text:
Frame problem

In artificial intelligence, with implications for cognitive science, the frame problem describes an issue with using first-order logic to express facts about a robot in the world. Representing the state of a robot with traditional first-order logic requires the use of many axioms that simply imply that things in the environment do not change arbitrarily. For example, Hayes describes a "block world" with rules about stacking blocks together. In a first-order logic system, additional axioms are required to make inferences about the environment (for example, that a block cannot change position unless it is physically moved). The frame problem is the problem of finding adequate collections of axioms for a viable description of a robot environment.

John McCarthy and Patrick J. Hayes defined this problem in their 1969 article, Some Philosophical Problems from the Standpoint of Artificial Intelligence. In this paper, and many that came after, the formal mathematical problem was a starting point for more general discussions of the difficulty of knowledge representation for artificial intelligence. Issues such as how to provide rational default assumptions and what humans consider common sense in a virtual environment.

In philosophy, the frame problem became more broadly construed in connection with the problem of limiting the beliefs that have to be updated in response to actions. In the logical context, actions are typically specified by what they change, with the implicit assumption that everything else (the frame) remains unchanged.

Description
The frame problem occurs even in very simple domains. A scenario with a door, which can be open or closed, and a light, which can be on or off, is statically represented by two propositions $$\mathrm{open}$$ and $$\mathrm{on}$$. If these conditions can change, they are better represented by two predicates $$\mathrm{open}(t)$$ and $$\mathrm{on}(t)$$ that depend on time; such predicates are called fluents. A domain in which the door is closed and the light off at time 0, and the door opened at time 1, can be directly represented in logic by the following formulae:

 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{on}(0)$$
 * $$\mathrm{open}(1)$$

The first two formulae represent the initial situation; the third formula represents the effect of executing the action of opening the door at time 1. If such an action had preconditions, such as the door being unlocked, it would have been represented by $$\neg \mathrm{locked}(0) \implies \mathrm{open}(1)$$. In practice, one would have a predicate $$\mathrm{executeopen}(t)$$ for specifying when an action is executed and a rule $$\forall t. \mathrm{executeopen}(t) \implies \mathrm{open}(t+1)$$ for specifying the effects of actions. The article on the situation calculus gives more details.

While the three formulae above are a direct expression in logic of what is known, they do not suffice to correctly draw consequences. While the following conditions (representing the expected situation) are consistent with the three formulae above, they are not the only ones.

 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0)$$     || $$\mathrm{open}(1)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{on}(0)$$  || $$\neg \mathrm{on}(1)$$
 * }
 * }

Indeed, another set of conditions that is consistent with the three formulae above is:

 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0)$$     || $$\mathrm{open}(1)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{on}(0)$$  || $$\mathrm{on}(1)$$
 * }
 * }

The frame problem is that specifying only which conditions are changed by the actions does not entail that all other conditions are not changed. This problem can be solved by adding the so-called “frame axioms”, which explicitly specify that all conditions not affected by actions are not changed while executing that action. For example, since the action executed at time 0 is that of opening the door, a frame axiom would state that the status of the light does not change from time 0 to time 1:

 * $$\mathrm{on}(0) \iff \mathrm{on}(1)$$

The frame problem is that one such frame axiom is necessary for every pair of action and condition such that the action does not affect the condition. In other words, the problem is that of formalizing a dynamical domain without explicitly specifying the frame axioms.

The solution proposed by McCarthy to solve this problem involves assuming that a minimal amount of condition changes have occurred; this solution is formalized using the framework of circumscription. The Yale shooting problem, however, shows that this solution is not always correct. Alternative solutions were then proposed, involving predicate completion, fluent occlusion, successor state axioms, etc.; they are explained below. By the end of the 1980s, the frame problem as defined by McCarthy and Hayes was solved. Even after that, however, the term “frame problem” was still used, in part to refer to the same problem but under different settings (e.g., concurrent actions), and in part to refer to the general problem of representing and reasoning with dynamical domains.

Solutions
The following solutions depict how the frame problem is solved in various formalisms. The formalisms themselves are not presented in full: what is presented are simplified versions that are sufficient to explain the full solution.

Fluent occlusion solution
This solution was proposed by Erik Sandewall, who also defined a formal language for the specification of dynamical domains; therefore, such a domain can be first expressed in this language and then automatically translated into logic. In this article, only the expression in logic is shown, and only in the simplified language with no action names.

The rationale of this solution is to represent not only the value of conditions over time, but also whether they can be affected by the last executed action. The latter is represented by another condition, called occlusion. A condition is said to be occluded in a given time point if an action has been just executed that makes the condition true or false as an effect. Occlusion can be viewed as “permission to change”: if a condition is occluded, it is relieved from obeying the constraint of inertia.

In the simplified example of the door and the light, occlusion can be formalized by two predicates $$\mathrm{occludeopen}(t)$$ and $$\mathrm{occludeon}(t)$$. The rationale is that a condition can change value only if the corresponding occlusion predicate is true at the next time point. In turn, the occlusion predicate is true only when an action affecting the condition is executed.

 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{on}(0)$$
 * $$\mathrm{open}(1) \wedge \mathrm{occludeopen}(1)$$
 * $$\forall t . \neg \mathrm{occludeopen}(t) \implies (\mathrm{open}(t-1) \iff \mathrm{open}(t))$$
 * $$\forall t . \neg \mathrm{occludeon}(t) \implies (\mathrm{on}(t-1) \iff \mathrm{on}(t))$$

In general, every action making a condition true or false also makes the corresponding occlusion predicate true. In this case, $$\mathrm{occludeopen}(1)$$ is true, making the antecedent of the fourth formula above false for $$t=1$$; therefore, the constraint that $$\mathrm{open}(t-1) \iff \mathrm{open}(t)$$ does not hold for $$t=1$$. Therefore, $$\mathrm{open}$$ can change value, which is also what is enforced by the third formula.

In order for this condition to work, occlusion predicates have to be true only when they are made true as an effect of an action. This can be achieved either by circumscription or by predicate completion. It is worth noticing that occlusion does not necessarily imply a change: for example, executing the action of opening the door when it was already open (in the formalization above) makes the predicate $$\mathrm{occludeopen}$$ true and makes $$\mathrm{open}$$ true; however, $$\mathrm{open}$$ has not changed value, as it was true already.

Predicate completion solution
This encoding is similar to the fluent occlusion solution, but the additional predicates denote change, not permission to change. For example, $$\mathrm{changeopen}(t)$$ represents the fact that the predicate $$\mathrm{open}$$ will change from time $$t$$ to $$t+1$$. As a result, a predicate changes if and only if the corresponding change predicate is true. An action results in a change if and only if it makes true a condition that was previously false or vice versa.

 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{on}(0)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0) \implies \mathrm{changeopen}(0)$$
 * $$\forall t. \mathrm{changeopen}(t) \iff (\neg \mathrm{open}(t) \iff \mathrm{open}(t+1))$$
 * $$\forall t. \mathrm{changeon}(t) \iff (\neg \mathrm{on}(t) \iff \mathrm{on}(t+1))$$

The third formula is a different way of saying that opening the door causes the door to be opened. Precisely, it states that opening the door changes the state of the door if it had been previously closed. The last two conditions state that a condition changes value at time $$t$$ if and only if the corresponding change predicate is true at time $$t$$. To complete the solution, the time points in which the change predicates are true have to be as few as possible, and this can be done by applying predicate completion to the rules specifying the effects of actions.

Successor state axioms solution
The value of a condition after the execution of an action can be determined by the fact that the condition is true if and only if:

 * 1) the action makes the condition true; or
 * 2) the condition was previously true and the action does not make it false.

A successor state axiom is a formalization in logic of these two facts. For example, if $$\mathrm{opendoor}(t)$$ and $$\mathrm{closedoor}(t)$$ are two conditions used to denote that the action executed at time $$t$$ was to open or close the door, respectively, the running example is encoded as follows.

 * $$\neg \mathrm{open}(0)$$
 * $$\neg \mathrm{on}(0)$$
 * $$\mathrm{opendoor}(0)$$
 * $$\forall t . \mathrm{open}(t+1) \iff \mathrm{opendoor}(t) \vee (\mathrm{open}(t) \wedge \neg \mathrm{closedoor}(t))$$

This solution is centered around the value of conditions, rather than the effects of actions. In other words, there is an axiom for every condition, rather than a formula for every action. Preconditions to actions (which are not present in this example) are formalized by other formulae. The successor state axioms are used in the variant to the situation calculus proposed by Ray Reiter.

Fluent calculus solution
The fluent calculus is a variant of the situation calculus. It solves the frame problem by using first-order logic terms, rather than predicates, to represent the states. Converting predicates into terms in first-order logic is called reification; the fluent calculus can be seen as a logic in which predicates representing the state of conditions are reified.

The difference between a predicate and a term in first-order logic is that a term is a representation of an object (possibly a complex object composed of other objects), while a predicate represents a condition that can be true or false when evaluated over a given set of terms.

In the fluent calculus, each possible state is represented by a term obtained by composition of other terms, each one representing the conditions that are true in state. For example, the state in which the door is open and the light is on is represented by the term $$\mathrm{open} \circ \mathrm{on}$$. It is important to notice that a term is not true or false by itself, as it is an object and not a condition. In other words, the term $$\mathrm{open} \circ \mathrm{on}$$ represent a possible state, and does not by itself mean that this is the current state. A separate condition can be stated to specify that this is actually the state at a given time, e.g., $$\mathrm{state}(\mathrm{open} \circ \mathrm{on}, 10)$$ means that this is the state at time $$10$$.

