are commonly found) are
 * Hanafi (Turkey, Egypt, Balkans, Levant, Central Asia, South Asia, China, North Caucasus, and Tatarstan)
 * Maliki (North Africa, West Africa, and Eastern Arabia)
 * Shafi'i (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Kurdistan, Egypt, East Africa, Yemen, Kerala, and Maldives)
 * Hanbali (Saudi Arabia) see Wahhabism
 * Zahiri (minority communities in Morocco and Pakistan)
 * Ahl al-Hadith
 * Jariri, Laythi, Awza'i, Thawri, and Qurtubi no longer exist.

The schools of Shia Islam comprise:
 * Ja'fari Twelver (Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Lebanon)
 * Ja'fari Isma'ili (minority communities in India, Central Asia, Levant, Yemen, and Pakistan)
 * Zaydi (minority communities in Yemen)

Entirely separate from both the Sunni and Shia traditions, Khawarij Islam has evolved its own distinct school.
 * Ibadi (Oman)

These schools share many of their rulings, but differ on the particular hadiths they accept as authentic and the weight they give to analogy or reason (qiyas) in deciding difficulties.

The relationship between (at least the Sunni) schools of jurisprudence and the conflict between the unity of the Shariah and the diversity of the schools, was expressed by the 12th century Hanafi scholar Abu Hafs Umar al-Nasafi, who wrote: "Our school is correct with the possibility of error, and another school is in error with the possibility of being correct."

Influence on Western laws
A number of important legal institutions were developed by Muslim jurists during the classical period of Islam, known as the Islamic Golden Age. One such institution was the Hawala, an early informal value transfer system, which is mentioned in texts of Islamic jurisprudence as early as the 8th century. Hawala itself later influenced the development of the agency in common law and in civil laws such as the aval in French law and the avallo in Italian law.

The Waqf in Islamic law, which developed during the 7th–9th centuries, bears a notable resemblance to the trusts in the English trust law. For example, every Waqf was required to have a waqif (settlor), mutawillis (trustee), qadi (judge) and beneficiaries. The trust law developed in England at the time of the Crusades, during the 12th and 13th centuries, was introduced by Crusaders who may have been influenced by the Waqf institutions they came across in the Middle East.

In classical Islamic jurisprudence, litigants in court may obtain notarized statements from between three and twelve witnesses. When the statements of all witnesses are consistent, the notaries will certify their unanimous testimony in a legal document, which may be used to support the litigant's claim. The notaries serve to free the judge from the time-consuming task of hearing the testimony of each eyewitness himself, and their documents serve to legally authenticate each oral testimony. The Maliki school requires two notaries to collect a minimum of twelve eyewitness statements in certain legal cases, including those involving unregistered marriages and land disputes. John Makdisi has compared this group of twelve witness statements, known as a lafif, to English Common Law jury trials under Henry II, surmising a link between the king's reforms and the legal system of the Kingdom of Sicily. The island had previously been ruled by various Islamic dynasties.

Several other fundamental common law institutions may have been adapted from similar legal institutions in Islamic law and jurisprudence, and introduced to England by the Normans after the Norman conquest of England and the Emirate of Sicily, and by Crusaders during the Crusades. In particular, the "royal English contract protected by the action of debt is identified with the Islamic Aqd, the English assize of novel disseisin is identified with the Islamic Istihqaq, and the English jury is identified with the Islamic lafif." John Makdisi speculated that English legal institutions such as "the scholastic method, the licence to teach", the "law schools known as Inns of Court in England and Madrasas in Islam" and the "European commenda" (Islamic Qirad) may have also originated from Islamic law. The methodology of legal precedent and reasoning by analogy (Qiyas) are also similar in both the Islamic and common law systems. These influences have led some scholars to suggest that Islamic law may have laid the foundations for "the common law as an integrated whole".

title: Fiqh


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Flank

Flank may refer to:
 * Flank (anatomy), part of the abdomen
 * Flank steak, a cut of beef
 * Part of the external anatomy of a horse
 * Flank speed, a nautical term
 * Flank opening, a chess opening
 * A term in Australian rules football
 * The side of a military unit, as in a flanking maneuver
 * Flanking, a sound path in architectural acoustics
 * Flanking region, a region of DNA in directionality
 * Rift flank (synonymous of rift shoulder), mountains belt on the sides of extensional rift basins

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title: Flank


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Talk:Flank

A bit uncertain of the nomenclature in British and U.S. military forces, since i got my education in Swedish :-) --Anders Törlind fdddddddd

Discussion related to this page

 * Wikipedia talk:Disambiguation
 * Wikipedia talk:Disambiguation Theoldsparkle (talk) 15:12, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

And also this one: Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive751 Bazonka (talk) 08:09, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:Flank


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First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicaea (Σύνοδος τῆς Νικαίας) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325.

This ecumenical council was the first of many efforts to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all Christendom. Hosius of Corduba may have presided over its deliberations. Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the divine nature of God the Son and his relationship to God the Father, the construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed, mandating uniform observance of the date of Easter, and promulgation of early canon law.

Alexandrian controversies
The major impetus for the calling of the Council of Nicaea arose in a theological dispute among the Christian clergy of Alexandria concerning the nature of Jesus, his origin, and relation to God the Father. Scholars propose dates between 318 and 322 for the beginning of the dispute. The precise origins of the controversy are unclear, but the principal actors were Archbishop Alexander of Alexandria and the presbyter Arius. Arius' teachings are known partially from a few of his writing which survive, but principally from his opponents, primarily Alexander and Athanasius of Alexandria. Arius criticized Alexander's teachings on Christology; Alexander taught that Jesus as God the Son was eternally generated from the Father, while Arius and his followers asserted that the Father alone was eternal, and that the Son was created or begotten by the Father, and thus had a defined point of origin and was subordinate to the Father. Arius accused Alexander of following the teachings of Sabellius, who taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were one person, rather than the view held throughout the east that they were distinct. Alexander called a local council of bishops from Egypt and Libya, which sided with Alexander's view. Arius refused to subscribe to the council's decision, and he and several followers were excommunicated and exiled from Alexandria by Alexander. Arius then traveled to churches around the Roman east and wrote to bishops to gain support of his view. Among Arius' supporters were Eusebius of Nicomedia and Eusebius of Caesarea, and they advocated for his view and his restoration to the church in Alexandria. Alexander also circulated letters defending his own position.

Parallel to the theological controversy between Alexander and Arius was the Melitian schism in the Alexandrian church. Melitius, bishop of Lycopolis, had acted in the stead of the imprisoned bishop Peter I of Alexandria during the Diocletianic Persecution, but after Peter's death in 311 refused to give up his right to ordain clergy or recognize the authority of Peter's successors Achillas or Alexander.

