Today
Saturday February 21 2026
- Day of the year
- 52/ 365
- Week
- 82,026
- Days left
- 31314%
- Moon
- 20%Waxing crescent
Today is Saturday, February 21, 2026. It is day 52 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 313 remain, and 14% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 8.
What's celebrated on this date
International Mother Language Day
WorldwideUNESCO — International Days
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Benedict XIIIpope of the Catholic Church from 1724 to 1730
- Peter Damianeleventh-century Benedictine monk
- Eleanor of ProvenceQueen of England (1223-1291)
- Pepin of LandenMayor of the Palace (585-640)
- Eustathius of AntiochPatriarch of Antioch
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 06:41
- Sunset
- 17:38
- Length of day
- 10h 57m+3 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:10
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Winter
began on December 21, 2025
Next season
Spring — 27 days, March 20, 2026 (March equinox)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Memorial Day — May 25, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waxing crescent
Illumination : 20%
Moon age : 4.2 days
- Next full moon
- March 3, 2026
- Next new moon
- March 19, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Pisces
until March 21, 2026 — Aries
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
1613
Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia. Wikipedia
1808
Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia. Wikipedia
1848
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto. Wikipedia
1916
World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins. Wikipedia
1919
German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany. Wikipedia
1947
In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1952
The Bengali language movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Wikipedia
1972
United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations. Wikipedia
1995
Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. Wikipedia
2022
In the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin declares the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic as independent from Ukraine, and moves troops into the region. The action is condemned by the United Nations. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day February 21
- 1397Isabella of Portugal (died 1471)
- 1728Peter III of Russia (died 1762)
- 1783Catharina of Württemberg (died 1835)
- 1794Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician, 8th President of Mexico (died 1876)
- 1895Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976)
- 1924Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean educator and politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe (died 2019)
- 1943David Geffen, American businessman, co-founded DreamWorks and Geffen Recordsturns 83 years
- 1980Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 5th King of Bhutanturns 46 years
Died on this day February 21
- 1437James I of Scotland (born 1394; assassinated)aged 43 years
- 1513Pope Julius II (born 1443)aged 70 years
- 1677Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher and scholar (born 1632)aged 45 years
- 1730Pope Benedict XIII (born 1649)aged 81 years
- 1846Emperor Ninkō of Japan (born 1800)aged 46 years
- 1926Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1853)aged 73 years
- 1941Frederick Banting, Canadian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891)aged 50 years
- 1984Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)aged 79 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 06:41 and sets at 17:38, giving 10h 57m of daylight — 3 minutes more than yesterday. It has been winter since December 21, 2025; spring opens in 27 days, on March 20, 2026 (March equinox).
The moon is a waxing crescent, 20% illuminated. The next full moon falls on March 3, 2026 and the next new moon on March 19, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches February 21 to Benedict XIII, Peter Damian and Eleanor of Provence.
February 21 is International Mother Language Day, designated by the United Nations or one of its agencies.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia (1613); Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e (1808). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Isabella of Portugal was born on February 21, 1397; James I of Scotland died on February 21, 1437.
307 days remain until Christmas and 314 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — February 21 falls under the sign of Pisces.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 14%
- of the year elapsed
- 307
- until Christmas
- 314
- until New Year
- 738
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26