The solution to the frame problem given in the fluent calculus is to specify the effects of actions by stating how a term representing the state changes when the action is executed. For example, the action of opening the door at time 0 is represented by the formula:

 * $$\mathrm{state}(s \circ \mathrm{open}, 1) \iff \mathrm{state}(s,0)$$

The action of closing the door, which makes a condition false instead of true, is represented in a slightly different way:

 * $$\mathrm{state}(s, 1) \iff \mathrm{state}(s \circ \mathrm{open}, 0)$$

This formula works provided that suitable axioms are given about $$\mathrm{state}$$ and $$\circ$$, e.g., a term containing the same condition twice is not a valid state (for example, $$\mathrm{state}(\mathrm{open} \circ s \circ \mathrm{open}, t)$$ is always false for every $$s$$ and $$t$$).

Event calculus solution
The event calculus uses terms for representing fluents, like the fluent calculus, but also has one or more axioms constraining the value of fluents, like the successor state axioms. There are many variants of the event calculus, but one of the simplest and most useful employs a single axiom to represent the law of inertia:

 * $$\mathit{holdsAt}(F,T2) \leftarrow$$
 * $$[\mathit{happensAt}(E1,T1) \wedge \mathit{initiates}(E1, F, T1) \wedge (T1 < T2) \wedge $$
 * $$\neg \exists E2, T [\mathit{happensAt}(E2, T) \wedge \mathit{terminates}(E2, F, T) \wedge (T1 \leq T < T2)] $$

The axiom states that a fluent $$F$$ holds at a time $$T2$$, if an event $$E1$$ happens and initiates $$F$$ at an earlier time $$T1$$, and there is no event $$E2$$  that happens and terminates $$F$$  after or at the same time as $$T1$$ and before $$T2$$.

To apply the event calculus to a particular problem domain, it is necessary to define the $$initiates$$ and $$terminates$$ predicates for that domain. For example:

 * $$\mathit{initiates}(opendoor, open, T). $$
 * $$\mathit{terminates}(opendoor, closed, T). $$
 * $$\mathit{initiates}(closedoor, closed, T). $$
 * $$\mathit{terminates}(closeddoor, open, T). $$

To apply the event calculus to a particular problem in the domain, it is necessary to specify the events that happen in the context of the problem. For example:

 * $$\mathit{happensAt}(opendoor, 0)$$.
 * $$\mathit{happensAt}(closedoor, 3)$$.

To solve a problem, such as which fluents hold at time 5?, it is necessary to pose the problem as a goal, such as:

 * $$ \exists Fluent [\mathit{holdsAt(Fluent, 5)}]. $$

In this case, obtaining the unique solution:

 * $$Fluent = closed. $$

The event calculus solves the frame problem, eliminating undesired solutions, by using a non-monotonic logic, such as first-order logic with circumscription or by treating the event calculus as a logic program using negation as failure.

Default logic solution
The frame problem can be thought of as the problem of formalizing the principle that, by default, "everything is presumed to remain in the state in which it is" (Leibniz, "An Introduction to a Secret Encyclopædia", c. 1679). This default, sometimes called the commonsense law of inertia, was expressed by Raymond Reiter in default logic:

 * $$\frac{R(x,s)\; :\ R(x,\mathrm{do}(a,s))}{R(x,\mathrm{do}(a,s))}$$

(if $$R(x)$$ is true in situation $$s$$, and it can be assumed that $$R(x)$$ remains true after executing action $$a$$, then we can conclude that $$R(x)$$ remains true).

Steve Hanks and Drew McDermott argued, on the basis of their Yale shooting example, that this solution to the frame problem is unsatisfactory. Hudson Turner showed, however, that it works correctly in the presence of appropriate additional postulates.

Answer set programming solution
The counterpart of the default logic solution in the language of answer set programming is a rule with strong negation:

 * $$r(X,T+1) \leftarrow r(X,T),\ \hbox{not }\sim r(X,T+1)$$

(if $$r(X)$$ is true at time $$T$$, and it can be assumed that $$r(X)$$ remains true at time $$T+1$$, then we can conclude that $$r(X)$$ remains true).

Separation logic solution
Separation logic is a formalism for reasoning about computer programs using pre/post specifications of the form $$\{\mathrm{precondition}\}\ \mathrm{code}\ \{\mathrm{postcondition}\}$$. Separation logic is an extension of Hoare logic oriented to reasoning about mutable data structures in computer memory and other dynamic resources, and it has a special connective *, pronounced "and separately", to support independent reasoning about disjoint memory regions.

Separation logic employs a tight interpretation of pre/post specs, which say that the code can only access memory locations guaranteed to exist by the precondition. This leads to the soundness of the most important inference rule of the logic, the frame rule

$$\frac{ \{\mathrm{precondition}\}\ \mathrm{code}\ \{\mathrm{postcondition}\} }{ \{\mathrm{precondition} \ast \mathrm{frame}\}\ \mathrm{code}\ \{\mathrm{postcondition} \ast \mathrm{frame}\} }$$

The frame rule allows descriptions of arbitrary memory outside the footprint (memory accessed) of the code to be added to a specification: this enables the initial specification to concentrate only on the footprint. For example, the inference

$$\frac{ \{\operatorname{list}(x)\}\ \mathrm{code}\ \{\operatorname{sortedlist}(x)\} }{ \{\operatorname{list}(x) \ast \operatorname{sortedlist}(y)\}\ \mathrm{code}\ \{\operatorname{sortedlist}(x) \ast \operatorname{sortedlist}(y)\} }$$

captures that code which sorts a list x does not unsort a separate list y, and it does this without mentioning y at all in the initial spec above the line.

Automation of the frame rule has led to significant increases in the scalability of automated reasoning techniques for code, eventually deployed industrially to codebases with tens of millions of lines.

There appears to be some similarity between the separation logic solution to the frame problem and that of the fluent calculus mentioned above.

Action description languages
Action description languages elude the frame problem rather than solving it. An action description language is a formal language with a syntax that is specific for describing situations and actions. For example, that the action $$\mathrm{opendoor}$$ makes the door open if not locked is expressed by:

 * $$\mathrm{opendoor}$$ causes $$\mathrm{open}$$ if $$\neg \mathrm{locked}$$

The semantics of an action description language depends on what the language can express (concurrent actions, delayed effects, etc.) and is usually based on transition systems.

Since domains are expressed in these languages rather than directly in logic, the frame problem only arises when a specification given in an action description logic is to be translated into logic. Typically, however, a translation is given from these languages to answer set programming rather than first-order logic.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Frame problem


text:
Frans Eemil Sillanpää

Frans Eemil Sillanpää (16 September 1888 – 3 June 1964) was a Finnish author. In 1939, he became the first Finnish writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature".

Early life
Frans Eemil Sillanpää was born into a peasant farming family in Hämeenkyrö. Although his parents were poor, they managed to send him to school in Tampere. At school Sillanpää was a good student and with aid from his benefactor Henrik Liljeroos he entered the University of Helsinki in 1908 to study medicine. His acquaintances at university included the painters Eero Järnefelt and Pekka Halonen, composer Jean Sibelius and author Juhani Aho.

Career
In 1913 Sillanpää moved from Helsinki to his old home village and devoted himself to writing. In 1914 Sillanpää wrote articles for the newspaper Uusi Suometar. In 1916 Sillanpää married Sigrid Maria Salomäki, whom he had met in 1914.

By principle, Sillanpää was against all forms of violence and believed in scientific optimism. In his work he portrayed rural people as living united with the land.

The novel Hurskas kurjuus (Meek Heritage) (1919) depicted the reasons for Finnish Civil War and was controversial at the time due to its objective approach.

Sillanpää won international fame for his novel Nuorena nukkunut (translated to English as The Maid Silja) in 1931.

In 1939, Sillanpää was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his deep understanding of his country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature." A few days after he received the prize, talks between Finland and Soviet Union broke down and the Winter War began. Sillanpää traveled to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize and donated the golden medal to be melted for funds to aid the war effort.

Before the Winter War, Sillanpää wrote the lyrics for Sillanpään marssilaulu to lift his spirits when his eldest son Esko was partaking in military practices at Karelian Isthmus.

In 1939, Sillanpää's wife Sigrid died of pneumonia leaving him with eight children. Some time after, Sillanpää married his secretary Anna von Hertzen (1900–1983).

In 1941 Sillanpää divorced his wife Anna. His alcoholism and other ailments needed hospital treatment. In 1943 he returned to public life as a bearded old 'Grandpa Sillanpää'. His radio appearances, especially his tradition of speaking on Christmas Eve from 1945 to 1963 attracted listeners.

The asteroid 1446 Sillanpää, discovered on January 26, 1938 by Finnish astronomer and physicist Yrjö Väisälä, was named after him.

Death
Sillanpää died on 3 June 1964 in Helsinki aged 75.