Constantine and the calling of the council
In 324, the western Roman emperor Constantine defeated the eastern emperor Licinius and became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. It was at this time that, likely from Eusebius of Nicomedia, he became aware of the controversy between Alexander and Arius. Constantine wrote a letter to the two, urging them to end their dispute and reconcile. This was not Constantine's first direct involvement in ecclesiastical controversy; he had previously attempted to resolve a schism over Donatism in North Africa, first appointing Miltiades, Bishop of Rome to hear the dispute (with the instruction "I do not wish you to leave schism or division of any kind anywhere.") and then calling the Council of Arles.

Constantine's letter was carried to Alexandria by Bishop Hosius of Corduba as his representative. Hosius apparently then presided over a synod at Alexandria concerning the date of Easter, before calling a council of Eastern bishops in Antioch. This council endorsed Alexander's position and issuing a statement of faith that held that the Son was "begotten not from non-existence, but from the Father, not as made, but as genuine product" and contained anathemas against Arius. Eusebius of Caesaria was also temporarily excommunicated because of his contention that the Father and the Son were of two different natures.

The bishops were then to assemble Ancyra in Asia Minor for a "great and hierarchic council", either at their own impetus or Constantine's command. Constantine moved the council to Nicaea in Bithynia, a venue that would allow him to attend personally (due to its proximity to his capital at Nicomedia) and would allow easier access for bishops from throughout the empire. The emperor had also planned a commemoration of the twentieth year of his reign in Nicaea.

Attendance and logistics
The expenses of the council, including the travel of the bishops, were paid by the imperial treasury. Contemporary reports of attendance range from 250 to 300, with the figure of 318 given by Athanasius of Antioch becoming traditionally accepted. 318 is also the number of members of Abraham's household given in the Book of Genesis. Lists of signatories to the final decisions of the council contain 200–220 names. With presbyters and deacons attending each bishop, the total attendance may have been between 1200 and 1900. Most of the bishops were eastern, with about twenty from Egypt and Libya, another fifty Palestine and Syria, and more than one hundred from Asia Minor. One bishop each from Persia and Scythia were present. The few western attendees were Hosius, Caecilianus of Carthage, Nicasius of Die, Marcus of Calabria, Domnus of Pannonia, and Victor and Vicentius, two presbyters representing Bishop Sylvestor of Rome. Of the eastern bishops, the principal supporters of Arius were Eusebius of Nicomedia, Eusebius of Caesarea, Menophantus of Ephesus, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Narcissus of Neronias, Theonas of Marmarike, Secundus of Ptolemais, and Theognis of Nicaea. The principal anti-Arians included Alexander of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, Marcellus of Ancyra and Macarius of Jerusalem.

The council was held in Nicea's imperial palace. The bishops most likely assembled in a rectangular basilica hall based on Eusebius of Caearea's description.

Proceedings
Constantine opened the council with a formal entrance after the bishops arrived, with Eusebius describing him as "like some heavenly angel of God, his bright mantle shedding lustre like beams of light, shining with the fiery radiance of a purple robe, and decorated with the dazzling brilliance of gold and precious stones." He then gave an opening speech in Latin (rather than the Greek spoken by most of the attendees). Fifth-century church historian Socrates of Constantinople gives the date of the opening as 20 May 325, though may have been later in June.

It is most likely that Hosius presided over the council's debates and proceedings as Constantine's representative. Constantine did join in the debates of the council (in Greek), but did not see himself as a voting member as he was not a bishop. No detailed acta of the council exist as they do for later councils, so the exact sequence of the council's debates is uncertain. Church councils at the time were modeled after the proceedings of the Roman Senate, with the presiding officer having a large degree of control, and participants speaking in turn based on hierarchy. Probably the first matter considered was the status of Eusebius of Caesarea and the other bishops excommunicated at Antioch, as this would determine whether they could participate in the rest of the council. According to Eusebius, his profession of faith was accepted and he was restored. An account by Eustathius of Antioch records a statement of faith by a Eusebius being rejected by the council, though this was likely Eusebius of Nicomedia.

A statement of faith based on earlier creeds was drafted (possibly by a smaller committee), and each line was debated by the council. All but two bishops subscribed to the final form of the creed as adopted. In addition to the Arian question, the council also considered the calculation of Easter, and adopted the Roman and Alexandrian method over the objection of several eastern bishops. The bishops also agreed to a resolution on the Melitian schism and issued twenty canons. The council closed in the first weeks of July, with the bishops invited to attend Constantine's celebration of his twentieth anniversary on the throne on 25 July. Both the bishops and the emperor issued letters recounting the councils' decisions to be circulated throughout the empire.

Ecumenical Council
The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the church. Nicaea "was the first time that any attempt had been made to summon a general council of the whole church at which, at least in theory, the church in every part of the Roman Empire should be represented".

Derived from Greek (οἰκουμένη), "ecumenical" means "worldwide" but generally is assumed to be limited to the known inhabited Earth, and at this time in history is nearly synonymous with the Roman Empire. The earliest extant uses of the term for a council are Eusebius' Life of Constantine around 338, which states "he convoked an ecumenical council" (σύνοδον οἰκουμενικὴν συνεκρότει, sýnodon oikoumenikḕn synekrótei) and a letter in 382 to Pope Damasus I and the Latin bishops from the First Council of Constantinople.

Historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, the Council was the first occasion where the technical aspects of Christology were discussed. Through it a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to adopt creeds and canons. This Council is generally considered the beginning of the period of the first seven ecumenical councils in the history of Christianity.

Nicene Creed

The Council formulated a creed, a declaration and summary of the Christian faith. Several creeds were already in existence; many creeds were acceptable to the members of the Council, including Arius. From earliest times, various creeds served as a means of identification for Christians, as a means of inclusion and recognition, especially at baptism. In Rome, for example, the Apostles' Creed was popular, especially for use in Lent and the Easter season. In the Council of Nicaea, one specific creed was used to define the Church's faith clearly, to include those who professed it, and to exclude those who did not.

The original Nicene Creed read as follows:

The creed was amended by the First Council of Constantinople in 381.

Distinctive elements
Some distinctive elements in the Nicene Creed, perhaps from the hand of Hosius of Cordova, were added, some specifically to counter the Arian point of view.

