February 15
February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 319 days remaining until the end of the year (320 in leap years).
Events
- 1764 – The city of St. Louis, Missouri is established.
- 1835 – The first constitutional law in modern Serbia is adopted.
- 1944 – World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino in Italy begins.
- 1956 – Urho Kekkonen is elected President of Finland.
- 1965 – The Maple Leaf flag becomes Canada's flag
- 1967 – Chicago, a musical group forms.
- 1971 – Britain adopts decimal currency.
- 1989 – The last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan.
- 2003 – Millions of people around the world protest against the planned US-led invasion of Iraq.
- 2005 – YouTube is founded.
Births
- 1368 - Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1437)
- 1471 - Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian ruler (died 1503)
- 1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and mathematician (died 1642)
- 1571 – Michael Praetorius, German composer (died 1621)
- 1620 - Francois Charpentier, French archaeologist (died 1702)
- 1710 – King Louis XV of France (died 1774)
- 1725 - Abraham Clark, American founding father (died 1794)
- 1739 - Alexander-Theodore Brogniart, French architect (died 1813)
- 1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (died 1832)
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, German painter (died 1829)
- 1759 - Friedrich August Wolf, German archaeologist (died 1824)
- 1774 - Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau (died 1799)
- 1792 - Floride Calhoun, Second Lady of the United States (died 1866)
- 1803 - John Sutter, Swiss-American pioneer (died 1880)
- 1809 - Andre Dumont, Belgian geologist (died 1857)
- 1809 - Cyrus McCormack, American inventor (died 1884)
- 1811 - Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, President of Argentina (died 1888)
- 1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweller (died 1902)
- 1813 - Fredrick Holbrook, Governor of Vermont (died 1909)
- 1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American women's civil rights leader (died 1906)
- 1825 - Carter Harrison, Sr., Mayor of Chicago (died 1893)
- 1834 - Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia, Moldovan-Romanian politician, historian and author (died 1901)
- 1835 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek sports official (died 1908)
- 1835 - Nguyen Khuyen, Vietnamese scholar, poet and teacher (died 1909)
- 1840 - Tito Maiorescu, Prime Minister of Romania (died 1917)
- 1841 - Manoel Ferraz de Campos Salles, Brazilian politician (died 1913)
- 1845 – Elihu Root, American politician (died 1937)
- 1847 - Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (died 1927)
- 1851 - Spiru Haret, Romanian-American mathematician, astronomer and politician (died 1912)
- 1856 - Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (died 1926)
- 1858 - William Henry Pickering, American astronomer (died 1938)
- 1860 - Scott C. Pone, American Territorial Governor of Alaska (died 1936)
- 1861 – Charles Edouard Guillaume, French physicist (died 1938)
- 1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, British philosopher and mathematician (died 1947)
- 1861 - Billy Adams, 24th Governor of Colorado (died 1954)
- 1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German chemist (died 1964)
- 1874 – Ernest Shackleton, Irish Antarctic explorer (died 1922)
- 1877 - Louis Renault, French automobile executive (died 1944)
- 1890 - Robert Ley, German Nazi official (died 1945)
- 1891 - Dino Borgioli, Italian lyric tenor (died 1960)
- 1892 - James Forrestal, United States Secretary of the Navy (died 1949)
- 1893 - Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (died 1947)
- 1899 - Gale Sondergaard, American actress (died 1985)
- 1905 – Harold Arlen, American composer (died 1986)
- 1907 - Jean Langlais, French composer and organist (died 1991)
- 1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (died 1994)
- 1909 – Miep Gies, Dutch helper of Anne Frank and other Jews (died 2010)
- 1909 - Guillermo Gorostiza, Spanish footballer (died 1966)
- 1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (died 2008)
- 1910 – Stanley Vann, British musician (died 2010)
- 1912 - Andrei Lupan, Moldovan writer and politician (died 1992)
- 1913 - Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (died 1997)
- 1914 - Hale Boggs, American politician (died 1972)
- 1914 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (died 2010)
- 1916 - Mary Jane Croft, American actress
- 1920 - Endicott Peabody, Governor of Massachusetts (died 1997)
- 1922 - John B. Anderson, American politician
- 1923 - Yelena Bonner, Russian activist (died 2011)
- 1929 - Graham Hill, British racing driver (died 1975)
- 1929 - James R. Schlesinger, American politician
- 1931 – Claire Bloom, British actress
- 1935 – Roger Chaffee, American astronaut (died 1967)
- 1944 - Mick Avory, English drummer (The Kinks)
- 1945 - John Helliwell, English musician (Supertramp)
- 1946 - Clare Short, British politician
- 1948 – Art Spiegelman, American cartoonist
- 1948 - Tino Insana, American actor, writer and film producer
- 1951 – Jane Seymour, British actress
- 1951 – Melissa Manchester, American singer