Works

 * Elämä ja aurinko (1916)
 * Ihmislapsia elämän saatossa (1917)
 * Hurskas kurjuus (translated as Meek Heritage) (1919)
 * Rakas isänmaani (1919)
 * Hiltu ja Ragnar (1923)
 * Enkelten suojatit (1923)
 * Omistani ja omilleni (1924)
 * Maan tasalta (1924)
 * Töllinmäki (1925)
 * Rippi (1928)
 * Kiitos hetkistä, Herra... (1930)
 * Nuorena nukkunut (translated as The Maid Silja) (1931)
 * Miehen tie (1932)
 * Virranpohjalta (1933)
 * Ihmiset suviyössä (translated as People in the Summer Night) (1934)
 * Viidestoista (1936)
 * Elokuu (1941)
 * Ihmiselon ihanuus ja kurjuus (1945)

Films
Numerous of his works have been made into films:
 * Nuorena nukkunut, Teuvo Tulio. 1937
 * One Man's Faith, Nyrki Tapiovaara and Hugo Hytönen. 1940
 * Ihmiset suviyössä, Valentin Vaala. 1948
 * Poika eli kesäänsä, Roland af Hällström. 1955 (based on novel Elämä ja aurinko)
 * The Harvest Month, Matti Kassila. 1956
 * Silja – nuorena nukkunut, Jack Witikka. 1956
 * The Glory and Misery of Human Life, Matti Kassila. 1988

title: Frans Eemil Sillanpää


text:
February 27

Pre-1600

 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
 * 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
 * 907 – Abaoji, chieftain of the Yila tribe, is named khagan of the Khitans.
 * 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland, establishing the terms under which English armed forces were to be permitted in Scotland in order to expel occupying French troops.
 * 1594 – Henry IV is crowned King of France.

1601–1900

 * 1617 – Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
 * 1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
 * 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
 * 1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
 * 1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
 * 1809 – Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.
 * 1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
 * 1812  – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
 * 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
 * 1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
 * 1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
 * 1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
 * 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
 * 1898 – King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
 * 1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
 * 1900  – The British Labour Party is founded.
 * 1900  – Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.

1901–present

 * 1902 – Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
 * 1916 – Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives.
 * 1921 – The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
 * 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
 * 1932 – The Mäntsälä rebellion begins when members of the far-right Lapua Movement start shooting at the social democrats' event in Mäntsälä, Finland.
 * 1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility.
 * 1939 – United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.
 * 1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
 * 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
 * 1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
 * 1943  – The Holocaust: In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest.
 * 1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
 * 1961 – The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
 * 1962 – Vietnam War: Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
 * 1963 – The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
 * 1964 – The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
 * 1971 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.
 * 1973 – The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government.
 * 1976 – The former Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
 * 1988 – Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.
 * 1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".
 * 2001 – Loganair Flight 670A crashes while attempting to make a water landing in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
 * 2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport causing minor injuries.
 * 2002  – Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
 * 2004 – A bombing of a SuperFerry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack kills more than 100 passengers.
 * 2004  – Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
 * 2007 – Chinese stock bubble of 2007: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest daily fall in ten years, following speculation about a crackdown on illegal share offerings and trading, and fears about accelerating inflation.
 * 2008 – Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari escapes from a detention center in Singapore, hiding in Johor, Malaysia until he was recaptured over a year later.
 * 2010 – An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggers a tsunami which strikes Hawaii shortly after.
 * 2013 – A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured.
 * 2015 – Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow while out walking with his girlfriend.
 * 2019 – Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder downs Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's Mig-21 in an aerial dogfight and captures him after conducting airstrikes in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pre-1600

 * 272 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (d. 337)
 * 1343 – Alberto d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (d. 1393)
 * 1427 – Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1480)
 * 1500 – João de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
 * 1535 – Min Phalaung, Burmese monarch (d. 1593)
 * 1567 – William Alabaster, English poet (d. 1640)
 * 1572 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
 * 1575 – John Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1616)