 * 1) Jesus Christ is described as "Light from Light, true God from true God", proclaiming his divinity.
 * 2) Jesus Christ is said to be "begotten, not made", asserting that he was not a mere creature, brought into being out of nothing, but the true Son of God, brought into being "from the substance of the Father".
 * 3) He is said to be "of one substance with the Father", proclaiming that although Jesus Christ is "true God" and God the Father is also "true God", they are "of one substance". The Greek term homoousios, consubstantial (i.e. of the same substance) is ascribed by Eusebius of Caesarea to Constantine who, on this particular point, may have chosen to exercise his authority. The significance of this clause, however, is ambiguous as to the extent in which Jesus Christ and God the Father are "of one substance", and the issues it raised would be seriously controverted in the future.

Anathemas
At the end of the creed came a list of anathemas, designed to repudiate explicitly the Arians' stated claims.

 * 1) The view that "there was once when he was not" was rejected to maintain the coeternity of the Son with the Father.
 * 2) The view that he was "mutable or subject to change" was rejected to maintain that the Son just like the Father was beyond any form of weakness or corruptibility, and most importantly that he could not fall away from absolute moral perfection.

Thus, instead of a baptismal creed acceptable to both the Arians and their opponents, the Council promulgated one which was clearly opposed to Arianism and incompatible with the distinctive core of their beliefs. The text of this profession of faith is preserved in a letter of Eusebius to his congregation, in Athanasius' works, and elsewhere. The Homoousians (from the Koine Greek word translated as "of same substance" which was condemned at the Council of Antioch in 264–268) were the most vocal of anti-Arians and were able to advance the use of the term, thus the creed was accepted by the Council.

Exiled
The emperor carried out his earlier statement: everybody who refused to endorse the creed would be exiled. Arius, Theonas, and Secundus refused to adhere to the creed and were thus exiled to Illyria, in addition to being excommunicated. The works of Arius were ordered to be confiscated and consigned to the flames, while his supporters were considered as "enemies of Christianity". Nevertheless, the controversy continued in various parts of the empire.

Separation of Easter computation from Jewish calendar
The feast of Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, as Christians believe that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus occurred at the time of those observances. As early as Pope Sixtus I in the 2nd century, some Christians had set Easter to a Sunday in the lunar month of Nisan. To determine which lunar month was to be designated as Nisan, Christians relied on the Jewish community. By the late 3rd century some Christians began to express dissatisfaction with what they took to be the disorderly state of the Jewish calendar. They argued that contemporary Jews were identifying the wrong lunar month as the month of Nisan, choosing a month whose 14th day fell before the spring equinox.

Christians, these thinkers argued, should abandon the custom of relying on Jewish informants and instead do their own computations to determine which month should be styled Nisan, setting Easter within this independently computed, Christian Nisan, which would always locate the festival after the equinox. They justified this break with tradition by arguing that it was in fact the contemporary Jewish calendar that had broken with tradition by ignoring the equinox and that in former times the 14th of Nisan had never preceded the equinox. Others felt that the customary practice of reliance on the Jewish calendar should continue, even if the Jewish computations were in error from a Christian point of view.

The controversy between those who argued for independent computations and those who argued for continued reliance on the Jewish calendar was formally resolved by the Council, which endorsed the independent procedure that had been in use for some time at Rome and Alexandria. Easter was henceforward to be a Sunday in a lunar month chosen according to Christian criteria—in effect, a Christian Nisan—not in the month of Nisan as defined by Jews. Those who argued for continued reliance on the Jewish calendar (called "protopaschites" by later historians) were urged to come around to the majority position. That they did not all immediately do so is revealed by the existence of sermons, canons, and tracts written against the protopaschite practice in the late 4th century.

These two rules—independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity—were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the Council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated numerous controversies, some of which remain unresolved. In particular, the Council did not seem to decree that Easter must fall on Sunday. This was unnecessary as it resolved against the Quartodecimani, who celebrated on any day of the week, in favour of the Churches who postponed the celebration to the following Sunday. See the extract from the Letter of the Council of Nicaea to the Egyptian Church, cited above.

Nor did the Council decree that Easter must never coincide with Nisan 15 (the first Day of Unleavened Bread, now commonly called "Passover") in the Hebrew calendar. The Finnish Orthodox Church explains, "According to the definition of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Pascha is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox, but always after the Jewish Passover. The date of the vernal equinox was then defined as March 21." L'Huillier notes the success of this strategy - Orthodox Easter has never preceded Passover.

Resolution of the Melitian schism
The suppression of the Melitian schism, an early breakaway sect, was another important matter that came before the Council of Nicaea. Melitius, it was decided, should remain in his own city of Lycopolis in Egypt but without exercising authority or the power to ordain new clergy; he was forbidden to go into the environs of the town or to enter another diocese for the purpose of ordaining its subjects. Melitius retained his episcopal title, but the ecclesiastics ordained by him were to receive again the laying on of hands, the ordinations performed by Melitius being therefore regarded as invalid. Clergy ordained by Melitius were ordered to yield precedence to those ordained by Alexander, and they were not to do anything without the consent of Bishop Alexander.

In the event of the death of a non-Melitian bishop or ecclesiastic, the vacant see might be given to a Melitian, provided he was worthy and the popular election were ratified by Alexander. Melitius' episcopal rights and prerogatives were taken from him. These mild measures, however, were in vain; the Melitians joined the Arians and caused more dissension than ever, being among the worst enemies of Athanasius. The Melitians ultimately died out around the middle of the 5th century.

Promulgation of canon law
The Council promulgated twenty new church laws, called canons (though the exact number is subject to debate), that is, rules of discipline. The twenty as listed in the works of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers are as follows:

 * 1) prohibition of self-castration for clergy
 * 2) establishment of a minimum term for catechumens (persons studying for baptism)
 * 3) prohibition of a man and a woman who have both taken vows of chastity to live together in a chaste and non-legalized partnership (the so called virgines subintroductae, who practiced syneisaktism)
 * 4) ordination of a bishop in the presence of at least three provincial bishops and confirmation by the metropolitan bishop
 * 5) provision for two provincial synods to be held annually
 * 6) confirmation of ancient customs giving jurisdiction over large regions to the bishops of Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch
 * 7) recognition of the honorary rights of the see of Jerusalem
 * 8) provision for agreement with the Novatianists, an early sect
 * 9) elders who had been ordained without sufficient examination were not to be recognized
 * 10) elders who had lapsed but had not been found out were to be deposed
 * 11) mercy was enjoined toward those who had lapsed without compulsion, even though it was recognized that they did not deserve it
 * 12) those who had left the military but later sought out to be restored to their military position were to be excommunicated; depending on the sincerity of their repentance, they could be readmitted to communion earlier
 * 13) those who were fulfilling penance could receive communion if they were dying, but if they got well again, they were to finish their penance
 * 14) catechumens who lapsed were to have three years as hearers before being allowed to become catechumens again
 * 15) bishops, presbyters, and deacons were not to wander into neighboring cities to officiate
 * 16) clergy who refused to return to their home church were to be excommunicated, and the ordinations of those who were ordained by these wandering clergy were to be considered null and void
 * 17) prohibition of usury among the clergy
 * 18) precedence of bishops and presbyters before deacons in receiving the Eucharist (Holy Communion)
 * 19) declaration of the invalidity of baptism by Paulian heretics
 * 20) prohibition of kneeling on Sundays and during the Pentecost (the fifty days commencing on Easter). Standing was the normative posture for prayer at this time, as it still is among the Eastern Christians. Kneeling was considered most appropriate to penitential prayer, as distinct from the festive nature of Eastertide and its remembrance every Sunday. The canon was designed only to ensure uniformity of practice at the designated times.

