On February 16

At least 91 people were killed and 190 others injured after a bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market in Hazara Town, Pakistan.

While on approach to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, China Airlines Flight 676 crashed due to an over-reliance of the autopilot, which resulted in the deaths of 202 people.

Eleven people died in a train collision in Silver Spring, Maryland, leading to the creation of comprehensive U.S. federal rules for the design of passenger cars.

The Lebanese Shia political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah released a manifesto describing its ideology and goals.

The Ash Wednesday bushfires burned over half a million acres (over 2,000 km2) each in both South Australia and Victoria, killing 75 people and injuring 2,676 others.

The DuSable Museum, the first museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art, was chartered.

Fidel Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba, beginning his decades-long rule over the country.

The Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing parties, came to power in the Spanish general election, a factor in the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War five months later.

A landslide in Byblos revealed a sarcophagus in an underground tomb that was later discovered to be part of a large Bronze Age necropolis.

The Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence (pictured), proclaiming the restoration of an independent Lithuania.

The Southern Cross Expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink (pictured) achieved a new Farthest South of 78° 50'S, making the first landing at the Great Ice Barrier.

American Civil War: A Union victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson gave General Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender".

The French government passed a law setting the musical note A4 to a frequency of 435 hertz, in the first attempt to standardize concert pitch.

First Barbary War: Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a U.S. Navy raid to destroy the captured USS Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli (depicted), denying her use to the Barbary States.

Livonian Crusade: In the Battle of Karuse, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania achieved a decisive victory over the Livonian Order on the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea.

King Louis IX dispatched André de Longjumeau as the French ambassador to the Mongol Empire.