1601–1900

 * 1622 – Carel Fabritius, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
 * 1630 – Roche Braziliano, Dutch pirate (d. 1671)
 * 1659 – William Sherard, English botanist (d. 1728)
 * 1667 – Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, Prussian-Lithuanian wife of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1695)
 * 1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, director, historian, and geographer (d. 1775)
 * 1703 – Lord Sidney Beauclerk, English politician (d. 1744)
 * 1711 – Constantine Mavrocordatos, Ottoman ruler (d. 1769)
 * 1724 – Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1767)
 * 1732 – Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin, French cardinal (d. 1804)
 * 1746 – Louis-Jérôme Gohier, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1830)
 * 1748 – Anders Sparrman, Swedish physician and activist (d. 1820)
 * 1767 – Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (d. 1855)
 * 1779 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (d. 1842)
 * 1789 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1818)
 * 1795 – José Antonio Navarro, American merchant and politician (d. 1871)
 * 1799 – Edward Belcher, British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer (d. 1877)
 * 1799  – Frederick Catherwood, British artist, architect and explorer (d. 1854)
 * 1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (d. 1882)
 * 1809 – Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
 * 1816 – William Nicholson, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1865)
 * 1847 – Ellen Terry, English actress (d. 1928)
 * 1848 – Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (d. 1918)
 * 1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, Austrian-German activist and author (d. 1936)
 * 1863 – Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
 * 1863  – George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (d. 1930)
 * 1864 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1935)
 * 1867 – Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (d. 1947)
 * 1867  – Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and critic (d. 1942)
 * 1869 – Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (d. 1970)
 * 1872 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Romanian politician, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
 * 1875 – Vladimir Filatov, Russian-Ukrainian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1956)
 * 1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (d. 1952)
 * 1877  – Joseph Grinnell, American zoologist and biologist (d. 1939)
 * 1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, American businessman and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
 * 1880 – Xenophon Kasdaglis, Greek-Egyptian tennis player (d. 1943)
 * 1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
 * 1881  – L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1966)
 * 1886 – Hugo Black, American captain, jurist, and politician (d. 1971)
 * 1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (d. 1914)
 * 1888 – Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1974)
 * 1888  – Lotte Lehmann, German-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
 * 1888  – Stephen McKenna, English novelist (d. 1967)
 * 1890 – Mabel Keaton Staupers, American nurse and advocate (d. 1989)
 * 1891 – David Sarnoff, American businessman, founded RCA (d. 1971)
 * 1892 – William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
 * 1895 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
 * 1897 – Marian Anderson, American singer (d. 1993)
 * 1899 – Charles Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered insulin (d. 1978)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Marino Marini, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1980)
 * 1901  – Kotama Okada, Japanese religious leader (d. 1974)
 * 1902 – Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (d. 1998)
 * 1902  – Gene Sarazen, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1999)
 * 1902  – John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
 * 1903 – Reginald Gardiner, English-American actor and singer (d. 1980)
 * 1903  – Hans Rohrbach, German mathematician (d. 1993)
 * 1903  – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Belarusian-American rabbi and philosopher (d. 1993)
 * 1904 – James T. Farrell, American author and poet (d. 1979)
 * 1904  – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1996)
 * 1904  – André Leducq, French cyclist (d. 1980)
 * 1905 – Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1968)
 * 1907 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
 * 1907  – Momčilo Đujić, Serbian-American priest and commander (d. 1999)
 * 1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
 * 1910  – Peter De Vries, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
 * 1910  – Kelly Johnson, American engineer, co-founded Skunk Works (d. 1990)
 * 1910  – Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (d. 1995)
 * 1911 – Oscar Heidenstam, English bodybuilder (d. 1991)
 * 1912 – Lawrence Durrell, British author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
 * 1912  – Kusumagraj, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1999)
 * 1913 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (d. 2005)
 * 1913  – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (d. 1989)
 * 1913  – Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
 * 1915 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (d. 2001)
 * 1917 – John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 39th Governor of Texas and 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (d. 1993)
 * 1919 – Chick Halbert, American basketball player (d. 2013)
 * 1919  – Johnny Pesky, American baseball player and manager (d. 2012)
 * 1920 – Reg Simpson, English cricketer (d. 2013)
 * 1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (d. 2014)
 * 1922 – Hans Rookmaaker, Dutch historian, author, and scholar (d. 1977)
 * 1923 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (d. 1990)
 * 1925 – Kenneth Koch, American poet, playwright and professor (d. 2002)
 * 1925  – Pia Sebastiani, Argentine pianist and composer (d. 2015)
 * 1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
 * 1927 – Aira Samulin, Finnish dancer and entrepreneur (d. 2023)
 * 1927  – Peter Whittle, English-New Zealand mathematician and theorist (d. 2021)
 * 1928 – René Clemencic, Austrian composer, recorder player, harpsichordist, conductor and clavichord player (d. 2022)
 * 1929 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
 * 1929  – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
 * 1929  – Patricia Ward Hales, British tennis player (d. 1985)
 * 1930 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2014)
 * 1930  – Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2003)
 * 1930  – Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist and academic (d. 2014)
 * 1930  – Joanne Woodward, American actress
 * 1932 – Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (d. 2011)
 * 1932  – David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (d. 2022)
 * 1933 – Raymond Berry, American football player and coach
 * 1933  – Malcolm Wallop, American politician (d. 2011)
 * 1934 – Vincent Fourcade, French interior designer (d. 1992)
 * 1934  – N. Scott Momaday, American poet and writer (d. 2024)
 * 1934  – Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist
 * 1935 – Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress (d. 2020)
 * 1935  – Uri Shulevitz, American author and illustrator
 * 1936 – Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2023)
 * 1936  – Sonia Johnson, American feminist activist and author
 * 1936  – Roger Mahony, American cardinal
 * 1937 – Barbara Babcock, American actress
 * 1938 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist (d. 2002)
 * 1939 – Don McKinnon, English-New Zealand farmer and politician, 12th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
 * 1939  – Peter Revson, American race car driver (d. 1974)
 * 1940 – Pierre Duchesne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
 * 1940  – Howard Hesseman, American actor (d. 2022)
 * 1940  – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
 * 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British soldier and politician (d. 2018)
 * 1942 – Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1942  – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2021)
 * 1942  – Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
 * 1942  – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
 * 1943 – Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
 * 1943  – Morten Lauridsen, American composer and conductor
 * 1943  – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager
 * 1944 – Ken Grimwood, American author (d. 2003)
 * 1944  – Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer and coach
 * 1944  – Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (d. 2020)
 * 1947 – Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist
 * 1947  – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
 * 1947  – Sonia Manzano Vela, Ecuadorian writer
 * 1949 – Debra Monk, American actress, singer, and writer
 * 1950 – Annabel Goldie, Scottish lawyer and politician
 * 1950  – Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
 * 1951 – Carl A. Anderson, 13th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
 * 1951  – Lee Atwater, American journalist, activist and political strategist (d. 1991)
 * 1951  – Walter de Silva, Italian car designer
 * 1951  – Steve Harley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2024)
 * 1952 – Dwight Jones, American basketball player (d. 2016)
 * 1953 – Gavin Esler, Scottish journalist and author
 * 1953  – Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana
 * 1953  – Stelios Kouloglou, Greek journalist, author, director and politician
 * 1954 – Neal Schon, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter
 * 1956 – Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (d. 1987)
 * 1956  – Belus Prajoux, Chilean tennis player
 * 1957 – Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1957  – Kevin Curran, American screenwriter and television producer (d. 2016)
 * 1957  – Robert de Castella, Australian runner
 * 1957  – Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter
 * 1957  – Timothy Spall, English actor
 * 1958 – Naas Botha, South African rugby player and sportscaster
 * 1958  – Maggie Hassan, American politician, 81st Governor of New Hampshire
 * 1960 – Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
 * 1960  – Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter
 * 1961 – James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster
 * 1962 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
 * 1962  – Grant Show, American actor
 * 1963 – Nasty Suicide, Finnish musician and pharmacist
 * 1964 – Jeffrey Pasley, American educator and academic
 * 1965 – Pedro Chaves, Portuguese racing driver
 * 1965  – Noah Emmerich, American actor
 * 1966 – Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer
 * 1966  – Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director
 * 1966  – Oliver Reck, German footballer and manager
 * 1967 – Jony Ive, English-American industrial designer, former chief design officer of Apple
 * 1967  – Dănuț Lupu, Romanian footballer
 * 1968 – Matt Stairs, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
 * 1969 – Juan E. Gilbert, American computer scientist, inventor, and academic
 * 1970 – Kent Desormeaux, American jockey
 * 1970  – Patricia Petibon, French soprano and actress
 * 1971 – Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx
 * 1971  – Derren Brown, English magician and painter
 * 1971  – Roman Giertych, Polish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
 * 1971  – David Rikl, Czech-English tennis player
 * 1971  – Rozonda Thomas, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
 * 1972 – Richard Coyle, English actor
 * 1973 – Peter Andre, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
 * 1974 – Carte Goodwin, former United States senator from West Virginia
 * 1975 – Aitor González, Spanish racing driver
 * 1975  – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete
 * 1976 – Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist
 * 1976  – Tony Gonzalez, American football player
 * 1976  – Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
 * 1978 – James Beattie, English footballer and manager
 * 1978  – Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician
 * 1978  – Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist
 * 1978  – Simone Di Pasquale, Italian ballet dancer
 * 1980 – Brandon Beemer, American actor
 * 1980  – Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic
 * 1980  – Bobby V, American singer-songwriter
 * 1981 – Natalie Grandin, English-South African tennis player
 * 1981  – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
 * 1981  – Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter
 * 1982 – Ali Bastian, English actress
 * 1982  – Pat Richards, Australian rugby league player
 * 1982  – Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
 * 1983 – Devin Harris, American basketball player
 * 1983  – Kate Mara, American actress
 * 1984 – James Augustine, American basketball player
 * 1984  – Jumbo Díaz, Dominican baseball player
 * 1984  – Akseli Kokkonen, Norwegian ski jumper
 * 1984  – Aníbal Sánchez, Venezuelan baseball player
 * 1984  – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
 * 1984  – Denard Span, American baseball player
 * 1985 – Asami Abe, Japanese singer and actress
 * 1985  – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
 * 1985  – Vladislav Kulik, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
 * 1985  – Thiago Neves, Brazilian footballer
 * 1986 – Yovani Gallardo, Mexican baseball player
 * 1986  – Daniel Gibson, American basketball player and coach
 * 1986  – Jonathan Moreira, Brazilian footballer
 * 1986  – Sandeep Singh, Indian field hockey player
 * 1987 – Valeriy Andriytsev, Ukrainian wrestler
 * 1987  – Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan runner
 * 1988 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1988  – Iain Ramsay, Australian footballer
 * 1989 – David Button, English footballer
 * 1989  – Lloyd Rigby, English footballer
 * 1990 – Chandler Jones, American football player
 * 1990  – Adam Morgan, American baseball player
 * 1990  – Lindsey Morgan, American actress
 * 1991 – Azeem Rafiq, Pakistani cricketer
 * 1992 – Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
 * 1992  – Ioannis Potouridis, Greek footballer
 * 1992  – Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
 * 1992  – Callum Wilson, English footballer
 * 1993  – Alphonse Areola, French footballer
 * 1994 – Mike Matheson, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1995 – Laura Gulbe, Latvian tennis player
 * 1995  – Sergej Milinković-Savić, Serbian footballer
 * 1995  – Tomáš Souček, Czech footballer
 * 1996 – Chris Godwin, American football player
 * 1996  – Ten, Thai singer and dancer
 * 1998 – Todd Cantwell, English footballer
 * 2002 – Johnny Davis, American basketball player

Pre-1600

 * 640 – Pepin of Landen, Frankish lord (b. 580)
 * 906 – Conrad the Elder, Frankish nobleman
 * 956 – Theophylact, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 917)
 * 1167 – Robert of Melun, English theologian and bishop
 * 1416 – Eleanor of Castile, queen consort of Navarre (b. c. 1363)
 * 1425 – Prince Vasily I of Moscow (b. 1371)
 * 1483 – William VIII of Montferrat (b. 1420)
 * 1558 – Johann Faber of Heilbronn, controversial Catholic preacher (b. 1504)
 * 1558  – Kunigunde of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, German Noblewoman (b. 1524)

1601–1900

 * 1659 – Henry Dunster, English-American clergyman and academic (b. 1609)
 * 1699 – Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1625)
 * 1706 – John Evelyn, English gardener and author (b. 1620)
 * 1712 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1645)
 * 1720 – Samuel Parris, English-American minister (b. 1653)
 * 1735 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish physician and polymath (b. 1667)
 * 1784 – Count of St. Germain, European adventurer (b. 1710)
 * 1795 – Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
 * 1844 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and politician (b. 1786)
 * 1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and chemist (b. 1833)
 * 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer and businessman, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821)

1901–present

 * 1902 – Harry "Breaker" Morant, English-Australian lieutenant (b. 1864)
 * 1921 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1871)
 * 1931 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906)
 * 1936 – Joshua W. Alexander, American judge and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
 * 1936  – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1849)
 * 1937 – Hosteen Klah, Navajo artist, medicine man, and weaver (b. 1867)
 * 1937  – Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint, foundress of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (b. 1862)
 * 1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1859)
 * 1956 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1888)
 * 1964 – Orry-Kelly, Australian-American costume designer (b. 1897)
 * 1968 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
 * 1969 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (b. 1883)
 * 1973 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
 * 1977 – John Dickson Carr, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
 * 1980 – George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
 * 1985 – Ray Ellington, English singer and drummer (b. 1916)
 * 1985  – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician and diplomat, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1902)
 * 1985  – J. Pat O'Malley, English-American actor and singer (b. 1904)
 * 1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1929)
 * 1987 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
 * 1987  – Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish priest (b. 1921)
 * 1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
 * 1992 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician (b. 1906)
 * 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
 * 1998 – George H. Hitchings, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
 * 1998  – J. T. Walsh, American actor (b. 1943)
 * 1999 – Horace Tapscott, American pianist and composer (b. 1934)
 * 2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish soldier, actor, comedian, and author (b. 1918)
 * 2003 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
 * 2003  – Fred Rogers, American minister and television host (b. 1928)
 * 2004 – Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian and academic (b. 1928)
 * 2004  – Paul Sweezy, American economist and journalist (b. 1910)
 * 2006 – Otis Chandler, American publisher (b. 1927)
 * 2006  – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American general and author (b. 1908)
 * 2006  – Linda Smith, English comedian and author (b. 1958)
 * 2007 – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, German general (b. 1914)
 * 2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and journalist, founded the National Review (b. 1925)
 * 2008  – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
 * 2008  – Ivan Rebroff, German vocalist of Russian descent with four and a half octave range (b. 1931)
 * 2010 – Nanaji Deshmukh, Indian educator and activist (b. 1916)
 * 2011 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (b. 1901)
 * 2011  – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish engineer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1926)
 * 2011  – Duke Snider, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
 * 2011  – Gary Winick, American director and producer (b. 1961)
 * 2012 – Ma Jiyuan, Chinese general (b. 1921)
 * 2012  – Tina Strobos, Dutch physician and psychiatrist (b. 1920)
 * 2012  – Helga Vlahović, Croatian journalist and producer (b. 1945)
 * 2013 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
 * 2013  – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1969)
 * 2013  – Dale Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
 * 2013  – Adolfo Zaldívar, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1943)
 * 2014 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and author (b. 1960)
 * 2014  – Terry Rand, American basketball player (b. 1934)
 * 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian academic and politician, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1959)
 * 2015  – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
 * 2015  – Julio César Strassera, Argentinian lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
 * 2016 – Yi Cheol-seung, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
 * 2016  – James Z. Davis, American lawyer and judge (b. 1943)
 * 2018 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1959)
 * 2019 – France-Albert René, Seychellois politician, 2nd President of Seychelles (b. 1935)
 * 2021 – Ng Man-tat, Hong Kong actor (b. 1952)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
 * George Herbert (Anglicanism)
 * Honorina
 * Leander
 * February 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Doctors' Day (Vietnam)
 * Independence Day (Dominican Republic), celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844.
 * Majuba Day (some Afrikaners in South Africa)
 * Marathi Language Day (Maharashtra, India)
 * World NGO Day