Effects
In the short-term, the Council did not completely solve the problems it was convened to discuss, and a period of conflict and upheaval continued for some time. Constantine was succeeded by two Arian emperors in the Eastern Empire: his son, Constantius II, and Valens. Valens could not resolve the outstanding ecclesiastical issues and unsuccessfully confronted St. Basil over the Nicene Creed.

Pagan powers within the empire sought to maintain and at times re-establish paganism into the seat of the emperor (see Arbogast and Julian the Apostate). Arians and Meletians soon regained nearly all of the rights they had lost, and consequently Arianism continued to spread and be a subject of debate within the Church during the remainder of the 4th century. Almost immediately, Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Arian bishop and cousin to Constantine I, used his influence at court to sway Constantine's favor from the proto-orthodox Nicene bishops to the Arians.

Eustathius of Antioch was deposed and exiled in 330. Athanasius, who had succeeded Alexander as Bishop of Alexandria, was deposed by the First Synod of Tyre in 335, and Marcellus of Ancyra followed him in 336. Arius returned to Constantinople to be readmitted into the Church but died shortly before he could be received. Constantine died the next year, after finally receiving baptism from Arian Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, and "with his passing the first round in the battle after the Council of Nicaea was ended".

Role of Constantine
Christianity had only recently been legalised in the empire, the Diocletianic Persecution having ended in 311 under Galerius. Although Galerius stopped the Persecution, Christianity was not legally protected until 313, when the emperors Constantine and Licinius agreed to what became known as the Edict of Milan, guaranteeing Christians legal protection and tolerance. However, Nicene Christianity did not become the state religion of the Roman Empire until the Edict of Thessalonica in 380. In the meantime, paganism remained legal and present in public affairs. Constantine's coinage and other official motifs, until the Council of Nicaea, had affiliated him with the pagan cult of Sol Invictus. At first, Constantine encouraged the construction of new temples and tolerated traditional sacrifices. Later in his reign, he gave orders for the pillaging and the tearing down of Roman temples.

Constantine's role regarding Nicaea was that of supreme civil leader and authority in the empire. As Emperor, the responsibility for maintaining civil order was his, and he sought that the Church be of one mind and at peace. When first informed of the unrest in Alexandria due to the Arian disputes, he was "greatly troubled" and, "rebuked" both Arius and Bishop Alexander for originating the disturbance and allowing it to become public. Aware also of "the diversity of opinion" regarding the celebration of Easter and hoping to settle both issues, he sent the "honored" Bishop Hosius of Cordova (Hispania) to form a local church council and "reconcile those who were divided". When that embassy failed, he turned to summoning a synod at Nicaea, inviting "the most eminent men of the churches in every country".

Constantine assisted in assembling the Council by arranging that travel expenses to and from the bishops' episcopal sees, as well as lodging at Nicaea, be covered out of public funds. He also provided and furnished a "great hall ... in the palace" as a place for discussion so that his guests "should be treated with becoming dignity". In addressing the opening of the Council, he "exhorted the Bishops to unanimity and concord" and called on them to follow the Holy Scriptures with: "Let, then, all contentious disputation be discarded; and let us seek in the divinely-inspired word the solution of the questions at issue."

Thereupon, the debate about Arius and church doctrine began. "The emperor gave patient attention to the speeches of both parties" and "deferred" to the decision of the bishops. The bishops first pronounced Arius' teachings to be anathema, formulating the creed as a statement of correct doctrine. When Arius and two followers refused to agree, the bishops pronounced clerical judgement by excommunicating them from the Church. Respecting the clerical decision, and seeing the threat of continued unrest, Constantine also pronounced civil judgement, banishing them into exile. This was the beginning of the practice of using secular power to establish doctrinal orthodoxy within Christianity, an example followed by all later Christian emperors, which led to a circle of Christian violence, and of Christian resistance couched in terms of martyrdom.

Biblical canon
There is no record of any discussion of the biblical canon at the council. The development of the biblical canon was nearly complete (with exceptions known as the Antilegomena, written texts whose authenticity or value is disputed) by the time the Muratorian fragment was written. The main source of the idea that the canon was created at the Council of Nicaea seems to be Voltaire, who popularised a story that the canon was determined by placing all the competing books on an altar during the Council and then keeping the ones that did not fall off. The original source of this "fictitious anecdote" is the Synodicon Vetus, a pseudo-historical account of early Church councils from 887.

In 331, Constantine commissioned fifty Bibles for the use of the Bishop of Constantinople, but little else is known (in fact, it is not even certain whether his request was for fifty copies of the entire Old and New Testaments, only the New Testament, or merely the Gospels). Some scholars believe that this request provided motivation for canon lists. In Jerome's Prologue to Judith, he claims that the Book of Judith was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures". However, modern scholars such as Edmon Gallagher have doubted that this indicates any canon selection in the council.

Trinity
The Council of Nicaea dealt primarily with the issue of the deity of Christ. The term "Trinity" was already in use, with the earliest existing reference being by Theophilus of Antioch (AD 115–181), referring to God, the Logos, and Sophia (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit was referred to by several Church fathers), though many scholars believe that the way the term was used indicates that it was known previously to his readers. Also, over a century before, the term "Trinity" (Τριάς in Greek; trinitas in Latin) was used in the writings of Origen and Tertullian, and a general notion of a "divine three", in some sense, was expressed in the 2nd-century writings of Polycarp, Ignatius, and Justin Martyr. In Nicaea, questions regarding the Holy Spirit were left largely unaddressed until after the relationship between the Father and the Son was settled around the year 362. The doctrine in a more full-fledged form was not formulated until the Council of Constantinople in 381 and a final form formulated primarily by Gregory of Nyssa.

