History events
-355 (or 26 January 355 BCE) (24 Shvat 3406) — The prophet Zechariah foretold the rebuilding of the Second Temple
1700 — (14th of Shevat, 5460) A special commission instituted today to determine the rights of the Jews in Berlin was instrumental in limiting the number of Jewish families allow to live there to fifty
1704 — (29th of Shevat, 5464) In Metz, France Abraham Schwab found a yeshivah that became the Seminaire Israelite de France
1898 — (1th of Shevat, 5658) A mob of approximately 3,000 people surged through the streets of Algiers shouting “Down With the Jews.” “A dispatch received from Algiers late tonight says that at 11 o’clock perfect tranquility prevailed” with the troops having cleared the street of anti-Semitic rioters including 300 of whom have been arrested.
1899 — (13th of Shevat, 5659) It was reported today that the population of Palestine is 200,000 of which 40,000 are Jews. This is an increase of 26,000 Jews in the last twenty years. There are 22,000 Jews living in Jerusalem “half of whom” have come from Europ
1911 (24 Tevet 5671) — The settlement of Merhavia was founded
1938 — (22th of Shevat, 5698) The Palestine Post reported that a meeting of the General Council (Va’ad Leumi) of Palestine Jews published a manifesto calling for the immediate opening of the gates of the country to the millions of suffering Diaspora Jews; that one Jew was severely wounded when Arabs shot at a group of workers returning from the Givat Shaul quarry to Jerusalem; that according to the new Romanian law, all Jews had to appear before the courts in order to prove their citizenship rights
1939 (4 Shvat 5699) — The Shoah. The Gestapo established the Imperial Centre for Jewish Emigration in Germany.
1942 (6 Shvat 5702) — The Shoah. 2,000 Jews were deported from Odessa
1943 — (18th of Shevat, 5703) During the past three weeks, fifteen trains reached the Auschwitz from Belgium, Holland, Berlin, Grodno and Bialystok. Of the new arrivals, 4,000 were sent to the barracks and 20,000 were killed before their luggage could be sorted. To accommodate the rate of killing, four new crematoriums were constructed
1949 — (23th of Tevet, 5709) France recognized Israel
1992 (19 Shvat 5752) — Diplomatic relations between Israel and China were established.
1994 (12 Shvat 5754) — A log entry from the Civil Administration of the Hebron District, dated 9:30 am, reported that Hamas leaflets had been distributed in Hebron. The leaflets warned that an attack would occur in Hebron on 25 or 26 February (with emphasis on the 25th, i.e., Purim). On 25 February, Yediot Aharonot also reported on the leaflets. The article stated that Arab residents of Hebron had been notified—via leaflets, loudspeakers, and wall inscriptions—to stock up on food ahead of a prolonged curfew that would follow a major Hamas attack on Jews (see 25 February 1994)
2008 — (17th of Shevat, 5768) Two terrorists entered the Mekor Hayim High School Yeshiva in Kfar Etzion, south of Jerusalem, and stabbed two students
2024 (14 Shvat 5784) — Gaza War, Day 110. Another kilometre‑long tunnel was blown up, a few kilometres from the security fence. Only 10 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, due to road blockades by families of hostages and fallen soldiers. Khan Yunis was shelled; IDF Givati Brigade troops and the Air Force attacked militant targets; artillery also struck targets in the northern and western parts of the Strip.
People
76 (30 Shvat 3836) — Hadrian, Roman emperor, was born. During his reign, persecutions of Jews led to their exile. He sought to eradicate Judaism, banning Jews in Judea from observing the Sabbath, performing key religious rites, teaching children in schools, and studying sacred texts together. On the site of destroyed Jerusalem, he built the pagan city of Aelia Capitolina, with a statue of the emperor where the Temple had stood
1656 — (8th of Shevat, 5416) Dr. Jacob Lumbrozo, the first Jewish physician in what would be the United States arrived in Maryland
1678 — (11th of Shevat, 5438) Rabbi Solomon Lichtenstein of Bialystok, author of Kokhmat Shelomo, passed away
1824 — Albert Augustus Isaacs, later baptised, was born in Berry Hill, Jamaica. He was a traveller, priest, historian, anthropologist, and amateur photographer who produced some of the earliest photographs of the Holy Land. He died on 15 November 1903
1828 — Ferdinand Julius Cohn, German botanist and zoologist, born
1856 — (17th of Shevat, 5616) Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader passed away
1878 (20 Shvat 5638) — Pinchas Rutenberg was born into a religious family in Rivne, Poltava Governorate. He founded the Palestine Electric Company, initiated the creation of a national airline and the construction of a port in Tel Aviv, built power stations across the country, led the Haganah in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and served in the leadership of the Yishuv. He died of cancer in 1942
1888 — L. P. Grossman, literary scholar and writer, was born. His books on Pushkin and Dostoevsky were published in the Lives of Remarkable People series. He died on 15 December 1965
1900 — Isaac Artom, Italian statesman and senator, died
1901 — M. Romm, film director, was born. He died on 1 November 1971.
1924 (18 Shvat 5684) — Haim David Halevi, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv from 1973 to 1998, was born. He died in 1998.
1930 — S. N. Efuni, anaesthesiologist and physiologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was born. He died on 2 October 2025.
1941 — Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate in 2011 for the discovery of quasicrystals, was born. (Note: the reported death date of 26 April 1997 appears to be erroneous; Shechtman is alive as of 2026.)
1953 — Yuri A. Bashmet, violist, People’s Artist of the USSR, and leader of the Moscow Soloists chamber ensemble, was born
1965 — (21th of Shevat, 5725) In Damascus, Syrian police arrested Kamel Amin Th’abet on charges of being an Israeli spy. After being tortured he was hung in a public execution. Th’abet was Eli Cohen who successfully penetrated the highest level of the Syrian government and provided intelligence of immeasurable value
1984 — Yotam Halperin, a prominent Israeli basketball player and two‑time EuroLeague champion, was born