title: February 27


text:
February 28

Pre-1600

 * 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
 * 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
 * 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1601–1900

 * 1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.
 * 1835 – Elias Lönnrot signed and dated the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called foreword to the Old Kalevala.
 * 1844 – A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who was also on board, was not injured from the blast.

1901–present

 * 1922 – The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
 * 1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
 * 1947 – February 28 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 28,000 civilians.
 * 1958 – A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.
 * 1959 – Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.
 * 1966 – A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett.
 * 1969 – The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
 * 1974 – The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote share since 1929.
 * 1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.
 * 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.
 * 1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers.
 * 1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.
 * 1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh, starting a 51-day standoff.
 * 1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths.
 * 1997 – A Turkish military memorandum resulted in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey.
 * 2001 – The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in the southern Puget Sound, damages Seattle metropolitan area.
 * 2002 – During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
 * 2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII in 1415.
 * 2023 – Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured.
 * 2024 – Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurated the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport.

Pre-1600

 * 1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (d. 1283)
 * 1518 – Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (d. 1536)
 * 1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (d. 1592)
 * 1535 – Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (d. 1578)
 * 1552 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (d. 1632)

1601–1900

 * 1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)
 * 1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (d. 1757)
 * 1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (d. 1760)
 * 1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (d. 1899)
 * 1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (d. 1941)
 * 1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1949)
 * 1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1929)
 * 1884 – Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
 * 1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (d. 1966)
 * 1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1964)
 * 1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
 * 1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (d. 1969)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
 * 1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American theatre and film director (d. 1986)
 * 1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)
 * 1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
 * 1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)
 * 1909 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (d. 1995)
 * 1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
 * 1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
 * 1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (d. 2013)
 * 1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (d. 2014)
 * 1921 – Marah Halim Harahap, Indonesian military officer, Governor of North Sumatra (d. 2015)
 * 1922 – Radu Câmpeanu, Romanian politician (d. 2016)
 * 1923 – Charles Durning, American actor (d. 2012)
 * 1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
 * 1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (d. 1982)
 * 1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian-American writer, daughter of Joseph Stalin (d. 2011)
 * 1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (d. 2011)
 * 1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (d. 1976)
 * 1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
 * 1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer
 * 1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (d. 2016)
 * 1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster (d. 2020)
 * 1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (d. 2021)
 * 1931 – Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer and scout (d. 1996)
 * 1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (d. 2016)
 * 1932 – Ernst Hinterseer, Austria retired alpine skier
 * 1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician
 * 1937 – Jeff Farrell, American swimmer
 * 1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer
 * 1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American racing driver
 * 1942 – Frank Bonner, American actor and television director (d. 2021)
 * 1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1969)
 * 1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer
 * 1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
 * 1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress
 * 1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (d. 2014)
 * 1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager
 * 1944 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (d. 2013)
 * 1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)
 * 1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2005)
 * 1946 – Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
 * 1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress
 * 1947 – Salvador Flamenco, Salvadoran footballer
 * 1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1948 – Mike Figgis, English film director, screenwriter, and composer
 * 1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author
 * 1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
 * 1949 – Zoia Ceaușescu, Romanian mathematician, daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena Ceaușescu (d. 2006)
 * 1949 – Ilene Graff, American actress and singer
 * 1953 – Luther Burden, American basketball player (d. 2015)
 * 1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American professional wrestler
 * 1954 – Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1955 – Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach
 * 1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (d. 2022)
 * 1956 – Francis Hughes, Irish Republican, hunger striker (d. 1981)
 * 1956 – Terry Leahy, English businessman
 * 1957 – Ainsley Harriott, English chef and television presenter
 * 1957 – Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
 * 1957 – John Turturro, American actor and director
 * 1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter
 * 1958 – Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (d. 2012)
 * 1958 – Mark Pavelich, American ice hockey player (d. 2021)
 * 1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (d. 2010)
 * 1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress
 * 1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer
 * 1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist
 * 1965 – Mikko Mäkelä, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
 * 1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
 * 1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid
 * 1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager
 * 1967 – Seth Rudetsky, American musician, actor, writer, and radio host
 * 1969 – Sean Farrel, English footballer
 * 1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver
 * 1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor
 * 1969 – Pat Monahan, American singer-songwriter and actor
 * 1970 – Daniel Brochu, Canadian actor
 * 1970 – Daniel Handler, American author, musician, screenwriter, and producer
 * 1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner
 * 1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer
 * 1971 – Tasha Smith, American actress, director, and producer
 * 1972 – Rory Cochrane, American actor
 * 1972 – Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter
 * 1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1973 – Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver
 * 1973 – Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler
 * 1974 – Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager
 * 1974 – Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager
 * 1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player
 * 1976 – Francisco Elson, Dutch basketball player
 * 1976 – Ali Larter, American actress and model
 * 1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter
 * 1977 – Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler
 * 1978 – Geoffrey Arend, American actor
 * 1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
 * 1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player
 * 1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player
 * 1979 – Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver
 * 1979 – Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player
 * 1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer
 * 1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer
 * 1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
 * 1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout
 * 1982 – Isabel Mendes Lopes, Portuguese politician
 * 1982  – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress
 * 1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress
 * 1984 – Ali Marhyar, French actor, film director and screenwriter
 * 1985 – Tim Bresnan, English cricketer
 * 1985 – Diego, Brazilian footballer
 * 1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
 * 1987 – Akito, Japanese professional wrestler
 * 1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
 * 1987 – Michelle Horn, American actress
 * 1987 – Josh McRoberts, American basketball player
 * 1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player
 * 1989 – Carlos Dunlap, American football player
 * 1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
 * 1990 – Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
 * 1990 – Ryan Allen, American football player
 * 1990  – Sebastian Rudy, German footballer
 * 1991 – Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
 * 1991 – Ronalds Ķēniņš, Latvian ice hockey player
 * 1993 – Marquis Teague, American basketball player
 * 1993  – Éder Álvarez Balanta, Colombian footballer
 * 1994 – Alex Caruso, American basketball player
 * 1994 – Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer
 * 1995 – Randy Arozarena, Cuban-Mexican baseball player
 * 1995 – Madisen Beaty, American actress
 * 1995 – Quinn Shephard, American actress
 * 1996 – Bobb'e J. Thompson, American actor
 * 1996  – Jakub Vrána, Czech ice hockey player
 * 1996  – Lucas Boyé, Argentinian footballer
 * 1996  – Axel Werner, Argentinian footballer
 * 1997 – Chris Lindstrom, American football player
 * 1998 – Teun Koopmeiners, Dutch footballer
 * 1999 – Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player
 * 2000 – Moise Kean, Italian footballer
 * 2000  – Josip Šutalo, Croatian footballer
 * 2005 – Vitor Roque, Brazilian footballer

Pre-1600

 * 628 – Khosrow II, Shah of Iran, Sasanian Empire (b. c. 570)

1601–1900

 * 1621 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)
 * 1740 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and patron of the arts (b. 1667)
 * 1857 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (b. 1809)
 * 1882 – Adolf Zytogorski, Polish-British chess master and translator (b. c. 1811/1812)

1901–present

 * 1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician and immunologist (b. 1874)
 * 1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (b. 1851)
 * 1936 – Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
 * 1955 – Isak Penttala, Finnish politician (b. 1883)
 * 1966 – Charles Bassett, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1931)
 * 1966 – Elliot See, American commander, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
 * 1975 – Neville Cardus, English cricket and music writer (b. 1888)
 * 1977 – Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, American actor and comedian (b. 1905)
 * 1978 – Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)
 * 1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress and dancer (b. 1909)
 * 1998 – Arkady Shevchenko, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1930)
 * 2002 – Mary Stuart, American actress and singer (b. 1926)
 * 2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (b. 1920)
 * 2003 – Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (b. 1928)
 * 2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)
 * 2005 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (b. 1941)
 * 2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
 * 2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)
 * 2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (b. 1918)
 * 2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)
 * 2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
 * 2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (b. 1935)
 * 2015 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1923)
 * 2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)
 * 2019 – André Previn, German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (b. 1929)
 * 2020 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe's (b. 1930)
 * 2020 – Freeman Dyson, British-born American physicist and mathematician (b. 1923)
 * 2020 – Sir Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (b. 1917)
 * 2024 – Ahmed Salim, Bangladeshi convicted murderer (b. 1989)
 * 2024 – Cat Janice, American singer-songwriter (b. 1993)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Kalevala Day, also known as the Finnish Culture Day (Finland)
 * National Science Day (India)
 * Peace Memorial Day (Taiwan)
 * Andalusia Day (Spain)

title: February 28


text:
Flambards

Flambards is a novel for children or young adults by K. M. Peyton, first published by Oxford University Press in 1967 with illustrations by Victor Ambrus. Alternatively, "Flambards" is the trilogy (1967–1969) or series (1967–1981) named after its first book. The series is set in England just before, during, and after World War I.