Constantine
While Constantine had sought a unified church after the Council, he did not force the homoousian view of Christ's nature on the council. Constantine did not commission any Bibles at the Council. Despite Constantine's sympathetic interest in the Church, he was not baptized until some 11 or 12 years after the council, putting off baptism as long as he did so as to be absolved from as much sin as possible.

Disputed matters
According to Protestant theologian Philip Schaff: "The Nicene fathers passed this canon not as introducing anything new, but merely as confirming an existing relation on the basis of church tradition; and that, with special reference to Alexandria, on account of the troubles existing there. Rome was named only for illustration; and Antioch and all the other eparchies or provinces were secured their admitted rights. The bishoprics of Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch were placed substantially on equal footing." Thus, according to Schaff, the Bishop of Alexandria was to have jurisdiction over the provinces of Egypt, Libya and the Pentapolis, just as the Bishop of Rome had authority "with reference to his own diocese."

However, according to Fr. James F. Loughlin, there is an alternative Catholic interpretation. It involves five different arguments "drawn respectively from the grammatical structure of the sentence, from the logical sequence of ideas, from Catholic analogy, from comparison with the process of formation of the Byzantine Patriarchate, and from the authority of the ancients" in favor of an alternative understanding of the canon. According to this interpretation, the canon shows the role the Bishop of Rome had when he, by his authority, confirmed the jurisdiction of the other patriarchs—an interpretation which is in line with the Catholic understanding of the Pope. Thus, the Bishop of Alexandria presided over Egypt, Libya and the Pentapolis, while the Bishop of Antioch "enjoyed a similar authority throughout the great diocese of Oriens," and all by the authority of the Bishop of Rome. To Loughlin, that was the only possible reason to invoke the custom of a Roman Bishop in a matter related to the two metropolitan bishops in Alexandria and Antioch.

However, Protestant and Catholic interpretations have historically assumed that some or all of the bishops identified in the canon were presiding over their own dioceses at the time of the Council—the Bishop of Rome over the Diocese of Italy, as Schaff suggested, the Bishop of Antioch over the Diocese of Oriens, as Loughlin suggested, and the Bishop of Alexandria over the Diocese of Egypt, as suggested by Karl Josef von Hefele. According to Hefele, the Council had assigned to Alexandria, "the whole (civil) Diocese of Egypt." Yet those assumptions have since been proven false. At the time of the Council, the Diocese of Egypt did exist but was known as the Diocese of Alexandria, so the Council could have assigned it to Alexandria. Antioch and Alexandria were both located within the civil Diocese of Oriens, Antioch being the chief metropolis, but neither administered the whole. Likewise, Rome and Milan were both located within the civil Diocese of Italy, Milan being the chief metropolis.

This geographic issue related to Canon 6 was highlighted by Protestant writer Timothy F. Kauffman, as a correction to the anachronism created by the assumption that each bishop was already presiding over a whole diocese at the time of the Council. According to Kauffman, since Milan and Rome were both located within the Diocese of Italy, and Antioch and Alexandria were both located within the Diocese of Oriens, a relevant and "structural congruency" between Rome and Alexandria was readily apparent to the gathered bishops: both had been made to share a diocese of which neither was the chief metropolis. Rome's jurisdiction within Italy had been defined in terms of several of the city's adjacent provinces since Diocletian's reordering of the empire in 293, as the earliest Latin version of the canon indicates.

That provincial arrangement of Roman and Milanese jurisdiction within Italy therefore was a relevant precedent, and provided an administrative solution to the problem facing the Council—namely, how to define Alexandrian and Antiochian jurisdiction within the Diocese of Oriens. In canon 6, the Council left most of the diocese under Antioch's jurisdiction, and assigned a few provinces of the diocese to Alexandria, "since the like is customary for the Bishop of Rome also."

title: First Council of Nicaea


text:
February 5

Pre-1600

 * 2 BC – Caesar Augustus is granted the title pater patriae by the Roman Senate.
 * 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
 * 756 – Chinese New Year; An Lushan proclaims himself Emperor of China and founds the short-lived state of Yan.
 * 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
 * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society.
 * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society.

1601–1900

 * 1783 – In Calabria, a sequence of strong earthquakes begins.
 * 1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.
 * 1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
 * 1852 – The New Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public.
 * 1859 – Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, is also elected as prince of Wallachia, joining the two principalities as a personal union called the United Principalities, an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire, which ushered in the birth of the modern Romanian state.
 * 1869 – The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the "Welcome Stranger", is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
 * 1885 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.

1901–present

 * 1901 – J. P. Morgan incorporates U.S. Steel in the state of New Jersey, although the company would not start doing business until February 25 and the assets of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company, Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company, and William Henry Moore's National Steel Company were not acquired until April 1.
 * 1905 – In Mexico, the General Hospital of Mexico is inaugurated, started with four basic specialties.
 * 1907 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.
 * 1913 – Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis perform the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane.
 * 1913  – Claudio Monteverdi's last opera L'incoronazione di Poppea was performed theatrically for the first time in more than 250 years.
 * 1917 – The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
 * 1917  – The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
 * 1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane; this is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
 * 1918  – SS Tuscania (1914) is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland; it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.
 * 1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith launch United Artists.
 * 1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal.
 * 1933 – Mutiny on Royal Netherlands Navy warship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën off the coast of Sumatra, Dutch East Indies.
 * 1939 – Generalísimo Francisco Franco becomes the 68th "Caudillo de España", or Leader of Spain.
 * 1941 – World War II: Allied forces begin the Battle of Keren to capture Keren, Eritrea.
 * 1945 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.
 * 1958 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic.
 * 1958  – A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
 * 1962 – French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
 * 1963 – The European Court of Justice's ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen establishes the principle of direct effect, one of the most important, if not the most important, decisions in the development of European Union law.
 * 1967 – Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is formally proclaimed, with Yao Wenyuan and Zhang Chunqiao being appointed as its leaders.
 * 1971 – Astronauts land on the Moon in the Apollo 14 mission.
 * 1975 – Riots break out in Lima, Peru after the police forces go on strike the day before. The uprising (locally known as the Limazo) is bloodily suppressed by the military dictatorship.
 * 1981 – Operation Soap: The Metropolitan Toronto Police Force raids four gay bathhouses in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, arresting just under 300, triggering mass protest and rallies.
 * 1985 – Ugo Vetere, then the mayor of Rome, and Chedli Klibi, then the mayor of Carthage, meet in Tunis to sign a treaty of friendship officially ending the Third Punic War which lasted 2,131 years.
 * 1988 – Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.
 * 1994 – Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
 * 1994  – Markale massacres, more than 60 people are killed and some 200 wounded as a mortar shell explodes in a downtown marketplace in Sarajevo.
 * 1997 – The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
 * 2000 – Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.
 * 2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
 * 2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills 57.
 * 2016 – New Zealand politician Steven Joyce is hit by a flung rubber dildo in a Waitangi Day protest.
 * 2019 – Pope Francis becomes the first Pope in history to visit and perform papal mass in the Arabian Peninsula during his visit to Abu Dhabi.
 * 2020 – United States President Donald Trump is acquitted by the United States Senate in his first impeachment trial.
 * 2021 – Police riot in Mexico City as they try to break up a demonstration by cyclists who were protesting after a bus ran over a bicyclist. Eleven police officers are arrested.

