21 February

Across recorded history, 1,688 notable lives are recorded as having ended on 21 February. Below are the 24 most widely documented — ranked by how many language editions of Wikipedia carry an article about them.

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Malcolm X

1925–1965

American Black rights activist

Malcolm X was an American activist who advocated for the rights of Black people.

Mikhail Sholokhov

1905–1984

Soviet writer

Mikhail Sholokhov was a Soviet writer known for his novels depicting the lives of Don Cossacks.

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

1853–1926

Dutch physicist, Nobel prize winner

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was a physicist who received the Nobel Prize for his research into the properties of matter at low temperatures.

Gertrude B. Elion

1918–1999

American biochemist and pharmacologist

Gertrude B. Elion was an American biochemist who developed numerous drugs to treat a variety of major diseases.

Billy Graham

1918–2018

American Baptist evangelist

Billy Graham was an American evangelist who conducted large-scale preaching missions throughout the world.

Frederick Banting

1891–1941

Canadian medical scientist and doctor

Frederick Banting was a Canadian medical scientist who conducted the research that led to the discovery of insulin.

Kenneth Arrow

1921–2017

American economist

Kenneth Arrow was an American economist known for his contributions to social choice theory and general equilibrium analysis.

Howard Florey

1898–1968

Australian pathologist

Howard Florey was a pathologist who contributed to the development of penicillin for medical use.

Margot Fonteyn

1919–1991

British ballerina

Margot Fonteyn was a British ballet dancer who performed as a prima ballerina assoluta.

Hjalmar Branting

1860–1925

Prime Minister of Sweden

Hjalmar Branting was a Swedish politician who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden.

Roger Guillemin

1924–2024

French-American neuroscientist

Roger Guillemin was a neuroscientist who conducted research on brain hormones.

Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino

1895–1934

Nicaraguan revolutionary

Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino was a Nicaraguan revolutionary who led a rebellion against the United States military occupation of his country.

Inge Lehmann

1888–1993

Danish seismologist who discovered the Earth's inner core

Seismologist Inge Lehmann discovered the inner core of the Earth.

Sándor Márai

1900–1989

Hungarian writer

Sándor Márai was a Hungarian writer known for his novels, poetry, and journalistic work.

Gustave Caillebotte

1848–1894

French painter

Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter who supported the Impressionist movement through his work as an artist and art collector.

Osborne Reynolds

1842–1912

Anglo-Irish innovator

Osborne Reynolds was an engineer who conducted research on fluid dynamics and heat transfer.

Ahmad Shah Qajar

1898–1930

The seventh and last Shah of Iran Qajar

Ahmad Shah Qajar was the seventh and final monarch to rule Iran under the Qajar dynasty.

Eugène de Beauharnais

1781–1824

French statesman and military officer

Eugène de Beauharnais was a French viceroy and military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars.

George FitzGerald

1851–1901

Irish physicist

George FitzGerald was an Irish physicist known for his contributions to the study of electromagnetic fields and the development of the Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction hypothesis.

Stanley Donen

1924–2019

American film director and choreographer

Stanley Donen was an American film director and choreographer known for his work on musical films.

Nutan

1936–1991

Indian actress

Nutan was an Indian actress who appeared in numerous films throughout her career.

Dan Simmons

1948–2026

American novelist

Dan Simmons is an American novelist known for his contributions to the genres of speculative and science fiction.

George Ellery Hale

1868–1938

American astronomer

George Ellery Hale was an American astronomer who founded several major observatories and research institutions.

Amancio Amaro

1939–2023

Spanish footballer

Amancio Amaro was a Spanish association football player who also served as a coach.

Source: Wikidata, released into the public domain under CC0. Snapshot: 2026-07. Names, dates and roles come from Wikidata; summaries are condensed from it. Nothing here is generated to fill a gap.