The novel Flambards (book one) features a teenage orphan and heiress Christina Parsons, who comes to live at Flambards, the impoverished Essex estate owned by her crippled and tyrannical uncle, William Russell, and his two sons, Mark and Will.

Novel summary
Christina Parsons, who has been shunted around the family since she was orphaned at the age of five years in 1901, is sent to live at Flambards with her mother's half-brother, the crippled Russell. Her Aunt Grace speculates that Russell plans for Christina to marry his son Mark to restore Flambards to its former glory using the money that she will inherit on her twenty-first birthday. Mark is as brutish as his father, with a great love for hunting, whereas the younger son William is terrified of horses after a hunting accident and aspires to be an aviator. Christina soon finds friendship with the injured William, who challenges her ideas on class boundaries, as well as her love for horses and hunting. William and Christina eventually fall in love and run away from the hunt ball to London, hoping to marry.

Series
The fourth book controversially reversed the ending of the original trilogy, twelve years later and following the television series.

 * Flambards (Oxford, 1967)
 * The Edge of the Cloud (Oxford, 1969)
 * Flambards in Summer (Oxford, 1969)
 * Flambards Divided (1981)

For The Edge of the Cloud, Peyton won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. She was a commended runner-up for both the first and third books, the latter in competition with her Medal-winning work.

She also won the 1970 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, conferred by The Guardian newspaper and judged by a panel of British children's writers. Ordinarily the prize recognises one fiction book published during the preceding calendar year; exceptionally Peyton won for the Flambards trilogy completed in 1969.

The trilogy was adapted as a 13-part television series in 1979, Flambards, starring Christine McKenna as Christina Parsons.

World Publishing issued a US edition of the first book in 1968, retaining the Ambrus illustrations. World (Cleveland and New York) also published US editions of the second and third books in 1969 and 1970, also with the original illustrations, although all three novels were reset with a greater page-counts.

title: Flambards


text:
Father Ted

Father Ted is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including a Christmas special, for a total of 25 episodes. It aired on Nine Network (series 1) and ABC Television (series 2 and 3) in Australia, and on TV2 in New Zealand.

Set on the fictional Craggy Island, a remote location off Ireland's west coast, Father Ted stars Dermot Morgan as Father Ted Crilly, alongside fellow priests Father Dougal McGuire (Ardal O'Hanlon) and Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly). Dishonourably exiled on the island by Bishop Leonard Brennan (Jim Norton) for various reasons, the priests live together in the parochial house with their housekeeper Mrs Doyle (Pauline McLynn). The show subverts parodies of low-brow humour as it portrays nuanced themes of loneliness, agnosticism, existentialism and purgatory experienced by its title character; this deeper meaning of the show has been much acclaimed.

Father Ted won several British Academy Television Awards—including twice for Best Comedy Series, and remains a popular sitcom in Ireland and the UK. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Dougal was ranked fifth on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 2019, Father Ted was named the second-greatest British sitcom (after Fawlty Towers) by a panel of comedy experts for Radio Times.

Synopsis
The show follows the misadventures of three Irish Roman Catholic priests who live in a parish on the fictional Craggy Island, located off the west coast of Ireland. Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire and Father Jack Hackett live chaotically together in Craggy Island's parochial house, along with their housekeeper Mrs Doyle, who always wants to serve them tea.

The three priests answer to Bishop Len Brennan, who has banished them to Craggy Island as punishment for different incidents in their past: Ted for alleged financial impropriety (apparently involving some money "resting" in his account and a child being deprived of a visit to Lourdes so that Ted could go to Las Vegas), Dougal for an event only referred to as the "Blackrock Incident" (resulting in "many nuns' lives [being] irreparably damaged"), and Jack for his alcoholism and womanising, particularly for an unspecified incident at a wedding in Athlone.

The show revolves around the priests' lives on Craggy Island, sometimes dealing with matters of the church but more often dealing with Father Ted's schemes to either resolve a situation with the parish or other Craggy Island residents, or to win games of one-upmanship against his enemy, Father Dick Byrne of the nearby Rugged Island parish.

Main

 * Dermot Morgan as Father Ted Crilly
 * Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal McGuire
 * Frank Kelly as Father Jack Hackett
 * Pauline McLynn as Mrs. Doyle

Recurring

 * Patrick Drury as John O'Leary
 * Rynagh O'Grady as Mary O'Leary
 * Pat Shortt as Tom
 * Jim Norton as Bishop Len Brennan
 * Maurice O'Donoghue as Father Dick Byrne
 * Don Wycherley as Father Cyril McDuff
 * Graham Norton as Father Noel Furlong
 * Tony Guilfoyle as Father Larry Duff

Writing
Linehan and Mathews first met while working at Hot Press. In the late 1980s, Mathews, Paul Woodfull and Kieran Woodfull formed The Joshua Trio, a U2 tribute band. The trio began writing comedy sketches to accompany their act. Mathews created the Father Ted character for his short-lived stand-up routine. Before The Joshua Trio played at gigs, Mathews would occasionally come on-stage as Father Ted and tell jokes involving his great friend, Father Dougal McGuire.

In 1991, Mathews left his job at Hot Press and moved into Linehan's London home. Over the next three to four years, they worked on rough ideas for shows while at the same time writing for sketch shows such as The All New Alexei Sayle Show and The Fast Show. One of these ideas was for a comedy mockumentary series called Irish Lives, with six episodes, each focusing on a different character living somewhere in Ireland. They scripted an episode centring on a priest named Father Ted Crilly, who visits his friends in the seminary in Maynooth College. Producer Geoffrey Perkins suggested that the episode's concept be dramatised and rewritten as a sitcom.

In the January 1994 issue of In Dublin (Vol 19, No2), Mathews and Linehan told Damian Corless, who had initially introduced the pair to each other, of their work in progress, describing Ted as "basically a nice man", Dougal as "nice but really stupid" and Jack as "a hideous creature". Linehan revealed: "They've all been sent to this isolated place called Craggy Island because they're crap priests." Mathews elaborated: "They've each a terrible secret which is why they've been banished to this place, and the terrible thing is that they can't get away from each other. Obviously it's not entirely reality-based." Mathews was originally intended to play Ted, but decided he lacked the acting ability the role required. Maurice O'Donoghue, who plays Father Dick in the series, was their second choice for the role of Ted, being the right age and having a similar look and lightness. Mathews always preferred Dermot Morgan; Linehan was initially reluctant, fearing he would play Ted the same as "Father Trendy", a character he played on the RTÉ television show The Live Mike, but Morgan lobbied hard for the role and was cast.

The show was pitched directly to the UK's Hat Trick Productions and Channel 4 by the duo, contrary to rumours that RTÉ (the Irish national broadcaster) were originally offered the series but rejected it.

Recording
Three series and one Christmas special were aired. Declan Lowney directed the first two series and the Christmas special, while the third series was directed by Linehan (location scenes) and Andy De Emmony (studio scenes). In addition, Morgan and O'Hanlon hosted an hour of Comic Relief in character, during which Kelly and McLynn also made brief guest appearances. One day after the shooting of series three wrapped, Dermot Morgan died of a heart attack, aged 45. As a mark of respect, the third series was first broadcast a week later than originally planned.

The show was already scheduled to conclude with the third series prior to Morgan's death, as Morgan said that he did not want to continue playing the role of Father Ted for fear of being typecast: "I don't want to be the next Clive Dunn and end up playing the same character for years."

Following Morgan's death, the production company received calls from numerous agents and casting directors suggesting either new actors for the role of Ted or spin-offs without the character; Linehan and Mathews declined all offers.

Music
In 1994, the writers asked alternative rock band Pulp to compose the theme music for Father Ted, requesting a parody of a typical sitcom theme. When Pulp said no, they contacted Neil Hannon, frontman of Northern Irish chamber pop band The Divine Comedy. Hannon's first effort, a jaunty composition, was rejected on Geoffrey Perkins's advice. Hannon composed a second theme, which the team found acceptable. This theme was recorded by Hannon and co-producer Darren Allison at The Jesus and Mary Chain's private studio. One of William Reid's guitars was selected by Allison and Hannon to carry the main tune, which was played by Hannon. Both themes were also reworked, with new lyrics, for inclusion on The Divine Comedy's 1996 album Casanova: the final Father Ted theme became "Songs of Love", while Hannon's rejected theme became "A Woman of the World".