Pre-1600

 * 976 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (d. 1017)
 * 1321 – John II, marquess of Montferrat (d. 1372)
 * 1438 – Philip II, duke of Savoy (d. 1497)
 * 1505 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss statesman and historian (d. 1572)
 * 1519 – René of Châlon, prince of Orange (d. 1544)
 * 1525 – Juraj Drašković, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1587)
 * 1533 – Andreas Dudith, Croatian-Hungarian nobleman and diplomat (d. 1589)
 * 1534 – Giovanni de' Bardi, Italian soldier, composer, and critic (d. 1612)
 * 1589 – Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet and educator (d. 1669)
 * 1594 – Biagio Marini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1663)

1601–1900

 * 1608 – Gaspar Schott, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1666)
 * 1626 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (d. 1696)
 * 1650 – Anne Jules de Noailles, French general (d. 1708)
 * 1703 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-American minister (d. 1764)
 * 1723 – John Witherspoon, Scottish-American minister and academic (d. 1794)
 * 1725 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
 * 1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German composer and conductor (d. 1798)
 * 1788 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1850)
 * 1795 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist, geologist, and physicist (d. 1871)
 * 1804 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet and hymn-writer (d. 1877)
 * 1808 – Carl Spitzweg, German painter and poet (d. 1885)
 * 1810 – Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist and composer (d. 1880)
 * 1827 – Peter Lalor, Irish-Australian activist and politician (d. 1889)
 * 1837 – Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist and publisher, founded Moody Church, Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers (d. 1899)
 * 1840 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish businessman, co-founded Dunlop Rubber (d. 1921)
 * 1840  – Hiram Maxim, American engineer, invented the Maxim gun (d. 1916)
 * 1847 – Eduard Magnus Jakobson, Estonian missionary and engraver (d. 1903)
 * 1848 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (d. 1907)
 * 1848  – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean lieutenant (d. 1882)
 * 1852 – Terauchi Masatake, Japanese field marshal and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1919)
 * 1866 – Domhnall Ua Buachalla, Irish politician, 3rd and last Governor-General of the Irish Free State (d. 1963)
 * 1870 – Charles Edmund Brock, British painter and book illustrator (d. 1938)
 * 1876 – Ernie McLea, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1931)
 * 1878 – André Citroën, French engineer and businessman, founded Citroën (d. 1935)
 * 1880 – Gabriel Voisin, French pilot and engineer (d. 1973)
 * 1889 – Patsy Hendren, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1962)
 * 1889  – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (d. 1962)
 * 1889  – Recep Peker, Turkish officer and politician (d. 1950)
 * 1891 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (d. 1976)
 * 1892 – Elizabeth Ryan, American tennis player (d. 1979)
 * 1897 – Dirk Stikker, Dutch businessman and politician, 3rd Secretary General of NATO (d. 1979)
 * 1900 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier, politician, and diplomat, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1965)