- 1952 - Tomislav Nikolic, President of Serbia
- 1954 – Matt Groening, American writer and cartoonist, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama
- 1954 - Armand Parmentier, Belgian athlete
- 1955 - Janice Dickinson, American supermodel
- 1955 - Christopher McDonald, American actor
- 1956 - Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (died 1992)
- 1957 - Jimmy Spencer, American racing driver
- 1960 - Mikey Craig, English musician (Culture Club)
- 1960 - Roman Kostrzewski, Polish musician
- 1964 – Chris Farley, American comedian (died 1997)
- 1967 - Craig Simpson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Jaromir Jagr, Czech ice hockey player
- 1973 - Katerina Neumannova, Czech cross-country skier
- 1973 - Alex Borstein, American actress
- 1973 - Amy Van Dyken, American swimmer
- 1974 - Toni Puutansuu, Finnish singer (Lordi)
- 1974 - Omarosa Marigault, American businesswoman
- 1976 - Brandon Boyd, American musician
- 1976 - Oscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
- 1976 - Giorgos Karagoutis, Greek basketball player
- 1976 - Ronnie Vannucci Jr., American musician (The Killers)
- 1979 – Scott Severin, Scottish footballer
- 1980 - Conor Oberst, American singer and songwriter
- 1981 – Heurelho Gomes, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – David Degen, Swiss footballer
- 1983 – Philipp Degen, Swiss footballer
- 1983 - Ashley Tesoro, American actress and singer
- 1984 - Dorota Rabczewska, Polish singer
- 1986 - Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1986 - Gabriel Paletta, Argentine footballer
- 1986 - Amber Riley, American actress and singer
- 1987 - Jarrod Sammut, Australian rugby player
- 1988 - Hironori Kusano, Japanese singer
- 1988 - Tim Mannah, Australian rugby player
- 1990 - Erwin Sak, Polish footballer
- 1991 - Angel Sepulveda, Mexican footballer
- 1991 - Panagiotis Tachtsidis, Greek footballer
Deaths
- 706 - Leontios, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
- 1145 – Pope Lucius II
- 1152 - Conrad, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1621 – Michael Praetorius, German composer (b. 1571)
- 1637 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
- 1738 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (b. 1684)
- 1775 – Peter Dens, Belgian Catholic theologian (b. 1690)
- 1781 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher (b. 1729)
- 1818 – Friedrich Ludwig, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, Prussian general (b. 1746)
- 1835 – Henry Hunt, British politician (b. 1773)
- 1844 - Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1757)
- 1847 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (b. 1794)
- 1848 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian field marshal (b. 1771)
- 1849 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (b. 1804)
- 1857 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)
- 1869 – Mirza Ghalib, poet of Urdu (b. 1796)
- 1897 - Dimitrie Ghica, Romanian politician (b. 1816)
- 1911 - Theodor Escherich, German paediatrician (b. 1859)
- 1919 - Andre Prevost, French tennis player (b. 1880)
- 1924 - Lionel Monckton, English composer (b. 1861)
- 1926 – Piero Gobetti, Italian publisher, activist and politician (b. 1901)
- 1928 – H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)
- 1932 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, Broadway actress (b. 1865)
- 1933 - Pat Sullivan, Australian cartoonist, animator and producer (b. 1887)
- 1953 - Karl Staaf, Swedish athlete (b. 1881)
- 1959 – Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- 1961 - Bradley Lord, American figure skater (b. 1939)
- 1961 - Laurence Owen, American figure skater (b. 1944)
- 1964 – Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1880)
- 1965 – Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)
- 1966 – Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect and historian of gardens (b. 1909)
- 1967 - William Christian Bullitt, Jr., American diplomat (b. 1891)
- 1970 - Hugh Dowding, English RAF commander (b. 1882)
- 1973 – Wally Cox, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1973 – Tim Holt, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1974 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (b. 1887)
- 1981 – Mike Bloomfield, American musician (b. 1944)
- 1981 – Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- 1984 – Ethel Merman, American singer and actress (b. 1908)
- 1988 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 1996 – Tommy Rettig, American actor (b. 1941)
- 1996 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1999 – Big L (Lamont Coleman), American rapper (b. 1974)
- 1999 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
- 2002 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
- 2004 – Jens Evensen, Norwegian minister and International Court of Justice judge (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Jan Miner, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Hasse Ekman, Swedish actor and director (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Samuel Francis, American journalist (b. 1947)
- 2005 - Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
- 2007 - Ray Evans, American songwriter (b. 1915)
Observances
- Day of the Flag of Canada