In 2010, Linehan discussed the dramatic effect this choice had on the tone of the series: "'Woman of the World' was kind of like a jaunty, plinky-plonky song, and we wanted that song. He [Hannon] gave us two choices: he gave us that, and 'Songs of Love', and we wanted the plinky-plonky song because our idea was we were making fun of sitcoms. We were saying, you know, we don't like sitcoms. This is a parody of sitcoms. This is a kind of satire on sitcoms. And I remember Geoffrey [Perkins] looking really glum and sad about this, you know? And then he said, 'Why do you want to make fun of your characters?' He said, 'People will love these characters.' And that was just a real revelation for me, and after that, whatever he said went, as far as I was concerned."

The Divine Comedy also contributed most of the show's original music, including the songs "Big Men in Frocks" (for the episode "Rock-a-Hula Ted"), "My Lovely Horse" and "The Miracle is Mine" (for "A Song for Europe"), and "My Lovely Mayo Mammy" (for "Night of the Nearly Dead"). Neil Hannon also provided Ted and Dougal's vocals in the dream sequence version of "My Lovely Horse", which was produced by Allison and Hannon, and later appeared as a B-side on the band's single "Gin Soaked Boy".

Location
The interior scenes were recorded at the London Studios in front of a live studio audience, while exterior filming was at various locations in Ireland. Location work for Father Ted was done mostly in County Clare, including locations at Corofin, Ennis, Kilfenora, Ennistymon, and Kilnaboy. The Parochial House is McCormack's at Glenquin, on the Boston road from Kilnaboy. The cinema featured in "The Passion of St Tibulus" was the Ormonde Cinema, Greystones, County Wicklow and "The Field", the location for Funland in "'Good Luck, Father Ted'", is in Portrane, North County Dublin. The 'Very Dark Caves' featured in "The Mainland" were the Aillwee caves in the Burren, County Clare.

Some exterior shots for the episode "And God Created Woman" were filmed in Dún Laoghaire, South County Dublin. The opening sequence (including shots of the Plassy shipwreck) were filmed over Inisheer — the smallest of the Aran Islands.

Comedic style
The series is set in a humorously surreal world in which Ted is the only fully rounded normal character among "caricatures", according to Graham Linehan: "exaggerated-over-friendly, over-quiet, over-stupid, over-dull [...] they really only got one thing, they've got one job."

Embarrassment plays a role in many storylines, in a similar fashion to Fawlty Towers. Linehan says, "if Ted is in a situation that is slightly embarrassing we get him out of it [...] by having him lying or cheating, basically digging a massive hole for himself". Arthur Mathews has described Seinfeld as a major influence on the comedy of Father Ted, with himself and Linehan being "big fans" of the show. Father Ted also contains references to pop culture, and some film parodies, such as the episode "Speed 3".

Regarding the series's religious content, Linehan says "Ted doesn't have an anti-religious view of life, but a non-religious view. It's a job to him. He doesn't care about religion." While writing, he says the show's creators imagined Ted and Dougal as "just two people who happen to be [priests]".

Reception
Father Ted was met with critical acclaim and is the most popular sitcom in Irish TV history. The Irish media frequently uses the series as a point of comparison in political stories.

In 1996 and 1999, the show won the BAFTA award for Best Comedy, while Morgan also won Best Comedy Performance. In 1995 the show won Best New TV Comedy at the British Comedy Awards, with O'Hanlon receiving Top TV Comedy Newcomer Award. At the 1996 British Comedy Awards the show won Top Channel 4 Sitcom Award, McLynn took the Top TV Comedy Actress award. In 1997 the show was given the Best Channel 4 Sitcom Award. It was also ranked at number 50 in the BFI's 2000 list of the 100 greatest British television programmes of the 20th century, the highest ranking Channel 4 production on the list. In 2004, it came 11th in the poll for Britain's Best Sitcom. In August 2012, Channel 4 viewers voted the series as the No 1 in C4's 30 Greatest Comedy Shows.

Notable fans of the show include director Steven Spielberg, musicians Liam Gallagher, Madonna, Cher and Moby, actors Jim Carrey and Steve Martin, comedian Ricky Gervais, and wrestler Sheamus. Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees was buried with a copy of the DVD box set. Singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor was a fan, and attended the recording of the Christmas special. Irish musician Bono also requested to appear in the series.

In January 2007, a dispute arose between Inisheer and Inishmore over which island can claim to be Craggy Island, and thereby host a three-day Friends of Ted Festival. The dispute was settled by a five-a-side football match that February. Inishmore won 2–0 allowing them to use the title of Craggy Island until February 2008, while Inisheer was given the title of Rugged Island. The Friends of Ted Festival, better known as Ted Fest, has been held annually as a Father Ted fan convention since 2007.

In August 2020 An Post released a set of commemorative postage stamps, each with a catchphrase from the series on a background of the parochial house's lurid wallpaper, in a booklet listing Mrs Doyle's guesses for the name of Father Todd Unctious.

Several quotes from the series have entered the popular lexicon, such as "These are small, but the ones out there are far away. Small. Far away.", "Down with this sort of thing", and "I hear you're a racist now, Father".

Derivatives
On 1 January 2011, Channel 4 dedicated a night of programmes to celebrate the show's 15th anniversary year. This included "Father Ted: Unintelligent Design", a documentary on the show's influences, and "Small, Far Away: The World of Father Ted", a documentary revisiting the show's history with the writers and many of the surviving cast (Pauline McLynn was unable to take part as she was working in another country).

Roles reprised
In 2001, Pauline McLynn reprised her role as Mrs Doyle in a run of advertisements for the UK's Inland Revenue, reminding people to get their taxes in on time with her catchphrase from the programme ("Go on, go on, go on..."). It was voted in an Adwatch poll of 1,000 people as the year's worst advertisement.

Later in 2001, Ardal O'Hanlon returned to the role of Father Dougal for a series of PBS advertisements to coincide with Father Ted's American broadcast; these segments were included on later DVD releases as "Fundraising with Father Dougal".

In 2012, Frank Kelly made a brief appearance as Father Jack on an episode of The One Show with Graham Norton.

In 2014, guest star Ben Keaton returned to the role of Father Austin Purcell, performing a stand-up routine and hosting the pub quiz "Arse Biscuits" in-character. In 2015, he launched the spin-off web series Cook Like a Priest.

In February 2016, Over The Top Wrestling marked the anniversary of Morgan's death with "Ah Ted", an event held in Dublin's Tivoli Variety Theatre. During the main-event tag-team match between The Lads From the Flats and The Kings of the North, Patrick McDonnell, Joe Rooney and Michael Redmond reprised their roles as Eoin McLove, Father Damo Lennon and Father Paul Stone respectively. McLove entered the ring first, withstanding one wrestler's attack on his crotch because he has "no willy", but was soon attacked by Father Damo, who brought the whistle he stole from Benson. Father Stone served as a special guest referee, performing a three-count so slow that one wrestler kicked out after two. In 2017, Rooney appeared as Father Damo in the video for Brave Giant's "The Time I Met the Devil", which follows him on the way to give Mass after a night of alcohol and sex.

Potential remakes
Since the end of the series, several attempts to remake Father Ted have been reported, but none has yet materialised.

In July 2003, it was announced that the show would be remade for the American market. The remake would be scripted by Spike Feresten, who previously wrote for US sitcoms Seinfeld and The Simpsons. Ferensten stated: "I was raised Catholic and this show just felt right to me. The essence of the show is about men who are also priests and, as men, they have many foibles." Hat Trick founders Denise O'Donoghue and Jimmy Mulville were set to produce. The US production company was Pariah Productions, which previously adapted The Kumars at No. 42 for an American audience.

In March 2004, Supanet Limited reported that an American remake was in development. This version would be set on a fictional island off the coast of New York. Steve Martin and Graham Norton would reportedly play Ted and Dougal. Martin had not been expected to take the role because of his stature, but agreed because he was a fan of the original series, and would reportedly be paid £500,000 per episode. Norton was cast based on his popularity with American audiences, and in reference to his appearance as Father Noel Furlong in the original series.

In November 2007, a separate American remake was announced. Rather than Craggy Island, this version would be set in an unfortunate fishing village in New England. American actor John Michael Higgins was cast as Ted, but expressed concerns about the show's religious themes: "The English have a very robust history of being unkind about religion. We don't have that in our country, we're frightened of it. It's basically that you guys are doing an Irish joke also, we don't have that. So I'll be Father Ted, we'll see how it goes." Filming was scheduled to begin in January 2008.

In January 2015, Linehan said that there had been "a few attempts" by US broadcasters to remake the show, including one which would have been set in Boston – an idea Linehan considered "ridiculous".

Musical
In an interview with Radio Times in January 2015, Linehan said that he wanted to revive Father Ted as a musical stage production. He stated that he would never revive the television series, "because of the risk you poison people's memories of the original", but that the completely new format would make the project worthwhile. He mentioned the possibility of a dance number with "spinning cardinals". He said that the musical would have to reference the Catholic child abuse scandals, saying, "The jokes would have to have a little bit more edge, because you just can't ignore this stuff." Mathews was "not as convinced" of the musical idea, though Linehan insisted it could work.