1901–present

 * 1903 – Koto Matsudaira, Japanese diplomat, ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1994)
 * 1903  – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 1975)
 * 1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)
 * 1907 – Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (d. 2007)
 * 1907  – Pierre Pflimlin, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2000)
 * 1908 – Marie Baron, Dutch swimmer and diver (d. 1948)
 * 1908  – Peg Entwistle, Welsh-American actress (d. 1932)
 * 1908  – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (d. 1939)
 * 1909 – Grażyna Bacewicz, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1969)
 * 1910 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (d. 2007)
 * 1910  – Francisco Varallo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2010)
 * 1911 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960)
 * 1914 – William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1997)
 * 1914  – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist, biophysicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
 * 1915 – Robert Hofstadter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
 * 1917 – Edward J. Mortola, American academic and president of Pace University (d. 2002)
 * 1917  – Isuzu Yamada, Japanese actress (d. 2012)
 * 1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
 * 1919  – Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973)
 * 1919  – Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
 * 1921 – Ken Adam, German-born English production designer and art director (d. 2016)
 * 1923 – Claude King, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
 * 1923  – James E. Bowman, American physician and academic (d. 2011)
 * 1924 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (d. 2014)
 * 1927 – Robert Allen, American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
 * 1927  – Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch captain and pilot (d. 1977)
 * 1928 – Hristu Cândroveanu, Romanian editor, literary critic and writer (d. 2013)
 * 1928  – Tage Danielsson, Swedish author, actor, and director (d. 1985)
 * 1928  – Andrew Greeley, American priest, sociologist, and author (d. 2013)
 * 1928  – P. J. Vatikiotis, Israeli-American historian and political scientist (d. 1997)
 * 1929 – Hal Blaine, American session drummer (d. 2019)
 * 1929  – Luc Ferrari, French pianist and composer (d. 2005)
 * 1929  – Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician, 19th Chancellor of Austria (d. 2008)
 * 1932 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (d. 2016)
 * 1933 – Jörn Donner, Finnish director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
 * 1933  – B. S. Johnson, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1973)
 * 1934 – Hank Aaron, American baseball player (d. 2021)
 * 1934  – Don Cherry, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1935 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
 * 1935  – Johannes Geldenhuys, South African military commander (d. 2018)
 * 1936 – K. S. Nissar Ahmed, Indian poet and academic (d. 2020)
 * 1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor and singer (d. 2021)
 * 1937  – Larry Hillman, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2022)
 * 1937  – Gaston Roelants, Belgian runner
 * 1937  – Alar Toomre, Estonian-American astronomer and mathematician
 * 1937  – Wang Xuan, Chinese computer scientist and academic (d. 2006)
 * 1938 – Rafael Nieto Navia, Colombian lawyer, jurist, and diplomat
 * 1939 – Brian Luckhurst, English cricketer (d. 2005)
 * 1940 – H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (d. 2014)
 * 1940  – Luke Graham, American wrestler (d. 2006)
 * 1941 – Stephen J. Cannell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
 * 1941  – Henson Cargill, American country music singer (d. 2007)
 * 1941  – David Selby, American actor and playwright
 * 1941  – Barrett Strong, American soul singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2023)
 * 1941  – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss engineer and politician, 85th President of the Swiss Confederation
 * 1941  – Cory Wells, American pop-rock singer (d. 2015)
 * 1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player, sportscaster, and businessman
 * 1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American engineer and businessman, founded Atari, Inc.
 * 1943  – Michael Mann, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1943  – Craig Morton, American football player and sportscaster
 * 1943  – Dušan Uhrin, Czech and Slovak footballer and manager
 * 1944 – J. R. Cobb, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2019)
 * 1944  – Henfil, Brazilian journalist, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
 * 1944  – Al Kooper, American singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1944  – Tamanoumi Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 51st Yokozuna (d. 1971)
 * 1945 – Douglas Hogg, English lawyer and politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
 * 1946 – Amnon Dankner, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2013)
 * 1946  – Charlotte Rampling, English actress
 * 1947 – Mary L. Cleave, American engineer and astronaut (d. 2023)
 * 1947  – Clemente Mastella, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Justice
 * 1947  – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster
 * 1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish footballer and manager
 * 1948  – Christopher Guest, American actor and director
 * 1948  – Barbara Hershey, American actress
 * 1948  – Errol Morris, American director and producer
 * 1948  – Tom Wilkinson, English actor (d. 2023)
 * 1949 – Kurt Beck, German politician
 * 1949  – Maidarjavyn Ganzorig, Mongolian cosmonaut and academic (d. 2021)
 * 1949  – Yvon Vallières, Canadian educator and politician
 * 1950 – Jonathan Freeman, American actor and singer
 * 1950  – Rafael Puente, Mexican footballer
 * 1951 – Nikolay Merkushkin, Mordovian engineer and politician, 1st Head of the Republic of Mordovia
 * 1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1986)
 * 1952  – Vladimir Moskovkin, Ukrainian-Russian geographer, economist, and academic
 * 1953 – Freddie Aguilar, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1953  – John Beilein, American basketball player and coach
 * 1953  – Gustavo Benítez, Paraguayan footballer and manager
 * 1954 – Cliff Martinez, American drummer and songwriter
 * 1954  – Frank Walker, Australian journalist and author
 * 1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player and manager
 * 1956 – Vinnie Colaiuta, American drummer
 * 1956  – Héctor Rebaque, Mexican race car driver
 * 1956  – David Wiesner, American author and illustrator
 * 1956  – Mao Daichi, Japanese actress
 * 1957 – Jüri Tamm, Estonian hammer thrower and politician (d. 2021)
 * 1959 – Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Michigan
 * 1960 – Aris Christofellis, Greek soprano and musicologist
 * 1960  – Bonnie Crombie, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 6th Mayor of Mississauga
 * 1960  – Micky Hazard, English footballer
 * 1961 – Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager
 * 1961  – Tim Meadows, American actor and screenwriter
 * 1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress, screenwriter, producer and director
 * 1963 – Steven Shainberg, American film director and producer
 * 1964 – Laura Linney, American actress
 * 1964  – Ha Seung-moo, Korean poet, pastor, historical theologian
 * 1964  – Duff McKagan, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
 * 1965 – Tarik Benhabiles, Algerian-French tennis player and coach
 * 1965  – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer and manager
 * 1965  – Keith Moseley, American bass player and songwriter
 * 1965  – Quique Sánchez Flores, Spanish footballer and manager
 * 1966 – José María Olazábal, Spanish golfer
 * 1966  – Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
 * 1967 – Chris Parnell, American actor and comedian
 * 1968 – Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
 * 1968  – Marcus Grönholm, Finnish race car driver
 * 1969 – Bobby Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
 * 1969  – Michael Sheen, Welsh actor and director
 * 1969  – Derek Stephen Prince, American voice actor
 * 1970 – Jean-Marc Jaumin, Belgian basketball player and coach
 * 1970  – Darren Lehmann, Australian cricketer and coach
 * 1970  – Jeremy Rockliff, Australian politician, 47th Premier of Tasmania
 * 1971 – Michel Breistroff, French ice hockey player (d. 1996)
 * 1971  – Sara Evans, American country singer
 * 1972 – Queen Mary of Denmark
 * 1972  – Brad Fittler, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1973 – Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1973  – Trijntje Oosterhuis, Dutch singer-songwriter
 * 1973  – Luke Ricketson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
 * 1974 – Michael Maguire, Australian rugby league player and coach
 * 1975 – Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer and manager
 * 1976 – John Aloisi, Australian footballer and manager
 * 1976  – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
 * 1977 – Ben Ainslie, English sailor
 * 1977  – Adam Dykes, Australian rugby league player
 * 1977  – Adam Everett, American baseball player and coach
 * 1978 – Brian Russell, American football player
 * 1978  – Samuel Sánchez, Spanish cyclist
 * 1979 – Nate Holzapfel, American entrepreneur and television personality
 * 1980 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer, created LiveJournal
 * 1980  – Jo Swinson, Scottish politician
 * 1981 – Mia Hansen-Løve, French director and screenwriter
 * 1981  – Loukas Vyntra, Czech-Greek footballer
 * 1982 – Laura del Río, Spanish footballer
 * 1982  – Kevin Everett, American football player
 * 1982  – Tomáš Kopecký, Slovak ice hockey player
 * 1982  – Rodrigo Palacio, Argentinian footballer
 * 1983 – Anja Hammerseng-Edin, Norwegian handball player
 * 1984 – Carlos Tevez, Argentinian footballer
 * 1985 – Lloyd Johansson, Australian rugby player
 * 1985  – Laurence Maroney, American football player
 * 1985  – Paul Vandervort, American actor, film producer, and former model
 * 1985  – Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
 * 1986 – Vedran Ćorluka, Croatian footballer
 * 1986  – Kevin Gates, American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur
 * 1986  – Sekope Kepu, Australian rugby player
 * 1986  – Billy Sharp, English footballer
 * 1986  – Reed Sorenson, American race car driver
 * 1986  – Carlos Villanueva, Chilean footballer
 * 1987 – Darren Criss, American actor, singer, and entrepreneur
 * 1987  – Curtis Jerrells, American basketball player
 * 1987  – Alex Kuznetsov, Ukrainian-American tennis player
 * 1987  – Linus Omark, Swedish ice hockey player
 * 1987  – Donald Sanford, American-Israeli sprinter
 * 1988 – Karin Ontiveros, Mexican model
 * 1989 – Marina Melnikova, Russian tennis player
 * 1990 – Dmitry Andreikin, Russian chess player
 * 1990  – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Indian cricketer
 * 1990  – Jordan Rhodes, Scottish footballer
 * 1991 – Nabil Bahoui, Swedish footballer
 * 1991  – Gerald Tusha, Albanian footballer
 * 1992 – Stefan de Vrij, Dutch footballer
 * 1992  – Neymar, Brazilian footballer
 * 1993 – Leilani Latu, Australian rugby league player
 * 1993  – Ty Rattie, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1995 – Adnan Januzaj, Belgian-Albanian footballer
 * 1996 – Stina Blackstenius, Swedish footballer
 * 1997 – Patrick Roberts, English footballer
 * 2016 – Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutanese prince

