February 21

Hulegu Khan

Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu (c. 1217 – 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West Asia.

Photo: Circa 1340 artist · Public domain

Anaïs Nin

Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( AN-eye-EESS NEEN; French:; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica.

Photo: Elsa Dorfman · CC BY 2.5

W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden ( WIST-ən HYOO AWD-ən; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content.

Photo: Carl Van Vechten · Public domain

John Rawls

John Bordley Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, most active in moral, legal, and political philosophy. Rawls has been described as one of the most influential modern liberal political philosophers of the 20th century.

Photo: Published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press . Photograph taken by Alec Rawls, John's son. The portrait wa · Public domain

Robert Mugabe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe (21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who led Zimbabwe from 1980 until 2017. He served as the country's first Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as its second President from 1987 to 2017.

Photo: Government of Zimbabwe, taken by Joseph Nyadzayo as Presidential Photographer · Public domain

Nina Simone

Nina Simone ( NEE-nə sim-OHN; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American composer, concert pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title the High Priestess of Soul.

Photo: Ron Kroon for Anefo Restored by Bammesk · CC0

Harald V of Norway

Harald V (21 February 1937 – 28 August 2026) was King of Norway from 1991 until his death in 2026. Born in Skaugum, Asker, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King Haakon VII, Harald was the third child and only son of Crown Prince Olav (later King Olav V) and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway.

Photo: Harry Johansen / Sámediggi Sametinget · CC BY 2.0

Alan Rickman

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor. He was renowned for his stage and screen roles and for his deep and distinctive voice.

Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen · CC BY 2.0

Sahle-Work Zewde

Sahle-Work Zewde (Amharic: ሣህለ ወርቅ ዘውዴ; born 21 February 1950) is an Ethiopian diplomat who served as president of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024, the first woman to hold the office. She was elected as president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018.

Photo: J.Marchand · CC BY 2.0

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (born 21 February 1980) is the current King of Bhutan, reigning since 9 December 2006. A member of the Wangchuck dynasty, he is the eldest son of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and his third wife, Queen Tshering Yangdon.

Elliot Page

Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his work as an activist for LGBTQ rights and against discrimination.

Photo: PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0

Corbin Bleu

Corbin Bleu Reivers ( BLOO; born February 21, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the late 1990s before rising to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Chad Danforth in the High School Musical trilogy (2006–2008).

Photo: Nielsoncaetanosalmeron · CC BY 4.0

Riyad Mahrez

Riyad Karim Mahrez (born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger. Born in France, he represented the Algeria national team.

Photo: Jeanpierrekepseu · CC BY-SA 4.0

Julius II

Pope Julius II (Latin: Iulius II; Italian: Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 1443 – 21 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513.

Photo: Raphael · Public domain

Benedictus de Spinoza

Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin who was born and lived in the Dutch Republic.

Photo: anonymous · Public domain

Benedict XIII

Pope Benedict XIII (Latin: Benedictus XIII; Italian: Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in February 1730.

Photo: Unidentified painter · Public domain

Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1 April 1809 – 4 March 1852) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example in his works "The Nose", "Viy", "The Overcoat", and "Nevsky Prospekt".

Photo: Otto Friedrich Theodor von Möller · Public domain

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (Dutch:; 21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) was a Dutch experimental physicist who became the first to liquefy helium, cooling it to near 1.5 kelvin (K). For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913.

Frederick Banting

Sir Frederick Grant Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian pharmacologist, orthopedist, and field surgeon. For his co-discovery of insulin and its therapeutic potential, Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Macleod.

Photo: Arthur Goss · Public domain

Malcolm X

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, civil rights activist, and Muslim minister who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965.

Photo: Marion S. Trikosko · Public domain

Mikhail Sholokhov

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov (Russian: Михаил Александрович Шолохов, IPA:; 24 May 1905 – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

Gertrude B. Elion

Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion (January 23, 1918 – February 21, 1999) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative methods of rational drug design for the development of new drugs.

Photo: GlaxoSmithKline plc · CC BY 4.0

Billy Graham

William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring live sermons became well known in the mid-to-late 20th century.

Photo: Warren K. Leffler · Public domain