In December, Mathews said that he and Paul Woodfull were developing a Joshua Trio musical and a show focusing on a "Father Michael Cleary-type character", and that the Father Ted musical may follow. He expressed concerns that it would "dilute the product" or be seen as a "cash-in", but said that he believed there was an audience for the project. In April 2017, Linehan said that the musical would draw inspiration from The Book of Mormon, and would "go for the jugular ... You get all the things people loved about it, all the innocence and all the sweetness, but introduce a harder edge." Linehan also said that, being a special event, the musical would need to focus on a "world-shaking" story, possibly with Ted becoming Pope due to "some weird succession thing".

In June 2018, Linehan announced that Pope Ted: The Father Ted Musical was nearing completion, with a script by Linehan and Mathews. Linehan said, "It's the real final episode of Father Ted ... This was the right idea. Arthur and I have been laughing our arses off while writing it. Just like the old days." The Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon, who wrote the television show's music, composed the music.

In March 2022, Linehan said the musical had been cancelled by producers following the controversy over his public statements about transgender rights. He said that the musical was "ready to go", with a completed story and songs, but "just because a group of people have decided that anybody who speaks up against this ideology is evil, [the producers have] just kind of rolled over for those people. No one is standing up for me." Hannon, a longtime friend of Linehan's, said the project was difficult and said about the controversy around Linehan: "It's been difficult to watch what's happened. I believe in free speech, but I also very much believe in people's perfect right to remain completely silent on issues that they don't feel they can speak on. And that's all I want to say about it."

In December 2020, Linehan said he was seeking legal advice regarding Hat Trick Productions who he argued were preventing the musical from going into production owing to "activists" within the company.

title: Father Ted


text:
Foster's Lager

Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.

While Foster's is the largest-selling Australian beer brand in the world, it is not as popular and relatively rare compared with other beers in Australia, particularly when compared to current Carlton & United Breweries beers such as Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught.

History
Foster's was created by two American brothers, William M. and Ralph R. Foster, who arrived in Melbourne from New York in 1886. The brothers began brewing Foster's Lager in November 1888. It was made available to the public from February 1889. The product was first exported in 1901, when bottles were sent to Australian combatants in the Boer War.

In 1907, the company merged with five other brewing companies to form Carlton & United Breweries (CUB). Then only available in bottles, Foster's Lager was considered to be CUB's premium brand.

In 1958, steel cans were introduced. Foster's Lager was first imported into the UK in 1971 and was launched in the US in 1972.

Commencing 1981, the brand was brewed under licence in the UK by Watney Mann and Truman Brewers. In 1986, Courage Brewery obtained the rights to brew and distribute Foster's alongside Watney Mann and Truman Brewers, which Courage took over in 1990.

In 2011, CUB and its product lines, including Foster's, were bought by the South African and British conglomerate SABMiller, which in turn was incorporated into the multinational (Belgian, Brazilian, and American) Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2016. In 2019, Anheuser-Busch InBev agreed to sell CUB including Fosters to Asahi Breweries. The deal was completed in 2020.

Production
Advertising from the early 20th century claimed Foster's Lager was adjuncted with cane sugar. A number of breweries advertised a sugar content, (e.g. Bulimba), as it implied a lighter less bitter brew than was commonly sold. (Rice malt and very light barley malts replaced sugar, which can be troublesome for brewers.)

The Tim Foster's yeast in use today was brought to Carlton in 1923 from Professor Jorgensen in Denmark.

The lager is hopped with selected oil extracts of Super Pride of Ringwood hops, which like any modern beer, is added after fermentation to minimise losses to the yeast sediment. The hop is sourced from the only two farms in Australia that grow it.

The product is 4% ABV in Europe, Australia and India, and 5% in the US.

The Latin American and European rights to the beer are owned by Heineken International, who brews and distributes a 4% ABV Foster's in most European countries. In the United States and Canada, rights to the brand are owned by Molson Coors. Heineken also acquired Brasil Kirin which previously had the right to the beer in Latin America.

In the UK, Foster's is produced by Heineken at the Royal Brewery in Manchester.

Production of the Australian regular brand recommenced in 2014, but it was only briefly promoted. It had been in continuous production from November 1888 to about 2002, making it the longest-lived beer label in Australia. Once a "premium" brand, Foster's Lager has been bypassed by the Foster's Group's favoured premium brands of Carlton Crown Lager and Stella Artois.

In Australia until the end of the 1970s, Foster's Lager was a reasonably popular bottled and canned beer with a somewhat premium image. Then in the early 1980s there were major changes in the Australian brewing industry, including the merger of Castlemaine (Brisbane), Swan (Perth) and Toohey's (Sydney) into a national brewing group, as a result of acquisitions by Perth entrepreneur Alan Bond.

Faced with inroads into its non-Victorian markets, Carlton and United Beverages (CUB) reviewed its product range and attempted to re-position some of its brands. Foster's Draught was introduced, served on tap alongside established draught brands such as Castlemaine XXXX and Toohey's Draught. Despite some initial success, bolstered by heavy advertising, the brand did not prove to be popular and was eventually withdrawn from sale.

The Foster's Group has tended to promote the brands of Carlton Draught (mainstream market) and Victoria Bitter (working class male market).

The CUB Yatala Road Brewery south of Brisbane, the site of the former Power's Brewery, brews all CUB mainstream and contract beers that are sold outside of Victoria. The Yatala Brewery is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. CUB's Abbotsford Brewery (Abbot's Lager) now only supplies Victoria and South Australia. The Victoria (Vic Bitter) and Carlton (Carlton Draft) breweries were closed in the late 20th century and the CUB headquarters moved to Abbotsford.

In late 2014 Foster's enjoyed some renewed success in the Australian market, due to returning to wide-release sale in Australian liquor stores with some renewed nostalgic brand recognition. Foster's lager was marketed as "Foster's Classic" and sold in 375ml cans with 4.0% ABV.

In November 2020, CUB announced that it would "relaunch" the brand in Australia, boosting local production by 300% and price it competitively against rival brands.

Global market
In April 2006, Scottish & Newcastle plc announced that it had agreed to acquire the Foster's brand in Europe (including Turkey), the Russian Federation and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States for approximately £309 million. In August 2006, SABMiller, now owned by AB InBev, announced that it had bought back rights to the Foster's brand in India for a reported $120m from private investors.

An unusual case emerged in 2015 when a New York consumer of Foster's Lager sued the brewer after – he claimed – discovering it was not brewed in Australia. He proposed a class action on the grounds of deceptive marketing. The suit cited advertising slogans such as 'Foster's Australian for Beer' and 'How to Speak Australian' were intended to trick consumers into believing the beer is made in Australia – which in turn meant the beer could be sold at a higher, premium price.

A number of companies own marketing rights to Foster's including Heineken International in Latin America, Europe and CIS and Molson Coors in the U.S. and Canada.

Variants
Scottish & Newcastle launched Foster's Twist, a beer with a hint of citrus that was marketed as a refreshing alternative to other heavier beers and Premium Packaged Spirits such as Smirnoff Ice. Foster's Twist was 4.5% abv. It has since been withdrawn from the market.

There also exists Foster's Super Chilled, which is served at a colder temperature and is available in pubs and bars.

In 2008, Foster's was introduced with a widget called a "scuba" placed into the can to ensure good mixing. This variant is only currently available in the UK.

In the UK, customers are also able to purchase a keg of Foster's for private parties, collecting and returning the keg at a participating store or public house.

Also, there is Fosters Gold which has a slightly higher alcohol percentage of 4.5% sold only in bottles.

Sponsorship
From 1964, the brand was promoted in the UK by comedian Barry Humphries and his Private Eye character Barry McKenzie, a bumbling Foster's swilling Australian expatriate.

Foster's Lager used the slogan "The Amber Nectar" in Australia and the UK, and "Australian for Beer", elsewhere overseas. The overseas advertising of the product often focuses on the Australian connotations of the beer, e.g. with reference to stereotypical Australian imagery such as kangaroos, exaggerated accents, and cork hats. This was true of a campaign in the 1980s fronted by the Australian comedian Paul Hogan.

The 2009 campaign for Foster's contains two 40-second adverts, "Backpacker" and "Deep Sea"; both end with the slogan, "Foster's – get some Australian in you."

The Foster's Lager brand was used as an advertising sponsorship deal with Norwich City F.C. from 1986 to 1989 (a period which included two top five finishes and a run to the FA Cup semi-finals). At its commencement, the sponsorship by Foster's was the most lucrative sponsorship ever given to an English football club.

The brand sponsored Formula One events regularly from 1986 to 2006. During this period it was the title sponsor for the Australian GP (1986–1993 and 2002–2006), the British GP (1990–1993 and 2000–2006) and the San Marino GP (2003–2006). It also was the prime sponsor and trackside sponsor of many other Grands Prix during this time. The brand was also used in a sponsorship deal with the A1 Team Australia from 2005 to 2007.

The UK division of the Foster's brand has focused on cultivating comedy-centric advertising and sponsorship arrangements and on 9 November 2011 they launched a trailer for their sponsored, online-only version of the hit 90s' television show The Fast Show. The six weekly episodes started on 10 November and featured the original cast (with the exception of Mark Williams) and many of the characters from the previous series.

From 2010 to 2015 Foster's adverts featured "Good call", in which numerous Britons phone up Australians Brad and Dan for general advice. The campaign was revived in 2019.

title: Foster's Lager