Pre-1600

 * 523 – Avitus of Vienne, Gallo-Roman bishop
 * 994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
 * 1015 – Adelaide, German abbess and saint
 * 1036 – Alfred Aetheling, Anglo-Saxon prince
 * 1146 – Zafadola, Arab emir of Zaragoza
 * 1578 – Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian painter (b. 1520)

1601–1900

 * 1661 – Shunzhi, Chinese emperor of the Qing Dynasty (b. 1638)
 * 1705 – Philipp Spener, German theologian and author (b. 1635)
 * 1751 – Henri François d'Aguesseau, French jurist and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1668)
 * 1754 – Nicolaas Kruik, Dutch astronomer and cartographer (b. 1678)
 * 1766 – Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
 * 1775 – Eusebius Amort, German theologian and academic (b. 1692)
 * 1790 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (b. 1710)
 * 1807 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican commander and politician (b. 1725)
 * 1818 – Charles XIII, king of Sweden (b. 1748)
 * 1881 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, historian, and academic (b. 1795)
 * 1882 – Adolfo Rivadeneyra, Spanish orientalist and diplomat (b. 1841)
 * 1892 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish author (b. 1807)

1901–present

 * 1915 – Ross Barnes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1850)
 * 1917 – Jaber II Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1860)
 * 1922 – Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer, invented the mechanical pencil (b. 1871)
 * 1927 – Inayat Khan, Indian mystic and educator (b. 1882)
 * 1931 – Athanasios Eftaxias, Greek politician, 118th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1849)
 * 1933 – Josiah Thomas, English-Australian miner and politician (b. 1863)
 * 1937 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1861)
 * 1938 – Hans Litten, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1903)
 * 1941 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1864)
 * 1941  – Otto Strandman, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1875)
 * 1946 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (b. 1868)
 * 1948 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b. 1883)
 * 1952 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (b. 1877)
 * 1954 – Hossein Sami'i, Iranian politician, diplomat, writer and poet (b. 1876)
 * 1955 – Victor Houteff, Bulgarian religious reformer and author (b. 1885)
 * 1957 – Sami Ibrahim Haddad, Lebanese surgeon and author (b. 1890)
 * 1962 – Jacques Ibert, French-Swiss composer (b. 1890)
 * 1967 – Leon Leonwood Bean, American businessman, founded L.L.Bean (b. 1872)
 * 1969 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902)
 * 1970 – Rudy York, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1913)
 * 1972 – Marianne Moore, American poet, author, critic, and translator (b. 1887)
 * 1976 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (b. 1926)
 * 1977 – Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1894)
 * 1981 – Ella Grasso, American politician, 83rd Governor of Connecticut (b. 1919)
 * 1982 – Neil Aggett, Kenyan-South African physician and union leader (b. 1953)
 * 1983 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
 * 1987 – William Collier Jr., American actor and producer (b. 1902)
 * 1989 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (b. 1937)
 * 1991 – Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
 * 1992 – Miguel Rolando Covian, Argentinian-Brazilian physiologist and academic (b. 1913)
 * 1993 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1922)
 * 1993  – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
 * 1993  – William Pène du Bois, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
 * 1995 – Doug McClure, American actor (b. 1935)
 * 1997 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (b. 1920)
 * 1997  – René Huyghe, French historian and author (b. 1906)
 * 1998 – Tim Kelly, American guitarist (b. 1963)
 * 1999 – Wassily Leontief, Russian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
 * 2000 – Claude Autant-Lara, French director and screenwriter (b. 1901)
 * 2004 – John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
 * 2005 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Togolese general and politician, President of Togo (b. 1937)
 * 2005  – Michalina Wisłocka, Polish gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1921)
 * 2006 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (b. 1927)
 * 2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, New Zealand-American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (b. 1930)
 * 2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru, founded Transcendental Meditation (b. 1918)
 * 2010 – Brendan Burke, Canadian ice hockey player and activist (b. 1988)
 * 2010  – Harry Schwarz, South African lawyer, anti-apartheid leader, and diplomat, 13th South Africa Ambassador to United States (b. 1924)
 * 2011 – Brian Jacques, English author and radio host (b. 1939)
 * 2011  – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (b. 1921)
 * 2012 – Sam Coppola, American actor (b. 1932)
 * 2012  – Al De Lory, American keyboard player, conductor, and producer (b. 1930)
 * 2012  – John Turner Sargent Sr., American publisher (b. 1924)
 * 2012  – Jo Zwaan, Dutch sprinter (b. 1922)
 * 2013 – Reinaldo Gargano, Uruguayan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Uruguay (b. 1934)
 * 2013  – Egil Hovland, Norwegian composer and conductor (b. 1924)
 * 2013  – Tom McGuigan, New Zealand soldier and politician, 23rd New Zealand Minister of Health (b. 1921)
 * 2014 – Robert Dahl, American political scientist and academic (b. 1915)
 * 2015 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka (b. 1933)
 * 2015  – Marisa Del Frate, Italian actress and singer (b. 1931)
 * 2015  – Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
 * 2015  – Herman Rosenblat, Polish-American author (b. 1929)
 * 2016 – Ciriaco Cañete, Filipino martial artist (b. 1919)
 * 2020 – Kirk Douglas, American actor (b. 1916)
 * 2021 – Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor (b. 1929)
 * 2023 – Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani military officer and politician, 10th President of Pakistan (b. 1943)
 * 2024 – Toby Keith, American country singer (b. 1961)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Adelaide of Vilich
 * Agatha of Sicily
 * Avitus of Vienne
 * Bertulf (Bertoul) of Renty
 * Ingenuinus (Jenewein)
 * Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson (Episcopal Church (United States))
 * 26 Martyrs of Japan (in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Anglican Church in Japan)
 * February 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Kashmir Solidarity Day (Pakistan)

title: February 5